Funny Girl

Maizie's personality has really started show. For the most part she is a happy girl. She laughs all the time... mostly at herself. She likes us to pick her up and carry her around the kitchen so she can open all the kitchen cabinets. She still loves her kitty and "meow's" at her whenever she sees her. But it doesn't really sound like meow. It's more like aaaaaaattsssssss. It's really cute. And I think Cali is warming up to Maizie. Tonight was the first night Cali has slept in Maizie's crib.

Maizie is a climber. She is our little monkey. A few weeks ago she figured out how to stand on the ottoman. Now she not only stands on it but likes to dive off it. Most of the time we are right there. She has only fallen a few times but ever time she falls she thinks its funny.

Maizie's eating has gotten a lot better. She still likes her yogurt but now eats solid foods too. Mealtime is still sometimes a struggle. But it's going much better. If you look closely you can see her chicken nuggets are all stacked on top of each other. She always puts her food in little piles.

And when she is eating something she is still unsure of she closes her eyes until she is sure she likes it. Sometimes she even puts her hands over her eyes.

She still loves her Kai Lan car and likes it when we push her in the kitchen.

She thinks it hysterical when she crashes into something...especially the bar because normally it's off limits.

OK I just realized in all of these pictures Maizie has on her PJ's. Most days we do dress her. But there are just some days that we don't get out of our jammies. Sunday was one of those days. And today was one of those days too. Tomorrow we actually have to get dressed though.

1 year ago...

1 year ago we saw this face for the first time.

And today....

And why is Maizie so happy??? She is bouncing on Daddy's face!

You would think since it was our first Thanksgiving as a family we would have taken lots and lots of family pictures....well you would be wrong. After we put Maizie to bed I realized we didn't take our family pictures! oops. These are a few from Thankgiving.

Ever year Tracy and I get our tree Thanksgiving weekend. The first tree farm we went to had the most perfect trees I have ever seen. The only problem they were $120!!!! Some were even $160!!! Since we were not going to pay that much off we went. But not before stopping at their barn to see Santa and buy some wreaths (which here very resonably priced)

Then we were off to the second tree farm. It was Maizie's usual nap time so she looks a little sleepy in these pictures. We didn't buy a tree here either. We couldn't agree on one. So on to the third place. By then I was no longer toting my camera.

Maizie decided she had enough dinner tonight so instead of throwing it on the floor like usual she feed Kodi.

This is our first attempt at Christmas card pictures. The first 2 are probabily the best out of the 50 or so I took (hard to get good pictures with a hungry 2 year old).

Tracy was trying to get Maizie to blow a kiss by making the kissing noise.

Look at the cheesy smily on Tracy.

Maizie had enough.

Bottles cure everything.

MIA

Sorry I have been MIA for a while. I am still trying to get use to having a toddler around. We finally have a good schedule down (although right now she has been playing in her crib for the last 90 minutes while she should be napping). A lot has happened in the last few weeks. The biggest one... Maizie celebrated her 2nd birthday! She had not 1 but 2 birthday parties! My living room has now turned in to everything I said it would never be. A sea of plastic toys!

Tomorrow will be 8 weeks since coming home with Maizie. I cant believe how much she has changed in the short time we have had her. She is now walking everywhere, in to everything and babbling up a storm. She still isn't really talking but she is very vocal. She has such a good personality which comes out more and more everyday. She is generally happy and laughs all the time. She still loves Cali (our cat) and Kodi (our dog) although I don't think they share that love. Food is still an issue but it is starting to get a little better. We started swim lessons a few weeks ago which she loves. We are going to Florida in a few months and I cant wait to see her in the ocean. She is going to love it.

My little Monkey.

Birthday Party at Grandma and Grampa's in NY.

She loves balloons.

She was trying to reach her gifts but didn't want to get out of her new chair.

Riding down the driveway at my parents in her Kai-lan car. Maizie though it was great fun.

Trying to play with Kodi.

Last week it was so warm out (71) Maizie wanted to play with her water table. Splashing and yelling at the same time.

Yesterday she had her 2nd 2nd birthday party at her Grammy's house...but I forgot my camera. oops.

Park!

Before we get to the park I need advice (especially from all the AP's). We are having food issues. At first she was a pretty good eater, picky (she wouldn't eat much other then her fav's) but would eat a lot of the foods she liked. Banana's and cheerios being her fav's. A few weeks ago she decided she no longer liked banana's or cheerios or anything else for that matter and went on a hunger strike for a few days. And just as fast as she decided she didn't like banana's she started eating them again. A few days ago she went on another hunger strike. I always try to feed her a few new foods a week to see what she likes. 2 days ago she decided she loves yogurt. Now she will only eat yogurt. Breakfast, lunch and dinner all she wants is yogurt. She still has 3 bottles a day and always drinks the whole bottle. She is getting little to no protein. She occasionally will eat a peanut butter sandwich but still wont eat any meat (not even chicken nuggets). She wont even eat pasta! Who doesn't like pasta! I feel like she picks a food and eats it until she is sick of it and then moves on to another food. Usually getting her to put something in her mouth isn't the problem. She will put everything in her mouth it's just keeping it in there that's the problem. If she doesn't like it or isn't in the mood for it she will spit it back out. I have tried shoving it back in and occasionally that works. I need help so any advice is greatly appreciated.

Ok now on to the park. I took Maizie to the park for the first time the other day and she had a great time but i forgot my camera. So Sunday we went back to the park with Daddy.

Having a good time on the swings.

Going down the slide was just ok.

I think she would much rather play with the leaves.

Maybe going up the slide is more fun.


Going to get Daddy!

Just because I am so cute!

Taking a break.

M loves to hang upside down. She's too funny.

Fun at the Pool!!

A week after we got home from China Tracy had to take a work trip to Washington DC and since I wasn't ready to be home alone with Maizie for 5 days we went with him. I don't know if i have mentioned before how much Maizie loves the water. Our hotel had a pool so Maizie was in heaven.

She loves being thrown up in the air.

Look at the smile on her face! She loves "flying" in the water.

Cold baby!!

Here's some from this morning. Do you like the big bruise in the middle of her forehead? She hit her head the other day on the door frame while trying to get in the bathroom.

Yelling at the kitty.

Trying to pet the kitty.

Chasing the kitty.

5 weeks

Tomorrow will be 5 weeks with Maizie! It seems so much longer then that. I know I have been mia lately but hopefully that will all change soon. I think we finally have a schedule worked out. Bedtime has been a little rough but I know I shouldn't complain. The only hard part is when we put her down the only way to get her to sleep is to let her cry for a little while (and by a little while I mean 10 minutes max) but once she is asleep she sleeps through the night. She usually sleeps 8pm-8am with a 1-2 hour nap during the day. However we are having issues with food. Maizie was refusing to eat anything but Cheerios for about a week. Even things that she loved she stopped eating. Just yesterday she started eating her beloved banana's again but that's about it. Banana's, Cheerios and Puffs. Oh and she also eats cider doughnuts. We went to pick pumpkins today and bought some cider doughnuts while we were there and Maizie loved them.

This is what I see when I look down. This is her "Mommy I'm so cute can you pick me up please" look.

China

China was great!!! Aside from getting Maizie I don't know what my favorite part was. The Great Wall, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Xi'an, Terracotta Warriors, Wild Goose Pagoda, Guangzhou. The worst part was getting sick while we were in Guangzhou. I mean really sick. We all had the flu and were out for a few days. Tracy still has a bad cough and Maizie has an ear infection and some congestion but other then that she is doing so well. We really are so lucky. She is such an easy girl. On the way home she slept most of the 13 hour plane ride. The plane from Newark to Boston was another story. She was wide awake and wanted to hit the guy in front of us on the head. We arrived in Boston at about 10:30pm. I thought there is no way she is going to sleep tonight but she went to bed at around 1am and slept until i had to wake her up (we had a doctor appointment) at 10 the next morning! Her favorite place to sit is in my lap. When she sees me sitting on the floor she will come over and scoot her little butt into my lap. She isn't walking unassisted yet but she will pull herself up and walk holding on to something. She really is just so so cute. She is still a little peanut and weights in at a whopping 18 pounds. Ok so I know you only came here to see the pictures so here you go. I will post pictures of China this weekend.

This is one of the first smiles we saw.

Playing with Daddy on the bed.

Bath time! Maizie LOVES the water. Bath time is one of her favorite times. She loves splashing.

At Starbucks in Guangzhou. Such a little lady.

Hanging out with Daddy.

At home with her new favorite toy. Thanks Grandma!

Red couch photo at the White Swan.

Maizie really is such an easy child. She rarely gets fussy. The most I have heard her cry was when she had blood drawn and that was only for about 5 minutes while they were getting blood. As soon as it was over she stopped crying. She loves to just sit and play with us. We really are so lucky.