Marvelous Madelyn Archive

December 20, 2012

Baby Mama

by Alison Friedman in Marvelous Madelyn, Mommy's Musings, Videos

I look pretty good… for a grandmother. Madelyn received two babydolls for Hanukkah and has since taken motherhood very seriously. Sigh. There’s nothing like watching your daughter become a mother. Thankfully, the birth was easy, like tearing paper off a box, and there are no diapers to change because the fabric crotch is stitched on pretty heavily. The babies don’t sleep, but they’re also never awake, so ya know, Madelyn is a well-rested mama considering her two-week-old newborns in the house.

It’s actually pretty fascinating watching Madelyn mother the fruits of her… imagination. She talks in soft, playful Madelynese (Madelyn language) to them. And she pats their plastic-grooved hair with such toddler tenderness (read: like Ringo on his instrument). She carries them everywhere with her, never letting go, even if upside down. Her nurturing skills are so innate. I wasn’t there for one of the births (Bryan and I were out on a date when the baby was born/gifted by Mimi), but I was told that as soon as Madelyn could have skin-to-plastic with her new baby, she instinctively picked up the plastic pink bottle that came in the doll box/the hospital provided and brought it to the baby’s mouth for the first feeding. I know I’m a little bit biased, but holy mother of dolls, my daughter is brilliant.

I love watching her with her baby dolls. She loves to push them in the stroller and she even rocks them side to side and sings. Is this imitation? Is this nature? I don’t know, but it’s pretty effing cool.

Mother and daughter bonding with singing and laughter.

Baby Mama pats Baby Doll’s back to get a good burp out of her! All that air milk will really make a doll gassy…

“Gotta work off the baby weight with a run in the jogging stroller! We’ll take the route that goes from the mirror to the crib. No hills. All scenery.”

“Safety first! Buckle in baby and no one gets hurt.”

Hey doll, I just met you. And this sounds crazy. But here’s my Fisher Price Cell Phone. So call me, maybe?

Madelyn showcases her instinct: even when she falls off a padded chair that’s 7 inches from the carpet below her, she maintains her grip on her baby, never letting her get away.

As they say: It takes a village.

Madelyn puts her baby into a milk coma. Smart mama.

And then, just when I put the camera down, I put the video camera on to capture the ultimate bottle feeding. Rookie moms, take note: THIS is how to be a Jewish mother and make sure your child eats.

Comments (1):
  1. Wendy
    12/21/2012 2:18 PM

    LMAO…I die.
    Your posts are hilarious, and your daughter is ridiculously delicious. I would read ANYTHING you write…you are just so damned entertaining.

December 3, 2012

My Daughter’s First Love is a Red Furry Monster

by Alison Friedman in Marvelous Madelyn, Mommy's Musings

The recent news about Kevin Clash, the voice and puppeteer genius behind (and under) Elmo has been a nightmare on Sesame Street. Clash has resigned due to accusations that came out about his sexual activity with three men. I’m not really looking to get into a discussion about the whole soap opera, but I would like to say that it’s just a tad bit interesting how these men are going public about their relationships with Clash that happened handfuls of years ago. This, after a widely available documentary about Clash and 20ish years of Elmo success as the icon of “Sesame Street” via books, videos, iPad games, and of course gimmicky toys. They knew what they were getting into and they’ve even since said their activity with Clash was consensual. Bottomline: The pitchforks and torches are glowing in dollar bills.

Since the news hit earlier this month, I’ve heard several moms dismiss Elmo. The character. You know, the red, squeaky-voiced guy. Who’s fake.

Kevin Clash is separate from Elmo. And frankly, his personal life is separate from his employment by “Sesame Street.” Elmo and what he stands for are foundations in toddlers’ worlds, and to see Elmo differently because of Clash’s current troubles is wrong. The children, Elmo’s biggest fans, have no idea that there even is a puppeteer in the first place.

I’m happy to say that Elmo is alive and well in our house. Madelyn is a huge fan of “Sesame Street” and she absolutely freaks out over the theme song like a 60s teenager at a Beatles concert. Her first kiss was with an Elmo doll and she happily points and squeals over her Elmo books. My mom even bought Madelyn her first novelty t-shirt that proudly displays a happy, smiling Elmo.

We’ve always joked that Bryan would lock up Madelyn in her room so that she’d never have contact with boys and go on dates, but I think she figured out a loophole in this plan. There’s no such rule against fraternizing with little red monsters! She loves Elmo very much and she’s fallen hard.

We love to go see Teacher Joy in our Mommy & Me class on Mondays. Her classroom has a larger-than-life Elmo doll that Madelyn has taken a liking obsession to. She runs in, grabs Elmo, and drags him around wherever she goes. It’s almost like she’s a married Jewish woman already. She never wants to put him down ever. She tantrummed until she was almost as red as Elmo when I tried to take him away so she could do an art project. And when faced with the option to eat Nilla Wafers and apples at snack time or hold onto Elmo, well, Elmo won.

She absolutely adores Elmo, and I’m so glad she doesn’t need to know about the overblown controversy regarding his genius creator. With so many wonderful words, feelings, and morals that Elmo teaches, I am glad that Madelyn loves him. I just wish that the men who’ve suddenly come into the limelight to damage Clash would take something away from Elmo’s teachings as well.

November 15, 2012

Chatty Maddie In Her Own Words

by Alison Friedman in Marvelous Madelyn, Mommy's Musings

You know what’s more fun than anything in the world? Dealing with an insurance company AFTER being on hold for 27 minutes with hold music that’s enhanced with static and repetitive interruptions about “longer than usual wait times.” Now THAT’S how I like to spend a Thursday morning. Why was I calling our insurance company? I had to find out about coverage for speech therapy.

Right now, our Maddie is very chatty, but her language sounds more like Nell’s “tay inna win” instead of recitations of Shakespeare sonnets. I wouldn’t care so much if Madelyn was pulling in Jodie Foster dollars for her “words,” but she’s not. So that’s that.

At her 15-month check up on Tuesday, the pediatrician said she’d like Madelyn to have at least 10 or so words by now. She is speaking tons, but none of it in English or even symbolic baby-English. I’m not particularly worried and neither is the doctor. She is hitting all other milestones perfectly and definitely shows no red flags to worry about. She’s social (she loves attention from friends and strangers). She isn’t sensitive to sounds or textures (she can sleep through anything and loves to get her hands dirty in her food). She loves music (she bounces up and down as soon as she hears a melody). She understands our directions and words (she looks down at her feet when we say the word “shoes.” She looks to the floor when we say “Princeton.” She brings us the remote after she’s stolen it when we ask her to). Her receptive language is fantastic (she reacts to our words and tones of voice, including disciplinary ones). She probably has words on the tip of her tongue and is having trouble expressing them. If it’s frustrating for us as parents, I’m sure she’s beyond frustrated, which may be the source of some of her (albeit, rare) toddler meltdowns.

So, a speech evaluation will help us with methods to help give Madelyn that push to producing language. And in case there is some sort of developmental delay, it’s better to get on the ball now and save time.

Still, though, Madelyn continues to entertain us with her extra special Madelyn language. If she picks up anything with printed words, she immediately looks down at the paper and “reads” it. She even moves her head and eyes to “scan” the words and her inflection changes to narrate her story. It’s unbelievably cute and makes me even more excited to hear her speak in her own language that we understand.

We go for our first speech evaluation next week. I know 15 months is still incredibly young, which is why we’re not worried. More than anything, we’re fascinated with the process and will follow doctor’s orders as long as it can’t hurt and won’t cost us anything (both true).

In the meantime, we’ll still continue to giggle over Madelyn’s babbling that sounds like a mix of Hebrew and Swedish that we like to call Swebrewsh. Here’s a classic Madelyn that puts Chaucer to shame called The Maddiebury Tales.

Comments (4):
  1. Jan Glasband
    11/15/2012 8:33 PM

    What’s the problem? I understand every word she’s saying.

  2. KZ
    11/15/2012 7:39 PM

    Your pediatrician is on crack. A 15 month old does not need to be saying a whole lot of anything. At 15 months, Fiona was babbling like crazy, but not talking. She had maybe 3 words at 18 months, and was using two word phrases by 22 months. Do not worry for one moment or think Madelyn is in anyway behind. In fact, I know tow years olds who don’t even talk yet.

  3. Summer
    11/15/2012 7:27 PM

    She is precious! Her speech is priceless. I’m so glad you have her reading on tape. What a fun thing to look back on years from now when she’s up on stage acting out a piece from Wicked or Avenue Q.

  4. Mimi
    11/15/2012 6:28 PM

    Dear Sweet Madelyn! I love listening to your babble no matter how it sounds! Just so you know, I am always available to listen to anything you want to talk about & tell me, your old Mimi.
    <3xoxoxo<3

November 9, 2012

Fifteen Months!

by Alison Friedman in Marvelous Madelyn, Mommy's Musings, Monthiversaries

Our little not-so-little, on-the-cusp-of-her-Bat-Mitzvah, basically-an-AARP subscriber baby is 15 months today and I can’t believe how fast time flies. I literally can’t keep up (as evidenced by the silence on BornFriedman) and have lots to share and will unravel some stories in the coming days!

But for now, we celebrate 15 months of Madelyn. She has definitely gone from baby to little girl status. She’s longer, leaner, and the hair — oh the hair! It’s finally growing like a weed and the curls are taking shape. This is going to be fun!

At 15 months, Madelyn…

  • Has about 10 teeth. Her molars are almost finished cutting through and if I had my act together, I’d have created Splash Zone signs for her to carry around her body. Anyone who gets near her is bound to get wet. She’s pretty juicy with the drooling, so I’m pretty much over the teething just for that reason alone! Thankfully, she’s not a terrible teether. She doesn’t complain much and she acts pretty normal. No fevers, no weird poops. Just drool. Like, she basically makes a basset hound look as dry as a raisin.
  • Runs and trips and gets back up again. Nothing fazes her. Falling is seriously no big whoop. She trips over her own feet all the time and if a toy or a shoe stops her saunter and she takes a dive, she doesn’t even blink. Isn’t it funny how babies are hardly cry babies at all? She’s a tough kid. I’m curious to know where she got that…
  • Knows parts of her face! Ask her where her ears are. She’ll be glad to slap them with her hand. Ask her where her head is. She’ll pat it enthusiastically. Ask her where her eyes are. She’ll blink really slow and with determination. Ask her where her mouth is. She usually makes politically incorrect Native American tribal sounds. We’re still working on the nose. She still dones’t know nose. I’m sure her Poppa will have a dirty way to teach her that one. Ahem.
  • Enjoys throwing food. Please tell me this is a stage. My dog is going to become obese and my housekeepers are going to become very rich because I seem to be calling them more and more. So, win-win for everyone except mommy. As soon as she starts to throw her food, we take it away, remove her from the high chair, and tell her that eating time is over. We don’t make a big deal, but we don’t ignore this behavior entirely either. However, the absolute lack of remorse and apathy she shows about this consequence makes me very, very, very fearful of her years to come. When does the food throwing stop? Any pieces of advice to share? And why does she not want to eat delicious food that I wish I could eat, but can’t because she made me fat? Oh, the irony!
  • Is almost 30 inches tall. I know this because I had to take her to the Van Nuys Entertainment Work Permit office to renew her show biz card (which basically sits dormant, thankyouvermuch casting directors. So all you who ask me how to get your kid to make a million bucks, I don’t know). I had to give her measurements (her bust is still not even pushing 30 and her hips, forget it. Nothin’ there.) and there was a juvenile-looking measuring stick on the wall. She absolutely loved standing against it and looking at the numbers and the colors. She then proceeded to prance around the dreary, institutional-like office waiting area and made sure that everyone paid attention to her. She’d walk up to a dad on his iPhone or a mom tending to her kids and literally do schtick until they gave her the satisfaction of a smile or a “hello.” This kid doesn’t work because she’s not friendly? Please! Anyway, this is what she does everywhere we go. I can’t run in and out of Trader Joe’s because she’s holding me up and putting on a show like she’s queen of the Catskills and our fellow TJ shoppers are old Jewish ladies eating borscht and smoking cigarettes. It’s criminal how much she steals attention. And they give it to her, too! They stop and the coo and they play peek-a-boo and all she needs is a harmonica and tap shoes and she’d be a complete traveling act. Then they eventually walk away and she looks at me with her deep, dark coffee See’s chocolate eyes and bats her Jessica Rabbit eyelashes as if to say, “See, Ma? I got it. Now, take me to the frozen pizzas.”

She fell out of her chair. Anddidn’tevencare…

She just keeps on keepin’ on.

October 20, 2012

Dances With Madelyn

by Bryan Friedman in All In The Family, Daddy's Corner, Marvelous Madelyn

This past weekend was my sister’s wedding. Both Alison and I were honored to be in the wedding party as Maid[tron] of Honor and Groomsmen respectively, but the real honor was Madelyn’s as she got to walk down the aisle as the cutest Flower Girl around. Though we had been looking forward to this event for many months, I know Alison and I were also a little bit nervous about how Madelyn would do during the weekend’s festivities. There’s rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, getting ready, photos, ceremony, reception — it’s a lot for a 14-month old to take in, let alone how much her parents would have to take in while taking care of her. Luckily, Madelyn had her own entourage (read: baby wranglers), Mimi and Poppa (Alison’s parents), on the scene to offer all their help, and no doubt we were going to need it. Let’s not forget, Alison was staying overnight with the bridesmaids on Saturday, so although Madelyn’s Mimi and Poppa were there to help during the events, the homefront was now my responsibility for two days.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGSxY7xPKnA

Everything started on Saturday, the day of the rehearsal and dinner. Though my job as Groomsmen required very little, on this day I did have a few very important responsibilities as Husband-of-the-Maid[tron]-of-Honor and Father-of-the-Flower-Girl. I had to ensure Madelyn got a good morning nap, show up on time (read: early) to the rehearsal with Madelyn and everything we would need for her (and us) in tow, cooperate with the coordinator during the rehearsal while helping Madelyn’s entourage take care of her and watching Alison run around doing her duties as Maid[tron] of Honor, take Madelyn home for a quick nap before getting her (and me) ready for the rehearsal *dinner* where I would still need to show up on time (early) with her and everything we would need, including the tribute video I made for my sister and her now husband. Breathe, Bryan, breathe.

On the surface, this day didn’t need to be stressful, and I can honestly say it really wasn’t. Alison, being the super mom and savvy wedding professional that she is, laid everything out for me on the homefront and made sure I was prepped for success, as any good manager will do. I managed to succeed in all of my duties, except Madelyn didn’t quite cooperate on the napping front. A little bit here and a little bit there, but not the solid naps I was hoping for. So of course, she was an absolute mess at the rehearsal, crying and screaming her way down the aisle until we shoved the bottle in her mouth during round two so her cousin Abby could carry her down the aisle.

But after a change of scenery, she was a total trooper at the rehearsal dinner, even with the food coming out late, lots of unfamiliar faces, and one tired little toddler. She made it through the whole night and finally expired around 9:30pm when she just couldn’t be “on” anymore and started her “put-me-to-bed-right-now-daddy-or-I’m-seriously-going-to-lose-it-even-more-than-I’m-losing-it-right-now” cry. So I took her home, put her to bed, and readied myself for the next day, which would be similar to this day but on a much grander scale. More to bring with me, more time away from naps, more pressure to perform.

Thankfully, Madelyn is a total rock star. I was somehow able to bring everything we needed for myself and for Madelyn, show up early, get ready with the guys, help Alison get Madelyn ready, take pictures, hang out with everybody, walk down the aisle, greet everyone, take care of Madelyn, and have a ton of fun all at the same time, or at least in sequence.

In all my 14 months of being a father, I have to say, I have never enjoyed being Madelyn’s dad as much I did from the time the reception started to the time she was completely conked out in her stroller as the band played their last few numbers. It was so amazing to witness her taking it all in. I literally got to experience the wedding through her eyes as I focused so much of my time and energy making sure she had a fun time. At the dinner table she sat with me, eating off of my plate and gobbling up the sliced fruit I prepared for her earlier that day (thanks to Mommy’s preparation list). On the dance floor she danced with me, both in my arms and on the dance floor.

Aside from my sister, the beautiful bride, I’m pretty sure Madelyn was the next most watched girl in the room, as people were fascinated by her dancing. I’m thinking of patenting her go to dance move — the slight knee-bending bounce while sticking the arms just a little bit outward, every so often just taking a tumble and then getting back up to do it again. It’s “The Madelyn,” and it’s taking over for the Macarena and the Cupid Shuffle.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbgQUZlfn-A

Between dancing with my daughter and the incredible band, I literally have never had so much fun at a wedding. I would say, to date, it was my most rewarding night as a father. And it was a pretty rewarding night for me as a husband too — those times where Mimi and Poppa or Grandma and Grandpa would watch Madelyn for a few precious moments so Alison and I could share some wedding party time alone together. Is there anything that makes you feel the love more than a freaking wedding?!?

Looking back on it, I really had such a great weekend because I got to enjoy playing all the different roles of my life — a dad, a husband, a son, a brother, a groomsman, a family member, a friend … and a wedding guest. After hearing the truly heartfelt and touching vows from my sister and her husband, I can honestly say I’m so, so happy for them that they each found the one they love to spend the rest of their life with. I found my own “one” seven years ago and could never have imagined a weekend like the one we just shared together, with our daughter, and so many people who love us. It’s always nice to get a reminder of how lucky I am and what a great life my wife and I have built together.

Congratulations Alison and Michael, and thanks for an amazing party!

Comments (1):
  1. Mom/Grandma
    10/20/2012 11:45 PM

    You are amazing, Bryan! It was certainly a fun, memorable evening, and I will perform “The Madelyn” at every wedding I attend in the future. Thanks for everything last weekend!! I love you!

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