Benny - Yes...he's still part of the family!

We do claim ol' Benny as part of the family...but he's kinda left out of most blog posts because he's not a super huge fan of M. I can accept that. And I'm glad he chooses to avoid her if he doesn't like her. Overall, he tolerates her ok though.

He does enjoy being chased playfully by her...but he's not into cuddling her or letting her pet him or anything. Last week we had to take Benny in to the veterinarian for his annual check up and vaccinations. So he was basically forced to be with her and I took that opportunity to snap a few photos!

See this picture. Poor Benny. M asked me to take her picture with him. She even yelled at Benny to smile. Yeah...this was the best one.


"Really kid!?"

"Just pet me and get it over with, ok?!"


A moment of peace.

 She loves this dog poster.

We really do love Benny Bear. Hopefully he'll learn to love M, too! Haha!

TWSS - Inky Come, Too???

I've decided I better start recording some of the fun conversations that M and I have (even if they are only funny to me!). So, here I am with another installment of 'That's What She Said' - TWSS!

Earlier this evening Benny had an appointment at the veterinarian. We had to leave right when M awoke from her nap. She's usually kinda crabby for a bit after her nap, so I went in knowing I had some fun news to share with her.

Me: Guess what? We have to go in the car...and BENNY is going to ride with us!

M: Wohoo! Yay! (Clapping)

Me: (Thankful she's excited)

M: Mommy, Inky come, too? Pleeeaaase?!

Me: Oh no, baby. He can't come today. Just Benny today.

M: Awwwwwwwww!!! (insert M's super sad face)

Me: It's ok. Winky will sleep in his comfy bed while we're gone. At least Benny's going with us!

M: (BIG SIGH) Alright, Mommy.

And...here she is sharing the back seat with Benny.

I love that she loves both her doggies so much! Well...she might love Winky a bit more. Haha! :)

Foto Friday - Coloring

Having fun laying on the coffee table coloring! :)

Well, it was fun until Winky stole her crayon and ate some of it, and Benny ate some of her paper! :(

Foto Friday - M & Her Doggies

MEGA Post on Halloween Fun!

Are you ready for a loooong post with lotsa pictures?!

But first...HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Ok...where were we...

FRIDAY

Last Friday, we carved pumpkins at G'ma Tracy's house. Before the carving fun, I gave M a fun pumpkin light...and I took a couple shots of M with her Great-Grandparents and G'ma Tracy!

Madison loves picking big objects up. (*side note - she tries picking Winky up all the time...it's hilarious!) She probably had the most fun rolling around her pumpkin trying to pick it up.

Then, we (again when I say 'we' I mean Josh) got to work! *I hate carving pumpkins.* Since I couldn't find a Muno costume for Josh, I made him carve a Muno pumpkin!

Madison tried helping for a bit, but she wasn't a fan of the yucky insides and was quite content sitting on her Daddy's lap letting him do the dirty work! :)

I jumped in for a quick picture with her at the end.

All of the finished pumpkins! M's Muno, Bev's scared kid under covers (she did a fancy stencil one), G'ma Tracy's, and Aunt Stacy's!

We also celebrated G'ma Tracy's birthday early since Josh was home. Madison thoroughly enjoyed singing and clapping for G'ma.

SUNDAY

Josh had to leave Sunday evening, so I knew he'd miss most of the Halloween fun! :( No worries...I still made him take some photos with his little M in the morning! I made our costumes...and they were...ehhhh, ok. I think I could have done better...but for $11 worth of felt...they were pretty cheap and good enough.

Later that evening, we headed to G'ma Tracy's to help pass out candy. She was a bit cautious at first..but soon jumped right in and loved putting candy in the trick-or-treater's bags.

G'pa Dave came over to check out M in her M&M costume...and M showed off her playset to G'pa!

MONDAY

It's officially Halloween!

So for fun...I dressed our doggies up!

Benny the Bee and Winky the Pumpkin

Then, I proceeded to run around like a chicken with my head cut off and try and get a decent picture of two dogs and a one year old...silly I know. I had to bribe them all with treats...and even that didn't help much...

"Mama...are you happy? We're all here and Winky and I are even looking at the camera!"

"Winky...get back here!!!"

Whew...that was long! I'm exhausted. Is anyone even reading this!? LOL! :)

Doggie Update!

Madison LOVES Winky and Benny!

I'm not sure the feelings are mutual...

Winky

I think Winky just tolerates her. She constantly "pets" him - pulls his hair and ears - and has now started to use him to stand if they are both near each other on the floor...I still need to get a picture of that.

Madison tries to share her toys with Winky...and the last few days she's been "talking" to him, too! It's so cute!

But when he needs to escape her...he climbs up out of her reach...I suppose this will work...until she learns how to climb up on the furniture. But, he'll be safe for a while anyways.

Benny

And Benny...well, Benny typically avoids her. However, once he discovered she's a source of food...well, he's coming around to liking her a bit more now...

This is how it started a couple weeks ago.

Then he decided he should just camp out under her hair chair during her meals...I suppose he has the best view of any food she drops. Smart doggie he is.

Video

And, finally...a video. This was shot like a month ago (oops!) when she first started crawling. But, I thought it was cute, so enjoy! (I can hardly imagine the next video once she starts walking after them!)

Eight Months

Eight months...EIGHT! Already!

Madison weighs about 20 lbs. and is around 28 inches long.

"Hi, Mr. Pooh. I'm 8 months old today. How old are you?"

"Mmmm, mmm...my bottom lip tastes gooooood!"

MOVEMENT

This past month has been a whirlwind of Madison discovering and perfecting her abilities to MOVE. She crawls like a champ...EVERYWHERE...and she's fast. She pulls up with ease, and this last week perfected her ability to safely get back down to her knees. She holds on with one hand sometimes testing her ability to balance. She's also working on "walking" along the couches once she's pulled up.

"Mom! Dad! Let me out!"

She LOVES going for the stairs in the 4 seasons room - she's working on getting up them - with Mom or Dad right by of course. I'm terrified of her falling back and bonking her head...

EATING

She nurses 4 times a day - breakfast, lunch, dinner, and before bed...and sometimes a 5th time if she wakes in the middle of the night...her middle of the night feeding is becoming more sporadic though. I should probably try and wean her totally from the middle of the night one at this point...*sigh*

She decided she doesn't like carrots anymore. So, I've given her a break, but will probably try again soon. She will eat green beans if I mix them with apples, and she also tried plums and peaches last month. She still loves squash, sweet potato, apples, and pears. She loves her Gerber puffs and 'lil crunchies (cheese puffs for babies) and can feed herself those little snacks!

I've also introduced a sippy cup to her (with water for now). She mostly plays with it, and has gotten a few sips if I tip it up, but still needs to figure out how to tip it up herself. She has also drank a few sips of water from a regular cup, too.

I think I am going to try yogurt with her this month.

TEETH
Just the two on the bottom...no visual sign of anymore...yet...but there's LOTS of drooling and chewing...so...

SLEEP
Still working on getting her to regularly sleep through the night...although, I wonder if my expectations are not realistic since the girl could be teething and is still only 8 months. I'd say she makes it through the whole night (9-11 hours total) maybe 3-4 times a week...so, I guess that's not too bad.

DOGGIES

She loves chasing after Winky and Benny. She routinely tries to "pet" Winky when he's up on the couch. He is SO patient and good to her. She pulls his hair and ears regularly and he just looks at her. He's never growled or nipped at her.

And Benny, well, Benny doesn't really like her...although she LOVES him. She always smiles at him...he just avoids her as best he can. Haha! So, I don't have a picture of the two of them. Yesterday the dogs went to the groomer, and Benny had to share the back seat with Madison. M was SO happy...she laughed and talked to him the whole time! Benny just looked annoyed and couldn't wait to get out of the car! Ha!

VOICE

Madison jabbers and squeals a LOT. It's so fun! She can be SO loud, too! No real words or regular sounds though. And, she's found her whiny voice :) She'll sometimes whine if I take a toy from her or something else she shouldn't have...or if she gets frustrated.

FAVORITES
Madison LOVES pulling all her books off her self. She also likes dumping her blocks out. Basically, all I have to do is put away all her toys and books and then let her make a mess. Whenever Daddy sings or dances she'll immediately light up. She still enjoys "Yo Gabba Gabba," and also loves the show "The Fresh Beat Band" because there is lots of singing and dancing. She still occasionally likes to be read to, and will read along with me (talks the whole time usually).

RANDOM PHOTOS

Josh wanted to take her outside yesterday to experience the grass for the first time. This was her reaction. She didn't like the way it felt. She'd try and crawl, and once her hands touched the grass she'd scream and sit right back up. It was also right before nap...so...I think we'll try again today.

Playing with Daddy.

She looks like she's in a 3-point stance and ready to play some football.

Such great posture!

I know I ALWAYS say this, but I can't believe how fast Madison is changing and how much she learns every day. She seems to do something new, cute, and/or fun EVERYDAY and I'm loving being her Mama!