Lil' Talker

Maia has become the little talker around here. She is starting to say things on command and copy what you say. I LOVE it! I love her sweet voice. I love the things she tries to say.

Thank you= dee-do
Mickey Mouse= Me me me
No gracias= No yeah yeahs
naranja= ha HA ha
hooray!= a-RAY!
yes= yeap
I love you= I why you

I'll try to post a video once I can. She loves to wave and say "Hi" to everyone in the grocery store or any store really. She's so friendly.

A Quiet Toddler is a Mischievous Toddler

Yesterday I was getting some things sorted out for the upcoming Primary Program, working with a client on my Etsy shop, and preparing stuff for an Enrichment activity...all of which required my attention at the computer.

Our regular family computer crashed after 4 years of good use. Gratefully, we received a hand-me-down computer that works! It's a little slow but it gets the job done. As a side note, this computer doesn't have Microsoft Word...no, rather it has Word Perfect. When was the last time you worked with Word Perfect? Don't send me any Excel Docs because I can't open those.

Anyway, back to my story of me being busy at the computer. I'm typing away and programming some stuff while Maia plays all around me. After a while, I notice that it is a lot quieter than usual. I turn to see where she is and she has managed to take my wallet out of my purse and pull out my checks, steal my credit card, Disneyland pass, library card, and debit card. She was in the middle of stealing my identity!!!

After I put my wallet back together and stash my purse on top of the table, I go back to my business at the computer. Again, Maia starts to play and then it gets quiet again. This time I notice the sound change a lot quicker. I turn to see where she is...She's getting ready to dance on the table or steal my purse again. I pull her down before she dives without a flotation device.

Now you would think that I would just stop what I'm trying to accomplish at the computer and monitor my wild child at this point. Nope, I give it one more shot except this time I decide to give her a snack in her high chair. At least she's got a tray holding her in her seat.

Maia: making noise,
me: type, type, type,
Maia: quiet,
me: look for Maia in her high chair
Maia: standing up in her high chair with one foot on her tray and the other foot ready for transition from seat to tray.
me: freak out, save Maia from utter self-destruction, lose patience, get Maia a bottle and put her to bed, think about all that happened in the last 10 minutes and rethink my strategies and safety restraints.

While I have been posting this, Maia hasn't stolen much, maybe just relocated a few items that I might not find for a week or so, hasn't been climbing on any furniture that might cause a head injury if she fell, and hasn't destroyed important documents, just a book that I was planning on giving to D.I. So far, so good.

What's that awful smell?

A stinky toddler is a poopy toddler.

Oh yeah, and one more thing, you might not see pictures on the blog for a while because we can't download those to the computer either.

Wyoming: Rafting

Michael with his hat on. (Also notice Joe and Kathy's expressions- Awesome!)

Michael without is hat on. (I actually think it is right behind his paddle and right in front of mine in this pic.)

R.I.P. Michael's hat.

This past week we spent our vacation in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We did a bunch of fun stuff. Unfortunately, our computer is in the shop so we have no pics from our end. However, we did just get some pics from family.

Here are some of our Snake River rafting trip pics. Cameron, Kathy, Michael, Joe and I were all in one raft. It was so much fun. The guide in the raft behind us thought we were drunk. Joe and Michael did some funny stuff that kept all the other rafts entertained. One thing that they did was they took turns standing on the front of the boat while the rest paddled the raft in circles. It was a test of balance. The other thing they did was stand on opposite sides of the raft together and interlocked paddles. They were to lean back as far as they could as a test of trust. Lizzie, our guide, got them to lean back quite far and then took her paddle and broke the interlocking paddles. Both boys fell overboard into 57 degree water. But it didn't matter all that much. They were swimming in it long before the game. They made the trip so entertaining for all of us.

Cutie Pie

This is the most recent pic of Maia at 14 months captured by Auntie Laura. It turned out so cute. Way to go Laura! Maia isn't the easiest to capture on film. I love that we finally have a pic of her and her pig tails.

Oh Wow!

Does anyone find it funny when kids fake cry and pout and then suddenly stop?

I do! You only need to watch the first 5 seconds of this video to see what I mean.

Living for the Weekend

Saturday, July 18th, was a fun day. We went to the beach for cousin Sadie's 4th birthday and enjoyed food, folks, and sun.

Maia loved the feeling of wet sand between her toes.

Cousins

Uncle Dave came out from L.A. and we went to Tutor and Spunky's for lunch and consumed some awesome sandwiches. We also checked out Dana Point Harbor and soaked in the great scenery and companionship.

We had a great Saturday!

Peek-a-boo! Look who turned 30!

Yep, Joe turned 30! Happy Birthday, Joe! On Sunday we went to my mom's for a family party. We had a good time and played a game where we all designed a shoe just for Joe. Joe was the CEO of Shoeless Joe Enterprises and he had to hear our design pitch and see our fabulous sketches. We had some pretty awesome shoes.

On Tuesday, his actual b-day, I took Joe up to View Park (view point) in Laguna Niguel that overlooks several beaches from Dana Point up to Newport. We have done the same thing for the past 3 years. I packed a picnic dinner and we hiked this time to the perfect spot. I pulled out my journal and read to him entries that I had written when we were dating. After laughing over the entries and watching the sun set into the marine layer, we decided to go see a movie. We ended up seeing "Up." It was a cute movie and we had a great time.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOE! I still love you more and more every day!