It's official...I'm calling it...time of walk: 13 months, 2 weeks.
Although Maggie has been taking steps here and there for weeks now, this week she has changed her primary mode of transportation to walking. She has an interesting walking style, not unlike most toddlers, where she marches and is fairly unsteady, while holding her arms up by her head, huge grin on her face and screeching the entire time. It's as if she cannot contain her happiness and all she knows how to do is screech.
She is also talking more than ever too. I can't say I get a word of it since it sounds like she's speaking Mandarin but she'll say something and look at you like she's waiting for a response and unfortunately most of the time I got nothing. I do a lot of "yeah, that's right..." and so on. So in addition to Da Da, Ball and Buh-Bye, according Erik yesterday she said "Baby" when she saw the baby on her yogurt container and lost her mind and said "Ma Ma" everytime a picture of me came up on our digital frame. OK, maybe she didn't actually lose her mind, but she did have a reaction which is more than I've gotten from her in 13 months. I never thought a 1 year old could affect my self esteem so much.
I wish I could freeze these moments, I just can't imagine it getting any better than this. Maybe I'll just run around the house and screech to release my excitement.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Thursday, June 5, 2008
She's a Dancer
About a month ago we noticed Maggie had an interesting dancing style. She'll hear a song with the right beat and she'll hold onto whatever is closest to her, crouch down and shake her booty. I have to say it's about the funniest thing I have ever seen.
The first time I saw her do it I looked at Erik and didn't need to say anything. He knew what I was thinking...Chris Rock said it best in his HBO special “You got to keep her off the pole!” I have to admit, as much as it makes me laugh, it's a little disturbing to see your one year old dancing that way.
Over the past month, she has perfected her dancing skills and seems to know the right dance for the right song. We were over Aunt Jen and Uncle Bruce's one night and a certain rap song came on and she did this shake her booty dance in perfect rhythm. At dinner the other night, Van Halen's 'Panama' came on and she shook her head back and forth like a rocker, I'm pretty sure while doing the "devil horns", and she could not contain herself when "Living on a Prayer" came on later that night. Last night she was lying on her stomach on the floor and a song came on that "moved" her. Rather than stand up and dance she continued to lay there just bobbing her head up and down and wiggling her body. She invented her own version of the worm I am very proud to say.
So as happy as I am that she seems to love music, I'm trying to think of good dancer role models and I'm having a hard time...Britney Spears? Paula Abdul? Cheryl Burke? Uhhh...no... Ellen Degeneres? That works.
The first time I saw her do it I looked at Erik and didn't need to say anything. He knew what I was thinking...Chris Rock said it best in his HBO special “You got to keep her off the pole!” I have to admit, as much as it makes me laugh, it's a little disturbing to see your one year old dancing that way.
Over the past month, she has perfected her dancing skills and seems to know the right dance for the right song. We were over Aunt Jen and Uncle Bruce's one night and a certain rap song came on and she did this shake her booty dance in perfect rhythm. At dinner the other night, Van Halen's 'Panama' came on and she shook her head back and forth like a rocker, I'm pretty sure while doing the "devil horns", and she could not contain herself when "Living on a Prayer" came on later that night. Last night she was lying on her stomach on the floor and a song came on that "moved" her. Rather than stand up and dance she continued to lay there just bobbing her head up and down and wiggling her body. She invented her own version of the worm I am very proud to say.
So as happy as I am that she seems to love music, I'm trying to think of good dancer role models and I'm having a hard time...Britney Spears? Paula Abdul? Cheryl Burke? Uhhh...no... Ellen Degeneres? That works.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Attachment issues
Ever since Babycenter told me that my baby may start becoming attached to a certain object I have become mildly obsessed with this. I don't know why, maybe because I had a blanket I could not sleep without when I was young, but I want Maggie to become attached to something.
When she was about 5 months old I thought it was her stuffed bunny so I brought it to daycare to put in her crib and hopefully help her with napping. I swore we would need to buy 2 more of them just in case one went missing but I soon found out that she did not care about that bunny, it ended up in her basket at daycare and she never missed it.
Everytime she holds onto a toy for more than a millisecond I hold out hope that this is the attachment I've been waiting for only to see her throw it in a basket in total disregard. I also used to think she had to have a certain kind of binky (mainly because they just looked nicer to me) but I have recently found out that she could care less what it looks like...it can be the Steelers binky, the tiny infant one, whatever, as long as she can suck on it, she's happy.
My child is not attached to anything. I should be happy with this right? That makes her low maintenance, an easy going, go with the flow type of kid right?
I have been conducting a little experiment over the last month though and I think I might have found an attachment. When I put her to sleep I put a green blanket in her crib that she likes to cuddle up to and usually have a hand-knitted blanket hanging over the side. Every morning the 2nd blanket ends up in her crib and she uses one as a pillow and one that she hugs. Now of course I'm stressed that we'll lose one of these blankets. We better find a back up pronto!
On a different subject, Maggie showed me who was boss at The Cheesecake Factory last night. She was holding her sippy cup precariously over the side of her high chair so I tried to take it from her to avoid her dropping it on the floor for the 87th time. She bellowed a blood curdling scream and ripped it from my hand (this scream is fairly new and is awful) so I let go. She then dropped the sippy cup on the floor and looks me right in the eye and says "UHHHH-OHHHH". Her future teenage years flashed right in front of my eyes in that moment.
When she was about 5 months old I thought it was her stuffed bunny so I brought it to daycare to put in her crib and hopefully help her with napping. I swore we would need to buy 2 more of them just in case one went missing but I soon found out that she did not care about that bunny, it ended up in her basket at daycare and she never missed it.
Everytime she holds onto a toy for more than a millisecond I hold out hope that this is the attachment I've been waiting for only to see her throw it in a basket in total disregard. I also used to think she had to have a certain kind of binky (mainly because they just looked nicer to me) but I have recently found out that she could care less what it looks like...it can be the Steelers binky, the tiny infant one, whatever, as long as she can suck on it, she's happy.
My child is not attached to anything. I should be happy with this right? That makes her low maintenance, an easy going, go with the flow type of kid right?
I have been conducting a little experiment over the last month though and I think I might have found an attachment. When I put her to sleep I put a green blanket in her crib that she likes to cuddle up to and usually have a hand-knitted blanket hanging over the side. Every morning the 2nd blanket ends up in her crib and she uses one as a pillow and one that she hugs. Now of course I'm stressed that we'll lose one of these blankets. We better find a back up pronto!
On a different subject, Maggie showed me who was boss at The Cheesecake Factory last night. She was holding her sippy cup precariously over the side of her high chair so I tried to take it from her to avoid her dropping it on the floor for the 87th time. She bellowed a blood curdling scream and ripped it from my hand (this scream is fairly new and is awful) so I let go. She then dropped the sippy cup on the floor and looks me right in the eye and says "UHHHH-OHHHH". Her future teenage years flashed right in front of my eyes in that moment.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Technicially speaking...
Like many couples these days, Erik and I had trouble getting pregnant. As in 8 years of trouble.
I clearly remember the day in 1998 when we were driving down Wadsworth Blvd in Denver and we said to each other "let's try to get pregnant" and we both agreed it was the best idea in the world and assumed that 9 months later we would be blessed with a bundle of joy. We told our family and friends - we're trying to have a baby!, I stopped drinking "just in case" I was pregnant, we did everything right...talk about naive. Month after month we discovered we were in fact NOT pregnant and saw all of our friends having 1, 2, 3 kids and we were still trying. We used to joke "you guys are going to have your 2nd before we have our 1st - ha ha ha!!!" Such jokesters we were. To make a very long story short since anyone who reads this blog knows the boring details, suffice it to say we had many procedures and tests in the 8 years of trying to conceive.
So imagine how shocked we were when, in 2006, I actually GOT and STAYED pregnant.
Now we are faced with the questions - do we tell Maggie how she came to be or just let it go since probably most of her friends as she gets older will have similar stories. Does she need to know that Mommy and Daddy weren't even in the same room when it happened? Does she need to know that she was sort of named after the Maggiano's bag that Daddy dropped off his sample in (TMI?)? Yes, we like to say it was after her Great Grandmother Margaret but secretly we know...
Considering my reason for writing this blog in the first place was so one day I could give it to Maggie as a gift that she would hopefully appreciate, I think I have made my decision to tell her where babies come from (in her case). In her version of the story the stork will be played by Dr. Cook. 'When Mommy and Daddy love each other very much' will be replaced with "Daddy went to the doctor's office very early in the morning and then had to get to work before Mommy showed up..." and the part where we talk about how surprised we were to find out we were pregnant will be described more like "Dr. Cook told us we could take a test on July 27th so of course we took one on July 25th..."
So her story is a little more technical than most but the end result is the same - in fact I believe it is a bit sweeter. Maggie is our little miracle baby. Yes, I complain about the fact that she has very little patience and gets frustrated very easily but for all we know, it was that feisty spirit of hers is how she blessed us with her presence 96 months later.
I clearly remember the day in 1998 when we were driving down Wadsworth Blvd in Denver and we said to each other "let's try to get pregnant" and we both agreed it was the best idea in the world and assumed that 9 months later we would be blessed with a bundle of joy. We told our family and friends - we're trying to have a baby!, I stopped drinking "just in case" I was pregnant, we did everything right...talk about naive. Month after month we discovered we were in fact NOT pregnant and saw all of our friends having 1, 2, 3 kids and we were still trying. We used to joke "you guys are going to have your 2nd before we have our 1st - ha ha ha!!!" Such jokesters we were. To make a very long story short since anyone who reads this blog knows the boring details, suffice it to say we had many procedures and tests in the 8 years of trying to conceive.
So imagine how shocked we were when, in 2006, I actually GOT and STAYED pregnant.
Now we are faced with the questions - do we tell Maggie how she came to be or just let it go since probably most of her friends as she gets older will have similar stories. Does she need to know that Mommy and Daddy weren't even in the same room when it happened? Does she need to know that she was sort of named after the Maggiano's bag that Daddy dropped off his sample in (TMI?)? Yes, we like to say it was after her Great Grandmother Margaret but secretly we know...
Considering my reason for writing this blog in the first place was so one day I could give it to Maggie as a gift that she would hopefully appreciate, I think I have made my decision to tell her where babies come from (in her case). In her version of the story the stork will be played by Dr. Cook. 'When Mommy and Daddy love each other very much' will be replaced with "Daddy went to the doctor's office very early in the morning and then had to get to work before Mommy showed up..." and the part where we talk about how surprised we were to find out we were pregnant will be described more like "Dr. Cook told us we could take a test on July 27th so of course we took one on July 25th..."
So her story is a little more technical than most but the end result is the same - in fact I believe it is a bit sweeter. Maggie is our little miracle baby. Yes, I complain about the fact that she has very little patience and gets frustrated very easily but for all we know, it was that feisty spirit of hers is how she blessed us with her presence 96 months later.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Girls Weekend
Marilou came into town from Denver to visit us for Memorial Day weekend. Maggie immediately reached out for her to pick her up as soon as she met her as if she thought she had finally found her real mother. With her blonde hair and blue eyes, Maggie looks more like Marilou than either Erik or me. It was the beginning of a good weekend since I didn't have to worry about getting Maggie to warm up to our guest.
As soon as Erik heard Marilou was coming to town he decided it was a girl's weekend and he needed to turn up the testosterone. So he drank beer and watched a movie in the basement Friday night, drank beer and watched hockey on Saturday and drank beer and went to the horse races on Sunday. I'm not sure why he doesn't want to hear about all of the gossip from our days of working together 5 years ago for the 10th time. Who wouldn't enjoy that?
On Saturday just the girls went to DC and had a nearly perfect day. Looking back we could have made it more perfect by letting Maggie play a little rather than getting her up from a nap, putting her in a carseat, putting her in a stroller and expecting her to be happy all day long. Poor thing was fed puffs all day long to keep her happy when all she really wanted to do was play in the grass. But regardless it was a beautiful day outside and Maggie was 90% good. The other 10% I would be unhappy too.
We were all sad to see Marilou leave on Sunday and Maggie cried real tears all the way home. Sorry honey, maybe you can go on Maury Povich someday to find out if she IS your mother. For now you're stuck with your brown hair/brown-eyed parents.
As soon as Erik heard Marilou was coming to town he decided it was a girl's weekend and he needed to turn up the testosterone. So he drank beer and watched a movie in the basement Friday night, drank beer and watched hockey on Saturday and drank beer and went to the horse races on Sunday. I'm not sure why he doesn't want to hear about all of the gossip from our days of working together 5 years ago for the 10th time. Who wouldn't enjoy that?
On Saturday just the girls went to DC and had a nearly perfect day. Looking back we could have made it more perfect by letting Maggie play a little rather than getting her up from a nap, putting her in a carseat, putting her in a stroller and expecting her to be happy all day long. Poor thing was fed puffs all day long to keep her happy when all she really wanted to do was play in the grass. But regardless it was a beautiful day outside and Maggie was 90% good. The other 10% I would be unhappy too.
We were all sad to see Marilou leave on Sunday and Maggie cried real tears all the way home. Sorry honey, maybe you can go on Maury Povich someday to find out if she IS your mother. For now you're stuck with your brown hair/brown-eyed parents.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Selfish me
The times they are a-changing...
I read all of these articles about how to find yourself after having a baby, to make sure you still have "me" time, not to let your life be all about the baby, etc. etc etc...
I have to wonder, does this even apply anymore or do I just live in a rose-colored world? Are there really husbands out there anymore that don't do anything around the house, don't help with the kids, don't allow their wives to have their "me" time etc etc etc???
I had a pedicure the other day. No, it was not a special occasion, I just had a pedicure. I have been known to sneak off to the mall when Maggie goes to bed. In fact, I did last night and now I am obsessing about a pair of sandals that Nordstrom no longer has in my size in any of their stores (and to top it off, NO ONE carries the canary yellow Steve Madden sandals that I NEED). Thanks to Tivo I never miss an episode of Lost, The Office, Top Chef, Jon & Kate + 8 (I like to see how good I really have it!). AND...I have enough babysitters available at any given time that I could feasibly go find myself for a month and never have to worry that she was in good hands. No, I would not do that, but, YES, I do take advantage of that luxury that I have.
Yes, my life does revolve around Maggie, my family and making it as perfect as it can be but, NO, I am not sacrificing myself in the process because what good is that to her as a role model?
I want Maggie to feel comfortable staying at Gramma's house (and know that she will be spoiled to no end while she is there) but always feel secure that I'll be there in the morning to pick her up.
I want her to know that Mommy and Daddy still have a life and still go out on dates and NEVER fight (talk about rose-colored worlds!).
I want her to know that Mommy still cares what she wears when she goes out in public and even though there's a good chance I will end up with smashed bananas on my shoulder from where you were holding onto me, that I wear that as a badge of honor and that I could really care less if the clothes are ruined...they are just things, not nearly as important as how it feels when you grab onto me to give me a hug.
And that banana would look great with those canary yellow sandals...if only I could find them...
Some updates for the book:
* Her walking is getting better and better, although she still sits down to crawl when she realizes she is crawling, she CAN walk, she just chooses not to most of the time. She's a hybrid...she's gets better gas mileage that way
* She is talking like crazy. I don't always know what she's saying but can usually figure it out with her inflection. Ba ba means about a billion different things.
* She has such a funny sense of humor and when she knows she's funny she cheers and claps until you join in.
* I was secretly watching her play with her "fridge DJ" the other day while she was sitting on the floor listening with utter fascination and everytime a song ended she would cheer and clap, then push the button for more. Priceless...of course I got the video camera too late though.
I read all of these articles about how to find yourself after having a baby, to make sure you still have "me" time, not to let your life be all about the baby, etc. etc etc...
I have to wonder, does this even apply anymore or do I just live in a rose-colored world? Are there really husbands out there anymore that don't do anything around the house, don't help with the kids, don't allow their wives to have their "me" time etc etc etc???
I had a pedicure the other day. No, it was not a special occasion, I just had a pedicure. I have been known to sneak off to the mall when Maggie goes to bed. In fact, I did last night and now I am obsessing about a pair of sandals that Nordstrom no longer has in my size in any of their stores (and to top it off, NO ONE carries the canary yellow Steve Madden sandals that I NEED). Thanks to Tivo I never miss an episode of Lost, The Office, Top Chef, Jon & Kate + 8 (I like to see how good I really have it!). AND...I have enough babysitters available at any given time that I could feasibly go find myself for a month and never have to worry that she was in good hands. No, I would not do that, but, YES, I do take advantage of that luxury that I have.
Yes, my life does revolve around Maggie, my family and making it as perfect as it can be but, NO, I am not sacrificing myself in the process because what good is that to her as a role model?
I want Maggie to feel comfortable staying at Gramma's house (and know that she will be spoiled to no end while she is there) but always feel secure that I'll be there in the morning to pick her up.
I want her to know that Mommy and Daddy still have a life and still go out on dates and NEVER fight (talk about rose-colored worlds!).
I want her to know that Mommy still cares what she wears when she goes out in public and even though there's a good chance I will end up with smashed bananas on my shoulder from where you were holding onto me, that I wear that as a badge of honor and that I could really care less if the clothes are ruined...they are just things, not nearly as important as how it feels when you grab onto me to give me a hug.
And that banana would look great with those canary yellow sandals...if only I could find them...
Some updates for the book:
* Her walking is getting better and better, although she still sits down to crawl when she realizes she is crawling, she CAN walk, she just chooses not to most of the time. She's a hybrid...she's gets better gas mileage that way
* She is talking like crazy. I don't always know what she's saying but can usually figure it out with her inflection. Ba ba means about a billion different things.
* She has such a funny sense of humor and when she knows she's funny she cheers and claps until you join in.
* I was secretly watching her play with her "fridge DJ" the other day while she was sitting on the floor listening with utter fascination and everytime a song ended she would cheer and clap, then push the button for more. Priceless...of course I got the video camera too late though.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Ollayu
Maggie pulled out all the stops yesterday. She was the opposite of the kid on our anniversary. It makes me wonder...did she read my last blog or did she just instinctively know it was Mother's Day?
She did not scream at me when I tried to do an art project with her...
She was a perfect little angel all weekend long...
We met the family at Benihana for dinner on Saturday. Maggie loves waiters and we thought an entertaining chef at the table would be exactly what would keep her attention so we could enjoy a nice dinner. And we were right, the pseudo-Asian aka Hispanic chef fascinated her...she sat there mesmerized while shoveling handful after handful of rice in her mouth. And in between bites she did her silent cheer/shake your arms as hard as you can dance to everyone across the table. Pure happiness.
But for the most exciting part of the weekend....she....are you ready for this...WALKED!!
Yes, Maggie officially walked on Mother's Day. What a gift, I couldn't have asked for anything more. She had been taking steps here and there in the days leading up to it but she really started to feel comfortable taking steps on Sunday. Or at least I choose to believe that. It's more poetic that way.
Her first test of her new skills was to walk up to the gate that Daddy just installed and shake it with all of her might. Apparently Maggie did not get the memo that anything that Daddy built, installed, hung, repaired, etc. we walk near very gingerly. When you put a towel on a towel rack in our house, you do not give it an extra tug...when you straighten a picture on the wall you barely touch it...you just never know how secure it really is. But I think the gate may have passed the safety test; Maggie gave it her seal of approval.
And to top it off, when I was putting her to bed last night I told her to give Daddy a kiss goodnight and she gave him a kiss and said "OLLAYU". And if that is not I love you I don't know what is!
Thank you Maggie for making my 2nd Mother's day the 2nd best ever. Now if you would give ME those kisses and say OLLAYU to ME once in a while we'd be golden. But just hearing it is good enough for me...for now....
She did not run away from me when I tried to change her diaper...
She did not scream at me when I tried to do an art project with her...
She was a perfect little angel all weekend long...
We met the family at Benihana for dinner on Saturday. Maggie loves waiters and we thought an entertaining chef at the table would be exactly what would keep her attention so we could enjoy a nice dinner. And we were right, the pseudo-Asian aka Hispanic chef fascinated her...she sat there mesmerized while shoveling handful after handful of rice in her mouth. And in between bites she did her silent cheer/shake your arms as hard as you can dance to everyone across the table. Pure happiness.
But for the most exciting part of the weekend....she....are you ready for this...WALKED!!
Yes, Maggie officially walked on Mother's Day. What a gift, I couldn't have asked for anything more. She had been taking steps here and there in the days leading up to it but she really started to feel comfortable taking steps on Sunday. Or at least I choose to believe that. It's more poetic that way.
Her first test of her new skills was to walk up to the gate that Daddy just installed and shake it with all of her might. Apparently Maggie did not get the memo that anything that Daddy built, installed, hung, repaired, etc. we walk near very gingerly. When you put a towel on a towel rack in our house, you do not give it an extra tug...when you straighten a picture on the wall you barely touch it...you just never know how secure it really is. But I think the gate may have passed the safety test; Maggie gave it her seal of approval.
And to top it off, when I was putting her to bed last night I told her to give Daddy a kiss goodnight and she gave him a kiss and said "OLLAYU". And if that is not I love you I don't know what is!
Thank you Maggie for making my 2nd Mother's day the 2nd best ever. Now if you would give ME those kisses and say OLLAYU to ME once in a while we'd be golden. But just hearing it is good enough for me...for now....
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