Tuckered out

Between gymnastics camp and her regular practice, Maisie spent seven hours at the gym today. About five minutes after leaving the gym Maisie was passed out and slept the remaining 10 minute ride home.

From start to finish Maisie had a great day today. She listened and paid attention to all her coaches and she didn't push any limits at home. Tomorrow she has a short day, only at the gym until 1PM so we'll get a nap in and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we have another great day...hopefully.

Bento fun

Last week I created five days of bento boxes for Maisie and she ate just about everything I put in the boxes. I did put in items that she favors but for a fussy little girl, she did great in the eating department. I'm having so much fun making Maisie's lunches, it's become my new obsession. I even entered a bento box competition for everyday people packing bento and we'll see how I do as the contest ends on Tuesday. If you're interested in seeing Maisie's bento boxes, check out Maisie Eats Bento.

We've had a pretty good weekend and I say pretty good because Maisie has really been pushing limits. We've had great mornings; Saturday on the spur of the moment I took her to the gym where we had the place to ourselves and she had a blast jumping on the trampoline and into the foam pit and today Eammon took Maisie out shopping and for breakfast. Then there were the afternoons... She was tired and cranky yet fought going down for her naps and even after waking, she was still miserable. Our easy bedtime has also become a test of wills but thankfully she's still zipped into the crib tent so Mama & Baba are still winning. Hopefully once we're back into the swing of the week things will return to normal.

Maisie on the move

Wow, two posts in two days, what's come over me? Shoot it's really five posts as I've made two posts on Maisie Eats Bento of, the lunch that she ate today as well as her lunch for tomorrow. Then because of a couple of requests, I posted to Cook Lisa Cook the recipe for Curried Israeli Couscous, truly simple to make and delicious to eat. The ever present udon noodles with sesame oil and medium sweet soy sauce are just that. One cooked and drained block of either frozen or shelf-stable udon noodles tossed together with about 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and 2 tablespoons of medium sweet soy sauce. For the ones that I give to Eammon, I add a bit of sriracha and some toasted sesame seeds for a little heat and crunch. Another truly simple and delicious option if you like noodles and want something fast.

This morning I made a point of taking my camera to the gym so to take pictures of Maisie and as you can see in this post, I actually followed through.

Each morning as soon as we arrive at the gym Maisie runs to take off her tennies and put them in her cubbie, then she takes off, usually heading straight for the trampoline.

Today was no exception so trampoline pictures I have.

I received a couple of questions about why I have Maisie in unitards and not leotards. The smallest leotards and unitards that I can find are toddler (18 months) and children's xxs. While her chest, waist and hips fall at the lower end of the measurement range, her torso length is about 2-inches smaller than the lower end of the measurement range. So, in an attempt to not have my child do a Catherine Tramell peep show, I've found that having her wear panties with the unitard provides more adequate coverage...if you know what I mean. Unitard, leotard, no matter what she wears she's still stinkin' cute...in my totally biased but oh so true opinion! ;-)

WARNING, WARNING, WARNING: SYTYCD spoiler: Are you kidding me, Mark is still there and Will was voted out???? Seriously??? Are you kidding me!!! Comfort, well she needed to go well before her first ousting. But Will before Mark, it's mind boggling!! That's one of my top 3 dancers out. Now I'm pulling for Katee and Joshua. Seriously I'm flabbergasted.

More of the same

Like so many of my bloggy friends out there, I too have been in a bloggy funk. I've been continuously on the go with Maisie as well as cooking a lot of new meals but I just really haven't had all that much new to post about, nor the time. Tonight though Eammon is working yet again, I have the kitchen mostly cleaned up and the DVR is recording SYTYCD so that I can watch it later on commercial free, so I figured I would attempt a post.

Last week Maisie absolutely loved gymnastics camp and just couldn't get enough of being in the gym. When she awoke each morning, the first thing she would ask was about going to gymnastics camp, and on the days when I told her that she only had her afternoon practice, she was disappointed. I swear the girl would be happy living at the gym. Since she loved it so much I decided to try having her go five days this week knowing that Monday and Wednesday could be rough with her afternoon practice coming right after camp, thus no nap. Monday we arrived at the gym just after 8:30a.m. and I returned at 2:00P.M. to make sure that she had a little break, a snack and a bathroom break before her regular practice. I then watched her practice and once it ended at 4:00P.M., we left the gym much to Maisie's chagrin. After 7 1/2 hours of physical activity I thought she'd be worn down but once home she headed straight for the trampoline and continued to jump for another hour.

Tuesday when I picked Maisie up from camp, her coach told me that she won the stick-it competition. That's where they had to jump off the high balance beam and stick their landing. Pretty darn good for 2 1/2 year old especially in that her competition were 5, 6 & 7 year old. After back-to-back busy days Maisie managed to somehow wake up extra early this morning at 5:30a.m. As we had some extra morning time we were able to do a little shopping before arriving at the gym just after 8:30a.m. I was back at the gym at 2:00P.M. to give Maisie a break, snack and bathroom break before her regular practice. As soon as I saw her, I could see that she was starting to wind down a bit but she said that wanted to continue. That was until 3:50P.M. when she hit the wall, stick a fork in it done. I told her coach that she needed to go home and off we went. Less than a minute after being strapped into her car seat she was fast asleep for the 15 minute drive home but once the car stopped she was awake and cranky. She lasted until 6:30P.M. and then she told me she was tired and when I asked if she wanted to go to bed, she actually said yes!! Hopefully she'll sleep well tonight and tomorrow she's only at camp until 1P.M. so a little less tiring.

Even though it's summer and hot outside, I've been doing a lot of cooking and I've been on a bit of a curry kick. Eammon and I have loved all the new foods but unfortunately Maisie is very picky and really hasn't liked anything new. She has an extremely limited diet of foods that she'll eat and left to choose her own diet she would live on noodles and Go-gurts. I think that she still may have some texture issues so I do the best I can and though I introduce her to whatever we're eating and new foods all the time, she rarely likes them so I tend to feed her the same meals again and again just so she'll eat and get food into her. Then she'll tease me with what she'll eat. For example, for a while she couldn't get enough fresh grapes, cantaloupe or apples, but now she won't even put any of them in her mouth. Her new favorite is dried fruit especially apricots, cherries and raisins. As far as vegetables, she'll only eat carrots and steamed broccoli. Protein, that's and entirely different issue, eating even fewer options. So all of her lunches lately tend to include noodles, dried fruit and broccoli or carrots. I have to pack lunch for Maisie to take to camp and starting in less than a month, to school, so that's three to five days a week of providing food that she wants to eat. So, in an attempt to make her lunches more interesting, appetizing and hopefully more appealing, I took a cue from M3 and the adorable bento lunches she makes for her girls. I purchased some bento boxes and supplies and I've been packing bento lunches for Maisie. I pack things that I know she'll enjoy and want to eat but having them packed in a more appealing way has made her want to eat more of her lunch. In addition she gets lots of comments and interest in her lunches so that entices her to eat more of it too. I've started yet another new blog, Maisie Eats Bento, to show some of the lunches that I've been making for Maisie and as I make more I'll continue to update the site. I've also added a link in my sidebar.

In other news, I booked our December trip to Aruba. Maisie and I will be down there for 19 days, the last two weeks of the trip we'll be staying with my parents. Eammon unfortunately can't take that much time, so he'll only be with us for the first 10 days. Nine days on the beach with little Miss Energizer Bunny and no Eammon, OY!! I'm going to be enlisting help from not only Gamma & Gampa but from any and all on the beach willing to chase the girl down!

And since no post is complete without a picture, I've added the most recent stinkin' adorable Maisie pic to this post even though it's a repeat from the previous post. I need to stop taking pictures of her lunches and start taking more piccies of her!

Gymnastics camp rocks!

In our attempt to help spur the economy, we went out and purchased a new television but Maisie's favorite part is of course the box, which still holds center stage in our family room. The box picture was taken just before her first day of gymnastics camp on Tuesday. Maisie had a fabulous day at camp and was so energized and delighted with the entire experience. She was the youngest child by a good two or more years and it was so cute how all the 4,5 & 6 year old girls wanted to hold Maisie's hand, help her when they could and the cutest thing was when they showered her with hugs and kisses when saying goodbye. After four hours of activity she didn't want to leave and for two days solid all she's talked about was gymnastics camp, what they did and her new friends. She did learn more than gymnastics, she came home from camp with a new phrase and it just cracked me up. She was going through the box of strawberry Go-Gurts, setting a couple aside each time saying "ewwww, gross!" before finding the one she wanted. She's such a character. After such a busy morning I was hoping for a nice long nap but noooo..... she was too wired. Thankfully she went to bed early and got a good nights rest.

This morning Maisie was all excited for her second day of camp and she looked so stinking cute I had to take a picture. After a little negotiating she allowed me to put her hair in ponies so to keep it out of her eyes. Surprisingly she kept the ponies in all morning but did manage to lose one of the decorative bands, which is probably meeting up with many other lost items at the bottom of the foam pit. She had another fabulous day and wanted to stay and play with her friends. I've never seen Maisie as energized or excited about an activity as she is when she's in the gym. I'm so happy that she's already found an activity that she loves and looks forward to everyday.

Bows please!

Well that's something I never thought would come from Maisie's mouth but sure enough, she wanted some bows in her hair. I have numerous clips and bows but the few times I've put one in her hair it's been ripped out within milliseconds.

I don't know what got into her today but this morning we were going through her goodies bag from yesterday and she was playing with the numerous toys, books, crayons, duckies, bows, sunglasses, (bubbles put away for outside play) and adorable ribbon flip flops and Maisie actually asked for bows in her hair. What she wanted though were the little butterfly clips that she's seen thousands of times before but never had any interest in wearing. I've never thought that Maisie had a bow wearing look to her but I do have to say that I think she looks stinking cute with the clips and if she wants, she'll be a bow wearing gal.

Maisie also had fun playing with lots of light sticks that I had leftover from the bloggy bash. She made necklaces and bracelets and just had a grand old time strutting around in her pajama top and new flip flops. Ahh, the little things that children find so entertaining.

GA bloggy bash #2

Pug Mama once again hosted the GA Bloggy Bash and it was a fun day for both Maisie and I. Though the bash was a full weekend of activity for most, Maisie and I only went down for the day. It was nice meeting up with both old and new friends and even one who surprised everyone by flying in to join the fun. Also fun was to have four new babies home and joining the bash and the anticipation that next year even more children will be in the mix. Unfortunately we didn't get it together for a full group picture but just as it was getting dark outside, everyone who was still there and awake gathered for the above picture. I was lax in taking pictures yet again, so watch the blogs of the other attendees for photos and stories of the weekend. Alison & Mali, Angela, Catherine, Connie, Doris, Heather, Kathy & Chani, Kim, Krista, Kristen, Lisa & Briana, Maryellen, Hannah & Sophie, Robin & Maddy, Stacy, Tracy.

The Maisie song

Maisie's been singing this for a couple of weeks but it took me until today to get it on film.

Maisie bakes again

Today was the one free afternoon that Maisie and I have all week, so we broke out the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, orange peel, flour, baking powder & salt and made sugar cookies.

We're meeting up with some very special friends this Saturday so Maisie and I decided to make personalized cookies for each of the little girls. Maisie did a good job helping to measure all the ingredients and she loved watching everything come together in the mixer.

She kept on saying "faster Mama faster," wanting the mixer to go as fast as possible.

She wasn't happy that once we made the dough it had to rest in the fridge for an hour but once it came out she did a real good job of helping to roll it out.

She then did a great job cutting out all the letters and putting them on the cookie sheet. One night this week we'll make the frosting and make the cookies all pretty. I know that all the little girls will love Maisie's cookies.

Artist at work

We've enjoyed a nice long holiday weekend of gorgeous weather and relaxation. It was nice just to have lots of time together with no plans, commitments or agenda. We didn't do anything special for 4th of July and we avoided fireworks as Maisie doesn't like loud noises, plus they were all well past her bedtime. Each afternoon Eammon spent time with Maisie in her little pool and Maisie had fun using him as her canvas. Oh the things Baba will do and suffer for his little girl!

Advertising, watch what you say!

We've really tried to shield Maisie from commercialism and advertising and for the most part I think that we've done a really good job. We did not expose Maisie to television, videos or movies until she was 26 months old. The few times that we were at some one's home and the television happened to be on, Maisie showed no interest in it and at our home when Maisie was awake the television was off. Now we allow very limited television and she does have her favorite shows, Thomas & Friends, Sesame Street, Hi-5, Paz and Blue Planet but they're all on our DVR so she never sees commercials. She knows of a few other characters such as Dora and Barney from her pull-ups and a book but she doesn't know that there are shows with those characters. In addition, we don't eat at fast food restaurants so places like  McDonald's, Chick-fil-A, KFC or Taco Bell mean nothing to Maisie as she doesn't know what they are, to her they're just buildings that we pass every day.

I'm really proud that we have an almost three year-old who doesn't know or recognize a single fast-food sign or jingle and when we pass through the toy department she doesn't ask for any of the toys because she doesn't know every cartoon or television character. I also think it's really cool that when we go to the aquarium she names and signs dozens of the fish and it's just cute as can be when she asks (all the time, over and over) to watch periphylla slowly (in slow motion) and then says 'bioluminescent' as it lights up the screen.

Because we have shielded Maisie in all the ways listed above, our conversation in the car Wednesday morning almost had me peeing in my pants from laughing so hard. Here's the situation, on each of our trips to and from camp we pass though an intersection where there's a Chick-fil-A that has recently undergone a renovation. When they re-opened they advertised by putting on the roof, a giant blow-up cow holding a sign that says "Eat mor chikin." So one day last week Maisie pointed at the cow and said "see the 'E' Mama, see the 'E'!" So I told her that the cow was holding a sign that said "eat more chicken" and I continued driving home. Well Wednesday morning we were driving to camp and Maisie points to the cow and this was the conversation.

Maisie: Look Mama, the cow. See the cow Mama!
Me: I see the cow Maisie.
Maisie: Mama, Mama, what does the cow say Mama?
Me: Cows say moooooooo. (doing my best cow impersonation)
Maisie: No Mummy not moo, cows say eat more chicken!

Yep, got to watch what I say around that girl as she remembers everything!

We hope that everyone is having a nice July 4th. We are enjoying a quiet, relaxing day at home together, doing a little swimming and as you can see from the pictures, a little painting. Maisie had a blast painting and being painted, becoming our little red, white and blue girl. Happy Independence Day everyone.