Madeline! This baby is developing a personality that is becoming more and more defined each and every day. Sometimes we see more of a little girl in her than a baby…. which is both magical and scary at the same time. She turned 11 months this past week.
The family is back in Senegal and settled, having arrived a week ago. The two long flights from the west coast of the USA were no problem for Maddie this time. She traveled and flew around so much over the summer that she’s an ‘old pro’ now. She was remarkably easy to fly with, which made this trip infinitely more enjoyable for mom and dad (and everyone else on those planes).
However, the girl has had a difficult time adjusting to the 7-hour time difference. This past week has seen some exceptionally difficult nights for all of us. The word frustrating doesn’t even begin to describe dealing with her stubborn non-sleeping habits from midnight to 3:00 am. Mom and dad have this grand sleeping plan that we intend to implement once she gets back on Greenwich Mean 
Time. Once she gets adjusted, we are going to get her sleeping through the night, come “hell or high water”. Stay tuned to see how that goes! Actually, she is more or less adjusted now, taking at least one long, solid nap during the daytime each day, and going down to sleep consistently around 8:00 pm. It’s what happens between 8:00 pm and 4:00 am that is the problem. We have done nothing this past week outside of our work schedule to disturb her routine, as this is obviously first priority for all of us right now.
Maddie has been sleeping in each morning, something she has never done. On the one hand, this is nice for early-rising people in the house because it means that they can start their day with some ‘down time’. On the other hand, it’s a real drag to have her wake up just before we have to go to work, depriving us of our quality Maddie time in the mornings. Maybe when next week rolls around, and we have to be at school at 8:00 instead of 9:00, everything will get going earlier in the household and she won’t sleep so late. And maybe we are living in a permanent pipe-dream if we think this baby will ever sleep exactly the hours we want her to!
Dad has worked very hard this week to “baby-proof” the apartment, and it has been time-consuming. We put this off in June before we left for the USA, but now Madeline is so mobile and getting into everything with such ease, that it has to be done. It never ceases to amaze me how a baby can be surrounded by toys and playthings (including the cat), yet will consistently want to play with the most dangerous thing in the room time and time again, no matter how small or hidden that item is. Baby-proofing has thus far meant putting all floor plants outside on balconies, and organizing the many electrical elements (extension cords, plugs, 220-110V transformers, regulators, etc) while at the same time hiding them from sight. This has taken creativity and resourcefulness. But we are getting there. Baby-proofing serves the added purpose of giving the apartment more order and size, and creating more open space (which is always a good thing with a roaming baby around!)
Maddie seems to have gotten a bit bored with standing though still does it frequently, and takes a few steps occasionally. She knows that she can get places quickly and effortlessly by crawling and ‘cruising’ (walking while holding on to some fixed object). She has been cruising more lately. She is still mimicking sounds and gestures, and tries to sing ‘Old MacDonald’. When she sees mom she says ‘mama’ and, to a lesser extent, says ‘dad’ when she sees dad. More often, when she sees dad, she says simply, ‘hi!’. She still loves her walks (strolls), and we have tried to get her outside at least once every day, though the weather has been hot and humid here.
Maddie and Laye are best friends again, after a funny and unpredictable start on Monday morning, which was the first time they had seen each other in two months. Surprisingly, Maddie didn’t seem to recognize her. Something seemed to spark in the deep recesses of her mind, but it seemed more confusion than recognition. But this didn’t last long, and by Tuesday, Maddie was crawling towards Laye’s familiar voice all over the apartment.
Maddie and Hobbes continue to ‘bond’ – and she seemed to be more familiar with him than with Laye. She finally seems to be getting the idea of petting him softly and not tearing out great chunks of cat fur. And he more than tolerates her. At times he seems to actually like her and wants to be in the same room as her (though not too close, of course, as one of her favorite games is to corner him, which makes him uncomfortable). Unfortunately, over the past few days Hobbes has gotten fleas, making his temperament unpleasant but we’ll get that cleared up shortly. If the baby gets fleas, we’ll deal with that too!
