13.5 months old

Hi my crazy kid!

I am writing you this letter when you are 13 months old.

I can't believe it, but now a toddler, you are no longer a baby. You have grown up so much over the last couple of months. You are GREAT at walking! Sometimes you try to run (and usually turf it) which is why your little forehead is still constantly covered in bruises. You are also a little climber. You can make it up a step ladder or up your running stroller (as if it was a step ladder) in seconds. Yikes!

You are learning to communicate. You have been able to say "mama" and "dada" for sometime now, but you also just learned how to say "hi" and you are always quickly whip out this word whenever your daddy or I walk into the room. At church, stores, etc. you walk around saying "hi" to strangers as you pass by. My favorite though, is when you say "hi" to other babies; then you look at them expectantly; when they just stare at you, you stare back.

When you are hungry or thirsty you say "num num."

You have learned how to sign "more" and "all done." Sometimes you use these signs appropriately and it is helpful (and adorable) and sometimes you cycle through the signs so quickly (e.g. more all done more all done more all done) that you make me thoroughly confused (and you make me laugh). Sometime when you are really excited mix the sign for more in your cheering.

You try to say teeth--it comes off sounding something like "eeee." You also try to say "hot"(ot) and "uh oh" (o-o). I think you try to say a lot of other words that I am just not picking up on yet. Other times you chat on and on while looking at me intently as if I understand everything that you are saying. It sounds like you are talking in your own little alien baby language. You also learned how to imitate a monkey sound. At first you just used it for you little stuffed monkey; then you started using it forbirds; then for the cougar you saw on a camping trailer; then for dogs. Now you use it for anything you are excited to see (i.e. usually dogs and birds). You also imitate the noise that cars make; it's a scratchy gurgling noise in your throat. You get VERY excited whenever a motorcycle or bus pass by. You also notice every airplane that flies through the sky.

You have learned how to kick a ball--making your mommy and daddy very proud! You can also occasionally follow simple instructions and point to familiar objects when asked. You recently have decided that it is fun to try on mine and Joe's shoes and then try to walk; not very effective but very adorable. You LOVE eating anything that is nice and juicy (i.e. fruits and veggies).

You are starting to assert your independence and make your opinions and desires known (i.e. we are starting to see little temper tantrums); I love it that you are developing your own sense of self and your own personality; I don't love trying to put you in your car seat, but it is a small price to pay for getting the chance to be your mommy.

You are SO fun and funny. You make me laugh everyday.

I love you little cutie.

Soccer Champs okay not really

My adult co-ed soccer team just finished up a _____ season.

Our record . . .

0-13-1

Obviously I can't call it a winning season. I guess I could call it a losing season. I think I am just going to call it a fun season (although somewhat crushing to my competitive spirit. . . do I play on that team--you know, the one that couldn't win a game even if we had 14 tries to do it?)

Oh well.

Will I be playing next season?

Oh, most definitely.

Also, I will eventually mention (and get around to documenting) that super exciting things have happened recently . . . like my little brother getting married to a super awesome girl and my daughter (no longer a baby) turning the big 01. Yay!!

Me and Wink

I love being a mom (probably obvious as you look at my blog and it is just picture after picture of one cute little girl), but I actually have been amazed at how much joy (and sometimes stress, laundry, and laughter) a little baby can bring to your life. I love having my little buddy tag along with me all the time. She makes the most mundane tasks seem like fun whether she is waving to people at the grocery store or pulling everything out of my cupboards as I make dinner. 

11 Months and 1 week

My sweet little baby,

I am feeling a need to hurry and record something of the last few months because in a couple short weeks you will be a year old. I cannot believe how quickly this year has gone and how much has you change and grow each week!!

After you learned how to walk about a week ago, walking was all you wanted to do for a couple of days. Now it is the one thing that you definitely do NOT want to do. If I try to get you to walk you look at me, start to cry, and then sit down. I guess it is pretty scary--you have received at least a few bumps on your head since it all started. I am sure that you will pick it back up before long. In the meantime you are enjoying standing by yourself and you LOVE to push things--anything (your shopping cart, your exersaucer, kitchen chairs, the office chair, our ottoman, doors, and especially our neighbors little yellow truck). You have learned that you can push your shopping cart in any one of four directions (including the ways that the wheels don't roll) to get anywhere in the house that you want to go. You are not afraid to venture off into rooms of the house where I am not--this means that our house is not nearly as baby friendly as it should be. Yesterday you got yourself stuck between a bookshelf and a filing cabinet.

You are now a really good eater. You will eat just about anything as long as you get to feed it to yourself. But, if I am trying to feed you it had better taste good, or you will end up with more on your face and in your hair than in your belly, but it is okay because you LOVE bath time. You would eat frozen blueberries all day it I would let you. You often munch on your food a few times and then spit it out. Not because you don't like it but because you think it is funny or because the pieces are too big. Then sometimes you pick it up and eat it again. Then spit it out again. Then eat it again. Every time I pick food out of your lap (you know all those pieces that never made it to your mouth) and toss it back on your tray you start to laugh. You are a messy eater, and it IS funny.

You love reading books and are still a cuddly little baby. You have started giving hugs (by pulling something close and laying you head on it) to everything. Every time I see you give the remote control a hug it makes me smile, but I love it when you hug me the best. You still love to give kisses. Unfortunately you have not yet learned that your teeth (now you have 7) are not supposed to be involved when you are giving a kiss. We are still working on that one. You cry out "mamamama" whenever you are upset. When you are happy you say "dadadada." I don't know what that really means. I think it means that I help you when you are sad and your daddy makes you laugh. You have also started shaking your head and saying "Na na." Sad. I guess I say "no" too much. Today we were sitting by the ivy that covers the ground around our apartment. You would pick up a leaf and try to put it in your mouth. I would brush your hand away and say "Ew, yuck." You shake your head and say "na na." Then you would pick up another leaf and try to put it in your mouth. I would brush your hand away and say, "Ew, yuck." You would shake your head and say, "na na." Then you would pick up another leaf and try to eat it. This went on for leaf after leaf after leaf. Sometimes you would even be shaking your head and saying "na na" as you were trying to put the leaf in your mouth, so even though you are starting to get it, you really don't get it.

You LOVE playing outside. We try to go play in the courtyard most evenings, and I think this is your favorite part of the day. You squeal with delight whenever you see the neighbor babies outside, and you will not be satisfied until we have gone out to join your little friends. The other day when we stepped outside one of the little neighbor babies said, "Ah, Maggie!" You have a friend who knows your name! If that isn't just the cutest thing! When you are with your daddy he will take you for long walks and help you climb trees. You LOVE going for these adventures with your daddy.

You are my little buddy and my little bundle of sunshine. I love running with you and shopping with you. Everything seems like more fun because you are always at my side.

Thanks for letting me be your mommy.

These Boots . . .

Beach Baby

One reason that I love Santa Monica . . .

. . . Also, look at those blue eyes . . . she has her Grandma Webb to thank for those eyes.

This is going to be a weekly occurrence now that the weather is warming up. I managed (at least mostly) to keep Maggie from eating sand this time. She giggles and shrieks every time she we put her feet in the waves. I don't think she loves her sun hat quite as much.

Baby proofing? . . . Good luck

What is this? I can tell you. It is a tack that holds a metal strip (the kind that separates two different types of flooring) to the ground.

What is it not? I can tell you this too. It is not something that you want to be fishing out of your 10 month old's mouth. My mischievous child pulled this one our of the floor with her teeth (or at least I am assuming) because as soon as I removed this one from her possession she went back for another one, undaunted and teeth first.

Hard to believe . . . she looks so innocent. On that note, I decided I was going to be proactive about baby proofing an area of our house that has several electric cords and a power stick. Winky has never particularly paid attention to the cords, but they are near an area that she likes to play, so Joe and I went to BabiesRUs and purchased every type of safety item for electric cords that you can imagine. Today I installed a cover over the power strip that looks kind of like this.

Smart, right? Well, almost, but as it turns out, Winky can fit her hand through that center opening, and then the safety cover turns into a little monkey trap. My little monkey stuck her hand through the opening, grabbed onto a cord and her pudgy little hand would no longer fit back out the opening. As I was ducking under our electric piano, trying to get her to open her hand so that I could pull it back out I started to wonder if Joe was going to come home and find us in exactly that spot, with Winky still holding onto a cord (very proud of herself by the way) and me trying to wrench her little hand free. Luckily, she is 10 months old (i.e. distractible) so I did eventually win. But now, with all my "safety/baby proofing" objects in place, Winky doesn't want to play with ANYTHING else. If I place her on the opposite side of the room, I have exactly the amount of time it takes for her to cross the room to get anything done, before I am sternly telling her no, picking her up, and trying to interest her in SOMETHING else. Obviously, she is taking a nap right now, or else I WOULD NOT have time to type this post.

What a little stinker. I really like her.