Idaho or Bust

Please be praying for us as we travel to Boise, Idaho tomorrow. I look forward to the vacation but dread the travel process in airports & on planes with a 1 year old. We will be staying with Matt's sister & family for a little over a week. It should be a fun time, and Madison will get to meet more aunts, uncles, cousins & grammy.

1st Birthday Party

We had a fun little 1st birthday party for Madison on Sunday down at the lake. Several dozen family and friends took time out of their busy summer to come help us celebrate one year with our little girl. Madison slept through the first 45 minutes of her party... but that assured she would be in a good mood for the time she was awake! Our friend Anneke helped me make a ladybug cake for Madison. It was her first time having cake, though not her first time having sweets. I'm glad I didn't give her much because she didn't seem to care about it - which was odd since normally she'll eat anything.

Here are a few party pics - and I will try to get more up on Picasa.



Below - Being serenaded by the little girls - sooo cute!

Happy 1st Birthday, Madison!

She'll be 1 year old on Sunday! Wow!

More

Madison has finally started reciprocating one of her signs - "more". She has her own version - which seems to keep changing. It started out with her two pointer fingers touching together. Then it was one finger pointing to an open palm. Now she's gotten lazy and she just claps. But at least she's attempting to sign when she wants something instead of whining & grunting.

Civil War in Mumford

We went to Genesee Country Museum's Civil War event on Saturday. It was a soupy humid day but thankfully overcast with a breeze. We enjoyed our time despite the heat and a sweaty, tired baby. Madison did great during the battle though - she never even flinched!

Matt Returns Today!

We're very much looking forward to having Daddy back with us today. Matt's been gone since Monday on a business trip to Washington, DC, so Madison and I made a little vacation of it & went to stay at my parent's on the lake. We've had a nice time but miss having Matt here with us, so we are anxious for his flight to get in this afternoon.

Madison is officially walking now! She's still wobbly but she has gone up to 13 steps at once, and she definitely has caught on to the concept. She'll usually attempt to get somewhere first by walking. Then she either loses her balance and falls down or just plain realizes that crawling is much faster at the moment, so she'll plop down and crawl the rest of the way. It's very cute!

Two Steps!

Madison took 2 steps on her own today! I don't think she realized she was doing it though. While I wouldn't say 'she's walking' just yet, it does show me she can do it. I figured she could if she really wanted to. Now we'll have to wait and see how long it takes her to realize it and really take off!