I know I'm horrible at keeping our site up to date.  It's not for a lack of things to post, it's for a lack of motivation and length of free time on the computer.  So anyway, November has basically flown by.  Madelyn has 2 teeth, she sits up like a champ, she smiles at everyone and everything and spreads smiles to all who see her.  She likes to talk, loudly and softly, she likes to fake cough and force out laughs, and she loves to show off her teeth!  She's so fun!  I'm so lucky to be her mom!  Here are a few pictures, you can see more, eventually, in the photo albums link.

Sorry for the blur...I had to take this one in a hurry before she ate the camera.

Maddy at Mandy & Jake's Wedding the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  The colors were purple and brown so we thought this little chair would work well for a photo.  She looked so cute!  Thanks for the dress Grandma M.!

Dan was a knockout in his purple tie!!

Maddy with her two baby cousins.  Gabe on the left (9 mo.), Seth on the right (13 mo.).  She was not shy with them and would jump in on whatever they were doing.  Seth liked to feed her anything from his mouth, and Gabe army crawled circles around her!  It was fun to watch her interact with other babies.

The easiest way to update is to share pictures on what Maddy's been up to!

Oct. 10- I took Maddy to Moo Moo Palooza at a nearby farm.  (actually it's a little TOO close for my liking)  We went with some friends and had a good time!  Maddy didn't get much out of it, except enjoying the outdoors, but it was still fun and will be something to look forward to when she's older next year. 

During conference weekend we took Maddy to a nearby park.  She enjoyed the swing though it's kinda difficult to hold on to a swing and a baby at the same time.  She has always liked to be outside so I'm excited it is finally starting to cool down!

Her Uncle Scott sent a fun package with a cool non-skid placemat/dish set and this neat foam puzzle mat set that we set up in the living room.  She mostly likes to suck on the "x" pieces right now, but once she sits up better on her own she'll be able to spend more time playing on it.  Thanks Scott!

She had her 6 month appointment a couple of weeks ago and she was in the 95th % for length and only 5th for weight (just barely under 13lbs) so we've added a little more to her diet and I think she's starting to fill out a bit more.  She is mastering baby food (rice cereal, bananas, carrots so far) and doesn't put her thumb in her mouth between every bite as much. 

She is rolling all over the place and has pushed with her legs like she wants to get up and moving, but no REAL signs of crawling.  We're still working on sitting...  She is getting louder and louder with her squeals which is fun when she's happy, but when she's not she is loud and ornery!  She still says "dadadada" all the time and I've heard some "nanana" but no "mama's" yet.  She has learned how to click her tongue, just this week in fact!  It's fun when she learns new things on her own.  Noises I make to keep her distracted and what not just for fun.

And yes...the hair just keeps on growing!  And yes...EVERYONE still comments!  I wonder at what age people will stop being amazed...haha!

We sure do love our sweet Maddy!!

It seems every day Maddy comes up with something new to do or say.  I was planning to wait until next week to post, after her 6 month appointment, but I'm on here now, so I'm taking advantage of some free time. 

I think last post I showed a picture of her sucking on her ENTIRE set of toes, she still likes that, though she prefers the big toe most often.  She started talking more and has mastered "da-da-da-da-da" with some "ya-ya-ya" 's thrown in.  But her latest new trick is her "cheesy" smile.  It's too funny!  She has even done it in the wee hours of the morning during feeding time.  It usually accompanies a preliminary regular smile, but sometimes it's like she's just experimenting with her face.  Anyway, the pictures say it all.

My first attempt to get it on camera.  This was Oct 2nd 
(Happy Birthday to Carly!)

I just had to post this picture because I thought it was too cute and sweet.  After regressing a little on Tues night and waking up crying for about 30min, Madelyn did much better last night.  I heard her around 2:30am but decided to wait a little and she and I both ended up going back to sleep (not sure who was first).  Then she got up a little before 5am (AWESOME) at which time I nursed her.  So I was kinda surprised when she got up at 8am to nurse again, only 3 hours later, and I figured she would have still been too sleepy to get up to eat again.  Well anyway, she didn't go back to sleep after her 2nd breakfast, but was relaxed and somewhat playful for a bit while I got my own breakfast and decided to check email.  Normally we would have gone walking, but the temp was a little too close to 90 and I didn't feel like going to the mall....SO...I'm checking email and I have Madelyn happily laying on a blanket at my feet, she's smiling at me and giving me giggles on occasion, and then it gets quiet.  I look over and see this...

She just got too tuckered out and rolled over to go to sleep!  This is cute because she just fell asleep playing, and also because she is half rolled over (notice her bum and legs).  Welp!  Sounds like she's awake for another round!

Five months old today... Oh how time flies!  From her last Dr. appointment which was about 2 weeks ago she weighed in at 12lbs 9oz (25%), height is 25.5 inches (75%), and head 42.4cm (75%) - half of that is probably her hair...

She has started rice cereal, though she's not crazy about it yet, she can roll over from tummy to back which makes tummy time pretty much impossible, she has been rolling from her back to tummy, but more often she stops at her hip.  She is very curious and aware of her surroundings.  She can giggle and laugh like crazy and talk and sing too!  Just this week she started a noise that sounds like she has a respiratory problem, but I know it's not, it's just one of her softer quieter noises that is funny to hear.  She is getting very good with her hands and can reach for and grab whatever she wants and can turn around her pacifier to get the end she wants.  She has become a thumb sucker which helps at night to get her soothed when the pacifier falls out...And HOORAY!  She slept through the night for the first time on Sunday night!  I never heard her fuss until 3:53am so I went to feed her (I decided that my rule was I wouldn't feed her before 4am if I was able to get her back to sleep within 10 min)  So far so good!  She also has gotten very good with her feet and uses them as her second pair of hands for sucking and grabbing things (see pic below).  We sure do love our little girl and is it crazy that I'm already anxious for Christmas with her!?!?  Yeah, I know, she won't have the same enthusiasm this year, and the gifts she gets will not matter, only the taste of the wrapping paper will, but STILL!

There is no doubt that Madelyn has quite a LOT of hair.  And people telling us literally EVERYWHERE we go, "She has SO much hair!",
"I can't believe all that hair!",
"That's the most hair I've ever seen on a baby!",
"She has more hair than I did when I was 5!",
certainly wouldn't allow you to doubt it.  However, never having a baby before, and not really observing other babies too closely, Dan and I never really thought too much about it.  That's how she came out, we can't imagine her bald, it's just.......Madelyn.  Now don't get me wrong, this isn't a complaint and Madelyn deserves the attention, she is super cute, if I do say so myself, but how do you respond to hearing that over and over again?  "Yep, it's a lot of hair....You're right!....Good observation!...Dan: Even more than me!... Any other clever ideas??

With that said, I give in...I'm joining the masses... Wow!  Look at all that hair!!!

Maddy had her first professional photo session when we went to visit Colorado Springs.  Boy was it HARD work!  The array of noises and goofy things you do over and over again just to crack a smile or maintain eye contact with a baby.  It would have been pretty hilarious to be a spectator I'm sure.  There were a lot of cute ones with Madelyn and Colton, some (not so cute ones) of me and her (well, she's always cute, my hair however, is NOT), and by the time we did her individual ones, she was done being happy for the camera, so none of those really turned out.  Here's a preview, I'll try to post more in our web albums.

I'm anxious for her hair to be closer to one length so I can pull it up away from her face since it's so hot, plus she's starting to tug at it...  Here was my first attempt at pigtails.  I did it while she was lying on the changing table and squirming so this was really just experimental not for beautification :)