Standing Tall

I'm listening to Madelyn fight sleep right now and trying to post quickly so I can go in 5 minutes and soothe her. She's been drooling pretty heavily again and had a slight fever yesterday, so I think new teeth are eminent.

These pictures are from her 10 month "birthday." As you can see, she's exploring everything these days. She's even pulling herself up to stand like a pro now.

Her new "duck tub." She loves it. It even quacks when you squeeze it's beak.

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

We were in Denver this last week, so sorry it's been a while since the last post. We all rode just about every form of transportation while we were on our way there.

This is Madelyn waiting in the airport in Dallas. There was a group of elderly women going to Denver for a "girls week" and they loved talking to her and making faces at her.


We opted to let her "lap ride" and really hoped that there would be empty seats. Sadly, this picture is of the only time she had her own seat: Dallas to OKC. We rode Southwest and they were really great, but apparently also doing very well as an airline. 3 of our 4 legs were 100% capacity! She was too excited most of the time to even think about sleeping on the plane. I think the most she ever slept was around 20 minutes.
We landed in Denver, took the terminal train to get our luggage, then a bus to get our rental car. So, outside of riding a bike, she saw every form of transportation that day.We headed straight to the Denver Zoo. Denver was experiencing some record-setting heat while we were there, so we didn't stay long.


Here's Jonathan and Madelyn checking out the monkey island.


Her favorite - the giraffes! Lots of giraffes, even a baby giraffe. However, as you may be able to see, she's sweating and her sunscreen was running into her eyes. We managed to prevent her first sunburn though! The hat's a little big, but I figured she could grow into it. It was that, or a dorky one with a chin strap. Ever the fashionista, Madelyn opted for the big one.


Next it was on to the Hard Rock Denver on 16th Street. The temperature had dropped a little, so we ate outside. Madelyn tried her first chicken fingers, which were pretty spicy. They even had apple juice. I guess I'm still surprised sometimes at how family-friendly restaurants can be if you know what to ask for and how to make it work for your child.

I was at an Understanding Copyright Conference most of the time, so we didn't have much free time together or to venture out into the wilderness. We agreed that we'd hav eto go back when Madelyn can walk more and hike around and see the great outdoors! It was still beautiful to see the mountains around us.

We did go to the Denver Aquarium, which was neat because nearly all of the tanks went all the way to the floor, so Madelyn could see VERY well. It was pretty ok as far as Aquariums go, but overpriced for the size of the place. This is Madelyn checking out the Barracudas!


They did have a pretty amazing shark exhibit and had a fairly large pool of dozens of sting rays - all shapes and sizes. You could just walk right up and touch the sting rays! Madelyn got to touch one briefly, but I think she mostly liked watching me touch them.
About the most difficult thing was adjusting to the altitude and time change. Madelyn's now an expert plane passenger and was very good (no medicine required!)

Mother's Day

We had a good weekend until Madelyn's stomach virus arrived. This was before her fever got too high...

We went out to dinner the night before and Jonathan got breakfast for us on Sunday! It was a nice relaxing weekend with just the three of us.
She's doing better now - just a lingering rash. Colorado here we come!

Wrestlemania

So, Turkey has camel wrestling.

Here at our house - it's cat wrestling! I think Madelyn won this round.

Anticipation

You know you've been waiting for this video. And I told you it was coming. So, here it is.

TA DAH!!!

She's been pretty sick - you name it, she's got it. Except Swine Flu, that is. It's amazing what a different and EVEN happier little girl she is when she's feeling better. I'm just glad that the doctor gave us something this time that seems to really be helping her get over this persistent congestion. I'm afraid she's inherited my mucus gene. Although a nebulizer is no fun for a 9 month old. She has much better and more exciting things to be doing - playing with her maracas, wrestling the cats (I'll post that video tomorrow) and crawling all over the place looking for things she's not meant to play with. All the world is her playground now.

As for us, we're both staying pretty busy with work. We're working on the yard and flower beds and starting to think about improvements to both the interior and exterior of the house.

Oh, and I have an iPhone now. I think Jonathan would say I'm addicted, but I'd just say I'm loving the advances in technology and convenience. In case you want to know, there's pretty much an iPhone app for ANYTHING. My favorite: the AllRecipes.com Dinner Spinner. It's starting to get me excited about cooking. Baking I can do and love (if I have the time.) Cooking - never been that exciting to me. Thanks to Dinner Spinner, I made Toasted Ravioli on Monday night. Yummy!

Go Speedracer!

Uncle Ryan and Chris ran in the OKC Half-Marathon. They both finished under 2 hours. We all got up before the sun and cheered on the runners.

Madelyn's race shirt

Uncle Ry-Ry at Mile 7 - complete with a new mini-Mohawk.

Chris at Mile 9

Her new favorite vantage point.