Admiring herself in the mirror

...and things like that

To put this in context, this was our first visit to cousin Angie's apartment. Madeleine had a blast playing with the toys Angie had bought, and apparently checking herself out... great sippy-cup form, Madeleine!

Madeleine and Caroline

We had company over for dinner last week, and it was the first time we'd really seen Madeleine really playing interactively with a friend! I'm sure she does at daycare, but this was fun for us to see!

A little more advanced

... after a week or so days of ambling.Still a bit hesitant, but not for long...

Madeleine has made remarkable progress regarding her bipedal movement in the last week or so. This is one of the first videos we took, about 9 days ago, in which 'Pants first begins exploring this new form of forward movement.

Happy Birthday MaddiePants!

The evening began with super healthy birthday pizza!
And now for birthday cake and a party hat!

That is my favorite picture. But, enough with the evil party hat! We took it off and let her enjoy the cupcake! I dont think she ate much of it, but seemed to have fun playing with it.

The cupcake is cleaned up, so what do we do now?

Presents! Presents! Presents!
She wasn't quite sure what to think at first. But, after we got them unwrapped , she started to see the fun.






And finally, a birthday bath.

Who Needs Toys?

Last week I was getting ready for work, Paul was already out the door, and I was not exactly running late, but I was getting close. So, I am in the kitchen chopping up fruits and veggies into ridiculously small pieces for Madeleine's lunch and racking my brain for ideas of what else I can send with her to eat. Normally (i.e. most mornings I have a similar "oh crap, what is MaddyPants going to take for lunch" moment), she is in the high chair or playing with pots and pans at my feet. On this particular morning, she was in the living room happily babbling and coo-ing. I could see the top of her head, so I knew she was not near the normal danger zones--power outlets, power cords, other electronics, choking hazards, breakable items....you know, the things she likes most. At first I was just thrilled she was happy and I could continue chopping and labeling random food items with her name and the date and tossing them into her lunch bag. But after a bit my curiosity got the best of me--what was making her so happy? how dangerous is it? So I popped into the living room and this is what I found:
The box was pretty much empty by the time I found her and she was loving it. I couldn't believe how fast she could pull them out--two hands, one right after the other. It was hilarious! Sorry for the bad picture with her eyes closed, but as I said, I was getting close to running late.

Playground Videos

We have a park about a 5 minute walk from our apartment, and Madeleine has just begun to appreciate it. Needless to say, so have Sarah and I. Here she enjoys the slide and confounding dad's attempts to coax her down.