9 months

Maisy is 9 months!
(ok...she's almost 10 months but her mother isn't getting much sleep, so she hasn't updated the blog!)

Maisy is doing great. She's starting to walk, despite our best efforts to keep her immobile until she's 2! She loves to harass Don the cat and has been known to try and "taste" his ears. Shockingly he's been very patient with her. (he seems to be taking his aggression out on birds as he's become a bit of a serial bird killer. We have feathers all over our carport!)

Maisy LOVES Playing with Johnny. His blanket, his cars, him....she can't get enough. She's kind of a monster crawling over and attacking whatever he's playing with. He's very patient with her and good about making sure small toys aren't near her. He completely exceeds my expectations of how patient he is with her. Johnny can't get enough of Maisy and is always wondering how she is and what she's doing. It's very heart warming.

Maisy is not sleeping very well and we are in the midst of "Jay Gordonizing" her, as I like to call it! (Dr. Jay Gordon has written what I feel to be a fairly humane approach to getting her to sleep for longer periods of time)

Maisy "visiting" Don while he is snuggling up with his favorite sleep friend

Maisy is not a big fan of being used as a doll!
We began baby gym at the Olympia Center this month. She LOVES it. She dances and plays and enjoys diving head first into the ball pit. She gets to see her buddy, Murphy also. Seeing all the babies playing is just about the cutest thing ever.

Maisy enjoyed playing with cousin Bailey's dress up clothes! (maybe her mother enjoyed it more!)

Johnny is playing Soccer with the "Fire Dragon's". This is a picture of him going after the ball for the first time. It was an exciting moment!Maisy in a Halloween outfit at 9 months

Johnny in the same Halloween outfit at 5 monthsJohnny is still enjoying kindergarten. He enjoys learning about all the rules and workings of the school system. He also enjoys coming home and telling us which kids get in trouble and who has to go to Principal Woods' Office.

Halloween preparations are underway. Johnny is going to be a bat, and mommy is "building" his costume. Maisy is going to be Tinkerbell. Next year Johnny is going to be a spider. (Maisy's mother hasn't decided what she will be next year, but she has her eye on a Dorothy pattern that she thinks Maisy might enjoy!)

Gabe visited during lunch recently. Principal Woods was reminding the kids that sometimes people are allergic to things and they can't eat certain foods so we need to be extra careful to not share lunches. Johnny leaned over to Gabe and "whispered" (as all 6 year olds whisper in a very LOUD voice) and said "I'M ALLERGIC TO POISON". (it's a good thing we know. We wouldn't want to accidentally give him some and have a reaction!!!)
The following is a real conversation between Johnny and I. It was adorable and funny and a wonderful moment!

Johnny: Look! Someone littered and they put all the icky cigarettes on the ground. Don't touch them mama! They might kill you. Cigarettes are very bad for you. They have stuff in them that will kill you and it's really hard to get them out of you and it makes you want to keep using them.

Mama: I know Johnny. Mommy used to smoke a long time ago and it was very hard to stop. They are very bad for you and they DO make you very sick.

Johnny: (in awe) Mama! YOU defeated cigarettes! CONGRATULATIONS! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU.

Mama: Thank you Johnny. I am really proud of me too. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done and I'm really glad I stopped smoking. my body feels alot better since I stopped.

Johnny: Good Job Mama!