Pants on da Ground

Lookin' like a baby wid da pants on da ground!

Caught Chocolate-Handed

Madeline's latest obsession is getting into the cabinets. I've been lazy about getting actual locks (with the exception of the cleaning supplies under the kitchen sink), but I do have most of the cabinets closed with rubberbands, which have worked so far to keep out curious little hands. The one cabinet I leave open is my baking cabinet, and Maddie enjoys strewing bags of chocolate chips and marshmallows around the kitchen floor. But today I found her like this:

Apparently there was an open bag of Hershey kisses, and Maddie managed to get the foil wrapping off one so she could eat it! I was amazed that her little hands are so dextrous, and relieved that she didn't swallow any wrappers. I suppose chocolate is one way to get her weight up!

Feeding Ducks

We went down to Houston at the beginning of the month, and our friends took us to a lovely pond in their neighborhood and we passed a delightful portion of the afternoon feeding ducks.


Madeline spent the afternoon trying to eat grass and aspiring to walk like her new friend Daphne:

Madeline: 9 Months

Miss Madeline is now 9 (okay, almost 10) months old. Her latest stats:
Height: 27.5 inches (49%)
Weight: 13.7 pounds (0%)
Head: 16.3 inches (1%)
As predicted, this month Maddie fell below the charts in weight. This led to a little drama as the doctor, wanting to make sure he wasn't missing a problem, ordered some blood work. Poor Madeline's little arm is only an inch or two in circumference, and her veins so very small. We had to go back twice with a total of 5 pinpricks to get enough blood for all of the "failure to thrive" tests. The good news: there is no problem whatsoever! She is still growing, just at a slow rate. My personal theory is that she has Dave's crazy metabolism. I swear she eats more than Emma did when she was a baby.

We weren't ever really worried, mostly because of all of the things she's learning to do!
*Maddie pulls herself up and cruise along furniture.
*She has climbed the entire staircase! (Don't worry, I caught her when she was on the first step and followed her up the rest of the way. I wanted to see how far she could go. She has repeated the feat several times since, under close supervision).
*She is a litte chatterbox! Da, ba, and a lot of other sounds we don't understand.
*She loves "real" food and has become a bit of a beggar. Whenever anyone else is eating she will crawl over to them and pat her hand, squeak, and do whatever else in her power to get you to share with her. She particularly targets Emma.
*She is becoming quite adept at playing with all of her Christmas toys independently. Her favorites are her zoo and ball popper.
*She loves to clap and will clap for almost anything.
*We think she can sign "more," but it looks similar to clapping so we're not entirely sure. She does, however, have many different ways to express she wants more crackers.
*She has finally mastered technically correct crawling. She spent a long time crawling around on her stomach, which is almost as fast as all fours.
*She likes to sing, and it's a struggle for me to entertain her during Emma's music class because she wants to join the fun.
*She hates her shoes and socks and is constantly pulling them off.
*Maddie likes to scrounge around for leftovers on the kitchen floor. We don't need a dog! :)
*Madeline continues to be an easy, happy baby.

Snowmaggedon, Texas Style

So, as pretty much everyone knows because you all lived it, it snowed last week. Here in Dallas we got 12 inches--the kind of snow that comes around once a generation. The girls were captivated. Emma thought it was Christmas again. We went out to play in it (and by "we" I mean Dave and Emma, and I went out for a few minutes to take pictures--I think Madeline would have frozen solid, and I just didn't own any snow clothes in her size). Emma lasted maybe 10 minutes before she decided it was too cold and wet. Ah well. It was fun to watch the neighborhood kids enjoying it.






The best part about Texas snow? Except for a couple of random snowman heads, it's all completely GONE!

Conversations

Emma and I have had some good conversations today.

E (wearing a plastic, blow-up hook on her hand, that was once a kid's meal toy): Aaargh!
Me: Ahoy, matey!
E: No! You're not a pirate. I'm a pirate! You be scared. Aaaargh!
Me: Oh, no, a pirate! I better run away!

--- --- ---

E (toting plastic scissors from a doctor's kit): Can I cut your hair?
M: NOOOOO! We NEVER even pretend to cut hair. NO CUTTING HAIR. Not even with plastic scissors.
E: What can I cut?
M: Umm, paper?
E (thinking, then exclaims): I can cut coupons for Kroger!