Happy Thanksgiving

Madeleine really got into the spirit of her first Thanksgiving - spending time with family, enjoying the crisp winter air, and getting food all over her little self.

Madeleine warmed up for the big feast by gnawing on one of her teething toys.

Then, she went downstairs to welcome Grandpa Bob and Grandma Kay.

Madeleine got to sit at the head of the table for her first Thanksgiving meal.

As you can tell, she really got into Thanksgiving - literally.

Then, it was time to work off Thanksgiving dinner with a power walk. First, she had to get dressed up in her couture for the stroll.

Then, she gathered up the family and we were off to the park.

There's nothing better than a good swing to help you work off your Thanksgiving excesses

After Daddy got tired pushing the 23+ pound barbell on the swing, Grandpa Bob took over.

Go Bucks!!!

Madeleine isn't allowed to watch television - but we made an exception to the rule today (for purely educational purposes) as she got to watch her first Ohio State-Michigan game, the greatest rivalry in sports.

Daddy was happy that The Game wasn't canceled as had been rumored on the internet.

Madeleine warmed up for the game with her Buckeye Bear, which plays the Ohio State fight song.

She was very excited about Ohio State's first touchdown - and by the end of the game she heard Daddy sing the Buckeye Battle Cry (played after Ohio State scores) enough that she probably knows the words. Daddy also used the opportunity to teach her how to spell.

Thankfully, Daddy didn't teach her the other song Buckeye fans like to sing at this time of year, although some Ohio parents do.

Of course, for little girls, football isn't nearly as much fun as a good snuggle with Mommy (that's probably true for Daddies too!).

Shoe Fetish and a New Toy

Our girl has what one might generously call an affinity for footwear - or what you could also call a shoe fetish.

She is particularly transfixed by Mommy's shoes, but Daddy's slippers (which are as big as she is) will do in a pinch as well.

Here's some action footage of Madeleine turning Daddy's shoes into a toy. Every toy gets a few shakes, a couple of chews, a few more shakes, and then a throw.

Madeleine also loves the shiny red ball that's on loan from her friend Adelaide. Given Madeleine's facial expression after Daddy bounces the ball to her, I have a feeling that we might have to purchase one. She also loves rolling the plastic balls at one of her new favorite places, JW Tumbles.

More Baptism Pix and Baby Health Update

Courtesy of our official photographer, Grandma Molly, we have some more pictures of Madeleine's baptism.

Here's the scene as we're on our way to the dunking booth.


Here's the moment in the ceremony when Rev. Bruce gets her head wet for the first time.

Afterwards, we got to parade down the center aisle of the church with a candle - which Madeleine enjoyed lunging at.

As you can see from Daddy's face, it was a tiring day but well worth it.


And Madeleine was happy to bless everyone with her own special gesticulation.


Grandpa Tom and Madeleine kept each other entertained at the reception. One of them was always chewing on something!

Baby health report - We had an unexpected trip to the doctor's office today. Madeleine has had a little rash for the last few days and has been unusually grouchy. Hannah called the doctor's office since the rash won't go away and they told us to come in.

• We were a little nervous when our regular doctor, upon examining Madeleine thoroughly, stepped out to wash his hands and went to call in reinforcements in the form of one of his colleagues. Apparently, she's the rash expert in the practice.

• The verdict? Something called HFM - Hand, Foot and Mouth Virus. This is not to be confused with FHM (since this is a G-rated blog, I picked the most innocuous link I could find) or with hoof-and-mouth disease. And all of these are different from foot-in-mouth disease.

• HFM is common in children and most adults have built up an immunity to it. It's not particularly painful and generally goes away after a few days, which is good because there's basically no treatment for it. So, we need to keep Madeleine away from other little ones for a couple of days and get her some Tylenol or Benadryl if she gets grouchy - but otherwise everything should be fine.

More New Videos

Two more clips from the big weekend.

Baptism Videos

Here are two clips from Madeleine's big day.

Madeleine's Christening

We went to Ohio this weekend to celebrate Madeleine's christening. I'm currently blogging from our favorite rest stop in Pennsylvania. We have lots of pictures of the reception and I'll try to post some video of the actual dunking itself if the bandwidth here will allow it. Grandma Molly took pictures of the ceremony with her much nicer camera, so we'll be posting those later too.

Lots of family and friends (25 in all) came out to celebrate Madeleine's big day. We held the reception at Uncle Jack's "country club."

Our friends Brian and Janeen served as godparents.

Grandpa Tom helped Madeleine open her presents.

Of course, Madeleine also used the opportunity to catch up with her friend Jacob, who really enjoyed the party.

Grandma Mary and Grandpa Steve couldn't be there in person but they provided Madeleine's wardrobe for the day - a beautiful christening dress.

Grandma Mary's family made the trek up from Cincinnati. It's the first time she's gotten to see that side of the family.

She even got to see Uncle Bob break out his soap box. Daddy had to explain to Madeleine that, although Uncle Bob is part of her gene pool, he only represents one end of the pool and she might still turn out OK.


Madeleine saw a Johnny Cash impersonator at the reception but later determined that it was Uncle Jack.

We couldn't understand why she fussed while Grummy held her - until Mommy conducted a diaper check.

The baptism took place right during Madeleine's normal morning nap time. Still, she was a trooper at the church - and the family behind us even told their little one (who was also getting baptized) that she should try to behave as well as Madeleine.

After a day of excitement and lots of catching up with friends and family, Madeleine was happy to hit the road.

And she wasted no time in making up for that missed nap.