Week Thirty-One

• Spent most of the week still in Niceville.
• Went for a shopping trip to the Destin outlets, so mom could get some new work clothes...yes, that day is looming!
• Went to the park and played on a lot of big kid toys.  Maddie is still a little young for most parks since she doesn't crawl the traditional way and she doesn't climb on things.  She seemed to enjoy everything for about 3 minutes.
• Spent some quality time with her Grandpa Hart at his house.  He just happened to be home one day, so we stopped on by and spent the afternoon with him.  Maddie and Grandpa had lots to talk about.
• Is scooting a little faster on her tummy.  She rocks back and forth on her knees, but usually falls back down and does the scoot.  
• Loves to go after Noah and say, "duh"!
• Is a great eater!  She is eating pureed Zucchini, Squash, Avocado, Banana, Apples, Pear, Green Peas, and Sweet Potato.
• Got super fussy for the last 45 minutes of our trip back home.  Our trips have become much longer now that we have to stop and feed her actual food, so I'm sure she was tired too.
• Broke her first two teeth when we got home from Niceville!  On Monday, July 30th a little tiny piece of tooth broke through her gums!!  This made Monday-Wednesday a bit more difficult.  She was very clingy during the day and very fussy.  She woke up a few nights about an hour after going down, so we gave her some Tylenol and luckily she was good until morning.

It's hard growing teeth...

Play date with Jacob

Hi Guys!

Giggle girl!

Week Thirty

• went to the pool/splash park with Jacob from next door.  Maddie enjoys sitting in the water and watching all of the other kids, but just a little bit of sun and water and that girl gets tired.  We ended up taking a little siesta while Jacob continued playing.
• went to Olive Garden with mommy and my college friend, Candace.  She sat in the restaurant high chair for the first time and was great!  It's a little more challenging to eat a nice dinner and feed Maddie plus keep her occupied, but it's also nice to get out once in awhile and teach Maddie how to eat out.
• is learning how to wave.  She watches our hands as we wave to her and tries to make the same motion we do.  She is getting much better at it and has started to wave at herself and others when we are out.
• is babbling now.  She was always a big talker, but just made little baby sounds.  Now she is saying: da, duh, da-da, and sometimes do.
• looks at Noah and says, "duh".  We have been teaching her to say dog and I think she is starting to put it together when she sees Noah. 
• is really getting good at her army crawling.  She pulls herself along the floor pretty quickly...especially when she wants a toy or Noah.
• can get up on all fours and rock, but she hasn't become brave enough to move her hands and legs yet. 
• traveled up to Niceville for our week of vacation. She did very well in the car, but now with having to eat solids at breakfast and lunch our 6 hour drive became an 8 hour drive.  We stopped to eat breakfast and lunch with her on the way up.
• swam in Boggy Buyou where her daddy learned to knee board.  She enjoyed standing in the water with daddy!
• went to the beach on her 30 week birthday! This was Maddie's first trip to the beach and she seemed to enjoy herself.  We stayed less than an hour and kept her under the umbrella, but she did get a chance to play in the waves and play in the wet sand (which of course she tried to eat).
• went out to lunch with mommy and daddy after the beach.  We took her to a casual beach type place on the water and ate outside in our bathing suits.  Maddie did so well in the high chair and enjoyed watching all of the boats at the harbour.  We practiced waving to them as they went by.

Week 30 Adventures...

Daddy: "Brown Bear, Brown Bear...."

Noah likes to be a part of bedtime

Maddie's 'new' toychest.  This was my toychest that my dad made me 25 years ago, so I put a little TLC into it for Maddie.

Maddie decided she wanted to drive to Granny's house

First time at the beach!

While we were gone Jacob came over by himself to visit Maddie!

Week Twenty-Nine

• Rode on an airplane for the first time.  She did pretty well for her first trip...there was a little screaming, some laughing, blowing raspberries all over the other passengers, knocking over a cup of ice on another passenger, smiling, and some sleeping.  Overall, not too bad.
• Stayed up past her bedtime every single night, but still managed to sleep until between 7-7:30am every morning....love that girl!!
• Said, "I love you".  Teta Nancy was telling Maddie how much she loved her and Maddie took her finger out of her mouth and said it too (in Maddie language of course)
• Went to her first big fat Greek picnic thanks to cousin Valarie.  Maddie was passed around to just about everyone all night and loved every minute of it!
• Spent time with her great aunts and uncles, papou, and lots of cousins.  
• Met her great grandmother who is 95 years old!  Maddie's due date was on Mya's 95th birthday, but we missed it by 6 days (gotta love our little tax deduction). :)  
• Was so good through the entire trip.  She adjusted to all the new places and new faces so well and acted like she had been there 100 times!  Everyone just loved her so much and said what a great baby she is...we just love our Maddie!
• Was happy to see daddy when he picked us up at the airport.  I know that daddy missed us too ...luckily Mrs. Catherine next door brought daddy some food one night, so we know he was taken care of without his girls! :)

Hangin' in the swing

Maddie was using her cousin's swing for the weekend...wind up dial and all!

Breakfast time at Teta Nancy's....thanks to cousin Val for the awesome highchair and pack n' play.

Uncle John and Maddie

feet in the water...

Maddie's clothes hanging out to dry on the clothesline!

Bath time at Teta Nancy's house

Falling asleep while the grown ups eat dinner

Yes, my crazy uncle mows the lawn in his flip flops and yes his lawn is crazy green!

Maddie waiting to board our flight back to O-town

I can't wait to see my daddy!

Maddie and her papou

Week Twenty-Eight

Happy 4th of July, Ya'll!!

• Celebrated her first fourth of July.  We stayed home and had a BBQ lunch with our neighbors, Vinny, Catherine, and their one year old son Jacob.  
• Slept through all of the fireworks!  We decided to just stay home since Maddie really wouldn't understand going out past her bedtime and a well-rested baby = happy mommy and daddy!
• Ate pear this week.  Maddie is now eating: sweet potato, banana, green peas, pears, apples, and avocado.  Next up will be yellow squash and zucchini and then we'll be into 7 month foods!
• Is eating some of her food a bit thicker.  I made the last batch with less water, so she can get use to the thicker textures and prepare for real solids!  She still eats banana and avocado mashed and not pureed, so that helps too.
• Has moved away from her Monday-Friday poppy diapers...Maddie is now quite regular at 7 days a week! (She still is pretty good about only during the day though, so Shawn still gets out of those most days)
• Is officially mobile now!!  She can scoot from one side of the play mat to the other in no time.  Once she gets those knees underneath her, she'll be crusin'.
• Sits up all by herself!  She'll sit and play for a few minutes if she has toys near her, but she is much more interested in moving from toy to toy on her tummy.
• LOVES all of her toys.  I put her in the middle of the play mat and scatter all of her toys in a big circle.  She just scoots from toy to toy all morning long!
• Is sleeping until 7:30-8am!!!  She is now sleeping between 12-13 hours per night. :)
• Has had two nights that she has woken up in pain 45 minutes after going down.  Since she NEVER gets up or cries we are pretty sure it's teething, so we've been giving her Tylenol and sending her back to bed.  
• Had another fun family trip to the grocery store.  This time when Maddie needed a new diaper it was daddy's turn.  Shawn never wanted to get his own gender neutral diaper bag, so when he takes her in a store to change her, he also carries my Petunia Pickle Bottom bag...such a stylish dad!
• Went to the Oviedo pool/splash park on Sunday.  Maddie enjoyed sitting in the water and putting her hands through all of the sprinklers...she wasn't afraid of the water at all and kept trying to face plant in the pool!  After about 45 minutes she was tired and took a little nap while daddy did some swimming.  The aquatic center is a 5 minute drive from home, so we will definitely be getting our seasonal pass next summer!
• Had her first Orlando theme park experience!  On Monday, we went to SeaWorld with Catherine, Kelly, Brayden, and Jacob.  Teachers get free annual passes to SeaWorld, so it was a fun and economical way to spend the day! We saw the dolphin show, the pet show, the sting rays, and played in the kiddie splash pad.  Maddie loved all the shows, talked a ton, watched everything, played so well in the splash area, and napped in the car with Jacob to and from the park (not much napping at the park).  She was so tired that she went right to bed that night and slept until almost 8am the next morning!
• Went to lunch with Courtney on her 28 week birthday.  We met at Panera for lunch and then did some shopping together!!
• Is such a challenge on the changing table!!!  She wants to roll over and off of the changing table every.single.time.  I have been singing songs to her because usually she watches me as I sing, but the last few days that doesn't work anymore.  I'm pretty sure Maddie would rather run around naked instead! 
• Must be entertained all of the time.  She isn't much for just sitting down and having quality time together anymore.  I have to make sure that I have a toy whenever we are out, so she is occupied.
• Sat in the top of the Publix shopping cart with her cart cover!  Such a big girl. :)

Stay tuned for next week's big adventure!  On Thursday, Maddie and Mommy leave for a 5 day trip to upstate NY!  This will be Maddie's first time on an airplane...let's hope we can all stay entertained for the 2.5 hour flight!

Maddie's awesome great Aunt Pauline sent her this outfit, but I think the pants are a bit too big!  Although, this is the style in middle school!

Hey guys, I'm sitting up all by myself!

Sitting up playing with my toys!

At the pool

Me and my dad at the pool

Family pool time

Napping after a long afternoon in the sun

Grocery shopping in the top of the cart!

First trip to Sea World!