Seen and Heard

I'm stealing this blog topic from my friend Patria. Patria is the best at posting seen and heards about her kids - I always soak them up! Maggie's language is exploding and I don't want to forget this special time so here we go...

Heard: Maggie trying to push her play stroller past Lita (grandma) and with a little bit of impatience said "way",  meaning "get out of the way". Of course, in the nicest way possible coming from a toddler :-) She is becoming more clear with what she wants and we're hearing a few 2- and 3-word sentences spill out.

Seen: waking and sitting up in bed in the dark and being such a happy girl after a good night's sleep. With Christmas come and past, Maggie has acquired new shoes and she especially likes the pale pink patent leather mary janes and the Wizard of Oz Dorothy red glitter mary janes. She almost immediately runs to her shoe basket to look for them after waking and wants to put them on. She also likes to clomp around the house in my shoes or tell me what shoes to put on.

Heard: little screams of delight when she sees something that excites her. There has been a lot of this over the past week.

Seen: getting ready for bed with Duke and Howey. Duke is Maggie's new stuffed huskie dog that my sister's family got her. She loved him instantly and we taught her that Duke is Howey's dad and Howey is the baby. She lovingly hugged each dog before bed the other night, one by one, giving them kisses on their snout. Each dog now has a special place under her arms. She also likes to feed them her milk from her sippy before bed. It's unbelievably cute to watch.
 
Heard: Michael or I saying 1 or uno (which she will not say in either language) and Maggie following with 2-3-2 after 1 and dos after uno. She will also recite numbers 1-10 in Spanish with me. Her 2-3-2 is used in lots of ways, like before she takes off for a run while playing or counting things.
 
Seen: Maggie riding in her friend AJ's motorized jeep. It's a 2-seater and they cruise around our court in it like they are going on a date!
 
Heard: Maggie is really loving with her friends, so lots of hugs and kisses. I witnessed AJ and Maggie giving a kiss to eachother as we were leaving and AJ pulled away and said something like "ooh, that was wet!" Uh-oh...
 
Heard: reading to us in bed when usually we read to her and she dictates who reads what. She babbled about each page she turned to and she got some of the characters and storyline right! More unbelievable cuteness.

Comical Christmas

What a nutty week. I woke up yesterday amused by the craziness happening around me. Maybe I was amused because not only are these things out of my control, they are happening Christmas week when you want everything to go as planned. I've been listening to David Sedaris and his commentary is hilarious. It's put me in a good mood because it reminds me that crazy funny stuff happens to us all and it is what makes life lively.

Maggie caught a stomach bug. I've been thankful to be with her so much this week as I originally planned on working an extra day but it didn't feel right. I wanted to be home. Hubby also caught the bug and hearing him vomit in the dark is not something I enjoy. My poor family - I'm hoping I don't get sick and that we have a peaceful holiday. We had to cancel a few things but it was needed. Really, how many fun events can you cram into one week? Sometimes it's too much.

I baked this year. Not something I usually do around Christmas. It seems everyone around me baked too. I've felt energized by it knowing that my friends and family are all out there in their kitchens enjoying the holiday in this way. I had a major winner - Florentine bars. I clipped the recipe from a Sunset magazine. The picture in the recipe looked so yummy and the author said that when she didn't bake them one year for Christmas, she never heard the end of it. They are shortbread bars with a honey-coated mixture of almonds and dried fruit on top. I made almond macaroons for work that turned out tasty but dense. It's basically a mouthful of marzipan. They definitely need a cup of tea or coffee to go with.

Maggie is feeling much better but she had the biggest blow-out of her little life today. Thank goodness I'm prepared for the most part when we go out. This one required a shower afterwards :-)

I'm not mailing Christmas cards this year. Just didn't feel up to it. This has definitely been a year in my life where I'm making choices and decisions that are true for myself and my family. It's been a really good thing. Here are some shots from our family holiday shoot. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Gold and Green

I've been caught up with the holiday season and it's been wonderful. When I find myself getting a little run down that's when I go to sleep early or take a nap.

Knitting has taken a backseat. I just don't feel that interested in it, even though I would love some new handknits for myself during these winter months. I don't have much time for my own crafts as a mom; now that time is devoted to other things including devising toddler crafts. When I'm not tending to Maggie, I'm at work, doing endless errands, spending quality time with hubby, or sleeping. I hope my desire to knit comes back but I'm liking this break and it felt good to finally give in to it.

We visited the snow for the first time this season. I always like to take the time to just check it out before we make a ski day committment. I know, funny. Went up to Hope Valley/Sorenson's, a special place for us-home to where we got married. 

Maggie had fun, but she wasn't as thrilled with the snow as I thought she'd be. I imagined her frolicking through the snow but it was more like "Mom, I'm cold, you have me in an oversized pink snowsuit and boots, I hate wearing hats, and I just don't like this!" Stomp, stomp. 

It was a very peaceful drive which I appreciated. Lost in my thoughts, taking in the perfect snowy scenery. One of those get-away perfect days.

Maggie has officially sat on Santa's lap and in her Scottish plaid jumper to boot. She was hesitant at first but after seeing candy canes, she was putty in his lap :-) Wish I could share a picture but I haven't seen them myself! They are in the mail or soon to be...we did the free church picture during a busy street faire. While in the hustle and bustle on the street, Maggie was running around and a guy took one look at her and said, "That's a lot of plaid." At least I think that's what he said. Maybe he was referring to my outfit and said "That's a lot of black." Anyways, I laughed to myself. I remember my niece wearing this jumper at Christmas and it seemed like the perfect outfit for such an occasion.

I'm scrambling to put together presents and get ready for next week's busyness. I've got my weekend carefully planned out in order to maximize my efficiency with shopping, baking, cooking, and socializing. My present giving this year is heartfelt and creative and I'm looking for "green" wrapping ideas. Please share if you have any tips!

20 months and more

I gave Maggie her 3rd mini haircut. She keeps needing length taken off the top, sides, and bangs. It was a quick cut with my cheapy Sally Beauty Supply scizzors on the bathroom counter, just long enough to keep her distracted. It's cute, with a touch of mullet.

Allergies mild and continuing...dairy, wheat/gluten, wool, or just crazy parents making a big deal out of nothing? I've felt like a really lame detective.

Maggie isn't babbling so much anymore; instead it's lots of mimicking and talking. She can repeat her numbers in Spanish (1-10) after me. Those come out much clearer than her English numbers, but she is in love with "two" and "three". She said "Bye Nana" and "Adios!" as family left on Thanksgiving. It's really cool to hear her repeat most anything now and her pronounciation is getting much clearer. There are still lots of things she says that only a few of us understand.

Her favorite show is "Peep" - trying to keep that one under control :-) She loves to draw and I'm excited to be getting a few toddler play books soon. Activities save us! I scored a bunch of maps from work that are huge and only printed on one side. They will make great art paper for paint and anything else I can come up with.

Thanksgiving was wonderful - loved ones at our house in the chilly sunny weather to enjoy a potluck-style dinner. LOTS of food, happy faces, and great attitudes. I cooked my first turkey - a 25 pounder! Enough to give leftovers to everyone and we used our wedding china (given to us from a family friend that were gently used from her marriage) for the first time in 4 years!

Other Maggie facts at 20 months:
-takes routine long naps and sleeps through the night (it's been pretty good since turning 1)
-well mannered and says "Please" and "Thank you" correctly in her tiny soft voice
-fiery (with me at least) pretty often, a doll with others
-independent, likes to clean and use utensils by herself
-likes to make friends
-great in the car (as opposed to not so great from 0-1 yrs)

Maggie has many people in her life that have fallen in love with her from the minute they've met her and would do anything for her. It's really true. I can't imagine life without Maggie. She inspires me to have more kiddos (husband willing), no matter how hard it can be to be a parent sometimes. Just like hosting Thanksgiving, it's a lot of work but so worth it! he he

Thankful

Maggie went the week without dairy in her diet and by the weekend her allergic reactions were trickling away. So, we've introduced dairy slowly back into her diet and it's not affecting her. Hmm...

Last week was nuts, this week is much more peaceful. Just spent the morning with my sis and niece -a little shopping, storytime, and Indian food. Good times.

We needed helping hands this week with childcare and I was ever so grateful that our new friend who moved nearby started up a small childcare at her home and got licensed last week. We were lucky to get to know her and her daughter, who is 2 weeks older than Maggie, the past few months and now, have her watch Maggie on short notice. It was a relief! We had other childcare set up but this was a better fit. Maggie loved being there, and knowing that makes all the difference when you aren't with your child.

We're prepping for turkey day. It's our first time hosting Thanksgiving at our house and I'm excited to have our families over. Happy Thanksgiving to my family and friends near and far!

Allergies

Finishing Day 3 of our home science experiment. After a few rashy weeks of observing Maggie deal with some sort of allergy, we've narrowed it down but are still taking a guess. She's been off dairy this week and it seems to be helping clear up the rash, or at least keep the rash attacks from returning. Back in September, we thought it was mangoes. Whatever it is, she breaks out in an itchy rash and gets puffy red eyes. We're seriously trying to figure this out after taking her to her doctor a couple times and confirming what we already knew...that it's pretty hard to figure allergies out. They come and go. Allergy tests don't always tell the true story. So, it's really up to us to figure this out and we're on the case!

Maggie has never liked drinking milk like I see some toddlers drink it. I'd say we push it much more than she actually drinks it and the little containers of whole milk that I've brought home for her never get used up fast enough. She does like cheese, butter, and yogurt though. I've been pushing full-fat dairy on her a lot lately, thinking it was a good fat source, but I feel like I've been put in my place. Was she trying to tell us something all along?

Michael feels otherwise, but I'd hate to find out that our sweet cat Lily is causing the fuss. It's a possibility, we haven't ruled it out yet, but unlikely since Maggie hasn't always reacted this way and we've had Lily around the whole time. She loves animals too, wouldn't that be so sad?

Wish us luck and leave a comment if you have recommendations!