Marvelous Madelyn Archive

April 12, 2012

Our Little Matzah Ball

by Alison Friedman in All In The Family, Baby Land, Marvelous Madelyn, Mommy's Musings

Last year when I was five months pregnant, Bryan and I hosted a Passover seder — our first one — in our tiny little condo and we made lots of jokes about how “next year, we’ll have one more person at this seder and we’re not talkin’ about Elijah!” (If you’re not Jewish, that’s not funny. And if you are Jewish, that’s probably still not that funny).

Well, my mind is blown, because that “next year” just happened. Past tense. Last weekend. And Elijah didn’t actually come, but Madelyn did!

It was a lot of work to prepare and cook for the seder when I was pregnant, especially since my belly was three feet from the kitchen counter and I could hear my feet as I walked. I thought it would be even more difficult to host a seder with an infant, but I did a lot of prep work while Madelyn napped and I put my Seder assistant to work and my assistant’s name is Crock Pot. I’d like to cuddle with my assistant. Is that an HR issue?

The Seder turned out lovely! The food was good and the company was even better. Both sets of grandparents and Madelyn’s great grandparents were over and I’m not sure what I loved more: their gushing over my matzah ball soup or their gushing over our little matzah ball. I made both, you know.

Our reading from the Haggadah was fairly quick and painless thanks to Bryan’s genius adoption of The 30-Minute Seder book that he printed for everyone. We got to the food, inhaled it, and followed the meal with a little song session for Madelyn. She loved hearing her Grandpa Jay play guitar and we all enjoyed singing some of Madelyn’s favorite hits. A little lullaby ended the set and the little matzah munchkin went to sleep.

And then after everyone left, Bryan and I collapsed and joined Princeton on the couch. He’s a lazy dog. A smart dog, but a lazy dog.

Our second Seder was a success and we are glad that we started the tradition for Madelyn, who is, of course, the new reason for celebrating holidays. Guess every day is a holiday since we celebrate Madelyn every day.

Happy Passover, everyone!

Comments (3):
  1. Linda
    4/13/2012 12:03 PM

    Loved your blog, and I LAUGHED at the Elija comment, and I am not Jewish, but us Mormons know about that.

    I gave a seder for our study group a few years ago with the help of my Jewish friend . It was a beautiful experience, reading almost the whole thing. She helped me reduce it slightly, but not much. I had SUCH fun researching the food and preparing it. It gave us all a MUCH deeper understanding of the Passover, and I think it is important to learn about and share with others.

  2. Auntie Pattie
    4/13/2012 8:08 AM

    I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone who cam make laugh and cry all within two paragraphs!
    You have such a gift Alison. Not to mention a beautiful and TASTY little matzo ball!!!
    Madelyn will treasure these posts her whole life. Lucky little girl.. BEAUTIFUL little family.
    Aloha!! Can’t wait for posts and pictures about next week!!!

  3. Mimi
    4/12/2012 11:39 PM

    Thank you for the wonderful & delicious seder. It was perfect in every way. We’ll always remember that this night was different from every other night because your garbage disposal decided to quit working when it was time to clean up the dishes. But everything worked out & turned out just fine. And the best part was Madelyn getting to take it all in–her family, the food, the seder, the songs. Can’t wait to do it again next year and Madelyn will be able to eat the matzoh and the feast in your crock pot. xoxox

April 9, 2012

Eight Months!

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

Today Madelyn is eight months old. That sounds so old. I feel like everything past six months and on the other end of that half year mark is basically almost a year. She’s starting out her final third of her first year and I’m a little sentimental about it.

What I’m also not okay with is that if she’s eight months today, there’s only one month left until she’s nine months old. And you know what’s unnerving about the nine-month mark? As soon as I start to complain about the post partum mother’s body I currently possess, people say, “Oh, but it took your body nine months to grow and stretch while you were pregnant! Don’t worry! It takes nine months to get your body back.”

Well shit.

I have a measly four weeks from now to have a body whose reflection I last saw in November of 2010. No pressure.

Oy vey. Don’t worry: I’m still boot camping and eating all the good-for-you foods. Definitely making progress, but I’ll tell ya what, I’m not done. You know how I know? I bought a bathing suit with Spanx. ‘Nuff said.

Oh, right, this is about Madelyn turning eight months old.

She’s just such a joy. I can’t even gush and do her justice. We just adore this little matzo ball to pieces and I still can’t believe even after eight months that this little nugget is a masterpiece that I had anything to do with. Bryan, well, he’s a gem. But me? Psshhh.

This month, Madelyn:

  • Is a crawling machine!! When she started to crawl on March 15th, it took her no time at all to master this new skill. The first couple days she’d go a few scooches before losing her balance and starting over again, but after that, boy oh boy, she zig zags around the room with no fear at all. She’s definitely enjoying her new freedom and is finding ways to get into everything!
  • Stands up with a little help from her inanimate friends. Ottoman, crib, chair, dresser — you name it — she is scaling these things like Spider Woman and pulling herself up. She doesn’t always stay up or even finish off on flat feet, but she’s a strong one and gets pretty vertical. This means we had to lower the crib on its lowest setting so in order to accommodate Miss Curious, I now have a broken back from leaning so far in to get her down and out. Also, I’m sad about this because now the really cute dust ruffle is too low and long for the crib, so we had to remove it from the ensemble. C’mon, Madelyn. Stop these new tricks. That dust ruffle from Pottery Barn Kids wasn’t cheap!
  • Can make consonant sounds. It’s only a matter of time until our innocent little mute starts to talk back and use whiney attitude on us. Oh dear. She makes “g,” “y,” and “d” sounds. Waiting for the “m” and “aw” sound combined and repeated once… hint hint.
  • Discovered the pincer grip! She feeds herself puffs and Mum Mums and string cheese bits using her thumb and pointer fingers. It’s really adorable because she still puts her entire fist in her mouth after she’s picked up the food and brought it to her lips. I had been feeding the puffs to her myself and then as soon as I put them on her high chair tray, she was able to pick them up herself. She seems to proud of this accomplishment. Well it does involve food, so I guess I don’t blame her.
  • Got ticklish! Play time is so much more fun now that she giggles when tickled. Madelyn is ticklish under her arms, her neck, and on her sides. We wiggle our fingers over her and say “I’m gonna… I’m gonna… I’m… gonnagetyoooooou!!!!” and then tickle, tickle, tickle. The belly laugh comes from her toes! She laughs so hard and smiles so big, we can’t even see her eyes. She really enjoys being tickled and likes to be teased.
  • Puts evvvvverything in her mouth. Be careful and fair warning: nothing is safe from her curious gums. Toys, shoes (ew no! I don’t let that happen, but she’s TRIED), my appendages, the couch, Princeton’s tail (ew no! HE doesn’t let that happen!), and the most coveted item of all, our iPhones. This kid wants to taste it all. However peas and green beans, still not a total fan of putting THOSE in her mouth.
  • Still sleeps like a champ. She goes to bed at 6:30 p.m. and wakes up between 7:30 and 8 in the morning. It’s quite glorious. I don’t mean to brag since I know not all parents are sailing this dream boat (no pun intended), but we worked hard to get her on a schedule that works for all of us. She still takes two to three naps per day which she usually doesn’t fight and they last about 90 minutes to two hours each. Sleeping Beauty indeed!

Cuddle time with my girl after she had just pulled my hair.

Because every post needs a handsome dog...

Madelyn has experienced a lot of fun things this month and I will be writing about them individually in the next few days, so stay tuned!

Happy Eight Months to our little Maddie poo.

Comments (3):
  1. Auntie Pattie
    4/12/2012 2:10 PM

    I love love love this wonderful tribute to that little matzo ball!!! HAHAHAHA! And I have to say… That sleeping thing! OMGOSH!!! SO NOT FAIR to all other parents out there!!!!!!!
    Love you, love the blog, LOVE the matzo ball!!

  2. Mimi
    4/10/2012 8:49 AM

    Little lovely Madelyn–Happy Eight Months to you!
    So far it has been a joy!
    love Mimi

  3. Cathy
    4/9/2012 9:30 PM

    Princeton….muah, I’d put his tail in my mouth..really.

April 3, 2012

Princeton’s Preview

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

Madelyn and Princeton are now very aware of each other and it makes this mama’s heart smile with girl squeals as the soundtrack.

Princeton gets to know his sister minutes after we are reunited at home.

Whenever I’m carrying Madelyn, Princeton follows us around the house and hangs out in her room when we play. When she reaches for him, he doesn’t totally hate it. I mean, he kind of hates it, but that’s because he’s a scaredy dog and doesn’t do well with grabby hands from any kind of human — young or old. But at least he sort of tolerates it without any kind of retaliation.

Yesterday, I was watching both the furry child and fleshy child playing independently. Madelyn was exploring her room and picking up every object possible to inspect it and decide if it was mouth-worthy. She came across Princeton’s stuffed squeaky dog as he watched from a few inches away. She touched one end of the stuffed squeaky dog and Princeton took that as her intent to play. So he grabbed the other end with his teeth — gently! — and they had a mini tug-of-war with the toy. Princeton won. But that’s besides the point. It was so cute how Princeton assumed that her touching his toy meant that she wanted to have a game of fetch and Madelyn, well, damn, she just wanted to touch stuff.

Lately, I’ve noticed that Madelyn’s door goes from cracked to full on ajar during her naps. I think he’s going in there to check on her while she sleeps, which is totally warm-fuzzy until her usually-2 hour mid-day snoozes are cut in half because someone’s collar jingle-jangles too loudly. Uncool, Pdog.

However, all of Princeton’s approvals of Madelyn started before Madelyn even came home from the hospital.

I just came across this video that Bryan took when he went to our cousins’ house who were watching him while we were in the hospital when Madelyn was born. It was the first time Princeton had seen Bryan in three days and he had no idea what was in store for him when he’d return home.

Until this.

I think it was love at first sniff.

April 2, 2012

UofA Baby!

by Alison Friedman in Madelyn & Friends, Marvelous Madelyn, Mommy's Musings

When it comes to colleges, Madelyn swings more Wildcat than Mustang. Her daddy is a Cal Poly alumni, and while we love everything about San Luis Obispo and the drive (wineries!) up there, if Madelyn’s going to be a legacy of a university, it’s going to be Arizona. First and foremost, there’s no AEPhi at Cal Poly, so that’s a done deal. But also, Madelyn makes the most adorable cheerleader and UofA is all about athletics. I had so much fun going to football and basketball games — whether in human or Wilma Wildcat form.

So naturally, I was kvelling a few months ago when we took Madelyn to her first college basketball game: Wildcats vs. Trojans at USC.

In the morning, I did cheers in Madelyn’s room, and told her about how I fainted at my first football game. I pretended to demonstrate for her how to go up in a pyramid like the one time I successfully did on the basketball court. I can still hear the cheerleaders below me yelling up: “Squeeze your butt like you’re pinching a penny!”

We met up with our friends in the valley and carpooled to USC together where I debated on and off whether to take the stroller with me. “BUT IF I LEAVE IT UP ON THE CONCOURSE, WON’T IT GET STOLEN BECAUSE WE’RE IN THE GHETTO, OHMYGOSH!!!” I took it with me, and lo and behold, none of the accomplished and affluent USC fans were interested in my $60 Snap N Go that sweetly rested at the Galen Center. What? My cheap stroller frame isn’t good enough for you???????

During the game, Madelyn watched in awe of the boys who moved the big orange ball back and forth. She loved watching the videos on the big screen and wasn’t bothered at all by the sounds of cheering and buzzers. Our friends helped us out during the game when we needed free hands to make bottles or reach for a toy.

She tried to eat our chicken fingers and French fries, but told her that stadium food will have to wait. For now, there’s nothing like watching a game and throwing back a nice cold one. Of milk.

Most importantly, Madelyn is our good luck charm! The Cats beat the Trojans and now that the basketball season is over, I can probably say that that was the highlight of Wildcat basketball for 2012. We shall not speak of anything in the post season.

After the game, our crew got a bite at Freebirds across the street. Burritos and a baby: does it get any better than that?

So, Madelyn’s fate is sealed. Dear University of Arizona Admissions: Though a half-breed of Mustang and Wildcat, our daughter is a Wildcat at heart and will be overjoyed to be part of the freshman class of 2029.

April 1, 2012

Love Hurts

by Alison Friedman in Marvelous Madelyn, Mommy's Musings

It’s been a while, but it’s finally time to come out with it and empower myself: I am being abused. The pinching, the scratching, the hair pulling — it’s all very painful and I am stuck in this relationship with no where to go. Because if I go, she will be alone during the day because babies can’t go to work with daddies or corporate finance people would never get anything done. So, I stay in this abusive relationship at home… with my daughter.

She has entered a stage that makes her very grabby and I know it’s just her curiosity, but she’s is literally killing the cat. I don’t really have a tail and fur and take a dump in a box, but you know, for the sake of metaphors and all, I’m a cat.

Little Miss Madelyn is a trickster, too. She wahh wahh wahhs when it’s naptime, so we snuggle up in the big chair in her room and I rock back and forth and she lulls away into dreamland, sucking on the bottle, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. The eyelids get heavy, the feet relax, her breaths become long and deep and then WHACK! Her little arm reaches out from its fake sleep, grabs my lip and twists it like I’m her Claymation Mommy, and digs her nails in deep to mark her territory.

Can babies be declawed? Will PETA get all up in my bidness about that?

It’s just all so shocking! What a faker she is, and what a sucker I am. Here I am thinking I have the most cherubic little lamb for a daughter, and then the pre-nap ritual turns into me rocking a baby who’s suddenly competing with Linda Blair for a movie role, but in real life.

Babies. Psshh. They make us all fat and keep us up all night and make stinky poops and then also have the nerve to physically beat up their moms. I literally had a scratch on my nose for a week that required me to cover it up with makeup! And I swear my hair is full of split ends, not from the dryer or flat iron, but from Madelyn’s tiny fingers pulling my strands one by one. I could make a brunette Barbie doll (is that Skipper?) coiffure with all the hair she’s pulled out. The other day, she bruised my mom’s lip with that twist maneuver she’s got up her onesie sleeve. I tell ya. Ruthless, these babies.

And yet. Sigh. I melt. With all the pain, I still keep running back for more. Even with all the abuse, I know she loves me and I love her.

But revenge is sweet, my friends. She may not realize it, but she’s paying for all that abuse now. You see, I put up embarrassing photos and exploit her on Born Friedman and 30 (yes, 30) years from now, her boyfriends will Google her and see this:

Hi Madelyn! Love ya! Mean it!

Comments (4):
  1. Grandma
    4/1/2012 8:06 PM

    She doesn’t mean it…..really, Mommy!

    Smooches, Madelyn!!

  2. Mimi
    4/1/2012 6:42 PM

    I can handle all those curiosity-driven pinches & kicks & scratches because I know they will all be over-shadowed and replaced with hugs & kisses & snuggles.
    I <3 you Madelyn!

  3. lei-ann
    4/1/2012 5:55 PM

    You my dear are brilliant! Love you mean it!!!!

  4. Marla Letizia
    4/1/2012 4:55 PM

    Oh boy I understand!! This is truly one of the sweetest blogs I have ever read. And, I can relate, my first born daughter was competing with Linda Blair daily whenever she got over tired!!!! Glad to know I am not alone!!! Welcome to motherhood.

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »