12.24.10 - Maddie's 2nd birthday

Maddie turned 2 on Christmas Eve. Despite the extra work involved, I kinda liked that there was a Christmas tree in the background of this photo. Given that Christmas is her Mommy's favorite holiday, I hope that Maddie grows up to like it as much, too, even if it coincides with her birthday. And if not? Well, sorry kid. It wasn't our fault! As for the bagels? That's been a family tradition for as long as Daddy can remember. We used to celebrate with doughnuts but they aren't as healthy and good eating habits form early, right? She was able to blow out both candles so we're excited for her birthday party next weekend.


We asked Maddie is she wanted rice or pizza for lunch. Both are her favorites. She emphatically said, "Pee-tuh!" so we went to Pizza Hut. She gets plenty of healthier items off the salad bar, too.


She was actin' all sorts of silly while Mommy was away in the restroom.


Hey, Maddie! Let me see that 'big smile' one more time!


That night, we gathered at Nan and Pop's for Christmas Eve. She shared a chair with her cousin Emerson ... for awhile. This is close to her birthday minute. I wish it were, though. You'll see why in a second.


One of her birthday gifts was this cool "I'm 2" t-shirt. Yes, she's definitely 2. You'll see why next.


This is the photo from the minute she turned exactly 2. What is she saying? "NO!" as we sing Happy Birthday. Yup, she's 2 alright.

12.21.10 - Cupcake Army

Maddie's birthday isn't until Friday but today was the day they celebrated at daycare and Angie, not to be outdone by any other mom anywhere, went all out and made cupcakes to send. Maddie will have a duck cake at her official birthday party so Angie played off that theme for the cupcakes creating what looked, to me, like a little army of rubber duckies swimming on a sea of blue icing and marshmallow bubbles.

12.19.10 - Just. Cute.

Even if she is "big smilin'" while eating yogurt melts, she's still stinkin' cute.

12.18.10 - Shhh, Santa!

It took a little coaxing but Maddie met Santa (again) tonight.

12.16.10 - Oh, Christmas Tree

Maddie shows off her "big smile" while standing in front of our "big Christmas tree."

12.16.10 - Nurse Harley

Maddie was feeling rather puny today and Harley stayed close to comfort her.

12.14.10 - Midnight movie

Maddie watches a Charlie Brown Christmas special while drinking her bedtime milk.

(It wasn't really midnight.)

12.05.10 - Sleepy heads

We hit the road super early this morning to travel back from Manhattan where we had Christmas with the Swearingens. Up late and up early means one thing: Naps! This is actually Maddie's second nap of the afternoon. She woke up after two hours very cranky. So we cuddled on the sofa and fell asleep.


Mid-afternoon naps on the sofa started about four years ago with our first-born. This photo was taken Nov. 26, 2006.

11.21.10 - That was for me

Angie decided she wanted chocolate chip bagels for breakfast this morning and everyone was more than ready for breakfast when I returned from the store. Angie broke off a few pieces for Maddie but she insisted on having her own half. Angie was a little disappointed. "Hey, that was for me!"

11.20.10 - First haircut at the salon

11.10.10 - Cheese

We asked to see Maddie's "big smile" tonight at dinner. She gave it to us ... while saying "cheese!"

Saying what??!!!

Where on earth did she learn that, I wondered. Certainly not from any of us around here. Then it dawned on us - Lisa takes a lot of photos at daycare. Well, we couldn't keep her from learning to say cheese but at least, so far, we've kept her from McDonald's. I don't think we have to worry about Lisa doing that. Now, Nan on the other hand ...

11.09.10 - Maddie poops!

I was doubtful that Maddie had to go. Her diaper was soppin' wet but she insisted on sitting on the potty. Really, I think she was just stalling before bed time. But, after 20 minutes or so we finally heard a little tinkle! And, then? Well, we had poop, too! We got really excited about it and so did she. She laughed and clapped so hard that she nearly bounced off her Abby Cadabby potty seat. But before she could flush, she wanted to make sure it was in there.

"She'll love you for that later," Angie said, "for writing about her first poops."

11.08.10 - "Everyone poops"

Actually, Maddie is reading a Target toy catalog in this photo but we read "Everyone Poops" several times a day while she's learning to use the potty. She must really be a daddy's girl; he likes a little reading material, too!

11.02.10 - Keep away

Maddie tries to keep her Rice Krispy treat out of Harley's reach by running in circles around the back patio. Maddie kept running long after Harley lost interest.

10.31.10 - Happy Halloween!

Maddie and Nate pose with their "punks."


Dressed as a K-State cheerleader (because she refused to wear her original cupcake costume), Maddie's first stop trick-or-treating was at Grandma and Grandpa Shepherd's house.


She wasn't much into taking pictures. When Grandma Shepherd asked her to blow me a kiss, she made a fish face.


From there, we headed to Nan and Pop's house where we trick-or-treated in the neighborhood with Brent and Tori and their kids. Gramma Karen and Nan (and Harley!) went along, too.


Maddie held tight to her Tootsie Rolls.


Checking out her loot at the end of the night.


We thought she was going to want to sleep with her basket of candy. She didn't want to let go of it to be buckled in. We got home and she danced around the living room a bit but it didn't take her long to wind down.

10.26.10 - First masterpiece

Lisa had a couple of older kids at daycare today and she had them working on an art project. Simply coloring wasn't enough for Maddie. Lisa says she insisted on doing what the big kids were doing. Lisa put some glue on each piece but Maddie decided where they'd go. It's her first masterpiece and it's proudly on display on our fridge!

10.23.10 - Socks

Maddie likes to put on socks. Her socks. Her mom's socks. Her dad's socks. So today she sported a pair of my black dress socks with her pink sandals. Stylish, no?

10.16.10 - Headin' to the Punk Patch

In what's becoming an annual tradition, Gramma Karen and Grampy Keith treated us to an outing to the "punk" patch. This year, Gramma Karen won four free tickets to Applejack Pumpkin Patch. It's the only one we've been to but so far it's our favorite! It's located on Kellogg between Andover and Augusta. Maddie loved walking all over the place. In fact, most of the pictures I have of her are from behind because she wouldn't stay interested in anything longer than five seconds and I couldn't always predict where she was gonna go!


She found several that she liked although she ended up getting one from the patch with Grampy Keith.


There were a ton of activities and games in addition to the patch. While most kids were mesmerized by actually trying to push a plastic duck from one end of the water ramp to the other, our daughter was busy splashing in the water tanks below. "Wha-der! Wha-der! Wha-der!"


Really, she was only interested in walking. And walking. And walking some more. We switched shirts at this point because it felt more like summer than fall.


We photographed Maddie in front of this sign last year but, as you might have guessed, she's have none of that standing still nonsense long enough for me to get a photo of her this year. Nate, on the other hand, did great with a little help from his mommy.

10.15.10 - Wildcat foofiness

Maddie models a K-State tutu made by our neighbor, Tori, who runs a home-based business called Cutie Pie Boutique, which specializes in infant and toddler fashion accessories. She wore a similar tutu for her first birthday but is otherwise not exposed to anything foofy or princess.

On the contrary to this headline, K-State was anything BUT foofy in pounding KU 59-7 yesterday. Go State!