Madi: 15 Months

Greetings from Gran Canaria! We're having a blast here, but it's nap time so I've got a few minutes for Madi's 15 month post. :-)

So much has happened this past month! The biggest change was that Miss Sally moved back to Australia and you started barnehage. The transition went smoothly and you are loving your new routine, but we all definitely are missing Sally! :-(

Here are some other highlights from this past month -

• You have quite a few new words this month: "mommy" (my favorite!! you've been saying mama for a long time, but this is the first mommy and it melted my heart); "moo", "meow", and "ruff ruff" (animal sounds when we ask you what the cow, cat, and dog); "hep" (help); and lastly up (when you want to be picked up or get onto chair, sofa, etc.)
• You have mastered "pease" (please) and consistently say it when you want something. You'll even say it and sometimes we have no idea what you want!
• Along with your mastering pease, you also said your first two-word phrase! You said "hep pease" when you wanted to get up onto the slide. We haven't gotten you to say it again without repeating the words in between, but you've definitely done it once!
• We aren't sure if they've been doing music or dancing at barnehage, but all of a sudden you are a dancing machine!! You spin circles and try to jump and dance every time you hear music. Here's you going crazy at the dolphin show here in Gran Canaria - 

• You are running girlfriend! You are getting so fast and we've gotten multiple comments the past couple of weeks on your amazing balance. Guess that's what happens when someone decides to walk at 10.5 months. ;-) 
• You love walking holding two people's fingers. And when you get two... oh boy, watch out! You race ahead at a fast speed and we've all learned we better hurry up!

• We've had a couple of challenges this month too though... the first is those darn canines. Your bottom two have popped through, but the top are still trying. You've been a bit grumpier as a result, bit sugglier (which we love), and chewing non-stop. Tough work baby girl!
• The other challenge we've had the past two or three weeks is at bedtime. You've always been an amazing sleeper and once you are asleep you are still rocking. However, you are not wanting to go to bed. We typically ask you "Madi, where's your bottle?" at bedtime and you race into the kitchen, find it on the counter, and get super excited. Not so much these days... now you might still run in there, but once you find it, you high-tail it outta there fast as you can. Or you just don't go in there. We have to drag you kicking and screaming into the bedroom and you have flat-out refused the bottle sometimes. You are just not wanting to go to bed missy! We extended bedtime from 7:30 to 8:00 pm and have tried a few other things (winding down before bedtime with stories, keeping our usual routine, etc.) but we have realized you just plum don't want to go to bed! If you are beyond exhausted, you don't fight it and are your usual happy self. We hope this stage quickly passes...

• My nickname of monkey woman as a child seems to have been genetically passed on to you. You are trying to climb anything and everything these days and are getting really good (like scary good...).  

•  You have started covering your own eyes for peek-a-boo! If we ask you "Where's Madi?" you cover both eyes with your hands and then pull them off and squeal with excitement as we respond "There she is!" It's precious. :-)
• You are starting to mimic everything we do and listen very well when we ask you to do something. The result of this is that you now grab your toothbrush and starting "brushing" your teeth. You've also grabbed your comb and hairbrush and run them over your head! It amazes me how smart you are! 
• We've also started leveraging on your listening skills to start teaching you to do chores. ;-) Towards the end of the day we will ask you to pick up specific toys and go put them in bins, buckets, etc. to clean up your playroom. You also love putting your clothes in the hamper and even helped me change out a load of laundry! You are such a good helper! 

I feel like you have gotten so big Miss Madi! You are running around, talking up a storm, and helping us around the house already! You are still so joyful most of the time and we feel so blessed to be your parents! Happy 15 months missy!

Love,
Mommy :-)

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Preparing for Barnehage + First Couple Weeks There

One of the things we've had to start doing over the past couple of months is get prepared for barnehage (Norwegian daycare). Similar to daycare in the States, things need to be labeled, etc. but the list of items we needed to have is a bit different than I imagine it would be in the States.

Norway has a huge emphasis on outdoors. I've seen school classes riding bikes and running laps around the lakes here. The motto in Norway is "There's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing." Suffice it to say that year-round, in all weather conditions, people of all ages are outside and being active.

This meant that we needed to buy a few special pieces of clothing for Madi to bring to barnhage due to the amount of time they spend outside. We even have the option of leaving a stroller there for Madi to take naps outside (and some barnehage only have strollers for children to nap outside). So you can imagine the clothing they need is pretty serious since Norway gets rainy and cold starting now and continuing for the next seven or eight months!

We've been acquiring Madi's rain / winter gear and testing it out the past few days as the rain has started to become a daily visitor once again. And I have to say, she's a pretty cute little puff in all of her different gear!

 

Oh and Madi is now regularly saying "pees" for "please". So. Adorable. :-)

Two weeks ago she started at barnehage - and she handled it like a champ! We never had to go get her or be called because she was crying.  There's only been one time she's cried... that was last week when Jason went to pick up in the afternoon and she didn't want to go home... She's was having too much fun playing outside!

Oh, and get this - guess who the only one sleeping in a crib is?! Madi. They even asked us to bring our stroller home today - ha!

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