Baby, A-Z

Hey all, Baby B here. I've decided that since my mom seems to enjoy reading books more than blogging about my babyhood (which is far more important if you ask me), that I'm taking matters into my own hands and reporting about myself. So here is everything you could possibly want to know about me as a 10-month old.

I've finally started crawling. I wasn't in a hurry because I knew I'd be on the go for the rest of my life. I figured a couple of extra months of down time wouldn't hurt. Plus, my mom is so busy as it is, chasing after my brothers and all, I thought I would be nice and stay immobile for a while longer. This crawling thing came pretty easy but I somehow always get stuck in corners so she has to come and rescue me. I'm getting faster now so I don't get as frustrated with it anymore. I adore crawling into the laundry room and playing with whatever dirty item I can find in there. It's fine with me if I leave mom in a room, but if she leaves me, whew. That's another story. I don't like it one little bit. My favorite position is laying flat on my back. I'm working on my abs to impress Mia at church (if only Mom wouldn't put these onesies on me all the time I'd actually be able to show her) so I lift my head and my feet off the ground at the same time and hold the position for a few seconds. Then repeat.

I like to eat. I love Mom's homemade WW bread and I love mostly anything my family is eating. I don't like babyfood much anymore because there's just no texture. It's so boring. My Dad thinks it's great that I've already tasted (and liked) venison, not even being 1 year old yet, and mom thinks it's pretty cool that I like quinoa. I also love yo-baby yogurt. I could eat that stuff by the gallon. I love Chick-Fil-A and I'll eat a whole chicken tender by myself. I think my mom justifies her trips to Chick-Fil-A by thinking that because I like it so much, it's ok to go, but I know what she's up to. She can't fool me. She tries to give me those Gerber Puffs but those are for birds. They're nasty. I'll eat Ritz crackers, but not those puffs. And speaking of nasty, I don't know how any babies drink that formula stuff. It's disgusting! I make my mom nurse me still, but only 3 times a day these days. I'm not too into nursing either, especially when I can hear my brothers outside my door, but I know that breastmilk is good for my brain development so I'll oblige. Lucky for mom, I don't bite her with my two little teeth that I got about a month ago because I fear her rage. Sometimes she has a bad temper. That's why I'm so sweet. I don't want her wrath.

We went to the doctor a few weeks ago. It went like this:

Doctor: "Does he crawl?"

Mom: "No."

Doctor: "Does he clap?"

Mom: "No."

Doctor: "Does he point?"

Mom: "Nope."

Doctor: "Does he know his name?"

Mom: "Uh, I don't know. Maybe?"

So, maybe I'm a bit slow. Well, we Madsen boys might be a little slow but we catch up. And watch out when we do! The doctor also told Mom that I'm in the 95th percentile for height and the 58th for weight. Whatever that means. I just know that I'm a big boy. Mom tells Dad that I'm growing out my 18 month clothes. Again, whatever that means. I also heard that doctor say that they might have to poke some kind of stick into my tear duct or something. I guess my eye doesn't drain so it always looks like I've been crying. But I'm a happy little dude, and I don't cry unless I need something or someone is sitting on me. But somebody sticking a tube into my eye won't make me very happy. I'll let you know how that goes.

I'm a big fan of the bathtub. I love to splash and soak everyone in the vicinity. I hardly flinch when I get cups of water dumped on my head. When my hair dries it's mostly straight but I have one curl on the right side of my head behind my ear. Mom always says, "Oh look at your cute little curl! I'm never cutting it off!" She's such a girl.

I eat a lot, so I poop a lot. Almost every time Mom changes my diaper she finds little presents. Well, it really is the only tangible thing I can make and give to her (besides snot and puke). But, don't get me wrong, she doesn't touch it. She throws it in a bucket in the garage after she says, "Again? Man, you are a little pooper aren't you?"

Mom says I'm a pretty good sleeper. I usually go to bed around 7:30 and get up around 5 am to nurse a little bit and then get up for the day around 7 am. I take two pretty good naps a day, sometimes 2-3 hours each, but that doesn't happen too often. I can't allow mom that much time to read. I like to tease her and take really long naps when we actually have somewhere to go. It's kinda fun. My favorite toys consist of plastic bags (empty chip bags, granola bar wrappers, etc - always supervised, don't worry), anything small enough to swallow (which for some reason always gets taken away from me), wet-wipes containers, and any kitchen utensils. I rarely play with my actual toys - those are for babies.
Up until a few weeks ago I really hated the car. I would mostly just scream my guts out as my brother says. But now I think I like it! Sometimes I protest when mom puts my in, but after that I'm good as gold. And no, mom doesn't drug me. It's just my golden personality.
I think my brothers are the greatest people on earth. They are so funny I just can't stop laughing at them. Even when mom tells them to stop making annoying noises, I'm still laughing. I love it when they play with me, even when Search ties me up and drags me around the house. Good thing he can't tie knots very well or he'd undo all that brain development that the breastmilk does. Destroy is the nicest to me so I think I like him the best right now. He doesn't try to pick me up and drag me around. He likes to give me toys and play with me and make me laugh. Man, I have such a great life. This is me and my best bud Kale. He shows me the ropes because he's two months older than me.

My favorite sounds to make are these: whenever I want or need something like food or sleep or attention I say "Mmmmmmmm! Mmmmmmmm!" My mom thinks I'm pretty much the cutest thing since her newborn kittens when she was 9. I like to make this sound too: "D-la, D-la, D-la" when I'm just so indescribably happy. I'm a big laugher too. Mom knows all the good spot to tickle me - my neck, my sides and the tops of my legs. My brothers try to tickle me too, but it just ends up hurting. I smile at everyone I see and they always say something about my big blue eyes. Apparently I'm a big-time knock out. What can I say? Just look at my dad!

All in all, I think I'm a pretty cool kid. Seriously, just look at my hair!