Madeline Soph being a silly goose

Mommy says it's hard to take a good picture of Madeline because she is never in one place! You have to put her on one side of the room and back away from her quickly, snapping like mad.

It's me on my FIRST DAY OF BALLET CLASS!!! I'm so excited I can't stop talking about it. I have been wearing my ballet slippers nonstop since Mommy bought them last week and asking to wear my hair in a ballet bun every day. My favorite part of class was tap dancing.

Top Ten Cute Things About Madeline Sophie

As compiled by myself and Mommy:

10. She likes to climb on top of her high chair tray to reach the answering machine. She knows just which button to push to hear Dadaa talking.
9. At least three times per minute, Madeline will reach up with her index finger and touch your nose, saying softly "Boop!"
8. She says "Uh-oh!" indiscriminately while playing alone.
7. She has to check in with the picture of Baby Naomi each time she enters the kitchen. "Hi Baby!"
6. When she hears the garage door opening, she runs headlong toward to door to the laundry room, screaming "Da-daa! Da-Daa!"
5. If you put her in bed without her beloved Puppup, she just fixes you with her confused stare until you place Puppup safely in her arms. In fact, the only time she likes Puppup to NOT be in her arms is while she's nursing-- then she wants him to sit on Mommy's shoulder.
4. She likes to sing "Hello, La" out loud with Mommy.
3. She sings "Beep, beep" to the car song, but only when in the car.
2. She runs to the bathroom to get a diaper and wipes when she needs changing, yelling "Poo poo! Poo poo!"
1. She doesn't like wearing one piece outfits because she can't find her belly button.

Madline's first lollipop, take 3

She attacked it with vigor

And it filled her with delight!

She didn't want to let it go after that.

Pumpkin carving

Mommy took the tops off our pumpkins, then I helped by scraping out the pyuck.

Then we chose pictures and taped them to the front of our pumpkins.

I poked tiny holes on the lines so Daddy could see where to cut.

Madeline decorated her pumpkin with markers and stickers.

She's silly.

Next, Daddy carved the pumpkins!

Madeline and I got to watch and pop out the pieces once they were cut. Here, Daddy told us to "open up the mouth" and Madeline was a little confused.

Trick or Treat

Jacob's Halloween party

Here we are, the lion and the lamb! Madeline is far too busy to lie down with me, however.

She's not too sure about her ears.

Here I am with my friend Annie, who was Glinda the Good Witch. We match pretty well, too!

Happy Halloween!

The kitty is mine and the smiley face is Madeline's. We made them all by ourselves! Well, okay, Daddy might have helped a little.

Madeline and Kathryn get together

As soon as Baby Kathryn is out of her cast, WATCH OUT, World. They're going to be trouble.

I don't know why Mommy was laughing so hard

Today Mommy took me and Madeline to the grocery store. We were sitting in the cart while Mommy and a nice lady in a red shirt were putting the groceries up on the counter. The lady was talking to me and asking questions. I decided to share an important fact with her, since she was so interested in my life. I turned all the way around so I could face her and said in a very loud and clear voice, "I'm obsessed with painting my lips!"

Baby Susan is found!

And now Madeline is interested in her too. There are hardly enough babies to go around! (Mommy is laughing over my shoulder as I type this, I wonder why? I really think we could use about 17 babies each.)

ballet

About a month ago, I was browsing what I like to call "My New Website" when I made an amazing discovery. There are people in the world who dance around all day wearing frilly dresses and tutus! Ever since, I tell Mommy almost hourly that I am going to teach ballet when I grow up, that I need to practice my ballet, or that we FORGOT! to take me to my ballet lessons. Mommy bought me a leotard, Beth and Miss Kim showed me how to do some of the ballet positions, and now I spend much of my day flitting about the house in my slippers and tutu. I am at least as obsessed with ballet as I ever was with baby dolls, and I haven't even had a single lesson yet!

Either my hand or my foot has to rest on the wall in this position, and sometimes I almost knock over my baby sister when she's trying to dance with me.

This is a good camera friendly pose.

Some of my other moves are a little hard to capture on camera, as I move pretty quickly.

Silly Madeline!

These are from August 26. Madeline still won't leave barrettes in her hair for very long, although once she pulls them out she brings them to someone asking for them to be put back again.

Bless us, O Lord

Madeline Soph is learning to say her prayers before she eats, just like the rest of the family. She's doing pretty well, don't you think? All she needs now is to learn to say please and thank you. And maybe to ask politely to nurse instead of walking up to Mommy and demanding "Shirt Up!"

Be ye forewarned

These days I do NOT like having my hair combed, braided, arranged in pigtails, or otherwise made to be orderly. I will wear NOTHING but a headband, even if my hair is falling in my eyes and making it hard for me to see where I'm going. If Mommy tries to make my hair look neater by affixing some additional device to my head, I comply for awhile, but as soon as I'm out of her sight for a minute I pull it all out and hide the evidence. She'll NEVER find those little rubber bands! I wonder if this means another haircut is in my future?

Just taking a stroll

Madeline has just learned how to walk holding my hand. I LOVE it and try to get her to do it all the time. Sometimes she cooperates.