Fifteen month checkup

Madeline had her 15-month checkup today, a little late. She proved perfectly healthy, got some shots, and measured an inch longer than last week (testament to a wide margin of error) -- 31.5" -- but a shade lighter. Imprecise measurements or no, she's plainly stretching out.  Like so:

Madeline loves the front steps.

Baby orangutan

Someone swapped out Madeline for an adorable baby orangutan.

We played in the garden.

We frolicked in the yard.

And we sat on the front steps.

Aaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!

Napping and grilling

Madeline napped for over two hours in the car today -- between the busyness and the heat, the long weekend apparently drained her.

But she recovered in time for some grilling this evening -- a steak from the farmers market and barbecue chicken.

While I manned the grill, Madeline and Summer frolicked.

Cute!

Officially Dr. Summer

Summer was more or less Dr. Summer when she successfully defended her PhD in August; today Brown University officially conferred that title on her.

So this morning Madeline and I camped out to watch her march with her graduate school classmates.

Here Summer is, fresh out of the famous Van Wickle Gates!  Can you spot her?

After waiting about an hour and then watching the procession, an antsy Madeline and I went home to watch a live stream of Summer's commencement ceremony.  It was like watching a movie, complete with a snack.

I took a screenshot when Summer received her doctor's hood:

After that, Madeline took a nap.  We met up with Summer again for lunch, and then returned to campus for Summer's departmental ceremony.  Again, Madeline was relatively calm for maybe 45 minutes, but we had to retreat to this vestibule when she became a little too squirmy.

We did poke our heads back in the door when Summer was acknowledged on stage.  Madeline shouted "Mama!  Mama!  Mama!" and the whole room said "Awww!"

Outside, Summer posed with her adviser Diane.

And she imparted neuroscientific knowledge unto Madeline.

Then we all posed together.

At some point, Madeline frolicked off with Summer's classmate Mark's fancy graduation hat.

Altogether, today was a busy day.  That busyness was well earned, though.  Congratulations, Dr. Summer!

Hot dog & band-aid

Today we went to the farmers market.

Madeline had a hot dog -- her first?  She liked it.

Later, we were walking on the sidewalk outside the house when she lost her balance and got a little scrape on her knee.  She got a band-aid -- her first? -- but didn't keep it on for long.

And she modeled our "Save Taft" buttons, designed to stimulate conversation and petition-signing over Brown's commencement weekend.

Tomorrow Summer officially graduates, some nine months after defending her thesis!

Bees

After picking up Madeline from daycare, we checked out our garden. The raspberry is bearing fruit this year! All's still green yet, though.  For her part, Madeline picked our johnny jump-ups and placed them in a dish.

Then she climbed all over her favorite ramshackle chair.

Inside she tackled Petey ...

... but soon demanded to go back outside, where Summer showed her ants and other bugs.  Fun!  Madeline calls them all "bees."

Bath night

Madeline prepared for her bath tonight ...

... by laughing uproariously!

That is all.

Houses

Yesterday Madeline's appointment made us push back our first house showing; today we squeezed in two.  One's still in play; the other's not.  We have two more scheduled for Friday.  Exciting!

Madeline accompanied us on our second showing and had fun frolicking about; no doubt she'll be disappointed that that one's off the list.

On an unrelated note, here's Madeline saying "turtle."

Coughing but healthy

This morning we received a call from daycare: Madeline was happy, playful, and fever-free, but there was some concern over her persistent cough.  So I made a 4:30 doctor's appointment, and we took off early to take Madeline in.  She didn't mind.

In fact, she was exceptionally well behaved as the doctor and a med student checked her out with a stethoscope and that pointy light thingy they use to look inside your ears, nose, and throat.  The result: as long as she stays fever-free, Madeline's fine and we should just ride out the cough.  So that's that.

Also, because I'm sure you're dying to know, Madeline measured 30 and a half inches long and weighed in just a hair over 22 pounds.

Greenes, gardening, coloring, chairs

The Greenes headed back to Delaware today, but not before Madeline had the chance to point out things to grandpa through the window ...

... and not before we got a lovely posed shot in front of a blooming rhododendron.

Not too long after we waved bye-bye to the Greenes -- leaving just Madeline and me at home -- we embarked on a car nap, trusty bucket in tow.

Madeline woke up invigorated and ready to wear hats!

But I took mine back and gave her her own before we went outside to do some gardening (bucket still in tow).

While I planted two sunberry plants, two strawberry plants, a cucumber plant, and some herbs, Madeline gathered grass and clover from the yard.

She also expressed some interest in the spade.

Before Madeline could really admire our gardening work, though, her diaper needed tending.  So we went inside.  And (after the diaper business) we did some coloring.

After that, Madeline spent some time happily sitting in chairs.

Then, after the chair-sitting, Madeline and I took a walk by one of the houses we're interested in.  We remained interested, and in fact Summer and I just made arrangements to visit it tomorrow.

Around 4, neither sitting in chairs nor going out walking proved adequate to mollify Madeline.  For an hour or so she put up quite a bit of fuss, and she didn't have much patience for her bath tonight either.  Hopefully she'll wake up refreshed and ready to go tomorrow.

P.S. If you haven't done so and are holding out for more prodding, please sign the petition to save Madeline's daycare!

Greene family visit: day two

Madeline had another full day with her family.  We had brunch at Olga's and then returned home for some funny-hat-wearing.

Madeline also played with her great grandparents for a bit.

Then Madeline, her grandma, and I went to Southside Community Land Trust's annual plant sale.  (We never miss it; here's last year's visit.)  Madeline was a bit overwhelmed by all the activity.

But she soldiered through.

After a stop at home, we all proceeded to Barrington.  We visited the beach ...

... where the rest of us remained while Summer and Madeline attended a party at Summer's boss's house.

Next order of business was a seafood feast at Evelyn's Nanaquaket Drive-In.  Madeline was impressed.

She had clams and calamari and lobster and scallop and ate every bit.  Nummy nummy num.  Then it was time to go home.

But the fun was far from over: the evening featured birthday cake for Unclesaurus Rex.  Madeline enjoyed quite a bit of Summer's slice of cake and some of mine too.

Finally, before bed Madeline brought many gifts to bestow on her great grandparents: a doggy, a football, a sea star, another ball, and a cow card.

By this point, though, she was getting sleepy.  And so bedtime followed in short order.