Hairstyle Friend

I let Madelyn and her little friend Natalia play with the hair accessories. Madelyn can actually clip them herself, although not always in the most functional or fashionably appropriate manner.

Natalia comes to our house to play one day each week, and Madelyn gets to go play at her house one day. This has turned out to be a fantastic arrangement because Madelyn desperately needed experience playing and getting along with other children, and I desperately needed a day of uninterrupted time to focus on my piles of work. I am so grateful that Natalia's mom sought babysitting help and that I reluctantly responded. It is working out great!

And Madelyn has a hairclip dangling in the middle of her forehead, which is pretty cool.

Backpack

When looking for a small tote bag or something to throw a few of Madelyn's things into when she went over to my sister's house for an afternoon, I found this tiny Jansport backpack, and Madelyn immediately claimed it.

She loves wearing it, and it's the perfect size for a change of clothes (and underwear!), a stuffed animal, and a snack. No more diaper bag!

Animal Picnic

I emerged from my office this afternoon to discover this scene:

Gary said it was his idea to start the animal picnic (which is almost as adorable as if Madelyn had come up with it on her own), but Madelyn had no trouble grasping the fantasy. She filled up all their little blue plates, then filled and re-filled each animal's cup in the pretend sink. She even helped the animals eat and drink, my favorite moment being when she grabbed the orange "kitty's" floppy tongue, stuck it inside the cup and made slurping noises. Couldn't capture that funny moment on camera though. The guests present are a pink poodle (gift from Grandma Winkel), the orange "kitty" (gift from Grandma Bonnie), a Build-a-Bear Siberian Husky (gift from Kathleen, Bonnie's friend), and the kangaroo (gift from Yuka's parents; a souvenir from their trip to Australia).

We got this kitchen set and two baskets full of play food for a very reasonable price from a lady in my Moms Club many months ago. Mostly Madelyn likes to open the fridge and dump both baskets of food out all over, and then run away and do something else. So it was really nice to see her making more use out of the set and having a great time with her daddy and stuffed animals.

Hot Tub

A morning dip in the hot tub is a common weekend activity at the Winter house.

Come on, Mom, get your she-shoo on!

Madelyn loves playing in the hot tub.

She thought our little piggies in the water were hilarious!

"Daddy. Mommy. Doze!"

Playmate

This afternoon my friend Syrinity and her son Bradley came over to hang out. I remember distinctly when Madelyn was too young to "play" with the older kids. Now Madelyn is getting to be that older kid, and Bradley (who is 14 months old) couldn't have cared less if she were in the same room.

We tried to get some cute pictures of them together...

But Bradley wasn't interested for long. Sorry, Madelyn. She looks so forlorn.

Tiny Toilet

Madelyn is an absolute Rockstar on the toilet now. I am very proud of her.

It was quite a long drive to the mall, where we were meeting Grandma Bonnie for lunch. When we arrived, we headed straight for the Ladies' Room. Down the long hallway leading toward it, I encountered signs for the "Family Restrooms." I've seen these before: a large room containing the toilet and sink without any stalls, a changing table, and sometimes even a soft chair. I thought it might be easier to maneuver and balance Madelyn on the toilet seat without having to cram together into a tiny stall. So we turned down this other hallway as directed by the sign. At the end of the short hall there were three or four doors labeled as family restrooms. We picked one, and upon entering I was surprised and delighted to find the most adorable, tiny little toilet positioned a few feet from the regular-sized one.

I didn't even have to hold her on it, and I think Madelyn was very proud.

There was also a miniature sink, just the right size. Madelyn gets a thrill out of washing her hands, applying lotion, and the like, so it was fun for her to be able to do it by herself.

As much as a person can love a public restroom, I did this one.

More Zoo

My aunt sent me some cute pictures from our December zoo trip, so here are a few more. I'll move them into chronological post order later.

The whole gang!

Mmm, grilled cheese!

Paige in her maternal moments with Madelyn

Potty Training

Here is the report of our potty training adventure.

Daddy's Salon

After a much-needed relaxing bath at the end of Day Three, Daddy dried Madelyn's hair so she wouldn't have to go to sleep with it wet (especially since she still didn't get to wear pants to bed).

Madelyn enjoyed the chance to watch a little cartoon before bedtime.

No More Diapers

Saturday was Day One of our three-day potty training adventure. The full story and results will follow soon, but for now, here are a few pictures of our little baby growing up and wearing big girl underwear!

I have never been more grateful for BabyLegs than this weekend (and I always love her legwarmers!). She is not to wear any pants, but it's cold, so these were perfect and never got in the way of going to the bathroom. Madelyn obsesses over putting on her coats and shoes all the time, even if we're not going anywhere.

Reading chair

Silly upside-down girl

Prancing on the package of diapers that will be finding a new home!

I guess kitty needed to go potty too. And she went immediately into the washing machine after this photo was taken, which I'd like to point out was on the same day as the ones above--with Madelyn wearing a different coat and different pair of shoes. Sigh.

Sneaky Nap

Today Madelyn was being a little bit cranky when she wandered off into my bedroom by herself. I knew she was going to demand to watch TV, so I didn't follow her because it was not time for that. A few minutes later I realized she was being far too quiet and went to see what she was up to. I had a suspicion that it might be exactly this:

It's unusual for Madelyn to sleep anywhere but her crib or her carseat. She was on a streak of taking later naps, so I wasn't reading her cranky cues as being ready for bed at the time. But I should have known, since the reason the comforter is missing from our bed is because Madelyn was a little sick for a couple of days and threw up on it! Good thing she knew what she needed and climbed up on my bed herself for a little shut-eye!

Cleaning up the Tree

Madelyn had seen me vacuum up the pine needles under the tree before, and this day she pulled a vacuum out of the closet and wheeled it over to the tree herself.

Please notice her hair, as this is how it usually looks without a clip in place. Just a little longer before the bangs can tuck behind her ears.

Of course I turned the vacuum on and let her have a go. She's so tidy.

Cupcake Dress

I finally got some pictures that show off this neat dress/top Yuka sent from Japan for Madelyn's birthday.

The top ivory part is a very soft sweater, and the bottom pink part is corduroy, with corduroy and velvet patches of a strawberry, cupcake, and cherries. On the chest are two crocheted (?) 3-dimensional cherries dangling over the words "mini-k cute." I believe mini-k might be the brand, because it arrived in a bag labeled with the same. But I think it really means that she's "cute" because she's a "mini-k"-risten. Ha.

Thank you again, Yuka!

More Spaghetti

Cousin Kendra sent me a few of the photos she took of Madelyn when we went out to lunch, and I thought I'd post a few:

Such a dainty eater, this girl. She does always wipe her mouth with her napkin, though!

With Tammie and Kendra

Bonnie invited us to surprise her sister Tammie by joining them for a lunch date. Tammie and Kendra (and the rest of their family) were visiting briefly from up near Tacoma, so we don't get to see them too often

While we were waiting for a table at the restaurant, Madelyn peeled a cutie orange all by herself! No help! And she ate the whole thing too.

Kendra loves Madelyn so much, and we love seeing her because she takes such good care of her little cousin-once-removed.

Have a little spaghetti, Madelyn?

Farewell Binkies

This morning Madelyn helped me put her two remaining pacifiers into a little box and wrap them up as a gift to give to Baby Tyce. We've been telling her for a while that binkies are for babies, and now that there is an actual baby to which she can relate the concept in the family, we decided it was time for her to pass them along. The decision to do so at this point in time was fairly complex, and I hope to expound upon it on Beyond Mommy in the near future.

Helping Baby Tyce open his special present. We assured Laurel quietly that we did not expect--nay, would not recommend for--him to actually use them, since one of the deciding factors for getting rid of the binkies was their decrepit state.

Madelyn did very well with giving her gift to Tyce, and our sans-pacifier results I would have previously considered miraculous.

On our way from my parents' house (where we gave Tyce his present), to Gary's parents' house, Madelyn fell asleep in the car sucking on her blankie tassels.