MJ's World

La la la la, la la la la, MJ's worllllllld....... [sung to the tune of Elmo's world, for those who have experienced it... ;) ]

Our little MJ has quite a busy world these days. After I got back from Vegas, which already threw Madison for a loop, I threw her for an even bigger loop by going back to work full time - ! (for the time being). Her Grandma Kennedy was here, followed by her Nana and Pawpaw from Indiana, so she's been spoiled by visitors, but even so, that's a lot of changes for one little elf. She has started going to day care three days a week and seems to really like it (except for the actual drop-off -- Mommy needs to work on that), and is in many ways acting like a Big Girl. She is making her mind known with an amazing vocabulary and even gives commands these days: "Daddy, sit down!" She loves climbing on things and did her first amateur rock climbing up in Rocky Mountain National Park. She hasn't yet started any type of tantrum-throwing or needing time-out (knock on wood for us right now!!), but I've seen many of her little friends going through these stages in our playgroups, and I'm sure it is probably right around the corner.... But in the meantime we are enjoying our sweet one-and-a-half year old and holding on to the last bit of summer/fall before the snow sets in!

Some pics from MJ's world:

18 Months and Vegas

Madison's 18-month birthday came and went, without so much as a peep on my blog about it!

But - we couldn't let this milestone slip by in real life, so we had a party. I think there must have been about 15 babies & kids (oh yeah and grown-ups) bouncing around our house. MJ had a blast!

A few of the kiddos at the party, post-cupcakes

And here are just a few other pictures of our big girl, growing up and getting LOTS bigger in personality!

Big girl Shy

Not shy!

Uh-oh, what happened?


And - in other news - I just got back from "Club" in Las Vegas! Here is a shot on the rooftop club at the Rio, overlooking the strip. We had a fabulous time and I loved the hotel Paris. It was funny tho, tonite the 'Atlantic City' episode of Sex & the City was on, and it totally reminded me of us! I guess we're not the most saavy gamblers. Or partyers. We were mostly happy just lounging at the pool all day. But- I did manage to play craps this time! And MJ did great with Grandma and Daddy for the long weekend. Yay for girls' trips!!!

"I Like Corn" and more videos

As we were eating dinner the other night, Todd asked Madison: "Do you like corn?" and she said "I like corn" very non-chalantly as if it were the obvious answer (she was eating corn on the cob). We looked at each other like, did she just say that?! It was her first sentence! Thus, going in the baby book! While her vocab has been growing for a while now, she has really only recently started combining words into phrases, like "big truck," "all wet," "dirty hands," etc. So this was a pretty exciting moment. We'll see if there is more to come! In the meantime, here are some more random short videos I had of recent summer fun. We had a playgroup over here the other day and I wish I had taken a video of that-- just imagine Madison + 8 or so more kiddos swarming our living room and then all crammed in the baby pool at once! It was mayhem!

Counting!

Attempting to capture MJ counting on film! Do all parents do this?? She can count to 9... sort of... as you can see.... :)

Yo, Cuz

As I was going through our pictures from VA and Buckroe Beach, I realized that I really wanted to write a blog about the special bond that evolved between Madison and her cousin, Katie. Katie is 2 1/2 years old and the middle child of my brother, Brian. Katie and Madison met once before, when Madison was about 9 months old, but for some reason on this recent trip they really just clicked. Actually, she loved playing with all of her cousins, but the two of them were like joined at the hip. Wherever Madison was, Katie was, and vice versa.
Katie had to have a lot of patience to put up with a 1 1/2-year old! And Madison thinks she is one of the "big kids" so it was a good fit!
Even now, weeks after the trip, when Madison sees a playground or a pool she says "Kaaaaaatie" and looks for her like she might show up and play. She misses her cuz!!!

Video Happy

Hugging milk:



In the pool:



Playing harmonica:

Summer fun

Here are a few random short videos from this summer. These are just little clips that I came across after the big photo dump! We just got back from Virginia on Monday night and had a fabulous time. Madison loooOOOooooved playing with her cousin Katie (did I say LOVED??) and also Tommy and Chrissy too. :) Oh yeah and Jamie and Justin. It was great to have the whole gang together and the wedding itself was a lot of fun. I'll post some pictures from the trip but here the quick vids for now! I wish I had taken more at the beach, but I was too busy chasing after my water baby....!