STRIPES

Check out all my stripes. I think they look pretty cool. -maddox

A DAY IN THE LIFE

Most of the time, I am cute and smiley. My fingers are almost always in my mouth.

During the day, I play with Mom.

Dad is a great playmate, too.

They love me. I have them just where I want them: wrapped around my cute little finger :)

-maddox

DR. SEUSS

Dr. Seuss writes some wacky stuff. Green Eggs and Ham? I'll pass. Yertle the Turtle? Eh, it could be fun. At least it sounds funny when Mom says "Yertle the Turtle" over and over.

But about midway through the book, I always realize that Yertle the Turtle is the same old thing. So, I toss him on the floor.
My jumperoo is way more fun than any turtle.

-maddox

TRAPPED

I am starting to wonder if my feet are broken. Everyone else's feet can walk and run. So either they are broken...or I don't know how to use them right.

Well, maybe I will think about that problem tomorrow. I'm still figuring out how to get out this darn baby seat.
-maddox

THE TUMMY

Papa Joe weighed me tonight. I'm over 16 lbs. My tummy is starting to get in the way of things. Here, it caused me to fall sideways on the couch.

I hear a lot about how exercising can keep you in shape. So, today I went for a stroll. Does it still count if Mom pushed me in the stroller? -maddox

FIRST SNOW

Everyone keeps talking about the inauguration today. I ask, “What about this stuff falling out the sky?” Mom and Dad seem excited about it. During breakfast, they kept telling me this was my first “snow.”

What is snow? White, slow, fluffy rain?? Can I eat it? (I pondered this as I tried Dad’s strawberry)
Finally! They let me touch it. It’s COLD. And clumpy. And it makes our cars look weird.

OK, I've had enough! I worried that if we stayed in the snow too long, it would turn me into a snowman (like it did the cars).

Maybe I'll be more impressed with the next snow.

CABIN FEVER

It was cold and rainy today, so I was trapped in the house. I didn't know what to do with myself. Mom didn't know what to do with me either. She tried to put me down for a nap, she tried out different toys - even the Jumperoo, and she even tried wearing me (putting me in that tummy backpack thing) while she made lunch. Nothing worked for long. I just felt like fussing. Here are some pictures with one of my latest toys. It entertained me for about 6.5 minutes.

When I couldn't eat the steering wheel, I moved on to the gear shift.

That didn't taste too nice either, so I tried a quick attempt to crank up the engine and get out the house, but my attempt failed.

Darnit. I threw it on the floor and yelled. You can call it a temper tantrum, a hissy fit or just being plain whiny, but when I'm done with a toy, I'm DONE. "Come on, Mom, what's next??"

-maddox

SWEET POTATOES

I may have the art of eating a bib down, but when it comes to eating sweet potatoes, things can get messy (and sticky). I found this out today when I tried sweet potatoes for the first time. From the color to the taste, they are definitely more fun than apples or pears. It's a good thing Mom picked up these giant vinyl bibs, though. She loves them because she can just wipe them down when I'm done...I love them because they make this great crinkly sound. So far, I've loved all the solids Mom has given me. But I think this is about to change. I saw a jar of "First Peas" in the cabinet yesterday. I can only hope those peas taste better than they look! -maddox

VROOM VROOM

Check out all my motorcycles....

-maddox

CATCHING SOME ZZZZ'S

Look closely...and you can see that I am using the Jumperoo for purposes other than jumping. I find it is a great place to sleep! If Mom would let me, I'd jump for hours and sleep here too. Whenever Mom pulls me out, I cry.

Before carefully moving me from the Jumperoo to the crib to finish my nap, Mom and Dad whispered and took some pictures of me while I snoozed. They thought it was funny that whenever my Baby Einstein CD hit a high note, I still jumped in my sleep. I call that multi-tasking. -maddox

FRESH OUT THE BATH

-maddox

PAPA JOE'S HAT

I keep my eyes on Papa Joe. Sometimes I laugh at him. Sometimes I cry (especially if he rubs my face with his scruffy beard).

The other night (from the safety of Grandma's lap), I bravely reached out for his hat. I thought it would be a good fit for my head.
Well...maybe I will grow into it. -maddox

BUNNY

You can't tell in this picture, but scroll down...

... Ah, there it is! Today I sprouted a fuzzy bunny tail.
I hopped right onto my great-grandma's back and she gave me a ride around the house. She might be a grandma, but she can keep up with me any day! -maddox

HOW TO EAT A BIB

STEP 1: Touch bib. Open hand. Close hand.

STEP 2: Repeat the process with hand #2. Push the bib toward the mouth.

STEP 3: You're almost there! Now, the easiest part. Take a bite.

I hope that wasn't too complicated for all the amateur babies out there. This process is especially fun when I kick my legs at the same time to make my bouncy seat rock up and down. Now, Mom and Dad can save on batteries and just let me go at it! -maddox

PARTNERS IN CRIME

Dads, lock up your daughters. We're heartbreakers.

And, yes, even heartbreakers have to sleep sometimes. -maddox

I'M SEEING SPOTS

Mom and I took a long walk in the park today. As soon as we got back home, the UPS guy was leaving our house. Finally, my new "Cowmooflage" carseat had arrived and there it was, waiting for me in a big box on the porch! It's a lot bigger than my infant seat because, well, I am getting to be a BIG boy.

I took the seat on a test drive in the kitchen. It's got all the perks - comfort, style, high safety marks - but I still think my bare feet are more impressive.
I thought all the spots were funny.

And while it didn't make any moo sounds as I expected, I still give it five stars. -maddox

JUST IMAGINE

I like anything with wheels. If my jumperoo had wheels, it would be perfect. I could jump AND ride. I like to ponder such an invention as I play in my jumperoo. Sometimes I imagine that this toy on my jumperoo is actually a race car steering wheel. -maddox

RINGIN' IN '09

Even though my bedtime is 6:30, I thought it was only fair that I stay up and ring in the New Year with everyone else....

I played with my Uncle Jody and his fiancee, Samantha, and chatted it up with Grandma and Grandaddy.
I accomplished one of my goals before 2008 was even over: I started holding my bottle (well, I can do it if it's not too heavy).... But I couldn't quite make it 'til midnight. The BOOM BOOM of the fireweorks woke me up every now and then, and by 8:30, I was watching my eyelids and wasn't even thinking about watching some ball drop.



To kick off 2009, I went to Manning with Mom and Dad. We saw Mimi and Gramps and I got to try out something called a walker. My own wheels!

We watched a football game but our team was losing so I decided to just go to sleep.

I am excited about 2009 and the adventures ahead...crawling, my first steps, first words, first tooth, and who knows what else I will be doing...I say bring it on! -maddox