We’re thinking that Maddy’s first real word is “Bye!” She’s been saying it pretty consistently at the right times this weekend, accompanied by an excited wave. She also says “hi”, “dadadada”, “mamama”, “nawnaw”, and “oh sh*t” (seriously), but we’re pretty sure she doesn’t know what she’s saying most of the time.

Here’s a video of a serious conversation we had the other day (extra points to anyone who can identify actual English words in her speaking):

And here’s a video of her showing off with a fancy chair-dance (”The Maddy Sway”) after Thanksgiving dinner:

Since she got over her cold she’s been a lot of fun – much less of a drama queen, which we are quite enjoying.

We’re back! I’m sure everyone was devastated that my blog was down for a few days this week, but don’t worry I guess it was just a server issue – Yahoo! got it all fixed.

We had a great Turkey Day on Thursday – my mommy made a ton of food and we had friends over who laughed at my antics. At first I wasn’t so sure about sharing my Thanksgiving with these people, but once I got used to them again it was a lot of fun to all sit around the table and eat. I loved the stuffing and turkey and mashed potatoes.

Anyway, Thanksgiving got me thinking. It has been far too long since I’ve given proper thanks for all of the tangible and intangible things I have in my life. My parents say that Thanksgiving is about being thankful for things like your family, your friends and food and stuff like that, but I thought it would be more fun to say thanks for some of the great toys and other things I’ve been given lately.

I get the coolest stuff, especially lately (because I had a birthday recently). Here is just a selection of some of the wonderful gifts I’m thankful for:

	Dad’s friends Margaret and Rob gave me these cozy PJs with snowmen all over them.

Nana DiPietro gave me this awesome winter vest with fur and glitter.

	It’s hard to see in this photo, but Ba Ngoai gave me a cool stuffed monkey that wraps all around me! It’s shirt says “Hug someone from Brown” (that’s because my grandma went to Brown and thinks I should go there too when its time for college).

	My buddy Sydney gave me this cool ball/globe thing, and my fun Winnie-the-Pooh phone.

	My daycare teacher, Susette gave me this super-cute bib, and my Aunt Crystal gave me the pretty blue shirt.

You can’t quite tell in this photo, but I’m opening up some books that my Aunt Lorna, Uncle Eric and cousins Sage and Jude gave me.

	My grandpa Busath and Nana Angel gave me this cool box with a froggie that jumps out when I open the lid.

I got this super-cool singing doggie from dad’s friend Nancy and her kids Richard and Jacob (I like to sway back and forth when it plays music).

	My Auntie Lisa and Nana DiPietro sent me this pretty dress from Disneyworld, and my dad’s friend Faris got me this fun rattle that I love to shake around.

My mom’s friend Shauna gave me this adorable outfit with little sheep on the chest.

	My mom’s Uncle Dan and Aunt Karen gave me this cute outfit, and also two fun little teddy bears.

My great-grandma Busath gave me this cool water bottle at our family reunion.

	My mom’s friend Hilary and my buddy Evie gave me this great firefly when I was born and I still like to play with it.

And here’s a really fun toy that that Yahoo! Front Doors team gave me before I was born. Until recently, I didn’t quite know what to do with it, but now I love putting the pieces together…

That’s just some of the great stuff I’ve been loving this year. Of course I have many more favorite things, but I figure you probably don’t have all day to read my blog. Thanks again to everyone for spoiling me rotten and loving me so much.

Well, Maddy’s had an interesting week – I think she’s still settling in to life back at home in Cali. She’s had a yucky cold since we get back and hasn’t quite gotten rid of the hacking cough yet, but we’re happy that the snot is no longer flowing so much.

I guess because of the cold, she’s decided that she no longer wants to sleep through the night and has been waking up 1-2 times in the middle of the night all week long, which is just SO much fun for Dave and I. I sure hope she goes back to sleeping better this week.

In addition, she’s been becoming a pickier eater (although she seems hungry very often, she never seems to want to eat that much once we get her in her high chair) and a drama queen. She has mood swings where she’ll go from laughing about nothing one second to throwing herself on the floor to demonstrate her complete and utter despair the next second. It’s very difficult not to laugh at her when she does that.

She’s still talking up a storm (except in front of other people or when the camera is out), but we still can’t understand what she’s saying most of the time. I caught some “nananaing” in this video:

And, she’s enjoying any silly game we can come up with – this one her dad made up by throwing his shirts over her head: