Rachel says, on Facebook:

Madeleine just did something pretty clever- she made up a stack of duplos, with a base and a larger block at the top, held it up, and said, "Space Needle."

This probably is completely age appropriate, but somehow i'm impressed. It also does a good job, somehow, of summing up where the girl is right now. She loves the space needle, and is starting to get to know her larger home of Seattle. She can talk - often in quite grammatically correct sentences. She can build, with Legos! It is hard to believe what a person she has become - what a vibrant, and cheerful, and loving, and interested person she has become. But, with many hugs to her - she'll exceed all of our expectations.

cleaninggirl

cleaninggirl, originally uploaded by meganursula.

You know, if you want to see even more photos you can click through to flickr. The girl loves cleaning, and helping. She got this toddler sized cleaning set for her birthday, from her Aunt, and she adores it!

rainbowgirl

rainbowgirl, originally uploaded by meganursula.

The girl, at the top of the space needle, wearing a new sweater from her aunt. She is almost two here.

peaceneedles

peaceneedles, originally uploaded by meganursula.

The girl and her friend are huge fans of the Space Needle. One Friday we took them to the Space Needle, went all the way to the top, and even got them shirts. They adored it. Not our cheapest Friday, as it turns out, but really worth it to see two such happy kids.

postbaking

postbaking, originally uploaded by meganursula.

Madeleine helped me bake cookies. She was good at measuring, stirring, and tasting...

ultra18wks

ultra18wks, originally uploaded by meganursula.

Girl and Dog will soon be Girl and Dog and...well, we don't know. Operation Ultra is well underway, with a due date of 8 December. The girl knows that she will get a new baby this winter (although, clearly not what that means). She says 'baby growing in mommy's belly-button'. Ultra looks healthy so far, cross your fingers!

carrot

carrot, originally uploaded by meganursula.

The girl is giving a good impression of someone who eats.... This carrot was picked fresh from Rachel's garden, and that seems to do the trick. The girls spent a lot of time this summer 'swimming' all afternoon, and getting fresh produce from the back yard.

shoulderride

shoulderride, originally uploaded by meganursula.

The girl often gets somewhere on dad's shoulders. I find it irresistabley cute.

kidslunch

kidslunch, originally uploaded by meganursula.

Madeleine and her buddies eat lunch after a trip to the zoo one day.

yummy

yummy, originally uploaded by meganursula.

We didn't do a whole lot for Father's day, but we did go get ice cream at the lake. I have a bunch of really cute pictures from that trip, which is nice. Here, the girl and dad chow down together. This photo, with special love for an awesome Dad.

airport2inff

airport2inff, originally uploaded by meganursula.

Madeleine seems to always like airplanes. Plus, she looks so tall her (at 21 months).

wgmagpa

wgmagpa, originally uploaded by meganursula.

Madeleine and i managed to get back east in May to visit family.

andtrausti

andtrausti, originally uploaded by meganursula.

Madeleine had another horse riding lesson in May from Aunt Becky and Trausti.