10 Months!

Maisy is 10 months old!

She's walking all the time, it's her only mode of getting around. She looks like Frankenstein when she walks, very WIDE, stiff legs waddling side to side. It's very cute!

Sometimes Maisy gets very excited and likes to walk around flapping her arms and bouncing up and down.

I believe she's inherited a bit of Bailey's climbing gene. While at the grocery store, even though she was tightly buckled in, she managed to get her legs up and under her and stand on the seat of the cart, while twisted up in the belt. Her legs are so short that they don't really "hang" down, making it easier for her to maneuver herself into these precarious positions!

To get an idea of how short she is...today I realized she was standing underneath the toilet paper roll (and holder) and her head was just barely touching. No one should be able to stand up under the toilet paper roll! That seems wrong!

Johnny and I picked out this Halloween costume for Don. As you can see, he LOVES it!

We raked leaves last weekend and Johnny had a great time INSIDE the lawn clippings bin. He spent about ½ hour in there with the lid closed talking and playing. Don't worry - he had a bath after.

When I finally got a pile of leaves rakes I made Gabe bring Maisy out for a photo. She did not care for the feeling of the wet leaves on her feet.

It has been an exciting month of firsts for Maisy. Probably the most important is her first pigtails! Notice her long luxurious pigtails! She's very close to having all her hair up!

(I know it's exciting! Take a deep breath before looking at the pictures!)

Maisy has also begun playing in the Tupperware cupboard. A timeless tradition for all children. It has led me to ponder why I have so many containers. You'd think I cooked a lot and had tons of leftovers! In any case, Maisy is thoroughly enjoying how many containers her mother has.

She still falls asleep wherever she feels like it!

There was a time when I thought I'd continue taking her monthly picture in her stocking past her first year. As you'll see below, this is getting harder and harder to accomplish.

Here she is laying in the stocking...

She stands up...

She begins moving away...

She's now walking away from me trying to catch her...

She falls down...

She's up again ready to go...

Maybe they really are friends, here are Maisy and Don looking outside. (I didn't include the pictures of her grabbing his fur!)

You may notice that Maisy is already "donning her gay apparel"! She has quite a selection of holiday clothes and I want to make sure she gets a chance to wear it all, so we've begun early. I bought this outfit on eBay very cheaply and have been dying to put it on her. As she turned and walked away I realized it looked like I'd stolen the skirt from a Christmas tree and wrapped it around her waist. Still, totally worth it and she will "don" this gay apparel again!

Johnny's class was collecting beans and rice for a sensory table at school. While purchasing our beans Johnny asked why we were buying them. I told him that Mrs. M. asked us to bring a bag of beans for the bean table in class. He looked at me and said "Well, actually, I think I'll tell Mrs. M. 'no thank you because I don't really like to eat beans".

Johnny had a little cold. He came running in from playing outside and told me he'd dropped his cookie on the ground, but it was ok because he was already sick so he ate it anyway.

Johnny and Maisy are starting to play together. It's really fun to watch. They laugh at each other and he enjoys giving her toys to play with. He's really excited to buy her a Christmas present; and also excited to see what she's going to buy him for Christmas!

This past week I've gotten a few coupons and fliers in the mail for baby's 1st birthday cakes or other stuff around baby being 1. I must admit, I'm not ready. I knew she'd turn 1 eventually, I just didn't know it would only take 12 months! (and Gabe thinks he's the comedian in the family!!!)

Happy Halloween

Trick or Treat!

Maisy was Tinkerbell and Johnny was a bat

Johnny wanted everyone to see him with his bat wings "folded"

We went Trick or Treating with Haven and Morgan. It was a wonderful evening and Johnny had so much fun spending Halloween with his best friend.

Johnny enjoyed the decorations in the neighborhood and said this pumpkin looked "terrifying"!

Daddy had to work in Arizona. Johnny thought Daddy was probably trick or treating there. Johnny also decided he was going to share his candy with daddy. He will take a bite and leave the rest of each piece for daddy. (I bet you can't wait to get home to that treat Gabe!!!)

Johnny went to bed and said "phew, it was a long day. I better get all rested up because tomorrow is another BIG day. It's Bailey's 3rd birthday party and it's going to be important."

Maisy is walking everywhere and she walks a little like Frankenstein. Good thing it's Halloween!

She waved to me this morning when I got out of the shower. I quickly shared the news with my MOMS Club friends and learned that she waved at some of them yesterday. Then I told Gabe that Maisy was "wave-cheating" on me and he said she'd been waving at him for a few days. Apparently she's been waving for a while...just not at ME!

Next year Johnny is going to be a spider. He wants everyone to know he's prepared!

Pumpkin Carving

Today we carved our pumpkin!

Johnny has spent the last week "coloring" all over our pumpkin; various characters from Ben 10 Alien Force. Johnny's coloring imitates how he does everything in life...with full force and gusto and ALOT of action which usually results in a beauty that only Johnny fully appreciates.

We brought our pumpkin over to Grammie and Grandpa's house. Johnny brought in the pumpkin and said "Grammie you may see two of some guys but that's because I drew them in different modes". (To truly appreciate this comment look closely at the pumpkin in the picture. Not one area was left uncolored and by the time the pumpkin made it to Grammie's house it was messy and runny. Crayola washable markers don't draw well on pumpkins.)

I was planning on making our pumpkin look like Maisy - two bottom teeth; but Johnny chose the moment of me cutting the mouth with a very, very sharp (grandpa sharpened) knife to say that he thinks he's ready to cut the pumpkin with the knife. He thinks he can handle it. In my utter shock and fear I forgot what I was doing. So, I decided the pumpkin has the top teeth that Maisy does not have!

Yesterday Johnny returned home from school and told us he'd used the bathroom all by himself. He took care of everything. Then he said to Gabe, "Daddy, I think I forgot to wipe so you'll want to check on that". (If you know Johnny, you'll know this is actually a HUGE accomplishment and we are actually very excited by it! Amazing how much parenthood changes you...never would I have thought I'd be excited over someone using the bathroom!)

Maisy continues to practice her walking. She is actually more interested in walking than crawling these days; which means it takes her a long time to get places. She takes a couple steps, squats a little to regain her balance, then takes a few more, then falls on her bum, then gets up, then gets balanced, then takes a couple steps, then squats to regain her balance, then takes a few more steps, then falls forward, then gets up.... It takes her all day to cross the room. She's very excited though. Sometimes she stops and starts clapping and bouncing and then falls because she gets too excited.

Halloween costumes are completed and ready for trick or treating on Friday! Johnny is very excited because we are going trick or treating with his best friend Haven.