Fourteen Months Old

She may not be walking yet, but Maddy Rose is definitely getting to be a toddler.

Her main goal in life is to sit at the kiddie table.  She tries to stretch her legs so her feet touch the ground.  She has slipped off the bench twice while doing this.  I have to watch her like a hawk.

She very much wants to eat with a spoon.  She tends to dump the contents of the spoon about four inches in front of her mouth.

Still idolizing her brother.  He still allows her to be in his presence most times.  He is getting increasingly annoyed with her now that she's really good at getting into the middle of whatever he's doing.  She wanted to eat spaghetti because that's what Ben was eating.  Right after I took this photo she puked a bunch of unchewed spaghetti noodles onto the table.  Both kids kept right on eating while I cleaned it up.

Watching TV together.  Maddy was climbing around on the sofa and made her way to Ben.  I ran to get the camera before Ben realized he didn't want her there.  He didn't mind and let her stay for a really long time.

The instrument table, one of her favorite perches.

Another perch, but this one lets her stand up almost straight.  Once in a while she tries to shuffle her feet like she's trying to walk while holding onto the chair.

Other recent Maddy stuff:  She is starting to throw tantrums by kicking both legs and hitting her heels into the floor so hard that her back comes off the floor.  She is smiling more at strangers.  She loves to look at herself in the mirror (but sometimes headbutts herself, can't tell if that's intentional).  She is finally starting to drink some milk from a sippy cup.  She tries to sip from a regular cup but it all dribbles out of her mouth.  She drinks water only from my water bottle that has a straw.  She loves to share food, and if we're lucky she hasn't already chewed it for us.  She is increasingly annoyed by being in the stroller and wants to be held up everywhere we go.  She is showing a bit more interest in books though only reads them on her own terms (which means quickly turning a few pages, then slamming the book shut).  She has bitten us several times but I'm pretty sure she didn't understand that she was hurting us and hasn't done it in the last few days.  She is getting back into a better sleep pattern and usually only wakes up once for milk.  She recently discovered the joys of cookies and ice cream.  She is constantly saying "hi" and "bye" to people, animals, dolls, and characters on TV.  She points at things she wants to look at.  And she is still thrilled to bits every time she sees the cat.  Calvin has been sleeping on the heating vents, making it very easy for Madeline to hunt him down, smack pet him, and shriek at him with glee.

Someone from Help Me Grow, the county's early intervention program, came to evaluate her this week.  Of course she's quite far behind on gross motor skills.  She's doing well with the other areas, especially communication.  In a lot of ways, she's a by-the-book kid.  But our "easy" baby is turning into a fiesty toddler.  I have a feeling she's going to give us a run for our money pretty soon.