Sippy Cup

Maddie learns how to use a sippy cup... she's only 6 1/2 months, but she managed to drink her entire bottle tonight with it! I'm so proud of my big girl!

Her new playmat was perfect for holding the cup - it propped up her head and also provided an arm rest.

Zoey had to supervise the whole time. She may have been waiting for Maddie to spill a few drops. Sorry Zo-Zo!!

Lenny also had to get in on the action. It didn't bother Maddie except she kept giggling at them which caused a "spittle" situation.

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Guitar Hero

Maddie loves watching Tom play the guitar. And now she wants to get involved while he's doing it. She turns her head and is drawn to the sound as soon as he starts strumming. And she grabs the neck because I think she likes the way the strings vibrate and tickle her hands. And she has also realized that she can see her reflection in the body of the guitar. This usually entertains her for at least 10-15 minutes before she wants to try to also taste the guitar and then we have to distract her with something else.

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Half a digit

Last week Maddie turned half a digit (6 months).

At her doctor visit, she weighed 17 lbs 3 oz (50th percentile) and 26 1/2 inches tall (90th percentile). Once again, tall and lean. The doctor LOVES her! She said that Maddie is the only baby that laughs at her during the exams.

She was on Tom's lap but kept leaning towards Lenny. She wanted to hug him. She loves hugging the puggies.

Hugging the Zoey.
Sitting pretty in her bedroom.

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Rudolph

We couldn't help ourselves. We saw this at Cracker Barrel and had to let Maddie try it. She actually loved sitting on it (see previous post with big grin), but once we pressed his nose and the song started to play, she just kind of stared at it.

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Blizzard of 2009

The snow started some time early Saturday morning. We woke up on Saturday to about 6 inches. It didn't really stop until late Saturday night and I think we had about 20 inches in the end with various heights of drifting.

This will be our 4th winter at this house and we haven't used the snowblower much... but with a snow like this, it would be crazy to be without one.

On Sunday morning, we were able to get out and go for breakfast.
Maddie loved sitting on Rudolph!

My snow bunny

Don't think we'll be grilling any time soon.

Tom clears a path around the pool (aka the frozen pond) and into the yard so the puggies have some space to go potty. I think we cleared this about 5 times on Saturday throughout the storm and then again on Sunday morning.

We had some crazy drifting on our house roof & the garage roof. Hard to see it here, but it was hanging out over the gutters by about a foot. The entire time we were clearing the driveway, I was just waiting to watch it fall.

Tom loved his toy.

I wanted to get in the hot tub but the snow on top of the cover posed quite a challenge. I eventually got it off but then the temp was only 80 degrees... not quite warm enough.

This was Saturday - middle of the day. It added another 6 inches by the time it stopped.

I enjoy snow but this was a little much. It was too cold and windy/snowy during the storm on Saturday to go sledding with Maddie. And by the end of it, the snow was way too deep to take her out. We'll just have to wait until the next one.

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Trans-Siberian Orchestra

On Thursday night we went to see TSO at the First Mariner Arena in Baltimore. This was our 3rd year in a row and I have no intentions of missing a year because this is truly a great show. We also had Gerry & Kim join us this year. It was really amazing! Can't wait for next year!

If you want to go, let me know because I've gotten great seats all three years thanks to the Fan Club. The past two years we were on the floor, row 15 and row 12. This year we were right on the corner, 2nd row.

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The Week in Review

Maddie has been learning to scrooch and crawl. She spends half her time stumbling around the floor and the other half in her activity seat. She kind of does an army crawl and stretch maneuver to get to her toys.

Grandpa Chopper is trying to give her a crawling lesson in this shot.

Maddie is starting to eat baby food. What a trip! Here she tastes apple sauce for the first time. She managed to get quite a bit of it down but there was definitely some on her, on the chair and splattered on me.

Lenny turned 10 this week. He had a spa day on Thursday with a hydro bath, nail trimmings, ears cleaned and a new squeak toy. We decided to celebrate on Saturday and have some family over... so we started his day with pancakes & eggs. He might have preferred some bacon... but Tom ate it all. He had grilled chicken, cheesy sausage, meatballs and macaroni for dinner. I even found a recipe for a puggie friendly cake (flour, baking soda, vanilla, egg, honey, peanut butter, carrots). He & Zoey both loved it but I think it tasted terrible. Safe for humans, but I don't recommend it. Now the 2 of them will have an entire cake to eat over the next week.

We love Lenny so much. He really is one of our family and we are so grateful to have him in our lives. He's had some health issues over the last year or so, but he is our beautiful boy and we'd do anything for him and pray that he stays healthy. Happy birthday buddy!
Devouring the cake!

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Maddie Meets Santa

Maddie met Santa on Sunday, Dec 6th, 2009... I'm not sure if she gave him her Christmas Wish List, but she did stare at him strangely. And then she gave little quirky half smiles for the camera. We woke her from a nap but she was still one of the best behaved little babies in the line.

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Snow!!

Maddie watches her first snow fall... Saturday Dec 5th, 2009

A closer look. I know she isn't wearing a hat or coat but we were outside for maybe 20 seconds to snap the picture and run back inside. It was so funny to see these big snowflakes on her head... she had no idea what was going on.

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Recent Pics

Maddie plays in her activity seat in front of the Christmas tree. I thought she'd enjoy the lights. But she really didn't seem to care about them.

The tree - I went with more white this year... and a lot of little "baby" ornaments. There are even a few ornaments from Tom's childhood Christmas tree.

Zoey found a straw bink somewhere.

It's her new favorite toy. What a cutie!!

It is funny how much Maddie loves the puggies. She laughs at them and is always reaching out to pet and hug them. And she tries to bury her face in them. They of course love her back & show it by always sitting close to her. Lenny has become "the protector". He always wants to lay by her crib when she goes down for a nap.

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