Our Houston Trip

I am sorry it took so long, but here is the story of our trip to Houston.

Before we left on Saturday, Maddie and I went to her first swimming lesson. We arrived a little early, which turned out to be a good thing. Maddie was able to get used to the new place and was excited when we finally got in the water.

First she played around in the toy area,
and played with her first Barbie.
Then we changed into our swimin' suits, and were ready to go. She was SUPER cute in her polka-dot suit.


I could not get any action shots because I was in the water with Maddie and we were busy the whole time! (There will be a ton of photos and video, though, of next week's class. Summer, Linda, and Nick are all coming!)

We flew down to Houston. It was the craziest flight so far. Our flight was delayed an hour ... so a 3 hour trip took 4 hours. That does not seem like a big difference, but oh, how it was! We ran around the St. Louis airport and played with some other kidos, but it was not enough. She was awake the whole flight and all she wanted to do was PLAY! I do not have any photos because they would 1. be of me pulling my hair out and 2. there was no way to organize the camera while Maddie was unhooking my seatbelt, dropping the tray down, crawling under the seat, raising and lowering the window shade ... and so much more. It was insane. We got to Houston and Daddy took over baby duty for a little while. Ahhh ... how only a few months can make a difference.

We got home a little late and went right to bed.

Then next day, Maddie was introduced to meat loaf. She really liked it, but more than the meatloaf, she liked the ketchup. Both Daddy and I LOVE ketchup, so she was sure to love it. Here is a cute video of Maddie and her new favorite food!



That afternoon, we went and visited Maddie's ProYiayia and ProPapou (Great Grandmother and Great Grandfather - in Greek). They were so excited to see Maddie. She got the royal treatment, of course. They let her run around on the dining room table ... seriously! That is a sign of a real great grandparent ... sure, let the child run around on the table ... why not!?


Then Cristina read Maddie a book. She just loves sitting in people's laps now. The big people love it too!
Then Maddie and her ProPapou ate some goldfish. Maddie is so good at sharing. She just loves feeding people.




Maddie LOVED watching the birds and squirrels outside on the deck. She kept yelling "meng" and wanting to go outside and see them.

That night (it was a busy day!) we went over to the Taylor's house for some fun. We went swimming in the pool - Maddie just loved it! She even jumped off the side and her daddy would catch her.

Teddy, of course, got some photos with his fancy camera (it is an iPhone, if you can't see).

Maddie and Daddy had a lot of fun swimming. She is so much bigger than the first video I took of them swimming here in St. Louis. It does not feel that long ago. Time really does fly! After her swim, Maddie took a shopping cart around with a dolly from Mrs. Taylor's collection. She had a lot of fun racing that thing around ... must come from Daddy or Teddy ... I certainly can't back up that well, or go that fast!


Then they had a little stroll around the pool (actually, although that is what this looks like, Daddy was really just following Maddie to stop her from jumping back in! She loves swimming.)

The next morning, Maddie played in her new fort.
Then she played upstairs in our room for a little bit. This video is a little long, but it is a beautiful example of what life is like with our 14 month old. She just NEVER stops. NEVER. She is a cross between the Energizer Bunny and the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man (just look at those legs and you will understand).


After her nap, we went and got a little barbeque at Good Company! It was as good as we remembered. It was, however, hotter outside than we remembered. That Houston heat can really take you down!

So we went and got some Amy's ice cream to cool off. Maddie was so funny with it! She and Daddy were "sharing" a small Mexican Vanilla, and Maddie decided, after only one taste, that ...
Daddy needed to find his own ice cream. Every time he tried to get some, she would put her hand over the top ... seriously! If he was slow to get her another spoonful, she would yell at him.
She eventually took matters into her own hands and did not let him have the spoon back. A girl after my own heart!

We had planned to wander around Rice Village, but the weather sent us to the mall instead. I looked for a pair of shoes and we discovered that ice cream plus shoes equal a crazy Maddie. Here is a video that is not half as entertaining as the real thing!

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That night, Mommy and Daddy had a night out. This is really exciting stuff!! We don't get out much anymore, so when we do, it is a SUPER special night. Uncle Ryan came over and hung out for a little bit.



We had a great time at dinner with Ryan and Vanessa!

The next day, Vanessa and Lincoln came over for a little play time. As you can see, Link is the happiest baby EVER!! He is so cute and so big! He laughs and smiles and is so much fun. Maddie likes Link a lot ... she pats him like a kittie cat.


This photo does not show it that well, but Maddie reached out to give Link a hug! It was so cute!!
We put Lincoln down to play and Maddie just watched him for a minute. She could not figure him out. Not a cat, not a dog, not a big kid like her ... hmmmm
Eventually she went and played with him.

She was very helpful. She noticed that Link liked putting toys in his mouth, so she would bring toys to him and put them in his mouth for him. Such a cute helper.


Then we put Link in Maddie's old exer-saucer. Link was not sure of it at first and Maddie was not sure why someone else was in her toy. Lincoln took the crazy-colored toy home. I hope it will help him learn and become an even smarter boy!


Our flight home was MUCH better. The flight was on time and Maddie fell asleep right after take off. FANTASTIC!! She woke up after we landed and gave me hope in future flights.

We had a wonderful trip to Houston and loved seeing everyone!

I know many of you look at the blog and we would love to read your comments! I was thinking about it - baby blogs are so great because they are a living baby book. Normally, only the parents get to add to it. With the blog, though, anyone can add to Maddie's baby book. We would love to get comments from anyone/everyone any time you want. It will make the blog extra special because you will help us create Maddie's baby book. Also, sign on as one of Maddie's fans and we can see all the folks that follow our little one. I know there are a bunch of you out there!!