Foto Friday - RIP G'ma Jeanie

My Grandma Jeanie (my mom's mom) passed away a couple days ago. I may decide to write more at a later date...but for now...just a couple pictures.

Foto Friday - Instagram

I love, love, LOVE the Instragam app! Just thought I should share some of my favorite Instragram photos on the ol' blog, even though I post most on FB. Ok, truth is, I forgot about my Foto Friday post today and this was a quick solution. Haha! TGIF!

Happy Father's Day

To the Father of our precious little M. 

Who gives everything he can to ensure his baby girl has the best life he can provide.

And, ensures that she can feel his love grow for her each and every day. 

To my Father, Dave.

One of most generous, loving, thoughtful, and selfless human beings I know.

And, to Josh's Father, Tom.

A man that we think of and miss everyday.

Happy 22 Months, M...

Daddy bought you your first TRIKE! 

But...he forgot to get you a helmet!!!

I think she needs a helmet. Josh, my dad and brother said I was being over-protective...

I still think she needs a helmet.

Anyways, Josh surprised M with her very first trike on Thursday. Just a few pics I snapped that evening. She'll need some practice getting the hang of pedaling. But, I'm sure she'll get it in no time! Then, she'll for sure need a helmet...right?!

BTW. It's already hid in the closet...I can't let her see it unless we have time to ride it. She calls it her 'bike.' It's SO cute! 

Oh, and do you think I talked about a helmet enough in this post!? Haha!

Foto Friday - Uh oh...

Add your own caption. :)

22 Months

I realized too late yesterday that it was M's 22 month 'birthday' so I attempted to take some photos of her today. She was pretty uninterested so I didn't get that many great shots of her with her sign, but oh well. Also, it is past 11pm now (way past my bedtime), and I didn't keep great notes of what M has been up to this past month, so bear with me on the updates. In fact...let's just start with the photos. That's the best part anyways! I'll close the post with my mindless babbling about M (and my favorite picture of M from today!).

Checking out her sign of course.

Hiding behind Winnie. She wasn't in the mood I guess.

And then...apparently something was pretty funny.

 

Eating: 

Nothing new really. Except, she now loves Kiwi, and she ate an apple slice. Seriously, I was SO excited she ate an apple slice. I've been trying to get her to eat whole apple slices (instead of just apple sauce all the time) for like forever.

She loves Ritz crackers and those applesauce pouches. And, muffins.

Sleep: 

Same ol' sleeping schedule. Except, she's waking closer to 7am now instead of 8am...oh well. Still napping just once every afternoon.

Vocabulary: 

Although she's not always clear or consistent, M tries new words a lot when I ask her. I am also really trying to teach her to start stringing two words together. I'm sure she'll get it soon! I am trying to teach her the names of the colors (she can say quite a few). And we're still working on her ABCs.

Her most frequent words used daily are (in no particular order):

Mommy (yes, she started calling me Mommy lately)

Daddy

Mine

No

Uncle

Please

Dat (That)

Nummy

Oooooh

She also loves songs and singing. She more or less hums, but it's singing to her! We sing a lot actually...her favorites are still Old MacDonald, 5 Little Ducks, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Tiny Tim  (the turtle/bubble song).

Play:

She loves being outside! She loves going to the park and swinging, climbing, and going down slides (although she won't go down tube slides just yet). She loves throwing, chasing, and kicking her ball. She likes to run and be chased or chase others. She likes tickling. She loves bubbles. She will sometimes color and enjoys painting, too. She enjoys 'playing' with her doggies and her kitty. She loves her water table and is mildly obsessed with the hose and running water.

How resourceful. Watch out Kitty!

Water:

We started Swim Lessons this month! I'm SO glad. She's coming around to the water and hopefully she'll be a 'little fish' after this summer with lessons and plenty of pool time (since we joined a pool and go as a family on Sunday). She loves playing in her bath...but every time I have to wash her hair it's usually NOT fun for either of us.

Funny Stories:

M came up to me one morning with a penny. I had no clue where she got it from.

Me: "Madison, what is that? Oh, hey, that's a penny. Where'd you get that?"

M: Staring straight at me and as serious as ever. She replied, "Uncle."

Her first lie. :) Now, my brother had been over the night before, but I was fairly certain he wouldn't give her money. I texted him just to be sure, and to let him know M told her first lie and implicated him in it!

She loves wearing her rain boots. I hide them from her now.

One day she was looking at one of her books and there was a picture of a muffin. I told her what it was and she was all like, "Oooh....oooo....yummy, nummy, mmm-mmm." It just so happened I had muffins at the house that day, so she got one for a snack, and it seriously made her day...she was jumping up and down she was SO happy to get a muffin. Too cute.

Ok. It's late. Too late. I can't believe I'm up still. Please forgive any grammatical/typo errors...just wanted to get this done! NIGHT!

 We love this little munchkin SO much...can't believe she'll be 2 in just 2 more months!!! Ay!!!

Petting Zoo

Today we visited a Petting Zoo after our Stroller Strides workout with a bunch of our Stroller Stride buddies. :) It was being hosted by the Moline Public Library and was free to the public. I was actually thinking of skipping it because I was a little unsure of the cleanliness of the event (knowing I was being overprotective), but I researched the zoo online, and was SO glad we decided to go!

M had a blast! :) This was the first time she'd been around so many animals that she could also pet. It was quite crowded (as expected), but we still had a great time. 

 "Hello, goat."

"I see you. Do you see me?"

The ducks were her favorite.

She eventually got to pet the duck once the zoo keeper (? I don't know what they are called)/animal handler held it for her.

Pot-Bellied Pig

Feeding the donkey.

 

Look at that fancy chicken!

Baby chicks.

I didn't get pictures of the baby cow, the alpaca, the sheep, or the big huge bunny. She loved the bunny...but the bunny was pretty popular so I wasn't able to get a decent picture. 

Not much else to say...just wanted to share the pictures. :)

Foto Friday - Comfy in Her Crib

Not sure how she'll ever get comfortable in a "big girl bed" since she LOVES sleeping all scrunched up like this in the ends of her crib! :)

Blue Grass Days & M's First Pet Fish!!!

Josh grew up in Blue Grass, IA, and they host Blue Grass Days (carnival, parade, craft fair, etc.) every year. This year, we decided to introduce M to good ol' Blue Grass Days! Josh and I hadn't been in quite some time either...so it was fun to go this year. 

We met up with our friends (sorry no pictures!) last night and promptly stuffed our faces with the yummy food. Funnel cake and corn dog for me and pork chop sandwich and fries for Josh...oh, and lemonade shake ups and cheese curds, too!!! Sorry no pictures again. M snacked on grapes and Ritz crackers. 

And, then...it was time for the fun for little M and Daddy!!! She was still too little for the rides (which I was ok with), but she LOVED walking around the playing the games with Daddy! 

We started with the Duck Game. 

And she won a hammer.

While we were eating, she saw lots of kids with these balls and she was requesting one ever since...so of course Daddy won her one (and by 'won' I mean paid $3 for a ball I could have gotten at the Dollar Store...anyways...)!

And then...the Gold Fish Game. I was hoping they wouldn't win. And, then I said that out loud and the guy running the game thought it would be funny to give Josh and M a bunch of free ping pong balls...and then, Josh got one in the bowl and won! Of course! I couldn't believe it!!!

Before we left, we went back to pick up the fish.  

Of course she wanted to carry the fish on her own. 

 And, she also LOVED shaking the fish.

Poor fish.

Madison LOVES her fish. She held (shook) him all the way home.

 

When we got home we put him in a vase. 

Daddy, M, and Fish.

We'll see how long he survives (probably not long since we don't have any fish food either)....

Kite Flying w/ Great G'ma Bev

On Memorial Day we stopped by Louie and Bev's to visit for just a bit and Bev surprised us with a kite for Madison! :) They have an extra large back yard since they own the lot behind their house and it was a perfect day for flying a kite. 

Anyways, just wanted to share some photos I snapped with my phone. 

At first M was really into holding the kite after Grandma Bev helped her.

She then had even more fun running after the kite when it fell (it was a windy but gusty day) and throwing it up to 're-launch' it for Bev.

One of my favorite pictures of the day!

Oh, and I think we all decided that Bev actually loved flying the kite more than M! :)