The Rest of the Top Ten Missed Moments of 2007

This is just what it feels like when I try to walk! Mom and Dad are always holding on to me, slowing me down, so I always feel like I'm falling behind. But I can't quite walk by myself so I need their help to stay upright at all. It's quite the paradox (whatever that is)!

Each person must follow their own course at their own pace, no matter how far behind the finish line we may feel. So, in an attempt to get back on track, even though this is all feels like ancient history, here's the rest of my top ten list from 2007:

8. Fondue with the Millers

Mom, Dad and I went to Highlands Ranch to visit the Miller Family. While I played with Alyssa and Luke, all of the adults cut their food into little pieces and then covered it in melted cheese and chocolate. Brian and LuCinda are super nice and Mom and Dad say they are lucky to know them. I hope next year I get to eat little bits of food dipped in cheese too! Here's the sign for cheese:

7. My Fever

We flew to Kansas on a little buzzing plane. When we arrived I didn't feel so good and that night I got really hot! Here's the sign for hot:

Mom said that it's called a fever when your whole body starts feels like it's boiling. It really scared me and I think everyone else, too, because Mom and Dad and Grandma J all took turns staying up at night with me. Luckily, I started feeling better and we still had a great Christmas!

6. Christmas with the Johnsons and Crockers!

I'm still figuring out this present-wrapping business. Apparently people want their gifts to be hidden underneath pretty, colorful paper. At my first Christmas, I didn't understand this and thought that the pretty paper was the gift, so I played with the paper more than the present underneath! We had a great day with Grandma and Grandpa J, Uncle Andy, Uncle Stan and Aunt Suzanne, and Uncle Pat and Aunt Kristina.

5. Picking up food with my fingers!

I've been working on this since birth but starting in November and December I finally got the hang of it. Now I can grab anything I want and can put it in my mouth. And I do as often as I can! I can grab with my whole fist or just two fingers, I can pick up green peas and little tiny things or big stuff like a ball!

4. Standing up!

Also in November I learned how to pull myself up in my crib and stand, holding on to the rail. Mom, Dad and I were so excited the first couple times that I did it and we clapped and cheered and laughed. It was so much fun I couldn't stop practicing, every chance I got! But I hadn't learned how to let go and sit down again so a couple of times I stood up in the middle of the night and had to call for help to lay back down. Now I can go up and down all by myself!

3. Two teeth

Dad says there's an old song called "All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth." I didn't really want anything because I didn't understand Christmas but I still got those teeth! My first tooth was on the bottom and it's partner didn't show up until much later. But the top two teeth came just before Christmas! They really hurt coming in but I can eat so many different things now that I have them!

2. The Sign for Milk, Blowing Raspberries, Shaking my head "No!"

For the last couple of months in 2007, I loved communicating with Mom and Dad by blowing raspberries. I don't know why it's called that, because there isn't any fruit involved. You just stick out your tongue a little, close your lips around it, and blow air! It makes a really funny tingling feeling on my mouth. Mom and Dad will blow raspberries back at me, stick out their tongues and make all sorts of other silly faces. They really want me to understand them, I guess. I know how to sign milk really well, which is good because milk is really important to me. At the end of 2007 I was still drinking formula several times a day from a bottle. I also started shaking my head back and forth, which Mom and Dad say means "No." I didn't realize that so I would just rock my head from side to side and laugh because it was fun to do!

1. No touch and no mouth

This is only number one because it's the two things that Mom and Dad sign to me the most! Any time they want me to stop doing something they make the sign for number three:

And then they close those three fingers. It didn't take me long to figure out that this means "NO" and I should do something else instead.

Before Mom and Dad figured out that I was deaf, they would tell me "no" with their voices, and I would just keep on trying to eat cat food or stick my fingers in electrical outlets. Finally, after feeling very frustrated with me, they tried something different. They stomped on the ground--and I felt it! I turned around to see what caused the vibration and they signed "X Marks The Spot," because they didn't know how to sign "NO" correctly yet. I wasn't sure what the sign meant either, but their faces told me everything. Cat food isn't for babies.

So I don't mess with the cat food anymore. And Mom and Dad sign "NO" all the time!

Madeleine Math

13 months
21 pounds
6 teeth showing
8 words in sign
1 banana-sized aquatic sibling
11 hours of sleep at night
2 naps
3 hearty meals
24 ounces whole milk
4 diapers
4 awesome grandparents
2 lucky parents
+ 1 neglected blog
__________________
100 reasons to be happy!

Catching up...

As I get older, I'm realizing how difficult it can be to keep up with this blog. By the time I get home from daycare, Mom and Dad get home from work, and my little brother/sister gets done doing whatever it is that keeps making Mom's tummy bigger, we're all pretty tired!

Plus, I'd rather be walking! Okay, not exactly walking, but pretty close! Give me a wall or a divan (whatever that is) or a good strong Mom or Dad hand, and I can go anywhere I want now on two legs. I've given up my army commando/iguana crawl and I move around on my hands and my knees when I'm not walking. Dad says he's a little disappointed, because when I dragged my stomach on the ground it helped polish the floor!

I meet with two really nice ladies every week. There names are Liz and Lynn.

Liz comes on Tuesday nights and teaches us sign language. She's deaf just like me and doesn't speak with her mouth at all. Gabby and LuCinda and Alyssa all have joined us for the lessons. Everyone is learning really fast! Right now we're learning Eric Carle's book Have You Seen My Cat? Next week we start with Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Mom and Gabby go on walks after the class and I hang out with Dad. I like when Mom gets to see her friends and Dad isn't so bad I guess. :)

Lynn comes on Fridays and plays with me. I'm not really sure what she does but she always brings new toys! She watches what I'm doing, signs to me, asks Mom lots of questions and gives her advice about how to communicate with me.

Speaking of communication, I know sign language now! Did you know that? I've noticed Mom and Dad moving their mouths for a long time and I know they were trying to tell me something but I just couldn't figure it out. Lately, though, I've noticed that they also do funny things with their hands. Did you know when you squeeze your fists that your parents will bring you milk? Or that when you touch your fingers together in front of you that you get more of whatever you want? And if I want to stop what I'm doing all I have to do is wave my hands in the air like a magician and presto! All done! So far I can sign milk, eat, more, light, yes, all done, drink, water, and I understand a whole bunch more that my fingers can't quite do yet.

I can't imagine why people don't try to communicate with each other. I think that's why they get in fights or get mad, because they don't listen! Or are some people embarrassed about their voices? Is that the problem? Maybe everyone should learn to sign.

Mom and I go to another sign language class on Thursday nights where a nice man (who's also deaf like me!) teaches a bunch of adults that if you sign the word "hungry" wrong then you're actually saying "I'm hungry for you." Mom wouldn't explain what that means but I don't think people should eat each other! That's bad communication, too!

Well, that's it for now. I'm going to try really hard to post more soon. Thanks to everyone who's been asking about me.

#9 - Top Missed Moments from 2007

Thanksgiving! And boy, did I have lots of thanks to give!

Did you know:
That I've never had to walk anywhere in my entire life?
That I never cook, clean, or do any chores?
That I've never done any laundry?
That I don't even know what the word laundry means?
That I never bathe or dress myself? (Unless splashing water and pulling off my socks counts)
And I never change my own diapers?

A REALLY BIG THANKS to everyone who takes care of me! Especially Mom, who does much more than anyone else. She takes care of me and Dad all the time and still always smiles when she sees me! I'm so thankful for every minute I spend with her, even when she's not cleaning up after me!

Although traditionally celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States, Thanksgiving is actually a harvest celebration that can happen at any time of the year. It's a time to celebrate family and friends. We had Thanksgiving dinner a little early this year, so we could celebrate with Grandma and Grandpa D before one of their trips to Philadelphia. It was like an all you can eat buffet on our dinner table! I never knew there were so many kinds of potatoes!

We also went to a really neat restaurant called White Fence Farm, where they let you pet and eat animals! Dad ate some cow and I pet a goat. It was a great day!

#10 - Top Missed Moments from 2007

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! This may be hard to believe, but I'm actually in this picture. I dressed up as a pumpkin for my first Halloween. See if you can figure out which one is me! Good luck, I'm a master of disguise!

Just like Valentine's Day, Halloween is a special holiday that used to be religious but now is mostly related to candy. On both days people dress funny--on Valentine's Day people dress up in red and try to look pretty for each other, on Halloween people dress up to scare each other. On Valentine's Day people buy flowers, on Halloween they buy pumpkins. They're practically the same day for me, because Mom and Dad won't let me near candy on any holiday.

Valentine? Sister?

Hey everybody! I learned two new words today!

First, Valentine. Valentine was a nice priest in ancient Roman times. A grouchy Emperor Claudius decided that boys made better soldiers if they weren't husbands or fathers, so he outlawed marriage. Valentine thought this wasn't right so he married people in secret anyway. He got in some trouble later (Dad wouldn't explain how) but now he's a saint so he's okay now.

Today is Valentine's Day! And just like ancient Roman times, today is a day where everything that I want is outlawed! There's this stuff called chocolate and these little candy hearts and these pretty flowers with spiky stems... I can't have any of them. Mom and Dad said maybe next year. Hopefully St. Valentine will sneak me some treats when they're not watching. :)

I also learned the word Sister today. Because I'm going to be one! Mom and Dad went to the doctor and took pictures of this little grape sized baby that's hanging out in Mom's uterus (wherever that is). The baby looks like a big ball of lint in the pictures but I guess I'll still have to be nice when they get older.

Dad says Mom's belly will swell up like this balloon in the next several months. I think that's why Mom is staring at the balloon in the picture!

By the way, if you'd like to learn the hand sign for Valentine or Sister, you can try www.ASLPro.com, a website with over 11,000 video clips of different signs in American Sign Language!

Super Bowl Sundaes?

This is so different than I expected! Dad and I went to the grocery store today and it was completely crazy! Everyone in the store looked panicked and in a hurry to get somewhere. I think it's because of the Giants that will be fighting on television later with a bunch of guys who are all named Pat.

I thought everyone would buy ice cream and Cool Whip and chocolate syrup, but apparently other people make sundaes with avocados, Velveeta and chicken wings. YUCK! Even Dad bought Rotel tomatoes and tortilla chips. There's no way I'm putting either one on my ice cream.

I hope everyone is enjoying the special commercials today while they're eating weird sundaes in super bowls. I didn't see it, but apparently a Dalmatian dog helped a big horse lose some weight. Mom cried when Hank made the team. Apparently the guys named Pat are beating the Giants right now and Dad is a little upset. He says cheaters never win, whatever that means.

Well, some guy named Tom Petty is about to break some hearts, so I better get going!

Stay tuned for lots of pictures in Madeleine's Top Ten Missed Moments of 2007!