Thursday at Pau Pau's

Lately I have been bringing Maddie over to Pau Pau's on my way to work as there is Play Time at the new Chinatown library and her cousin Emilie is at my aunt's next door. Here is a picture of her at the library and also one of her napping and cuddling her bear.

So sweet.

Music Class at Wicker Park

Maddie has been attending Music Class at Wicker Park on Wednesdays this Spring session that Pau Pau takes her too. There isn't much time for pictures as you're moving pretty much the whole time, but here are a couple of pictures Pau Pau took of Maddie with pom poms. She is laying down because in one part of the song the dinosaur goes to sleep, so everyone lays on the ground and pretends to be asleep. The class was a struggle at the beginning as she was 2 months too young for it so it was hard to keep her focused, but her attention span has gotten better the more she attends the class.

18 Months Old!!

Maddie turned 18 months old yesterday!!  We went to the doctor's today for her 18 month check up appointment. This time it was just a check up, NO shots!  We waited about 20 minutes in the waiting room but she did great, she mainly loved climbing up and down the big ottoman in the middle of the waiting room. There was more waiting inside the room after the nurse took her measurements. She loved running the length of the exam bed and making crunching noises as her feet ran along the paper.

She is still at the top of the charts for growth - 80th and 90th percentile in everything.

She is still on track or exceeding her milestones. There wasn't much to discuss since she seems to be ahead of the game. The doctor said she'll just get better with walking/running/climbing and we'll start to see an increase in her verbal skills such as mimicking more and stringing 2 or more words together. Our next check up is when she's 2 years old!  It seems so far away but I know it will be here in no time.

Official Stats:
Weight: 26.25 pounds - 90th percentile (up 2.75 pounds from 3 months ago at 23.5 lbs!)
Height: 33.25 inches - 90th percentile (up only 0.25 inches from 3 months ago, BUT I think it is because she was very squirmy while being measured, she seems so much taller, OR her clothes are shrinking!)
Head circumference: 47.5 centimeters - 80th percentile (up 0.5 cm from 3 months ago)

Here are some pictures from today at 18 months old!

Otto's First Birthday Party!

This past Saturday we went to our friend Otto's home to celebrate his 1st birthday!  It was a Kentucky Derby themed party so we got all dressed up in semi-matching outfits!  It was windy so instead of hats I made us matching little yellow flower hair clips.

We got him a book called Otto Has A Birthday Party and I have recently picked up crocheting again, and I crocheted him a matching Otto doll.  I am very proud of it!

It was such a fun party!  There was lots to eat and lots of toys to play with. They even had .... wait for it ... PONY RIDES!!  They had not one, but two ponies!  Pictures hopefully to follow as Otto's Dad took them on his camera.  Maddie seemed interested in the ponies but really did not want to ride on one. I had to hold her while she squired to get off of the pony.  They also had lots of bubble toys and Maddie soaked herself playing with all the liquid.

We had a lovely time. Happy Birthday Otto!!

Eating Jello!

(Link to the dog pattern I used: http://naztazia.com/patterns/crochet/amigurumi/animals/crochet-dog-amigurumi.html)

Mother's Day 2016

We celebrated our second official Mother's Day on Sunday!

Not only did I get to sleep in, but Maddie slept in too! She did what we call "flopping" (where she sits up but then flops back down to sleep) until 9:30am!!  I slept in longer, and when I woke up, Joseph was making me and Maddie the most delicious breakfast which consisted of hash browns, eggs, sausage and chocolate chip pancakes!  Do you think Maddie liked the chocolate chips?

After her nap, we went to Erhler Park for some sand time as it was lovely out (and going to be cold and rainy the rest of the week).  Maddie enjoyed playing in the sand with her very own toys.

Look at that sweet face!

Afterwards we had leftovers for dinner. Maddie had Chinese and I was eating leftover pizza. I gave Maddie a bite of pizza which she ate, then as I went to give her another bite, she grabbed the entire slice from my hand and wouldn't give it back!  She gnawed on the pizza and then started to pick off the toppings and eat the toppings and the layer of pizza with tomato sauce. She doesn't like mushrooms but does love cheese and pepperoni!

We ended the day with bath time.

And I had to get a picture of the two of us on our second Mother's Day. Look at that sweet smile!!!  

Here is a picture of me and Maddie, and also one of me and my mom that I think is from my 1st birthday.  See any similarities?? 

Garfield Park Conservatory Again - Exploring Outside

I took Maddie to the Garfield Park Conservatory on Sunday for the first time since we took her in March 2015. There is a children's area in the back and also an outside kids space I have been meaning to explore now that she is older and the weather is nicer (though the weather was not especially nice, but it was bearable).

Maddie loved it!  She loved pointing at and smelling all of the flowers. She listened when I told her not to grab or touch any flowers (for the most part) and she pointed and poked at a lot of flowers and would lean in to smell them.  She kept saying "more! more!" and wanted to see more flowers!

We explored the inside Children's area: we played with the dirt, walked through the plants and slid down the slide!  We then explored the outside garden area and childrens area, we spent more time outside than inside!  I can't wait to visit when it's warmer to see all the flowers in bloom.

Tons of pictures and videos below!

She climbed up this all on her own!

April Randomness

Some random photos and a video from April