Wordless Wednesday

Me and the kids on Grandpa's boat (Jack is asleep!)

Maggie Cuteness...

Before I forget, here's a couple conversations with Maggie lately.

First off, last Friday we stopped by my old office to meet a friend for lunch. We stopped to visit with another woman I worked with named Lara. Lara is pregnant and was absolutely taken with cute lil Maggie. She came around the counter to show Maggie the toy box and converse with her.

Lara: You're so pretty!
Maggie: Look at my pretty eyes (as she opens her eyes wider).

Yup, I've held off on teaching her modesty. Who ever heard of a two-year-old with too much confidence??

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Saturday night after dinner, while hubby was doing the dishes and I was working on laundry, Maggie called out to me down the hall.

Maggie: Mommy! I'm pooping!
Me: Would you like to sit on the potty and poop?
Maggie: No, I'm playing with my dollhouse.
Me: Are you still pooping?
Maggie: [GRUNT] Nope.

Knowing is supposed to be half the battle, right?

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday Maggie!

Wow. Our baby is TWO today (at 7:20 ET tonight, to be specific...)! I can't remember life without her, yet it seems like she was born just yesterday.

Oddly enough, a couple weeks ago she started randomly singing, "Happy birthday to you," whenever someone lit a candle. We finally figured out the last time she heard it was July 5. Her timing is perfect. She still won't answer, "Two," when you ask her how old she'll be, and I'm not sure if she'll dig people actually singing happy birthday to her. I've been trying it from time to time, and she always interrupts with, "No. No."

Maggie's favorites lately include apple juice (although she'll call any liquid in her sippy cup apple juice), the movie Bolt (but Daddy and I have been encouraging her interest in other movies after having watched Bolt approximately a million and two times), her toy phones, and telling us, "That tickles," when we try to tickle her. Well, of course it does! She likes running around naked (don't all kids?), and walks up to me to say, "Knees, knees," when I'm getting ready in the morning. What she means is that she wants lotion on her legs, just like mommy. She also likes being tickled with my make-up brushes. We may end up with a girly-girl on our hands!

She's becoming less of a fan of having her diaper changed again, but still not interested in using the potty. She's also stopped eating garlic hummus by the handfuls, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing. Her favorite meat continues to be 'taco' (as in seasoned ground beef). Maggie's teeth-brushing skills are also improving, but she shows Daddy much better than Mommy.

There are literally a million things I want to remember about our little two-year-old. She's truly a joy and the love of our lives.

Dogs, anyone?

We pulled into Fort Wilderness Campground on Thursday and just spent the afternoon poking around and seeing what there was to see. One of the places we stopped that ended up way more amusing than it should have been was the Settlement Outpost store. We were trying all sorts of fun stuff on Maggie, like this fuzzy antenna headband that even had a battery compartment that must have meant it would light up too! Maggie was more concerned with some Webkinz stuffed dogs she'd spotted.





Luckily, she didn't grow too attached to the headband, but the dogs were another story. It was hard to even get a picture of her with them because even though it was hard to hold them all, she knew that we'd eventually take them away and tried to stay on the move. I think three was the most she collected, since the majority of them happened to be displayed on a shelf just out of her reach.

I don't think we ended up buying anything on that trip to the store, but not for lack of Maggie trying! We are so fortunate she's so well behaved usually - when it was time to go I explained to her that the dogs lived here and we could visit them later. We were able to get them back to their shelf and quickly escort Maggie back outside with no tears shed!

Disney!

It's pictures like this one that will probably keep me from getting that 'Mother of the Year' plaque. Oh well :D

The first night we were at Fort Wilderness campground, I was wandering around with Maggie before the campfire with Chip and Dale and a cast member stopped and commented on how cute lil miss was. The cast member said each night they picked a family to have a 'magical moment' and get their picture taken with Chip and Dale before the rest of the show. We were picked! I set aside my misgivings and memories of the trauma we experienced with the Easter bunny and went to get the rest of our clan. As Chip and Dale came out of the backstage area and approached us (but after Chip tripped over another guest, but that's another story entirely) Maggie started screaming. Darn. Everyone else got in place with our favorite giant chipmunks and I tried to be sneaky and back into the picture holding Maggie. She wasn't falling for it.

So here we have it, another picture of Maggie screaming in terror with a giant animal. At least the rest of us were having fun ;)

Words, words, words...

Maggie is at such a great age. Although she's started getting a bit more opinionated and - shall we say - speaks out when she doesn't agree with me, she's still mostly fun, and always entertaining.

She's started talking. Actually, that's an understatement. She talks non-stop, but we can't understand most of it. There are a few very clear words. Apple, ball, Audjee (the cat's name), eyes and Daddy, among others. Two of the very clearest words though are, "No," and "Butt" (which is said while grabbing her behind with both hands.

I don't think it's just a coincidence. If you know me, you may have noticed (okay, hopefully not) that my back side is as flat as a board. Poor Maggie? Literally walked out of her pants today because she doesn't have enough booty to hold them up. It's certainly not one of my traits that I would have tried to grace her with, but some folks say it's better than the alternative. Personally, I would have been happy with just a compromise - enough to not drop her drawers in public, perhaps?

Lately I've been hearing, "She's her mother's daughter." Whether it's because she enjoys a Bloomin Onion at 18-months, or shares some of my physical characteristics (or lack thereof), I'm glad people can tell, and she is definitely mine :)

Whoosh!

So I seemed to have disappered there, eh? I'm still around.

Yesterday Maggie and I started our swim class. It went well. She didn't love it, but she didn't cry or scream either. She was really just taking it all in. A couple weeks ago we went in a pool and she wouldn't even let me hold her facing away from me. In swim class, she did nearly everything we tried. She wasn't getting the 'kicking' motion or blowing bubbles, but she let me swish her around in the water, lift her up then bring her back into the water, and help her 'jump' from sitting on the edge of the pool into the two-foot-deep water. We had fun, and we get to go back tomorrow.

My other lesson learned yesterday? The built-in diaper swimsuit - I don't recommend. Tomorrow we'll be going back in a swim diaper and our new one-piece swimsuits. That's all I'll say about that. Luckily there was no embarrassing incident in the pool, but she peed on the locker room floor. Twice.

And since I know you'll ask - no pictures so far. Daddy may try to go with us one day next week, but otherwise it won't happen. There are no pockets in my swimsuit, and we don't have a waterproof camera. ;)

Toys, Toys, Toys...

Maggie has been finding all sorts of things lately that she thinks are fun to play with. After baby-proofing my office once, I'm having to do it again after we moved the furniture last weekend to facilitate our new cable internet. I've got it so I'm blocking off the printer, shredder, and huge pile of stuff I still need to sort through and put away. But she isn't even trying for any of that since there's a huge pile of leftover fiber cable behind me. Cords are a girls best friend? More power, I suppose. :rolleyes:

Lesson Learned

I borrowed a book last week from my local La Leche League with games to play with your baby. There was one in there about teaching climbing and physical movement by piling all your couch cushions and pillows in the middle of the room and playing fort or mountatin climbing with your baby. We were having so much fun with that!

What they don't mention is that if you have hardwood floors, you may want to first lay down a foam mattress. Maggie fell off the mountain :( Onto her head on the hardwood floor. So as Daddy got home, he didn't get to see what fun we were having, he just heard the screams. Poor Maggie and poor Daddy.

I WON!!

The service auction Saturday night was a good time. Hubby and I ended up getting: a Girls' Bunco night (never played, but they promise it's fun); a card-making workshop; four tickets to the Detroit Science Center; $15 to a coney island; a piece of torte cake; and a Jelly Belly dispenser, all for $69 total. Woo-hoo!!

Today we took Maggie to the MetroParents CoverKids search. It was fun. We got a t-shirt, some coupons for the mall, and a commemortive photo that will be available online in a few days. I didn't even notice when they announce the actual cover kids for next year. It would be cool if Maggie was a cover kid, but they stress all the way through the event that they just want everyone to have fun. I can do that :) We also entered for her to win a big ole gift basket from Radio Disney. I think she said they'll call tomorrow when we win (I got my optimistic streak from my mom! Hahaha).

What a busy weekend! I'm sure there will be plenty more like it now that the weather is getting nicer! We can quit hibernating and go out and LIVE!! Yay!!

Oopsy, Daisy!

I think I figured out why Maggie's tummy was fussy yesterday, and it was all mommy's fault :(

A little bit of back-story - I started taking prenatal vitamins a long time ago, when we got married and stopped using birth control. At first, I had the prescription ones. Once we actually conceived and started seeing our midwife, I started taking the natural ones, instead. This week I ran out of the natural ones and didn't feel like going to the store to get more right away (oh, if you don't know, I still take prenatals because I'm nursing - need all the nutrients I can get, dontcha know!). Yesterday I opened up one of the old prescription bottles and took one of those, figuring it was better than nothing.

Today, I went to dump out another one, and got a half-pill instead. Uh-oh. Why on earth would I take a half of a prenatal vitamin? Simple answer - I wouldn't. During the first year of our marriage I also had back surgery. I'm pretty sure what was in the bottle - that I took yesterday, was likely a Motrin 800. Oops! I don't think I'm supposed to take more than 400mg of Motrin while I'm nursing. Sorry for the tummy ouchies, baby :( Lucky I wasn't ever taking any top diet pills - that would have REALLY defeated the purpose of more vitamins, eh?

Self Portrait with My Baby

Thanks to Jakey's mom for the great idea! I'm following her lead and taking at least one self portrait a week with my baby. Here's the first one!

Haiku Friday - Maggie Standing!

Standing up alone -
Maggie is proud of new skills.
We're having fun now!

So proud of our girl,
Getting where she wants -
Learning about life.

Poof!

Wow, so I sort of disappeared there, eh? I suppose it's been mostly just working. I try to get my hours in earlier in the week, rather than later.

Yesterday, Maggie was going to go play with Grandpa and Grammie, but Grammie wasn't feeling well, so they canceled. Which I'd rather they do than expose her to yuckiness, but it had already shifted our whole schedule for the day. We got up at least an hour early, so I could coax her into napping an hour earlier in the morning (since they were picking her up at the start of her 'usual' nap time). Then her afternoon nap just ended up a little early, so we expected early bedtime, right? No dice! She stayed up talking and playing an hour LATER than usual. Huh. And then slept really poorly, whimpering a lot. Poor girl.

Today we're back on schedule so far, but she seems tired and a little whinier than other days. Although, she is a baby, things change without notice. Hahaha

And Yet More Bahamas

We rented a small 25’ motorboat from Port Lucaya and did a little exploring in the canals and eventually out to "Peterson Cay." Here’s Maggie showing her Dad how it’s done. He's so proud.




She loved the boat! and I love this picture!!





Maggie would always start off the day full of energy and enthusiasm…





…but more often this is how she looked once we finally make it to the beach.





Eventually she would wake up. Sarah was super cool about watching Maggie while hubby and I would take off for a while down the beach.





Awake from her nap.




This particular beach we were visiting had a short pier off the beach. Daddy and Maggie went for a walk while Mommy actually took a few minute to read.

Adventures in Nursing

And by nursing I mean breastfeeding, of course.
This afternoon we went to the Detroit Boat Show. It's been getting smaller each year, lately, but we had a free ticket and $5 off another ticket, so for $6, it was a nice afternoon out for the husband, Maggie and me.
While my husband was talking about our next cruiser with some sales guy, I shouted up to him that I'd be nursing at some seats nearby. The front row of the seats were some creepy looking guys, so I grabbed a chair a few rows back and faced it toward the curtain/wall. I'm not exceptionally shy, but I'm not an exhibitionist either.
As I nursed the baby, my husband finished talking with the boat guy and joined us. I noticed more creepy-looking guys were joining the throng in the seats. Then I saw some young girls (okay, around 20 years old, but that's young to me!) with breasts that looked like they must have hungry babies around too (translation: lactating).
When my husband started chuckling, I saw the sign he'd noticed - the bikini contest was starting in ten minutes. And here I was with my goodies already out on display.
I should have gotten first prize.

Still More Bahamas!

Hubby and I (after a few 5% Bahamian Beers)



Maggie and her new friend Luc





Hubby taking Maggie down the jetty for a morning walk.



We took a walk to a neighboring beach one evening to catch the sunset. En route, I ran over ~100 feet of fishing line and proceeded to get it all tangled up inside the stroller wheels. Hubby asked one of the local Bahamian fisherman for a sharp filet knife or safety cutters so he could cut all the line out. Instead, he borowed a rusty butter knife that was covered in fish guts.

More Bahamas!

With all the time we spend traveling, alarm system monitoring is a good investment, eh?



Maggie, me and Sarah on “Baraby Beach.” One mile long and all to ourselves.





Family Portrait Time.




Family Beer Time! When eating out, Sarah would try to take us to all of the hole-in-the-wall places that only the locals know about.





Hubby went snorkeling at the local beach with Jeff. (I'm never crazy about actually going in the water.)



Maggie and I hung out on the beach and watched. She never complained about wearing her sunglasses and hat outside! Hahahaha...





Later that evening, we drove into Port Lucaya (the resort area) for dinner. Here I am standing in front of Jeff and Sarah’s townhouse. We got lucky and the baby usually cooperated on our little 'field trips.' It's sometimes exhausting just to make it out, with all the baby accoutrements.

Bahamas!!

Last week was our fantastic Bahamas vacation. We stayed with a good friend of mine and her husband (and their dog ;) ) for seven nights. It was cheap and laid back.



First stop on the tour, my husband and my friend's husband went to the Grand Bahamian Brewing Company. They hung out at the brewery and a had a few glasses straight from the still. :cool:



Why didn’t anybody ever tell me about these “Reef Shoes”!?!? The notion of never again being stranded on a beach without an opener… brilliant! Here we see my friend's husband cracking open a “traveler” for the ride home. Driving around with open containers is perfectly legal in the Bahamas. :rock:



Later on, we took the dog “Luc” for a stroll on the beach. The beach was about 500 feet from the townhouse and almost always empty. The cool lens effect is actually a plastic bag over the camera to protect it from the falling rain.



A very rusted industrial sized chain on the jetty. Lots of garbage on the island. Litter is a big problem.



The beach at the end of the street just after a good rain.











The next morning was B-E-A-U-T-F-U-L!!! 76 degrees, not a cloud in the sky and almost no humidity.

Maggie all dressed up and ready to go.