Not Quite Katniss, But We Try

Ever since reading The Hunger Games, I've worried about my family's lack of survival skills.  If society collapses...we are completely sca-rewed.    

We can't fight.  We can't live off the land.  We can't darn socks.  

Is playing the trumpet going to lure some delicious bunny rabbits into our traps?  No.  Is quoting Shakespeare going to scare away the wolves?  No sir.  It will just make them hungrier.    

So every time we're faced with the smallest of crises, I find myself daydreaming about fashioning boots out of old tires and scavenging for berries so we can survive the impending winter.  (Neurotic)     

Luckily, Hurricane Irene did not worry me too much because apparently real-life potential hazards don't get to me.  I'm too busy worrying about the Zombie Apocalypse or the distant meteor hurtling through space to notice a little hurricane coming our way. 

We were also very lucky, and by the time the hurricane made it this far north, it was no longer a hurricane.  We did not suffer any damage or even lose power.  

But...we did lose cable and Internet for over 24 hours.  (Now I'll never find out what happened in that episode of Bar Rescue!)  

We took advantage of our time without distractions to start training Madeline to survive in the wild.  It's never too early.  Besides, what if the Zombies were taking advantage of all the hurricane hoopla to stage a sneak attack.  

We started with something simple...shelter building.  Luckily, we have lots of cardboard boxes on hand.  

We also have a pretty sweet lantern.

And Madeline created a back entrance so she has two ways to escape the Zombies.  

I now feel a little more confident that at least Madeline may survive the Zombie Apocalypse.

That's a pretty amazing fort.  I think she could live there if need be.

50 Weeks

Finally, several weeks late, I present...

A bunny picture.

Her second to last bunny picture because...she's only got two weeks left until she's a one-year old!  OMG how did THAT happen????  Crazy bananas.

(P.S. Family and friends.  She's having a birthday party on the 17th.  Invites went in the mail this morning.  I know it's short notice, but I fail at life.  We'd be so happy if you came.)

Maddie is starting to adjust to her new home.  She hasn't been as cranky and irritable the past two days as she was the past two weeks.  She played happily with her toys for a solid two hours this afternoon. She didn't whine.  She didn't come crawling over to desperately cling to me every few minutes.  She was content watching her red ball roll across our uneven floors and chasing after it.

I went back to work this week, so she's at daycare full time again.  I think those hours playing with other babies and getting a break from Mumma and Dada breathing down her neck every minute of the day help her chill out.  Life is settling back into a routine.  And the Maddie Bear needs her routine.

In other news, Madeline has learned to make the meanest facial expression ever.  She full on glares at us.  Eyebrows knit, bottom lip out, rage in her eyes....glares.  This is the stuff Toddlers in Tiaras is made of folks.

I tried to get a picture of it, but every time she saw the camera, she made this face instead...

Don't let the seemingly innocent baby fool you.  Gal can pierce glass with those eyes.  

The death glare continued all through dinner tonight.  I don't know if she was trying to tell me she didn't like her mashed potatoes, or if she genuinely wants me dead.  Time will tell.

In actuality, I suspect she makes the face so often because her father eggs her on.

Madeline also got two new teeth over the weekend.  She's got a whole little row of chompers on the top of her mouth.

The better to bite me with.  Seriously, she crawled over and chomped on my toe the other night.  Maybe I should start taking her death glare more seriously.

Rock You Like a Hurricane!

While we lay in wait of Irene, Hurricane Maddie Bear has left a path of destruction across our living room that may take me months to clean up....

Mumma's little natural disaster.

Stay safe all my New England lovelies!  

Bermuda Part One

So, I know looking at other people's vacation pictures isn't the most exciting thing in the universe....BUT...this was a special vacation with Nana, Poppy, Auntie Co, and Uncle Kevin...AND...it was me and Maddie's first time on a cruise...AND...my baby is damn cute...AND...it's my blog and I'll do what I want to. So there.

Feel free to scroll, scroll away.

49 Weeks

I spent all day today thinking it was Tuesday when, in fact, it is not.  Today is Wednesday.  That pretty much sums up my life right now.

But, the move is over.  The boxes are becoming fewer.  The furniture is being arranged, and rearranged, and rearranged once more.  The Internet Gods have blessed our new home with their presence.  Hallelujah!  The Maddie Bear is sleeping...fingers crossed.  Life is beginning to get back to normal.

Which means....I may have time to blog again!!!

Madeline has had a rough couple of weeks.  Between packing, taking a cruise to Bermuda, and moving to a whole new house, her life has been completely twisted turned upside down.  She hasn't been on any kind of predictable schedule, and if I've learned one thing over the past three weeks, it's that Madeline needs a routine.  

Yet, in true Maddie Bear style, she's taking it all in stride.  She's been a little crankier, a little less predictable, a LOT more clingy, but mostly good.

She's becoming very grownup as of late.  I feel like she's moving out of babydom and into toddler hood.

She plays with her toys like an actual kid now.  She kisses and rocks her baby doll.  She makes hats out of non-hat items...like a bag of lettuce at the super market today.  She likes to hide behind furniture and peek out at people to play games.  When I read to her, she points to the pictures on the page and listens to me speak in a way that she never has before.

Maddie is also building her vocabulary.  She says Dada, Hi, Ouch, Out, Hat, and Bubba on a regular basis.  She also says "Pop," referring to her grandfather.  This is pretty much awesome because she refuses to let him hold her, yet she can say his name.  Her teachers even mentioned her use of the word "Pop" today at daycare.

Madeline is starting to show signs of temper tantrums.  If you take away something she wants, she loses it.  This usually involves food, but it's also happened with bits of things she's found on the floor, my sunglasses, my cellphone...pretty much anything she's not supposed to have.

Speaking of which, bad things have been finding ways into her mouth.  I had to dig out pieces of what looked like gravel today.  I don't know where it came from, since we were in her bedroom at the time, but she had pebbles in her mouth.  Yikes!  

She still has four teeth, but I think some new ones are coming in.  She was drooling like mad this evening.  Maddie has started grinding her teeth...loudly.  It took me a minute today to realize that the sound of pebbles in her mouth were in fact pebbles and not just Madeline grinding her choppers.

She's not walking yet, but she's standing very well.  Her early intervention teacher was quite impressed with her leg and trunk control this week.  Maddie's also been cruising more and more.  She did several laps around the railing of her crib last night, and she's been making her way across the house by shuffling from box to box.

We have such a sweet, funny, smart little girl.  I feel so blessed to have our new little house for our little family.  It's going to be such a joy to watch her grow up here.  

P.S.  Still no bunny picture because obviously I fail at life.  But, it's coming soon.


 

The Best Birthday Present Ever!

Today is this guy's birthday.

He is an amazing father, friend, and partner in life.  I heart him for many reasons, including the fact that he has decided to live here with me...

Sadly, we've spent most of his birthday weekend painting the house instead of celebrating.  Still...I think the house is totally the best birthday present ever.