much better

Madeline is feeling much better today -- not 100% yet, but getting there; Josh is home from Las Vegas without incident; and I'm looking forward to an early bedtime. Life is good.

icky

Today's been rough. M greeted me this morning by yacking over the side of her crib. Poor thing hasn't been able to keep anything down all day. When your baby looks like this, it just breaks your heart.
Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day and when we go pick up Josh from the airport in the evening (he's been in Vegas at a conference), she'll be back to her chipper self.

You might be wondering about the lemon she's cuddling in the picture.... since her favorite stuffed bear and kitty both needed to be washed after this morning's episodes, she chose this plastic lemon to be her comfort item for the day. I don't ask questions, I just facilitate.

happy kitty

A favorite Daddy-daughter activity in our house is the playing of "Happy Kitty" (aka Animal Crossing 2). M named it such because there is a little cartoon cat that tells a joke or laughs during the opening animation when the game is loading. She thinks it's hilarious. It has been fascinating to have this game turn out to be a learning tool (and a good way to have her settle down when the activity level has gotten a little out of hand). I never thought I'd say this, but thank you, Nintendo!

squoosh

Today we experimented with homemade playdough. While the smell of the cooking dough was not the greatest, it was suprisingly cathartic to knead the colors into the dough. I moved M's table and chairs from her room into the kitchen so that she could watch the process ("mommy cook," she said). It wasn't long before she decided that she needed her monkey friend to join in the fun. The video is pretty indicative of her chatter nowadays.

spring is near

Our first crocus has popped out of the ground, bringing a bright purple splash to our front flowerbed. "Puh-poh fow-er" is M's chorus every time we see it. Hopefully it won't be long before the other spring blooms are on their way!

heart day, continued

The rest of our Valentine's Day was spent playing at playgrounds (a favorite Daddy-daughter activity). We hung out at Duke Park in the morning and Brier Creek Community Center Park in the afternoon.

First time down the big blue slide at Duke Park

doing some recon work...

Here's where we're spending our ♥ day:

Meet Your Match

favorite phrases

M's most popular utterings this week...

1. Oh, honey (usually said when she does something she knows she's not supposed to do -- like standing on a chair or throwing food on the floor)

2. Bless you (she will fake sneeze so that she can follow up with her own blessing)

3. No, no kitty (said in appropriate tone to admonish the cat for any perceived misbehavior)

4. Linie's house (translation: Linus' house -- her most requested destination, both for real trips and her make-believe travels)

putting mr. miyagi to shame

This afternoon, Madeline came running into the house from the back porch yelling "bee, bee". Fortunately (or confusingly), this is her term for any flying bug... not necessarily those with stingers and yellow & black stripes. She then presented me with a fly that she had proudly squished between her fingers. I figured that the cat had pounced on the fly previously and Madeline had merely collected it for disposal. I made an appropriate amount of "ewww, yucky" comments, cermoniously disposed of the carcass in the trash, rewarded M with an extended handwashing session at the kitchen sink and let her resume her play on the porch. When I heard the bee call again, I was shocked and quickly went to investigate -- especially to make sure that there wasn't actually a bee to worry about. To my surprise, M was chasing flies around the porch and actually catching them between her fingers (with a little assistance from the window screens). What the heck?!

wonderful weekend

This weekend was set aside for another gaming marathon with friends (Zack, Curtis, Colin and Dave) and family (Adrian, Abby, Linus, Jonathan and Chelsea). The big festivities kicked off on Saturday with grilling and a little fun in the backyard. Jonathan and Chelsea brought along their puppy, Olive -- it was so entertaining to watch Madeline and Linus chasing her around and trying to give her balls to play with.

a ball for Olive

We were blessed with some fantastic weather, so part of the crowd ate their lunch on the porch.

the outdoor diners

the indoor diners

After lunch, the fun continued in the backyard until the kids had been thoroughly exhausted and naps were imminent.

The gamers adjourned to the garage (ahem... game room) and played until the wee hours of the morning. Don't know when we'll get to do this again, but it sure was fun!