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Sunday, April 8, 2012

Ready, set, GO!

The month of March, also the majority of Maelee's 23rd month, certainly did include a lot of "going."  And by that I don't mean going places, I just mean, going.  

Ah, the joy that is... potty training. 

In some ways, when I look back upon the last several weeks, all I can remember is constantly repeating "let mommy know when you have to go pee-pee!" over and over and over... again.  A certain method had been highly recommended both personally and through reading up online and as it swore to be a "3 day method" and suggested starting around the time your child hit 22 months old, I thought, why not? I knew it sounded too good to be true, but had to give it a go. Our budget would definitely thank us to be rid of diapers and our daughter sure seemed anxious, too, with her frequents "diaper change?" requests...

So, our adventure began.

Well, to make a very long story short, this was no "3 day method" for us and we ended up letting a couple  of the rules (ie- from now on, underwear only, whenever!) go, too.  The initial set back for us was that while Maelee had no trouble letting us know when she had to go in the beginning, she definitely did NOT want to go on a potty.  After picking out her very own new potty, she soon had no problems with the potty itself but then decided she didn't feel like giving a heads up when it was time.

Thankfully, we had a couple weeks of success just by going off of the clock and taking her to potty when we thought it was about time, and finally now, over a month later, we are very proud of our little girl for both telling us when she has to go (for the most part, at least!), and then going on the potty. We keep her in pull-ups for naps and nighttime and if we're out and about but she usually keeps them dry, using her travel potty (oh yes, lovely...) when we're out. 

It has been quite a journey! 

And has largely dominated our news lately.  But, life still went on and here are several pictures from the past month, that are largely unrelated to all things potty...

                            

But first, had to get a shot of her final diaper change, back at the end of Feb




And then a shot in her big kid undies throwing her diapers away


Celebrating Chloe's, one of her buds, 2nd birthday with another bud, Marissa


Central Park Playground outing with Marissa and Diana

Marissa & Maelee- best buds!

More pals, looking at the park from a much higher vantage point

Blake, Teegan, Maelee, & Giovana- pals since birth

Maelee & Blake

Enjoying some playground time in Central Park on a 
special family day when daddy stayed home









And enjoying views later in the day from a different park, 
Carl Schurz park, by the East River






Fun "Mom's Night Out" dinner at Beyoglu with best buds- Heather, Brooke, & Desiree

And a slideshow of more pics from Maelee's 23rd Month:



And while we don't have any pictures from it, Maelee enjoyed some special time with her daddy during the 3rd weekend of March. I was a couple hours north of the city in the beautiful Lake Champion for our church women's retreat which ended up being an an amazing time for me and super sweet time for Steve and his little girl.  They had a daddy/daughter lunch date and then hung out with some dads and their boys over dinner.  Definitely a highlight of the month for all of us!  

We can't believe our little girl is turning two in less than two weeks and she both cracks us up more than ever now with her chitter-chatter and the various things she says, and also gives us quite a challenge with her feistiness and independent spirit (ie- defiance!). What could be in store for us in year two???  We shall soon see.  And we can't wait!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

A Whole Lotta LOVE!


February was a sweet month, filled with lots of love and fun times with friends and family.  There were playdates and parkdates with friends, a yummy Valentine's Day, and a very special weekend with precious family.

Since this is another very picture-heavy post though, I'll  try to keep the wordiness on the lighter side.  

Starting with some mischief between two very good pals:



Maelee-Mae & Blakey-Blake




SO much love with daddy





And a few more shots from Maelee's 21st & 22nd months in this slideshow:



Valentine's Day!

Sweet ladybug treat from "Auntie Cindy!"

Sharing a Valentine's lunch date with good pal, James

One LOVED little girl!


Enjoying a delicious Insomnia Cookie




Kisses all around!







Loving daddy's special e-card for his little girl



And loving the sweet personalized bear from Nana & Pop-Pop
(that now must be in the crib with her!)

Of course, here are more Valentine's Day memories in this slideshow:


Over President's Weekend, we had the wonderful opportunity of seeing lots of special family with a quick stay in DE, followed by a couple more spent in VA.  On Saturday, we got to meet Sam (my cousin) & Kim's precious little Mason, born on January 16th.  He is a cutie and a sweetie! 








Enjoying the yummy ice cream cake to celebrate the occasion!

The proud grandparents!

Sweet family


Too-dad and Too-mom (thinking of changing Mary Catherine's nickname from "Nart!") with the grandkids and the great grandkids.


One of Maelee's favorite things...
Walking Gracie

And going on walks with her Pop-Pop


Kisses and hugs for Too-mom

And some tritty-trot with Too-dad

It was a super special visit with Too-dad & Too-Mom; Sam, Kim, & Mason; Uncle Tom & Aunt Viv; Cyndi (Viv's sister) & Dolf; and of course, Nana & Pop-Pop. 

After our visit to DE, Steve was able to join us in VA for a long holiday weekend.  Maelee, as always, enjoyed her time with Nana & Pop-Pop, watching her favorite videos on the ipad, walking through the hallways in  their building, and watching the airplanes from the roof.  We even got to take in some of the President's Day parade in Old Town.  It was a great weekend!













Some final shots of our time in DE & VA in this slideshow:









Hooray for long, holiday weekends!

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Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Maelee & her Melodies...

January was a good month, albeit not terribly eventful. After a busy holiday season though, we enjoyed getting back into a routine of park dates and play dates with friends with a few new music "classes" thrown in (i.e., a dozen + wild kids running around to a man singing wacky kid songs and strumming a guitar).  While our little lady has always enjoyed music and has been singing for a few months now, this past month she has really kicked it up a notch.  We crack up at her renditions of the "Happy Birthday" and "ABC" song, and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" are classics, too.  We were finally able to video tape her performances a couple weeks back so get ready!  If you're having a bad day, these will definitely make you smile:)

Once again, here's her "Happy Birthday" serenade taken back on 1/8 for her Pop-Pop's bday:




And here's the favorite melody in two songs- "Twinkle, Twinkle" & "ABCs:"



And finally, an "Old MacDonald" tune that turned into a "What does so & so say?" game, followed by a very goofy Maelee singing "Happy BirthGAW:"



That very last bit was taken back on the 2nd weekend of January when my folks made a super quick trip up to 1. see Maelee and 2. bring our load of goods up from Christmas that we couldn't fit in suitcases on a bus.  Thanks, Mom & Dad!  The visit was too short but Maelee loved seeing them and they, of course, loved seeing her. And, we all got the added bonus of experiencing Christmas all over again! 


The stuffed whale!

Pop-Pop's ipad!

Our little goofball during her "Happy BirthGAW" act...

Excited over her special, new table that's her very own!
(Thanks, Nana & Pop-Pop!)

And a cute one of her and one of her best buds, James


We've cut back on the crazy picture taking lately (gasp!), but don't worry, I promise to have the obligatory slideshow in the next post with pictures from Maelee's 21st & 22nd months.  I can't believe she's just a few short months away from turning T W O!!!  Crazy...  

She's getting funnier and funnier with the things she says and  we're constantly wondering what must be going on in that little mind of hers.  She insists she sees a sea lion on one of our steps every time she goes down the stairs and all we see is a knot and a couple of dots in the wood...  And she develops quick obsessions with random objects/people after seeing and learning them- for example, the "robbers" in the "How much is that doggie in the window?" youtube video; every now and then, she'll just blurt out, "robbers-bad!"  Hehe.  A few of her favorite things are still airplanes, helicopters, "diggers," and whales.

She started learning shapes this month and is beginning to recognize a few numbers & letters, and is getting more & more agile on the playground.  We just can't believe how quickly our baby has turned into a little girl!  

Sweet times:)