Wicked Winter

Seriously?  More snow?  Spring cannot come fast enough!  I can totally see how the ancient dinosaurs went extinct - it was probably a winter just like this one:

Yes, we're those neighbors who haven't taken down our
Christmas decorations all the way yet... might need to wait
until spring for these guys!

This week we went to the orthopedist to check on Maggie's feet, and also the pediatrician for her 15 month checkup (a couple weeks early).  Her feet are doing great, though the doctor recommended that we start putting her braces on/off for each nap and at nighttime.  It was a lot easier just leaving them on for 16 hours straight, but she'll have more time to practice standing and walking with her braces off during awake time.

Changing baby's diaper
(refusing to let me put her pants on)

Maggie is now 26 lb, 7oz and 32.5 inches tall!  That puts her in the 90th percentile for weight (down from 98th) and 98th percentile for height (same as before).  Everything else looks very normal, and she met most of the milestones for her age.  We just need to continue to work with her on walking.  Though I usually get anxious if Maggie hasn't met a milestone, I'm really not worried about this one.  I can see that she will get there in her own sweet time.

I'm a big girl now!

Valentines Day was awesome!  Maggie got a bunch of valentines (thanks!) and some sweets that I taste-tested for her.  She went to bed pretty early, so Jamie and I spent the entire night watching "24" - we are addicted to this show.  It's pathetic, but it was a great night!

Happy V-Day!  I got shot with a vaccine
instead of Cupid's arrow - lame!

Yesterday was Uncle Jason's 25th birthday, so we went over to celebrate!  Maggie showed some interest in all the presents, but did not seem to mind that they weren't for her (not to mention that Aunt Amy had a cute valentine present for her).

So wait... these aren't for me/?

Happy Birthday, Uncle Jason!

Playing with Grandpa

Maggie is even more into dancing than before, and Grandma has shown her how to stomp her feet.  She sort of looks like a horse, it's pretty cute.

Maggie really hates having her nose sucked out, but she really loves playing the with apparatus.  She will literally spend 10 minutes in silence connecting and disconnecting the tube:

End of bath time:

We love going up and down the stairs - she likes to slide down on her belly as fast as possible:

Quick update

I was feeling lazy this weekend, but a certain sister-in-law is harassing me to update the blog... :)  I don't have much this week, but here's a few snippets:

Playing ball

Maggie has learned to blow her nose and wink this week... sort of.  To blow her nose she holds a tissue to her face and sucks in through her nose.  Then she insists on sharing her tissue with me until I "blow" into it.  It's disgustingly cute.  To wink she just scrunches up both of her eyes.

Winking at Aunt Amy

Maggie's molars are still causing her discomfort, so she's up and inconsolable several times each night.  Which means Jamie and I are up and somewhat inconsolable in the morning.  I'm craving coffee just writing about it!  In fact, I think I'll go to bed right now.  Holly out!

Wave goodbye, Baby!

My little puppy

Sometimes having Maggie around is like having a little puppy.  Anytime we eat anything at all, she sprint-crawls to us and starts whining until we let her have a taste.  I'm glad that she's happy to try anything, but sometimes you just want to savor your meal!

This is my whining face

Maggie is doing great with independent playtime.  As long as she isn't tired or hungry, she can usually keep herself entertained for 10 to 20 minutes at a time.

Mermaid?

Hatching an evil plan

Yes sir, I'll have that data in two minutes

No she didn't!

Break Dancing
(i.e. breaking stuff while she dances)

Play-Doh at Kate's house!

We decided to let Maggie have some fun in the snow... or at least we tried.  She wanted nothing to do with it.  I thought she would love being pulled in a sled, but she pretty much whined the whole time.  Our neighbor's daughter was outside at the time, and she said her kids hated the snow at this age too.  I guess it makes sense - when you are bundled up into an immobile marshmallow, it's probably frustrating to be stuck outside.

Why?  Why?!?

Can I have a word with you, Daddy?

Whew, 5 minutes outside wore me out...
Let's watch TV instead!

This is a little bit creepy looking on my part, but I'm trying to get Maggie to do her version of fish-face:

 

Freeze Zone

Our house is so. cold.  We can handle it just fine, but poor Maggie is crawling all over the cold floor all day.  I'm trying to bundle her up without restricting her too much.

Cold temps can't get me down!

It looks like Maggie's first two molars are coming in on the bottom.  The gums look swollen and they feel different when I brush her teeth.  She's also been a little more dramatic than usual, but not too bad.  She's got another cold, which Jamie and I also caught.  I never used to get sick, but this little one brings some nasty stuff home from daycare!  Luckily it's been almost a month since she was last sick, so this is no big deal.

Really likes kissing herself in the mirror...
my little narcissist 

Maggie really likes to dance when she hears music.  Whenever a jingle or song comes on, she just stops and stares, and then eventually starts bobbing a little.  It's like the dog in "Up" when he sees a squirrel.  Also, Maggie is really into yoga:

Downward dog

How's my form, Mommy?

Jamie and I went to Chicago this past weekend to celebrate Rob's 30th birthday!  It was really fun to get away for a night, though it was sad to not tuck Maggie in.  I got to see a bunch of my harmas from college, which was awesome!

With my harma ladies

Not sure why I'm posing like this... perhaps I'm
getting ready to call the Power Rangers?

Most exciting news of the week:  Bobby and Al are having a little girl!  Maggie will teach her all the tricks about how to wrap daddy around her little finger:

Start with a turn-back pose

Then give him these eyes

Pretend to be interested in his stories

...and play video games with him!

Here's a couple other videos from the week:

Here is Maggie's first draft of her self-documentary:

New Playmate

Maggie is OBSESSED with her baby doll from Aunt Marleen.  She likes to feed and burp her, and transports her everywhere around the house.  She's still working on the whole carrying thing... if there were any brains in the baby doll to begin with, they would probably have fallen out of her ears by now.  I asked Snoopy how he felt about Maggie's new playmate, and he said he had no comment (but you could see the pain in his eyes).

Time to go in your house, baby

Eat your cheerios, baby!

Only slightly abusive

Let's practice walking!

We went to happy hour with some friends on Friday, and brought Maggie along... she has now reached a point where it is WAY too much work to keep her occupied and happy while we eat.  I guess it's time to start looking for those super fast restaurants (or maybe I should just cook more).

Feeding herself with a little help from Daddy

As a Christmas gift, Amy and Rex got us tickets to Royal Oak's beer fest last night and stayed home to watch Maggie.  Thankfully she slept through the night, because we were pretty "tired" by the time we got home.  It was a ton of fun, lots of new tastes, and a bunch of free snack food - I never met a free sample I didn't like!

Here's some other randoms: 

It's-a Mario!

She always has this pensive look in her photos...
where's my smiling Maggie?

Upside-down!!

Say cheese for the camera!

Sassy pants

This week was a good one with Maggie - she wasn't sick at all, and was such a joy to be with.  She's getting way more sassy when you tell her she can't do something, but otherwise she always has a great disposition.

She's learned where we keep the pacifiers...

Jamie thinks Maggie said her first real word this week - "bird" (we have an abnormal amount of bird things around the house).  I have no proof of this, but she definitely seems to be trying harder to communicate with us.

My lips are sealed!

Maggie is getting closer to walking each day.  She does great on her walker and will let us lead her with our hands.  She walks with her feet almost turned all the way out... I'm starting to wonder if her feet have been over-corrected with the braces.  We'll see her orthopedic doctor in a few weeks to check everything out.

We went to the ENT this week and Maggie did well.  We took a hearing test in a special booth that Maggie seemed to enjoy.  The doctor said that she still has a little fluid in her ears, but nothing to be worried about at this time.  He wants to check her out again in a couple months, and we'll figure out then if she should get tubes.

Look at all these germy toys I insisted
on playing with!

Maggie still loves her Snoopy - it's the only thing I see her hug and kiss:

 

Just whipping up a snack in my kitchen

Happy New Year!

Happy 2014!  I realize it makes no sense, but I always feel better when the year is an even number... this year will be great!

Maggie has been having fun at home with Daddy all week - he didn't have school Monday through Wednesday due to the weather.  She had a blast with her favorite man!

Maggie is eating great now!  She really likes to eat food herself, and is starting to get the hang of using utensils.  Scrambled eggs and yogurt are probably her favorite foods at the moment (besides Cheerios and puffs).  

We've gone to the doctor several times for ear infections in the past few months, and today we are going to see an ENT specialist to see if Maggie needs tubes.  To be continued...

Last week we met up with Erin, Dan and baby James while they were in town.  It was great to see them and hold a little bitty baby again (forgot how awesome that baby smell is).

Baby James!

Prime rib please

Here's some random photos from the past week:

Playing with Grandma

Shopping is exhausting!

Maggie LOVES her new push car.  We push her around in the basement (until the weather is better), and she screams and giggles.

Out of my way!

Playing with Kate!

My little prodigy... she's really into playing
that funky, dissonant, non-rhythmic music

After she plays her little piano, Maggie likes to crawl over to the real one: