Maddy is 13 months old

Maddy is walking! She started taking tenative steps in November (Her first steps happened on Nov. 17th), but gets around pretty well now. She still drops/falls down a lot. When she gets frustrated and wants to get somewhere quickly, crawling is preferred, but the walking milestone has been achieved. On Dec. 7th she saw the doctor for her 1 year wellness check. At that time, she was poked 5 times. Poor Maddy :-( It was quick, but definitely not painless. She also made it through getting 2 new top teeth this month. The 7th tooth popped through on Dec. 10th and the 8th toothed appeared on Dec. 19th. With 4 teeth on top and 4 teeth on the bottom, her smile is beautifully toothy. She weighs 22 lbs and is 30" tall according to "home measurements". Her bedroom is finally finished. The new baseboards and carpet were completed right before Christmas.

Christmas was extremely challenging due to a major winter storm that blew through our area. We enjoyed a Christmas Eve supper and opened gifts with just the 3 of us. Then, we spent Christmas day with Debbie's family (Mom, Dad, John, Renee & BlakeLynn) at her parent's house. We spent the night there due to the storm which provided more time to visit. Too many gifts and too much food made for a contented bunch. Matt's family celebration was postponed to Sunday instead of Christmas day; again due to the storm. The food, company & gifts were all wonderful. We were so lucky to be surrounded by loved ones this season while many travelers were stranded. Instead of posting all the gift-opening photos, we posted a video. Our space is limited on this site so we had to choose between a bunch of photos or a few photos and a video. We love her "special talents" and wanted to share this particular video.

We are so thankful to our family and friends for your support and unconditional love in 2009. We wish you all a happy, healthy & prosperous year in 2010.


All ready to go sledding for the first time.



Minnesota native to the core.



All smiles



Maddy is making silly faces like Grandpa makes. She is starting to copy actions more.



Santa Baby

Opening presents was a skill learned this Christmas.

Sadie turned 15 yrs old on Jan 4, 2010

Sadie the Reindeer hopes Santa brought you everything you wanted.

*Video: Maddy has a toy called the "Ball Popper". This toy uses air to pop balls out. She LOVES catching the breeze. Her antics with this toy are hilarious to us. We hope you enjoy them too.

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.