Jump 'n' Jivin'

The Cousins went on a little trip to Jump Street today with Grandma, Aunt Susie and Sandra. I'm supposing by the excited way she announced it to me as she walked in the door this evening that she and Blake had fun. They have such a sweet relationship and Maggie always looks forward to the days they get to play together :)

Check out Grandma's video below:

1st Dress Rehearsal

I am in hopes that a copy of the actual show will be in our possession soon (and that I can rip Maggie's recital off of it), but until then, here is Maggie's 1st Dance Recital number. This is from dress rehearsal the day before.

Maggie's Royal Birthday

All the Princesses and Knights of the realm attended the 4th birthday of Princess Maggie today.

I think we can safely say this was the most involved party thus far, mainly because of the costumes my mom made (it is not a trend I plan to continue). Maggie began 'casting' her party months ago, and manged to get pretty much all of us into a costume of some sort. She drew her party inspiration from The Sword in the Stone, as well as from her favorite princess stories. For the record, Maggie chose the color of her castle - Nana and I were planning to go more traditional in our interpretation, but the girl wanted a pink castle, and it was her birthday, so a pink castle she got. I think it's safe to say that's the last cardboard castle Nana and I plan to build. Ever.

Princess Maggie had a blast, was thrilled to have a 'real' princess dress, and loved seeing all her friends. And just like Christmas, even though they played the games I had planned, the kids all preferred the cardboard box castle :)

And here is an overall video Grandma the Fairy Godmother took:

Dancin' Queen

Well. Color us surprised!

After Maggie's lackluster participation in her school's nativity play the day before, we were not expecting much cooperation from her at the Christmas dance recital this morning. Jorde and I anticipated being the parents with the child that stood still (and possibly cried) during the routine.

What we weren't prepared for was awesomeness!

Just when I think I've got her figured out, Maggie surprises me. Again. You'd think I'd learn :)

              Maggie, 
                      Mommy and Daddy are so very proud of you! Even though you were 
              a little scared, you stood up in front of the audience and danced with your class.
             You were an amazing dancer! Good job, Bug.
                                                                                 Love,
                                                                                  Mommy & Daddy

Hey Diddle Diddle

Maggie and I have been reciting this poem for quite some time now. I was so thrilled that Grandma was able to get it on video (you may remember that Maggie is not always cooperative about performing for a camera).

So without further ado, may I present Maggie reciting the classic children's poem "Hey Diddle Diddle"

Maggie's 1st Recording Session

She's gonna be a star! :)

Reading with Grandma

I think I have mentioned before that Maggie loves books. Her favorite thing to do is climb in your lap umpteen times in a row, each time with a different book to 'ree'.

This is one of Maggie's top picks:

The Doodle & The Mouse

Maggie met Mickey Mouse yesterday. We had driven to my mom's that morning, and after breakfast she asked Maggie, "Do you want to go see Mickey Mouse today?" Normally, the girl answers "no" to everything, but she stopped and pondered that question before nodding once emphatically and saying "Yes!".

So, of course, I dressed her up in her birthday outfit, complete with ears, and off we went to meet The Mouse.

I was a little concerned when we got there and were told that, at our place in line, we had an hour and half wait. I didn't know if I had it in me to wait that long, much less Maggie, but we were determined to give it our best try.

I gotta give it to the Disney Store people: they were all unfailingly polite, made sincere conversation with all of us waiting in line, and had the whole "Meet Mickey Mouse" thing down to an art form. That line moved.

(For the record, we were told our wait would be about an hour and half, and we meet Mickey at the one hour and twenty-three minute mark.)

Maggie was completely thrilled the first time she got a glimpse of Mickey - she was actually twitching with excitement and grinning from ear to ear.

Minnie Mouse was there also, and she and Mickey would switch off every 30 minutes, and when Mickey left, Maggie put her hands to her mouth and called to him "Bi-ckey! Bi-ckey!"

I'm sure he would have heeded her call had he only heard her :)

By the time it was our turn, Mickey was back on stage. The hilarious thing is, Maggie was pulling at me, trying to free her arm so she could run across the stage, and once I let her go, she turned around, saw how big he was, and hit the brakes. The girl would not move! Mickey was very sweet, and got down to her level, but she was having nothing of him - she even pushed him away at one point. No high 5's, no fist bumps, nothing. She totally left Mickey hanging {smile}

Once our turn was over and we were heading off the other side of the stage, she started pulling against me again, and didn't want to go down the stairs, trying so hard to get back to Mickey. I think if she had had more time to acclimate, she would have hugged and kissed Mickey all day long, but it was all so fast, she just didn't have the chance to settle down. The smile on her face was worth it, though - she obviously had a good time.

Afterwards, we went to check out the Disney Store, where my girl became enthralled with a 3-tier display of stuffed Disney characters, topped by a propeller that swung buckets of those stuffed animals high overhead. She kept running around and around, pulling out a doll and saying "Yook! Bickey!" or "Yook! Dondull!" (Donald Duck) or "Yook! Manny!" She ended up choosing Handy Manny, so Nana bought her one to take home.

All of that excitement wiped her out, and she crashed not 5 minutes later.

Mommy and Nana crashed for an hour or so once we got back to the house. A fun and exhausting day for all!

Later in the evening, Maggie and Manny had tea and cupcakes :)

PS: Today she has talked about "Big Bickey" ... maybe next time she gets the chance to meet him, we should better prepare her for his size :)

Happy Birthday to Maggie

Even though Maggie had a fun ole birthday party, we still had family-only dinner and cake on the actual day. I just couldn't let that day go by unacknowledged. This video is of us singing to her ... I love her grin :)

Maggie the Music Maker (in training)

Our girl loves music. Singing it, making it, dancing to it, Maggie enjoys it all. One of the things we gave her for Christmas was a little Mickey Mouse drum with sticks, maracas, harmonica, recorder and a clapper inside. Maggie’s favorites are the recorder and the drum. Tonight, she made her very first “drum kit”: 1 drum head and 1 empty mint tin. She would bang on one, then the other, then back to the first, and so on, making her own little beat. It was brilliant.

Maggie also enjoys playing guitars with Daddy. She has a grand ole time strumming those strings from top to bottom, making all the different sounds she can.

Also fun are the knobs and switches, though (warning!) this can happen:

I suppose accidents come with the territory with an almost-2 year old :) I’m glad our Doodle Bug enjoys music so much. Hopefully it will make those mandatory piano lessons 3 years from now fun :)

Two

Maggie is getting ready for her 2nd birthday which is coming up in a little less than 2 months. I love how she does her fingers when she shows you "2".

The Girl Likes Dirt

This just goes to show that, though Maggie may look like me, she's got her daddy in there somewhere, because I would never get my hands dirty as a child. Or as an adult. It's an issue I have :)

I Stuck!

Blue Sand Equals Messy Fun

Maggie got to spend Monday with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa bought her blue sand.

Thankfully, the grandparents sent her home clean and de-sanded :)

The Squealer

You can always tell when Maggie is having extreme amounts of fun. All that squealing just gives it away!




The sound of pure joy :)

The Sound That Makes a Daddy Happy

I believe this is Hubby's favorite childhood song ... because his last name starts with "W". He has been singing it to Maggie almost since the moment she arrived (or at least once we started recovering from newborn sleep deprivation). He was tickled pink when she finally started imitating the sounds:

(video courtesy of Grandma Webb)

The W Song

Oh what is the letter we love?

What sound are we extra fond of?

It's not any trouble, you know it's a W

When you hear "wu-wu-wu-wu"

That's Grandma you hear, by the way. I'm sure she'll be delighted about her national singing debut :)

A New Non-Issue

Do y'all remember me telling you that Maggie doesn't like grass? She didn't want to stand or sit in it, and if you got her near it, she would try to scale you like King Kong on the Empire State Building. The only time we were ever able to get her on grass without all the drama was at her birthday party in April, and I think she did it only because Jack, Norah and Hailey were all on the grass and were surviving just fine. Heck, they were having fun!

Apparently peer pressure works from a young age.

Anyway ... it's never been an issue with Hubby or me, really, and we just figured it's grass, she'll get over it. And apparently, she has.

While grass to Maggie was like kryptonite to Superman, she can now walk about it without crying or trying to climb the nearest adult like a rock wall.

This video shows when Maggie first got on the grass the other evening. She just stood there or turned in a circle, but we didn't have drama and it was deemed a successful venture. Later, though, she was pulling Grandma outside to go look at the flowers ... the flowers she voluntarily crossed grass to get to.

The things we celebrate as parents ... she makes our lives so fun :)

Water Baby

Hubby’s band had a gig Friday night at Tempe Marketplace, so Maggie finally got to see her Daddy perform. With the exception of church, Hubby’s usual venue is a bar of some sort and Maggie doesn’t yet have the proper ID to enter those establishments. Not to mention the fact that bedtime for Maggie is usually when the show starts for Hubby, and really, she’s just not that sociable when tired and in need of milk.

The fun thing about the gig on Friday was the splash pad. I had never been to one – so of course, neither had Maggie. It took her a few minutes to warm up to it, but I think she enjoyed herself.

It was also nice because dang … it was muggy, and that water felt good. All that were missing were mosquitos and lightning bugs to make it an Alabama evening.

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All in all, I think the girl had a good time. And so did I … though I think the flashing lights around the water may have damaged my retinas.

(video courtesy of Grandma Webb)

...And Away We Go!

Just a little clip showing the newest crawler and newest walker from our Friday night dinner group. Ty and Maggie were so cute together, although Maggie wasn't the best of hosts that evening. Apparently the ability to walk trumps everything and everyone right now because we saw her mostly as she ran up and down the hallway.

As a side note: Kelly (Ty's mom) and I have Maggie and Ty married off ... after college at Auburn or Notre Dame, of course.

This whole walking thing is turning into quite the adventure. We have an exposed step that Maggie fell off of last night before I could get to her*, I'm worried she's going to think her name is "No-No Maggie" due to the number of times she hears that every day, and I'm pretty sure her feet are going to be permanently stained black, no matter how many times we sweep and mop the floors.

*Do y'all have a solution for that? I can't find a baby gate that accommodates an exposed bottom step.

We have had more tears since she has started walking than in her life, I believe, and not just from the bumps and falls. Her little 'tude has started to emerge and if she feels she is being held for too long, she wiggles and squirms and fusses. Fusses! My Maggie! Unbelievable. Where did my little cuddler go? Oh yeah. She got a taste of independence and took off.

*sigh* It's always going to be like this as a mother, isn't it? Celebrating their accomplishments while mourning the little losses of mommy-dependence.

Maybe it's one reason we have more children, to feel that total dependence from those sweet little babes again ... not that I'm ready yet. Not ready. Not.

Just want to be clear about that.

Maggie & 'Mo

Maggie is so enamored of our kitties. Much to their joy - ha! Chloe and Cosmo are both really good with Maggie, actually, though I think Cosmo sometimes wishes she didn't love him quite so much. She enjoys chasing him around and squealing with delight when she catches up to him, and Gump-kitty* that he is, he runs and runs but never thinks to go UP, like onto the back of the recliner or the sofa, where she can't reach him. Ah well ... it is entertaining!

*Gump-kitty: dumb as a box of rocks but super-duper sweet (it's one of Cosmo's many nicknames)

We are teaching Maggie to pet the kitties gently, as opposed to pulling their fur out. Here's a little video of Maggie, Daddy and Cosmo ... you gotta admit: Maggie listens pretty well for a wee one, and Cosmo is infinitely patient with her. Either that or he wants lovin' on so badly I think he's just willing to put up with a lot!