Madelyn's Actual Birthday

Madelyn turned 1 on a Thursday, July 12. Since we had just taken the week before off, we didn't do much on her actual birthday. She went to school and then we went to Olive Garden afterward to celebrate.

Waking up our 1 year old

Holding the number 1

With Miss Joy whose birthday is 2 days after Madelyn

Cupcakes that say Happy Birthday Joy & Madelyn

Madelyn is good at getting out of tight spaces all by herself

Madelyn on the birthday board

Drinking from a straw like Mommy

She actually was eating the salad :)

Her fork control is really improving, she stabs things every so often.

She loves sharing. She insists on it.

Video Fun

Here are a couple cute videos. I hope you enjoy see in Madelyn in action.

Uh-Oh!

Catching Bubbles with Daddy at the Children's Museum. I love her face at the end! Too cute.

Going down the big slide all by herself really SLOW!

Turn out the light!

Vacation Day 6: Breakfast with Anne, Dan & Sam

It's been WAY too long since I saw Anne, my sorority sister and good friend. I was so excited to see them and finally met her little man, Sam.  Sam is about 19 months and such a cutie. We meet at Corner Bakery for breakfast. Even though it has been 3 years, we were able to catch up like old friends. Here are some cute photos. The rest of the day was spent at home out of the heat.  I wanted to make sure all of Madelyn's naps were in her crib so she'd take good naps.

Dan with Sam & Brian with Madelyn

Katie with Madelyn & Anne with Sam

Vacation Day 5: Shedd Aquarium

Brian had been wanting to take Madelyn to the aquarium for many weeks so we finally made the trip to downtown Chicago. Beth, Juliana and Connor accompanied us. The place is always packed but we got there early and were able to enjoy a few of the exhibits before it was annoyingly crowded.  We went to the Wild Reef exhibit and it was our favorite. Madelyn loved looking at the colorful and active fish, sharks, and stingrays.  After that we headed down to see the Beluga whales and dolphins.  We grabbed lunch downstairs where we could watch them swim while eating.  Then the kids had fun playing in the tidepools where they could touch the fake corral.  We waited in a short line to touch the real star fish but they were too deep for the little ones to get to without being completely soaked.  After that we went upstairs to look at some more fish and seahorses.  We called it a day and headed home. Madelyn was asleep by the time we got on the tollway.  We ran some errands while she slept in the car and ended up in downtown Naperville when she woke up. We showed her some of the fountains and grabbed shakes on our way back to the car to cool off.  Madelyn was sure happy she now knows how to drink out of a straw as we had trouble keeping her from sucking down Brian's whole shake!!

There were some really big fish in these tanks.  Divers cleaning the coral.

Walking above stingrays

 

Watching the penguins swim

Touching pretend corral

Trying to touch the real star fish but her arms were too short.

Madelyn loves to look at fish.

Family photo Downtown Naperville

I don't make this up. She wants to go outside to swing all the time. I don't know which she likes to do more: Swing or walk!

Vacation Day 4: Day of Rest

Thursday was a low key day for us. Madelyn and I went to breakfast with my good friend, Jill. It was fun to catch up but hard to have a conversation as Madelyn only wanted to walk which requires my two index fingers.  She was happy when food finally arrived. I guess she was hungry.  After breakfast, Madelyn came back and took a long nap.  When she got up, I took her to school so Brian and I could spend the afternoon on house stuff.  When she came home, all she wanted to do was swing even though it was so hot out!!  It was early to bed for her in hopes she'd catch up on some more sleep as she did not take an afternoon nap at school.

Katie, Madelyn and Jill

Vacation Day 3: Fourth of July

Madelyn had an early start when she woke up at 5 am so we decided to combat that with some good fresh air in hopes she would go back down and take an early nap.  Brian went and ran some intervals up the hill by us and then Madelyn, Leia and I went to meet him and walk around the lake. When we got home, she went down for a 2 hour nap. Then it was off to my parents' neighborhood pool for a bike parade and pancake breakfast.  Madelyn seemed to enjoy herself in the stroller in the parade. To our surprise she didn't eat many pancakes but she loved the watermelon. She was so sticky that I hosed her down using the cold water hose. She didn't seem to mind as it was SO HOT out.  Then we ran to Trader Joe's for some BBQ supplies.  Madelyn wanted to walk so we gave her a small empty shopping cart and she drove it all over the store.  Everyone was saying how cute she was and how much fun she looked like she was having.  After all that pushing of a shopping cart, it was back home for a nap in hopes to catch up on some of the sleep she lost last night.

After her nap, we went swimming with Grandpa Giese and the Filapeks.  July 4th was a bring a friend day for free so we all got in to swim for free. I got to see what Brian had meant when he took Madelyn on one of their days together. SHE LOVES THE POOL!  She was so happy and was a little fish. She was sticking her head in the water all the time and blowing bubbles.

Connor, Madelyn and Juliana ready for the parade to start

Madelyn has always loved watermelon.

Look at that smile--she loves feeding people

Juliana and Madelyn

Yes, she even likes to walk in the water. Good thing it didn't get too deep.

Connor was a pro at the slide and didn't wait for Madelyn!

Madelyn was stuck!

Connor and Madelyn playing in the sand (Madelyn's first time in an actual sand pit)

Swimming wears this one out!

Dessert that Juliana and Beth made. Yummy!