Cookie Monstah!

Our second mistake was letting Madeline have a cookie yesterday because now every time she sees them, all she wants to do is eat them.

 Our first mistake was keeping chocolate chip cookies in the house in the first place.

Mmmmm, chocolate.  

Baby and Me and a Floor Full of Peas!

I pretended not to see I didn't see Madeline eat about ten peas off the kitchen floor after dinner tonight while I unloaded the dishwasher.

She even crawled under a chair army style to get at one particularly gross-looking pea.  At least, that's what I imagine she did...I didn't actually see her do it.  (Okay, I totally did.)

For what it's worth, she seemed to really enjoy them.  She even found one or two (or possibly more) left-over Cheerios from breakfast this morning.

We sweep the floor daily.  I even mopped it on Monday...it can't be that dirty.

Does this make me a bad Mumma?

I also happened to notice that exactly one year ago today I was busy doing this: Baby and Me and a Bucket of Pee!

From pee to peas.  What a busy year it's been.


P.S.  Perhaps more exciting than letting my baby eat smooshed-up, disgusting peas off the kitchen floor...We witnessed Madeline walking today!!!  She took about four steps and then fell.  Then she did it again.  And again.  Baby gal is a walking!

Before and Afters

This has been a long time in coming because we painted the house several weeks ago now, but blogging hasn't been a top priority this summer.  Hopefully, this fall it becomes one again.

We're slowly but surely getting everything unpacked and in its proper place around these parts.  It's starting to feel like home instead of some random house with piles of our junk in it.

The first weekend we owned the place, before the movers showed up, we had a painting party.  Many of our lovely relatives volunteered their services to pretty much paint our house from top to bottom.

Living room before:

And living room after...I love, love, LOVE this color!  Martha Stewart's Winter Day

 Entryway before...purple and green

 Entryway after...Martha Stewart's Heavy Goose

 It's hard to tell from the pictures, but the light gray color really made that window stand out.  There's etching detail around the edges that I didn't even notice before we painted.  The gray really makes it pop.

I was impressed with everyone's efforts painting the hall because they also did upstairs.  That included some pretty fancy footwork on top of a ladder to get above the stairs.  I was really scared someone was going to break his ever-loving neck.  BUT, thankfully, all was well, and it looks great.  

Thanks painters!

The bathroom before...

And after....I'm a bit obsessed with the way this color (Martha Stewart's Zinc) looks in this room.  When I first started getting the paint on the wall, I was so worried about how dark it was.  I was wrong.  It looks amazing with the tiled floor!  LOVE it!

Maddie's room before....brown little boy's room  

Madeline's room after....raspberry little girl's room!  The first time she saw it she said, "Ohhhhh" and reached out to touch the walls.  I think that means she likes it.

We also painted the laundry room and office. I do not have before and after pictures of those rooms, but they look awesome.

We did not paint our bedroom because I have no idea what color to paint it yet, and we can live with yellow for now.  We did not paint the dining room because we don't even have a dining room table yet, so really, what's the rush?  We also did not paint the kitchen because we have future plans to update the cabinets and countertops so we'll wait to do it all at once.

I'm so happy with how it looks so far!

What Happened to Summer?

Seriously.  It's back-to-school time already.  What happened to all my epic summer vacation plans????

Oh, I know.

They went here:

And here:

Not that I'm complaining because I adore my little girl, and I adore our little house.

But in June, I made this list.  And here's what actually happened.

1.) One picnic a week
2.) Go berry picking
3.) Make at least three different flavors of ice cream. (Close though.  I made two.)  
4.) Make a pie
5.) Take Madeline swimming for the first time.  Hooray!  Took her swimming twice!  
6.) Build a sandcastle
7.) Read a non-work related book  (They all tied into work somehow.)  
8.) See a concert
9.) Buy a house:  Hooray!  Major success!  
10.) De clutter our current house:  Hooray!  
11.) Frequent a farmers' market
12.) Eat Lobster
13.) Eat steamers
14.) Take Madeline on the train (We did take her on the T a few times though.)  
15.) Ride the swan boats
16.) Bring Madeline to Central Park
17.) Go to Vermont!  Hooray!  
18.) Go to Montaulk
19.) See Harry Potter! Hooray!  
20.) Go outlet shopping:  Hooray!  
21.) Girl trip
22.) Mini road trip
23.) Cut my hair
24.) Go kayaking:  Hooray!  
25.) Plan Madeline's first birthday:  (Sorta.  I'm still working on it.) 
26.) Ride the trolley
27.) Finish at least one of the arts and crafts projects that I've started:  Hooray!  
28.) Lose five pounds:  Does it count if I lost more than this, gained it back, and then went down again?  
29.) Give Madeline her first taste of ice cream:  Hooray!  
30.) Get a pedicure (Damn my feet are gross!) 
31.) Bring Madeline to a parade:  Hooray!  
32.) Bring Madeline to see fireworks



11/32.  Meh.  I'll take it.  I did get to go on a cruise.  AND, I got my house!  

51 Weeks

Some random facts about Madeline:  Her favorite food is cheese.  She has a cowlick.  Her eyes are still a grey-ish, brown-ish, green-ish color.  Her favorite toys are Ugly Baby and her plastic rings.  She will not eat any kind of meat.  She has six teeth with more on the way.  She is the most ticklish under her chin.  She loves looking out the windows of the house.  She loves to be cuddled.  She hates having her diaper changed.

She's also become a very picky eater in spite of the fact that she'd eat just about anything as a little baby.  When she doesn't want something we give her to eat, she throws it on the floor.  Piece by piece, one at a time until it's all on the floor.

This is not just limited to foods she dislikes, however.  Oh no.  She could be happily munching away on some peas, (She LOVES peas!) and for some reason, one pea won't meet her standards.  On to the floor it goes.  Then she'll inspect the next one, alternating between peas fit to enter her mouth and peas destined for the kitchen floor.  I don't know why some foods make the cut and other don't.  It's a mystery.

It can be frustrating watching her do this.  I worked hard making you that grilled cheese sandwich, Maddie Bear.  EAT IT!  Besides, I want her to get a well-balanced meal.

But, oh, is it funny. I usually have to choke back a giggle when I see her sorting through her corn.  It's hard to keep a straight face when she's being so cute.  My little weirdo!

Another Maddie Bear slice of hilarity is that she's learned to nod yes.  Any time you ask her a question, she nods in response.  Sometimes, it seems like she really knows what you are saying.  "Do you want to play with your toys?"  *nod, nod*  "Do you love Mumma best?"  *nod, nod*

But really, as long as our voices rise at the end of the sentence as if we're asking a question, she'll nod in response.  Totally cute.  Especially since she hasn't learned to shake her head no yet.  I have a feeling that may not be quite as cute.  

Madeline is getting very close to walking.  She holds our hands and walks along with us now.  She can push a box, or a carriage, or a coffee table across the room on her feet.

This afternoon she was standing in the middle of the living room floor crying, (Poor baby is teething again.) and I reached out for her.  She almost took a step forward to me.  I saw her jerk toward me, and then hesitate.  I saw the wheels turning in her head as she calculated if she could take a step without holding on to something for support.  She wasn't quite ready.  But she's close.

When she's at daycare with the other babies, she likes to pet their heads and sweetly coo "Ohhhh" the same way she cuddles Ugly Baby and us.

Madeline is filled to the brim with love.

Also about Madeline?  She'll be a one-year-old in a week.

Madeline's First...

Red Sox Game!!! (Thanks, Nana!)

Sadly, Eric and I do not pull for the same baseball team.  I, being an extremely intelligent and upstanding citizen from Massachusetts, route for the Red Sox.  Eric, being a man of questionable morals from New York, routes for the team that shall not be named.

Sometimes this causes problems, but we usually can agree to disagree when it comes to anything concerning baseball, sex, or politics.  (Besides, neither one of us is a huge baseball fan to begin with. Shh.) Still, we've had recent disagreements about where Madeline's baseball loyalties will lie.

I gotta say, I've totally got this one in the bag.   Madeline IS a Red Sox fan.

First, she begged us to buy her her first baseball cap.  She just might be the cutest thing to ever sport a pink Red Sox cap.    

Once we got into the bleachers, she joined right in with the rest of the crowd by scowling at the "Boos" and clapping with the cheers.  She even tried to steal the beer of the poor man sitting next to us.  I had to remind her over and over again that beer is NOT for babies.

Luckily, she agreed to settle for a nice, cool bubba instead.

And sure, she may have slept through the better part of the game, but I think it's just because she couldn't stand to watch her team loose...to Texas.

Don't worry little one, there will be other games.    

Bermuda The Sequel

Even MORE Bermuda pictures!

We got to go hang with the captain on the bridge as it left port in Bermuda.