Halloween Update

We had our 9 month check up on 10/27 and Madeleine is doing great.

Here are her stats:

• Height: 28.5 inches (80th percentile)


• Weight: 22.3 lbs (93rd percentile)

In summary, she's a big girl. "Sooo big!"

She is now also saying both "Mama" and "Dada" and working on "Dog" and "Teddy." She has learned how to wave "hello" and this is generally accompanied by "ahhh" which we think means "Hi." She loves all sorts of foods and does not seem adverse to spice. The other night she ate spicy lamb curry with her parents and the Alcala family. She also gets around now quite well on her own with a sort of improvised land swim. She is fascinated by the whole world around her and wants to know how everything works, especially buckles, cords, and doors.

We are having so much fun as parents and love our new place. There is plenty of room for the family and we finally built a fence in our backyard so now the dogs are happy too. Madeleine provides endless entertainment and we couldn't love her more.

Here are some fun Halloween pics:

Life has been pretty busy the last few months...

We are still settling into our new home and trying to sell the last one, our friends Bob and Joyce just got married which was exciting, Jeff and I just had our 4 year anniversary, and we are working on keeping up with our quickly growing little girl.

Madeleine seems to get bigger everyday and has just about outgrown her infant car seat. She now weighs-in over 20 pounds and is eager to start walking but has yet to crawl. She is still a lot of fun though it is clear that she is working on growing some teeth which has made her uncomfortable at times.

The family is planning a vacation to Venezuela and Central America to see Bob and Joyce get married again. We're very excited to get away and the fact that this vacation is mostly covered as part of Epic's 5 year anniversary gift for Melanie only adds to the excitement. Who would have believed I'd still be working at the same place after 5 years? I guess I've finally grown up. Epic has been great for our family and giving us this vacation is just frosting on the cake.

Nice doggy

Madeleine has learned that petting (or grabbing) the dog is a fun thing to do.

Yum, more mush please!

Madeleine took her first taste of solid foods this past Monday and thoroughly enjoyed it. The puppies also enjoyed the clean-up! She has been eating rice cereal for dinner every day since.

Creek Life

The Haywards recently relocated and no longer live under a flowery bluff. We are now along side a rather full creek.

The move has been tough, as they always are but we are enjoying our new house and all the fun around us. We face the park and are near a dog park which the pups have enjoyed. We're still settling in but when we do, I'll post some house pics.

Madeleine is growing fast. We've been busy the past few months; Melanie is back at work and Jeff will be returning in two weeks then Madeleine will be spending the summer with her grandma Susan (pictured).

She has grown a ton. At her 4 month visit (over a month ago), she weighed in at 13 lbs. and measured 24"! The doctor says she is doing fantastic! She is smiling and giggling all the time and has a lot to say.

Sorry about the most recent, misleading post. We are still working out some technical difficulties with our video camera. In the meantime, check out new pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jeffreyhayward/Madeleine45Months