Maddie's favorite game right now is peek-a-boo...she just loves it! We've been playing it with her for a while, and we would lift something up in front of her face and then drop it down while we said "peek-a-boo!". As of this past Sunday, she has now mastered the peek-a-boo game all on her own! For the first time, she grabbed a little lovie blanket we have and she put it up in front of her face for a second and then dropped it down. David and I both looked at each other and said "peek-a-boo!" and she had a big smile on her face! She kept doing it over and over again - it was so cute! She would lift the blanket up...sometimes even on top of her head and not covering her eyes at all...and then lower it down and smile and laugh when we said "peek-a-boo!" to her! It was so fun playing a game with her! And one that she initiated! We sure do have a smart cookie on our hands!
Another new favorite of hers is to turn off the light switch. Every night when we're getting ready for bath time, we play in the mirror a little bit. The light switch for our bedroom is right next to our full length mirror and a few weeks ago she noticed the light switch and was interested in it. So we started practicing turning the lights on and off when we went to play in the mirror. She is officially a total pro at turning the lights off! As soon as she does it, she gets excited and starts patting your shoulder - it's so adorable! We're still practicing the motions for turning on the lights, but she has a great time turning them off!
All our love!
Nile, David & Maddie
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Is That Music I Hear?
For Christmas, Mama Teet gave Maddie a baby sized grand piano and it has become one of her favorite toys! She loves to hold on to it and pull herself up to a standing position and then bang away like a crazy little baby! She normally does all of that with something in one of her hands too...so she can really hit those keys hard! She loves the piano and we are having a great time listening to her and encouraging her to play...I am seriously hoping she inherited David's musical abilities! Mine leave SO much room for improvement!
David was able to record one of her concerts and we wanted to share it with you! In this video she is playing while holding on to Ms. Bear, a blue plastic block and a bathtub book! We are going to try and capture a duet to share too...Maddie on keys and David on guitar (or both of them on the guitar!). They did this the other night and it was just too cute! Of course we didn't have the camera handy right then, but we'll be sure to capture it soon!
Love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie the Pianist
David was able to record one of her concerts and we wanted to share it with you! In this video she is playing while holding on to Ms. Bear, a blue plastic block and a bathtub book! We are going to try and capture a duet to share too...Maddie on keys and David on guitar (or both of them on the guitar!). They did this the other night and it was just too cute! Of course we didn't have the camera handy right then, but we'll be sure to capture it soon!
Love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie the Pianist
Monday, January 11, 2010
Our First Family Christmas
I first have to apologize that it's taken me so long to get this post out! Life has been busy, but fantastic!
This Christmas was especially fun for us as our first Christmas as a family. Maddie made the holidays so much brighter and more special. It is wonderful having a baby around to share the joy with! We travelled out to California to spend the holidays with my family and Maddie was such a trooper! I was a little worried how she would do on such a long flight (and one we had to wake her up at 4am for!), but she is proving to be an awesome little traveller! She handled both flights really well. I think her hardest obstacle when traveling is getting used to sleeping in someplace new. She had a rough time our first night, but was into a good routine by the second day. We can't ask for much more than that!
We had a fantastic time seeing everyone while we were there! My mom arranged two big family get togethers - Saturday was a belated Christmas celebration with my mom's side of the family. Maddie absolutely loved playing with her cousins Paige and Emma! There were about 20 people at the house and she didn't bat an eye at all the new faces and people. She was her cheerful self and charmed everyone she met!
On Sunday, my mom hosted another open house (thank you mom and dad and Dawn!) for my dad's side of the family and our family friends. I think there were probably 20+ people there too and she had a great time! She was able to meet Addy, the daughter of Dawn's friend Courtney, who is just 2 months younger than Maddie. They had a lot of fun together!
On Monday, we visited mom's office and showed off our Maddie girl - she was a huge hit! That afternoon we went up to see my friend Deb, and her two little boys. The boys had grown up so much! On Thursday, we had a fun girls lunch with Kerri, Liz, my mom and some of her girlfriends. Kerri is my oldest childhood friend (I think we've known each other since I was 8...yikes, that makes me feel old!) and I've known Liz for almost as long! Liz, her mom (Karen) and her son (Jack) all traveled down from the Sacramento area just to see us at lunch that day! Thank you to everyone who came! Maddie loved playing with Jack's cars too and she may have developed her first crush! She loved watching Jack and laughing and playing with him!
For our Christmas gift, Dawn, mom and dad got us a professional photo shoot with an amazing photographer, Ashley Maxwell. David and I both fell in love with her eye and style and were so happy that she was able to do the shoot for us! We went over to Capitola on Tuesday and spent a few hours taking photos there and then had lunch in downtown Santa Cruz. It was a gorgeous day - probably about 65 and sunny - and it was so much fun to capture the family and Maddie at this stage. Thank you Dawn, mom and dad for this awesome gift! These photos will be treasured for a long, long time to come! I've included some of the favorites that Ashley had posted on her blog - I just love them!!
Thank you to everyone who made our Christmas visit so special and wonderful! We had an incredible time!!
Maddie is doing great too! She now has 3 teeth, is babbling up a storm and loves to pull herself up to standing on things! She has taken a few steps while holding on to the couch (or other object), but isn't quite standing on her own yet. She is just so much fun and such a joy! We just love, love, love her!!
And now, on to the great photos!!
'
Love you all!
Nile, David and Maddie
This Christmas was especially fun for us as our first Christmas as a family. Maddie made the holidays so much brighter and more special. It is wonderful having a baby around to share the joy with! We travelled out to California to spend the holidays with my family and Maddie was such a trooper! I was a little worried how she would do on such a long flight (and one we had to wake her up at 4am for!), but she is proving to be an awesome little traveller! She handled both flights really well. I think her hardest obstacle when traveling is getting used to sleeping in someplace new. She had a rough time our first night, but was into a good routine by the second day. We can't ask for much more than that!
We had a fantastic time seeing everyone while we were there! My mom arranged two big family get togethers - Saturday was a belated Christmas celebration with my mom's side of the family. Maddie absolutely loved playing with her cousins Paige and Emma! There were about 20 people at the house and she didn't bat an eye at all the new faces and people. She was her cheerful self and charmed everyone she met!
On Sunday, my mom hosted another open house (thank you mom and dad and Dawn!) for my dad's side of the family and our family friends. I think there were probably 20+ people there too and she had a great time! She was able to meet Addy, the daughter of Dawn's friend Courtney, who is just 2 months younger than Maddie. They had a lot of fun together!
On Monday, we visited mom's office and showed off our Maddie girl - she was a huge hit! That afternoon we went up to see my friend Deb, and her two little boys. The boys had grown up so much! On Thursday, we had a fun girls lunch with Kerri, Liz, my mom and some of her girlfriends. Kerri is my oldest childhood friend (I think we've known each other since I was 8...yikes, that makes me feel old!) and I've known Liz for almost as long! Liz, her mom (Karen) and her son (Jack) all traveled down from the Sacramento area just to see us at lunch that day! Thank you to everyone who came! Maddie loved playing with Jack's cars too and she may have developed her first crush! She loved watching Jack and laughing and playing with him!
For our Christmas gift, Dawn, mom and dad got us a professional photo shoot with an amazing photographer, Ashley Maxwell. David and I both fell in love with her eye and style and were so happy that she was able to do the shoot for us! We went over to Capitola on Tuesday and spent a few hours taking photos there and then had lunch in downtown Santa Cruz. It was a gorgeous day - probably about 65 and sunny - and it was so much fun to capture the family and Maddie at this stage. Thank you Dawn, mom and dad for this awesome gift! These photos will be treasured for a long, long time to come! I've included some of the favorites that Ashley had posted on her blog - I just love them!!
Thank you to everyone who made our Christmas visit so special and wonderful! We had an incredible time!!
Maddie is doing great too! She now has 3 teeth, is babbling up a storm and loves to pull herself up to standing on things! She has taken a few steps while holding on to the couch (or other object), but isn't quite standing on her own yet. She is just so much fun and such a joy! We just love, love, love her!!
And now, on to the great photos!!
'
Love you all!
Nile, David and Maddie
Friday, December 18, 2009
An outSTANDING Day!
When I went into Maddie's room yesterday morning, she greeted me in a whole new way - standing up in her crib! She may have done it before, but it was the first time I had seen her standing in her crib! She had pulled herself up with seemingly no problems and was just standing there, holding onto the crib, waiting for me to come in with her breakfast!
Today we also had Maddie's 9 month check-up and she is doing wonderfully! In the last three months, she has grown 3" and gained 3.5lbs! She is now 28.5" tall and weighs 17lbs, 4oz! Wow, she's gotten big!! Everything looked great and was right on track. She's even tracking above average in height...I'm still not sure where that came from, but I think some of Papa Bob's genes may have gotten in there!
Our pediatrician let us know today too that we're now ok to start feeding her small, well cooked (soft) bits of table food along with the Gerber food that has meat and dairy. We also get to start introducing her to a sippy cup so that hopefully when she's a year old, she'll be done with the bottle and using only the sippy cups. With her first tooth coming in (slowly but surely!), we get to start a new bedtime routine - brushing her tooth and gums! We completely forgot about it tonight, but we'll start tomorrow.
I just can't believe how much she's growing and what a little girl she is becoming! She is the best daughter ever!!
Love always,
Nile, David & Maddie
Today we also had Maddie's 9 month check-up and she is doing wonderfully! In the last three months, she has grown 3" and gained 3.5lbs! She is now 28.5" tall and weighs 17lbs, 4oz! Wow, she's gotten big!! Everything looked great and was right on track. She's even tracking above average in height...I'm still not sure where that came from, but I think some of Papa Bob's genes may have gotten in there!
Our pediatrician let us know today too that we're now ok to start feeding her small, well cooked (soft) bits of table food along with the Gerber food that has meat and dairy. We also get to start introducing her to a sippy cup so that hopefully when she's a year old, she'll be done with the bottle and using only the sippy cups. With her first tooth coming in (slowly but surely!), we get to start a new bedtime routine - brushing her tooth and gums! We completely forgot about it tonight, but we'll start tomorrow.
I just can't believe how much she's growing and what a little girl she is becoming! She is the best daughter ever!!
Love always,
Nile, David & Maddie
Monday, December 14, 2009
Look Ma, No Hands!
Maddie is learning so much, so quickly these days! Her favorite thing to do these days is to pull herself up...on just about anything and everything...and she's been practicing it nonstop! She is a pro! She can walk herself up to an object when holding on to it too, and she loves to dance and bounce around while holding on to things! Her newfound confidence also led her to pull herself up this weekend, and then let go so that she's standing without holding on to anything! She did this with David on Saturday and a couple times with me yesterday. Holy cow!! We've always had our hand under her so that we can catch her if she falls, and this has given her a little balance when she's standing alone, but oh my goodness! I hadn't expected her to do this so soon!
Our little girl is growing up so fast!
Love,
Nile, David & Maddie
Our little girl is growing up so fast!
Love,
Nile, David & Maddie
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Giggles Galore
Maddie's laughter instantly brings a smile to my face! It is honestly one of the best sounds I've ever heard! If you're having a bad day or just want to smile, all you need to do is watch this video! She is just the sweetest girl in the world!
Hope you enjoy the giggles of Ms. Maddie as she plays a tickle game with Mama Teet!
Love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie
Hope you enjoy the giggles of Ms. Maddie as she plays a tickle game with Mama Teet!
Love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
There Go The Bumpers!
It is insane how quickly Maddie is learning to do things! Yesterday K let me know that while she was at daycare she pulled herself up in the crib by holding onto the crib rails! So, off came the bumpers last night! We had lowered Maddie's crib down a couple weeks ago - just in time it looks like!
This morning we were also playing around and I decided to have her practice standing up against the sofa. I took off one of the bottom cushions so that the ledge wouldn't be too high for her to reach. Maddie easily pulled herself up to standing against the sofa and then spied the tv remote control on the cushion next to where she was standing. The tv remote is one of her favorite toys, so off she went! She started moving herself over to the higher cushion, moving her arms and legs to sort of pull herself over there while holding onto the couch! Holy cow! Her legs weren't strong enough to support her the whole time, so I held her up, but she had all the maneuvers down and was able to get over to reach the remote! Wowzers!
Our girl is learning so much! She is going to be zooming all over the place in no time flat!
Love you all!
David, Nile & Maddie
This morning we were also playing around and I decided to have her practice standing up against the sofa. I took off one of the bottom cushions so that the ledge wouldn't be too high for her to reach. Maddie easily pulled herself up to standing against the sofa and then spied the tv remote control on the cushion next to where she was standing. The tv remote is one of her favorite toys, so off she went! She started moving herself over to the higher cushion, moving her arms and legs to sort of pull herself over there while holding onto the couch! Holy cow! Her legs weren't strong enough to support her the whole time, so I held her up, but she had all the maneuvers down and was able to get over to reach the remote! Wowzers!
Our girl is learning so much! She is going to be zooming all over the place in no time flat!
Love you all!
David, Nile & Maddie
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