Mimi Moush valentines

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Last Valentine’s Day, I had a shelf exam and Madeline had a GI virus. So, class valentines did not happen. Fortunately, being in a class of 1-year-olds means they didn’t really miss much.

This year might be Mommy’s last chance to make Madeline valentines for a while. Besides being super into Frozen (audio here and video here), Madeline loves “Mimi Moush,” whom she knows as her crib buddy. So Mimi Moush valentines we did.

She’s come a long way from her tiny almost-9-week-old self.

So, we ordered Minnie valentine cupcakes from my awesome friend Judy of The Good, Bad and Yummy, who also made Madeline’s birthday cake.

photo credit: www.thegoodbadyummy.com

This morning, she was not feeling the Valentine dress, so we went with her “babybug” shirt instead.

Babybug: “Cheese!”

The cupcakes were a big hit, as were the treats from her class party.

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Madeline’s interpretation of Let It Go

02.13.2015 by anh

Each night at bedtime, Madeline gets a song. This routine has become unwieldy given her penchant for repetition, but evidently she has been paying attention, at least. Who knew kids had such good memory at this age?

“Weh ee go, weh ee go”

02.08.2015 by anh

It’s challenging to catch Madeline on digital media because she often wants to grab the recording device. Here, she is absorbed in singing her song to Mookey and Boo.

Madeline requests “Weh ee go” daily. She listens to the soundtrack, and every now and then you can hear [“Finally they’re opening up the”] “GATES!” or [“The past is in the”] “PAST!” ringing from the nursery. You’ll have to turn up the volume on this one quite a bit; don’t forget to turn it back down 🙂

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Babymoon at Disney World: Around the Resort

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Babymoon part 6 of 6. Besides visiting the parks, we spent a lot of time at other resort attractions. It was nice to do everything at a leisurely pace and made for a great vacation 🙂

Brunch, then Fantasia Gardens Mini Golf

: This is why the Swan buffet breakfast is my second-favorite meal on property.

: Someone interfered with our picture.

: Oh, it's Goofy.

: Hole in one!

: Belly! 7 months (31 weeks)

: Chris likes to know how far ahead he is.

: Beware of squirting statues!

The Boardwalk

: Panorama of the Boardwalk

: The evening special: dorado. The best fish Chris has ever eaten.

: Seafood stew with a fancy name I forgot.

: The bathroom stalls in the ESPN Club have screens so you don't have to miss any sports action.

Downtown Disney

: Downtown Disney at night, view from the Sassagoula River ferry boat

: Awesome LEGO sculpture of Maleficent and Prince Philip

: Inside Ghirardelli

Disney Quest

: Our first DisneyQuest!

: Chris was very disappointed in my aim/shooting ability in this Toy Story version of bumper cars.

: 3D VR version of a Pirates adventure

Babymoon at Disney World: Disney’s Animal Kingdom

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Babymoon part 5 of 6. The best part of DAK is the safari, and the best time to go is in the morning. The animals are active then and give you plenty of photo ops. In fact, half of our images came from Animal Kingdom. Whereas motorized attractions and themed settings are reproducible and practically perfect visuals every time you see them, animals choose whether to cooperate for your camera. And they are just so darn awesome.

: We caught one of the last few days of holiday decor at DAK.

: A visual guide to the animals we might see on our safari!

: Hello.

: Strrrrrretch.

: Elephants scratch their tusks here to eat the red clay for extra minerals and nutrients.

: Baobab tree

: BABY ELEPHANT!

: BABY RHINO!

: Baby rhino butt.

: At Rafiki's Planet Watch, there are viewing monitors of animals receiving care in the pens. You can maneuver the cameras to observe them.

: Nom nom lettuce.

: I'll take some more.

: OKAPI!

: Warthog!

: Our hands compared to the hands of a gorilla

: Intimidating.

: Lunch at the Yak and Yeti.

: Paper straws!

: Komodo dragon!

: I didn't know bats were this big.

: Springing into action

: Playful?

: Festival of the Lion King

: We went on the safari again in the afternoon. Most of the animals were snoozing somewhere out of sight, but we did catch a few. Hello Hippo!

: BABY ELEPHANT AGAIN!

: The king of the jungle looking over his land

Babymoon at Disney World: Disney’s Hollywood Studios

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Babymoon, part 4 of 6. By a small margin, the Studios is our favorite park. It feels old-timey and nostalgic. It has great live-action shows with talented performers and fun rides. Unfortunately with the pregnancy we didn’t go on my favorite, Rockin’ Roller Coaster. That just means we’ll have to come back!

: I can't remember what was here before, but yay PIXAR!

: Best new ride: Toy Story Mania! You ride through a series of 3-D scenes with target shooting games like at a fair and earn points. Chris did much better than I.

: Backlot Studio Tour

: This playground used to seem bigger.

: A favorite, the Great Movie Ride

: Walt Disney: One Man's Dream. It's like a museum of Disney!

: Concept for the new Little Mermaid ride at Magic Kingdom

: 50's Prime Time Cafe

: Best chocolate malt I've ever had.

Babymoon at Disney World: EPCOT

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Babymoon part 3 of 6. The day we visited EPCOT was very cloudy and drizzly. The weather made photography and visiting the countries less than ideal, but on the plus side, it wasn’t crowded at all, and we managed to hit our favorites 🙂

: The Mexico cruise ride. When I was little, I thought we were really outdoors and that somehow someone turned off the daylight, then turned it back on when we exited.

: I love Donald in The Three Caballeros!

: Germany, Chris's roots from way back

: Funny cuckoo clock!

: Sushi lunch in Japan. Yes, I had sushi while pregnant. It tasted as amazing as it looks.

: Stratford on Avon

: Canada. Pretty!

: Hmmmm.

: One of my favorite rides is The Land. It exhibits innovative agricultural technologies to improve sustainability and environmental health.

: Symbiotic agri/aquaculture!

: I'm mildly annoyed that The Living Seas is now a silly Finding Nemo ride, but at least they've kept the aquarium exhibits at the end.

: Two manatees who were injured by boat propellers now live here and graze to their hearts' content.

Babymoon at Disney World: Magic Kingdom

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Babymoon part 2 of 6. The first park we visited was Magic Kingdom, and we were pleasantly surprised to find the holiday decorations were still in place. Holiday hours were also still in effect, and with the drop in attendance that comes after the new year, we had an easy time navigating the mild crowds. One cool thing that is probably really hard to find anywhere else is the mutoscope — and the Main Street Station has several. Here’s a video of one called “Rodeo Time” in action:

: Moseying around Frontierland, we stopped to play checkers. We had to figure out how again.

: The five-minute line at Pirates of the Caribbean.

: The two-hour line at Journey of the Little Mermaid. We're never doing that again.

: Eating a turkey leg while riding the Liberty Belle steamboat.

: A nostalgic favorite!

: Main Street train station

: Inside the train station are old-fashioned mutoscopes!

: If not for this picture, I would not otherwise know that these are called mutoscopes.

: The mutoscope has a series of prints on a rolodex-like device that turns as you crank the handle, and you see the animation as if it were a flip book.

: Country Bear Jamboree

: Tom Sawyer Island. This attraction is the type that I would never have spent time on before, but since I was pregnant and not waiting in line for roller coasters, we had time.

: Is this a real top-quality cast-iron skillet? Does it pass Butz requirements?

: He decided to bounce on this while I crossed.

: Inside Harper's Mill

: Treasure in Injun Joe's cave!

: The raft used to transport to and from Tom Sawyer Island

: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, my favorite ride as a kid

: Captain Jack Sparrow demonstrates

: Watching Lady and the Tramp at Tony's

: Inside Tony's, Lady and Tramp have on their santa hats!

: Dinner time

: My first manicotti

: Main Street, looking toward Cinderella Castle

: The chess game in Pirates of the Caribbean is rumored to be in stalemate, as if the pirates died playing the game because neither side could move.

: Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin -- I win!

: One of us schooled the other.

Babymoon at Disney World: Port Orleans Riverside

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Babymoon part 1 of 6. Chris and I needed a vacation. When we found out we were pregnant, we decided to take our babymoon at Disney World. It would be the last time we could go and be kids ourselves and be responsible only for ourselves. Having worked there for a year, I knew I wanted to go during an off-peak time — I no longer have any patience to wait in ridiculous lines! Neither of us had visited for over 10 years, so we planned to stay a week just after the new year. I would be seven months pregnant, ready for a vacation but not so uncomfortable to travel.

We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside Resort, which had a quaint, relaxing Tom Sawyer-ish theme. For the first few days of our stay, it was still adorned with pretty holiday decorations. It has ferry service to and from Downtown Disney via the Sassagoula River Cruise, which has a fleet of boats with fun southern names like Magnolia Blossom, Memphis Miss and Saratoga Queen. I have to admit that I was rather impatient with the boat sometimes, but in a way, the slow pace and southern feel also helped me relax and remind me that we were there to unwind, not to rush 🙂