Three Years Old

Mae is three (+1 month)!   She is so excited.  She wants to be bigger, older, taller, and sassy-er every day!    She's adorable and we love her.

Favorite things of M's quirkiness in the last few months have included:  she refers to Gatorade as Alligator (see convo below,)  she loves to hear stories about chipmunks - you'll be hard pressed right not to get away with a story that she doesn't at least throw a chipmunk into - but often she'd prefer the main staring character to be a chipmunk (we have no idea where this fascination came from.)    She loves for me to sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow to her at bedtime, she doesn't seem to have a favorite book - and the girl can't help but interrupt every 3 words with something to say (related or otherwise) during a story.   Summertime seems to be when the end of naps happened (whimper!)

M: "Can I have more alligator?"
Me: Excuse me?
M: "Can I have more alligator to drink?
Me: Blank Stare
M: "More crocodile?"
Me: Um... what?
M: "More Gatorade!"
Me: Oooh I get it now. Yah you can have more of that. lol

Mae and sleep in these last six months has been great - better than her brother if I am being honest!   She might have a few off nights where she pops up and refuses to go to sleep right away, but after the initial bedtime routine (that still requires mommy's tummy to be touched) she is happy to go to bed and rarely wakes up.   

The biggest change since the last report has been POTTY TRAINING!!!  Yes, little Mae in October began her journey toward bathroom independence.   She did great and after a week or so she got to have the ceremonial jaunt to the store to purchase her underwear! And while she officially was three for 5 days - I would also like to say that she was pull-up free at night by January 15th! No accidents yet at nighttime.   Mae Mae is officially potty trained!!   This mommy couldn't be more ecstatic.

Mae is doing so well on language and talking.  She recognizes most of the alphabet - and honestly she probably knows it all, but she's too stubborn to show me.   She can count to 12 pretty easily and can count objects up to about six and then she just starts saying random numbers.    She loves to play on her leappad that we got her.  She is a huge fan of Doc McStuffins, chipmunks as mentioned, and princesses.    She's enjoying Calico Critters a lot and loves to build (and destroy) things with blocks.  She still is 100% attached to her bear and takes it everywhere - and it gets into the same antics and excitement that she does. 

You see once upon a time on Halloween when Mae was having quiet time - she was overly quiet for a long time - I assumed she had fallen asleep... but then a long time went on past brother's quiet time and I decided to look in on her to see if she was getting in a good snooze... upon entering the room I found her like this...

Yes, at some point in her quiet time she had managed to sneak across the hall into my room and found (THANK GOD!) a dry erase marker.    She went to town and every inch of her body was covered... every last bit...  I'm not exaggerating.    I have to give her kudos though her face design was very nicely done - she explained that she wanted to be a tiger for Halloween and had given herself and her bear (and other friends) tiger stripes.   Along with her mirror,  her dora doll, nearly every FP Little Person...  Brother was a big help and went to work with some wipes and cleaned up all of the plastic items that were drawn on - the easiest items to clean.   Never mind on on top of it all I found her IN her sock drawer (something I hadn't seen her attempt before, nor is she sanctioned for such locations!)     Mae got a bath, the neighbor loaned me her rubbing alcohol and I got underway scrubbing stuffed animals to get them clean.   While dry erase marker comes of plastic and people pretty easily - stuffed animals - not so much!     Bear and her bunny both have some scars and the other two friends I didn't even really try to get clean.     Upon finding her she said that it made her happy!    It was really impossible to be mad at her.  ;)

There is so much I could elaborate on and perhaps I'll come back and add more to this post - but I feel Mae can say it best.  ;)   So below are some conversations and then her debut interview (which I did do on her birthday, I'm just woefully behind on the blogging!) I memorialize conversations and silly things that she says on the social networking site - so a few gems and musing that I captured this past year I've jotted down here.  
December 3, 2013
Mae was awake when I went to check on her just now, so I snuggled into bed and let her touch my tummy (her comfort thing) and I ran my fingers through her hair and laid there for a while and then gave her a hug and a kiss and tucked her in and said good night and she whispered as she was falling asleep "You're a good mom." So sweet!

November 26, 2013
"I know everything in the whole world."  - Mae

November 22, 2013
Writing cards on what we are thankful for and Aiden wrote 'For God' and said: "I'm going to give this to God." To which Mae grinned, held up hers, and said: "And I'm going to give mine to Egypt!" 

November 12, 2013
"For Christmas I want to give Barbies! Pink and Purple ones. I'm going to give one to Grammie and one to Mr. C!" - Mae  

August 16, 2013
A: There was a scary noise downstairs!
M: Don't worry brother - Jesus will protect you with his powers.
A: Sister come down with me.
M: I'm not Jesus! I'm not going down there!  

July 2, 2013
"We love Jesus more than lollipops and lemonade!!! ... and I love lemonade.... a LOT!" - Mae

June 14, 2013
My daughter says "I'm disney" or "Woah! I'm so disney!" whenever she feels dizzy. I love it!

April 2, 2013
Scene: Aiden trying to get one egg from Mae's Easter basket hooked on her arm.
Mae: NO IT'S MINE! NO, BRUDER! NOoOOoooOOoo!!!
Me: M, who does everything belong to?
Mae: Jesus
Me: And what do you think he'd want you to do?
Mae: Hug my heart.
Me: ::giggle:: and what else might he want you to do?
Mae: ::SIGH:: share with bruder and be kind.
Me: It's true! Is that what you want to do? (Fully expected a confidant "NO!")
Mae: (Gives brother her whole Easter basket, smiles, and skips off to something else.)  

January 11, 2013
"One, two, free, four... six, seven, eight, nine, bast off!" - Mae  

See bunny cleaned up pretty well, although he's much more dingy than he used to be!

 Mae's Interview:
 
1. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE T. V. SHOW? Daniel Tiger

2. WHAT DID YOU HAVE FOR BREAKFAST?  Umm.. Pickles!  (No you didn't)  Tuna sandwich, and bread, and tuna is my favorite (Yes, but what for breakfast this morning?)  Um, um, a smoothie and oatmeal! (Yes, yes you did!)
 
3. WHAT IS YOUR MIDDLE NAME? Said first and middle name together... claiming it was her first name!  ;)

4. FAVORITE FOOD? Pickles  (When have you ever had pickles??) Tuna sandwich (I'm sensing a theme)

5. WHAT FOOD DO YOU DISLIKE? Pickle juice (Well that's perplexing)

6. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR?  Purple! (Yes, very true!)

7. FAVORITE LUNCH?  Jamba Juice!

8. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO DO? Watch Daniel Tiger (You sure?)  I like the Party Game its my favorite game in the whole world.

9. IF YOU COULD GO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD ON VACATION, WHERE WOULD YOU GO? With Uncle Kai and Aunt A (Yes, but where with them?)  to the movie theater.

10. FAVORITE SPORT? I played soccer once with my dad!

11. WHEN IS YOUR BIRTHDAY? On January, mom!

12. ARE YOU A MORNING PERSON OR A NIGHT PERSON? A morning girl.

13. PETS: I have Pixel, that's our pet, mom!

14. ANY NEW AND EXCITING NEWS YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE WITH US?   Playing hippopotamus when brother's gone.  
 
15. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP ? I want to be um superhero uh the Green Lantern.  The Marshmellow Hunter.  (That sounds exciting!)
 
16. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CANDY? Um donuts!  I mean oreos. 
 
17. WHERE IS THE FURTHEST YOU'VE EVER BEEN FROM HOME? In our neighborhood. 
 
18. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK?  Tinkerbell story?  I mean the lion story (She's just listing movies....) The princess!  (That is book.)

19. WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?  "You building the hardwood floor  (But mommy didn't build it)  who builded our hardwood floor (the installers... what are YOU most proud of about YOU?)  I am most proud of my bear.

20. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE?  Turbo Fast 
 
21. WHICH CAME FIRST, THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG? The Egg.  The egg, mom.  (Why?) Because it IS! 

Thirty (One) Months Old

When did my baby girl turn 2.5?   Well it's actually be a few weeks now!  Time seems to be barreling so fast!!  It took me nearly a month to get her 2.5 pictures even taken! (Bad mama!)   I can't believe that my preemie clothes wearing infant is now a chatty, expressive, and opinionated toddler!  Wasn't she just turning two?

Newities in the last six months:  singing, sleeping all night in his own bed exclusively, first haircut, very opinionated on clothing and shoe choices.

Heath wise we have had a wonderful six months!  Sleep wise we also have had a great path to rest in the night as well.    She still is quite the staller for going to bed and in recent months I have been taking pictures of her and having people try to "Find Mae Mae Today!"   She wrecks her room and then snuggles down into a location to sleep.    Whatever works!  It's silly and fun and I am sure she won't be doing it forever so it's something silly to love now. 

Mae still loves to touch Mommy's tummy for comfort.  It's what she replaced mama milk with and while she doesn't do it all the time - it's almost a guarantee she'll ask for my tummy at bedtime.   "I want your tummy."   It's sweet.

Mae at the moment doesn't seem to have many favorites - she loves to read books in brother's bed and most recently watch Silly Songs with Larry on her father's phone before bed, but as far as reading the same book over and over - she hasn't landed on one lately.  She does love Ladybug Girl, Princess stories, and the Bible.  Mae enjoys Doc McStuffin and Lalaloopsy toys.  She still loves to watch Daniel Tiger every chance she gets and loves to answer questions posed to her from Super Why.      Mae is recognizing some letters of the alphabet and can mostly sing the song as well with a few repeats in place of the regular locations.  It's cute.   She recognizes all her colors but doesn't have the names associated with them down yet, but give her the colorpillar and pile of things to sort and she'll properly sort them all.

Little sister does good to keep up with her brother and all his friends.  She doesn't miss a beat in keeping up with them running, playing, or even wrestling from time to time.  It's adorable to see her with all the bigger kids and aside from needing a nap before them, her size and age doesn't slow her down at all!    She loves her brother, but also is quite a standard "little sister" when she wants to be.  She has a banshee scream that can cause anyone to go deaf.  It's impressive that such a loud high pitched noise cmes out of her.   She's got more temper and tantrums than brother did at this age.   She will pout and growl "I'm MAD!" or "I'm frustrated"   It's sweet... sometimes.  :)

Mae got her very first haircut about two months ago.  She was so excited to sit in the big chair and get her hair done and get a lollipop.  She was a good listener and didn't squirm or fuss at all (with the exception of wanting to switch chairs repeatedly to try out a different location.)  

Our little girl continues to grow, be sassy, sound adorable and just be so so sweet and cute.  She will tell you her birthday is in January, she will tell you (and invite you) to her party that mommy is planning for her - and she always talks about being a big girl these day and that when she is bigger SHE will go to preschool, kindergarten, and drink coffee.    We love her and can't wait to see how the rest of her third year unfolds!

Two Years Old

My baby girl is growing up and with fresh snow on the ground she turned two a two weeks ago.   It's been quite the year of joy, advances, and challenges.    Overall it's been a wonderful year.

Firsts for the 24th month: Lots of sentences!  Fully weaned from mama milk, and sleeping through the night, early stages of potty training.

Yes, I'm calling it -  Mae is sleeping through the night.   Now that said it's not every night and often she still fusses enough that we have to go in and hug her once or twice - but she has stayed in her own room almost every night.    She's been sleeping in the pack-n-play and she loves it in there - must simply feel more secure than her little bed.  I'm happy with it - it creates confinement.  :)    So sleep is slowly coming to our house.   Hooray!!

Mae herself has also began to show interest in potty training - this mommy isn't quite ready to go fully force into the adventure - but Mae shows signs of being ready.  Like a week or so ago she stripped off her diaper, went potty in the little potty, and then came and told me that she had gone potty... and she had!!  Much rejoicing and many more times attempted but we haven't repeated this awesome spontaneous event.    She is pretty adorable and will sit there sometimes for a while and repeat what I've told her "takes time"  which just sounds so cute coming from her.    Mae also is happy to sit there while we sing Row Row Row Your Boat and play Patty Cake.  :) She does the motions and it's so cute to watch her try to 'roll it'!

Over Christmas we went and visited her  Aunt and Uncle and she fell in love with Uncle Kai!  Yes she is in love with Uncle Kai and when her birthday got closer I asked what she wanted for her birthday and she said "Uncle Kai...come here... come home!"   she also was very specific on what she wanted for her birthday cake:  "Purpul cake!" Our little princess got what she asked for in a quite birthday party themed to My Little Pony and family.  :)  A post to come on this specifically.

Mae's vocabulary has expanded a lot and she's doing great communicating to us what she needs, wants, doesn't want.  :)   It's nice to understand her with most things - although occasionally she still has her own language squeaked in there.     She and her brother love to laugh together and in the car they've very recently started to tell knock knock jokes to each other - there is nothing that is legitimate that anyone else would label these as jokes - besides "Knock Knock... Who's There"  but they enjoy saying weird things - most often Mae says "Cookie Monter" in response to 'Who's there' - somehow Ace works that out and doesn't tire with it.  Although he does tire with the Knock Knock game and will attempt to change it to "I Spy" which Mae doesn't engage with and so then the two of them are in the back simply saying "knock knock... I spy"  back and forth over and over.    Depending on my tolerance level, their volume level, and the length of the drive that tends to be stopped by intervention.   They also play pretty well together at home and Mae has gotten very good at playing hide and seek - which is great because then they can entertain each other when I'm trying to cook dinner!   They enjoy each other's company most of the time.  Most of the time.  ;-)

Health wise - Mae has had a pretty good run the last few months.  In general her 2nd year of life was an adventure.    She no longer has a food allergy though and we're quite thankful about that!!   She's itty bitty like her mama and weighs in at 19.4lbs and 30.3" tall (if you're wondering that's just a tad bigger than Ace was at 1.   However, I weighed 19lbs and was 30" at 2 as well - so I'm not concerned with her tiny stature.  :)

Favorites for Mae include at the moment: Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood (she'll stand perfectly still and engaged (zombied?) for a solid 10 minutes just watching it.)  She loves Printhesses, Ponies!!!, and her babies.   She's quite girly and loves to carry around her purses, wear hats, and change her clothes often - although her favorite outfit is simply a diaper.  It can be freezing cold and she'll be content (yet cold) wearing only a diaper - no matter how many outfits or layers we try to put on her - she'll strip them off quickly.  I hope this is a short lived phase.  She loves to read and some of her favorites still are Good Night, Moon,  Good Night, Gorilla, Fancy Nancy books, and the "Princess Book"  which is His Little Princess: Treasured Letters from Your King -  she loves to sing and clap and her dance is adorable.   She loves to say prayers to Jesus and has started to be repetitive in prayers.  She currently loves to touch my tummy as her go-to comforting option.   She's a joy.  

She eats like a bird, but can jug milk from a cereal bowl in no time flat.  She is adorable and we love her joy, her laugh, her smile, her scowl, and her strong willed personality.  :)  We can't wait to see what Year Three brings us!  No diapers is on this mommy's bucket list!   Happy 2nd Birthday, Mae Mae!

Twenty Three Months Old

"Ok!"  "Jellybutter!"   "No... NOT!"   are just a few of the words and phrases that are floating around this household these days.  Yes, Mae is growing up fast and her vocabulary is exploding!  She is regularly stringing together 2 word 'sentences' now although occasionally will get stuck in a loop of one word repeat for example:   Say 'Please, up.'  "up" ... 'Please, up'  "pease"  - it's adorable albeit frustrating at times (although rarely.)    Things that are frustrating are her ever increasing desire of the use of "NO!"   Ace never was 'that child'  he skipped over the outright defiance for the sake of it (he has plenty now with purpose, but just the NO! phrase never was his cup-o-tea.)  Mae however has embraced it like a budding two year old would.  Yeck.     We still find her sweetness to outweigh her two-ness. 

Newness for her 23rd month?   A dentist appointment where they brushed her teeth (her first appointment they don't really do much,) the stomach flu, breastfeeding weaning, semi-consistent sleeping through the night,

Let's tackle that list backwards.   Sleep.   Yes, M has taken an interesting course on the way to independent sleep.    She's been sleeping in a bed for nearly a year now for at least one stint in the night but for over the last month+  she has been electing to sleep in the pack and play instead.   We're not sure why she prefers it, but my objection is little as there are many nights that she will sleep until nearly 6am before making a peep.  It's not regular or every night but I'll take what I can get.   She's taken to wanting all her friends tucked in with her and around her.  Piggy and Bear Bear are still prominent figures but she has a rotation of other friends that join her at night as well ranging from owls, princesses, bunnies, minnie or mickey mouse.  :)  It's cute and sometimes a tad excessive.    

Less than thrilling excitement on the sleeping front is her continued desire to strip off all her clothes.  She does this during the day as well but at night she adds an additional prize element of stripping off the diaper as well.   BOO!   So we have taken to putting her in onesies and on some nights she still strips those off and on other nights we put her pjs on backwards.       We are slowly trying to get her to go back to her bed and sleep there all night.  We'll see how that ultimately goes.  Last night it was ok and she didn't show up in our bed until 4:30am. 

In other areas of sleep is weaning from breastfeeding.   At the beginning of December I invoked a strict schedule of  morning, nap, and bedtime feedings only.   This was met with some particular protest, but like with Ace, I simply encouraged the notion that mommy never runs out of hugs, but she does run out of milk.   At the end of the first week of December after much preparation and explanation leading up to it - Mae and I enjoyed our last feeding before bed.    We replaced it with rocking and for the first several nights she didn't ask once for milk when it was time for bed.  I was really proud of her.   She loves to rock and often uses it as a stall tactic in asking for more.  It's sweet and I'm glad that element of the transition has been going smoothly.  

After Christmas I will remove the morning milk from the rotation and leaving us with only milk before naptime (an option that she already for the most part doesn't demand too often.)   I suspect the hardest milk will be that first thing in the morning milk.  She loves it and I do too.    I'm sad that our time with mama milk is drawing to a close, but I am so thankful for the bonding time we've had and my ability to do it.    I'll write more on this in a separate post - so moving on! 

The flu.... yes in November while on vacation poor M caught her first tummy bug and for several hours on the floor of my Aunt and Uncle's tile floor she threw up over and over.  Poor thing was very sad and doesn't like to throw up at all... all she wanted to do was sleep.    Diapers for the next week were quite icky and it ran it's course through our household and all the guests that visited for Thanksgiving.   Yeck! I am very thankful that we've all recovered from that one.

Also in Cali we got to enjoy lots of family, cousin play, and yes more Disneyland!   It was a lot of fun and she loved the Pirated and would sing (and still does)  "Yo ho, Pirates! ... and ME!"   It's adorable and it's so fun to see her excitement - she'd wave to all the characters in the parade saying "Hiiiii and Byeeee" as they went by.   She covered her ears at the fireworks say "Loud"  but watching them with excitement.    It was a lot of fun!  

M enjoyed her second visit to the dentist office and did very well after some initial trepidation to the visit.    Eventually, she let them clean her teeth and she was excited to receive her rubber ducky as a gift in exchange for her compliance.  :)

Mae is such a sweet girl.  She loves printhesses, PONIES!!!! (My Little Pony), and to change her clothes a zillion times a day (most happy when she's wearing nothing at all!)   I love that she calls peanut butter 'jellybutter'  and that she has learned to nod and shake her head in affirmation or dissent to something.       She has lost the phrasing of Pih-Ul  and now calls him "Pisal" which is adorable and she loves to pet him.   She yells at him (in a very eerily similar vocal tone)  KIATE! (quiet!)  whenever he barks.     She is communicating what she wants very well these days and it is such a joy to watch her vocabulary expand, her understanding increase, and her excitement as well.   She's trying to count.  She can hold up 3 fingers and say "Free"   she knows when there are two of something (but not so much 1 or 3)  she has properly identified letters when given the option on Super Why (a favorite of hers.)     And her absolute favorite song right now is "JINGLE... ROCK!"   Yes, Jingle Bell Rock is requested nightly and only is substitute for "Frosy NoMan"  a second favorite.      If Jingle Bell Rock comes on the radio she squeals and screams "JINGLE!!!"  

She is fascinated by the Christmas tree and loves to touch all the ornaments.  She is gentle enough with them.  :)    She loves for mommy to take pictures of her and is a very happy model most of the time.     I'm so excited to see her this Christmas season and in her final weeks before she turns two.    She's a hearty 19lbs 3oz - something that makes me quiet excited to hear.    She dainty and healthy and we are so thankful for her health.  

Twenty Two Months Old

Goodness gracious!  How have we ventured to this point?!   We are two months away from Mae turning TWO.    Time goes so fast and it's such a fun adventure.   

Mae's first for her 22nd month included:  trick-or-treating, sleeping through the whole night*, lots of new words and phrases.

Yes, Mae's vocabulary is really exploding and aside from being quite the parrot for anything her brother or the rest of us say she's doing great coming up with things all on her own.   It's really cute because after she poses for a picture, takes medicine, anything really she wraps up with 'gud job' which is often what we tell her.    She love to say prayers now and she will offer up prayers in one word sound bytes that then she wants us to say "Dear Jesus, thank you for..." "dad"  "Thank you for dad"  "bruder" "Thank you for brother"  and if we don't pray and thank Jesus for what she has said she repeats it until she does.  Her prayer list typically always includes:  Dad, Bruder, Mom, Pehul, food.   Others that aren't as consistent include: bed, nap, sad (not to be sad), kind, lov-u (loving), Pop Pop, Grammie (I think she's lumped all grandmas into this prayer), piggy, printhesses, diapers... and the other day she was stuck on needing to pray for butt and poop.   It was one of those I tried to skim past, I know I'm editing her prayers, gasp!  But we prayed for them once... I figured it was enough.  No we prayed for them several times.   This went on for a few days - who knows if it will return.   It's adorable and I love that she wants to talk to Jesus every time she lays down for a nap or to go to bed for the night.  

Speaking of sleep this is where the * comes in.   Yes, I know I have blogged once upon a time in Mae's existence that she slept through the night... but it's been soooo long I feel we've reset and so I am going to happily celebrate the fact that she was asleep last week for 12 hours straight.   Put her to bed and she talked to herself for a bit and then she was asleep and I awoke before her to by an hour - insured she was breathing and went back to lay in bed for another free hour!   BLISS... looking forward to when that ever becomes consistent.  Most nights she's awake every 3 to 4 hours.  No milk breaks but still very much wanting it and so the wake ups are often more time consuming then when she was nursing.    She's slowly getting there and heck even if she's on her brother's time line of independent sleep we only have 14 more  months to go.  I think I can, I think I can...

Mae has really started to take a liking to certain things - she for a while was very much in mommy-mode and was loving on her babies and feeding them a lot.    This month she has been very attached to 'printhesses'  which is cute.  She does NOT like Cinderella (not sure why)  and she isn't a huge fan of Merida - but she loves Rapunzel, Belle, and Aerial.   It's cute she lugs around her 20" stuffed princesses and loves them.  If she sees one on tv or in a book - her eyes get wide and she screams "Printhess!"  it's cute - and as Loving Husband pointed out an expensive love.  :)   We'll see.   Her main focus might shift once again.  :)  We haven't even begun to explore My Little Ponies!

In Mae's 22nd month of life and Pixel's 6th month - Mae broke the dog.   I sound dramatic?  No really... she broke the dog.  Fractured his left knee at the growth plate - so to be fair it was a softer bone area that is more prone to injury - but Mae has once again proven she's freakishly strong.  The thing is that she wasn't trying to hurt Pixel.  She was trying to get him up on the couch... by his hind leg.  It didn't work out.   Pixel is on the mend after xrays, a visit to an orthopedic team of doctors and some good narcotics for the pain.  No major intervention was required and we now have pet insurance as he's proven to be a tad too fragile for Mae.     NO hard feelings are left between the two of them - in fact much to our dismay - Mae and Pixel like to enjoy kisses.  She sticks her face down close and puckers her open mouth and says "kuuusssss' and Pixel licks her and then she covers her mouth and giggles and says "Awww coote'  (cute) over and over again.   It would be sweet if not totally gross.  ;)

Mae and her brother are doing well and more often than not are a great pair - she misses him when we drop him off at school and often requires giving him a hug and a kiss before we leave.  In fact she just assume stay and often toddles over to a table or the play bins and just joins the fun with out a care in the world as to what mommy is doing.  :)   Ace and Mae still have the more traditional relationship of siblings where Mae has found her voice (read screaming high pitched yell) and her brother screaming "That's hurting my ears, sister!!!"   It's delightful to discuss patience and lovingingness and kindness in those times.      They play well together and she of course wants to do everything that Bruder is doing.   Including going down the stairs on a broken down cardboard box... "Watch this sister!"   Oh boy!   

Size wise M is growing and getting bigger each day it seems - although she's still super tiny.   We love to watch her grow and develop today she even said a compound word (sunshine) and we were so proud as often any phrase that we say to her she often only repeats one of the words.   She's really getting quite the personality and is adorable.    We love her and I can't wait to see how she enjoys the holiday season this year!

Twenty One Months Old

It's hard to believe that my little girl is speeding towards two at such a rapid pace!   She's gaining such a vocabulary, expressions, beauty and amusement as her personality develops and every day is fun.     She has her first doosy of a cold of the season but she weathered it well.  

 

Firsts this past month:  jumping, first midnight snack, yes she woke up in our bed and her father was eating fritos and so M enjoyed a few and eventually returned to sleep after her request for more was sadly denied because they were all gone, finally letting us leave her bedroom after saying good night.

 

Yes, the sleep department for Mae is trending very similarly as it did for Ace.  For months we've had to sit for close to an hour sometimes until she finally falls asleep and we can creep on out of the room.   Still waking at the end of one sleep cycle 3-4 hours later.   Finally in this past month she's been willing to let us leave the room and sing her a song at the door.    She still gets up 3-4 times to request another song but rarely protests our telling her to return to her bed.   The freedom of my evening is a sigh of relief and a sign that there is light at the end of the tunnel for this conundrum our children call sleeping through the night!   This past month she once returned to wanting Piglet around all the time at bedtime - the month prior she wanted nothing to do with him.  She also attached herself to 'Bear Bear' a teddy bear and both have been required at night.  'Piggy' also occasionally accompanies us during the day places as well.  

Mae loves to play 'wee wees' (This little piggy went to market) and 'cake' (patty cake) and very recently asked me to do 'knuckles' and she showed me her fist.  hehe silly girl.   She asks to have her picture taken and LOVES to give hugs.   It's so sweet.  She's gotten really good at them too with the bear hug around your neck.    She LOVES her dada and spending time with him, but mama still reigns supreme.  She loves to hug her brother and spend time with him as well.

Mae loves to color and 'ride bikes' even if riding the bike involves someone pushing her, as she cannot yet pedal.   She loves to do anything her brother does and loves to watch shows.    She learned to jump this month and is full of energy.   She loves her baths and finally is feeling comfortable enough to even lay on her tummy with her brother in the tub too (which often is like a simulated wave pool with the him in there as well.)    She is pretty fearless!

Just before her 20th month we cut out mama-milk at nighttime and she's been doing pretty well with that.   She still wakes every 4ish hours asking for it but most nights is content to have a sip of water and return to sleep (usually in our bed after that first stint every night.)       She has entered the "broken record" phase which we are praying is short lived - you know the phase where she just says one word over and over and over again - yah it's super not fun for those that have to hear it ;)  but there are worse things and we assume she'll out grow it and we won't be left too scarred by it.

She loves to read, brush her teeth, and color.  She is growing up so fast and it's so much fun to watch her change and advance.   She loves to have her hair brushed and loves to have bows put in her hair - but they never stay there long.     She is a joy and we love her.

Nineteen Months old

Mae this month has really expanded her vocabulary.  Including her first phrase of "Hep me!" (Help me!)  It started out as one word but I think she now recognizes that it is two words.   I have since lost track of every new word she has but some of my favorites whether new or old are:  Luv you,  tick-all (tickle), Pix-uhl (Pixel), and Mommy! 

New things for Mae in her 19th month:  her first ice cream - which now she asks for regularly "creeeam... bowl... taebull(table)"  It's cute and watching her eat the sticky mess was a lot of fun too!

She sings in church, loves to dance when there is music on, folds her hands to pray - and constantly say 'more' when any of it ends because she always wants more singing, dancing, and praying.   I  love it! 

She LOVES her brother and wants to do everything he does.  He makes her laugh and she is pretty good to not bother him TOO much.   Mae loves to do school just as much as her brother and we sit at the dining room table with her in her high chair and do school all together.  :)

Mae is still itty bitty in size but she's feeling heavier and I'm  happy for that that she's growing!  She LOOKS bigger and as of today (even though I'm woefully late on posting her 19 month blog!)  She was 18lbs and 1oz!  Hooray!   She also has had seven weeks of totally healthy and I'm so thankful that we've avoided any summer colds!!

This past month has also been an experience with tantrums.  Mae also has received a few more time outs this month.  A time out for Mae is in the Pack-N-Play.  Since she sleeps in her bed or our bed, the PnP is really only for TOs.   She's nearly 2 now so the time out is 2 minutes.   On one venture to the pnp she decided to strip all her clothes off in protest.   Silly girl... a few days later she upped the atte and stripped off the diaper too and then fell asleep.  lol.   She was out cold and so I was able to put a new diaper on her before any accidents occurred but oh my!    Never a dull moment!!!

I cannot believe that we're rapidly approaching her second birthday.   With the holidays looming that milestone will arrive even more quickly!    She's a joy and SO happy! She wakes up with her BIG EYES and just smiles as bright as the sun.   She still loves her mama milk and to snuggle next to me all night.    Can't wait to see what is next for her!

Mae recently has been able to recognize TWO of something and can hold up two finger - she often wants TWOOOOOO crackers.   She can count two things.. although not ... 1, 2... just look at it and say TWO!  Very happy with a giant smile.  :) 

Mae's teeth count of fully in teeth is 5, but she's got 3 more broken through and descending rapidly, one of those being a molar.  The other molars are just about to break through and we're looking forward to that so that she can enjoy eating more variety in foods with better ease!    Eating wise she does ok - still eats like a bird many meals but then at other times we're wondering where on earth she's putting it!  Quite the adventure!!

Eighteen Months Old

My little girl is a year and a half old! She's growing up so much and it's so adorable to see her expand her world, vocabulary, humor, and joy on a seemingly daily basis!  

In just a month not much has changed, but when you look back at the last six months SO much has changed!

New firsts for Month 18: first chipped tooth, first full day away from mommy, a new puppy, another tooth finally breaking through, her first Popsicle and more words!

Yes, Mae has had an explosion of words including: shows, Pix (Pixel), coak (coat), hep (help), cap (clap), shoe (often said 'SHOOOOES!' very excited), cheese (the food this time, not just to take a picture), eat, poop, sheesh (fish), car, Pop Pop, Brrrr (bird, which has evolved from 'Bah'), wah (water), boo/book (she alters), cook, hiiiiii (she has become far more enthused saying hello), mar/more, uh oh,  ball, rock, owww (owl), cheek, ear, eye, mouw (mouth), aff (off), cam (come), wak (walk), liiin (lion), chair, two, teat (treat), bed, nigh-nigh, doll, piggy, wee-wees (this little went wee wee wee all the way home!), hawt/hot (everything is hot even things that are cold) ... and I know there is more but that's all I've got for the moment.  :)

In the teeth department we've had quite the excitement as well.  She already was born with her front tooth fused with another one - causing a super giant front tooth that was misshapen.  One evening when both her and her brother were sick and out of sorts - Ace was already in bed trying to sleep and Mae climbed up on him - he rejected this by pushing her off the bed and thus her overly sized malformed tooth became chipped - it now has a canine tooth look to it but isn't overly sharp.  Here's hoping her adult tooth is normal up there!   Mae also this past week FINALLY had a fifth tooth break through on the bottom.  Hooray!  Her brother by 18 months already had 12 teeth including his first set of molars.   This has drastically limited Mae's ability to chew foods...

In the eating department - when she's not sick - she does pretty darn well.   She loves chicken nuggets, fries, english muffins with peanut butter, cheese sticks (often if I ask if she's hungry she asks for "cheeeeeese" which is super adorable) she loves to suck on goldfish crackers and suck off all the salt (she is her mama's daughter!) and occasionally she'll consume them.   She happily eats cookies of several variations.  Yogurt is often consumed and where we hide her liquid vitamins! :)  She enjoyed her first popsicle the other day at a BBQ and she did pretty good consuming some of it before it melted away.   Mae for the most part will eat a little bit of anything but quantities are really sparse.  So we try to entertain high fat/calorie concentrated foods.

Health wise we continue down a similar course of cold catching and continue to hope for the virus season to leave our home!   She never truly gets out of sorts whenever she is sick and is so happy in spite of it all!   She's such a sweetheart!  We're hoping that the summer months will give us a break in colds. 

Mae and her brother (and the parents) recently got a new puppy and he's tiny.  Which is good because he loves to jump on Mae and although she is tiny, he's smaller and that's good.  Mae has really warmed to him.  Loves to pet him, bring him his toys, and recently wanting to give him his 'teat' (treat) which she does very well to let the dog lick out of her hand.   It's pretty cute.  

In the play department she wants to do everything her brother does. :)  She does pretty good climbing up on things at the playground, at the lake she wants to wade in despite the consequence of going face first when the water gets too deep, and she loves to go on walks.   On her own she loves to play with her dolls, be flipped upside down by her dad, and play 'wee-wees' which she'll ask for by name while wiggling her fingers over her toes.  Yes, the timeless 'game' of 'This Little Piggy Went to Market'   :)  She is adorable and will do it to me too.   She still loves her piglet but she's not as exclusive anymore with him.  At bedtime she often wants multiple friends to hug and fall asleep with.  She loves to read books at bedtime and her favorite still remains Goodnight Gorilla.

Mae this month also finally started to let me do her hair and leave it in longer than three seconds!   If I just put a clip in on the side she'll still yank it pretty fast but pony tails of various heights and location seem to remain all the time with some varied results when she's in her car seat.

Mae is such a joy and we love her.  She loves to jump (bounce up and down) and go for walks, and she knows almost all of her 'pieces' (head, nose, etc..)  Every day she surprises us and always is smiling!   We can't wait to see what the rest of this year brings us!

Seventeen Months Old

As the days speed past us every day is new and more of an adventure with Mae.   She is becoming her own little person.  Gaining speed, vocabulary and attitude!   :)  Her smile is huge, her laugh is adorable, and her scowl is just plain funny and so pronounced!

New things in her 17th month:  Attended her first baby shower and was an adorable little lady, and lots more words!

Mae has had an explosion of words in this last month.  She's really gotten the parroting thing down and tries all sorts of new words.  Her favorite is "NO!"  She says it with a cute sing-song melody often and it's adorable, but for the connotation attached to it. :)   She also really likes the word 'lello' (yellow) and GO!   Other words she squeaked out this past month include:  puppy, booo (blue), kieee (kitty), eat, skoo (school), sheee (sheep), loouv (love... she curls her little tongue up and it's so adorable to see her try), blow, two (which is her amount for anything and everything when you ask her how many?)  you, boo, choo choo...

Yes, if you're familiar with children's literature those last few words will be a bit more obvious in theme.  They are all words from the book Peek A Who?  Mae loves to read this book over and over and over during the day and she can say all the words except when I prompt her to say 'moo!'  she says 'MEEEE!'   It's adorable and silly and I love it.  Her other favorite book is Good Night, Gorilla.   She is adorable when we read it because when we get to the part opening her eyes in the dark after all the animals say good night back to her,  Mae every time will mimic the gasp sound that I typically make on that page - although for Mae it's more of a grunt and it's adorable.

Mae loves to say her prayers.  She folds her hands and closes her eyes and often will repeat the beginning of the prayer 'De-Ja' (Dear Jesus) and then at the end she will say 'Mon' (Amen)   it's adorably sweet and this past few weeks when we're done praying she will sign for more and fold her hands awaiting my starting of more prayers.  It's seriously the most adorable thing and I love that her faith, while likely not growing in understanding just yet, is growing in eagerness and anticipation!

In trending toward two, Mae has started to enjoy and invoke the rite of passage with some tantrums.   She is extremely dramatic and a slight grievance is often met with massive yelling, screaming, water works - her physical self seems to remain mostly still - although she has gotten down and laid on the floor a time or two for dramatic affect.   To date though she's avoiding the head banging that Ace did during this phase of his life.

Growth wise she is still itty bity - 17lbs and 8oz.   She just had a weight check at the doctor and to check for an ear infection which she was cleared of, apparently she just likes to tug on her ears.  :)   Her coughing continues and we're working through yet another cold.   She still just has the 4 teeth although I can start to see the bulges where the molars are going to come in.   She still loves her mama milk on demand and I'm happy to oblige - although I'd really love for her to sleep through the night! 

Sleep wise she's no different - still wakes a few times a night wanting milk or comfort.  She does start out in her own bed every night but often is in our room by midnight.   Rarely do I get to bed before she's coming into ours.   But I don't complain.  This season is fleeting and if she trends like her brother then we have less than a year before she's in her bed full time.  We'll see though :)  

Speaking of her brother - she loves him.  She loves to climb on him, crawl on him, play with him, get in his way, smack his head, and lay in his bed.   She is a typical little sister and Ace is very patient and loving with her.  

She continues to be my climber - she can freely get herself on the couches, beds, and now knows how to use those heights to get other places.    Eating wise she is very opinionated on the subject.   She's not picky - she eats spinach, she LOVES pasta, and has easily eaten 4oz of steak (I'm not exaggerating!)  in one sitting - but there are times where she just doesn't want to eat without a battle.   To say it's frustrating is an understatement, but I'm hopeful that we're on the downward trend of this phase as well and I'll continue to endure her stubborn ways... I don't really have a choice otherwise. ;)

Mae is a great hugger, she's got a good grip around your neck and she likes to say 'blow' when she blows kisses.  Even if she kisses your cheek she will do it as she says 'blow!'   It's adorable.   Her hair is crazy long but sparse and thin and WILD!  She likes when I do her hair and she leaves it for about 3 seconds.  :)  She loves to try and put her own socks on and she can successfully put on her own pants.   She wants to dress herself often and loves purses, hats and her stuffed animals.  Piglet remains the top favored friend, but she loves to rock and cuddle lots of different ones.   She is adorable and we love her!

Sixteen Months Old

Mae is sixteen months old and counting.   She's having a lot of fun running around and being more interactive and playful with her brother.  Now that she's getting older (not much bigger!) she is able to really play with him.  Either on the couches - running back and forth - or in their rooms with various toys.  She loves to ride on mom or dad's back all around and gives the best 'neck' hugs right now (she can grip pretty tight if she wants!)

Newities of sixteen months: eating more! A walk with her dada.  More words!

Mae is getting quite expressive and doing well to communicate her feelings.   She has added a few more words in the last month: 'bye' (which she uses for good bye and saying good night to her brother)  she typically also waves when doing this - which is adorable.  'Hi' also is one that has come into play as well.  'dag' or 'doh' (dog) which she will identify when she hears them barking in the neighborhood -which is really impressive to me, since we never directly associated that for her.  'bid' or 'bah' (bird) and she will point to the sky.  However, to be fair 'bah' is her go to word for pretty much anything she doesn't have an official word for.  :)  She's said 'light' once or twice but not clearly and not with much regularity.   She's getting better at sitting still to read books and love to pick out books to read at bedtime and sometimes she actually will sit still to listen.  :)

Once Mae started feeling better after a few colds she really started to show an interest in eating more food - hooray.  :) She still mostly prefers mama milk though and would happily make that her sole dietary choice if given said options.  Sorry, Owlie!   Sleep wise continues to be standard and eh in the reporting greatness department.  She's getting rest and occassionally - so do we. 

It's been a great month and after finally getting around to get this posted we're nearly half way to the next one!  Time flies with an active little girl.  We love her and love to watch her smile and giggle. :)



Fifteen Months Old

15 months old!  Such a big girl and in such a tiny frame!  Yes at 15 months and 2 days old Mae weighs 17lbs 6oz (0.38%) she is 28.5" tall and her little noggin is 44cm (14%) for a bit of comparison her mommy was also 28.5" and weighed 16lbs 8oz.    Her mommy reached a great height of 5' so Mae appears to be trending in the same way. 

New firsts for this latest month include:  welcoming dada home from a deployment, a few more words clearly spoken: peease (please), and the most amusing MEEE! which she says with great passion whenever she wants something, thinks its hers, or occasionally when she wants up.  Yes, she's saying "me" :)  It's adorable, but I understand the dangerous potential for it to lose it's cuteness really quickly. hehe.

Illness wise Mae was quite under the weather off and on again this month.   She had two colds that were pretty icky and diagnosed with bronciolitis again. Very sad for her.   For the most part she doesn't let the colds slow her down.  She seems to be catching everything her big brother brings home from preschool - as a result I've deemed it the "preschool plague"

In spite of illness though Mae has really blossomed into a social butterfly and loves to toddle all over the place with (or without) her brother.   If we go to a playdate she rarely is clinging to my side, she's mostly off and about and keeping up with the bigger kids.   It's great to see her gain confidence and independence.  

Mae as far as eating and sleeping go is about the same as last month.  Not so great.   She isn't sleeping through the night, she isn't eating three square meals a day.  This may be a result of breastfeeding on both accounts, so when she gets to feeling better we might start do some nighttime weaning - as I recall with Ace it's not fun and so that is certainly a big part of my delay.  :)   Mae also has QUITE the flare for dramatics and she can wail like no other if she's trying to convey displeasure, so whenever we do wean I'm certain the dramatics won't be lost. 

Giggles are also plentiful though around here.  She's getting more ticklish.  She laughs at her brother's silliness, she giggles as she chases him.  It's so stinkin' cute!   She's still so tiny and cuddly.  For the most part she is wearing 9 month clothes and a few 12 months and in some cases a few shirts that are 6months.   She finally has outgrown in her feet the 6 month sleepers.  Yes, JUST outgrew them. 

It's been a great month and a lot of fun.  Mae loves shoes, hugging dolls, and climbing onto anything she can scale.   She "blows" her nose by making a similar noise with her mouth and still absolutely loves to brush her teeth. Piglet and her blanket are still often clutched in her arm, but quickly ditched as to not slow her down.  She's such a joy and every day is a different adventure. 

Fourteen Months Old

Little Miss Mae is 14 months old and counting!   She's precious.  She's expressive.  She is on the go! 

New firsts for Mae this past months:  a new bed, her first dentist appointment, and attachment lovies.

Mae has really regressed in the sleep department in the last week - but I have to give her credit for sleeping in her own bed for the first stint of the night.  Yes, Mae is sleeping in her very own toddler bed.  I'm still working on a post on Mae's sleep, but in general she falls asleep on her own without milk about 40% of the time.  For the first two weeks in  her new bed she never got out of it - but in the last week or so she's figured out that she can just get up - so she gets out of bed a few times on some nights.  Lately she's been sick and as a result needs more snuggling, so she's been waking up a lot more frequently.  As mentioned in her 'firsts' list she has new lovies that she snuggles with.  Piglet and a little blanket.  I have since purchased a second set of them and they are rotated - already washed due to illness.

Yes, poor Mae has been pretty sick this past week with another virus.  Lots of vomit from a bad cough.  Lots of laundry has been done and many-a-piglets washed.  It made for long, icky nights last week - but she's on the mend and although the cough is lingering and nights are still sad to some extent she's much happier in the day.

Vocabulary is starting to eek out of our little girl she now says: mama, dada, bruda, boooh (book), mooorrre, mek (milk), teef (teeth) and every now and then she will say UP! My favorite by far is "cheeeese" and then she smiles and wants her picture taken.  Yes Mae poses for the camera, yes this mommy knows she's created a monster ... and I love it!  Her signs are about the same.   She also communicates by listening very well and follows instructions. I love that she's so intent on listening to us and following instructions.   Mae loves to play peek-a-boo and singing If You're Happy And You Know It Clap Your Hands!  And she loves to give high fives!

Mae has started to enjoy reading more and even has gotten her own Tag Reading system with some board books.  She loves to push her pen onto the book and make it talk.  She gets so excited.   Mae LOVES her brother, loves to follow him, help him, be with him and hit him in the head. It gives her a huge smile and Ace screams for his sister to PLEASE STOP SISTER!   Ah it begins.   For the most part they do great together.

Size wise she still is happily in 9 month sleepers and at her doctor's appointment last Monday she weighed 18lbs with clothes on.  Doctor isn't worried and neither are we.  She still nurses most of the time and eats about 2 meals a day (we try 3 or 4 times a day but she isn't interested most of the time!)  and has cows milk in the morning.  

Mae is a sweet girl, but she gets cranky.  She's not been a good napper lately and she gets quite angry and overtired.   She also can throw herself a good ol' fashion tantrum when she doesn't get her way.  But the good always out weighs the bad and we love every second with our Little Miss Mae.  We're looking forward to what this next month holds!

Thirteen Months Old

Miss Mae is growing up faster than ever!  She's so smart and is really gaining quite the personality! It's hard to believe that we are already starting a season of 'seconds' with her.

New for this thirteenth month: first pinata, first chipped tooth, first time being babysat by her Gran & Pop Pop, first time brushing her teeth with a big girl tooth brush.

Mae is adorable and knows it!   She is such a sweet heart and is growing up so well.  She's still an itty bity thing and wears 9 month clothes well - and while not swimming - certainly has plenty of growing room in 12 month ones.    She is doing much better at eating 3 times a day.  Although it varies from day to day on how much she actually will consume.    Some days she wants 'people' food and other days is totally content to simply eat her jar food.    She's regularly drinking cow's milk in the mornings now and so we've lessened the amount she nursing just a tiny bit.    Things that her favorite right now are puffs, sweet potatoes, and often she'll eat any chicken that we put in front of her.  Surprisingly, she also likes raw broccoli.

Mae loves to cuddle in her giant pillow while her dada holds her and at the beginning of her 13th month would often start her night time sleep that way.   Half way into the month though we started to work on a bit more of a night time routine for her and she started to get ready for bed at the same time as her brother - so while Ace got his pjs on - I changed her diaper and put her pjs on and then they both head into the bathroom for teeth brushing.  She LOVES to brush her teeth.  She gets very upset when it is time to be all done.     After we finish with the teeth brushing it's into brother's room we go for songs, book reading, and prayers.   We say good night to brother and then  head into our room to put M to sleep.       I am writing this blog about 10 days post her 13th month 'birthday' so at the time of that - she was still nursing to sleep and on occasion taking HOURS to do so.  However, a lot of that seems to have been the illness and as of the 10th of this month she had 3 nights of under 20 minutes to go to sleep!   A post specifically on her sleeping progress is in the works!

Mae has gotten extremely good at listening!  She has been since before she turned one, but considering how young she is - it's amazing at how well she will listen (when she wants to!)   If we are nearby her diapers and I ask her to bring me one she will get me one.   I tell her to lay down for a diaper change she will go into her room and lay where we change her diaper.    If she has something she isn't suppose to, I will ask her to bring it to me and she 90% of the time will.    She's a good little helper.   She doesn't always understand what I am asking of her, but she is listening and we are in awe of her comprehension and execution of requests.    She'll blow kisses at you when you ask, wave goodbye, and play peek a boo with her dad (and well anyone really who will entertain the idea.)   She also has taken to walking over to a certain wall in our living room and posing for pictures.    It's too darn adorable! 

She loves her brother!  Mae will play with him any and every time he is willing to do so.   He loves her without question and wants to be on him and be everywhere he is.    Ace tolerates and (most of the time) loves it.   She without fail will run into the bathroom if it is open and climb up onto the stool (likely because she wants to brush her teeth) - Ace will yell for me to come retrieve her.

Language wise Mae is starting to further form the words already in her vocabulary - milk is a little closer to 'meee'  rather than 'ma ma',  book is 'boo' rather than 'bah',  brother still has 'ba' most of the time but occasionally she'll squeak out 'burda'.   Me as 'mama' hasn't really been heard around these parts in a while, but I'm hoping it makes a comeback.   Her sign language has really improved a lot. She has started to use "more" with more regularity and is very good with "all done" at dinner time.  She also knows (our version) of "I'm sorry" (her brother tends to require signing it to her regularly and we make her do it as well when she has wronged him.)  "Thank you" also is there, but often confused with her blowing kisses, but it's kind of a gratitude statement, so we'll take it.  :)    She loves to help sing songs at bed time and in church and it's just too darn adorable.  

Mae is also very into making various facial expressions.  She has a sly smile, a goofy grin, and a giant cheesy smile too.  They're all adorable.  She's also got a mean frown, an annoyed look to the side, and a host of others that very easily describe what her opinion of the various things happening to and around her.  :)      She is such a joy.   She loves to brush her hair - which is adorable and I am so pleased to see that it's finally starting to thicken up.  She's developing a love of hats, headbands, etc... but none stay on very long.  Hair bows are not long for wear and most of the time not even attempted yet.    She likes to rip them out and then try to set them back on top of her head.  It's cute, but it can go on forever if we let it.  :)

Sickness wise - Mae got herself another doozy of a cold, along with her brother and her mommy.   We were all down for the count for over a week.   The cough  is still lingering even still, but hopefully it's residual and not symptomatic of it worsening.   Otherwise she's a healthy and very happy little girl.   She now has 4 teeth - and sadly her second top tooth got chipped somewhere (which honestly is no surprise since she falls regularly from the great heights she's scaled!)  although it has now come in further and looks like it has a crack in it - so I think a trip to the dentist is on the horizon very soon!

We're already well into our 14th month of Mae's little life and she is such a joy and changing daily.  Can't wait to discover more with her as she grows and changes.  :)