16 month update

Connor is 16 months and has 16 teeth! He is thrilled about it.

Midwest Tour 2012

We just got back from a fun-filled trip on the road, and we sang "On the Road Again" plenty of times! We started off last Monday, bright and early at 2am, and spent the day with Uncle Lou and Aunt Arlene.  Then we had dinner with Cousin Joe, Claire, and Carson.

Tuesday we got to catch up with Cousin Debbie, and Madeline got to visit with her horse.

Sitting on Sugar with Daddy

With cousin Debbie

Wednesday we arrived in Cedarburg to spend a couple days with Aunt Betts. It was great to see everyone at dinner that night, then the rest of the visit was more low-key, with a trip to the pool, library, coffee shop, and a couple great bike rides along the awesome Interurban trail.

Friday we hit the road again to spend a few days with Brooke and Cody (and their awesome parents!). We had fun with water fights, the crazy coupe, bike ride to the park, trip to Meme and Pepe's resort, and a fire pit (to name a few).


Playing water fights in the rain... still wearing helmet after ride in Crazy Coupe.



Brooke filled up her galoshes with water!

Cars PJs buddies

Monday we landed in Goodfield, IL, to catch up with Carl, Janelle, Sierra, and Hunter for a bit. We enjoyed their neighborhood park and relaxing at their house. The adults enjoyed a fun game of Blokus after the kids quieted down. 

Today was quite a long day on the road, but we finally made it home safe and sound.  It's great to be home again, home again, jiggety-jog!

Connor's 1st Birthday

Happy Birthday Connor! You weigh 22 pounds (50th percentile), you are 32 inches long (95th percentile), and you're the best little brother ever!

Playing in the grass

The whole family

Big smile!

Watching Uncle Brandon dance like a monkey!

Having fun!

Swimming



Getting ready to go swimming outside for the first time this year!  New purple swim shoes and purple My Little Pony!

Shout out to CJ (the original)!

Madeline took a nap today... I can't remember the last time that happened, but she fell asleep in the car on the way home from the park.  Anyhoo, now she's up in her room singing, "scooby-dooby-doo, where are you? we've got a lot of things to do now!" over and over and over and over again. Ha-ha-ha!

We took her trike to "big park" as we call it (by the nature center), and she triked the sidewalk all the way around.  I guess it wore her out pretty well.  Then she and Connor enjoyed the baby swings together.  Connor was holding on for dear life and smiling really big the whole time. Madeline told me that she wanted to swing like a caterpillar and made me help her get her legs into the back holes and put her hands into the front holes of the swing.  Weird.  Maybe she learned that at preschool, or maybe she is extremely creative. 

I noticed today that a few times while Connor was walking, if he was losing his balance he would just squat down for a moment and then hop back up, rather than falling all the way down.  Way to go little guy!

Happy at bathtime

Wearing her orange starfish floatie

Swimming and such

Random updates about the kiddos: Connor is an eating machine!  He eats about 10 containers of baby food a day (sometimes more), and thoroughly enjoys any other pieces of food that we throw his way.  He can use a sippy cup very well, but hasn't quite figured out the straw thing.  He has mastered walking and is getting pretty fast now.  He is a good sleeper, but it seems as though he is trying to get rid of his 2nd nap of the day.  His 7th tooth just busted through the gum line (left lower lateral incisor).  He plays very well on his own and is happy as long as he is free to walk.  He just got over his first ear infection (diagnosed on April 17th).  He has been enjoying swim lessons.  So far, he's done one session at the Y and is now doing a session at Springfield Gymnastics and Aquatics (pretty cool, but much more expensive than the Y).

Madeline has been enjoying soccer on Monday nights with some of her preschool buddies.  She likes pushing the ball around with her head and walking on the abc's of the soccer field.   Madeline has become more independent in many different ways. She recently got promoted to the "big kids class" at gymnastics!  She's out there on her own with the other little kiddos and doing great.  We appreciate everything Miss Katherine taught us, and now it's up to Mr Nick to continue the fun!  Madeline is showing improvement at swim lessons by jumping into the water all by herself, swimming around with her floatie backpack at the Y, and going down the BIG slide at SGA.  She is trying to figure out the time/space continuum, learning about the meaning of words like yesterday, tonight, next week... funny.

Cute outfit from Granny

Clapping

Getting ready for swim lessons in new CHERRY swimsuit!
Notice doggy trying on new PURPLE swimsuit!

Showing off Clifford artwork

Happy Birthday Ed

Mommy took the kiddos to open gym at gymnastics. They had a blast! Then Brian and Diana came for a short visit. Good to see you guys! We had a great birthday dinner at Red Lobster.

It's never easy to get both of their faces in the picture

Notice Madeline's feet flying over her head!

Connor relaxin'

Happy Birthday Uncle Brandon

Brandon "old man" Rowe is 31 years old today.  We hope you had an awesome day Uncle B!

Playing with the tool bench



Easter egg hunts are still in fashion at the casa de O'Toole



Playing together!



Connor has been having a blast in (and out of) Elmo's house lately

Library fun

Walking

Connor is officially walking now. I had been counting his steps, and he was consistently taking 10 to 12 steps before sitting down. Today, he took 24 steps in a row! Rock on little man.

Several steps

Connor took 12 steps in a row tonight!

10 month update

Connor is 10 months old. He is cruising for a bruising and has taken a couple of steps at a time, so probably will be walking before long! He still eats like an eating machine. He likes his new "big boy" carseat.

 

Picnic at River Park



Love this picture!!

Maryland

We had a great time going up to visit Uncle Brandon, Auntie Jasmine, Cousin Ethan and Toby! The kids did great on the flights.  We even got to have dinner with Uncle Henry and Aunt Georgia on the way there!  It was nice to catch up and relax, but I must say it is pretty weird seeing your little brother as a father!

Cousin fun!

Best buddies

Clapping

Today, Connor clapped for the first time! He has also started waving and loves to say "bububububub" by moving his hand up and down over his mouth (is there a term for that?). Apparently, he also enjoys the elegant taste of orange peels (at little park):

Random picture wearing new cherry pjs and "teddy bear hat" that I crocheted (for Connor) while flossing. We must almost always use 2 flossers:

Connor just started sitting in this booster seat. Madeline decided to pull over a big girl chair, so that she could sit by him!

Cruisin for a bruisin

Today Connor started cruising! I guess he likes to celebrate leap year.

Sleigh ride

Today, we went on a sleigh ride through the National Elk Refuge. It was cold. I think the elk were neat, but I really didn't look much because my eyes got frozen shut! Connor wore 2 hats, sweatshirt (he doesn't own a coat), mittens, 2 pairs of pants, and in his pumpkin seat with 2 blankets over him. This is a picture that I took of Ed and Madeline before he covered both of them up completely underneath that wool blanket. I'm not sure if Madeline even saw the elk.Other than the frigid cold, it was a pretty great experience! Did I mention the cold??We also went to the National Museum of Wildlife Art. They had a fun kids area, including dress-up clothes:

8 month update

Happy Valentine's Day! Connor is 8 months old today. He is doing great! He likes to stand up anywhere he can, but he hasn't started cruising yet. He is a quick crawler and a good eater. He loves bath time and has a great smile and laugh. He has the same 6 teeth, but the amount of drool he produces makes me think there are more on the way. He gets to go to swim lessons now too (at the Y), and he loves the water. His legs are kicking about the whole time, and then he always takes a good nap on the way home. He has started to notice the dogs more lately, but his favorite entertainment is definitely still Madeline. It is so cute to watch him watch her!

Madeline update

Madeline does so many cute new things all the time, I have to try and remember some of them! She can count to 11 and sometimes higher, she can sing several songs, including the abc's, twinkle-twinkle, little red wagon, and a few songs that we have made up. She has been doing great at swim lessons... using the backpack floatie she can "swim" by herself for a little bit of time, but she gets so excited and smiles/laughs so much that she doesn't focus on keeping her mouth out of the water. Everything she likes to do is a "time", for example playdoh time, arts and crafts time, stamp time, puzzle time, etc. She has been doing awesome with potty-training. Only very rare potty accidents, and doing great with poopoo (finally). The reward of an Andy's ice cream cone worked very well for her! She still sleeps on her doggie bed and loves it. She loves to go outside, especially when we let the dogs out and she runs around with them calling them Mack and Mater (Lily is Mack because her collar is red). She loves the movies Cars (obviously), Nemo, The Little Mermaid, Shrek, Care Bears, and Bambi. She is constantly assigning us all roles from one of these stories. For example, Madeline is Faline, Connor is Bambi, Mommy is the doe, and Daddy is the great prince of the forest! Hahaha. She is very into girls vs boys right now, always pointing out that we are girls and Connor and Daddy are boys, etc. We could not be more proud!! Connor is her biggest fan!