Executive Summary

I had this very cute collage post of Madeleine's monthly "b-day" pictures, but sadly the pictures won't show up. Blerg! I'll tweak it a bit more and hopefully get some positive results soon.

In the meantime here's a brief recap of all the happenings here... I will post details and pics after finals, but I don't want to forget all the topics that I want to record for family history/scrapbooking sake!

*Madeleine is developing like polaroid instant film! So fast! We're amazed at how the past month has revealed her moves: crawling all over the place, standing in her crib and against furniture, sitting and bouncing on her haunches, bustin' moves and dancing all the time. She has 4 teeth now. Her eyes and half-smile are probably still her most communicative tools, but she's got lots of mamamamama, babbabbab, ohs and ahs going on, as well as "uh oh" quite recently, and babbles all the time - mostly in the late evening hours. This range of motion and emotion has also made her a much more friendly baby! Whereas before she was prone to challenge everyone in a staring war, she now more readily goes to other people/strangers, and smiles! It's a very joyful stage!!

*Marc completed his psych rotation and is now onto Ob/Gyn, to which he says, "Too many vaginas!" And he's not a fan of the work schedule either.

*Marc has been trying to spend a few days each week either playing basketball or racquetball and he's feelin' it. But it's good for him! And he really enjoys it. We hope to go out camping this summer, too. Activities! Activities!

*We spent a lovely Easter weekend in D.C. with Ryan, Anne, Shamik, Pruvi and Allen. We love our D.C. crowd and think it is a welcom additional motivator to go down to the temple often. We colored Easter eggs and watched Madeleine crawl all around.

*Madeleine has allergies and weight gain "problems" that have made our visits to CHOP and the doctor rather routine. It's a little too busy for me to enjoy and the change in my diet (avoiding eggs and dairy) is none too easy for me. I fail miserably but make concentrated efforts each new day. Her allergies, plus ~supposed~ failure to thrive (FTT) (ha! I so don't buy it!), plus her excema make her a more difficult baby than I anticipated. But these challenges are often overshadowed by how darn adorable she is!!!

*We love the warm weather! Have enjoyed flying a kite with Madeleine during my Spring Break in March, walking along Kelly Drive and the Schuykill River, and enjoyed a Saturday in Ocean City, NJ where Madeleine played in the freezing water and ate sand. Madeleine is so happy outside.

*We had a great Iron Chef competition with friends - secret ingredient was sweet potatoes. I'll have to link you to Kristin's blog for this because she documented the event very artistically.

*I've enjoyed playing piano for the choir, even though I feel my previous musical talent has really declined in the past, oh 10 years, since I took lessons. But I love playing the music and having a reason to use my piano keyboard. This summer I'll be starting a brief organ class and am so excited!

*My parents are visiting and it's a lifesaver! Good food, free babysitting, a clean home, and doting grandparents. We are so grateful to have them come out to hang with us and take care of us!

*I am learning a lot about political theory, impressive vocabulary, my deficiencies in researching political science papers, multivariate statistics, farming and... ugh! It's wonderful to be learning (and I feel like I'm REALLY getting it; it seems like I'm actually solidifying everything I learned in my Master's) but as Madeleine grows more active it's been quite challenging. I'm glad I won't have actual classes this summer, just lots of studying for (hopefully) my preliminary exams. My finals end the 8th, so I'm in high-stress mode, but hopefully it's a key to helping me be productive.