Dancing Play Dates & Standing Tall

Maggie's 10 months old and a few days. We had a very busy play date schedule today and left the house at 9:30 AM and didn't get back until after 7:00 tonight. Beat down. Whole Foods for cookies and cake flower, Ethan's, Knox/Henderson, McKinney, Babies 'R Us, Kate & Jake's, and finally pick up Jeff for dinner at the fabulous new Taj Mahal restaurant in downtown Dallas. Maggie had her first Indian food tonight and really liked it. She loved the seasoned rice and also enjoyed some chicken and sauce.

She's been dancing like crazy at her activity table, but I never can catch it on camera. But today at Ethan's she gave us a quick look. See video. She also stood up on her own for the first time. I'm convinced she does this while alone in her crib, but maybe I really am lucky enough to see this for the first time. She had a great time playing at both friends' homes and I enjoyed catching up with the moms.

I know she'll sleep well tonight! For now, I'm off to research cake recipes as I endeavor to make her birthday cake extra special in December. And...I have a husband who loves sweets and wouldn't mind being my test rat in the meantime.

Special Mail Delivery

Maggie is 9 months old and is trying out her new toy. It's a little pushcart for delivering the mail. She really likes it! Someone in the neighborhood gave it to us. So it's been wiped down and made part of our home. She also got a little pop-up toy for $2. It has numbers on top of the popups and a different animal under each number. The squeaker toys remain a big draw for the dogs. In fact, all of Maggie's toys are a hit with the dogs.

Reading Books

Maggie had her 9 month checkup on Monday and after a great nap she decided it was a perfect time to take out all of her books. She loves to empty her bin of board books and casts them aside with emphasis. The dogs have learned to keep clear! But when it comes to the paper books, she's very gentle and I wanted to capture this fun time. At this appointment she weighed in at 17 lbs. 5.5 oz. (50%), grew to 27.5" (50%) and has a head circumference of 17-3/16" (40%). She also had her flu shot along with both of us.

This weekend Maggie and I were in Colorado visiting Lisa, Mark, Markie, Jack & Kate. Kate turned 1 on Friday, September 11th and we had a fun special day for her that ended with pizza at Woody's in Golden and some delicious ice cream from a local shop. On Sunday, Kate had wonderful birthday party for all of her local cousins and neighbors. What a lucky girl! Maggie had a great time playing with her cousins and enjoying climbing up Lisa's carpeted stairs, over and over again.

To add to her dining repertoire, she had turkey, Cherios, whole wheat bread, and a little bit of pizza crust. Sleeping during the visit was not her strong-suit, but as soon as we were back home, Maggie is sleeping much better. Our pediatrician is gently reminding me not to feed her during the night. So on Monday night we soothed her in her crib when she woke at 1:30, but I fed her at 4:15 as it was 12 hours from her last feeding. Last night she went to bed at 8 and didn't get up until 4:30. The progress is great, but I must admit I woke up at 3:45 and was awake until 5:15. Thank you doggies. :) Enjoy the video!

Playing Piano in Redding

We arrived in Redding on Tuesday morning and we're enjoying all of the fun toys that Grammy keeps for all of the children. We got out this piano toy for Maggie to play with today and she just loves it! She's 7 - 1/2 months old. More later...

Crawling

Last night while we were Skyping with my mom, Maggie crawled across her crib. We looked for a repeat today and she was ready to go on camera. We're not sure about all of her growling, but she loves to do this when she's playing with her toys or the flower on her excersaucer. She's 6-1/2 months old.

Acting very silly with her mom and dad

...yes, I feel silly posting this video of Jeff (and me) making baby noises for Mags, but she just enjoys this time so much that I couldn't resist! She's already started modifying her activity once the camera goes on. Must find way to turn off the tell-tale red light.

One Notch Down

Today we moved the little Peanut's mattress one notch down. She scoots to the sides of the crib, climbs the bumper, eventually peals it down and grabs the rungs of the crib to do a side crunch. She's very strong and although it's not likely, I was too worried that we were going to hear a thump in the night and find her on the floor.

Maggie is moving around like crazy. She scoots all around and generally moves backward to the upper right side of her crib where I usually find her, up on all fours, when she wakes up. Last night around 9 (way past her bedtime), she had her first deliberate crawl that I've seen where her knees and hands were coordinated. So exciting!!! I think she was awake from all of the excitement and trying to master her new skill. As of today, she didn't have much time on the floor to see if we can duplicate this or if it was a fluke. Although, this morning I had her on her blanket on the floor and she scooted backward almost under the bed while I watched her. She's quite a happy baby in general, but will definitely let you know if she's frustrated or stuck.

As for her dining fun, Maggie had apples for the first time today. I whipped up a batch last week and froze them alongside a batch of yams. With the apples (and pears) she makes a tart/sour face at first, but she gobbles them down. So far, she's had rice cereal, oatmeal, peas, sweet potatoes, pears, carrots, yams, bananas, and apple. And I'm pretty sure it was in that order. :)

I generally give her a fruit in the AM with oatmeal and a veggie at night with rice cereal. I'm anxious to have her try mangoes and avocado. I love the combination, but will serve them separately to her first. I also let her try out her hands with a sippy cup today and within 30 seconds of placing it in front of her, she'd grabbed both handles and took the mouth piece right to her kisser. We weren't really expecting her to drink anything, but we were more interested in getting her used to this as we're already in the 100's in Dallas and keeping hydrated beyond her milk supply might be challenging.

We had a play date today with Harper/Crystalyn and Sarah/Lana. It's so nice to gather with other moms and let the babies play, but she was exhausted tonight and went to bed at 6:15. Maybe this is a nap???

Yesterday was a little emotional as I packed up her next phase of clothes that she's outgrown. It's always fun to get her into the next biggest size, but it always means that this little girlie is getting so big. She totally done with any 3 - 6 month outfits and has some 6 - 9 that doesn't fit. It really depends on the brand. And the way the weather is heating up, we'll probably have her in the bare minimum to keep comfy in the house. I had the thermostat at 78 for a few days, but I couldn't take it. I'm a 75'er, otherwise none of us can sleep, even with the fans. Embracing the heat is fine during the day, but nighttime is a whole new game.

One last thing...these last 3 nights Maggie has been going to bed between 8 and 9 sleeping through until 4 or 5 respectively. This is so nice. My body will take a few days to adjust to this, as I'm still waking up to find her asleep, but this is going to be sooooo worth it! Yeah for sleep!

Rocking Around

Maggie is now 6 months old.  She had her well child checkup yesterday and she weighs 14 lbs. 14 oz and is "thriving" in Dr. Nale's own words.  She's 35% and has a good deal of chunk on her little legs and arms.  She's totally mastered rolling over and never sleeps on her back anymore.  We had a great trip to Minneapolis for Jeff's work a few weeks ago.  She slept through the night (9 PM - 5 AM) every night, but when we got back to Dallas, she reverted back to waking up once or twice during the night.  Go figure!

Her latest move is to rock back and forth on all fours (hands & knees).  She also likes to get up on her tip tops and her hands (downward facing dog) and squeals!  She loves her rice cereal and gets 1/4 - 1/3 cup twice per day and we are starting her on vegetables as well.  Yesterday she had peas for the first time and she really wasn't into them at all, but did continue to take bites.  More on that later.  

5 months and a little bit of attitude

Maggie reached a new milestone today:  defiance.  All day today she was cantankerous and proud of it.  For the last two weeks, this little girl has LOVED her rice cereal, but today it took me three different attempts to get her to eat it.  Thanks to a week of antibiotics for her poor little UTI, she's learned to spit out medicine (and now rice cereal) and turn her head away to avoid my approaching syringe or spoon.  All the while, she is looking right into my eyes with a wry little smile. 

Her other new trick is to make an L-shape with her body and her legs while on the changing table or in her crib.  (This position is not so new. See picture from mid-February.)  She then slams her legs down over and over again and can't help but smile and coo at her own latest amusement.  This is not so funny when I'm trying to administer meds to her diaper area (also thanks to the antibiotics her flora is imbalanced).  She seems to favor her left hand, although I know this can change over the next several months/years.  So while I am trying to calm her crazy legs, she figured out that she can take her left hand to touch her feet and then naturally decided to "help" me spread the diaper cream.  Eesh!  And all this bouncy leg movement seems to get things moving for her.  I went through 3 diapers in 5 minutes and countless wipes as I *attempted* to clean her hands of the diaper cream before she decided to put them anywhere else on her body.

Buddy and Sadie have really begun to enjoy the baby.  They know better than to play with her toys, but are really interested in Maggie.  On Saturday Maggie was giving Sadie some pets on her face (and eyes, ears and nose) in a very gentle and sweet manner.  I couldn't believe she was so deliberate.  And then...she grabbed Sadie's neck.  We're lucky Sadie's been around kids forever and were thankful that she just sat there patiently while we gave Mags the old "no."  And Buddy who is normally wild is really mellow around the baby and even put his nose and front paws on the bed the other day before jumping up to see where Maggie was sitting.  After he jumped up on the bed, I gave him a few snaps to get on the other side of me.  Wonder of wonders, he jumped off the bed and walked around to the other side, jumped up and settled down.  For those of you that haven't witnessed the "storm before the calm," this is excellent behavior for BudBud.  One day, we'll get that on camera.  I should also note that my family, specifically my sisters and my mom are very nervous about the dogs getting close to the baby.  I hope that by writing about this now, I ward off any ill-fated dog-baby stories.

Finally, Maggie and I were on the 5 o'clock and the 6 o'clock news tonight on NBC.  We were interviewed about the unsolicited newspaper subscriptions that our neighborhood receives from a local Spanish publisher.  It's a total waste of paper, printing supplies and marketing $$$.  Even if they're recycled, it's superfluous from the get go.  While we are home, she is very vocal and emotive.  When we are out to eat, grocery shopping or trolling the mall, she is very quiet and enjoys looking around.  At this point, I'll count my blessings.

Easter Bunny

Thanks for the Easter Bunny for Maggie!  She loves it!  See you in a week or so.  

She had her 4 month checkup today and is now 12lbs. 9oz.