Yesterday Madeleine turned 18 months old. It feels like such a big milestone! We are almost to 2, and it's starting to show. This headstrong kid not only knows exactly what she wants, but now knows how to express it.
Our half-birthday weekend has been full so far of pre-vacation errands as well as visiting with Aunt Stacey, who is in town from Denver. Friday, after she woke up from her nap, Maddie and I drove up to Berkeley to look for some "real" shoes. Lately she's only been wearing her red Crocs (her "shooz," or "zapatitos," as Clelia calls them), which are perfect for her days grubbing it up in the park. She loves them because they're loose and airy. I bought her some sneakers and sandals from Target but she has expressed a definite dislike for both, so knowing we're on our way to Europe where she'll probably be doing a lot of running around in piazzas and cathedrals, I decided to make an investment in some sturdy and comfortable shoes. We ended up with the Lola style of See Kai Run shoes (don't faint over the price ... Maddie's feet do not grow quickly). She's still not thrilled with them, so I know the Crocs will probably be our footwear of choice most of the time we're gone.
Yesterday we shopped for last-minute toddler gear for our trip, including a new changing pad, some little toys to entertain on the trip (she'll get a new one each day on car trips and on the airplane) and a portable booster seat that folds up into a tiny packet and then auto-inflates when you need it. After a good nap, Maddie was a charmer at dinner last night for her grandparents and Aunt Stacey, who hasn't seen her in months and couldn't believe how much she's grown.
A couple of new things that Maddie is doing these days:
When Andrew plays music on his iPod (especially the song clips from the upcoming Mudcrutch album ... which he's been playing a lot since we went to the concert this week), she shakes her rump and spins around. Anytime you mention "dancing" to her, she shakes her shoulders and head.
She's really into "riding the horsie," which started with riding on Bentley (climbing on him while he's sleeping and bouncing up and down) and riding on Daddy and me when we're lying on the ground. Yesterday at the toy store she found a stick pony and rode him around the store. And today she saw a picture of a unicorn on a block at her grandparents' house and bounced up and down.
Since I was away for five days last week, she's been going through a bit of a mommy separation anxiety, which means if I try to put her to bed at night she cries and carries on when I walk out of the room. (She does this in the daytime too, but it's most frustrating at night.) A trick that her grandpa discovered while babysitting the other night is that if you sit in the glider in her room and tell her, "I'm right here, Maddie. Lie down and go to sleep," she'll relax, put her head down and be asleep in a minute or two. I'm hoping it's a trick that will work in Italy too.
The kid is 100% devoted to books. She is a book freak. I've been working with her on how to express that she wants "more," rather than whining and pointing, but she's taken the concept a little far at bedtime. We sit down in the chair and she immediately points to her shelf and says "Book book book," and if you don't choose exactly the one she wants she gets very fussy, meaning we have to let her get down and choose the book herself. At the end of the book, she holds up one finger and demands "One more!" Andrew stops at three books, but I'm of course a sucker for the book-lovin' and read her seven or eight and wait until she's really rubbing at her eyes before I finally put a stop to it. She also demands books during breakfast, and again is very choosy about the titles.
We're getting really excited about Italy and can't wait for Maddie to see Eli again. Even though he's a little older than her, I think they'll have a lot in common. Maddie right now is very into "cahs" (cars), and I was proud that we finally bought her a little VW Beetle to play with, but the day after we brought it home we did a video chat with Sam and Caroline, and Eli showed us his gigantic Barbie Ferrari that they found in the storage space in their apartment. Maddie is going to have a field day with that car. I think they're going to have a blast together.
And of course, before we arrive in Italy we are doing a stopover in New York, where Maddie's going to meet our cousins for the first time, experience her first (and my first) Passover dinner, and meet her cross-country buddy Katie at the Central Park Zoo. She seems to do so well with new people and situations, getting over her momentary shyness to become the charmer and entertainer, so I think as long as she isn't floored by the jet lag, she's going to have a fantastic time on our vacation.
We cannot wait to meet Maddie on Saturday. Any time Katie watches part of the movie Enchanted, I've been explaining to her that that's where we'll be going to see you guys. (I'm just hoping she doesn't expect to see "Didelle" (Giselle) in "New Lork," too!)
Posted by: Susan Murphy | April 21, 2008 at 05:55 AM
At the risk of sounding like a nag: I am jonesing for some new Maddie stories and pics. Pleeeez....
Posted by: Susan Murphy | June 05, 2008 at 06:41 PM