NY Trip, continued...

We really didn't take nearly as many pics as we would have liked. I suppose that's part of the trouble of her being on the move. More attention on watching and playing, less attention on pics. Maia met some more of her third cousins. Destiny Faith LJ - just 2 months old! Mason Evan She got LOTS of new toys. Spoiled girl!

Maia's second NY trip!

Having been invited to the wedding of Ray's good friend Gino, we were delighted to have the opportunity to take a long weekend to head out and spend some time with the family. Last time we were out in New York, Maia was 8-9 weeks, and here we are at 8 months! Maia kept herself on the move, and got to explore some new environments. Most importantly, however, she got the chance to get reacquainted with the people who love her! Hanging out with Aaron Feets! Playing with Grandpa ... and Grandma ... and Rachael Cuddling with Aunt Tara This may have been the only time she slowed down...

Happy (1st) Easter!

We headed to Ellen Pool's (Andrew's mother) for Easter Dinner with my parents, Kath, Andrew and the puddles, Sarah Pool, family friend Jim and, of course, Ellen. Maia has been fighting a cold for the last few days (we're suspecting ear infection #2, although she does not seem to be running a temp, just incredibly stuffy) but managed to handle the day and all the activity (including a face-wash from a 2 year old Irish Setter). After all that fun and excitement, she crashed and took a nap with Papa Joe. Sorry Effie. We failed to get a pic of the three of us. We didn't even get a pic of two of us together!

Early Spring at Meijer Gardens

Friday was a beautiful (if slightly blustery) day, and I hit my 40 hours for the week at 1:45. So I picked up Maia from daycare, get her fed, changed and bundled, and we headed out to Meijer Gardens for the afternoon. It was Maia's first visit there. Since it was the last day of spring break, and by far the nicest day of the week, the Gardens were pretty busy, but not impassible. We started out with a walk outside. Maia did well until we got to some of the wide open areas where the wind really picked up. So we headed inside to the warmer gardens. In the tropical garden where the butterflies were blooming... ...another mom was nice enough to take our picture. Oh, and here's another view of those two teeth...

Chasing Mommy.

Once she could crawl, she was rarely content sitting still anymore. And her personality is starting to show through more every day. No longer content with just crawling, she decided that about 5 days was enough to get that down before starting something new, and she was starting to pull herself to standing within the week. Her favorite place to stand? Right by mommy. Now that she's got that down... she's decided it's time to start cruising. This kid! What a determined girl. After she started pulling herself to standing, the ladies at daycare predicted that she'd be walking within two months. That will put her walking at 9 months... I guess we'll have to wait and see! Now some pics... Love this dress! A little Mommy N Maia time. Check out those teeth!