Active Girl

A lot has been going on!

First and foremost, Little Monster now has a big girl bed. A few weeks ago, Mama removed the rail from the side of Bug's crib and moved the mattress down to its lowest setting. Little Werewolf has taken to her adjusted bed like a champ. Indeed, on the weekends, Mama and Daddy are often woken by the sounds of Tickle Bug's door opening, stompy feet thundering into the living room, and subsequent demands for sausage.

And those demands for sausage aren't the end of it. Hand in hand with the big girl bed has come the ability to open doors. Nothing is safe, so Mama plans a trip to Ikea to pick up a few doorknob devices that will hopefully keep this Little Monster from throwing late-night parties outside her room or scrambling out to the yard when she hears a kitty walking across the top of the garbage can.

Miss Fuss also enjoys playing with her tea set, which was a gift from her friend Liam for her birthday. It was an unexpected hit, and now Tickle Bug can be found having tea parties with her friend Ruff Ruff (whom she accused of having toots a few days ago or pouring Daddy a cup of tea and bringing it to him on a saucer. She even pretends to sip!

Daddy has been very busy at work, since his team is finishing a year's worth of work on their extended project. It's by no means finished, but it's a significant milestone. This past week, Mama worked a lot, too, because she picked up a shift from one of her friends at the restaurant. That hasn't changed Tickle Bug's happy-go-lucky demeanor one bit, however. Wednesday night she and Daddy had a wild wrestling match in the living room while Mama did the dishes. Thereafter, Sweet Girl took a bath and her crazy curls kept her stuffed animals company.

The other weekend, the whole family went to the Grant Park pool to enjoy a splash. Nobody checked the times of the pool opening, however, so the pool trip had a little bit of a warm-up on the playground and some cheeseburgers before swim time. Little Monster definitely enjoys the pool. She spent most of her time jumping with Mama in the deep end or playing with the big flower sculptures that used to show water but are now just decorative. Miss Fuss did not want to leave! The logistics of nap nec

essity, however, eventually won out and a prolonged sleepytime occurred.

Bug has also had her first visit to the dentist. The dentist informed Mama that Sweet Goblin's drinking habits need to change a little bit. No more whole milk on demand — it's 2% only at meals for this Little Werewolf and water throughout the day. Daddy could probably learn a thing or two from Baby Girl, given all the coffee and tea he drinks at work, but since when has Daddy been quick to pick up good habits?

Madeleine is 2!

Birthdays only come around once a year, so Madeleine has to celebrate in style! Mama made a pan each of manicotti and lasagna, and Joddie and her boyfriend Evan came for dinner with Lucky Dog in tow. There was much reading of books, opening of presents, eating, and of course playing with new toys. Little Monster thoroughly enjoyed her yellow cake with chocolate icing, and even managed to clean up some pasta.

Grandma B.J. and Grandpa Roger sent a Little Tikes car for our little Flintstone girl, who will move her feet in the car, but only if Mama or Daddy obligingly pushes. There was also a Little Mermaid ride-on/push toy that makes lots of wonderful noises, a bucket of sidewalk chalk, a princess dress from Grandma Raye that Munchkin is particularly fond of ("pretty dress" as she calls it), and some graphic design puzzles for age 3 and up that she mastered within minutes of unwrapping. PoppaDen made a good call on those.
A weekend in Georgia is never complete without some outside time, and this past weekend was no exception. After a morning of errand-running, Mama and Sweet Goblin donned swim suits and hung out in the backyard. Mama hoped to convince Madeleine to play in the hose, but we apparently need to buy an actual sprinkler before she will deign to run through the water. We'll try again this weekend.

Madeleine and Mama took some cupcakes to Miss Megan's house to celebrate her birthday with the "kids" that she plays with on days that Mama has to work. Mama especially enjoyed spending a few hours watching Madeleine play with the kids, climbing up the slide and going down by herself, then letting Ruff Ruff take a turn, and in general wreaking havoc on Miss Megan's patio. Madeleine took home some balloons and got to wear a "Birthday Queen" crown for the occasion.

Miss Priss shows off her cheesy smile for the camera. This is in our backyard, with her brand new car in the background. Word has it that Aunt Joddie was responsible for coaxing this grin out.Aunt Joddie also managed to capture a few family shots, which are rare. We're actually quite fond of this one.

Impending Party!

Tickle Bug turns two this Thursday, but the best time for a party is on the weekend before, so you can dance and sing and run around and yell as much as you want at your birthday party. That's just a few hours away today. Madeleine expects her friend Oliver to join us today, along with his parents, and there's also a planned visit from Joddie who will be bringing Madeleine's favorite houseguest, Lucky Dog. Mama is making lasagna, manicotti, and cupcakes to help celebrate the event, and Daddy was up until midnight last night putting together one of Sweet Girl's gifts.

Yesterday also saw a little bit of pre-party, as Little Monster had patio lunch with her parents after going to Toys 'R' Us to "suggest" a few birthday gifts. After Sweet Goblin's lunch came a delicious sundae, which she wasted no time in demolishing. She also got right into the spirit of a Mexican restaurant patio by chowing down on chips and salsa (necessitating much drinking of juice to assuage the heat — but then she dove right back in) as well as no small amount of guacamole. Who is this omnivorous Little Werewolf?

A Passel of Pictures

With all of Mama and Daddy's travel, it's been a while since our last update. Suffice to say, it's been busy catching up, but Tickle Bug has been enjoying all of the attention from both her parents and her grandparents on Mama's side. Without further ado, then, here are several of the pictures from the past few weeks of jet-setting.

Busy Buglet

When you are a sweet baby girl, the world is your oyster. That's certainly how Little Monsters sees things these days. With so many fun things to do on the weekend and so many upcoming adventures, it's hard to catch your breath! And with the backyard getting green again, fun times are no further away than just outside the door. Mama mowed the grass last weekend, and if one thing's for certain, it's that Madeleine has a place to play and host her giraffe pool when it simply becomes too warm not to take a splash day.

Of course, there's far more to do in the world of a Wiggle Worm than just rampage through the yard. This past weekend, Madeleine met all of her friends at Zoo Atlanta. Her favorite animal was the elephant, of course, and she seemed wary of the gorilla exhibit — probably because Daddy suggested leaving her there. Even after Sweet Girl started getting a little tired of seeing all the animals and running around in the sun and riding in her little red wagon, her friend Oliver came over to the house to have lunch. Oliver, handsome devil that he is, got a goodbye kiss from Baby Girl when he and his parents left for the afternoon. And the night before that, she hung out with Kasper on the deck in Dru's backyard during her birthday barbecue.

Speaking of birthdays, someone has a birthday coming up, and it's not Daddy. (Daddy doesn't need any more birthdays.) Mama has some exciting party ideas, and hopefully, Oliver, Kasper, Liam, Spencer, and the whole gang can once again visit to wish Tickle Buglet another fun year of happy smiles and crazy tickles. Until then, Little Monster will have a grand old time, from the Renaissance Festival this weekend to a trip to see Grandpa Roger and Grandma BJ the week after that while Mama and Daddy shuffle off to a mysterious place called Mexico.

Early Spring Days

Atlanta has had a heat wave! After endless rainy, icky days where Sweet Girl was cooped up in the house and Daddy was going stir crazy, the whole family has finally been able to get out and about. Last weekend Mama paid a visit to a friend's attic and came home with a truck full of clothes, toys and shoes for Little Monster. She has been wearing "Pretty Girl dresses" all week, and is quite happy with that. Bug has finally decided that she doesn't mind hats and bows so much, and is becoming quite the fashionista, demanding a hat to go with every outfit.

"Colors" are Madeleine's new favorite pastime. We have had a few incidents with crayon on walls and floors, and especially toys, but for the most part Miss Moo is quite content to lounge on the floor and color.

Last weekend also saw the return of the giraffe pool. If you remember last summer, Madeleine was just a wee thing in it, dwarfed by the giant giraffe sticking above her, and sometimes even a bit wary of it. Not so anymore! After a nap on Easter Sunday, Tickle Bug awoke to a full pool on her deck, and it was all Mama and Daddy could do to keep her from crashing through the patio door to get to it. She played and romped in and out of it for awhile and then promptly headed to the neighbor's house to hunt for Easter eggs.
Madeleine has been carrying around her stretchy bunnies that came in an Easter tin from Grandma Raye, and is quite taken with her new jammies from Nona and PoppaDen. Grandma B.J. and Grandpa Roger sent a little lamb that took the place of "Ruff Ruff" for several hours, which is quite a feat in MJ's world where Ruff Ruff reigns supreme among all lovies. Thanks all for the Easter goodies!
Here is our fashionista now, with Halloween jammies and a tutu. Now that's Mama's girl!

Gelato Goblin

Here are a few more pictures of Tickle Bug at the gelato shop on Mama's birthday. Thanks to Joddie for the snaps!