Things that go bump in the night

Sawyer is almost ready to sleep through the night. But, we're not quite there yet. At any rate, every little, or not so little, noise wakes me up these days. Last night was particularly goofy night at our house. I'm pretty sure there wasnt a full moon either.

230A. I was awoken by the pitter-patter of little feet running across the tile downstairs and someone yelling, "It's Christmas!" I'm not sure what I was most concerned about -- one of the outside doors being opened and the house alarm going off instantly, the gifts under the tree being torn into and me having to re-wrap them all, or Madelyn injuring herself. I found my sweet little muffin by the kitchen table, brought her back upstairs, and tucked her in bed. There she stayed for the rest of the night.

515A. I was awoken by the sounds of toys falling. Assuming they were falling down the stairs, I got up expecting to find Madelyn headed back downstairs. But, no. I peeked in her room to find two cats. Nemo was under attack! Sadie cat, the look out, had already fled, but Felix was holding his position firmly on the dresser next to Nemo's bowl. The water was sloshing around and the toys on the dresser were all knocked off. When Madelyn and Griff got Nemo a week ago, I swore I would have nothing to do with it. However, I also don't want to clean up dead fish and stinky water. Nemo will be finding a new home within our house so that he can be better protected from cats.

On a side note, Mr Sawyer slept until 615A. Progress!

PS I do have six month pictures and stats to post but afternoon naps haven't been longer than 30 minutes lately so I'm a wee bit delayed.

Sunday at the zoo

Here we are checking out the lions.  Of course, they're sleeping.

We saw a giraffe birthing.  Yes, those are feet you're seeing!

We saw a spotted leopard...

...sleeping.  It reminded us of someone at home.

Madelyn insisted on walking.

And lots of walking she did.

Ready for Breakfast

Words

The time has come for censorship.  We've always watched what we say around Madelyn from the beginning.  Not that our language is that horrible but it's just easier to start early.  A friend of mine used to joke that her daughter was likely going to be the first child kicked out of pre-school for bad language due to her husband's lack of censorship.

At any rate, Madelyn is now repeating sounds and words.

Last night we read Love & Kisses before bed.  It's one of my bedtime favorites.  In the book, the little girl kisses her cat and then the cat kisses a frog, etc etc, until the kisses all come back to her.  At one point, a red-winged bird kisses a cow who laughs a great big "Moo!"  When we got to that part, I did the obligatory "Moo!" and Madelyn repeated.  She "Moo!-ed" a few more times until the book was done. It was really pretty sweet.

This afternoon, she and I were leaving the house to run errands.  We were at the steps putting on shoes when Felix hopped up on to the buffet in the dining room.  I yelled at him from across the room, "Felix, get down!" and Madelyn promptly followed up, "Get down."  I tried to get her to say it again but she wouldn't repeat it a second or third time.

I'm happy to have her mimic cow moo's and Felix disciplining.  Let's hope we continue down this path instead of the alternative.

On a side note, Madelyn's few words, that she says on her own, right now include: kitty, daddy, dog, all done, hi, and bye bye.  Dr Noah was pleased with her vocabulary at Thursday's 15-month check up.

Rainbow Brite

The wagon is one of Madelyn's favorite new things. She keeps her most prized possessions (Dusty-cat, Sophie the giraffe, her cell phone, Felix) in it and pushes it back and forth. The only down side is that she can't figure out how to take it up the steps with her. But, with her determination, I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

Thanks, Grandpa and Nany Judy!

Still not crawling, but...

Yesterday, we received a video of our cousin, Emery, singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame. It was the sweetest video. We look forward to the day our Madelyn can sing her own version, root-root-rooting for the Rockies. (And, we're still sad Rocktober only lasted 13 days.)

At any rate, while this is no Take Me Out to the Ballgame, I thought it worth sharing and knew not only the grandparents but her aunts and uncles and Internet friends in Kansas would enjoy.

Thank you, Luke's mom

Luke is one of Madelyn's buddies at daycare.

Quick tangent: There are three or four little ones in Madelyn's class all within one month of each other -- Ethan, Luke, Ollie, and Madelyn. Addie used to be Madelyn's best girl friend but her family moved to Boston. Ethan and Ollie are really good on their tummies but hate sitting. Luke and Madelyn are semi-pros at sitting but don't really like being on their tummies.

Back to the main story.

The other morning when I was dropping Madelyn off, Meghan (the morning instructor) and I were discussing the crinkle boxes and how they're so popular. Meghan mentioned that Luke's mom gives him crinkled up wax paper at home and how it's the perfect toy. First and foremost, it crinkles. Secondly, it's non-toxic. And third, the wax keeps it from getting soggy after having been played with (and stuck in one's mouth) after a while.

We don't have wax paper but we do have parchment paper. Tonight, I gave Madelyn a crinkled up piece of parchment paper...and the rest is history.

By the way, she had her Cindy Lou Hoo hairstyle when I picked her up from daycare today. Apparently, she's "our favorite little girl" so I guess that means she gets fancy hair-dos from now on.

Just a normal day

And, no emergency clothes were required today either.

Felix, NO!

We're still a long way off from Madelyn's first words but there's a good possibility her first words may be, "Felix, NO!" He really means no harm. And, generally, he's a good boy but sometimes he just can't help himself.

Lately at night when Madelyn goes to bed, he'll sneak in behind Griff or me and run under the crib. Without knowing he's in her room, we shut the door only to hear "Meow!" several minutes later through the baby monitor. She has my sleeping genes though which is good. Once she's starting to doze off, noises like the washer/dryer or a cat walking along the railing of her crib typically don't disturb her.

The fun thing about Felix will be to watch their relationship grow as Madelyn gets older and he really becomes her cat. He may eventually grow tired of this toddler chasing him around but I don't think so. He's got as much energy as a two-year old and I'm sure they'll be a good match. For now, we'll keep checking under the bed for the Felix monster before tucking Madelyn in at night.