Madeline's Monthly Message: Month 12

Dear Madeline,
Today you are 12 months old, a.k.a. ONE YEAR old.

Happy Birthday!! And congratulations on your first successful journey around the sun!

It's hard to imagine that one year ago today I was in the hospital in labor for 14 hours, 49 minutes, when you finally made an appearance. It wasn't a bad experience. I was so happy that you were finally coming I was in pretty high spirits all day, and when you looked at me... ohh baby the love.

My love for you, my little love bug, angel, snickerdoodle, cannot be contained in my body... I think of you and I can't believe how blessed I am. It often brings a tear to my eye because my soul is bursting... I can't believe it! What could I have possibly done before this life to be the one chosen to be your mother?? It had to be something pretty unbelievably amazing!

New this month... you aren't quite walking on your own, but you will hold one of our hands and take steps sometimes. You still push your stroller with great independence and pride. You stand for long periods of time holding onto nothing... your balance is very good. It's just going to happen when you are ready and we are all for that. You crawl like a maniac all over the place. You also enjoy climbing. You climb the stairs at any chance you get... you are under constant supervision so you haven't been able to do it on your own yet - hopefully this never happens. We are getting another gate for the stairs tomorrow. You also enjoy climbing on the elliptical upstairs, and you have attempted several times, unsuccessfully, to climb out of your playard in the TV room. I'm sure you will soon conquer this obstacle. You have so much energy that if we don't let you walk and crawl and climb most of the day, you are up until very late at night. It is a poor man who has to be in your path after being in the carseat or stroller all day.

You and your Dad have an extremely special bond. You wait for him at the door by the garage every day when I tell you he is on his way home. When he does finally get home you jump and dance and smile and laugh and when he picks you up all you want to do is be with him. He walks with you a lot and reads to you... he's your bud, and I love it. I love that you have that relationship with him. It's what I always wanted for my babies. Yes, you are a Daddy's girl... but you are still your Momma's baby, and I love that.

Changing your diaper is an Olympic event. You immediately flip over onto your belly and try over and over to stand up. If we even try to attempt to stop you and reposition you, you begin throwing everything you can get your hands on. I have become quite skilled at putting diapers on you while you are standing up or if you are not facing me. I'd let you go free with nothing on but I just can't fathom cleaning up the poop and pee on the carpet. I don't want to do it.

You are a good eater most of the time. Your favorites now-a-days are chicken (big time), pears, watermelon, nectarine, peach, grapes, baby goldfish crackers, and yogurt drops. You also enjoy papertowels, wet wipes, books, and dryer lint... though these are not usually on the menu. So you get a pretty wide array of vitamins and minerals. You still throw a lot of stuff on the ground, and try to hide your food in your diaper or in a nearby drawer you can successfully pull open, but you are also doing well with feeding yourself. You know which end is the correct end of the spoon now and can dip it in the bowl properly and then put the food in your mouth. It's quite a mess and the food sometimes flips over your head onto the floor or into your hair. The point is you are getting it and it is very fun to watch you grasp different concepts.

You love to talk and sing. You still talk a lot of baby jibberish but you can say words. Some common ones are dih-dih (kitty), Dah! (Daddy), Momma (Momma), boo (blue), meh-mo (Elmo), and BAH! (the word you use for everything else, and when you get sick of me asking you if you can say words). When you talk to kitty, you talk to her in a high-pitched voice (like I do). You also talk in a high-pitched, gentle voice to all of your stuffed friends and dollies. It is the cutest thing.

You sing to the radio and you sing along with your Elmo movie now. I love that you want to sing. You also dance. You also can't help but shake your hips and head in a very rhythmic, almost violently active manner, when you hear music. You even dance when you hear any sort of rhythm... like if we are reading you a poem or something. I tell people all the time that music is in your soul... I truly believe it. Music will always be a big part of your life.

We are teaching you to love your Mother Earth. Every time we leave a room you point at the light switch and if something is on, you turn it off. You are also very good at putting things in the garbage. You also enjoy eating grass and dirt.

You've been out a lot this month. We went to the Pink Palace museum as a family. You slept through most of that. We went to the zoo with Brooke and her momma, and to the park near our house. We also went to Shelby Farms Park together as a family for the first time. We go on walks more because it is getting cooler. You love being outside so I am trying to incorporate it more into our day.

You are a very affectionate little person. You hug and kiss me and your dad regularly. You also love to hug kitty. You are getting much better at petting her. She still runs when you come toward her, but only sometimes, which is a huge improvement over last month. You love to cuddle with and hug your stuffed animals and dolls.

You are also very friendly. You wave at everyone - especially other little children and babies. When you aren't sure if you should wave or not you do what I like to call a "contained wave." You wave with one hand while holding it with the other hand as if you are holding the waving hand back or something.

Naptime. It's sometimes easy... sometimes you are so tired you just lay down and you are out. Those times are rare. You get really tired... but you don't like to nap. So sometimes it's a struggle. You've mastered the fake cry. You've also learned that if you scream as if someone is ripping your arms off or you have been set on fire, you will get attention.

You understand the sign (in sign language) for "milk" and "bath". All the other signs you haven't seemed to care too much about.

You still love reading. You love to turn pages mostly. If we don't read fast enough you will let us know it's time to turn the page. Of course, like I said before, some books are delicious to you... literally. Specifically a small cardboard book from your Grandma Suzy called "Alligator and Friends A to E". Of course, now the cover reads, "d Friends A to E".

You love to comb and brush my hair. You also like to put blush on my cheeks for me... though at times it ends up on my chin or forehead... it will totally be the style when you are older because you are a trendsetter.

All of my life I have wanted to be a mother. From the time I was very little and enjoyed playing with my dolls and kitties to the time I finally met your father... having a baby has been this constant, almost gnawing, thought in my head. So bad, sometimes I had an actual, physical ache in my chest. When you were born Madeline, I finally knew why. I finally knew that the reason I was aching and thinking about you so much was because I MISSED you! I feel like I have known you forever. I MISSED our friendship, your smile... oh the joy I felt, holding you in my arms for the first time - FINALLY after waiting for what felt like an eternity (30 1/2 years!) I felt an immediate connection with you, and this first year of your life has been the happiest time of my life.

I love you so much!!
Love,

Momma

Mmm paper.

Is it normal for a baby to want to eat paper towels instead of pears for breakfast?

A Positively Wonderful Idea

A very nice man I know and consider a friend, who I have noticed is always happy and kind to others, keeps a wrinkly, folded, worn piece of paper in his wallet. On this piece of paper is 4 or 5 statements that say something about him and his life. Something he has accomplished; an award he has received; a talent he has; or just something he is thankful for. He pulls out this piece of paper whenever he needs to be reminded of who he is and how special and blessed he is.

Yesterday I was called in to work to do a case and he was there to assist the doctor. The doctor and anesthesiologist in the room were begging him to tell them his recipe for his famous and delicious barbeque. He does make a really good barbeque... a lot of people in this area take BBQing extremely serious. He kept telling them no. So they began to tease him and they tried to guess different ingredients but to no avail... John would not spill his secret. He then asked me to get in his wallet and pull out that piece of paper and read it to everyone in the room. So, I did. One of the statements on the paper said something to the tune of,

"John has received an award for his famous "sweet papa John's barbeque"..." but in more elaborate, detailed words. No WAY was he sharing his secret recipe that is loved by many.

What an awesome idea, I thought. Keep a little piece of paper in your wallet or purse that reminds you of who you are and what makes you happy. To often we dwell on the things we don't have. We worry about challenges we may need to face. We stress constantly over little things that, in the end, really aren't going to warrant such attention. We put ourselves down. Critique our mistakes and constantly tell ourselves we can't do something or we don't have the ability to accomplish a certain task... or maybe, we're not good enough.

The truth is we can do anything we set our minds to. We are good enough. We are all given certain talents and abilities that can benefit the lives of others and especially benefit our own lives. Being positive makes all the difference. Focusing on what we already have and being thankful for it makes all the difference.

Write it down. Write down your talents. your blessings, those things in your life that make you truly happy. Read it every day. Remind yourself who you are.

Just A Quick Update.

Things around here have been busy. We're all excited for Madeline's upcoming birthday (This Thursday my baby will be one!) and for Grandma and Grandpa Mevec to come visit.

Paul's been working late a lot this week and Madeline has missed him very much. I told her the other day that her Dada was on his way home and she sat at the door in her walker staring at the door for like 15 minutes until he finally got home. It was adorable.

Madeline has been trying to find new ways to extinguish her vegetables. Anything but actually EAT them. The other day I pulled her into the kitchen to be with me while I put some dishes in the dishwasher. She wasn't quite finished with her dinner... next thing I see is this:

She had pulled the silverware drawer open and started putting her beans in it.

Here's Madeline wearing the tutu I made her. It's a little big on her (as far as the length) but I don't think I will cut it down because I sort of like it how it is. It's hard for her to move around in so I probably won't have her wear it at her birthday party like I originally planned. I will probably get her pictures taken in it though because she is the cutest baby on the planet.

And I'm sure when she is older she can wear it to dance and play in. That material you use to make tutu's is so cheap I may just make her another one that is a bit smaller (if I have some time).

Have a great week!!

It Was Such A Nice Day.

If you live in the Midsouth and you didn't go outside today, you should be shot. The high today was 80 degrees... AY-TEE. It was even better in the afternoon/evening time, which was when we decided to take Madeline to the park near our house and go on a walk.

I have the cutest family in the world

After the walk? Commence Project Free Air. We opened every window in the house and let the breeze enter. It was delectable. I could use a whole heap load more of this... a HEAP load.

More Baby Boogie

I just can't get enough of this. I turn music on whenever I get a chance because I love how Madeline reacts. She is so much fun!

My Mosaic.

A few months ago a friend of mine posted a photo mosaic on her blog that I thought was beautiful, and I decided I would make one of my own, but never did. So tonight I took a few minutes and made one of my own. I think it turned out really nice. I love the colors.

1. Lake Edith, Jasper National Park, 2. Spaghetti 2, 3. Reflection, 4. Palette, 5. Orlando, 6. ~ Refractions of Rain ~, 7. Lady Lula's Bright Eyed Stare, 8. /18-365/ Ah, summer!, 9. .freedom., 10. Young Buddhist monks, 11. Handle With Care, 12. Firework Fantasia

If you want to make one, here's how:

Type your answer to each of the questions below into a flickr search. Using only the first page, choose your favorite image, then copy and paste each of the URLs into the mosaic maker (3 columns, 4 rows). If you decide to do it, leave me a comment so I can come to your blog and see how yours turns out!

The questions:

1. What is your first name? (Edith)

2. What is your favorite food? (spaghetti)

3. What high school did you attend? (west jordan)

4. What is your favorite color? (red)

5. Who is your celebrity crush? (Orlando Bloom)

6. Favorite drink? (Water)

7. Dream vacation? (Europe)

8. Favorite dessert? (Key Lime Pie)

9. What do you want to be when you grow up? (Happy)

10. What do you love most in life? (my family)

11. One word to describe you. (Mother)

12. Your flickr name. (Edith Annith)

Shelby Farms Park

Paul and I used to go to Shelby Farms Park here in Memphis a lot when we first moved into our last apartment. We spent a lot of time walking around the lake. We've had picnics there, fed the ducks, flown kites, tried out roller blading, gone paddle boating... it's really a nice park with lots of area and lots to do. They have an area with horses that kids can ride, a couple of lakes, and a few playgrounds that are pretty fun, and a frisbee golf park.

Unfortunately when we moved into our house, we moved further away from Shelby Farms, and we haven't been there in a really long time. Probably before Madeline was born. At least over a year. So, since the weather was pretty nice yesterday, we decided to take a picnic and spend some time at Shelby Farms.

Here's Madeline and her Dad enjoying a delicious picnic of grapes, nectarines, chicken, carrots, gold fish crackers, gerber yogurt snacks, and of course, chocolate chip cookies.

I had some bread that was a little old, so we were going to feed the ducks, but apparently since we were last here, they decided to put up signs everywhere telling people not to feed the animals. We thought about breaking the rules and doing it anyway, but I just couldn't do it. So, we took some pictures of them instead.

Then we decided to take a walk around the lake (it takes about 45 minutes to do if you walk slow). Madeline didn't have the best time on the walk because she was hot and she hates being in the stroller for a long time, but we kept her hydrated and her and me sang some songs. She did okay.

Shelby Farms is a beautiful place. I hope we can make it back there again sooner than later.

Blue.

Mads says several words. She says Mama, Dada, Eh-mo (for Elmo), and several other mumbly jibberish type sounds that mean something to her... but today, today Madeline said blue. And she didn't just say it. She said it after being asked if she could say it.

She was taking a bath and we were looking at her spongey letters and I held up a number (like I do every day when she takes a bath, or it could be a letter, but in this case it was a number) and I said,

"this number is blue Madeline. Can you say blue?"

and she said,

"boo"

and then I repeated the question (like 5 or 6 times) and every time she responded with,

"boo".

I crapped my pants. I was so excited I crapped my pants (figuratively).

So I scrame for Paul to come and listen to the brilliant perfection that is Madeline, and he came running into the bathroom with shaving cream all over his face and Madeline was excited to see him and she looked at him like,

"What is that stuff on your face?"

And she wouldn't do it again for Paul. But THEN, she did it later in her room when we were playing with her toys, so he heard, and HE crapped his pants (literally) just kidding. Moms are always more excited about this stuff. But he did think it was pretty cool.

She is so smart you guys. Every day it is something new. The speed at which these little people learn and absorb things is frighteningly fascinating.

Tuesday, I finished making Madeline a red tutu to wear at her birthday party.

Wednesday, I made curtains out of sheets for Madeline's room.

Thursday, I took apart her crib (which was in our room), moved it, and put it back together in her room. Just me. No help.

Friday... the day is young. Who knows what awesome feat I will accomplish today!!

Speaking of awesome feet... I bought some neon fingernail polish for my toes. I have always wanted to sport flourescent toes. I have orange too!

TIME's 50 Best Websites of 2009.

Time Magazine recently released their list of the 50 best websites of 2009. I've heard of most of them, but some were new, so I spent some time going through the list.

Here are a few of my new favorites:

WolframAlpha - You can "Enter your question or calculation,and WolframAlpha uses its built-in algorithms and a growing collection of data to compute the answer." So for example, you can enter a date and it will tell you al bunch of information about that date like the day (if you enter a year), things that have happened, what the weather was like that day... etc. You can enter the name of a city... even a calculation problem! It's pretty neat. I put in my birthday and found out I was born on a Saturday, that I am 31 years 4 months 18 days old, the sun rose at 5:38 am that morning, and there was a waxing cresent moon in the sky!! Whoa.

Academic Earth - Did you know you can now watch full video lectures on subjects like Advanced Placement (AP) Test Prep, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Economics, Engineering, Entrepreneurship, History, Law, Literature, Mathematics, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Pre-Med, and Psychology. I mean, why even GO to college people?? (I'm totally just kidding about that). It is so cool though, the selection of things you can learn. I plan to start with literature and then maybe some pre-med.

Internet Archive - This site kind of scares me because it is so awesome!! They are basically backing up the internet! You can look at what a website used to look like using their wayback machine... Or watch one of almost 200,000 moving images, listen to live music archives, other forms of Audio, and read from over a million and a half texts. The website states, "The Internet Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, we provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, and the general public." How wonderful is that? Very! Want to watch an episode of Betty Boop?

Consumer Search - This is a website where the opinions of the top rated, and most qualified reviewers are gathered on pretty much anything you would ever want or think about buying. They rate and review products and let you know what is the best one! A very helpful thing if you are unsure about what is the best product to buy. They rate everything from cars to catfood to baby products... even chocolate! Now you know where I will be going before I buy that next electric toothbrush.

and finally,

Pandora and last.fm- I love music. I love FREE music even more. These websites will play only the music you like and suggest music that is similar to your indicated style and mood. If you like a song give it a thumbs up! Hate it... thumbs down it and it won't be played again. :ast.fm even recommends concerts that are in your area according to the music style you listen to. Very neat! There are other websites out there like this, but I like these sites the best.

There are several other sites I liked... check them out yourself when you have a couple hours to spare. The internet rocks!

50 Million Pound Challenge

Are you chubby? Do you breath heavily after going up stairs? Do your feet leave the ground when you wave goodbye to someone? Tired of those booty dimples? Then join my team, "Footloose and Fatty Free," on The 50 Million Pound Challenge website http://www.50millionpounds.com/. We can cheer each other on!

My brilliant Momma introduced me to this website. It's a great place with lots of good information to help and encourage people to lose weight!

Ahhhhhhhh. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.

Mads and I do this a lot together. She loves it.

Crap.

Madeline just realized that she can spit out her food once it's in her mouth if she doesn't like it. Up to this point she would just hold it IN her mouth and eventually swallow it while scowling and moaning fiercely.

I lose a tiny bit of power each day with this knowledge she keeps acquiring, and it stings.... it really stings.

I'm Gonna Gitcha!

Lately Madeline loves when I chase her and threaten to tickle her while her and her Dad are doing their daily walk around the house. She laughs this delicious chortle and runs so fast she is almost flying... Have I scarred her for life? Will she be a fan of horror films because of this? She's laughing, so hopefully not.