Maddie's Family Book

Since we don't live near most of our family in California, I made a family picture book for Maddie so she could become familiar with her family members.

She goes through the pictures several times a day and I really think she recognizes her family members in the pictures. As you can see in the video, her favorite thing to do is point at the person in the picture and have me tell her who it is. She has favorite things she always points at, such as Gwynne's green knit hat, Bryant's teeth, and Aunt Laura.

Lovey Bear

This is Lovey Bear... a beloved member of the family. Lovey Bear is a stuffed care bear with a wind up music box that sings "Love at Home". This bear has a rich history ... my Grandma Eatough (Maddie's great-grandma Eatough) sewed dozens of these Care Bears for the playroom at her house. All the grandkids loved these little bears that sang church hymns. We always wound them all up at the same time and let the Care Bear choir sing together. When Grandma Eatough passed away, these little bears were refurbished by my mom (Maddie's Grandma Eatough) and handed out to all the grandkids. I love that Maddie gets to play with something I enjoyed so much as a child. As a mother, I am impressed that my grandma found a way to incorporate church hymns into toys. What a great way to include the spirit in every day life.

As you can see, Maddie is in love with Lovey Bear.
Everytime it gets rewound and starts to sing again, she gets the "Surprised Maddie" look on her face. I have captured it on video for all to see.

She is such a character and I often wonder what is going on in that little head of hers. In this video, she makes Lovey Bear dance, they both lay on the floor together, and she pats its back while she cuddles it like its a baby. I turned off the camera too early for the patting.

Random pictures...

Just some fun pictures from the past few days...

This is Maddie the Ghost who appears every night after bath time. She runs around with her hooded towel on shrieking like a banshee. Darla does not appreciate this nightly ritual. Tonight, Maddie had lasagna for dinner. She is getting better at not getting food all over herself, but she still enjoys sweeping her arms across her tray and watching the food fly. Her dad and I do not think this is funny.

And last but not least, these are Maddie's bunny slippers. Brandon's mom got them for her a long time ago and they are being put to good use. She is not a fan of socks, but loves having these bunnies on her feet. I thought they were so adorable, they earned a picture of their own.

Here are some funny things our little Maddie is doing this week:

-Blows on her food even when its definitely not hot - like cold cereal or fruit. Silly.

-Acts like she's smelling things by holding it up to her nose and blowing air out of her mouth so it sounds like she's smelling it. What a nut.

-Sings along with "Itsy Bitsy Spider" especially the "out came the sun" part when she gets to put her arms over her head and sway.

-Sings along with "Wheels on the Bus" and her favorite part is "the wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish" and she moves her arms like wipers and make the shh noise.

Maddie's first day in nursery!

Maddie will be 18 months on February 2nd! I know every parent says this, but seriously, how did that happen?

Along with her 18 month birthday, comes her entry into the nursery at church. We decided to have her go this past Sunday just for the first hour so she could become used to it and it wouldn't be so much of a shock in a few weeks. So, after sacrament meeting, Brandon and I dropped her off with all the other kids and off Maddie toddled towards the toys without a glance backwards. Brandon and I stood at the door feeling kind of lonely and abandoned that our little baby girl was being so independent. How dare she do what she's supposed to do? Sharing toys with other kids and having fun without us? The nerve... :)

Brandon and I checked on her several times over the course of the hour, each time finding her happily playing or having snacks with the other kids. She even saw Brandon looking through the window and turned around and continued playing. She was doing so well, we left her in there for the second hour too. I was half hoping she would miss me so much I'd have to come get her. But I know she has to grow up too, so I will suck it up.

I cannot believe she is big enough to be in an assigned class at church with her name on a roll sheet. She's a little person! I also can't believe how emotional I was - I really need to pull it together! Pre-school and kindergarten will be here before I know it. It's such a strange feeling to have a child - it truly is like your heart is walking around outside of your body.

Maddie Ramblings

You know that phrase that talks about children playing at their mother's feet? My Maddie does this. She brings her books and puzzles into the kitchen and literally sits on my feet while I cook dinner. And I love it. Most nights, she dumps out the Tupperware cabinet and scatters storage containers all around my feet... its kind of like an obstacle course.

She also loves to see what I'm cooking for dinner. She is very good at stirring and saying, "Hot!" I usually end up holding her in one arm & cooking with the other because I can't resist those upstretched arms and big innocent eyes.

Here are some recent videos of Maddie and her travels about the house...

Maddie likes to hide in the bathroom cabinets. She has a good time sitting in the cabinet and throwing things out of it.

Maddie loves to dance. In the car, at home, at the store. She dances at church when the organ starts playing. And she dances when her Dad plays Journey on the piano. Maddie has patented the "Maddie Sway" dance move. The second video is my favorite. It starts out with the infamous Maddie arm pump. I have no idea where she got it from but I love it. It always makes me laugh out loud.