Uppee

Two weeks ago, Madeline had her first trip to the emergency room (actually, it was her second; we took her in at three days old because she was....crying. Wow, we've come a long way as new parents!). She took a nasty spill down the back stairs off of the porch and face-planted into the concrete. For a week after the accident, her little nose was skinned, she had a fat top and bottom lip, and a bruised goose egg on her forehead. But just minutes after it actually happened, she was busy playing again.

Then a few days later, a routine trip to my dermatologist turned up basal cell carcinoma in a mole that the doctor biopsied. On Friday, I'll have that sucker removed entirely....but the vigilance has begun. Even though I understand how harmless that form of skin cancer is....it's still creepy, don't you think? Hats, sunscreen and shade will have to become my new best friends.

Things turned up with a wonderful Mother's Day. Rob and Madeline came into my bedroom and woke me with fresh lilies and a Skinny Latte from Starbucks....heaven! They made french toast for breakfast and then Rob and I greeted at church while my dad chased Madeline around the coffee hour. This is the best part: when we got home, Rob ran out and brought back a handful of celebrity gossip magazines that I read with Andi all afternoon! And to cap off a perfect day, I took a relaxing bath, and then enjoyed the homemade dinner that Rob made for my family.

The biggest adventure right now is listening to Madeline learn to talk. It's like she has a mouth full of marbles, but her little attempts at words are music to my ears. One of her new favorites is "Up, please," which comes out as "uppee!" We also hear a lot of wawa (water) and calkjiaaa (cracker). She's busy alright. Walking doesn't seem to get her where she's going fast enough. Now she loves to run, arms swinging erratically, ricocheting off of walls that take her by surprise.

Memorial weekend is always special for me, but especially this year -- I turn 30 on Monday! I'm thrilled about this milestone birthday. My mom's birthday was the day after mine -- she always said I was her birthday gift that year. Pretty great, huh? If I'm being truly honest with myself, it's with some mixed emotions that I leave behind my 20's (which were fabulous, by the way -- graduated from college, fell in love, lived in downtown Chicago, worked in a high rise, got married, ran a marathon, had a baby....and along the way, made the best friends a girl could ask for). But I also feel like I'm coming into some of the greatest years of my life and I can't wait to see how the next decade unfolds. Bring it on!