Going Nuts

My sister Laura had the genius idea to go with Maggie's current obsession with squirrels and make her a squirrel costume for Halloween. It was perfect.

With a little inspiration and direction from the wide, wide blogosphere, a lucky trip to Joann's, and a couple of late nights (a relative term to a pregnant lady), the costume started to take shape.

Chewing on the candy wrappers.

Hanging out in a squirrel's natural habitat.

Venturing out with Ellery - they got a little further this year than last.

Looking for nuts...or maybe just struggling under the weight of her tail. :)

Figuring out their first move.

Dad - the perfect vehicle for a successful trick-or-treat outing.

Animal House

Greetings from the Absentee Blogger! I'd like to think that 99% of people could care less how often I post, but I know to the grandparents and relatives who are out of town it's pretty much the same as being an absentee mother. So, my apologies. (I've been trying to think of a new name for my blog...perhaps this is it!)

We've been having so much fun enjoying fall! No apple picking or pumpkin patches for us this year, but the weather has just been fantastic, and we've been trying to take advantage of every minute.

Maggie still loves playing with her car (k-k-k) and going to the park down the street. She recently discovered/accomplished going down the slide by herself, which was maybe one of her top 10 Proudest Moments Ever. I wish I had a picture of her face. And her technique...head first, hands out, Superman style.

We've also discovered our local petting zoo, which is really more of a farm animal zoo, but for the price of $0, you can bet we're getting our money's worth! Maggie is still a little uncertain of any animals that are bigger than her, but LOVES the chickens (ch-ch) and the caged birds (go figure).

Note her face - not quite sure whether to smile or cry. I think she was conflicted about most things we saw that day.

Checking out the rabbits...from a safe distance.

The deer was really the only "larger" animal that she showed any interest in.

Learning dental hygiene from the llamas.

Have I mentioned that we're walking??

The leaves and squirrels - obviously WAY more interesting than anything at the zoo.

I just had to include this shot. It cracks me up. I was so excited when I first saw it, then I zoomed in and saw Maggie's eyes. Arg!! Guess it's just the first of many imperfect family pictures. And I guess it's a good lesson to always take more than one picture...just in case.

Speaking of leaves and squirrels, watching the birds and squirrels in our yard has become one of Maggie's favorite thing to do. When we're not actually outside, she will stand in this window forever just looking. Our backyard neighbors, who join Maggie in her love for All God's Creatures, have taken the liberty to expand their bird/squirrel feeding haven and nailed in a little nut feeder on our side of the fence. Haha!

More Fall

Best Buds

Fantastic Fall

Dinner with Dad

First Words

Maggie's been babbling for some time now, but until last week had not really associated sounds with objects.

Unlike most children her age who choose normal things as first words - mama, dada, ball, etc. - Maggie decided she wanted her first word to be "shoe" (pronounced "ssssssssssssssshh"). Ironic coming from the girl who still can't walk, and until this week didn't own a pair of shoes...but then again her mama does have quite a few pairs...

I am loving this new stage of communication. It is so fun to see her make connections with things and start verbally communicating what they are. The "shoe" sound has expanded to include "cheese" and "socks" and "Steve" (Gary has a little Steve Nash figurine that she plays with - aren't you proud, Adam?), which she will also do a variation of for "keys" as well. She says "t-t-t-" for "teacher" in one of her books (How does she even know what a teacher is??), and "k-k-k" for "car" (she got a little riding one last week that she is obsessed with). I believe that "ball" ("ba") is one of her only normal baby words at this point.

So the language skills are developing quickly! She says mamamamama all the time, and will even do it on command, but still has yet to associate it with me.

Here are some pictures of Maggie with her new s-s-s-shoes (which I love, by the way - thanks to all of you who gave me advice!), as well as her car. What a big girl she's becoming!

Hoodlum

Baby vs. Grinch - Twelve Months

One year with our dear friend the Grinch!

Still loves to pull his hair out.

"Maggie, show me your tongue" - her latest trick.


Her hair looks very full to me in this picture...maybe this will be the year of the BOW??

A friend of mine mentioned that she wished she had continued her "Baby vs." pictures through the second year, as they continue to change and grow just as much. And, as the Grinch seems to be a "blog favorite," I plan to continue with the pics at least for another year! Enjoy!

One Year

I feel like a "one year" post needs to start with "can you believe it??" or "this year has flown by!" or "my baby is one??!" But really, other than her lack of hair, I am not really having a hard time accepting the reality of this milestone.

This has been such a FULL year. By far, the best year of my life. So much has changed for me in the last year...going from working and commuting to being home all day, being a "mom" in addition to a wife, and a million other little things it would take me forever to mention. I have learned more about myself in the past year than in my life, and I am more comfortable with myself than ever before. Motherhood suits me very well. I LOVE my days with Maggie. I hope that this next year (and Baby #2) continue to grow me and change me for the better.

But enough about me! Let's talk about the Mags!

Everyone needs a Maggie in their life. Scratch that. Everyone needs MAGGIE in their life. Her humor, charm, curiosity, happiness and friendliness are effortless and contagious. She is constantly making others smile or laugh. I love that she spreads joy wherever she goes.

It has been so fun to watch her personality develop, yet at the same time, not change very much at all. It's like all of these traits have always been there and they are just becoming more and more established. Just this weekend Gary and Maggie were playing peek-a-boo/hide and seek with the bedroom door and in between bursts of giggles and laughter we were commenting on how funny and fun she is...and it made me so excited to continue to watch her grow and develop...how much more funny and fun she will get when she begins to understand things and do more things for herself.

I love her attention to detail, mainly because in all of the ways people say that she is similar to me, this is a trait directly inherited from her father. I get such a kick out of watching her meticulously examine things with her thumb and forefinger or flip things over and over and over again.

I also love watching her explore and try new things. Once she has thoroughly examined something, she will not proceed unless she is absolutely certain of what she is doing. (Something she inherited from both of us) For example, she walks behind other things or holding on to things better than any kid I've seen, but has yet to take more than a step or two. I'm not worried at all - Maggie will walk when she's good and ready.

She is determined and strong-willed, but so far this has not resulted in too many tantrums - she just makes it clear exactly what she wants...mainly opening doors and drawers or telling you to walk her places (in which she raises her arm straight out as if to say, "GO!").

She is already a social butterfly, and gains so much energy from other people. She loves going places and doing things, not necessarily for the experience but for the interactions with and observations of others. She'll make friends with anyone who looks her way, whether they want to or not. She is especially drawn to babies and other kids right now. I'm hoping the infatuation with babies continues for a few more months...

Ah! How can you describe a person in one post?? Hopefully I've written just enough to remember her at this stage and my thoughts after her first year.

Party!

It's true - about two weeks ago Maggie turned ONE. In honor of the gal who tends to gravitate toward the ugliest, strangest toys, we had a fun mini Monster party planned. However, the entire weekend ended up being dampened by Maggie getting very, very sick (a severe ear infection we later learned). We still had the party, but it was a little anticlimactic considering the birthday girl was hardly around and there was no festive singing or candle-blowing. :(

The invite.

The birthday girl...completely miserable.

Fortunately, my friend Katie was around to snap a few pics of the party that did happen.

FYI, a garage makes a GREAT place to have a party.

The cake(s).

Mags...and the Grinch, of course.

Dessert table with the Wall of Maggie behind.

What's a birthday with no cake?? I think this was pretty much the only thing Maggie ate all day.

Her face is deceiving. She devoured this cupcake!

The party favors.

I couldn't resist posting this - so rare a) to have ME in a picture, and b) to have a pseudo-Wells family pic!

Already looking forward to next year...things can only go up from here!