Fast Maddie

Well, some of you may remember that Maddie has developed a little bit of a reputation. I'm sad to say that things seem to be deteriorating rapidly.

First, Maddie put the moves on another boy in front of her boyfriend (at his birthday party, nonetheless). In fact she kissed that other boy:

I will admit, Joey does have gorgeous baby blues.

Alas in recent days, Maddie seems to have been hitting the milk pretty hard (Milk-a-what??) We have discovered she has an affinity for rave music and loves to get her groove on.

On Sunday night, while at dinner at a very nice restaurant, Maddie decided it would be appropriate to lift her dress over her head and expose herself to nearby diners.

And sadly today, the final sign of depravity... Maddie pinched a little boy's butt while we were at the doctor's office today. To her credit he did take the lead and played with her hair first. But still, a little too loose and wild. To my darling daughter, I say, please try to control your impulses.

Play Time

There are two things that Maddie loves (well maybe more, but two things that are relevant to this story): clothing and phones. Maddie regularly goes through all her clothes and she also picks up any rectangular object (remotes, blocks, monitors) and puts them to her ear like a phone.

So this morning I was playing with her and her real (non-functioning) cell phone. I jokingly called "Mr. Dior" and told him that "Maddie would like to wear the red dress for her function, thank you." I put down the phone and Maddie said, no kidding here: "Go get it." Rob was in hysterics. There was no doubt what she said. Hello, Miranda Priestly!

Trying Something New

Right now, I am – as the title implies – trying something new. We drove back from the cottage this morning during Maddie’s naptime. She fell right to sleep but only slept for about 20 minutes, and I maintain that car nap time never counts anyway (have you ever felt rested after waking up from a car nap?)

When we got home, she was so excited to see all of her toys and her “ats” that I knew nap time was not going to happen for a while. But about an hour later, she started looking sleepy so we gave it a try.

Ridiculous insanity ensued. Maddie made every attempt to crawl away from naptime, despite constant signs of being over tired. Finally she simmered down, but just wouldn’t go out. So I decided to cave in – she could stay awake, but have crib time.

And this is the something new. This is the first time I have ever put Maddie down in her crib while awake and the hammer of Thor did not descend upon this house. It’s been about 30 minutes and I have heard a few babbles, but not a single howl. No sounds of hyperventilation, no head banging (yes, head banging), no crib springs squeaking in response to bouncing, no ducks being whacked against the crib rails.

I think she may actually have fallen asleep on her own.

Is this what normal parenting is like?

Ventilation

I'm in a spitting mad mood and I'm shouldn't really say all that much, but sometimes you just need to vent.

I try to be really careful about my writing topics. Truthfully I know I have so few readers on this blog that it doesn't have much impact, but you still never know. Every once in a while, I hear from someone that I didn't know read my blog. And to those people, I say, "Hey, leave a comment and then I'll feel appreciated!"

My Mom regularly reads my blog, apparently (though she never leaves a comment either!) and so I say to her, "Hey Mom! We miss you but hope you're having fun!"

Though, I've weaned you off actual blog posts in favor of Maddie fashion show pictures, I have a bunch of random stuff on my mind and just want to blog. A rather alien sensation for me!

*I have been on vacation for the past week and a half which is one half of my total three-week vacation this summer. There has not been a single day that I have not worked. On my vacation. There was some fun work that I had planned to do while I was on vacation -- that's how lame I am: I have "fun work." However, I am deeply annoyed to be asked to work on my vacation and this will be addressed.

*I recently found two new blogs that I adore looking at: Clover Lane and 71 Toes. Both have the most beautiful pictures and seem to be almost like reading someone's life story. Between those and my favorite DIY blog: Young House Love, I get plenty of inspiration for my daydreams of someday owning a house.

*I'm finally recovering from the whirlwind weekend of single parenthood. Rob let me sleep in this morning and tomorrow is the official start of his vacation. One week off together is completely the most unheard of thing ever! Of course, I have to work tomorrow. So we are postponing our vacation a day. It's still sustaining me through the day of sticky weather. Maddie has been going "Dada" crazy lately. She desperately needs some Dada time, as evidenced from her propensity for staring at family pictures, stroking Rob's face and whispering "Dadadaadaddada."

Look, I managed to blog without giving out too much information or talking about someone that I shouldn't talk about. Hooray! Don't worry, I have also posted a Maddie fashion show blog and I have a few others in the can, ready to post for the future.

Not her mother's daughter

Maddie's favorite artists are Van Gogh and Matisse, in that order. She did not learn that from me.

Due Bambine

This weekend, Maddie and I went to the Italian Festival -- not once, but twice. And we loved it. We particularly loved the Fried Dough and the White Truffle Gnocchi from Salvatore's. Yum. And of course seeing Dada, who was working the Spot booth pretty much for 4 days straight.



Here we are at the Trevi Fountain. Bet you thought it was the real Trevi Fountain didn't you? Because the real one also has a mechanic's garage behind it.

New Pictures!

I finally have gotten around to uploading new pictures to Flickr, including pictures from Maddie's birthday. Dad's job during the birthday party was to take pictures. In other words, I'll be able to remember EVERY SINGLE moment of that party. Actually I may make a flip book of it. Don't worry, I selected the best pictures so you don't need to sift through the 200 pictures of birthday-present unwrapping. Like I did. Thanks, Dad!

I'm on vacation for the next 3 weeks! Unheard of, I know. And yet I find myself thinking, "I should work on this project or that project." But you know what? I'm not gonna. Because I don't have to.

HAH!

If you want to see pictures, they are up at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/27948760@N08/

Stay tuned for more Fashion Show posts soon!

Hot Mess

It was pretty hot last week and Maddie made it through in style.

Here's the Situation

That's Snooki and the Situation. Pauly D was napping in the bedroom.