18 Months!

We had Maggie's 18 month check-up this week, and she is in great shape.  She met all the milestones for this age, and is still in the 98th percentile for height and weight (33.5 inches and 28.75 pounds).  This is all great news, but you wouldn't know it based on Maggie's behavior during the doctor visit.  This picture pretty much sums up our outing:

Yes, I am a terrible mother
I took the time to snap this photo
instead of comfort my child...

I'm thinking she recalls getting 4 awful shots at the last visit, and was prepared for the worst this time around!

Maggie is stringing together words now, though it's pretty hard to understand.  She's definitely saying "I did it" and "I am."  I think we're getting closer to better communication!

Our little chatterbox:

Maggie's first taste of slurpee!

Here's a fun little story...Yesterday my mom came over to help me out with a few errands around town, so I was rushing to get all the boring housework and yard work finished so I could spend the rest of the day having fun.  I was totally on track, just had to finish cleaning the bathroom.  Maggie was tagging along with me to "help" clean.  She wouldn't stay away from the toilet and toilet paper roll, so I put her in the hallway and shut the door so I could finish up quickly... but I forgot what was sitting right outside the door... two minutes later I open the door and the contents of our dust-buster are all over the hall... yuck!  Needless to say, I had to throw Maggie in the shower with me to get all cleaned up.  We dried off and I was laying out her towel and clothes on the floor when I look up and she is just standing there, looking at me as the pee puddles around her on the floor I just cleaned... I couldn't help but crack up, she just kept trying to foil my cleaning attempts!

Grammer, wait 'til I tell you what
I did to my mom this morning

Today we played on the driveway with her sidewalk chalk.  It got pretty messy, but she had a great time!

Uncle Justin would be so proud of this photo

Maggie loves her special hat from Grandma

Watchin' the tube before bedtime

Who needs sleep?

 It's been a rough few nights in the Donoghue household.  Maggie is waking up a lot, and can't seem to calm herself down in her crib.  Even if we rock her into a twilight sleep, she wakes up as soon as we set her in the crib and just wails non-stop.  Today it was finally apparent that her canine teeth are coming in - so at least we know what the problem is.  Teeth are the worst.

Saturday we popped over to Bobby and Al's for quick visit with the family.  I got to cuddle with little Claire again while Maggie followed Luke's every move.  She just adores him.  She also met their cat, Pumpkin, who has an aversion to all things human.  She was able to pet the cat a few times before getting the hiss of death!  Maggie still wanted to follow her around - thankfully the cat has good hiding places.

Playing on the stairs

You shall not pass, Daddy!

Afterward we stopped over the Vukich house to see Mike and Ashley's new baby boy.  They have a lot of young kids in the family, so Maggie had a blast observing and playing.

Baby Tommy with his daddy

She loved petting Jack, who is probably
twice her weight!

Today we went to Ypsi for Will and Kim's wedding shower!  It was great to see a bunch of our friends, and I know several of the ladies at the shower enjoyed seeing Maggie.  Jamie and I tag-teamed child-watching duty.  Apparently she was dancing on the bar while she was with Jamie - must have had too much milk!  We took several walks with her outside.  She liked to wave and say "bye bye" to all the people eating outside.  Poor Maggie was so exhausted by the end - she fell asleep quick after her bath tonight.  Fingers crossed that she stays asleep!

Dudes drinking at the bar (with Maggie)

Taking a break with Daddy

...and with Mommy

You can't see the arresting officer
off to the right

We went to Red Coat Tavern this week (over-hyped in my opinion) to grab a quick burger for dinner.  Maggie was pretty good the whole time, but she goes nuts anytime there are fries around.  It's a really dark restaurant with reddish lighting, so I call this Maggie's headshot for the remake of "The Shining."

REDRUM!

New Baby (not mine)!

This week we welcomed baby Claire to our family - congrats, Bobby and Al!  She came a little earlier than expected, but is a very healthy baby, and mom is doing well too.  It was so awesome to hold such a tiny little baby again, it's hard to remember Maggie as a newborn.

Beautiful Baby Claire!

Maggie really liked to "pet" the baby

My new niece!

I'm ready to go home!

Jamie and I spent most of the long weekend working on our yard.  My mom came on Saturday to help us plant everything.  It's been really tiring, but I'm very happy with the results!  Hopefully I can keep everything alive...

My own special table!

Telling us all about her dreams post-nap:

The weather has been gorgeous, so we've been able to take Maggie outside for a lot of walks and playtime at the park.

Taking a stroll in the park

If I don't come out on the other
side... know that I loved you

Whew, I made it!

Who knew shoes could be so entertaining?

I'll trade you my Mommy's
pop for a few chips

We went Grandma and Grandpa's yesterday for dinner, and it was soooo yummy!  Maggie had a great time, but was pretty tuckered out by the end of it.

That's my favorite fish, Grandpa

I'm not amused, Uncle Jason

I love the way Maggie eats watermelon:

So ready for bed.

We had a little dance party this afternoon:

Have a good week!

Playing Catch-up

It's been a while since I updated; last weekend was just too crazy busy to find time for the blog.  I'll try to remember what all has happened in the past couple weeks...

Jamie's big art show at Bishop Foley was a couple weeks ago.  He had some really great pieces of work, all different kinds.  I was really impressed that a single teacher was able to bring about so much work over the course of the year.  I heard a few parents saying the same thing... so proud of my husband!

Some of his students' work

Last weekend I had the stomach flu for the third time this year!  If you see me next fall, please ask me if I've had my flu shot yet, and if I haven't, smack me hard!

We held a big diaper party at the house on Saturday for our friends Adam and Sara, and then Sunday was Mother's Day.  We went to church and breakfast with my side of the family, and then went over Jamie's parents' for dinner.  It was a really nice day, and Maggie had an awesome time playing with her cousin Luke!

Mother's Day 2014

Come on, Grammer, I'll show you
where to go

I'll show you too, Uncle Bobby

Classy pose, Magz

Present time for Grammer!

Hanging with Aunt Amy

Going for a walk with Grandma!

We're so excited because Maggie gets a new cousin this Thursday, and hopefully another one in June or July!!  Our friends Mike and Ashley had their baby boy, Thomas (Tommy) this week, and he is a little cutie-pie.  It's raining babies!

This week was pretty good, except Maggie had a minor cold most of the week.  She wasn't too bad, but we definitely couldn't send her to daycare.  My mom came to spend the day with her on Thursday, and said Maggie was just a cuddle-bug all day.

Thursday was also Grandma's birthday!  We had a delicious dinner at a new restaurant on the Nautical Mile (which required a lot of walking around with Maggie to keep her quiet), and yummy cake at the house.  Mom was bragging because she could blow out all the candles in one breath now that she's done smoking - so awesome, very proud of her hard work!

Can't you sing better than that?

Maggie has been ridiculously cute this weekend.  We were so busy last weekend, and it was wonderful to spend some quality time with her these past couple days.  She's doing great with her walking, and loves to "run" into hugs with us.  She kept coming up to me today and hugging me, I loved it!

Cruising

How can you not love this girl?

This morning my Mom and I braved the crowds to check out the flower show at Eastern Market.  It was so cool (literally, it was pretty chilly), and it was really fun to see all the different things available.  We got there right when it opened at 7:00, and by the time we left at 8:45 it was almost impossible to maneuver through the aisles! We brought a wagon and made two trips back to the car with everything!  I think my favorite "find" was my hydrangea - 2 huge, gorgeous plants for $25 total = winning!  Next weekend is going to be all about the yard... getting tired just thinking about it!

Inspecting my purchases

I love being outside!!

Here's Maggie playing around while I did some weeding:

Walking!

We have a walker!  Maggie has been taking several strides in a row these past few days, with a maximum of 25 consecutive steps!  She seems to understand that walking is easier than crawling, and is a little more willing to keep trying.  I think her little legs are tired out after all the walking we did this weekend!

Here's a little snippet, though she didn't get very far in this video:

Maggie is also doing great at feeding herself.  She was good at getting solid things with her spork, but now she can shovel goopy stuff like oatmeal all by herself!

Saturday Maggie and I went to a baby shower for our friends Sara and Adam.  I was a little worried because the last shower we went to was exhausting, and Maggie was very whiny.  This time she was such a good girl!  There was a 4-year old girl at the shower (who referred to Maggie as her best friend, so cute), and Maggie was just mesmerized by her ability to run and jump.  I think she sparked Maggie's ambition to walk!  We also found at out the shower that Adam and Sara are having a little girl!  Yay, another new girlfriend for Maggie!

Playing with the "it's a girl!" balloon

Peek-a-boo!

The beautiful mother-to-be (and cheerleading husband?)

Saturday evening we had a chance to do dinner and drinks with our buddies Rob and Christy from Chicago!  They brought their dog with them, and Maggie was in heaven (though a little freaked out at first).  The poor dog was way more scared of Maggie, but tolerated being petted.  We put the dog in the basement when we were ready to head out to dinner, and Maggie was sooo distraught.  We had a good 4 or 5 minutes of her standing at the basement door sobbing.

It's a Bow-Wow!!

Today we had church and then lots of housework to do.  We took a break and went to the park to play on the swings and slide.  Maggie just loves being outside and playing, it was a great time!

Who do you love more, Daddy?  Me or the dino?

Let go, Mom, I can do it myself!

Here's a few other photos from the week:

Typical morning, hanging outside the
bathroom while we finish getting ready

She found her way into our condiments...
must have watched Supertroopers

Playing the drums with Daddy

We had a great weekend, though Maggie seemed a little off as we neared bedtime.  About a half hour after I put her down, my poor little girl puked everywhere (of course I had just changed her sheets and given her a bath before bedtime)... she's running a fever right now and can't keep anything down.  Hopefully she'll be feeling better in the morning after some rest.