05.31.09 - Green thumb?

Maddie sat under a shade tree this morning as Nan helped Angie and I plant some flowers, tomato plants and a rose bush. Isn't she stinkin' cute?!!

05.30.09 - Uncle Brent

It's no secret that Uncle Brent (Angie's brother) is the last person Maddie wants to see or be left with. Every time he tries to hold her, she screams and cries. He took it hard a few times, too, because he's really good with kids and adores Maddie. But tonight a strange thing happened. Grandpa Greg invited all of us over for dinner and Maddie didn't cry when her "Uncle Brenners" tried to hold her!

Thanks to Shania for snapping this photo and Nancy for sending it to us!

05.29.09 - I scream, you scream ...

... we all scream for ice cream! For the first time since we moved into the Bella Vista house, we had some cash when we heard the ice cream man's music playing in the neighborhood. Angie was quite excited about her bomb pop but I was disappointed that they no longer have the banana fudge sickle I remember getting as a kid.

05.28.09 - Water baby

Aunt Tori lathered on the sunscreen and let Maddie play in the sprinkler at daycare today. She seemed to like it and we're excited for a pool day at Gramma Karen's house next month!

Thanks, Tori, for sharing this photo with us.

05.27.09 - Open mouth ...

... insert food!

05.26.09 - Cousin!

After unpacking the car and resting up a bit, we went over to Brent and Tori's house tonight to meet their new son, Emerson Kenneth. He was born last Thursday, about the time we were heading north on the Kansas Turnpike. We can't believe how big Maddie has gotten in five months! We can hardly remember her being so tiny.

05.25.09 - Road trip 3

Since Christmas is Angie's favorite holiday - and since Maddie is a Christmas Eve baby! - we took a few extra minutes to drive through Santa Claus, Ind., on the way back home from Cincinnati. That gave Maddie a chance to get out of her car seat for awhile, which she appreciated until we had to put her back in it!

05.24.09 - Pretty Good Uncle Chuck

This trip to Cincinnati was really all about seeing Uncle Chuck and Aunt Dee. Sure, we saw a Reds game, hung out with Aaron and went to the zoo. But Uncle Chuck is my dad's older - and only - brother and it was important to me the he get to meet Maddie no matter how little she still is. He treated us to breakfast yesterday morning and tonight had us over to his place where I got to catch up with my cousin Scott and his three girls: Libby, Chloe and Carly. Aaron is now more than six feet tall, Libby is turning into a beautiful young woman and the twins are as rambunctious and hilarious as ever at nine years old. It's amazing how much people change when you only see them every few years.

As we left his condo tonight, I held Maddie up and told her to say goodbye to her Great Uncle Chuck.

"I don't know about great," he said, reaching out to touch her hand. "But pretty good's OK."

05.23.09 - Rally caps

It was free cap night at the Reds game tonight. Unfortunately, we needed to use them as rally caps, which didn't work, in the Reds' 7-6 loss to the Indians. It was special, nevertheless, as I saw my first Major League game in Cincinnati in 1988 and one day Maddie can say the same about 2009!

05.22.09 - Road trip 2

Hey, Dad! Let me know when you want me to drive for awhile!

Unfortunately, not only can Maddie not reach the pedals she also can't see over the steering wheel. So for those of you counting the mileage at home ...

Mike 950.4
Ladies 0

05.21.09 - Road trip 1

We set out this afternoon for Cincinnati and we're learning what it's like traveling with small children. We stopped four times before we made it to Columbia, including the El Dorado rest area which is less than 30 miles from where we started.

And no, Nan, Maddie didn't get any Chicken McNuggets.

05.20.09 - Multi-tasking

That's her foot in her mouth, in case you can't tell.

05.19.09 - Little things to get excited about

Hey, an even number of socks! Woo-hoo!

05.18.09 - Mommy's birthday

Today was Angie's birthday and so Maddie got her this framed photo to put on her desk at work.

05.17.09 - Is there anything on my face?

We introduced Maddie to solid foods today. She had green beans for lunch. Or maybe the green beans had her!

05.16.09 - Why Maddie likes her toes

They're always within reach!

05.15.09 - Bed time

But I'm not ready for bed yet!

05.14.09 - Hey, batta, batta, batta. Suh-wing, batta!

Maddie went to her first Wingnuts game tonight. While she was attentive for the first couple of innings, she ended up spending a majority of her time sucking on her toes, playing with rings or sleeping. As we were leaving, Angie commented that she's going to know everything there is to know about baseball.

She will if I have anything to say about it!

05.13.09 - Don't be fooled ...

... Maddie doesn't like tummy time near as much as you'd think she would by looking at this photo.

05.12.09 - Go State!

Imagine our surprise when we opened Maddie's diaper bag from day care the other day to find this K-State hat tucked away inside. Surely it belonged to another child (and there is one whose parents happen to be K-Staters) and Aunt Tori gave it to us by mistake. After all, Aunt Tori and Uncle Brent and the whole crew are KU fans. But much to our surprise, the hat was, in fact, a gift to Maddie from them. We tried it on her with her K-State onesie this morning, thinking it would be fun for us to take her to day care dressed as a Wildcat but, alas, it's still a bit too big. I bet it fits come football season!

Editor's note: The title of this post changed as Angie pointed out I'd already used the original title two months ago.

05.11.09 - Mom's prize

Angie was very excited to show off her Mothers' Day prize at work today. Her Mothers' bracelet features Maddie's name and her birthstone, blue topaz. It was handmade, with love, by Mike with the help of a few nice ladies at Kay Wiggins Jewelry.

05.10.09 - Happy Mothers' Day!

To the best Mommy there is!

05.09.09 - Couldn't wait to get home ...

... to see Maddie after attending the funeral of a young father who left behind three girls under the age of 10. The service was very festive and at times I forgot it was a funeral. Nevertheless, I thought of Maddie the whole time and couldn't wait to get home to hold her.

05.08.09 - Everyone loves a parade!

Recently Maddie attended her first baseball game. Tonight, she walked (sorta) in her first parade! She joined me as I walked along with the KU School of Medicine-Wichita float in the River Festival Sundown Parade.

Thanks to Kristie, a colleague at KU, for snapping this photo of us.

05.07.09 - Whatta face!

Our friends Matt and Amy came over for dinner tonight and brought their two girls, including their youngest, Chloe, who is just a couple of weeks older than Maddie. As the moms traded babies for a few minutes, Maddie made this face. I'm sure she was saying something but I have no idea what she was trying to tell me!

05.06.09 - Yay, baseball!!!

Maddie cheers on the Shockers tonight at her very first baseball game! Despite her enthusiasm, the Shockers fell, 8-3, to KU. Better luck next week at the first Wingnuts game.

05.05.09 - Take your daughter to work day?

Well, it wasn't really Take Your Daughter to Work Day but Maddie made another appearance at the medical school following a late-afternoon PT appointment. She's making tremendous progress and I think we'll be finished soon. In fact, Jan, our therapist was totally impressed with how well Maddie will reach for things, as exhibited here with her mom's keyboard.

Don't worry, KU. Maddie didn't actually touch the keys nor drool on them.

05.04.09 - Bedtime play

It's bedtime, but Maddie pulls the blanket over her face as if to say, "peekaboo, I see you!"

05.03.09 - Daddy's girl

Angie thinks Maddie's been a daddy's girl this weekend and insisted on taking this photo of us tonight.

05.02.09 - Dad, can we talk?

Sure, Maddie girl! What's on your mind?

What do you think she's saying? Leave it in the comments!

05.01.09 - That's a mouthful!

Tonight we caught Maddie with her toes in her mouth.

If only Angie would have caught me sitting in Maddie's crib to be in position to make this image.