Maddy's 1st Birthday!

Madeline turned one year old on Dec. 2, 2009. We celebrated this milestone by having a small party on Sat., Dec 5th at Grandma & Grandpa Escherich's house. Guests enjoyed supper, cake & Maddy opening her presents. The Christmas tree became a birthday tree for one night. Her presents covered the tree skirt. She was very tired for the party because she didn't want to miss a thing so she wouldn't take a nap. You can see a few photos of the "birthday week" below. We say birthday week because she received presents in the mail from Uncle John & Aunt Renee to open. Jerry & Donna gifted her with sleepers, an Elmo outfit, a plush blanket & a beautiful card. She also had a mini celebration Friday, Dec. 4th when Mike & Sue shared supper with us. They brought a cake & a toddler sled for Maddy. Thanks for making Maddy's 1st birthday so special everyone!



The cookies are French tea cakes called, "Madeleines". Debbie made them herself. They bake in special pans and they taste similar to lemon pound cake. Yummy!

Two cakes for the extra special day.

One for Maddy and one for everyone else.

Maddy wouldn't dive in so Debbie helped her eat. So dainty!

So comfortable on Grandma Huseby's lap.

Opening presents from Uncle John & Aunt Renee.

Maddy really likes cards.

Baby up, up Elmo

Cool car! Thanks for the help Uncle Dewey.

Opening Uncle Dewey & Aunt Carmen's gift.

Toddler sled from Mike & Sue.

Salad, lasagna, garlic toast, cake & ice cream were served at Maddy's party. Here's a video of Maddy eating a whole piece of garlic toast!

Maddy is ALMOST 1 year old !!!

Maddy is nearly to the 1 year mark. Wow, did that year go fast! Maddy weighs 23 lbs and is 30 inches tall. She finally cut 2 top teeth this month for a grand total of 6 teeth. Whew! She is making great strides toward walking. (Bad pun?) She normally takes a step or 2 and then kneels/drops to the floor. We are watching her very carefully during the coming of this milestone. To our knowledge, the highest number of consecutive steps taken have been six. When she is focused on something else she goes further because she doesn't get scared. Her confidence seems to continually grow with this tough skill so maybe we can post a video soon showing an upright Maddy. We will be posting a separate blog entry at a later date in honor of Maddy's 1st birthday celebration. There will probably be just a few photos from this event (Maw ha ha). Maddy's room is painted and looking girly. After the holidays, new carpeting and baseboards will complete the project.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving. We were privileged to be able to celebrate twice. We had wonderful food and conversation with the Huseby family in the afternoon and then went to the Escherich family Thanksgiving in the evening which was equally yummy and fun. Maddy loves all the foods associated with Thanksgiving and ate at both parties. She acts very shy in new situations or with new people, but then she "comes out of her shell" as she feels more comfortable. We hope she doesn't become a full time "cling on". To that end, she spent 3 hours at daycare for the first time this month to socialize and foster independence. We plan to do this periodically and hope exposure to new germs isn't a problem. We hope you got your yearly "turkey coma" on Thanksgiving. We really are thankful for our faithful blog readers and are truly blessed to have Maddy to blog about. Take care until next time!

I still love Elmo. I like playing in my playroom.


The playroom is next to my bedroom. Mom and Dad filled my pack and play with balls so now I have my very own ball pit. Whoo Hoo!

I try to walk from my bdrm to my playroom.

Mom hid toys in a box of packing peanuts.

The humidifier fan provides hours of enjoyment.

Mom sneaks up and tickles me all the time.

Aren't I fashionable in Grandma's ear muffs?

I love my new room. I have clouds on my ceiling.

I have a bookshelf filled with books. I could read all day.

Home Sweet Home.

~May your hearts be light & happy this holiday season. May your smiles be big and wide, and may your pockets always have a coin or two inside.

Maddy is 11 months old

The Huseby family moved on 10/17/2009. We are now settling into our new abode. Maddy wasn't sleeping well in the new home, but later we learned that a couple restless nights were due to the arrival of another tooth. Her fourth tooth popped through on 10/20/2009. She has four bottom teeth now. We are hoping that she gets some top teeth soon so she can chew more productively. Maddy visited Dr Jon Larson this month again for her 9 month check-up. We were a little late for this appt because the Dr was busy with the start of school. Matt, Debbie & Maddy all received regular flu shots, but the H1N1 vaccine wasn't available yet. Her growth is holding steady. She weighs 20 lbs still, is 29 inches long & has a head circumference of 17 inches. She is crawling with purpose, but wants to walk so badly. She will let go of stationary objects while standing to balance without help and then grab onto something or drops to the floor. She looks like a surfer on a surf board! Of course, she "cruises" when she can while holding onto things too.

Maddy enjoyed her first Halloween immensely! We went pumpkin picking at Uncle Dewey & Auntie Carmen's place. She loved feeling, smelling and looking at all the pumpkins. We took pictures of Maddy in a pile of pumpkins. When we tried to pick her up, she cried because she wanted to stay right in the middle of the pumpkins. We had a freak winter storm the day before Halloween which dumped a bunch of wet snow on us. However, on Halloween it was sunny and the temperature was high enough to melt a lot of the snow that had fallen the day before. Matt was the official pumpkin carver this year. Maddy couldn't keep her hands off the pumpkin guts and was fascinated by the lit jack-o-lanterns. Madeline was a ladybug for Halloween. She was a cute little bug. You could tell she was excited to be dressed up. All the attention we gave her may have prompted that too. She did a little trick or treating and then had jack-o-lantern shaped pizza for supper. We are currently decorating Maddy's room in the new house. We'll have before and after pictures for everyone to view next month. We hope your Halloween was "spooktacular" and look forward to the upcoming holiday season.

Magnets mesmerize! Pizza crust is alway a great lunch.

Ready for fall. Laying down on the packing job.


Maddy the admin. You want it when? Ya right!!!

Maddy the executive. She still loves her baths.

Winter storm the day before Halloween. Sadie is 14 yrs old.

Styling for Halloween. Pumpkin pickin'

Loved the pumpkins!

Maddy was given a lot of pumpkins by Uncle Dewey & Auntie Carmen.

Squishy! Carving pumpkins.

In the light... In the dark - BOO!

A happy & a scary pumpkin adorned our home this Halloween.

Halloween attire required. Trick or Treat!?!

She is so excited to be a ladybug for Halloween.

We hope you enjoyed Halloween as much as we did.