Party like a rockstar

We had a fun and busy week with Maggie!  She had fun at Grandma and Grandpa's house a few days this week while Daddy worked at day camp.  This weekend she went to two parties, so I think we'll take it easy and stay around the house tomorrow!

Maggie is all about clapping now, she seems to think it’s a funny joke or something.  I think her giggles are the high-point of my week, they just crack me up!

We had a few sleepless nights this week as another tooth starts to poke through. It’s randomly on the bottom towards the back… I thought her top teeth would come in next, but I guess not!

Maggie's negotiating face

Aunt Amy and Uncle Rex got me my first
 dress from Janie and Jack... so classy!

Jamie and I went to Toys ‘R Us this week to get some presents for today's birthday parties, and I learned just how dangerous it will be to bring him there with Maggie in the future… she would have ended up with 20 different toys if he had his way!

We started the day at Alan and Jillian’s to celebrate Noah’s birthday.  He’s such a little sweetheart!  It was a super-hero themed party, and I had to restrain myself from spending $20 on a Wonder Woman costume for Maggie… so we put on a bib/cape instead!  Maggie had a good time!  

Ace Ventura with Baby Noah

The dudes (Kevin with his 7-week old Owen!)

Maggie slightly jealous of Noah's toy

Maggie's first tat.  She didn't even cry.

Jamie volunteered at the Henry Ford Maker Faire for Ben’s Encore, so he wasn’t able to come to the party.  We worked with the Hemlers all week to build a percussion wall; it was a fun project, but definitely more work than we thought it would be!  Very cool event!

The percussion wall: a parent's worst nightmare

Next we headed over to cousin Luke’s for the big number two (the age, not the bowel movement).  This little one is all grown up!  I’m always so impressed by his willingness to give everyone a hug… he’s going to have like 5 girlfriends at a time when he’s older!  I tried to get some photos of the birthday boy, but he's constantly moving so they were mostly blurry...

Testing the frosting for all of us

Maggie with her new friend Colin

Are you talking to me?

Battling for the cardboard...
note the variety of other available toys in the vicinity

Here's a few other random pics:

So many toys, so little time!

Bedhead

Selfie

In sad news, our little bird Bruce passed away this week.  We think she was trying to hatch an egg and it got stuck inside her.  We had no idea anything was wrong, we felt so guilty.  She was a really sweet little bird, and we miss her.  Jamie made her a little burial box and we buried her in the backyard.

Pool Fun

Ah, summertime!  It has been oppressively hot lately, so Maggie has been hanging out in Grandma and Grandpa's pool a lot.  I haven't had a chance to see for myself, but I hear she really likes it now!

Laid back, with my mind on my ducky and
my ducky on my mind

Maggie is starting to balance on her feet a little bit.  She can lean against objects and stay standing for a few minutes.  She's not crawling yet... I'm starting to wonder if she'll just skip that all together!

She's still sleeping 12 hours each night.  We usually have one or two rough nights each week, but that's not too bad!

According to Jamie she started clapping this week... I won't believe it 'til I see it though.  It's depressing, I feel like I'll probably miss most of Maggie's "firsts" because I hardly see her during the week.

NTH had a little picnic last Saturday, so Maggie and I went to hang out for a little while.  She was pretty quiet, just taking everything in.  We had a good time!

Erin's baby shower was on Sunday, which was really nice.  I can't believe the friend who always helped me stay out of the lava (a.k.a. red carpet) is having a kid of her own!  Not only was the food awesome, but I also won an amazing basket full of baby things! 

In my lovely prize were mesh contraptions that hold food so Maggie can chomp and get little bits out without choking.  She loves them!  Here is her first sampling of watermelon:

Daddy was in New York all last weekend for Jessica's wedding.  I'm kicking myself for not going!  It looked like the most beautiful wedding, and Jamie said it was amazing!  It was really nice to have a few days one-on-one with Maggie though.  We had some great girl-time.

Jamie's back-up date... I think I'm prettier

The beautiful bride and her wacky brother

Cousin Luke lent Maggie his bouncy thingy, and she loves it!  She's still working on the bouncing part, she mostly likes to twirl around in it.

Here's a few more random photos

Don't worry Daddy, it's just me!

Love me tender, love me true

OMG what happened to Detroit?!

Photo Shoot Faves

As promised, here are some of my favorite photos from Maggie's 6-month photo shoot, by Adam Sparkes (http://www.breakfastwithadam.com).

7 Months!

Maggie is our happy-go-lucky 7-month old, and we couldn't love her more!  She's babbling, screeching, sitting herself up, sitting independently, is starting to develop attachments to people, getting her third, and maybe fourth tooth, and just loves attention.  Her favorite foods seem to be sweet potatoes and bananas, and her favorite toys are her jungle gym, slinky and plastic keys.

Some vintage-y photos from Aunt Amy

Maggie started sleeping 12 hours (up from 10) all of a sudden.  It's nice, except that she wants to go to bed at 7:30pm, which is pretty early!  By the time I get home from work, I only see her for an hour or so before bedtime... we might try to scoot the schedule back slowly.  Maybe she's just going through a growth spurt, and she'll switch back to 10 hours?  This girl always keeps us guessing!  Her cheeks are really red this week, and she's been pretty cranky - we finally found a bottom tooth poking through today, so hopefully the pain is almost over for her.

We celebrated Grandpa's birthday on Tuesday with a yummy dinner on the Nautical Mile!  Maggie had fun looking at all the new stuff, but we had to skip out a little early to put her to bed.

I love Grandpa - I do not like it when
my mom uses tape to express this

Hanging with Uncle Rex

All American Boys

I love my godmother!

No diggity

We had lots of fireworks around us this week, but Maggie thankfully slept through them all!  We keep a fan on in her room for white noise, and it seems to do the trick!  Grandpa let her see her first firework on Independence Day - a sprinkler!  She wasn't too impressed... but it was fun to have dinner together before he and Jamie went to a concert.

Just doing some crunches before breakfast

God Bless America!

Tell me a story, Grandpa

Those are muscles, not rolls on her arms

Maggie slept over at G&G's house on Friday so that Mommy and Daddy could have some grownup fun.  I'm proud to say that I stayed up til 2:30am!  I'm still an old fart, and would probably prefer watching a movie on the couch, but it was great to get out and see some friends without worry about bottles and spitup!

We have had a great week with a relaxing 4-day weekend.  It's been so nice to get some things done around the house, and just veg for a little while.  We bought a new kitchen faucet, and I can't wait until it's installed!  I am so lame!

Maggie got her next size of orthopedic shoes, and they are gigantic!  Insurance covers a pair every six months, so they recommended that we go with over-sized shoes to make sure they last.  Maggie seems happier, the other ones were just too small!

Waiting patiently to get fitted

We had Maggie's 6-month photos taken a few weeks ago, and just got them back!  I still have to download them, but I'll post some pics soon!