Maddie Says: Ice Cream!

Picture and Video of Maddie enjoying some vanilla ice cream!

She says (her version of) the word "ice cream" at the beginning of the video. And she asks for "more" at the end of the video. She now prefers to say the word "more" rather than just signing for it, but she often will do both (sign and speak the word).

Rollin Rollin Rollin

Here is a video of Maddie continuously rolling and also spinning!  On Monday mornings, Joseph takes Maddie to a Gymnastic class which is through the Chicago Park District. We have seen a huge improvement in her balance and agility. She climbs so much better and with more control. This rolling is a direct result from that class, as one of the activities has her rolling down an inclined ramp continuously.

We also have been playing "Ring around the Rosie" which is why I think she spins and falls in the video)

For fun, here is a link to a post from June 2015 of Maddie rolling over.  We cannot believe this was only 11 months ago! She has grown so much and is so different now, we cannot believe this is the same baby!

Good Morning Sunshine!

What a way to start a Monday!  Here are adorable pictures of Maddie as I got her out of bed this morning.  In the video when she says "ma ma" she is saying "milk."

Fun weekend - Library and Ehrler Park

The weather was gorgeous this weekend!  In the 70s both days and sunny!

On Saturday we went to the library to play with their toys and read some new books.  It's not too far of a walk and it's free!  They have open play and story time during the week but we always seem to miss them, but the toys (and of course the books) are always available.

Afterwards we went to a park closeby that we haven't been to in a while. I don't know if this is the last time we visited this particular park, but here is the posting from the first time we visited in August 2015.

Maddie enjoyed this park SO much more this time now that she can walk and explore on her own!  The absolutely loved getting into the blue taxi and rode on the teeter totter so many times. She climbed up the steps on her own and crawled/walked to the slide with zero help!  She even liked the sand this time!  We purchased a some cheap sand toys and look forward to the next warm day so we can play in the sand again.

Fun with the iPhone

I downloaded an app called MSQRD on my phone that puts funny things on your face and there is even a face swap option! Here are some funny pictures I took on the app.

Maddie and Mama face swap!

Maddie and Dada face swap!!!

Mama and Dada face swap !!!!!

Seeing Aunt Corrie and Cousin Kelsey at the Lincoln Park Zoo!

Aunt Corrie and Cousin Kelsey were in town for Kelsey's high school's orchestra!  We met them in the afternoon at the Lincoln Park Zoo. It wasn't the longest visit but it was great to see them, and it gave us an excuse to finally go to the zoo!

Maddie seemed to enjoy seeing real life animals. But what she loved the most was climbing on things and running away from her parents!

In all it was an enjoyable trip to the zoo, and we look forward to visiting again very soon!

Enjoying the Beautiful Weather this Weekend

This past weekend was the first weekend since last year where the weather was consistently beautiful! It was the high 60s / low 70s with plenty of sunshine and the perfect amount of breeze.

On Saturday morning I took Maddie for her very first story time at a new bookstore that opened up right around the corner. It didn't go as well as I hoped as our little 17th month old did not want to sit still!  She said "No" and "All done" while the first story was being read. I eventually bribed her with Cheez-Its and she in my lap long enough to listen to Baby Beluga.  It wasn't just story time - the reader also had crafts for us to do! We glued a whale onto a sheet of blue paper and then colored a picture of a ninja.  Maddie "took off" a few times and ran around the store and luckily the patrons at the store all smiled as she ran by.  Afterwards we went to the park so Maddie could burn off some energy!

After her nap, I took her to a different park. She loved running up and down this hill!

On Sunday we had our normal morning routine of breakfast and just hanging out. After Maddie's nap, we had a yummy taco lunch courtesy of Dad, and then we took her to a different park from the ones on Saturday. We are very lucky to have so many parks within a short distance!  After the park, we went to get ice cream!!!  Maddie sat very still enjoying her spoonfuls of ice cream and watching CNN on the television above us.

We ended the weekend with much needed bath!

Morning and Night Time Pictures

Pictures from this morning

Pictures from this evening, brushing her teeth before bedtime (she just chews on the toothbrush, she doesn't really brush yet).

Such a Big Girl!

This was taken at dinner time.  Look how mature she looks here! Much older than her 17 months!

New addition to Wicker Park!

Wicker Park replaced an old rusty peeling mushroom thing with a riding Duck!

Some cute pictures and new video

I realize I had this post drafted and forgot to post!

Here is a cute video of Maddie really wanting an eggroll cracker!  Pau Pau is trying to get her to say "eggroll" but all she wants is to eat it!

Maddie Says: Meet Meet (Chinese for Tear / Rip / Peel)

Maddie has started to learn some Chinese words!  Today she learned the Chinese word for tear (or rip or peel), she was eating some noodles for lunch and Pau Pau taught her to tear the noodles into smaller pieces so they were easier to eat.

Here is a (long) video of her saying the words, tearing her noodles, and eating them.

Running Around After Bath Time

Lately after bath time, Maddie has taken to running around completely nekkid and wet! She will normally let us dry her and put a diaper on but she just loves running around without clothes on.  I now close the bathroom door before she gets out of the bath but it is still a struggle to get that diaper on.

Here is an adorable video of her running around after bath time.