Monkey bum

Yesterday Maisie took her first nap in her crib, Yeah!! When I looked in on her, the sight reminded me of her first nap after we first received her as she was coincidentally wearing the same outfit.

China, December 12, 2006.

Home, April 24, 2007.

This outfit from one of my secret pals, Kikalee, is the one outfit that every time Maisie wears it, reminds Eammon of China and her first days with us. I really thought that by now, over 4 months later, she would have outgrown it but it's finally fitting her just about perfectly though I still have to diaper pin the pants to the onesie to keep them from sliding down when she walks around. She looks so much bigger than when we first met her, but she's still just a tiny thing.

Sleep, ahhh sleep. It's taken over four months but she's finally doing sooooo much better. Last night was her third night in her crib and while the first two nights were quite rough and long getting her to sleep, last night she went down and was asleep within five minutes!! Getting her down for a nap yesterday was touch and go but then today, five minutes of fussing and she was asleep. Also for the past three nights she's only woken up once each night and within a couple of minutes has put herself back to bed. It's funny because when she was up half the night and really not getting much sleep at all, she wouldn't nap other than maybe a quick 20 minute snooze in the car seat. But now that she's sleeping through the night and getting good rest, she's been napping regularly each day and for a good 1-1.5 hours. My take on her sleep is that she's more secure with us and is able to allow herself to sleep, knowing that we'll be there when she wakes. Whatever the reason may be, I'm just glad that she's finally getting some good sleep and that Mama too is getting some sleep.

And then there were ten

What a weekend!! So Eammon arrives home on Friday and I'm cast aside like the previous nights leftovers and it's all Baba, Baba, Baba!! So Eammon had a swelled head until the next morning when life returned to normal and I was once again the cat's meow or more accurately Miao Miao's meow! About the chocolate, all that Eammon brought back was English chocolate and though we can get some of it here at specialty markets, it's generally way over priced. It's one of those things that we look forward to when friends or relatives come over from the UK or when Eammon travels and brings it back. Thank you though to everyone who offered to restock our supply when we run low, it was a very sweet offer.

Saturday night was our local adopters gathering at Georgia and Jeff's home, they were great hosts and we had a wonderful time. It was fun meeting some new families and it's always a good time when this group gets together.

Most of the conversation was about the extended wait and how it's getting to everyone. I can only hope that all my wonderful friends get their referrals soon as I hate hearing of their pain and Maisie is looking forward to playing with all her new playmates.

I was having fun chatting, catching up with everyone and lapping up all the compliments on my chocolate mint brownies. Maisie was having a blast running around and next thing we knew Eammon did some little dash, twist, reach something or other as he was playing with Maisie and that was it, he did something to his back and now is laid out, drugged up and will hopefully be up and moving again soon. Now I'm really Maisie's favorite person as Eammon can't even pick her up which little Miss is not happy about!!

Sunday morning Maisie and I drugged, fed and watered Eammon before heading off for a fun filled play date at the park with some of the girly girls, Amelia, Kacey and Liza. Julie had planned the day and even made an awesome lunch for all of us. Thanks Julie it was a blast!!

 
After the play date Maisie was quite tired and took a nice long nap!! Afterward I was cleaning up her room and decided that I was going to attempt to move Maisie from the pack and play into the crib come that night. So I disassembled the pnp, moved the crib tent to the crib and got everything all set up. Come bedtime it was a tough go, a lot of tears, a lot of rocking and soothing but eventually Maisie did fall asleep in her tented crib, in her own room and slept until about 7:15 this morning!!

So here we are, Monday and I awoke with a bit of a headache but doing okay and Eammon is still pretty much on his back. Our usual Monday morning library outing wasn't happening as the lady who used to read took a new job and until the open position is filled, library story time is on hold. So we're doing stuff around the house and my headache was getting worse and worse. I started seeing the flashing lights so I quickly took some migraine meds only to make myself sicker. After a major chunder and a nap with the blanket over my head I was feeling well enough to do the one errand I needed to attend to and to also take Eammon to the doc to have his back checked out.

The headache still remains but is doing better, Eammon is still drugged and taking it easy and Maisie after a lot more tears, lots of rocking, cuddling and soothing is on her second night of sleeping in her crib. And yes, I did risk a flash shot just to document this historic occasion!!

So how did this post get it's name? Because it's springtime and all the new little goslings and ducklings are here! Yesterday one of the ducks came to the door with twelve adorable ducklings. But alas this morning when she arrived and I was videotaping Maisie seeing the ducklings, only ten ducklings remained.

Sweet reunion

Eammon was up in Toronto all week for work and Maisie did so well but is happy to finally have her Baba back home where he belongs.

Lookie, lookie what filled his returning suitcase!!

Our little footballer

Wow, it's been over a week since I last posted! Little Miss Maisie has been keeping us busy and tired.  Maisie and a lingering cold has kept me exhausted.

Here she is in her first Watford outfit thanks to Uncle Michael. Ignore the snot, it's been constant no matter how often I wipe her poor, sore little nose, as she's teething and still getting over a cold. I think she has a bit of growing to do before she can wear it without the top being suggestive and the shorts sliding down to her ankles but she looks darn cute in it even now. Thanks Uncle Michael and hopefully you'll pop across and visit us before she out grows the outfit.

So what's kept us so busy? At this point I hardly remember most of last week but I do remember meeting up with Kathy and Lisa for a nice lunch on Wednesday, followed by another great lunch date on Friday with Cindy and Ann. On Tuesday Maisie and I met up at the playground with other Moms and kiddos from my local SAHM group. Our Music Together teacher was away last week but we didn't miss out completely on music as Thursday Maisie and I started a Family Music ~ Dance with Me class through Parks and Rec. The class was fun and I met a Mom and daughter who live in our subdivision so hopefully Maisie will have a new playmate at the pool this summer. I know that we played with LiLi and Ian, that must have been Thursday afternoon but at this point the days are a blur. Over the weekend Maisie and I headed over for a quick play date with Emily and then here we are, a new week of days packed with activities.

This morning I registered Maisie for Mother's morning out. Starting the end of August she'll be going two days a week from 9:30 am - 1:00 PM where she'll make new friends, play, listen to stories, do some art, music & creative movement, gain some language & pre-math skills, lunch with other children and enjoy both indoor & outdoor play areas. I'll have the opportunity to get my hair cut, do a little solo shopping, clean up the house and maybe even go to the bathroom all by myself! Honestly though I'm stressing sending her and having her away from me two days a week. I have almost four months to prepare not only her, but me especially, for the separation. I know that Maisie needs to do some activities without me and with other children to help her with her socialization skills and to help her become more independent and if I keep saying this to myself maybe it will make it easier when the time comes to leave her that first day.

Eating oatmeal

No music, no words, just piccies.

The good, the bad and the snotty

The Good: Yesterday I moved the tented pnp into Maisie's room and last night she spent the entire night in her own room! She did so well, I can't tell you how pleased I am. We had a very busy day yesterday and I waited to put her to bed until she was falling down tired. It did take her about 15 minutes to settle down and fall asleep and then she was good until about 10:15 where she wouldn't settle herself back down so I had to go rock her a bit to get her back to sleep. This was probably her first night ever sleeping alone and she did so well. Tonight she was quiet and drifting off to sleep in just about two minutes. Let's hope that this is the beginning of a great sleep pattern for little Miss Maisie.

Another Good: Maisie is now legal in her already forward facing car seat! Yesterday was a visit to the doctor for Maisie's 18 month appointment which included three injections. It's difficult to believe that in eleven days she'll be 18 months old because we've had her for what seems like forever, but she's still so new to us that it just seems impossible for her to 18 months old. OK for the good bit, She weighed in at 20.1#, probably due in part to all the water and half a bag of goldfish she inhaled just before being weighed, but hey I'll take it. Eammon and I really thought she would weigh about 22-23# as she seems so much heavier than when we first met her but in fact, since we first received Maisie in December, she's gained a mere 15oz!! Based on looking at Maisie in person and in pictures, we were sure that she added at least 2" in height but there too we over estimated as she's only 0.75" taller than when we first met her, now being 30.5" tall. Maybe it's the hair, standing upright or her emerging personality and confidence that makes her appear so much larger than life.

The Bad: This morning Maisie woke up with the cold that I started coming down with about two days ago. Her temperature in the morning was as high as 102.5 but over the course of the day it steadily reduced and by bedtime it was down to 99.8. Hopefully by morning she'll be back to a normal temperature. Poor little girl spent most of the day sleeping on my chest, I just hope that with so much sleep during the day she'll still be able to sleep through the night.

The Snotty: That would be me, Maisie and let's just say that the shirt I wore today, that she slept on all day, has never been so crunchy and has definitely seen cleaner days.

Finally, here's a little video of Maisie saying "duck". She usually says it over and over but because I was filming, she only said it once. It's just so cute how she says it though so I thought I'd include the video.