Summer Vacation is the Best...

Madeline is loving her summer vacation so far! We have had lots of hot weather and are enjoying seeing family and friends. We're also enjoying the latest addition to Madeline's vocabulary - 'No' :)

On Father's Day, we had Madeline's grandpa's over to celebrate and she joined us all on the patio in her new chair, with a snack of course!


Our first trip to the beach was such a shock for Madeline - the lake water is so much warmer than the ocean! Madeline was doused by her papa, then realized how warm it was and spent the rest of the time in the water.



We spent a day at Grandpa Thomas's house and were so busy. It started with her first piano lesson from grandpa.


Then we moved on to the sand. While she loved the sand, it was kind of wet and she needed grandpa to help her keep her hands clean.



Grandpa thought to bring out some water buckets so Madeline could rinse her hands off when the sand stuck to them. However, she had other ideas! Before we knew it, she was inside the buckets of water. We decided to go with the water idea and filled up a tub of water, which she promptly took advantage of...

Madeline Loves the Beach!

We've been taking as many trips to the beach as possible lately, weather permitting, and Madeline loves it! She heads right for the water (even though by my standards it is freezing!), usually always tastes it and makes a very interesting face since it's so salty then stays in it until she's shivering so bad I have to draw the line.


Then we move to the sand and end up with a baby that looks like this...

A Summary of Ms. Mads 15th Month

It's been so long since our last post! I guess we've been busy enjoying the nice weather and in the evenings, I either work on the Lhasa catalog or crash.

So here's a quick update - Madeline got two more teeth (we're up to 4!), is babbling constantly and so close to talking, knows some of her body parts like her nose, eyes (she can say eye too!), still loves to color and took her first dip in the ocean last week and loved the waves AND the cold water!

A big highlight of the last month was a gift from Jenn. He's a stuffed clown bigger than Madeline, whose name is Jimbo. Ever since she started going to Gymboree last fall, she's been completely into Jimbo and pretty much ignores the teacher and the other kids and focuses all her attention on him. So getting a Jimbo of her own has been thrilling for her! At first, she dragged him all around the house, would lay on him, kiss him and brush his hair almost non-stop. Now she's a little bit less obsessed with him but still loves to hug him and lay on the couch with him. I had to draw the line at having him join us at the table for meals...




We've been trying to get Madeline to take only one nap a day, since that's what she does when she's at daycare. But when she's at home, sometimes she just can't take it. One morning, she was really whiny and cranky so we gave her the binky/blanket combo and the next thing we knew, she completely crashed on the floor on her back!


Madeline loves going to the park and the beach but unfortunately, there's not always time. So we decided to get her a small slide and swing combo and a sand table for our yard. The sand table is a huge hit although she spends most of her time carrying the sand over to the slide (and loses all of it along the way) or dumps it over her head. The swing is kind of low and slow for her taste so she prefers to put her doll in it and pretend she's pushing her doll instead :)






Ms. Madeline went boating for the first time this season on Memorial Day. She didn't like but tolerated the life jacket and seemed to completely enjoy herself!




And lastly, she was sporting her St. Olaf tee on Memorial Day. There's still a bit of work left to get the 'Um Yah Yah' down but I thought the picture almost looked like she could be doing the corresponding hand motion? Of course she was really just about to throw her crayon...

What a Difference a Week Makes!

I feel like Madeline's grown up a lot in the last week - and I think I've mentioned this in the last few posts that I'd be ok if it would slow down a little! I am starting to realize that when people say she's going to be 18 before you know it, they might be right...

Madeline is mildly obsessed with dolls (a bit to my chagrin!) but we decided to support the interest and bought her this really cute doll with bright pink hair. She loves to carry the doll around and brush and style her hair, as seen here. She's also recently started to style my hair as well :)


A big change this week is Ms. Madeline crawled up on to the couch all by herself! She still struggles a bit with her clothes on but sans clothes, she has it mastered.



Here she is at daycare, sitting in a chair with the other kids having her snack. It's a bit unbelievable because when she is always in her high chair at home, I think I just assumed she was too young to sit in a chair like this. And since she's doing it at daycare, she now has less and less interest in her high chair at home...Enter the awesome Stokke Tripp Trapp chair! She sits at the table with Matt and me and let me tell you, our meals will never be the same :) Pretty much everything on the table is fair game.



We ventured down to the beach for the first time this year and Madeline loved all the activity. There was a kite festival so there were lots of kids and dogs, both of which she loves! She was a little hesitant in the sand for a second, then started taking off towards the seagulls and water. We're looking forward to lots of fun at the beach this summer! I guess first we need some warmer weather though since we are still rather bundled up to be at the beach.




And lastly, the cutest thing is she started saying 'Uh-Oh'! She says it probably 20 times a day and doesn't always use it in the right context but it's so fun.

Ms. Madeline Takes on 14 Months, Daycare and Coloring!

It's hard to believe Ms. Madeline is already 14 months. We just got her 1 year pictures back and I love them. Too bad she's already changed SO much since this photo...but cute nonetheless.


Madeline's nanny Jenn has had to take some time off lately so Madeline started at a daycare for a few days a week. She really seems to like it and it's literally 2 minutes from our office so Matt and I can drop in as often as we like. Unfortunately, after her first day there, she picked up some kind of flu bug that each of us ended up getting (and we gave it to Claudia, who's in Boston working on movie). She'd never been so sick where she was just completely zapped of all energy but here it is. She slept on the couch like this for an entire day!


Madeline definitely has music in her bones. Anytime she hears it, she flashes a big smile and starts to spin in circles or bounce up and down. It's difficult to capture the spinning in a photo but here's one of the music-driven smiles. And her laugh these days is so great, just makes you happy to be around it.


Jenn has been able to spend some time with Madeline recently and she introduced her to coloring, with much more success than I've had. When I'm with her, all she does is eat the crayons but Jenn got her to actually do it - I'm impressed! Madeline apparently likes to be as close to the paper as possible and was actually using the proper grip, at least at times...




But of course at some point, the crayons had to end up in her mouth :)

Tearing Up Zilker Park

Our last day in Austin, Matt, Madeline and I went back to Zilker Park with a goal of getting Madeline interested in something more than eating the rocks. We did succeed!








The park has these big xylophones and Madeline thought they were fantastic.


At first, Madeline wasn't quite sure about this bridge. But once she got the hang of it, we walked back and forth over it at least 10 times.




After this, we went to dinner and stayed up late waiting in line for some superb ice cream. It was really the first time Madeline has showed much interest in it! It was a great end to a great trip.

Visiting with the Newman's

Madeline, Matt and I took a trip to Austin, TX and were so fortunate that the Newman family could join us! It was so much fun for us to spend some time together in warm weather and to see how much Brailey and Madeline have changed since our visit last year. Of course, I took so many photos that it's hard to select just a few to share...so this may be a photo heavy post :)

Madeline was asleep before we met up with Sharon, Glynn and Brailey our first night together. But, we had a great time having Brailey entertain us by hiding in and jumping out of the tunnel-like toy. She also enjoyed some pillow fighting with Todd and tickle attacking from me!




The next day we hit Zilker Park, which was only a few minutes from our hotel. The two of them looked so cute next to each other in their car seats. It almost looks like Brailey is giving Madeline some advice about how to get her binky off of the clip...


The park is perfect for Brailey - she was running around, going down slides, etc. Madeline preferred to sit in the rocks and taste each one. Nevertheless, they both still got very hot and thirsty, so we took a moment to have a drink. By this time, Madeline was starting to get a little grumpy since she had missed her nap and she was a little unsure of the extra attention she was getting from her cousin and aunt.



The highlight of our trip to the park for Brailey was to take a ride on the Zilker Zephyr. Madeline was ready for some much needed rest so decided to catch a quick nap instead.



When we returned to the hotel, it was time for the Auntie Sharon story hour! Take a quick look at 2008 vs 2009 to see how much these girls have grown.



The next morning Madeline and I started our day with some walking along the trails by our hotel. I think I've mentioned that these days she loves to point and make this noise. Sometimes she's not even sure what she's pointing at and there was so much activity this morning, that she was literally just walking with her finger permanently pointed because everything was interesting.




After a nap, we lunched together, then took a trip to the Children's Museum, which was a short walk from the hotel. At this lunch, the cousins were getting very comfortable with each other. There was some sharing of food, Madeline fed Brailey a Cheerio and Brailey helped Madeline with her cup. Very cute moments (and of course, the photos didn't turn out)!







Lastly it was dinner together (with Matt and Todd too!) at a local Texas BBQ spot. It was fantastic!