08.31.09 - Pied Piper

Angie tried to get Maddie to play in a pot-n-pan band tonight. Thankfully, she preferred to play the flute rather than the drums!

08.30.09 - Wagon ride

Nan lined her garden cart with pillows and blankets and took Maddie on a short wagon ride tonight. Speaking of ride, how 'bout that slick looking Honda Pilot parked in the driveway?!! ;)

08.29.09 - Shopping

Maddie plays peek-a-boo while on a shopping spree at Target.

08.28.09 - I've said it before ...

... and I'm sure I'll say it again. All those toys and she wants to play with the tag on the area rug! I know what Gramma Karen's thinking ... if you'd just cut that darned tag off!

08.27.09 - Co-Pilot

Maddie isn't nearly as impressed with the Honda Pilot as we are!

08.26.09 - Mac girl

Miss Maddie likes a Mac! She won't crawl for her toys but she'll crawl for the laptop and TV remote.

08.25.09 - Where's Harley?

There she is!

Maddie spots Harley lying in wait at dinner time.

08.24.09 - Glimpse into the future

While many doting parents were dropping their kids off for the first day of school this week, today was Maddie's first day at her new daycare. Staying true to the "first day portrait" rule, Angie helps Maddie pose as we made our way into Lisa's house this morning. Maddie didn't miss a beat. She ate well and slept well on the first day of her new environment. But thinking about all those first-day-of-school parents made me think that in just five short years, we'll be doing this all over again.

And I have no doubt that it will go fast. Maddie's eight months old today. ... Already???

08.23.09 - Just a swingin'

The weather's been so unseasonably mild the past few days that Maddie and I couldn't pass up an opportunity to play on the swing set today. That's me, on the left, wearing the "dad" shirt. That's Maddie, on the right, wearing the big smile!

08.22.09 - If you're happy and you know it ...

Maddie's been clapping A LOT lately. Sometimes she'll do it when she sees her mom or dad. Sometimes she does it with a toy or two in her hands just to see what sound it makes.

08.21.09 - Grandma Shepherd

Today was Grandma Shepherd's last day to watch Maddie full-time. She's filled in while we've been between daycare providers and she did a great job! Maddie will start a new daycare three days a week on Monday. Grandma Shepherd will still get to watch her on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

08.20.09 - Growin' like a weed

Speaking of weeds, it's a good thing I mowed tonight otherwise we might not have been able to find Maddie!

08.19.09 - How much is that Maddie in the window?!!

If you've ever been to our house, you've no doubt seen Harley Hoo greeting you in the front window. Tonight, she showed her sister how to do that trick.

08.18.09 - Flirtin' with crawlin'

Maddie keeps pushing herself up on things. It won't be long before we're chasing her around the house.

08.17.09 - Face full of pears

Maddie's been biting her bottom lip a lot lately. It looks really cute with a face full of pears.

08.16.09 - Hi, Mommy!

At the same time Maddie is learning to crawl she's also beginning to pull herself up on things. Today, she leveraged herself against one of her toys to pop up and say, "Hi, Mommy!"

08.15.09 - Crawl before you walk

Maddie is soooooo close to crawling!

08.14.09 - Hammer time

Maddie enjoys chewing on a plastic hammer that Nan picked up at a garage sale.

08.13.09 - Eat 'em up, eat 'em up K-S-U!

Maddie made another visit to the med school this afternoon where she found this tiny Jayhawk coaster to be quite tasty. Jayhawk, Mmm ... tastes like chicken! But, in all fairness to our place of employment, we've told Maddie that she can attend KU. But, she has to be a doctor.

08.12.09 - Jarie

Our friend Tamika and her two kids came over for dinner tonight. After we ate the kids played on the floor. Jarie started making funny noises and Maddie didn't know what to think of it! It was great to see Maddie interact with some new friends. We hope they can come back and play again!

08.11.09 - On your mark

Get set ... go!

You know, one of these days very soon, she's gonna peek at us over her shoulder and be gone down the hallway.

08.10.09 - Too pooped ...

... from shopping to even take a bedtime bottle. Let's see how early she wakes up tomorrow.

08.09.09 - Sunday morning newspaper

Uncle Brian would be proud ... Maddie drinking her morning bottle while browsing the Sunday ads. I think she found something she wants at Best Buy, Brian!

08.08.09 - Remote control

Maddie likes to play with the remote control whenever we fail to keep it out of her reach. Twice this week she's grabbed it and changed the station to PBS, usually to watch Sid the Science Kid as we're eating breakfast.

08.07.09 - Sneak attack

Maddie's not yet crawling but I love the look she has in this photo. As Harley takes a closer look at Maddie's toys, it looks like Maddie's about to sneak up on her and say, "Hey, those are mine!"

But you can play with me!

08.06.09 - Walking tall

Well, not exactly but we're wondering if Maddie will skip crawling and go right to walking. She likes to stand with a little help and can shuffle her feet ever so slightly.

08.05.09 - Shep Special

When we first moved to Wichita I worked for a few months in a portrait studio. In that time I began photographing small children from up above. A colleague called it the "Shep Special" because no one else could imitate it exactly the same and, in part, because it sold like crazy. Now, usually at the portrait studio I'd make the image black and white because it would be shot on white seamless however I like Maddie's much better in color because of the background elements.

And because she's our "Shep Special."

08.04.09 - Toss up

Now tell me: Is Maddie the cutest baby in the world or the cutest baby in the world?

Eh, it's a toss up!

08.03.09 - Reach

Trying a worm's eye angle with Maddie's photo tonight but she thought the big, black camera in front of my face was a toy that she just had to have.

08.02.09 - All fours

Milestone! Maddie has successfully mastered holding her own bottle!

Although she needs a little help from her feet.

08.01.09 - Someone's not tired

We had a pretty lazy Saturday and thought we'd get a good afternoon nap in. Well, Angie did. As for Maddie ... well, she wasn't really in the sleeping mode so we sat up and played toys instead while Angie slept for a couple of hours.