Foto Friday - "Video Game" with Daddy

Playin' some virtual fish tank game with Daddy.

(Ed(our goldfish)'s days are numbered....haha...)  

Foto Friday - Bare Buns

She'll appreciate this picture someday, right?!

Nothing like brushin' your teeth naked, right?!

Too Much TV?

TV. Ugh. One of my biggest sources of 'mommy guilt' surrounds the amount of TV I allow Madison to watch. I know the recommendation is no TV until the age of 2 (broke that rule), and after age 2, only 1-2 hours a day. I'd guess that M watches (or that the TV is on) anywhere from approx. 1 - 4 hours a day. Grrrr. Broke that 'rule' too! And yes, I count the time she's in the car watchin' a movie, too. I tend to feel guilty because I feel like I'm not spending enough time with her and that I'm relying on TV a bit too much...

On one hand, I know the importance of interactive activities together and the benefits of learning/reading/playing/exploring as much as possible. And, I am purposeful and thoughtful of our time spent together.

On the other hand...sometimes I need to her to be entertained on her own...(for my own sanity).

 And...she actually is learning some things from the shows I let her watch. So there!

Anyways...I'm constantly monitoring her. I honestly don't feel she's addicted to TV or anything. When it is on at home, she's still usually playing with her toys or running around the living room throughout the show. I don't think I've ever seen her actually sit and zone out for too long. 

And, I don't play any long animated movies for her (just in the car since she watches them in parts). I also don't like for her watch any of 'our shows.' She mostly watched Disney Jr., Nick Jr. and PBS.

M would still prefer to be outside playing. This has been tough with our recent/constant 100 degree weather...we can only be outside for so long safely. She's also at a tough stage since she still requires constant supervision (and sometimes I need to be inside to get other things done). She loves being active...so I am feeling ok. But, I also feel like sometimes I need to put forth more effort in reading to her or teaching her things. *sigh* And that is the why I sometimes feel a bit guilty... 

I don't know. Your thoughts or opinions are welcome...I'm really not looking for reassurance that I'm a good mom or anything...mostly, I'm just venting and trying to make myself feel better. Haha!

Thanks for listening! :)

4th of July

For 4th of July, we headed up north to MN and our family's annual pool party. Since I've been with Josh we've only missed a couple years. It's SO much fun...and this was Madison's first year at John and Shirley's 4th of July Pool Party Extravaganza! :)

What she wore on the 4th (thanks for the skirt, Gma Tracy!)

The (long) weekend in MN is full of FAMILY, FOOD, and FUN! We left on Thursday the 5th. The 6 hr. drive wasn't all that bad...and M did just fine (I'm sure the TV in the ol' van helped with that).

However, I took very few pictures...but luckily my cousin's captured some great shots and shared them with me on FB. Next year, I need to take more pictures for sure! So, just wanted to document some of the pictures from this year on the blog.

We arrived Thursday late afternoon, and after some visiting, we headed to Space Aliens Grill and Bar. M got to enjoy playin' some games with Great G'ma Bev and Daddy. She loved it!

Playin' with her cousin, Kinley!

On Friday we headed to Shirley's for some pre-party pool fun. This was M's first time with floaties in a big pool. Momma and M makin' fishie faces.

She LOVED the teeter-totter! Her sweet cousin, Dominic, played with her quite a bit on it!

Friday night we got together at our cousin's and ate dinner and watched fireworks. We decided to put M to bed...so she missed them this year...but maybe next year! 

I took very few pictures on Saturday (the day of the official party) which is too bad because there were SO many fun things going on.

Some of us started the day by heading to Sky Zone (a trampoline place).

Daddy and M.

Anyways, the rest of Saturday was filled with volley ball, horse shoes, swimming, swimming games, grillin' and eatin' lotsa good food, and just spending time with the fam.

Volley ball is always a big hit with the family. See Josh in the yellow shirt?! They actually got me to play a game later on, too! Thankfully no pictures of me (ducking and/or avoiding the ball).

Sunday morning we all gather for breakfast (Shirley makes the BEST crepes with an awesome banana sauce) and a final group photo (a few ppl are missing from the photo).

M on the drive home...NO that's NOT coffee...just water...and of course she's watchin' a movie.

Next year, I promise to take more pictures and document more of everything we love about going up north for the 4th!

Water Park Fun

Last Saturday Josh, Madison, and I headed to the Aquatic Center at Weed Park in Muscatine, IA. We have been enjoying the pool this HOT HOT summer as much as we can, and I am glad we got a summer membership. 

However, Saturday was special because it was Madison's first experience with the water slides, and Grandma Tracy and Jeff also joined us.

M's always been a bit hesitant around the water and usually doesn't like getting splashed...but she is slowly getting used to it, and I'm SO happy for her! Anyways, I only had my phone, but I was able to capture a few decent pictures.

We started with the smallest family slide.

 Daddy and M getting ready!

A bit shocked her first time entering the water.

But there were never tears...only smiles from then on!

Grandma and M. 

Mama and M.

Then, we decided to let her try one of the big slides with Daddy! And by 'we' I mean, Josh and Tracy convinced me she'd be ok, and I had a hundred mini heart attacks watching her slide down the first time.

She LOVED the slides. She said 'weeeee' all the way down (so I'm told). I was too chicken to take her down the blue one ever. 

So much fun with Daddy!

She continued to go down the family slide and blue slide with Daddy and Grandma. After a while, she began to point to the two drop slides that drop you into the deep end. What a a little dare-devil! We actually decided to leave once she started requesting to try those because I knew a tantrum was probably coming since she was very insistent on wanting to try those! I hope she knows she doesn't get to try those for a LONG time!!! Geez! Slow down, baby girl!

Before we left she had some fun with the little water spray area (which she normally hates). 

She liked stepping on the little area the water was spraying from.

It takes a lot of coordination for a little girl!

Oh uh...water on her face!

It was a super fun afternoon...and we can't wait to go there again! (And I'm hoping that after a summer of water park fun...she'll finally stop crying during her bath time when I have to wash her hair! My fingers are crossed!)

23 Months

WTF(udge)!!!! She's almost 2. TWO!

Believe or not, I've done NO planning for her birthday party. Zero.

What's wrong with me? I don't know. Do you know? If so, let me know.

Anyways...back to M. :) Yes, I'm starting with my rambling...the rest of the pics are at the end.

M is definitely in her 'terrible two's.' And, while sometimes frustrating for me (and for her I'm sure), it's really not ALL that terrible of course. I know she's just soaking in all kinds of new things, testing her limits, and developing her independence...all while having low impulse control and a lack of complete verbal communication with me. If I were in her shoes, I'm sure I'd have a tantrum here and there, too!

K. Time for the funny/cute/random updates about our little M.

She calls flies - bees. It's so cute. She'll point at it and say, "Mama, bee." She doesn't really like them. And that's why she tells me about them...every single one of them...and every time she sees them. :)

She loves stepping on ants outside on the sidewalks.

Dave-what she's decided to call my Dad. She has yet to say Grandpa (or Grandma), and never took to Papa or any other names...so, he's Dave for now.

We started to let her watch full length animated films when we drive...of course she LOVES Mulan and Mulan II. Seriously...did you think I'd let her start her Disney movie watchin' with anything other than Mulan??

Her favorite cartoon is probably Curious George. Although, she still loves her Mickey Mouse and Yo Gabba Gabba. (Which also reminds me I have a post in the works about her TV watching....)

Ew. Her new favorite word. Like when I try and get her to try a new food. She'll say, "Ew," and promptly hand the food back to me. Or when I go wipe her mouth after she eats. She'll scream, "Ewwwww," until I'm done. It's pretty funny actually. I asked Josh where he thought she learned that word...then, I later realized it was from me. Oops. Ew.

She also knows the color purple. And, I think she knows pink. We are working on saying names of colors...but she's still learning how to distinguish them.

As I mentioned early, she's started having slight tantrums when she doesn't get her way. She likes to express her anger/frustration with whining, crying, throwing her toys, knocking things over, oh, and spitting. Yep...that's my girl. Josh says she deals with anger like he does. :) I do believe it's ok for her to express her anger in any way that's not a danger to herself or others...but the spitting, I can't stand. We just started putting her in two minute time-outs if she spits. We'll see how that goes...

We're taking potty training slow...but she's gone #1 and #2 on her little potty quite a few times. She usually just gets to sit on her potty at night before bed, or occasionally during the day if she asks. She knows the word "poo-poo," and uses it for both #1 and #2. She knows what goes on in the bathroom. So watch out if you come over and use the bathroom in her view. We'll probably have a conversation that involves her pointing at you (and/or the bathroom while you're in there) and saying, "Poo-poo," a few times. (Seriously...before having kids...did you EVER think you'd deal with and talk about poop so much?! It's unreal sometimes!)

During our road trips earlier in July, she learned what semis are...and she loved pointing them out and saying, "shimmy." Too cute.

Choo-Choo - She loves trains...but refers to all large moving objects as "Choo-Choos." We are working on that...hence our excitement when she learned semi.

She is quite the little miss bossy-pants. When playing with her, she'll point to where she wants you to go, and she loves directing people to, "Mooooove." So, watch out if you're in her way or not in your place. She pushes, too...again...something for us to work on.

I tried to weigh and measure her...I think she's about 34 and half inches tall, and around 32 lbs. She's in mostly 2T and some 3T clothes.

I think she's finally got all her teeth...except for her two-year molars. I haven't really been able to look back there and see if anything's happening. Maybe they are already there and I didn't even know it...I hope that's the case.

She's talking more...but it's definitely not an area that I feel she excels in. I need to work with her more I think.

At this time, besides dog and kitty (oh, and bees), she refuses to call any animals by their names, and only calls them by their sound. So...even if I ask her to try and say cow, she'll only say, "Moooo." And, she only makes monkey noises when she wants to watch Curious George. She knows a lot of animal sounds...oh, wait, except for bunny, she calls them, "hop-hop." So...is this a problem? I hope not...she knows what the animals are and can point them out to me when I only use their names...so, I think we're ok?! I always obsess about something with her...and currently, it's her language development. I'll stop now because I know she's perfectly fine and all kids develop differently and at different rates...yaddah, yaddah, yaddah...but I wouldn't be telling the truth if I didn't admit that I'm slightly jealous that my friend's 18 month old (love you SG!!!) says full sentences like, "Bye Megan. Hi Madison. I missed you." And yes, even I can totally understand her. Ok. Moving on...

Miss Madison does not like having her hair washed, combed, or brushed. I can't wait to try and get it into a ponytail!

Her newest favorite songs are "The Wheels on the Bus" and "If You're Happy and You Know It."

She LOVES loves LOVES playin' outside. She loves going to parks, running around like a crazy girl, her water table, her bike, her bubbles, her chalk. Anything outside. She'll always ask me "Shoes?" because she wants to go out and play.

Wow. I wrote a lot. I could probably write even more. I'm sure some day I'll appreciate all my ramblings.

Ok. Onto the pictures. They were taken on Friday morning, and there aren't too many. She was far more interested in playing than having her picture taken of course. So...I kinda gave up. Oh well.

My first attempt. She's mad...as you can see from her face.

She managed to sit next to Winnie for a few seconds... 

Cute!

Her and Kitty checkin' out her sign.

Finally a goofy smile because I told her we were done and we could go play now.

"Kitty, aren't you glad Mom finally let us go play!!!"

Riding her bike. Still trying to figure out the pedals.

Carrying her bike. Her response to me telling her that the bike couldn't really go on the grass.

Bubbles! She's pretty good at blowing her own bubbles now.

Love her little mouth.

Next time I write a monthly post...she'll be 2! Ugh. I can't believe it!

Foto Friday - Piano Girl

A couple weekends ago when we were in NW Iowa for my Grandma's funeral, M got her first chance ever 'playing' a piano!

She has the best posture!

M In Action!

Just a random video of M playing from earlier today.
I wanted to capture what she's like and how she moves and plays at this age.



My reaction after watching it back:
1) I estimate she loses about half her water while traveling.
2) We should probably move that empty keg. It is just for root beer...but yes, my kid plays with a keg on an almost daily basis.
3) Her 'careful walking' makes her look like she's moving in slow motion. And, I can't believe she actually listened to me!
4) I can't believe she kicked the cat...but then again...I do that, too...so...
5) Ew. Sorry for my sniffles at the end.

Foto Friday - Push Up

Workin' hard for her 'yummy.'