Growing and playing all the time!

Someone has become quite the independent eater! Madeline is still a picky eater (we're actually going to have to start food therapy again), but she's become insistant on feeding herself. She's getting surprisingly good (for a 19-month-old) at spooning yogurt and applesauce, although she still needs to wear a bib or a different shirt for meal time.

Here's a demonstration, especially for the grandmas in the audience. You can see her independent nature, as well as "issues" we have to deal with as she feeds herself.

Madeline's love affair with Sesame Street is going strong. She'd love to watch it morning, noon, and night, but will often settle for listening to the muppets singing songs. Thank goodness we can rent CDs from the library! As it is, Mama is getting really sick of hearing Elmo sing...
I recently came across a fun game. I drew pictures of Sesame Street characters and taped the paper to old food storage boxes. Madeline will push, throw, or kick a giant ball down the hall, and HOPEFULLY be able to knock over a few muppets! "Muppet Bowling!" She also will just run and kick them down, no ball. The nice thing is that they're big and easy for a toddler to stand back up.

(This is the only way I could get her in the picture

without her climbing on me before I can get the shot!)

We've mentioned before that our nearby mall has a playplace for kids. But did you know it has a fun floor activity, too? See video below for a demonstration.

For those unfamiliar with these, a projector in the ceiling puts a changing image on the floor. The floor itself is sensitive to touch and movement, so it "reacts" to the kids as they play. Normally Madeline doesn't know what to do with it, but here you see her social side. When other kids are around, she really loves to join the fun!

This last week we've actually had snow... A bit of a surprise, since all winter it's been unusually warm and dry (which we have thoroughly enjoyed, by the way). Madeline had a BLAST playing outside. However, she had difficulty actually WALKING on the snow, since it was a couple inches deep and she doesn't know how to lift her boots high enough to clear it. We played on the driveway for a while, but she would only stay where the snow was very thin (notice the footprints end a few feet out), or she'd walk in the wells made by the tires!

Of course, she wanted minimal help, if any.

She LOVED it, though, and was pretty mad when it was time to go inside.

We have a few more new activities inside (apart from muppet bowling). She's discovered "jumping," and especially likes it when we give her a high five after each "jump." See what I mean below:

She's also developing her musical talents.

(Practicing her music with Abby, a Sesame Street character)

(Please ignore the bed-head, she just woke up from nap)

"Look at me, Daddy!"