Getting Together with Friends at the Indoor Park

Since we've moved to Saint Louis Park, Madeline and mommy have found a lot of fun things to do with other stay-at-home moms and kids in the area. Today we met some of our friends at an Indoor Park in Edina. It took Madeline a while to figure things out and for the first hour was way more interested in trying to get out the door!
She eventually decided to try a few things out and had fun climbing..and discovering a whole bunch of new things... maybe she'll be able to climb that wall in a year or two?!?! She especially had fun in the gym playing with all the balls :-) It was great to meet new people and get out and play even though it was super cold outside!

Happy Birthday Grandma Judy!

Tomorrow is Grandma Judy's birthday!
Madeline gave Grandma her favorite gift.... lots of birthday kisses!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA :-)

Go Gusties!

Today Aunt Melanie has a Gymnastics meet. She goes to school at Gustavus Adolphus college in Saint Peter, Minnesota. Melanie got Madeline a special shirt to wear to show her support :-) The meet tonight is in Menomenie, Wisconsin so Madeline will be staying home with dad while mom and grandma make the trip, but Madeline wore the shirt all day for good luck... Go Mel!!!

18 Month Well Child Visit

Today Madeline went back to Dr. Mark Berg for her 18 month Well Child visit. Everything looked good and the doctor said she's developing right on track :-)
Here are the new stats:
Weight: 19 lbs. 6 oz. (<3rd percentile)
Height: 32 in. (50th percentile)
Head Circumference: 18 in. (25th percentile)
Still low on the weight side, but steadily increasing so there is no cause for concern :-) After a few shots Madeline was ready to get out of there! So, we headed into town to have lunch with Grandma Judy. The shots must not have been too bad because she was back to her smiling playful self in no time!

Grandma & Grandpa Frantz Visit

It has been so great having Grandma & Grandpa Frantz here! They have to leave tomorrow so we're making sure we pack tons of playtime in :-) We think there are a few more teeth on the way because lately she's been spending more time chewing on her rubber ducky than playing with it! After a fun-filled day it was time to take off Madeline's pretty dress and get ready for the bath! Good-bye Grandma and Grandpa - it was so great to see you!!!

Aquarium at the Mall of America

We've been living in Minnesota for almost 9 months now and Madeline still hasn't been to the Mall of America! So, this weekend while Grandma and Grandpa Frantz were here visiting from Indiana we thought it was the perfect time to give it a try :-) We went to Underwater World - the nation's largest underground aquarium! We saw freshwater fish... and a bear! Madeline thought this cartoon shark was cool... little did she know we were going to see real ones next!The next room the fish were swimming all around us - even above our heads! We saw sharks and stingrays and lots of colorful fish! Looks like everyone is having fun :-)We think we even saw Nemo! They had a ship at the end that everyone could play on :-) Madeline really didn't want to leave the ship but we finally convinced her that petting the stingrays could be just as fun! We think she liked it :-) After seeing all of the fish we were hungry so we decided to eat at the Rainforest Cafe. They had monkeys and parrots and a real rain storm with lightning and thunder and everything! What a great day! We'll have to come back to the Mall soon :-)

More Hats

Madeline has been having a blast with Godmother Alyssa and Grandma Judy all week! We don't know where Grandma found this night cap, but it looks like Madeline likes it :-) As you can see from previous posts our little girl definitely has a thing for hats and shoes! - that could get very expensive in the future....

Swmming with Grandma

Last Week Madeline missed her first swimming lesson at her new swim school because she was still too sick :-( Now she feels all better, and since mom and dad are on vacation this week, Alyssa and Grandma Judy brought her to her new school for the first time! Madeline gave Grandma a big kiss for bringing her to the pool :-) They played with water cups...She learned the Back Float...Splashed around...Learned to kick...Climbed on the floating board... and jumped in! She can't wait to go back :-)

All Better

Well it looks like our little girl has finally gotten over her bronchitis and is feeling better! She's making up for lost eating time by devouring everything in sight!
The ravioli she had for dinner was a big hit :-) What a MESS!!! It's just so good to see her laughing and playing again :-) She was definitely ready for a bath when that meal was over!

Grapes

Madeline woke up this morning and still wasn't feeling the greatest, so Alyssa thought that maybe giving her some grapes would make her feel like eating... it doesn't look like she got too far :-( That was in the morning, but by the time mom and dad called from Mexico that night Madeline was feeling a lot better and
Godmother said she ate a TON for dinner that night :-)
Hopefully that means she's finally getting over being sick!

Big Girl Ponytail!

Very early this morning mom and dad left for Mexico and Madeline has been having a great time with Alyssa. They played all day and Alyssa gave Madeline her first Big Girl Ponytail!Mom & dad got to see it right away because Alyssa sent them a picture message - it was great! How many other new things will Madeline do while mom and dad are on vacation?!?!?

A Few More Gifts

We've packed everything up and today we headed out to Grandma Judy's house. Madeline will be staying here for a whole week with her Godmother, Alyssa, while mom and dad are in Mexico!
When we got there there was a Christmas package for Madeline from her Godfather Nick, and Kate. Madeline opened it up and it was a set of DVD's with all of the Christmas Clasics, like Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman & How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Thank You Godfather!Grandma still has her Christmas decorations out so Madeline immediately went to find her favorite - the baby Jesus from Grandma's nativity set :-) It truely is a miracle that we still know where baby Jesus is after all of the playing with him Madeline has done over the Holidays!We also got to see the amazing chalk drawing Kate did of Madeline when she was 12 months old. Nick and Kate gave this drawing to Grandma Judy for Christmas. Madeline sure likes it!Madeline still isn't feeling all that great - we sure hopes that medicine starts working soon! Mom and dad leave early tomorrow morning. Good thing she'll have aunt Melanie to hold her...and Aunt Alyssa and Grandma Judy to give her lots of lovin'!

Sick

Well, it's official, we took Madeline to the doctor yesterday and he says it's Bronchitis & Pharyngitis :-( She's taking Amoxicillan, Robitussin & Tylenol! Hopefully she'll start to feel better soon. This is only the 4th time she's ever had a fever and the first time she's ever had to go to the doctor for any sort of illness.
Today we went to Grandma Judy's to pick up Godmother Alyssa. She's going to stay with us at the apartment for the next few days. On Friday mom and dad leave for Cabo and Madeline will be staying with Alyssa and Grandma for the whole week! Alyssa is here learning the routine so that she doesn't have any surprises while we are gone. It'll be our first extended stay away from Madeline. We're excited for our vacation, but sad about leaving her for so long. It's even harder knowing she's sick, but Grandma only lives 5 miles from the doctor. Get better soon little girl!