Madi at One Year

Now that Madi has been one for over a month I figured I'd give you all a run down on life with a one year old.

Madi is still our happy baby... as long as you are doing what she wants you to do. She's quite opinionated and if you do something she doesn't like, she'll be sure to let you know. They say toddlers don't grow as fast as babies and we can tell, she isn't eating as much as she was, but she's always been a little bit of a grazer. She has grown a little more picky as well. 

Her favorite food is bananas but she also really likes green beans, sweets, and anything mommy is eating. She thinks if mom is eating something, she needs to eat it too. She also loves to steal sips of Grandma and Grandpa's pop whenever they have some (which is always). She spends four days a week with Grandma while Mommy is at work but she missed being there over the break. On Tuesday morning (her first day back with Grandma) I put her coat on and told her she was going to Grandma's house and she started bouncing and flapping her hands and squealing. That means she's excited.

Old Picture. Sorry.

Madi took her "first steps" a few months ago but started walking for real around Christmas time and we couldn't stop her, even if we tried. Anytime she starts crawling she quickly realizes it would be much faster to walk and stands right up. She always has a bump or scratch on her face from falling or hitting herself in the head or who knows what. Actually, one bump is a conservative estimate. Usually it's three or four. One of her favorite Christmas gifts were these shoes from Grandma.

Cute right? Well, you might not be able to see from the photo but hidden in the bottom of those adorable shoes are squeakers that make a noise with every step she takes. Judging by the giggling, running and stamping when she wears them, I think she likes them. She even gave them to dad twice today so he could put them on and then cried when I took them off for nap time.

She loves phones, remotes, looking out windows drinking out of Nalgene bottles (I have to hide them), climbing stairs and dogs. 

Sometimes she gets a little too close and can't understand why the dogs don't like it when she falls on them. She would prefer Grandma's big dog, Cocoa, didn't like her face constantly but I'm sure Cocoa would do it less if Madi's face weren't always covered in food. (Cocoa would still lick some. She's a licker.)

The constant babble is making a little more sense these days as Madi learns a few more words. Right now she says:

mama (although lately she's been calling me dada)

dada (can refer to any male, or me)

up (used for everything. up, down, out, open)

out

dog

cat (usually she just calls all animals "dod," even if it's a chinchilla)

all done

burp (said without the r so it sounds British. so cute.)

nana (can mean banana or i want that)

book (pronounced boop)

baba (for bottle)

ball

hi

She also waves hello and goodbye, gives high fives and says "yeah" after you give her one, and makes a hand movement that looks just like a wave when she wants something. She is starting to point a little but mostly she just opens and closes her hand in the direction of whatever she wants. We feel lucky the days she takes two naps but today she didn't take any so mom is counting down the minutes until I can put her to bed. These kind of days aren't very productive.

All parties involved agree that Madi is the cutest ever but I can't help but think she'd be even cuter with some hair on that bald head.

We love our baby girl and are so grateful to have her in our family!