Buttonwood Farm

This morning Summer and I wanted to sleep, but Madeline wanted to do this:

She babbled loudly in her co-sleeper until I changed her, dressed her, and set her up on the floor with toys and pillows. Then she played and played and played.

By late morning it was time to head to Connecticut -- specifically, Buttonwood Farm, where we were meeting friend Lauren. The plan was to enjoy a picnic lunch, stroll through acres of sunflowers, and top off the afternoon with ice cream. And so we did.

After introducing Lauren and Madeline, we laid out our lunch spread and let Madeline gum some cauliflower as we ate.

Then came the sunflowers. The sun was bright and the flowers were many.

We entered the field through an opening in the historic stone wall.

And we showed Madeline the field. She seemed overwhelmed.

A single sunflower was more her speed.

When we reached the top of the hill overlooking the field, she soaked it all in while we chatted ...

... and posed.

And we got a final shot from ground level to show that the sunflowers were quite tall -- even taller than Summer!

When we emerged from the field, we waited (as Madeline napped in Summer's arms) in a long line for ice cream (I got delicious wild maine blueberry flavor). Though she couldn't enjoy the ice cream, Madeline did enjoy the company -- she had lots of smiles for Lauren!

But soon enough we prepared to take our leave. Each camp purchased a bouquet of sunflowers and then Lauren headed west while we went east.

Back at home, Madeline was still full of energy.

We played for a bit, including a rambunctious keyboard session, until it was time for me to start the grill and get cooking. At dinner, we decided Madeline was sitting so well ...

... that it was time to set up a high chair for her. And so we did. You'll likely see photos of it in action tomorrow.

Finally, Madeline closed out the busy day with a bath, after which Summer and I finished the last of our reupholstery project. It was a fun and busy Sunday; tomorrow we're back to daycare and work.

Very active day

Madeline had a very active day. This morning she sat and played with wind-up dog.

Then at our usual post-farmers market lunch in the park, Madeline wanted to crawl. She tried to propel herself from a sitting position.

That didn't quite work, but when she was in position she achieved quite a bit of rocking back and forth. And she spent lots of time getting from the ground onto all fours with her belly and hips in the air.

She fell asleep in the stroller on the walk home, so we parked her in the yard and Summer worked on her thesis while I waited for Madeline to wake up. When she did, we explored a bit: dandelions, clover flowers, and, best of all, one of our snap peas. Madeline was not impressed with the snap pea:

But she enjoyed her time in the yard.

When we went in, she spent some time on the quilt, some more in the bouncer, and still more on an avuncular skype. One thing she wouldn't spend any time doing, though, was napping. By late afternoon she was long overdue and accordingly cranky. But she wouldn't sleep. Finally at 6:30 we implemented the nuclear option and began the bedtime routine. An hour later she had entered a tenuous sleep.

Mmm, tortilla

Babykins had another fine morning hanging out on the quilt with Sophie ...

And a third straight "GREAT!" day at daycare.

When Summer brought her home at the end of the day, she was ready to kick back on the couch with a book.

At some point, though, her forearm proved more interesting.

When I came home, we headed out for Mexican food at El Azteca. Babykins was almost ready to sleep through dinner, but the sights and sounds proved too stimulating for sleep. So instead she played with aluminum foil ...

... and gummed a tortilla.

Then, after a quick grocery store trip, it was home and straight to bed!

Fun in the yard

I went up to Boston this morning and so missed a series of Madeline's "oooooo"s.

But I made it back from Boston in time to pick her up from daycare -- she had another "GREAT!" day -- and have a lovely late afternoon and evening at home.

Despite her great day at daycare, Madeline was a little fussy.

She needed a nap and wouldn't take one. So we distracted her by encouraging her newfound sitting and exploring skills in the yard as I grilled salmon and asparagus. Madeline loves clovers (and grass, for that matter).

And sure enough, being outside among her sistren lifted Madeline's still-sleepy spirits.

The smells of the grill seemed to make her hungry, too.

So she got a snack and then happily practiced walking.

During our dinnertime, Madeline systematically handled the seven toys distributed around her bouncer, ensuring that each ended up on the floor. We hear this will be accompanied by giddy giggling pretty soon. Then there was more eye-rubbing and then bed.

Wednesday farmers market, quickly

I have to wake up early tomorrow, so I'll make this relatively quick.

Madeline had her usual happy morning ...

... and apparently a "GREAT!" day at daycare. Summer scooped her up at the usual time, and when I made it home we proceeded to the farmers market. There, we secured produce, Seven Stars bread, and some Olga's concoctions for dinner, and then found a spot beneath a pine tree.

Madeline was happy ...

... and happier!

She found an interesting pine cone ...

... and had a taste as Summer and I ate dinner.

She wanted to walk ...

... and got in some good practice.

Finally, she crashed on me to rest up before the (not really) long walk home.

Another nice day

This morning Madeline exercised on our Eagles blanket in honor of football's return.

She had another nice day at daycare and a happy afternoon and evening at home, too.

There was more keyboard-pounding.

And two fun developments: first, since last night Madeline has enjoyed high-fiving; second, her favorite sound today was "oooooooo."

Overall, she's just a happy little sproutling.

And at the end of the day she wound down with a nice, leisurely bath (actually, she returned to her usual splashy ways a minute after we took the following picture).

Maybe the most fun thing there is!

Madeline had a good day at daycare. The daycare folks said she likes to help feed herself, which comes as no surprise both because she's been doing that for a while and because she really likes manipulating all manner of things. So, back at home, she tried to feed herself on Sophie ...

... but correctly discerned that that wouldn't work.

There was still fun to be had, though. For instance, playing with our hands after dinner (an aside: Madeline's taken to waving again after a brief hiatus, and yesterday waved to people in, e.g., Jo-Ann Fabrics):

And playing with the keyboard, which is now maybe the most fun thing there is:

Well, actually, there's one thing that's even more fun (and giggle-inducing) -- tumbling (previously depicted in a video in this post):

All that fun must have tired Madeline out, as she was very ready again for another early bedtime.