Weekend Fun

Here are some pics from the weekend. We were quite busy getting all of our shopping done. Took Mads to the mall on Saturday morning - surprisingly not that busy. Were able to pick up a couple of gifts before she decided she didn't want to be in the stroller any longer. She wanted to hold our hands and walk through the mall. Not an easy task when you've also got a stroller and lots of bags to carry. On top of that, she didn't nap and got a bit cranky - so we headed home after about an hour. The good news is that we've learned to be extremely efficient at the mall, cause you never know when she's going to announce it's time to head home.
I also picked up these little green clips for her hair. You can see them in one of the pics below. I don't think she has enough hair for them yet, but I tried.
In other news....have you seen those Telus billboards with the hippo on them? Madeline looooves these! We see 4 of them on the way home from daycare and she gets super excited to see them. She's even started to point and say "hppo". Other new words: baby and more. She can also kind of say "apple".

New Book

Someone got a special new book! Michael helped his Dad clear out some old stuff from his house and he came home with a great box of old books. The box included about 20 books Michael made as a child. Apparently he was big into making books. Here is Mads checking out one of the books entitled "First Day of School".

New Chair

So you may recall Madeline had a chair that she loves. Well that chair is still around however I felt a bit bad that she was using a portable high chair as her chair for reading, lounging etc. Lets be honest, every toddler needs a good reading chair. So we picked this bad-boy up at TRU a couple weeks ago. Perfect fit!

I have the sweetest child

I can't even describe her sweetness. Today her nanny was sick, so Mads was home with Michael and I. We ended up splitting the day so that we could each get in a half day of work. I took the first shift. 9am-1pm. She napped from 8:30-10am. So that was cool. I got some work done. 10-1pm consisted of her showing me where her ears/eyes/belly button/teeth were and her picking out books for me to read while she sat in my lap. She picks out a book and basically shows me where I should sit. She then climbs (she doesn't just sit, she climbs) into my lap and lets me read her the book. She then trots off and finds a new book for us to read. The entire morning was spent like that. Brief breaks were taken for hugs and kisses and of course snacks of grapes, blueberries and yogurt. Oh, did i mention that she still plays with my hair while sucking her fingers? Yes, well now, she also takes my hair (while sucking her fingers) and rubs her ear with it. It's intentional and i'm not sure what it's all about. Must be a 15 month old thing!

We're going to the zoo, zoo zoo

how about you, you, you? Everybody now!
It's actually more like "we went to the zoo, zoo, zoo"!
On Sunday we took advantage of the gorgeous November weather (looooving that it's been over 10 degrees and no snow!!) and took Mads to the zoo. You may recall that she had been to the zoo a few months ago with Henri and out nanny, but this was the first time we got to take her.
Michael and I are big fans of the zoo - we actually had our second date there. So I figured that going to the zoo with Madeline at this age was really more about us than it was about her. But I was wrong. She loved it. She interacted with all the animals and signed for "more" if we tried to leave an exhibit before she was ready. Oh, she also now signs "finished" not just for meal times. If she's done with an animal at the zoo - "finished". So, what did we see? Macaque, Gibons, Orangutans (my fav), Polar bears, crocs, tigers, apes, elephants, hipos and rinos. Spent the most time with any type of monkey. Aunt Katie - I think she's got your love for the monkey. She also really enjoyed the hipos and rinos. They both put on a great show.
The weather was perfect so the animals were really active. The fall is always such a good time to go to the zoo.
After a quick stop in the gift shop (Michael's fav) we were on our way home (with new book and plastic rino figurine in hand....mostly for Michael).
We were home in time for afternoon nap! The beauty of where we live is that we can be at the zoo in about 20 minutes on a Sunday. So it's actually an outing we can squeeze in between her morning and afternoon nap. We're thinking of buying a pass!

HAPPY 15 MONTH BIRTHDAY MADELINE!!