Miss Madeline – Nine Months Old

Oh Madeline, my little cankled, raspberry-blowing mischievous Crazy Lady.

When she wakes up, her hair is sticking out from all sides, hence the Crazy Lady nickname.  It seems like so much has happened with her over the past month.  Let’s see…

— she has sprouted some teeth, four of them to be exact.  Sharp little suckers they are, especially when they’re digging into your finger for all they’re worth.  She grinds them mercilessly.  It amazes me, the noises that four little bitty teeth can make, but it’s enough to make the hair on the back of your neck stand on end.

— she stands up, with feet solidly planted on the floor, without holding onto anything all the time.  Not wobbly, but instead, very aggressively and self-assured.  She cruises like a pro, skimming tables and anything else she can hang onto.  Nicholas walked at 10 months, and he is hoping that she doesn’t beat him.  I’ve explained that if she does, it’s only because she’s trying to keep up with him and wants to be like him.  So far, he’s ok with that.

— her top front teeth?  A serious gap in between them.  Both my mom and sister both have gaps, but I managed to escape that.  Doesn’t look like Madeline will though.  They say the bigger the gap, the more wealthy you will be.  Here’s hoping.

— the girl can eat, and then some.  Her appetite is stronger than ever, and there are many times that she can outeat Nicholas.  Nothing is safe within her grasp.  She inhales food fast enough that it makes you wonder when she was last fed, and no matter how carefully covered she is, she ends up with specks of food in places that we only discover hours later.  Snacks for later, I’m certain.

— she responds to her name, or I should say, acknowledges it.  If she’s into something she shouldn’t be, and you say her name, she turns around with a gleam in her eye and makes a whining ehhh noise, as if to say “come on…”

— she is in this phase where she licks everything.  I was vacuuming the other day and caught her licking the vacuum behind me.  The oven door the next day while we were in the kitchen.  Almost like we would smell something to see how it would taste, she’s checking things out by licking it.  Wonderful.  Following in the footsteps of her brother, who famously licked my mom’s living room walls.  Who knew the color burgundy tasted so good?

— socks on the feet?  Still an issue. I have, however, found that she’ll keep them on if I put shoes on.   She has no interest in shoes.  Go figure.

Her personality comes through more and more every day, and I can’t wait to see what the next month brings us.  And with Madeline now 9 months old, that means my niece, Sophie, is 13 months old today.  We spent some time together over the weekend, and she’s nearly as busy a bee as Madeline is, with quite the same appetite.   She’s starting to take a few tentative steps on her own, and saying a few words like Dada and banana.  It was funny to watch the girls playing together.  They were in the same room for about two hours, yet didn’t really play with each other.  They would practically be back to back, but still in their own little worlds.  The only time they interacted was when they fought over a toy, and poor Madeline, the smaller of the two, doesn’t stand a chance.  For now.  My mom says that my sister and I will be spending much time in the Principal’s office with the two of them growing up.  I’m not so sure she’s wrong.

Tomorrow?  Just Like Abuelita’s Cuban Black Beans.  See ya then!

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