Making a Guest Appearance

Speaking of getting out of the humdrum of day to day. Uncle Brendan and his girlfriend, Monica, made a guest appearance at Maeve Space. Brendan made a special request to hit the blog, little did he know that I would use it to get him to send the pictures that were taken over the weekend. Some very funny ones that I'll update the blog with once they are available.

Uncle Brendan drove out Mark's new car. A Subaru dressed in Saab clothing. It's a zippy car (maybe a bit too zippy) and lots of fun. Let's hope that the car seat in the back slows Mark down some. I don't think Uncle Paul being a State Trooper in NY is really going to help Mark out here in WI. I'm sure if you ask Mark, he'll be happy to share some pics of his lovely new car with you.

Anyway...we had a great time with Brendan and Monica. A day in Madison, complete with folk singing at the Kids in the Rotunda (a free kids concert/gathering every Saturday morning during the school year). A walk down State Street and even better yet milling around Chicago at Navy Pier. Hope we didn't bore them to tears. The plan was to take them to the Essen Haus while in Madison and treat them to a stein, but Mark and I were too tired and I think in bed that night by 10. WooHoo. You'll just need to come back out when we're getting more sleep and can sacrifice a few hours out at the bars!

Lots going on

It's really interesting to me how as you get older (BTW it's Mark's 33rd birthday today) that time seems to go faster and faster. Yet when you are young time seems to drag on and on. The wildest thing of all that is when you're old, the day to day doesn't change all that much. Perhaps that is why time goes faster, you'd get bored otherwise. On the other hand, when you're young, new things are happening all the time.

Let's see...Maeve has had another tooth explosion. Two teeth at the beginning of the month when Grandma and Grandpa where here. Now two more have popped through, with two more on the way.
She is walking a little bit more. She can walk just fine, but I don't think she has her confidence built up just yet to really let go and go for it.
Maeve is talking more. The aforementioned 'Uh-oh' and attempts at other words.
Maeve is mimicking more too. I can't figure out why she does not know how to wave yet, she sure studies everyone waving enough.

So, while our days as adults have slowed in general, Maeve has helped fill them up with new things all the time.

Mission

The plan is to fill the front of the refrigerator with pictures of Maeve's family and friends, in particular, the ones that she doesn't get to see that often. For those of you that wish to participate, find or take a picture of yourself to be included on the fridge. Head shots, ones that she can see your face well are probably best. Feel free to email the picture and I'll print it here or you can snail mail the picture too. If you need my address, let me know and I'll be sure to send it your way.

Pictures like her father takes, head tilted to the side, tongue sticking out and eyes bulging, need NOT be included! Mark does plenty of that for her, and for goodness sake, I have to look at that picture each time I reach for my OJ.

Growth

I think we may have found an explanation for the terrible few weeks of sleep we just had over the past month...Growth. Mark and I have both noticed that Maeve seems heavier and also perhaps a bit taller. This thought was confirmed when I put a pair of overalls on her yesterday, a pair that two weeks ago required a massive amount of rolling in order to prevent her from tripping. Yesterday, no rolling required. All I can think is that it must be painful to grow so much all at once. The phrase growing pains seems literal here.

Alas, we have found ourselves in a more restful sleep cycle. I feel renewed by having more than 2 hours at a time strung together. And while we still don't sleep through the night according to everyone else's definition, I can say that it feels like sleeping through the night to me.

"Uh-oh"...

... is the latest in her language bank that she is trying to master. She says it often and often out of context, but she is working on it. Today she got the meaning right as she was playing with a new toy during a diaper change. Maeve was playing with said toy she got for her birthday. A toy that was given by a family member that clearly must have a vendetta against us, her parents. It's got bright lights and makes tons of noise. The main reasons that it is being reserved for diaper changes only...keeps her attention and it's a short enough dose that I am less likely to throw it out the window. But I digress. Maeve took this toy and intentionally hung it over the side of the changing table and slowly lightened her grip on it. She waited for the "thud" and announced, "uh-oh." Reply, "uh-oh is right. Don't think you're getting that back until the next time I try to wrangle you into a clean, dry diaper."

Which, while I'm on the subject, why do kids this age fight the diaper changes so much. I would think it is a relief to be in a dry, clean diaper. It's cold out, what could be worse than some thing cold and soggy on your bottom. I'm sad to say, the cleanliness factor I think is lost on kids. They don't seem to mind that they sit around in their own excrement. It's theirs after all.

Anyway, syllable by syllable she'll build her vocabulary. I'll help her practice, especially if it helps us practically get through the day.

Lucky Girl

Maeve is indeed a lucky girl. For the past week and a half she has had grandparents from both sides doting over her. As they all leave she is going to be looking around at her lamo parents to stir it up some.

Lets see, she has been to a petting zoo, got to play drums on some VERY large pumpkins, celebrate turning one, go to the children's muesem and tour a brewery. Not sure how that last one appealed to her senses, but if she is her father's daughter, she may become a beer connoisseur.

I guess it's only a matter of time until she figures out that her parents are really not that much fun. I'm hoping we have a few years before she finds us to be an embarassment. Then if I take after my father, I'll take joy in her embarassment and behave like a goof. Ya know, as much as he threated that though, I don't recall any of my friends describing him as a goof. Most were scared sh**less of him. Little did they know that he is a total teddy bear. And if you don't believe me, watch him with his granddaughter.