Madeleine - Week 50

It's been a big week in our house. For starters, I've accepted a part-time contract job, which will allow me to dip my feet back in the law while doing most of my work from home. I love the balance it's bringing to my life and hope that we can make it work well for the whole family. I'm also hoping that it won't interfere too greatly with blogging or crafting, but I already missed my Monday post this week, so we'll see. 

In more exciting news, Madeleine finally sprouted her first tooth. I have yet to see it as she's ferociously protective, but I have most definitely felt the tooth. If the swelling in the gums next to it is any indication, it won't be alone for long. With the first tooth comes tooth brushing; fortunately, she loves it. 

She's continuing to be a pretty good eater and seems to have moved on from the (really aggravating) phase of throwing her food on the floor. I'm in the process of weaning her with the hope of serving my last boob juice shortly after her first birthday. I have mixed feelings and can't believe it's already been nearly a year since I so frequently wondered if I'd make it to one month, let alone one year. 

Miss M continues to be rather vocal, and we're pretty sure she said "banana" and "all done" within this past week. George thinks she's trying to repeat some Spanish words, too, which is pretty neat. She has figured out how to turn on the radio to NPR in her room, which George and I think is pretty amazing and appropriately geeky. 

She's still only standing on her own for a few seconds and sitting pretty much as soon as she realizes what she's doing. No steps yet, either, but Madeleine is a very effective crawler. She has pretty well mastered going up stairs and is getting the hang of going down stairs safely. 

In the play department, Madeleine loves passing a ball ("ba") back and forth. She could do it for about an hour at a time if the adult on the other end could stand it that long. In true Kiwi fashion, she figured out her Buzzy Bee this week, too. 

Our girl is growing up, and it's hard to believe we've gotten to this point so quickly. Oh yeah, and you probably want to see this week's photo, huh? She is sporting some serious squirrel cheeks as she couldn't bear to part with the cucumbers from lunch.