Birthday follow-up

True to her age, Madeleine had two temperamental birthday celebrations. We celebrated with our friend Jen (who was there when Madeleine was born) on Wednesday night with

chocolate cake and ice cream. We have a video of her opening presents but it isn't worth sharing because anyone who sent gifts might be offended; she was far more excited about tearing the paper off than investigating the gifts themselves. She was extremely exhausted because she only took a 40 minute nap, of course, so the evening ended early.




On Saturday we invited some friends over to celebrate with us. Unfortunately, only a few were able to show up so we had another small celebration with subs and ice cream cake this time. Madeleine had/has decided she doesn't enjoy Parker when he makes noise so we were pretty worn out from her protests and tears by the time the party started. But our neighbor's 9-year-old son kept Madeleine really entertained and after Parker went to bed she seemed to enjoy herself.

Sorry I don't have more traditional messy pictures but she isn't too interested in getting very dirty (unless she's eating yogurt); plus, the super-bibs Carol gave to us help keep the mess contained :)

Coming into our life as a little bitty baby, Madeleine has brought us lots of joy and opportunities to learn and grow over the last two years. Now she is an expressive little lady full of her own ideas and prerogatives. I'm guessing I may learn more than she does over the next 12 months.

March 18th, 2007

March 18th, 2008

March 18th, 2009

Labor and love

Exactly 2 years ago right now I began going through active labor. 4 hours later Madeleine was in our arms. Although I have the photos, videos, and gray hairs to show for it, I can still hardly believe she's been making us laugh and smile for 2 years. Happy 2nd birthday, Madeleine!

One of those forever memories

I shouldn't have laughed and I didn't do it for too long before helping her get her head out but...yes, that's Madeleine with her head stuck in Oreo's cat carrier. I guess she figured Elmo fit so why shouldn't she, right? I laughed until I cried and then had to apologize to Madeleine for laughing (she didn't think the situation was particularly funny and scowled at me afterward for having laughed). Thankfully no toddlers or Elmo dolls were hurt in the taking of this picture :)

Outside fun

Today it's 38 degrees and snowing/raining but this past Saturday was BEAUTIFUL! It was close to 55 and sunny; just the perfect weather to be outside and dream of spring. Justin took the opportunity to bag up those piles of leaves we raked back in November (but didn't bag) before the snow came. The tops of the piles were easy enough to bag but the bottoms were still frozen so we still have more work. I let Justin and Madeleine take charge while Parker and I walked the perimeter of the yard imagining what we want the garden to look like. Madeleine was given an early birthday present of a yard-work set (a shovel, a rake, and a hoe) because she otherwise tries to steal ours while we're working. It worked out really well, even if she did end up using her hands more than the rake to put leaves in the trash bag :)

Crazy girl

My parents finally harassed me enough to get me to post new pictures on Picasa and some new videos here.

As you can see in this first video, we finally got some new furniture to complete our living room thanks to our tax refund! The song, "Tantrum," is from a Sandra Boynton book called Dog Train and is performed by the Spin Doctors. This is the first song on the album and I'm often requested to play it 8 times in a row. The rest of the CD is full of other songs complete with hysterical lyrics and great musicians. I recommend it for anyone looking for a genuine rock 'n' roll CD for kids (that adults won't pull their hair out listening to).

As for the other video, it just shows how limited Madeleine is in being adventuresome. We're doubting that she'll ever try to crawl out of her crib; instead she'll probably break the entire thing bouncing so hard.

He slept!

Parker had a 4.5 hour stretch of sleep last night! I could hardly believe what time it was when I woke up (DST had something to do with that but I still got my math correct for his sleeping). I felt so rested I could have gotten up for the day. Nevertheless, I did go back to bed and just for good measure took an hour nap this afternoon. I love having Justin around on the weekends :)

Mr. Pig

Since his birth, we have affectionately called Parker "Mr. P" which is a take-off from my dad, aka Papa, who often refers to himself as Mr. P. While P obviously stands for Parker, I have lately started calling him "the Pig" because he snorts while laughing and squeals (in the pig-like manner of the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy falls into the sty) before bed. Mr. P's personality continues to amaze me by how opposite it is to Madeleine's. I personally didn't think I could have two kids who are already so different from one another. Here are some shots we've taken over the last few weeks showing off some of his latest quirkiness. See his chompers above? Yeah, he bites and yeah, it hurts.


He's lucky he's so stinkin' cute.


Desperate to help him sleep through the night, we tried giving him cereal. He loved it and did great eating it but was up to eat 3 hours later so we're postponing this until he's 6-months old.

Letting the big sis do the dirty work. The water and soap in his eyes doesn't make him flinch.

Napping with Daddy.

Mom, please don't take my picture! I'm really embarrassed about my hair and these polka dot jammies do nothing for my figure.


Argh! This is my scary face.


This is me after Mom gave me a buzz cut. I know you're busy admiring my awesome body and the ability to bathe myself in drool but take a moment to admire the new do (essentially just cutting the tuft off the top).

Parker had his 4-month appointment yesterday and all seems to be going well. He continues the Cline kid trend of being long (26.75 in.) and lanky (16.5lbs.). I was able to discuss some possible solutions to his restless nighttime sleeping patterns with the pediatrician so I'm currently cutting out caffeine and dairy and putting him on infant probiotics (to hopefully help him from being so gassy). Justin's also agreed to take a shift or two at night for us to see if we can get away without feeding him every 3 hours and for me to get a longer stretch of sleep. I can hardly imagine it; more than 3 hours of sleep at a time?!? Glorious bliss :) We'll see if the Pig cooperates.