Happy Halloween

Maia's first adventure into the world of "boo!" and "trick-or-treat!" (ti-teet!). It was a lovely Michigan Halloween day (ah-weeee!) Gray, rainy, a little blustery and...

So we assembled her Duck costume in layers of warmth. First layer: turtleneck, babylegs (leg warmers) and thick socks. Second layer: Leggings, another shirt (okay, they're halloween PJs) and warm winter boots Then the costume itself. Sadly, Lydia could not join us for this pic, as she is sick with the flu. When we finally went outside, she got a winter hat and mittens on. She did SOOO well! She said her ti-teet! and her dih-doos! She held out her bag, and only tried to go into one house (to see the doggie, of course!) We only went to about 10 houses, which probably took about 1/2 an hour. The streets were sparsely populated with kids, and there were a lot of people not participating this year. Even as I sit here typing this up, it has been almost an hour since our last guest, and it's only 8:15.

I think she really had some fun, and after a nice bath, three stories and about a minute of cuddling with daddy... she was ready to go "Ny-ny!"

Perhaps I should add that they did do a Halloween Parade with all the daycare kids through the nursing home on Friday. I was told that she was a hit, and quacked nicely for people who asked. She got lots of treats. However, it was a LOT of walking (the nursing home is a big place!) and she was actually too tired to nap well. She went to bed quite early last night, and actually slept until after 8 this morning (usually she's up by 6:30 or 7 at the latest!)

Some Fun

A little fun game Maia and Daddy play... usually gets LOTS of giggles from Maia. Unfortunately, my presence with the camera was a little distracting.

Have I mentioned she really likes to help sweep and vacuum?

She has also learned that when Daddy is playing his guitar, or alternatively, Guitar Hero/Rock Band (heard here as the VanHalen pack) it is called "Rock!" (wok!)

Interestingly, she knows that is different than when she is asking to rock in her little rocking chair, or on her own rocking horse (Nay!)

Maia continues to adore apples, and will carry them around for hours. She will also shout "app-oooh!" every time she sees them in the fridge, and has randomly grabbed a few of them before I was able to get the door closed. In this case, I just gave her a quarter. It's difficult to tell here, but she essentially hollowed out what remains of the peel. It's about 1/8" thick. Funny. In the evening, sometimes Maia will ask to look at photo albums. If she isn't too tired, she'll name the people, items and animals she recognizes.

She's happy... and she knows it!

Maia loves music.  If you've met her, you undoubtedly know this... but she is starting to increase her demand.  Every weekday morning, since she was a few months old, I have sung her a little "Good Morning" song on the way to daycare that I made up (probably based on something from my days as a Music Therapy student).  Now I ask her if she wants to hear it, and she always says "Yesch!"   I don't, however, have a "How Was Your Day?" song, and she couldn't really answer anyway.  So on the way home, or during other trips about town, I just sing random things.
If I sing arpeggios with a "la la" syllable, she will warble tunelessly "la la la la la!"
If I sing "Old McDonald" she will shout "e-iei-oh!" (or e-i-o!)
If I stop singing, she will ask more? ("mah?") and do her "more" sign. Repeatedly. Until I sing again.

So I pulled "If You're Happy and You Know It" from the back of my head, and discovered she has learned this at daycare.  Sitting delightedly in her car seat, she clapped, she stomped... well... Here ya go (she's messing around a bit at first... but she'll catch up!):


She also loves to make funny noises with us, so here's an example of that, too. 
As always, pardon the mess!

Art O' The Month

Sad Faces

Happy Face

Surprised Face

Silly Face

Sleepy Face (?)

And this is my favorite.... her MONKEY (which, according to Maia, makes the sound "ah ah ah ah!)

And we mustn't forget Maia's best art piece of all....

Herself!!

She actually managed to bite the tip off the green marker, and followed it with a nice red chaser.

More Apple Picking

After returning from NY on Monday the 12th, I began a hellacious week of rehearsals with Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus for our performance of Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.  Every night, I would rush home from work, pick up Maia, grab some food and head to rehearsal from 6:15 to 10:30/11 pm.   The production was complicated, involving the GR Symphony, GRS Chorus and GRS Youth Chorus performing the music simultaneously with the movie.  It was playing on a massive screen over our heads, like this:

Kath and I aren't particularly visible... but we're on the left side of the chorus.  Kath is in the front row, about 5 people from the left, I'm in the second row, 4 people from the left.

The review can be read here.  While performing this, I kept thinking two things...

1. I sooooooooo wish I could have been in the audience for this one.  I think it must have been an amazing experience on the other side of the stage.

2. The last time I performed with this group of musicians was the first time I felt Maia move while she was just a gummy bear in my womb.  What a difference 17 months makes!

So, despite our exhaustion, on Saturday the 17th, we went Klackle's orchards with Kath, Grandma Marcia, Emily, Adrian and Lydia. It was cold and overcast. Cloudy just seems to be our apple-picking weather!

Maia and Grandma Marcia

We all rode on their "wagons", pulled by a variety of tractors (a word which Maia learned in NY and used a lot!)

Jonagolds were our preference of the three varieties ready for picking on this weekend.

Emily

Lydia

Adrian

Maia went through several apples, and was almost as excited about them this time as she had been with the Macoun in NY.  I say 'almost' because she actually managed to drop a few of them after a few bites.  I don't think she would have let that Macoun go at Bouwman's!

These seem to me to be rare pictures of late: Just my mom with the kids.

Lydia and Grandma Marcia

Adrian and Grandma

Emily and Grandma

Aunt Kathleen and Maia

Lydia and Maia

The last trek we took was to find a pumpkin in the over-picked pumpkin patch.  We wished we hadn't bothered and wasted the time (we got stuck out there for a while, waiting for the wagons to bring us back, and the place is huge!)

Maia, however, enjoyed playing in the dirt, and adding the word pumpkin (Puhkuh?) to her vocabulary, and got to use the words apple (appp-oh?) and tractor (cak-tuh) quite a bit.

NY Trip (Friday, Saturday & Sunday)

Friday was a quieter day, with all of us going our own ways due to work schedules, school schedules and other life responsibilities.
Maia and I went had lunch with Aunt Tara at her job. Then Maia and I went shopping together, and I finally found her Halloween Costume.

And then Aunt Tara gave Maia a bath

On Saturday, Ray and I took Aaron and Rachael to the Rusty Nail. Wiiiiiiinnnngggs!!!  Finally.  While Ray had been three times in one week, I hadn't been in almost three years. (Alas, poor me!)

Of course, there was the obligatory Uncle/Nephew event: video games.

And in the evening, Tara hosted a casual dinner for extended family... complete with a gaggle of kids in the living room.

On Sunday morning, we did "Big Breakfast."  French toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, fried dough, potatoes...

It's a rare sight, seeing these three cooking.

We spent a quiet day together.  Ray, Maia and I finally shoved off around 5 pm, and headed to London, ON where we spent the night.  I was smarter, and called ahead to see if they had a portable crib of some sort.  When we arrived at the hotel, a pack-and-play was ready to assemble.  After getting it set up, we put her "monkey" (waterfall soother) in the corner, which she turned on and promptly laid down. She was out before the song ended, and we got a good night of sleep!

The next morning, while waiting our turn to cross the border, Maia waived to all the people in the cars next to us.  We kept hearing small "Ai!" noises from the back seat, and looked around to see other travelers in SUVs giggling at her and waiving back.  She was just as friendly to the border guard, who also seemed amused by her.

NY Trip (Wednesday & Thursday)

On Wednesday, Ray and I celebrated our 9th Wedding Anniversary by doing not much.  The day was blustery and cold and rainy... which did not lend itself to being out-and-about.  Walk around Saratoga? Nope. Head up to Lake George?  We'll get blown in!  So we went to a movie, had a drink, drove past old haunts and ended up having a nice dinner at Smith's in Cohoes with Ray's good friend Gino, and his new wife, Becky.

(Of course it was much darker and more blusterywhen we went. This pic is from the website)

Effie and Tara took Maia for the afternoon and evening...

On Thursday, we had Raymond, Effie, Ray, Maia and I had breakfast as Cracker Barrel.  Maia continued her habit this week of eating two breakfasts... a Kashi cereal bar at Tara's when she woke up, and pounding a couple of scrambled eggs (and maybe a piece of toast) at "second breakfast."

After a little morning nap, Ray went off to have lunch with his old friend, Jim. Meanwhile, Maia and I went to visit my old co-workers at Dr. G's office.  It's always great to see everyone, and my friend Erin seemed most surprised at how much Maia was talking (and talking and talking!)  For example, Maia announced "ooWatah!" (water) and picked up a watering can and carried it around for a few moments, until Erin opened the door to Dr G's office, where she promptly tried to water the plants.  Erin was delighted! 

Home again for some lunch an a nap, and then we headed out to Rachael's volleyball game. Shen vs. Shaker.

There she is, #5.

She's got a wicked serve!

After the game, most of us went back to Tara's... while Raymond and Tara headed over to Aaron's game (under the lights).