Madeline's recent adventures

Yay for warmer weather!! We may have had a mild winter, but we're realizing that we really missed the sunshine and being outside. Madeline often asks to play outside or go to the park. Speaking of, we have a funny story... Up until a few weeks ago, Madeline would call the park "kike." We'd try to model the "p" for her, but it didn't help. One day, Caleb tried emphasizing it even more. "Madeline, say 'park.' 'Puh' 'puh' 'puh' 'park.'" She answered "'Puh' 'puh' 'puh' 'kike.'" It's too hard not to laugh when they do that!

She still has her love of walking in the street.... Thank goodness we live on a quiet cul de sac off the beaten path, because her independent streak means she refuses to hold someone's hand. Well, unless it's the hand of one of the neighbor children. Then she asks for it!

As with most toddlers, she's infatuated with balls right now. We got a big plastic one from Target the other day, but before we had that she'd ask to play with the basket ball. Poor girl, the thing was half her size, and HEAVY! Not that it stopped her. :)

Otherwise, we've been pretty busy lately. My mom has moved in with us for the summer, so we had to clear out the guest room and make room in the basement to store her things. I don't think Madeline has quite figured out that her Gigi lives with her now, but she's thrilled every time she sees her!

We're also keeping up with food therapy, which is currently twice a week. Truth be told, though, "twice" is a little misleading. I have to keep up with the techniques every day through the week, otherwise we don't see as much progress, so it's fairly demanding! We're doing well, though, and slowly adding more foods to her menu. We've especially noticed an improvement in her eating habits, such as her patience with new foods and how long she remains interested. One trick that works wonders is "new" or "fun" utensils. She's gotten pretty good at poking food with a tooth pick (under close supervision). I've come across other moms who discovered this little gem, too (Valerie, remember Graham and the chopsticks? Yup...).

"Mmm, Nutella!"

Last week I went in for a check up and heard Bean's heartbeat!! Yay!!! He/she was moving around A LOT (so said the doctor), so we may have another wiggle-worm on our hands. :) For those who are curious about guessing the gender, Bean's heartbeat didn't give us any clues. Statistically speaking, boys' heartbeats are usually lower (120-140) while girls' are higher (140-160). Last week, Bean's was at 140. He/she's going to keep us guessing! (Madeline did the same - she was always around the middle)

Second trimester, here I come!