Birthday Party Palooza!

I am way late on this post. I know.  April was the craziest month for us by far.  As the kids get older our schedule gets so full! 

Brooke and Madeline had a joint party at Chuck E Cheese on March 31st.  Brooke invited some of her friends and Madeline had a few there too ;)  They LOVED it.  I know these parties are chaotic but my kids had the best time ever.  Plus I didn't have to do anything but show up with cupcakes.  HUGE BONUS!  Everyone was happy! 

Here are the two birthday girls before the party started:

some action shots of Madeline:

Then  came the birthday celebration.  Each girl got a crown and got to sing and dance on stage:

Cupcakes were a HIT. 

 

Then of course came the ticket booth.  This might be my favorite picture ever taken:

 

Happy 5th Birthday Brookie!

Brooke is 5 today!  I cannot believe how fast these 5 years have gone by.  She's really turning into a little kid vs a preschooler.  She asks very intriguing questions and keeps me on my toes mentally.  She is still dancing every week and loves her dance class.  She is also learning to swim. Brooke begs to try many different activities (acting, ice skating, and soccer to name a few).  I am thinking next year we might branch out and try something new! 

Here is a walk down memory lane!

Just a few days old: 

6 months old:

1 year old:

2 years old:

3 years old:

 4 years old:

 and finally 5!

The night before her birthday, she cried that she didn't want to be 5.  Then the night of her birthday she said she can't wait to be 6!  Here is hoping to another fun filled year.  Kindergarten will be here before you know it!

Super Swimmer!

Brooke has been in swimming lessons for MONTHS.  7 months to be exact.  It was not her cup of tea and she was begging weekly for me to put her in ice skating lessons instead.  Swimming is not a negotiable skill to me.  She HAS to know how to swim.  I told her once she was a good swimmer we could stop, but we had to stick with it.

Well this week she passed her level 1 swim test during her swim  lesson!  She is swimming under water for 5 feet, can get out of the pool, jump off and get to the side, etc.  Her basics are coming along!

After she passed she got to ring the bell at the pool and everyone clapped for her!  She was SO excited. 

 

Let's hope we have an independent swimmer by the summer! It will make my life at the beach and pool a lot easier!

Madeline's First Haircut!

Madeline's hair was looking very raggedy, so I decided it was time to cut her curly locks!  Brooke had regular hair cuts starting at 7 months.  Madeline is a baldy and honestly didn't NEED the cut, but she needed a trim to make it look neater.

We headed off to the mall where they have a place that has cars to sit in and TV's to watch.  I wasn't sure how she would do, but she was SOLD when she saw the yellow Taxi. 

She did so well while her lovely mullet was trimmed right up.  She has NO hair on the sides of her head so we are hoping it grows in soon into more of a bob style.

Here she is looking very serious but at least behaving :)  I think the woman took me saying "I don't want bangs" to mean "I want bangs".  Oh well.  They will grow out. 

Here is the finished product!  Not bad!  They even gave me a sweet little certificate to save her hair on!  That will go in the baby book.  :)

Happy 18 Months Madeline!!!

Time flies.  Literally.  How is my baby 18 months old already?  I'm not sad about it.  She's growing up and although still a bonafide Ninja, she's getting easier to reason with at least.  We also can leave the house and do fun things and at least make it productive.  Easier but harder at the same time :) 

Here she was just a  year ago:

At 6 months she was a pretty mellow baby.  Fairly content to just chill out in the house, play with some toys, etc.  I LOVE that age.  She smiled at everything and was not mobile yet.

Here she is today at 18 months:

Her toddler hood is proving to be somewhat of a challenge.  She loves life and is eager to try new things and do everything her big sister does.  I mean EVERYTHING. 

Favorite foods:  Cheese, any type of fruit, chicken nuggets, yogurt, applesauce, mum mums, veggie chips, goldfish, cheez-its, juice, milk, pancakes, waffles, bananas, and macaroni and cheese.  She is not as adventurous as Brooke was in terms of eating, but still a great eater. 

Current words:  milk, please, more, ipod (LOL), Brooke, Mickey, Elmo (and all of the sesame street characters), shoes, socks, cheese, crackers, cookies, dog, cat, bird, Guinness, eat, open, help, bye bye, monkey, out, mama, dada, grandma, grandpa, circle, star, square, book, get down, pass (for her paci), ant (for her elephant), car, diaper, pee pee, and bath.  I am sure she has more but I can't think of them all!  She is talking so much earlier than Brooke did, which I think is a good thing because she has such a temper.

Body parts she knows:  teeth, mouth, nose, eyes, cheeks, hair, belly, feet, chin, and toes. 

Madeline is also proving to be just as hilarious as her big sis.  She is starting to perform for everyone and gets on tables to sing!  She and Brooke are starting to play together which is so fun to watch.  Of course they fight, but as Madeline's language progresses I think they will have great fun. 

She keeps us very very busy.  We can't turn our backs for 10 seconds without her getting into something.  So different from her big sis. Loves to climb, jump, spin, dance, etc.   As her personality emerges, I am excited (and a wee bit scared) to see what kind of little kid she becomes  :)

Happy 18 months Madeline! 

Brooke's First Day of Pre-K

Brooke started Pre-K on September 9th.  Finally!  Unfortunately our summer was not all that exciting and we were all ready for some sort of normal routine.  She is now going full day for 3 days a week so this will be hard for her!  She still naps!  This year she will have Music, Spanish, Gym, Library, and Science!  Busy day! 

Here she is on the front porch.  She would barely sit still!

Here is last year's pic before Nursery school.  Definitely more of a baby face!

More silly faces...

 Striking a pose.

Let's not leave out Madeline.  Here is her current face that she makes when you tell her to smile:

Madeline at 16 months and a Brooke quote

I am a horrible mother and have no pictures of my kids.  I do have some phone videos but am still learning how to get them HERE.  We've been busy disinfecting the house and all of our belongings.  I will take pics this week hopefully!

Anyways, Madeline has two new words she says very clearly:  Mess and Nice.  It's the cutest thing ever.  It is not so cute when she is throwing her goldfish on the floor of Gymboree and shouting MESS though.  She is also saying Big Bird, Elmo, juice, snack, milk, sit down, get down, night night, various animal sounds, etc.  She is quite the talker.  I guess she wants to keep up with her sister who never shuts up :)

She continues to be a spitfire getting two separate mouth injuries this week and earned herself her SECOND trip to the dentist for teeth injuries.  The child is nuts.  She can climb on the couch all by herself and get down.  Her main goal right now is to somehow get whatever Brooke has.  I can see this Christmas being the year of doubles so there is not any fighting!

Madeline has also mastered the art of hair pulling.  As if Brooke didn't have enough hair issues, Madeline pulled a giant chunk of Brooke's hair out yesterday.  Thankfully Brooke is still nice enough not to fight back, but I know its only a matter of time before she has had enough! 


Here is a fun Brooke quote from yesterday:  We were driving home and she was looking at the window and says "See those white fluffy clouds mom?  Those are cumulus clouds.  And the gray ones are cumulonimbo".  Yes, close enough smarty pants :)

Goodbye Dr. Brown

A few weeks ago we said goodbye to our very good friend Dr. Brown. Dr. Brown's bottles that is. They were the 4th brand of bottles we tried and the ones Madeline drank out of the best, but washing all of those damn bottle parts got old! We tried Avent (my love with Brooke) and she choked. We tried Tommee Tippee which were awful! We used Playtex drop ins for a month or two but she still wasn't drinking that well. Dr. Brown's did the trick! It was my last resort since everyone I know told me what a pain these bottles were to clean. However, you do what you have to do!

While I was excited to finally find a bottle she could drink well out of, they are quite involved! Each bottle has 4 pieces you have to wash and then reassemble. It's a pain to say the least. If you have to use these bottles, I highly suggest buying the dishwasher basket that holds all of the parts. It can be found HERE. It saved my sanity.

The bottles are still sitting on my counter just staring at me. I can't throw them away. I don't know why. She hasn't had a bottle since June 24th so maybe its time to make way for some clear counter space!

Part 2 of this goodbye will be posted shortly. It will involve our exhausting process of finding a sippy cup Madeline will actually drink out of. This child doesn't make anything easy :)

Madeline at 15 months

Madeline turned 15 months last week. This girl is giving us a run for our money!

She is talking like crazy! This is so fun to me since Brooke had a speech delay and while very smart, she didn't say much for a long time. Madeline put two words together for the first time this week. She said "more nana" for more banana. She apparently also knows the word "pizza" since she said it tonight while eating it. Her other favorite phrases are "get down" and "sit down". Wonder what she hears a lot of...??? I am shocked she does not say NO yet.

She isn't a huge fan of drinking milk or water. I feel like I am shoving a cup in her face all day. She is transitioning between one nap and two which is making our summer plans disastrous. We are always wondering when she is going to sleep, if she is going to sleep, what mood she will be in, etc.

Madeline is loving the pool and anything that involves being outside. Her new favorite activity involves climbing on furniture, standing up on it, turning towards me and saying GET DOWN. I try very hard not to laugh but I stink at keeping a straight face.

She also worships her big sister. Of course there is already some fighting going on, but they are really starting to play together which is great! Tonight they were both sitting on the floor and Madeline just grabbed Brooke and gave her a huge kiss. So adorable! Then they both had a giggle attack!

Her independence grows daily and I am excited to see what the next few months hold (and also fear them!)

An Interview with Brooke

Here is an interview I did with Brooke yesterday. I think its a good snapshot of her life right now :)

1. Favorite Food: Tomato Soup

2. Favorite Sport: Soccer

3. Favorite Movie: Rapunzel/Tangled

4. Favorite thing about School: Doing a craft

5. Thing I do best: Play Dress Up

6. Favorite color: Pink and Purple

7. What word describes you? Yes (LOL!)

8. When I was a baby I used to: Throw my Puppers

9. What do you want to be when you grow up? I want to stay in this house and my job will be to tell people where to put jewelry and I will come straight home.

10. My favorite memory: Playing with my doll house

11. My favorite thing to play with daddy: Pizza game

12. My favorite thing to play with mommy: Dice game

13. A food I don’t like: Hamburgers

14. My best friend is: Gianna

15. If I could have one wish: Doing homework with you.

Miss Independent

My non-rule conforming toddler will no longer let me feed her anything that involves utensils. This is completely my own fault. One night while attempting to cook dinner while she was still awake, I handed her an applesauce and a spoon and let her go to town. It was a huge mess but it bought me 25 minutes of cooking time! I was onto something here! Well that backfired because now she sees anything that involves a spoon and expects to feed herself with it. I am talking screaming, pointing at the spoon, pushing it away if I try to feed her, etc. She is determined! There is really no issue about it right? She is growing up and mastering a skill. However, its a giant mess. She is guaranteed a bath on these nights!

Here she is so proud of herself! You can also see her chipped tooth in all its glory!

Madeline is 14 months!

Madeline is 14 months. We don't take monthly pics anymore, but I wanted to do a quick summary of her life right now.

Besides getting limbs stuck in crib slats, she loves to climb. She spends a lot of days standing on top of chairs and giving me a heart attack.

Her current words (not said clearly obviously):
all done
dada
fish
cheese
balloon
ball
bear
bottle
mama (when prompted)
bye bye
dog
Elmo

She loves to play peek a boo and to play outside. The baby pool is a big hit as well as the slide out back.

This girl also loves to dance! Brooke has been practicing her tap routine non stop and Madeline has picked up on some of the moves. It's adorable!

She has 8 teeth and is currently cutting her top molars.

Madeline loves books and is always bringing me one to read to her.

Her favorite foods are cheese, yogurt, pizza, pasta, any type of fruit, and bread. She is still on the bottle but is now sort of drinking out of cups more. I hope we are off bottles by the end of the summer!

Brooke graduates from Nursery

Today was Brooke's last day of nursery school. She loved it and was sad it was over! We are looking forward to next year's Pre-K program!

Here she is on the front porch.

Attempting to get both girls to pose for a pic together...

During her singing performance. This girl is NOT shy.

Receiving her diploma.

With her teacher.

Another failed attempt at a group shot. Notice the balloons distracting Madeline and Brooke not paying attention at all.

First Trip to the Dentist!

Madeline earned herself a trip to the dentist today. While we were in NC, I noticed Madeline's tooth was chipped. The sad part is we have no idea how or when it happened. Oops!

So I took her to the dentist today. We have a great pediatric Dentist here that I love. There are no pictures of this visit as I had to lay on the table with Madeline and put her in a full body restraint so they could take a look at her tooth and look at the rest of her teeth. Fun times! Of course when we were done all she wanted to do was climb back onto the chair.

The good news is the chip is only a grade 1 so its minor. Oh and we can keep the pacifier for a while too (see why I love this dentist?). WE also had her upper lip looked at since the frenulum is tight. Big sister Brooke had to have hers cut when she was Madeline's age. The doc said Madeline's can wait until she is 8 or 9. This way she won't have to be sedated! Fine by me!

She goes back in August to get her teeth cleaned. She is cutting 6 teeth right now so that way they can be cleaned when they are all in.

Double Birthday Party!

We decided to have a small family party for the girls when my mom came out to visit for Spring Break. I surprised Brooke with a Rapunzel cake and theme which she loved. Madeline didn't get a say. Hope she doesn't mind when she is older :) Madeline also had her first cupcake which she LOVED LOVED LOVED. Total opposite of Brooke's first bday when she bawled her eyes out eating the cake. Brooke had a blast and loved all of the attention during the party.

The Rapunzel Cake. Not so well done but Brooke didn't care! We added some of our own figurines:


Excited to see the cake!


Madeline digging in!




Grandma got the Rapunzel dress she had been begging for!

Madeline's 1 year check up!

Madeline had her one year check up today! Here are her stats!

Weight: 19 lbs 14 oz
Height: 29 inches
Head: 18 1/4 inches

Overall in the 50% and much smaller than her sis! This is really putting a damper on my hand me down plan that was working so perfectly until now :) Oh well, another reason to shop!

Madeline is a hoot these days! She says uh-oh and fish. Sometimes she will say dada and mama but not enough for me to count them. She still signs a lot. Her current sighs are : more, bath, milk, eat, night night, all done, please, and bath.

She is very into imitating everything! She loves to pretend to feed babies and hug them. She also picks up on things very quickly! Her other love is finding my keys and sunglasses and carrying them around. I am actually shocked my sunglasses have survived this long. Madeline also tries to copy everything Brooke does and steal anything Brooke has. This also results in her pinching and hitting Brooke if she wants something Brooke won't give her.

Sleeping is not that great. She doesn't love to nap and at least once a week wakes up crying in the night and will not go back to sleep without a giant protest of screaming.

Overall we have a thriving little girl who is giving us a run for our money!

Happy 1st Birthday Madeline!!!

Madeline is ONE! Time has flow by this year! I will do more of an update after she goes to the Dr. on Wednesday! Here is a trip down memory lane!

On her way home from the hospital!


1 month


2 months


3 months


4 months:


5 months


6 months


7 months


8 months


9 months


10 months


11 months


1 year


and a bonus because she's so cute...