Visiting Santa

I really wanted to head to Meijer Gardens to check out the holiday displays. It was a beautiful day, sunny and relatively warm for the season, so I thought it might even be a good day to walk outside and see the reindeer. So we piled in the car, and drove through the parking lot. It was jammed. So Ray decided we'd be better off heading to the mall and seeing Santa. So we did. When we arrived... we were next in line. I guess it was a good call. Maia did great, again. She seems to be fearless when it comes to strangely dressed adults. So we got the ridiculously overpriced package, and they were nice enough to let us take a couple of our own.

Okay, now how do you get this wrapper off?

Since she was all dressed up and still clean, we decided to get a few more pics of our own. This is her "sheeeeeeeze!" smile. After walking around a bit, Maia was eager to get out of the stroller (big surprise!) and so we stopped at the play area with the giant breakfast food so Maia could play with the 8,000 other children who were there today. When we were done, we tried another photo by a Christmas tree, but she was more interested in the tree than turning toward daddy. So when I tried to help, I got this... Big Mwahs! I love it! Later that afternoon, it was snack time. This is Maia with a mouth FULL of cheese. So full, she could hardly chew. And on Thanksgiving Day, Aunt Kathleen brought over some duplos that were no longer utilized in the Pool household. In that big box of duplos were some Winnie The Pooh duplo pieces. She knows nothing of most characters, she isn't terribly interested in sitting and watching TV or movies, so we rarely bother. As such, she did not know who Pooh was, and had to be told. Initially, she repeated the name correctly: "Pooooo!" and his "oney!" Later, however, she showed Aunt Kathleen and Grandma her toy, and announced his name: "POOP!" We appreciate a little potty humor from time to time, and could not contain our chuckles. I know I shouldn't perpetuate this mispronounciation... but so help me, I think it's hysterical.

And one last tidbit: Maia's canine teeth are coming in. They're poking through on the right side, and the left side is still lagging behind in both molars and canines. Her mouth is almost FULL!