22 months

 We are so excited for Christmas with our little man this year. He still doesn't really know what Santa is all about and I doubt he'll care about unwrapping presents, but I know he'll love all the excitement of the holidays. We tried to take some Christmas pictures of this cutest boy a couple weeks ago, and out of probably 200 pictures, we got maybe two decent ones. He is so curious and quick and it's just about impossible to get the kid to look at the camera longer than two seconds. But we kind of love that about him. The only problem is that he keeps on getting faster, and my big tummy and I keep getting slower, so it's hard keeping him out of trouble these days.

We are so excited to welcome our new baby boy in less than two months! I can't wait to smell that newborn scent again and cuddle a tiny bundle all day. Most of all I'm so excited to watch Madden become a big brother. We are anticipating him to do okay with the slight loss of attention, but we're working on teaching him to be "soooooooft" before the baby comes. Mad is such a rough and tough little guy- ex. I just recovered from my second black eye given to me by this wild child. Lately his favorite thing to do is stick both his pointer fingers in my ears and head but me in the nose. It's going to take a lot of training, but hopefully we'll make it through the first few months without any injuries.

At the beginning of November we got an exciting phone call from a residency program in Des Moines Iowa offering Jeff a position! We weren't planning to find out where we were going for residency until match day in February, so we were thrilled to pre-match. Now we have some time to relax and not worry or stress anymore. Des Moines was our first choice, so it was an easy answer to give them when they called. I am so proud of my man. Everything we've been working toward for the last 4 years has led up to this, and I'm so grateful for all of his hard work and huge sacrifice he's made for our family. We're planning to move mid-March so it's going to be pretty crazy packing with a new baby and a totally nuts toddler, but we can't wait to get out there and get settled. We're going to freeze our Florida buns off for the next few years, but we're going to love it!

Seriously, how cute is he?!

 

I can't believe I almost have a two year old!! At 22 months, Madden...............

 

- He talks constantly and makes everyone laugh all day long- including himself. The best thing is listening to him talk through the monitor when we wakes up. I think his mouth opens before his eyes do, and he starts talking and laughing and calling for Dadda at the top of his lungs. It's so sweet that he calls for Jeff, but he never acts too disappointed when he sees me come in the door- as long as I have a sippy cup of milk to offer. Also, I always know before I go in to get him if he's messy because I hear, "yuck mom, yuck!" over and over through the monitor. At least there's no surprises!

 

- Some of the words or things he says most often... book, bike, dog, cat, yuck, stuck, this, that, elbow, chin, eyes, head, bye bye, stop, go, up, down, what, why, on, off.

 

-He's getting very stubborn about certain things too, and doesn't like it when I tell him no. Whenever I do tell him no, he furrows his brow and points his finger at me and stays "stop mom!" I've been trying my hardest to put a stop to that madness and I'm trying to teach him to just say, "OK, mom" when I tell him no. And just this week, he's started doing it! Success!! I love how he says it too, "Oh tee, mama."

 

-Whenever he loses something, he comes over to me looking confused and holds out his hands and says, "where go?"

 

- When Madden is really excited, his voice gets really high and squeaky. Anytime he sees something new or exciting, he gets so happy and squeaky and says, "Wow, dat!" or "WHOA, what's dis!!!!" He's just recently started to notice my growing tummy, and he lifts up my shirt and points to my tummy and says, "whoa what's dis??"

 

- Every time I go and get him out of his crib, he likes to walk out of his room on his own and says over and over, "Hi! Hi! Hi!" to all his toys he missed while he was sleeping.

 

-Whenever I ask him if he like something, he says, "YA I DO!!" It's the cutest.

 

- When I'm putting him to bed, we usually sit in the chair and snuggle for a bit, and then I stand and hold him a little longer before putting him in his crib. As soon as I stand up, he perks up and points back at the chair and begs, "sit, sit, sit!"

 

- This is totally my fault because he doesn't exactly where clothes everyday, but whenever I'm putting a shirt on him he thinks we're going outside. He starts jumping up and down and says, "bye bye?" and runs to the door. This kid hates being inside. We can't wait to give him a back yard to run wild and free!

 

- And whenever he's having a really fun time playing or exploring, he turns to me and says, "Fun mom! Fun!" I shouldn't be so excited that he's talking so well because it just means he's growing up and getting big too fast, but every time he does something new I completely melt into a puddle. Being a mom is the best.

 

- Madden's favorite movie of all time is Rescuers Down Under, which is fine by me because that movie is awesome. He will sit and watch almost the whole thing, which is amazing because for the first time in two years I'm able to get something done outside of his nap time.

 

- He is a little jokester too. When he gets really excited he tries to show off, and usually he'll jump up and land on his bottom, or he'll close his eyes and walk into a wall and fall down laughing. Lately he thinks it's hilarious to stick his finger in his nose and wait for me to look at him. I always swat his hand and say, "get your finger out of there!!" And he laughs and puts it right back up there.

 

-He loves to dance, play hide and seek, tackle mom out of nowhere, jump on the bed, jump on the table, loves playing with his hot wheel set,

 

- He loves anything to do with cars. He asks for the car keys all days long and takes them over to his bike, flip it onto it's side and uses the bike wheel as a steering wheel and sticks the keys into one of the screws. He can turn anything into a car and its so fun to watch him use his imagination. But the thing that makes him the happiest is giving him the keys and actually taking him down to the parking lot and letting him sit in the drivers seat and play. He could sit in there for hours, and sometimes Jeff and I will take shifts sitting down there with him.

 

- Even though Madden can open all the doors, he's started knocking on the door first and sticking his face in the crack and yelling before he opens it.

 

- Madden's favorite room to play in is the bathroom. He always finds Jeff's toothbrush no matter where it is hidden and prefers to use that to brush his teeth instead of his own. He has to put the toothpaste on himself without any help. He also loves to suck the minty-ness off of the floss. He loves the bath tub and he's been taking some seriously long baths these days. He stays in so long that his fingers get really pruney and he stares at them and says, "owie." And lately one of his favorite bathroom pastimes is to rip up the toilet paper into teeny tiny pieces, then blows his nose/breathes into each piece one at a time, opens the toilet lid, drops in the TP, then runs around to the other side and flushes. Over and over and over again. He's gone through almost a whole roll this past week. As long as he doesn't stick his hand in the toilet or throw anything other than TP in there, he can do this as long as he wants!

 

- We've been struggling with eating habits this past month. Madden does not like to eat much other than his milk. Every once in a while I'll give him something and feel really happy when I watch him chew his food, but he'll run off and later I'll find little pile of half chewed food on the carpet somewhere in the house. He's like a little hamster and stores his food on the roof of his mouth. So when I offer him a new bite, he'll spit out his hidden food to make room for the new bite. Apparently he hasn't quite grasped the concept of swallowing and it's making me insane. He asks for apples all day long and he gets so excited when I give him a slice. But to this day, I don't think any bit of apple has ever reached his tummy. He chews it up, sucks out the juice and spits the rest onto the floor. He's visited time out a few times for spitting food on the floor, so now he just comes to me and grabs my hand so he can spit it out into my hand. I'm hoping this is a phase, and hoping that it won't last much longer. He loves his milk and knows the difference between his milk jug and mine and Jeff's. His milk jug has a red cap, and even though the other one is pink, he pulls his out of the fridge every time. He also loves carnation instant breakfast. I mixed it into his milk to make it chocolaty one time and now he's hooked. He knows where its hidden in the pantry, and he points up at the shelf and says, "gish, gish, gish!" begging for it. Heaven help me!

 

- Several times a day, Madden and I will be playing and out of nowhere he will drop to the ground and lay on his tummy and pretend to sleep. He shuts his eyes and does a fake little snore. He'll peek his eyes open and look at me, and every time I say, "Oh you must be so tired, lets go take a nap." But then he pops right up and says, No no no no.

 

- When it really is bed time, he all of sudden gets frantic and has to play with every single toy he never even looked at during the day. He's already trying to dodge bed time and he's not even 2! He loves saying prayers and he sits on his bum and folds his arms and closes his eyes for about two seconds. The rest of the prayer he looks at me and Jeff smiling, but he keeps his arms folded the whole time! When prayer is over, he claps his hands and loves when we tell him what a good job he did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

21 Months Old

 

Madden is the cutest 21 month-old of all time! He made the perfect Alfalfa for Halloween- I felt pretty limited on costume ideas because there was no way he'd keep any type of hat or mask on, and it had to be pretty breezy so he didn't die of the heat. We thought Madden's sweet personality fit his costume so well- he is such a little lover. Although it would also be fitting if we dressed him up as Max from Where the Wild Things Are. Oh well, maybe next year!

 

We had a really fun Halloween as a family, and we tried to fake chilly weather as much as we possibly could. Madden had a great time at our ward's trunk or treat, and turns out he LOVES suckers. The week of Halloween, and mostly the days afterward, we met a new Madden. This new Madden was loving his candy and wasn't interested in eating anything but his milk, suckers, and an occasional laffy taffy. Madden was constantly hyped up on sugar and he became a monster, literally. I've never been screamed at so much in my entire life! It didn't matter what we said to him, he always responded by screaming, "NOOOOOOOOO!" And on top of that, I was losing patience with the sticky fingers, door handles, toys, blankets, etc. We were going insane so out went all the Halloween candy, and after a couple days of sugar detox, we had our sweet little boy back. Thank goodness, the kid was nuts!

 

This past month we were majorly spoiled and got to spend 4 days on Captiva Island. Jeff had a medical conference there and Madden and I were invited to tag along. We had a super nice condo right on the beach and had so much fun! It was little mini vacation, it didn't even feel like we were twenty minutes away from home. The resort had several pools and a cute little trolley that we rode everywhere because it was Madden's (and Jeff's) favorite. They even had a little toddler activity center that we visited everyday to see what fun toys they had that day. Jeff had meetings every morning but caught up with us right in time for the fun stuff so we had lots of fun family time together. We spent most of the time at the beach of course, and Madd's favorite thing was to chase the seagulls. He was totally fearless too, unlike me who was freaking out every time they swarmed. It was worth it to get good pictures though. Jeff and Madden played chase on the sand and in the waves for hours. I love watching Madden and Jeff play together, it's one the best things. Madden adores Jeff and is already copying whatever he sees his daddy do. No one can make Madden laugh like Jeff can, and I'm so grateful Madden has him for a dad.

 

For such a tiny boy, Madden has such a huge spirit. And sometimes it seems, an even bigger personality. At this age, he is bursting at the seams and has so much energy and imagination. Madden's language skills are exploding and Jeff and I are constantly looking at each other and saying, "What did he just say???" Madden loves music and gets a little jiggy every time he hears it. When he's not sleeping, he's practicing jumping, somersaults, spinning in circles, and practicing new dance moves. One of the funniest things he does these days is he closes his eyes while he walks and runs into doors and walls. He falls down laughing and gets up and does it again. And one of the sweetest things he does these days is he runs after me and collides with my legs to give me a huge hug. He always says "Awwww" when he hugs me and sometimes I even get a little bum pat before he runs off again. He gets so excited and runs for the front door yelling, "keys!" whenever we say we're going outside. When it's time for bath time, he bolts to the tub and struggles to get his shirt off. Every night before bed, Madden and Daddy get all crazy again, wrestling and doing their "circus tricks." And every night we play family hide-and-seek. Madden loves this game and always thinks we're hiding behind the curtains because that's where he hides every time. He's always so surprised when we find him and he runs from room to room laughing the whole time. He runs everywhere he goes, sometimes I think he's forgotten how to just walk. Very very rarely when I ask him to hold my hand, he'll reach up and grab it. But just for about 5 seconds, and then he's off running again.

 

This boy is always on the move and he leaves barely any time for eating. The only thing he will stop for these days is his milk and raspberries. He LOVES raspberries. Last week I bought a Costco vat of raspberries and he ate every last one within a few hours. He has a raspberry eating system as well. He takes one raspberry at a time and sticks it on his finger before chomping it. When he puts it in his mouth, he really does make a chomping noise each time. I tried to get him to share with me, but he would tease me by reaching his raspberried finger up to my mouth, then changing his mind and eating it himself.  The only other thing he likes to eat on the regular is hummus. It's so weird and it kind of makes me sick that he likes this, but he eats it by the spoonful, no dipping allowed. When he's eating something yummy, he shakes his head back and forth and says, "Nom, Nom, Nom." And although this isn't food, Madd loves gum! Bubblegum to be exact, he does not like Dad's spicy, minty gum at all. He knows where we keep it and he desperately yells, "dum, dum, dum!!!!" and gets so excited when he gets some.

 

Madden is loving cars these days. He makes car noises and even crashing noises. My favorite is when he plays with planes because he screams and then smashes the plane into the ground. He goes, "Ahhhhhhhh poooooshhhhhh." None of his planes ever have safe landings. He loves his big truck and school bus toys, and he comes and asks me for the car keys all the time and takes them back to his trucks. One time I even found him pretty frustrated, with his foot inside the bus and the keys in his hand. He was trying to get inside his toy school bus to start the engine! So frustrating I'm sure. He also tips his bikes over on their side and sits beside them and uses the wheels as a steering wheel. He pretends he's driving and makes "vroom vroom" noises.

 

Madden also loves bubbles! He always wants to play outside on the patio and begs me to come do bubbles with him. We're trying to teach him to ask for things nicely because right now he acts so desperate and panicked when he wants something. He usually points and yells, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!" In this case, he yells, "Bubbos, Bubbos, bubbos!!!" Eventually we end up sitting out back blowing bubbles for him while he runs around laughing and saying, "Pop!" with each bubble he pokes. He has a hard time when we stop our bubble sessions, so sometimes we bring them into the bath tub with us.

 

We love going to the park and we go as often as we can. But lately, Madden is very particular about what he wants to do while we're there. He does not like the slides anymore and refuses to go down them. He loves the swings, but only for about one minute and then I hear, "Ah done." He loves following around the older kids and talking their ears off. He's also a little wanderer. Even though he has a giant playground to play on, he prefers to wander around the picnic areas, and look in the bushes, and play with the sand. He ignores me whenever I yell after him to come back, so I have to run my pregnant self over to get him before he jumps in the lake. The only time he'll come back to me is if he falls and gets his hands dirty. He comes back and reaches his hands out to me to wipe the dirt off. The past few weeks at the park, all he wants to do is play in the car. It's pointless to fight him on this, so when he asks me for the keys, I hand them over and watch him run over to the car with a big smile on his face. He fumbles with the key chain and finds the right car key and sticks it into the lock. Eventually I just put him inside the car and he climbs over into the drivers seat, sits down, and puts the key into the ignition. He doesn't know how to turn the engine on, but I'm sure he does a good job imagining he does. He pulls down the seat belt and buckles it behind him, pushes all the buttons, locks and unlocks the doors several times, then settles in and takes the wheel. He could sit there pretending to drive all day, and sometimes it really does feel like we're in there forever! I just sit in the passenger seat and let him do his thing. It's so funny that we come to the park to play, but we don't even leave our car!

 

Madden loves to talk. He's always babbling about something, and it usually sounds like he's asking us a question, and when I respond saying "uh huh" or "Yes" he just laughs. Some of the words he says are shoes, on, jump, watch, up, down, help, keys, cheese, bubbles, pop, poopoo (thank you Jeff), apple, banana, I know, oh man, no way, I stuck, truck, stop, go, what, and why. His favorite thing to say is, "I stuck!" We think he intentionally tries to get himself stuck in weird places, just so he can say it. Everyday I hear him yell to me from somewhere in the house, "Mama, I stuck!!" Madden loves to count to three. He loves to jump over anything that's on the floor and he says, "One, doo, tee, dump!" Sometimes he also counts before he takes a bite of food and says, "one, doo, tee, chomp"

 

It amazes me that Madden has been in our lives for almost two whole years! We have so much fun with him every day and feel so lucky to have the sweetest boy to love and teach. Being a mom is the best and I love having such a tiny and perfect soul being so dependent on me. Even though it's overwhelming at times there's nothing else I'd rather be doing. I know that Madden is supposed to be in our family and Jeff and I are meant to be his parents. I love that we belong to each other and can't wait to bring another sweet boy into our family in just three short months!