Chatty Cathy

I know every parent says this all the time, but I can't get over how quickly Madeline is growing up. For an update, she now has about 7 words she says. She's not the biggest talker when we're in public, but at home she's usually jabbering about something. These are her words:

"Up"- her first word. She used to say it about 20 times/day but now it's less often

"Mama"

"Dada"

"Keys"

"Cheese"- sounds the exact same as "keys", but she actually says them both in the correct context

"Uh-Oh"- maybe counts as a word, maybe not?

"Shoes"- sounds nothing like the correct pronunciation, but we can tell she's trying 

"Mama" and "Dada" were really solidified in the past 2 weeks. It's also so fascinating realizing she understands WAY more than I gave her credit for. Including the meaning of "No". Even after we say "No", she'll just stare straight at us and in slow motion move her hand toward the off limit object, all while never breaking eye contact. The little stinker knows exactly what she's doing. :-). 

You Have a Baby....In a closet!

      So that title is obviously a reference to one of my favorite movie lines "You have a baby...in a bar!" from Sweet Home Alabama. I was reading this blog post recently and thought about how people really do get a kick out of the fact that Madeline slept in a closet the first 3 months of her life. The first 2 months in New York, and the 3rd month when we were moved back to Nashville and stayed with my mom. The truth is several of my other friends' babies slept in closets as well, and it's not that unusual. 

      Someone told me right before Maddie was born that all you really need is a car seat, diapers, and a place for the baby to sleep, and I firmly agree. We were in a 475 sq.ft. studio, and therefore had no room for unnecessary items. We had to make it work we and we did. I thought this would be a good opportunity to show Maddie's first "nursery" for those of you who didn't get to see. 

19 in. deep closet with accordion doors and one cute 'lil girl. Those prints are the first things I ever bought Maddie. Bought them from a Chinese artist on West Broadway in Soho when I was about 4 months pregnant. 

Just so you have a reference, that's Maddie's closet on the left pre-baby

 She has since upgraded to a crib in a room with 4 walls. The prints from her "closet nursery" came with her, hopefully making her feel at home. :-)

New Yorkers take on Nashville

Some of our best friends from New York, John and Summer Ellis, came in town a few weeks ago so John could run the Music City half marathon with Stephen. They brought their 2 kids John Jr. and Anna Charles so Madeline was able to have her first sleep over. While the race ended up being a bust (down-poured the entire time), the weekend was so much fun. I should point out, despite almost dying from hypothermia, they did manage to run one of their best half marathon times to date.

There was a lot of playing, reading the Berenstein Bears, and Settlers of Cattan (only the adults partook in this last thing. If you have never played, I highly suggest you start. I am definitely not a big strategic board game type person and even I loved it). It was a bummer that it rained the whole weekend, but it was nice to just stay in and catch up with our dear friends who we miss so much.

Sweet Anna Charles. 2 going on 12.

 Maddie (a tad wind blown) and Aunt Sum

Snuck in a trip to the Dragon Park during the 2 hours it didn't rain.

John and his Mama

I think one of Maddie's favorite parts of the whole weekend was John's palette on the floor. She has this weird obsession with collapsing on any soft pile of pillows/blankets.

Maddie and Big John

 The kiddos in their pj's. Sweet John was trying to kiss Maddie the whole weekend. Maddie wasn't too crazy about it, but I thought it was adorable.

Name that Celebrity

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Rodney Dangerfield