Haircuts, playtime, and raspberries!

Last week, I took Madeline to the kids' salon to get a hair cut. She was super-still for it (eating a sucker, and watching TV, had a lot to do with that), and the stylist even french braided part of her hair. She was so cute, but there was no way the braid would last through nap time. I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures to document the braid, though!

Think she'll be patient enough to let Mommy practice her french braiding skills??

(I don't think so either)

Looking great!

Lately, she's been showing us her increased capacity for pretend-play. She pretends to feed us her toy food (piece after piece after piece), and she LOVES to interact with her dolls. Sometimes she'll put one in her rocking chair and "sing to the baby," and sometimes she demonstrates her growing capacity for empathy - that is, she'll announce that the baby is crying and give it a hug. Did I mention the baby cries sometimes because she throws it on the ground first? Yeah, that's my child....

Feeding baby! Num num num.

We like to use a washcloth (dry) to "wash" baby. It's a good way to discuss body parts - as in, "Can you wash baby's toes?"

Madeline is becoming very interested in coloring these days. Her favorite part sometimes is using every color available to her, naming each as she uses them. Here's an example of her creations:

Our raspberry plants are producing a TON of fruit these days! Just the other day, Caleb pulled a whole quart off the bush - and that was just one day! (See picture below) Lucky for me, this means he's also making a lot of raspberry desserts. So far he's made a fruit crisp, something called a Russian Creme Custard, and right now we're having a raspberry tart (with creamy filling - soooo yummy). We've even given some of our fruit away to friends because we just can't consume enough. It's a great "problem" to have!

In other news, the pregnancy is progressing fairly well. I'm 23 weeks along (40 weeks brings me to my due date) and definitely feeling bigger this time around! If you will recall, I needed physical therapy for the last five months of my pregnancy with Madeline due to pain in my ribs and back. While I didn't have pain as early on this time, I've resumed PT (physical therapy) for the duration of the pregnancy now. This also means sitting for long periods of time literally is a pain! I'm very grateful for an excellent therapist, and a husband who can come home early from work once or twice a week to stay with Madeline while I'm gone.

For now, I'll leave you with a few Madeline-isms.

-These days, when Madeline is throwing a fit, she's started telling us "Mommy, I crying!"

-Today she talked extensively about a "baseball princess." I don't know where she got the idea for it. Two other favorite topics are pirates and cowboys. Oh yeah, and princesses (of any nature, sports stars or not).

- She loves to dance around the living room, calling out "Mommy says, 'I love you!' Daddy says, 'I love you!'"

-Remember the baby doll in the pictures above? She identifies it as a girl (it came with pink clothes, etc) but has named it Baby Moses. In her defense, she loves to read her picture Bible - and they NEVER talk about baby girls!

Stay-cation, Part 2

Here's a video from the Water Park. Kind of uneventful, but I love how Madeline sees me, calls out "Hi Mommy!" then notices she's floating away and says "Bye Mommy!" She's so precious.

On day 3 of our stay-cation, we decided to do ONE activity that wasn't tailored to kids: we saw the capitol building. We've lived here for four years and hadn't visited it until now! It wasn't very photo-worthy, but Madeline did like climbing up and down the stairs. It was good to see it, even if it's just so we could check it off of our "To-Do" list!

After that we visited the Children's Museum in downtown St. Paul. Many of their activities and exhibits are geared for older kids, but there was enough to do that we used up the rest of the morning. 

One favorite spot: the water tables!!

They had a whole room dedicated to pretend-play. For some reason, Madeline kept filling up her shopping cart with canned goods. Is she telling us that is her food of choice??

The Curious George room was a hit - but also very crowded. I wonder if she likes him so much because she identifies with his curious, monkey-like ways...

There was a room dedicated just to babies and toddlers. Lots of places to climb, explore, and scoot/slide. Eventually we had to coax her away, just so we could see more rooms before it was time to go.

And of course, who could resist sliding out of a pretend beaver dam? Not this little one, that's for sure!

Ever since our stay-cation, at least once a day Madeline has brought up the pool, the beach, the water park, and the turtles. It was a lot of activity, packed into just a few days, but we had a lot of fun AND did most of the things on our "to-do in the Twin Cities" list! Next time someone comes to visit, we'll have even more ideas of fun things to do. As long as you don't visit during the winter. :)

Stay-cation!

This year we decided it would prudent to save money and do a "stay-cation" - that is, a vacation staying at home. We've lived in the Twin Cities for four years now, but there were still many great things we hadn't seen or done yet! Thus, we decided to play tourist.

For three days, we drove around and saw the sights in Minneapolis and St. Paul, coming back to Bloomington for naps and overnight. This cut our travel time down by a good 20-30 minutes, and made it feel more like a vacation. Madeline handled the hotel stay superbly! It definitely helped that she was pretty worn out anytime we got back for a nap or bedtime.

We had a blast. It was very relaxing, but exhausting at the same time (in a good way) because of all of the activities we tried to fit in. Madeline was thrilled to have Daddy around so much. She would hardly let go of him for ANYTHING! So sweet.

Day 1, we went to Minnehaha Park in the morning and the Water Park of America in the afternoon/evening. Minnehaha Park had everything - a playground, a wading pool (soooo much fun!!), bike rentals, waterfalls, a band shell, and so much more!

Stopping at the swings is a MUST!

We love to climb!

"Look, Mommy!!"

Eventually, she just wanted to walk around the wading pool! And around, and around...

We rented a "surry" so we could tour the park.

Madeline LOVED riding! Anytime we'd pause, she'd immediately ask to go again!

We walked down and saw the waterfall!

After napping at the hotel, we went to the Water Park of America (located in the Radisson Hotel in Bloomington). They had an area that was perfect for kids, including little ones like Madeline.

She went down this slide so many times we lost count!

Walking up the steps to ride the slide AGAIN!

Playing with the water!

They also had a "lazy river" that allowed you to float around the whole park. We had a floatie on Madeline for most of it (but not for this picture, obviously).

On day 2 we visited the Como Zoo in the morning (Daddy had never been), and went to the Mall of America's Aquarium after nap. Both were a huge hit!

She has been fascinated with polar bears recently!

We had more free points (like last time we went) so before leaving for lunch we rode on the train. She would have loved to stay there all afternoon!

After nap, we visited the aquarium at the Mall of America. 

She loved watching the sharks, and got really excited when she saw the turtles (in another tank).

We have tons more photos (day 3 comes next!) but I think this is a lot of pictures for one blog post (plus we have video from the water park)! Stay tuned!

Sneak peek #2!

Last week we had the 20 week ultrasound!! It was AMAZING to see Bean moving around and feel him/her at the same time. I think the reality of child #2 finally sank in for Caleb, too!

This isn't the greatest picture, but here's Bean!

You can even see a foot in the upper right hand corner. See the toes? 

Caleb and I are in love with this little one!!!

In two months we'll actually have another ultrasound (i.e. at 28 weeks). I have what's called a low-laying placenta - which just means that the placenta (baby's blood supply) is within two centimeters of the cervix. If it's still there later, we're looking at a probable c-section. However, in most cases (around 90-95%) the placenta moves up and away, making a natural delivery safe. We're not worried, but we do get another sneak peek!!

Food adventures

Part of food therapy is encouraging food exploration every chance we get. That includes last week, when Madeline found some red potatoes and tried to eat one - RAW. She bit into it like an apple, then paused, and spit the piece out and handed it to me, whispering "No thank you, Mommy." It was so hard not to burst out laughing!!

Here's to a great four years!

It's sometimes hard to believe, but we've been in Minnesota now for four years! (For those doing the math, that means we'll celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary this August <3 ) So much has happened in that time, and it's strange to think that we've been here for as long as we were in Texas before this. We're continuing to make "small" changes to the house (most recently was patching the garage floor and putting down epoxy), and in the time we've lived here we've definitely made this house a home. That is to say, it does NOT feel like the same place we bought three years ago! Later this summer we'll replace more carpet and paint the guest room - soon to become Madeline's room (Bean will move into her current room). This summer we'll have a TON of raspberries outside, plus a few blueberries now! Caleb is thoroughly enjoying having a bigger lawn, even though it means more to mow.

Madeline continues to progress in food therapy! Along with lots of different kinds of fruit, she has started getting used to eating toast. I know it sounds so basic, but for a kid who refused any bread, pastry, etc, this is huge! We've successfully given her toast a few times, and even a few bites of french toast. This Mama's doing a happy dance!

We started potty training over Memorial Day weekend, and at first had some great success... And then she got sick several times in a row. I wish I could say she's picked up where she left off, but that doesn't seem to be the case. We just went in to the doctor again today (five days of a fever) and she's developed another ear infection. That makes four ear infections since November, five if you include the one she had back in August. I don't even know how many she's had in her lifetime! My poor peanut. The doctor told me today that when kids have six or more within six months, they refer you to an ENT to discuss putting tubes in their ears. I know it's a routine procedure, and that lots of kids get it, but the thought of surgery on such a little girl just frightens me. I'm very thankful that she always responds right away to the medicine, and that we're probably out of the ear infection season for now!

Because Madeline has been either sick or focusing on going potty, there haven't been any photo-worthy moments! Not really, anyway. However, I can tell you more about what she's up to these days. She has gotten really interested in building towers with her Legos (i.e. duplos), she still LOVES her toy slide in the basement (thanks again, Great-Grandma!), and these days is often either coloring or reading. She has a couple different toys that teach her the names and sounds of the alphabet, so we've realized by now she recognizes all of her letters! She even tells us some of the sounds the letters make. This kid just might teach herself to read pretty soon... Wouldn't that be nice!! Anytime she sees writing on something (e.g. a brand name on a toy) she declares "Oh! ABC!" and proceeds to sing her alphabet. She sings to herself a lot, which is uber cute to see.

Enjoying the warmer weather

Did you know Toys R Us sells pools for just $9.99? How cool is that!

She particularly liked to use her shovel to drink the water... Hmm...

So fun!

Now that the weather has gotten warmer, we've been able to meet Daddy at the park near his work for the occasional play date. One day we brought her shovel and bucket, but she just ignored both of us for the joys of scooping rocks!

Eventually we pried her away, made a new friend, and picked some flowers.

A few times down the slide, and it was time to go! My how the time flies!