RSS Feed

Category Archives: Communication

Maddie Revises Her Napping Schedule

DSC02546

Maddie’s new nap schedule taking it’s toll.

Maddie is in the process of dropping her second nap, but it’s not shaping up to be a seamless process. We are trying to let Maddie guide the process, but so far, she’s changing the rules on a day-to-day basis.

 

The napping process is up in the air for now. There are days with short naps, longs naps and even days with no naps. The days with no naps produce one cranky little muffin who is ready to snap at a moment’s notice.

 

The transition period has been bumpy, but we are hoping the end is in site. As for Maddie, you know she wants to sleep, but she is fighting it left and right.


No Shirt – No Service!

IMG-20130103-00208

How can I be expected to eat with a shirt on?

Today Maddie decided that not only was her bib too cumbersome for mealtime, but so was her fleece pullover.

I removed both offending items in an effort to keep the good times rolling at lunch, but that strategy didn’t work out.  I kept trying to feed Maddie yogurt, but those dang long sleeve were taunting her after every bite.

She was pulling at them and yelling back at them. (do sleeves yell?)

I’m not sure what those crafty sleeves had done to spark her anger, but there was no turning back.

Would rolling the sleeves up trigger a reversal of fortune? No, of course not – rolling up the sleeves only inflamed a bad situation. Maddie screeched at me to release her from the bondage known as long-sleeves.

The sleeves were dry and they weren’t scratchy, but Maddie made it clear that they were a No-Go. So should I put the baby to bed hungry or should we try the topless option?

I peeled off the offending garment and suddenly a peace settled over the high chair. With no evil sleeves to torment her, Maddie enjoyed the rest of her meal in complete peace.

-

Houston – We Have a Problem

Maddie Turns Photo Shoot into Jail Break

photo-26

I won’t sit in it, but I would be happy to move it for you.

Maddie conjured up her inner-Honey Badger for her first formal holiday shoot. The baby was on the run from start to finish and was quoted as saying, “No prison can hold me!”

 

It’s ironic that Maddie kept trying to run into other family’s photo shoots, but had absolutely no interest in sitting still for her own.

 

Her protests were loud, her fuse was short and attitude was just south of plum loco!

 

The photographer was patient even though Maddie continuously made a break for the exit at the beginning of every shot. To be fair, the studio was about 40 minutes late in taking our pictures and this directly encroached into Maddie’s naptime.

 

When all was said and done, Maddie had some very cute shots. That’s a miracle considering the honey badger spent her afternoon, running, ducking, thrashing and spinning.

 

We’ve already contacted National Geographic and the next time we decide to take pictures, they will send out a wildlife photographer who has experience with dangerous jungle savages like the Mad Madster.

Someone in Our House Has Sticky Fingers

DSC02172

whoops… I have to call you back!

Things are starting to disappear around the house and the suspects are extremely limited. So far, the prime suspect in these thefts is someone named Maddie.

 

The good thing about these thefts is that the suspect is usually more than happy to produce the missing items upon request.

 

In just the past two days, my keys have disappeared into thin air twice. After a pair of exhaustive searches, I asked my 16-month-old daughter if I could have my keys. In both cases, she left the room and returned with the missing keys.

 

Today however, was a different story. My phone was missing in action early this morning and I was sure I had misplaced it. Maddie and I met her grandparents out for lunch. The whole drive I tried to remember where I might have left the phone.

 

When Maddie and I got home early in the afternoon, I set her loose to play in the house. At some point, she wandered back to her room and I thought nothing of it. Three minutes later she was wandering down the hall with my phone to her ear.

 

Obviously I had loaned it to her earlier that morning and she just forgot to give it back.

 

I slid my phone deep onto the kitchen counter where she couldn’t reach it and I could find it later.

 

About an hour later, it was naptime for the Mad Madster. I scooped Maddie up and took her back to her room for a quick diaper change. Once that was done, I was ready to put her to bed.

 

I picked Maddie up and as I went to lay her down, I noticed that my blackberry was already waiting for her in the crib. Really?????

Maddie Knocks Out Her First Haircut

What we are doing here again?

Just a little off the top.

What are the scissors for??

A little personal space please – Take a step back!

This stuff has a little kick to it.

I feel like a new woman!

Maddie Taking Her Credentials Very Seriously

My credentials are in order

Years ago when Maddie’s dad worked at the U.S. Open Tennis tournament, he had to wear his credentials at all times. Once the tournament ended, the credentials were retired to some dark corner of a bookcase until Maddie uncovered them during one of her many investigations.

 

Since the discovery, Maddie has taken to sporting her credentials all around the house. The funny thing is that she treats the credentials a little differently than her other items. What’s odd is that Maddie takes great pleasure in sharing toys, magazines and food with her relatives – but she never shares her credentials.

 

Maddie takes them on and off, but likes to keep them to herself. Maddie will show them to you, but only to visually inspect them, not handle them. She also likes to lie on the floor and examine them very closely herself.

 

She flips through them, looks at dad’s picture and examines the information printed on each card. We don’t know what Maddie’s attachment is to these credentials, we just know that she really likes them.

Is Maddie Keeping her Communication Skills Under Wraps?

I have no idea what you are talking about! Nudge, Nudge, Wink, Wink

Perhaps Maddie has a little too much on her plate right now to bother with verbal communication. She’s been taking baby steps, climbing stairs and working very hard on her non-verbal communication skills. As if that weren’t enough, she got vaccinations in three of her four major limbs on Friday. She took the shots like a champ, but was extra crispy off and on all day Saturday.

But even with that little added flavor, Maddie is ratcheting up her communication skills – even if she is not bothering to use any words yet. Our little girl is becoming quite proficient at showing us what she wants and when she wants it.

I’m also becoming suspicious of exactly how much English she already understands. Maddie is beginning to demonstrate a level of reaction to language that goes beyond inflection and tone of voice. That’s not to say that the baby is complying with parental requests, it’s just becoming apparent that she knows what we are asking and is choosing to ignore us.

She is also becoming more and more proficient at entertaining the people around her. She inherently knows the tricks to get people stop, take notice and smile at her. Even when we were leaving the pediatrician’s office on Friday, the doctor rushed out so she could say goodbye to Maddie before she left.

So for now, we are absolutely enjoying the games of communication cat and mouse with the baby. But it seems like she is ready to break down and start speaking to us at any moment.

Dad Starts Cashing in on Kisses

My kisses are sort of magical

For months now, Mommy has been the lucky recipient of the vast majority of Maddie’s kisses. I am absolutely delighted to see all that affection heaped upon Mom. However, I have to admit that I would like to share one once in a while myself. But kisses are one of those things that you hope for instead of ask for.

I have always showered Maddie with kisses and she has rewarded me with a long successful stint on the hug list. But this week, something changed. Without knowing how or why, I got promoted to Maddie’s priority kiss list. The kisses just come out of nowhere. We can be walking up the stairs or getting out of the car and all of the sudden my little angel is kissing me on the cheek.

For those of you who don’t have children but plan to, you are in for a real treat. There is something terribly overwhelming about being kissed by your little one. No matter what you are doing, it stops you dead in your tracks. You have a little celebration and thank the baby for taking time out to show some love.

As with anything else, I know it’s possible that the baby kisses could dry up tomorrow. So I’m stocking up now and saving them for the next dry spell. You never know when dad might land himself in the doghouse.

Honey Badger Baby Goes Ballistic on the Train

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 107 other followers