We took a break from packing tonight to go to a Christmas party hosted by our playgroup friends Kelly & Seth. It's the first "grown-up" Christmas party we've ever attended because we're usually traveling this time of year and miss the festivities with our friends.
Amy with some of the playgroup moms (Rachael, Corrina, Suzi, Abby & Kelly)
Gpa L, Peyton, Gma & Gpa B, Madeline and I wandered around Sunset Zoo this afternoon. That place sure has changed since I last visited there when I was in elementary school! Our timing was pretty fortunate -- we arrived right at feeding time so most of the creatures were very active in their enclosures.
The girls and the grandpas watching the flamingos
Madeline and I are enjoying an extended Thanksgiving holiday here in KS. We're blessed to have both sets of grandparents within 20 minutes of each other out here, so we're enjoying time with all of them.
We're used to seeing the turkeys parade across Gma and Gpa B's backyard, but this morning a new friend arrived on the scene. Our deer friend seemed to be just as curious about the creatures trapped behind the window as we were about her (him?).
We made it. Madeline and I survived our flights to get us from NC to KS. I was really anxious about how it would all work -- would I be able to lug all of our carry-ons to and fro in addition to pushing her in a stroller (heck no, we're not paying extra to check luggage if we don't have to!), would I be able to effectively distract and corral her single-handedly during the flights, would her extra-tallness cause airline officials to question her age, would she even tolerate being "trapped" in an airplane for a couple hours at a time? But a few deep breaths later and with a resolve to only think positively about the adventure before us, we made it through security and boarded the plane. We even made it through a 45 minute wait on the tarmac* before we took off. God bless the folks who sat next to us on our two flights. They were so kind to me and engaging with M. One man even made her a puppet out of a barf bag.
Things that are now standard in our arsenal for toddler travel distractions: washable crayons, a plastic slinky, small tubs of Playdough, a few small plastic cookie cutters, and podcasts of Sesame Street's "Word on the Street". Here's hoping that they still do the trick when we return back to NC in a few weeks!
*Who knew that tarmac was short for tarmacadam? Oh the things you learn via Google...
Phew! Summary of past couple of weeks:
Had a fun Mom's Night Out at Satisfactions with the playgroup gals. Pizza + beer = good.
Madeline got some kind of virus and so we were on fever watch for a few days and hold-and-cuddle duty for a number of nights.
She's sprouted two new teeth on the bottom to bring her total chomper count to eight.
Gpa and Gma L surprised us with a fantastic Little Tikes car for M. She loves sitting in her Cozy Coupe and saying "Beep, beep" instead of actually honking the horn. Today, Linus was going all "Dukes of Hazzard" on it and climbing in without opening the door. I think the kiddos are going to have some good times with this!
I've been designing and trying to crank out Christmas cards for some clients -- yes, I'm now selling my handmade cards!
Spent some fun times with Gma L, Beth and Peyton this past week: playing with the greatest plastic playhouse product ever (it looks like an RV camper!) at Gpa & Gma L's house, meeting new puppy Jack, and exploring the Museum of Life and Science. 
I was really trying to get a cute picture of M eating yogurt all by herself (and not completely slathering her hair with it), but after uploading the pics to the computer I noticed the amazing fountain of hair she had going that morning. That's some powerful static electricity!
It's been a good day. Lovely birthday wishes from near and far and even some surprise presents. Thanks for your kindness!
After a couple days of rain and gray clouds, today's blue skies and warm sunshine were begging us to play outside. So we did. Gpa L brought over a little playset for Madeline this past weekend and she absolutely loves it. She's able to climb the ladder, go down the slide and even get into the chair-swing all by herself.
The three of us celebrated tonight with dinner at Fratello's. The gnocchi was very yummy.
Tonight we met up with my friend Jennah (also a Theta and a fellow Advisory Board member) and ate dinner at the Armadillo Grill on Duke's campus in order to support the Theta chapter's philanthropic event, Queso for CASA. Please click on the link to learn more about CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates).
Amy, Madeline, Gillian (the organizer for the event --
We celebrated tonight with our friends Kelly and Kalonji who are eagerly anticipating the birth of their little boy next month. Their baby shower was pretty atypical as far as those things are concerned: it was equally populated by men and women, most of the attention was focused on the football games on TV, and you had to make a special request if you wanted the non-alcoholic punch. Madeline took it upon herself to rearrange the decorations... repeatedly.
This morning we got dressed up in our Halloween finery and headed over to Wyatt's house for a party. Lots of kids, lots of cute, lots of food, lots of fun -- thanks, Kelly (she's Wyatt's mom and our playgroup party planner extraordinaire)!
ETA -- We went to one place tonight for M's inaugural trick-or-treating: Jonathan and Chelsea's pad. Thanks for letting her terrorize Sydney (and for giving us yummy candy)!
Today's story time at the library featured a Halloween theme (go figure) and Mr. Tom told us that the kids could come in costume. So we obliged. M did not want to wear her Yoda costume this morning, so I presented two other options: bunny ears to coordinate with her bunny-themed footed pajamas or last year's ballerina skirt.
After a test drive of the bunny ears, she chose to be a ballerina. And then she proceeded to include the skirt with every outfit she's worn since then.
Gpa L came over for breakfast/brunch today and brought a special visitor with him. Lil Bit entertained M immensely. After we ate, there was lots of chasing to be done in the backyard. M would chase the dog, the dog would chase squirrels, M would chase the dog, the dog would chase birds, M would chase the dog, etc. It was so fun to watch! Even with the camera on the "kids and pets" setting, I still never managed to get a full frame of them in motion. I think you still get the idea from this....
We ran some errands at a local mega-mall today. As we were leaving one of the outlying stores, we turned the corner and were nearly knocked down by the sight of this ginormous Christmas tree on the plaza. *Rant on* Um, excuse me, dear sirs, IT'S STILL OCTOBER! The leaves haven't even finished changing colors yet! Let me enjoy a little smidgen of fall!*Rant off* I was awed, however, by the sheer size of the thing (hugemongous would also be an adequate descriptor) and my nerdy engineer mind wished I could have witnessed it being assembled/flown into place.
For scale, Josh is approximately 6' tall.
We're starting to see little sparks of independent spirit in little Miss M. She now wants to eat her snacks sitting on a big chair at the big table. She'll pull her plate and her bowl out of her drawer in the kitchen, set her place at the table and then page us with "Hep, hep!" (translation = help, help) while simultaneously signing for cereal. She hasn't quite figured out how to climb up on these particular chairs yet nor can she reach the cabinet containing the Cheerios (mastering the former will aid in accomplishing the latter, though). It won't be long, I'm afraid.
Noticed this license plate on the car in front of me. Thankfully, we were stopped at a red light so that I could safely snap a pic. Who needs a bumper sticker if you can put it on your tag?
The critters are active today! Not only are the squirrels going crazy knocking the pinecones off the trees and tempting Pickles to make mad dashes out the front door, but now the birds are at it, too. I think our finely feathered friends were actually involved in a rumble over territory (our hanging containers of impatients are hip hangouts for the nesting types, don't cha know). And all of this was playing out right in front of Pickles -- but she was stuck inside while all the fun was outside. Life just isn't fair.
The arrows are pointing to the rival bird gang members.
This is the third year we've gotten our pumpkins at Ganyard Hill Farm. Maybe next year we'll pay the admission and check out all the extra activities they have besides just picking out pumpkins!
The local homebuilders associations hold their Parade of Homes events during the first three weekends of October. We decided to check out some of the really, really expensive homes that are just down the road from us in the Hasentree community. We were simply awed by the amenities of this development. As far as the houses were concerned, some of the things we saw we filed away in our brains for our "someday" house (this house's home theater was awesome!)... other things made us question who in their right mind would waste money in such a ridiculous fashion. Overall, it was a fun way to spend an afternoon... and made us thankful for the house that we do have.
Over the past couple of weeks, the crews have been prepping our entire neighborhood's roads for resurfacing. We thought they were going to just be doing some strategic patching of the worst areas, but they have completely stripped down the entire road bed. We've had a whole fleet of heavy machinery driving up and down our street and it has thrilled Miss M. All day yesterday and today, the road crew laid down the new surface in front of our house. Dump trucks, road rollers, and front-loaders, oh my! Madeline loves watching the action and waving at the crew. I'll be ready for the noise and mess to be over, but it sure has been fun to have some free entertainment right in front of our house!
Had a great time this weekend with Bartel cousins. I made the trek up to Woodbridge, VA with Jonathan and Chelsea and we met Kristine up there. There was laughing, there was eating, and we were all exahusted by the end -- sounds like a typical Bartel gathering, no? I forgot to bring along my iPod so that we would have theme music for the road trip, so here is the IKEA song in all it's glory. Adrian was the one who first shared this with me (on a previous IKEA trip no less) and it has been played on every trip thereafter.
My major purchases during this trip were Bestå bookcases (in black-brown) for our living and dining rooms. We need storage that can be childproofed and a bookcase with options for doors and drawers seemed like the winning plan for us. Everything is assembled, but the configuration is still being tweaked. I'll post pics once the final arranging is complete.
Jamaican me crazy on those drums, mon!
gobble, gobble
Train montage
Josh stayed home tonight with the wee one so that I could paint the town red in honor of Kelly, a fellow mommy from playgroup, turning a year older. Suzi (another playgroup mommy friend!) and I were each other's dates for the evening. We started at the Carolina Inn for some drinks and bluegrass music, walked to the Franklin for another round of libations, and then on to 411 West for a yummy Italian dinner. The crowd moved on to The Yogurt Pump for dessert, but Suzi and I needed to head home so I'll have to leave that adventure for another time. The name of the place alone would be reason enough to give it a try!
It was great fun to meet Kelly's family and friends, including Ed and Heba. I won't post any pictures from the evening because I don't want to reveal how they currently look (they are contestants on The Biggest Loser) -- well, maybe I'll backpost a pic after the season finale. I am awed by what they have done and are continuing to do. They are amazing people (and a complete riot!).
Once there was a break in this morning's rain, I hurried us out to the car so that we could run some errands before naptime. I knew that she'd go straight for the water, but thought I could just redirect her towards the open car door and get her in her seat without much fuss. Madeline had other plans. Right after I snapped this pic, she proceeded to jump in the puddle and splashed both of us. I just had to laugh.
So it's been a while... thanks for continuing to check in on us. Life has been pretty busy for me since Duke's fall semester started up again. I had forgotten how much chaos ensues at the beginning of each term. I plan to be better prepared next time -- we'll see how that pans out! Despite the chaos, it is nice to have the Theta girls back in town (hip-hip-hooray for free babysitting!), and I appreciate the opportunity to mentor them and share with them my passion for leadership development.
In the interest of keeping some semblance of chronological order to our blog, I'm backposting the pics and videos of our recent adventures. I'll start way back at Aug 22 and work towards more current times, so either scroll back to witness the cuteness that we've been keeping under wraps or patiently wait here until I get caught up.
While we were running errands this morning, I heard a faint little whistle coming from the backseat. When we pulled into our driveway, I tried to capture this new-found skill on video for posterity. You may have to turn up your volume to hear it (my voice is pretty loud at the beginning -- sorry!).
Our playgroup took a trip to Greensboro today to visit the children's museum there. It is an amazing facility that has activities appealing to a very broad range of ages. I was overwhelmed by it all. Madeline's two favorite activities were pressing the button in the fire house to turn the on siren (I know, a siren indoors -- egads!) and having a tea party with Katie.
M's 15-month check-up was this morning. She continues to be a long, lean little gal: 32.25in tall (95%) and 23.5lbs (60%). Man, does she have some long legs. She wears 18-24-mo pants with the adjustable waistband cranked all the way to the smallest size, but still wears 12-mo onesies. Her arms are also longer than average (just like Mommy and Daddy), so we're glad that the three-quarter length sleeve look is still in fashion.
Other fun notes about her at this stage:
We're noticing her vocabulary and comprehension expand every day. There are some words she will only sign, some she will only speak, and some that she will simultaneously sign and speak -- isn't it amazing how the brain makes these associations? Most of her spoken language is only understood by us. She leaves off the consonants at the beginning of most words right now, so that can make it difficult for the untrained observer to interpret. She has also decided that dogs are to be called "boe-boes". The dog across the street from us has a bark that definitely sounds like "boe-boe" and so he sealed the fate for the rest of his species.
She understands what it means when we say "You need a time out."
She prefers to blow kisses than to wave bye-bye.
Still drools a ton. Josh said he didn't stop drooling until he was in 2nd grade, so we may be dealing with soaked shirt-fronts for a while.
Still has just the 6 teeth -- four top and two bottom. We thought/hoped at first that the drooling was linked to additional teeth breaking through, but that seems to be unfounded.
She has mastered the skill of having her body go completely limp when she doesn't want to be picked up. We've almost dropped her a few times because of it.
Only ticklish in her armpits.
Loves to read books, climb on chairs, play in water, carry around bags and/or purses, hug the cat, and run around in the yard.
She is fascinated with other kids and also by cars and trucks driving through our neighborhood.
Katie, Madeline, Cadence & Linus wait for another ball to appear.
Our Buddleia (butterfly bush) has been quite prolific this year, so we've gotten to be up-close and personal with quite a few winged visitors this summer.
We went back to Pullen Park today for the Theta Family picnic. We were so worn out from yesterday's fun that we didn't even make it back to any of the rides or the playground! Jenny & Dave brought along their black lab, Stella, and she entertained Madeline more than any piece of playground equipment could. That was fine with us!
It was fun to visit with the other Thetas (and their husbands), but we encountered a couple of mishaps that left me wishing we had stayed home. First, M and I both were bitten by ants. It was a new experience for me and one that I hope I never get to repeat -- man, did it hurt! Luckily, she only had one welt. I had at least four. Yowsa! Our second *insert groan here* moment happened right before we were going to eat. A little baby squirrel fell out of the tree next to our picnic shelter. Well, we assumed that it fell out of the tree. We couldn't see anywhere else a nest could possibly be. None of us knew what to do -- it was squealing, but we couldn't tell if it was calling to it's family or if it was hurt and/or dying or a combination of these. Ugh. It breaks my heart just thinking about it now. We decided there wasn't anything we could do for it, so we left it there and hoped that it's little squirrel mommy would come get it. Tear.
We went to Pullen Park today to play and meet up with other area Thetas for our annual family picnic. After a few trips around the park and peeking into every picnic shelter we could find, I realized that the picnic isn't until tomorrow. Oops. So we made the best of it and enjoyed the rides.
I used to drive by Pullen Park when I worked in downtown Raleigh and have been hankering to ride on their little train. I don't know why, I just have. Madeline was a bit overwhelmed by the experience, probably due to our close proximity to the train's whistle. Now we know to wait for the next departure instead of taking the car behind the engine!
After we recovered from the train and took a few slips down some slides, Josh took her on the carousel. That seemed to be more to her liking. I was impressed by how long the carousel ride lasted. They kept spinning for almost 4 complete songs - not bad for a total of $2 admission!
Here's a preview of M's avant-garde look for next season...
Apparently layering will be key.
We met up with our fab playgroup friends at Duke Park this afternoon. Madeline tried out a new look today -- pigtails. I was nervous about yanking her hair around to get it fastened in the teeny tiny little elastics, but she took it like a pro.
Swinging with her friends Stick and Fork. (M is hardly ever empty-handed.)
Getting in a quick hill workout -- how else can you expect to keep such a svelte figure?
Experimenting with sand.
Wyatt looks questioningly at the paparazzo, Madeline is trying to distract Mommy from seeing her dirt beard, and Linus is just hoping those elusive pigtails will hold still long enough for him to touch them.
In case you haven't been keeping up with all the latest high fashion trends, t-shirt togas are so in right now. Here is M modeling a look from her newest collection of ready-to-wear garments (complete with one-of-a-kind drool art):
I'm sure Sarah Jessica Parker and Posh Spice will be calling soon to schedule their fittings with our up-and-coming designer.
The Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill has live bluegrass music on Fridays from April to October. People from all over the Triangle come with their blankets and lawn chairs, spread out on the lawn and relax as the weekend gets started. We tried to meet up with some Theta alums there, but it was so crowded (this was the first weekend back for the UNC students -- guess we'll pay attention to that next year) that it took us over an hour to find anyone we knew. The food and drink left lots to be desired so next time I think we'll pack our own. Still, we enjoyed groovin' to the music (the Cadillac Stepbacks were the entertainment tonight).
Madeline love LOVE loves water. If there is water around, she wants to play in it. Great for us when it's bathtime or pooltime, not so great when we're trying to get somewhere in a hurry and she is drawn to the downspouts and grimy street puddles. We're learning to cope with her addiction.
It was a nice, hot summer day, so I set her up on the backporch with a basin of water and various kitchen utensils and containers. She splashed, poured, funneled and sprayed water all over the place until that basin was empty. Good times!
(No, that's not a real block of cheese in the background. That is a cheesehead hat given to me by the Green Bay Packers since I was part of the design team for the refurbishment/reconstruction of their stadium.)
Two tips that might be helpful to new parents:
We've been enjoying some unseasonably mild temps this week, so we decided to celebrate tonight with a supper picnic and some pre-bathtime play at Duke Park. The playset in the background of the pic is the one for the small tots -- the big kid one has some pretty impressive features, including a two-story climbing tower with two twisty slides. Can't wait until Madeline gets to go on those!
There is something in the Bartel genetic code that results in a great affinity for playing games -- card games, board games, video games, outdoor games, word games -- you name it, we've probably had some version of it appear at a family gathering. We also end up marrying gamers and that just adds to the fun. With the long distance to travel to make it to the Summer, Thanksgiving and Christmas get-togethers each year, and now with the wee babes in tow, the NC Bartel clan hasn't been able to gather with the greater group for the extended weekends of fun like we used to. And so in the spirit of those game-playing fests, we hosted a BBQ on Thursday for the Bartel cousins (minus Abby & Linus who were visiting the motherland and plus Curtis who is now an honorary Bartel) and played board games well into the night. And then again on Saturday. And again on Sunday. Adrian introduced us to new games in his collection (Pandemic, Bohnanza, Race for the Galaxy). We played some familiar games (Citadels, Alhambra, Arkham Horror) and one that was a blast from the past (Acquire). It was spectacular.
Let's do it again -- soon!
