Wednesday, June 9, 2010

June 9, 2010

Wow, today was interesting. Maggie is almost better. I feel for her. She has a lingering cough and it's not the kind where you need to cough something up. It's the kind where you are just coughing. That seal bark-type cough that makes your head, your throat, even your face hurt. So I know she doesn't feel so hot.

But good Lord has she been whiny today. Very, very whiny. While we went to a doctor appointment (for me), she was rubbing her eyes, staring off into space, all the classic signs of a sleepy baby. When we got home she asked for cheese, which I gladly gave her and put her to bed. She spent the next 45 minutes just fussing, refusing to sleep. Never really crying, just whining. I was trying to be strong, to get her back into the habit of taking an afternoon nap but good Lord.

So I go get her and she's hungry. She ate like a freaking horse today. Seriously she ate like 5 or 6 full meals. So I feed her again and we start playing. Then I decide to clean for a few minutes before we go outside. I get out the vacuum and Maggie is terrified of it, unless I hold her while I do it. I guess we either only vacuum when she's sleeping (usually) or Richard is doing it and I take her to the other room. She just stood there and screamed and cried. So I'd turn it off and go get her but she was still scared. I guess I need to keep vacuuming in her presence.

So after I finish, she's just standing there with red eyes, staring off into space. So I grab her and put her back to bed. She screams once and passes out. Victory!

For about 10 minutes. I can't do the crying out thing again so I immediately go get her. This time I let her watch TV. She was still super whiny but it was much better. We watched the end of Up. We've been watching it since she was diagnosed with croup. It was so cute. What a great kid movie. She actually laughed during it. I wonder what is was that she found funny. It was so cute I just laughed with her. Actually the whole thing was nice. I held her in my lap while she watched and we cuddled. All in all, a pretty good day.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

June 8, 2010

Today was a much better day. Maggie is feeling so much better. I only gave her Tylenol a couple of times and other than that she was bright and sunny and perfect. As soon as I went and got her this morning, she seemed like her old self. Happy, energetic, smiling.

She took two morning naps back to back (this bug has made her quite tired). Then we went to the grocery store and she was perfectly good.

We played in the backyard for a little while and that was nice. It's a gorgeous sunny day and quite hot. But we have lots of shade in our backyard, so it was nice.

This afternoon she was very whiny. She wanted her Daddy so bad. She kept asking me, go get Daddy? I called him and let her talk to him but she kept crying. So Richard left work to come see her. They are laying down in our room now.

Maggie plays this game where she holds both of my hands and claps them together. She thinks it's so funny. I love watching her laugh while she does it.

Monday, June 7, 2010

June 7, 2010

Maggie is sick and it sucks. This is definitely the sickest she's ever been. She has croup and she has been crying and whining nonstop for the past two days. And while it is annoying, mostly it just stinks that she feels so bad and there is nothing I can do to help her feel better.

Today we looked for freckles on Mommy, which she loves to do. I have one on the palm of my hand that she always notices if she sees my palm and has to touch. Then I show her other freckles.

The one good thing about her being sick is how much she'll let me hold her and cuddle her. I put her on my lap and she lays her head on my chest and it's just amazing. I love her so much.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

March 11

Today I heard you in your room before I went and got you. You were running your hands (I guess) across the slats of your crib like a prisoner. You were talking the second I walked in the door. You are always so excited to be awake and start your day. Good Lord if I could only steal just a little of your energy.

I had Open House night at my school today so I had an hour and a half to burn before I went back up to the school. Thank goodness Nana lives about 10 minutes from my work so I can just go over there during any long breaks. You were so happy and showing me all of your toys and books. We played and laughed. You called me silly which cracks me up.

You tried to steal my food. You tricked me into getting you more food, which you refused to eat. You didn't want more of your food, you just wanted some of my food.

You were also pretty tired. I put you down for a nap and then turned on what I thought was the noise maker. After about 15-20 minutes of silence, we heard you in there and I went in got you. That's when I realized I had turned on a little space heater (to high!) that was blowing right on you. No wonder you couldn't sleep. Sorry about that.

Now you are in bed asleep and I didn't get to put you there. Your Daddy came and got you and he brought you home and put you to bed. I hate missing your night routine. We "clean" up your toys (we're sort of just now kinda learning), brush your teeth, wash your face, get in jammies and a clean diaper, read books, sing and rock. I don't know when this goes away but I don't want miss any of it because I will so miss it when it's gone.

Friday, March 5, 2010

March 5

This morning I overslept so your Daddy got up to go get you ready. Every morning you tell/ask me, "Daddy sleeping," and I say, "Yes, Daddy is sleeping." So I thought you would be excited to see that Daddy was up with you and you were until you saw me. And then you reached for me and kicked your little feet. It was pretty cute. Daddy gave us kisses and sent us on our way.

Because I was running late, I just handed you off to Nana and left (I always go inside and get you situated). I kissed you and told you I loved you but you still looked kinda shocked when I left. I know you won't remember this but I'm sorry. I was super late.

We went to the park again this afternoon. You are just so cute. You weren't scared this time. You just ran around. You went up to some kids but most were bigger than you and you couldn't really keep up. You really wanted to go see the big kids playing football but there was no way.

I think you were tired because you got pretty clingy a couple of times. You were scared of the baby swing. Well, at first, you like it but then you were scared.

We ran an errand before the park and you refused to walk. You are so used to be held all the time that any time we try to get you to walk, it's a big deal. You stomp up and down and put your hands up and your lip out. So far that's pretty successful for you.

You are spending a long time eating dinner which is fine. Your Daddy and I have a puzzle set up at the dining table so I work on the puzzle while you work on your food and we sing and make silly noises at each other. Tonight I didn't even realize it was your bed time.

We brushed your teeth. You are so good about that. We sing a song while we do (This is way we brush our teeth, brush our teeth, brush our teeth. . .) it and you love the song. Now you are asleep. I miss you. I love you.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

March 3

I took you to the park for the first time today. It was quite fun. For the first 10 or 15 minutes I squatted on the ground with you in my arms. You were standing but you had your arms around me and I had my arms around you. And you just watched everything that was happening. Then you would take a step away and then come back. We did that a few times and then you were fine.

You ran around. You didn't go on any of the equipment or socialize with any of the kids but boy did you have fun. You just ran in circles and yelled and looked at everything. You did try to steal a donut from a little boy. His mom offered you the donut but I declined. As your Dad said,"We don't want to encourage thievery."

When it was time to go you were unhappy. You cried,"Grass, grass." I guess you wanted to play in the grass more.

You are still quite the sock terrorist. Every afternoon you strip your socks off. Today I just reached in to the back seat and asked for the socks. You handed them over although you seemed a little upset about it.

You are so sweet. You come up to me and tell me something, I'm never quite sure what. Well sometimes it's clear, sometimes not so much. Your little face is always so happy and loving.

We have invented a couple of games. One is for you to make a sound and then I quickly imitate it. And then you smile at me and make a little face so I know you are about to make a sound again. You get so excited to play and give me these sly little looks.

In another game you bring me a green toy that can be wound up and will buzz. You hand me the toy and say, "Thank you." I say, "Thank you," wind it up and toss it across the floor. Sometimes you go retrieve (once it's stopped buzzing) it and bring it back and we start over.

In another game we look for your toys by calling for them, "Elmo? Where are you?" or "Hippo?" We walk all through the house and call for your toys. You think this is so funny.

You are trying to learn your ABCs. For not quite 18 months you do pretty well and you are always excited to try. You love to sing Rock-a-bye baby and Rain, rain, go away. I love it when you sing.

You also love to dance. Any time any music comes on, even for a minute, you dance. You kinda float your arms around and twirl and bounce squat.

Basically my dear you are perfect. I love you. I love you. I love you.

Monday, November 23, 2009

14 months

Dear Maggie,

Oh my goodness you are growing up so fast. It's insane. Part of me wants you to slow down but the bigger you get the more fun we have together. It's bittersweet.

You are so big. At your 12 month check-up you weighed about 16.5 pounds. Grandpa and Grandmo took you to get the second half of your flu shot a few weeks ago and you weighed 19.5 pounds. You are quite tall and have a big belly and chubby little legs.

You are finally walking around. Now that you realize it's easier to hold on to things (which you love to do) while walking you've decided that's what you'll do. You look so proud when you walk. You lean back like a cowboy and kinda saunter around. It's so precious.

You can feed yourself with your fingers. It took a while but you finally did it. I knew you could since you had all the prerequisite skills (picking small things up, bringing your hand to your mouth), you just wouldn't. So I consulted the trusty Dr. Spock and left you alone with your food for five minutes at the beginning of each meal. You fed yourself the second time we did that. Now we are starting to work on using a spoon.

You have lots of little tricks you do. You still do 'so big,' although you only put up one hand. Perhaps you are trying to say,"Well, I'm not THAT big." You show us your pretty hair, ears, eyes and nose. You can point out those same things on most pictures of animals. You recognize pictures of dogs and cats. When the cats walk by you you say, "Meow." You know Gogo's name and say, "Gooo. . . go."

You know lots of words: Mama, Dada, Mommy, choo-choo, meow, puppy, dog, kitty, ear, eye, nose, good girl, big girl, NO, uh oh. You love to jabber away. It's so cute.

Basically you are the sweetest baby ever. And you are a great thinker. You listen, examine, remember. You work hard to learn more and more. You are so sweet and beautiful.

I had to bring you up to my work last week and you had so much fun playing with my students. They loved you and wanted nothing more than to play with you. They gave you their toys and markers and anything else you might want. They hugged you and wanted to pick you up but I said no way. It was so cute watching you play. You are the happiest, friendliest baby. You love kids and babies. It's almost Thanksgiving and we'll be going to College Station and I think you'll have a blast with all the other kids there (not to mention all the adults that will be vying to hold and cuddle you--good luck, you are too busy to cuddle).

Love,
Mama