Movember

Greetings from our house to yours for a happy Movember.

What's this baby doing?

Madelyn and Sawyer co-bath now even though Sawyer still uses the baby tub. After Sawyer gets out, Madelyn likes to sit in the baby tub and play. Reminds me of our visit to Tiny Town where she was a gentle giant.

Ethan's Birthday Party / The Fun Bus

Two weeks ago, we attended the birthday of party of Madelyn's best bud, Ethan.  His mother mentioned his birthday party to me in late Summer and said she had reserved this thing called the "Fun Bus."  Griff laughed when I told him this because whenever we get together with Ethan's family, we have to schedule two months in advance.

At any rate, here it is!

The Fun Bus!



A little stretching before all the fun really gets started.  The Fun Bus provides an hour of instructor-led playtime while the parents wait on the curb peaking in through the windows.

Here comes Madelyn through the tunnel and down the slide. She also jumped on the trampoline (a lot), swung on the high bar, played basketball, and made music with all her friends.  Everyone, including the instructor, told me she was the superstar of the party and participated in EVERYTHING.

Here I come!

And the finale - sliding out the back of the bus.  Of course, she got down and said, "More? More?" So, she got one more turn before heading back inside the house.

Like all good birthday celebrations, cupcakes were included.  Daycare has trained these children to sit at the table and wait patiently when they want their food!
(Clockwise from left - Ethan, Amelia, Madelyn, and Emerson)

 

Mmm...cupcakes.  Happy 2nd birthday, Ethan!  Thanks for inviting us to your Fun Bus party!

God Bless America

Madelyn and Camden spiritedly waving their American flags.

Stay tuned for more pictures from our trip to San Diego.  We had a great time with Aunt Sandi, Uncle Jerky, Emery, Camden, and Honey and Poppie.  We saw Uncle Jerky's squadron fly in and got to run laps and laps around the hangar, ate In N Out for lunch, went to Sea World and saw Shamu, and played with our cousins.  What a great trip!

Our California relatives (the Kerkhove branch) along with Auntie Kate and Trish will be in Colorado for Thanksgiving.  So, we'll get to continue the good times then.

Mmm...corn

Madelyn enjoys corn on the cob.  Surprisingly, she ate an entire ear last night!  I guess if she fills up on vegetables with dinner, that's not the worst thing in the world, right?  The best part is that after she was all done, she wouldn't relinquish the ear as it had become a trophy of her accomplishment.

Hair

Madelyn has a lot of hair.  (That's no surprise to anyone.)  But, it's now getting pretty long.  The back curls and the front is starting to hang in her eyes.  Griff asked the other day if she needed a haircut to help keep the front out of her eyes.  I immediately answered "No."  We just need to start pulling her hair back.

The trouble with that theory is that takes a wrestling match to get it done.  And, when I'm able to get her hair up, half of the time she'll reach up and pull it out.  Ugh.

So yesterday when I picked her up at daycare, she had this beautiful french braid.  What?!  How is that I cannot get her to sit still for a pony tail but she's more than happy to sit for a french braid.  I tried to take a picture of it for the blog but, go figure, she wouldn't sit still.

18 Months...What?!

18-months old and I can...

• Feed myself with a spoon and a fork.
• Walk, run, climb, and jump. (It's my favorite!)
• Pet Sadie and Felix, sometimes more gently than others.
• Take my shoes off.
• Point to a picture of my family or something in a book when you ask me, "Where's _____?"  The other night she found all her relatives in pictures on the refrigerator when Daddy asked her!
• Talk.  I have so many words that when Dr Brandon asked Mommy how many words I have, Mommy had a hard time pinning down a number.

My favorite new foods are...

• Corn on the cob, peas, and baked beans.
• Turkey tenderloin and couscous.
• Great Grandma Gilbert's strawberry shortcake.

Happy 18-month birthday, Madelyn.  I don't know how or when it happened but you've turned from a baby into a little girl!

Staycation - Day 3

Well, we didn't make it to Tiny Town as originally planned.  That outing is postponed until a later date.  We did, however, conclude our staycation in good fashion.  We went for a  l o n g  walk and ate our picnic lunch by the pond in Central Park.  Post nap, we went over to Grammy and Grandad's for some BBQ and backyard fun.

Madelyn played a little badminton,

Ran the community pool while Grammy supervised (and refilled the water, as needed),

 

And, after a change into dry clothes enjoyed sharing some blueberry pie with Aunt Shelley and Mom.  We headed home exhausted from a great Memorial Day weekend staycation.

Summer, summer, summertime...

...time to sit back and unwind.

Happy St Patrick's Day

Sippy cup blues

We've got 'em.

Madelyn is not interested in the sippy cup. We've tried several different brands and styles and she still refuses them all. She'll put the spout of a few of them in her mouth and take very small sips but other than that, there isn't much happening in our house in terms of sippy cup usage.

We (Madelyn) started in the toddler room full-time this week so she's had a lot of change. She's exhausted and teething on top of it. I'm not completely surprised that she's regressing to the bottle but just hope that next week brings our sweet, little Madelyn back.

Rainbow Brite

The wagon is one of Madelyn's favorite new things. She keeps her most prized possessions (Dusty-cat, Sophie the giraffe, her cell phone, Felix) in it and pushes it back and forth. The only down side is that she can't figure out how to take it up the steps with her. But, with her determination, I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

Thanks, Grandpa and Nany Judy!

Still not crawling, but...

Yesterday, we received a video of our cousin, Emery, singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame. It was the sweetest video. We look forward to the day our Madelyn can sing her own version, root-root-rooting for the Rockies. (And, we're still sad Rocktober only lasted 13 days.)

At any rate, while this is no Take Me Out to the Ballgame, I thought it worth sharing and knew not only the grandparents but her aunts and uncles and Internet friends in Kansas would enjoy.

The great pumpkin

Our inaugural visit to May Farms pumpkin patch in Byers, Colorado. We opted out of the hay ride and corn maze this year. How should we carve Madelyn's ghost pumpkin?

The newest game in our house

The sing and play stage is no longer just for singing and playing. It can also be used as a tool to practice standing up all by one's self.