Six Months of Madeline

It's been nearly six months since my last full night of sleep, but at least Madeline is thriving. We got a good report from the doctor today. She's 18.5 lbs, 27.5 inches, and has a 17.5-inch head. Her hearing and grabbing skills are also on track, as evidenced by the fistfulls of hair she's removed from all of our heads. She continues to be a very happy baby. She squeals with delight at the slightest provocation, and especially enjoys it when she goes to school with Patrick and all of the kids run over to say hello. She relishes the attention and flashes smiles all around, and Patrick proudly tells everyone "that's my baby sister, that's my Madeline Grace."

Babes in the Woods

The description in the guidebook clearly labeled the hike up Loft Mountain as "easy" and "perfect for families," which I suppose it is if you aren't lugging 35 pounds of toddler in a Kelty pack or 18 pounds of butterball in a baby Bjorn. Donald and I were both huffing on the way up, but were rewarded with a spectacular view of the Shenandoah and a deer sighting, just as Patrick ordered. After the hike we drove into Charlottesville for a picnic and Madeline's first visit to the lawn, then a baseball game and a cookout at Chip and Anne's house. Patrick and Madeline loved playing with Catherine White and we loved meeting the fresh crop of 2009 tailgate babies: Frank, Charlotte, Elizabeth, and Madeline were all added to the mix last year. This fall's football game tailgates are going to be very interesting.

Daddy Day Care

It's amazing how one more baby complicates the system exponentially. I love how Madeline is hanging on for dear life.

Milestones and Smiles

These babies just don’t stop growing. Patrick amazed us last week by asking to sleep in his big boy bed—and he stayed in it all night! He’s also had a number of potty successes the past few weeks, and takes great delight in the treats he earns for successful deposits. He had us laughing the other night. While we were changing him into his PJs and he was momentarily naked he started running circles around Donald and told us with giggles, “I’m dancing with my butt on!”
Madeline is making great leaps forward as well. She has been rolling over for several weeks now, and recently discovered her hands and feet. She will occupy herself happily just gazing at her fingers. She has also taken to eating cereal and stage one baby foods with gusto. One night last week when we were eating dinner I was amazed to glance over and see her studying Donald intently, perfectly mimicking his chewing method.

Playdate at George's House

Mount Vernon has a lot to offer the toddler set: a colonial playroom with a big dollhouse, Lincoln Logs, and dress up clothes; lots of farm animals, and “blue” ice cream in the food court. We were lucky to visit this past weekend; it was lamb season and the yard was full of perfect little lambs. We wrapped up our visit with a game of "chase and catch me" on Mount Vernon's sweeping lawn.

Tell Me A Story

Patrick asks for stories at every opportunity, and his tastes are 100% boy. Every encounter that Donald and I have had with a living creature, wild or otherwise, has now been turned into a “Once Upon a Time” for Patrick. He loves to hear about the giant spider we encountered in Hawaii, the bat that Donald captured when he lived with Mr. Steve and Mr. Duncan, the fox rescue attempt that marked the first and last time Donald ever played golf with me, and the fake rat that scared the living daylights out of poor Ms. Shelley when she was my roommate in college.

His favorite stories however are “Bandit” stories, which are told by Grandaddy and involve a raccoon who lives in the Adirondack Mountains, where we went on vacation every year when I was growing up. Bandit loves to go fishing and waterskiing, and every morning when Grammy and Grandaddy were visiting this past weekend Patrick would shyly ask me to knock on their door so he could crawl up in bed and hear about the adventures of Bandit. Patrick is looking forward to using his flashlight to look for raccoons when we visit Grammy and Grandaddy this summer in Connecticut. Donald and I are glad Grandaddy will be leading that expedition.

Big Day

"Mommy mommy we found worms!" was the breathless greeting I got when I picked Patrick up from school today and he proudly lifted a yellow bucket aloft for my inspection. He grabbed my hand and took me over to the collection site, where several toddlers were busily excavating a shady spot under a tree. Dirt and sand had mingled with sunblock to make a filthy paste of grime all over their faces and arms, but they were absolutely radiating pure delight. As I gently tried to return some of the hapless worms to their natural habitat one of Patrick's friends came over and rested her shovel on the ground next to me. Did you have a fun day? I asked her. She nodded eagerly. "We found worms," she told me, and then, in what I hope was an unrelated incident, added "and we threwed away my underpants."

The Bunny Hop

These kids have been good tonic for our heavy hearts. Gran T joined us as we kicked off a busy and beautiful Easter weekend with egg dyeing and then an egg hunt at Jack and Will's house on Friday. Patrick followed up with two birthday parties on Saturday morning and kept us thoroughly entertained by dangling on the trapeeze and throwing himself wholeheartedly into a dancing game at Lucy's birthday. The kid is all elbows. On Sunday, we hit our traditional Clyde's brunch after church. Patrick and Sophie were delighted with several visits from the Easter bunny, who delivered chocolate treats and even better—a bunny stamp. Even Madeline got "stamped." Sunday was another beautiful day, perfect for a final egg hunt in cousin Soph's back yard in the afternoon. We wrapped up the day with a lovely dinner on the porch at Sophie's other grandparents' house, where I snapped my favorite pic of the weekend...Donald and Madeline enjoying a quiet moment on the swing.