Christmas & Then Some

We had an outstanding Christmas. Mostly because of how much fun it is to have this delicious little Nugget of ours around. She is just one big plate of yum rolled in sparkles and topped with a splash of giggly. I simply cannot get enough of her. She was up and grooving for three hours on Christmas morning before she noticed ANYTHING under the tree - including the really big wooden rocking horse. But once she got the hang of opening packages, it was game on. We got her the 40th anniversary Seseame Street DVD and I'm not going to lie, we basically sat around in our pajamas all day and watched it. I made pancakes and sausage for breakfast, someone wore their Christmas tree nightie and a grand time was had by all.

But wait, there's more! The next day we went to see Grandma, Pop Pop and Granny in Shepherdstown and had even more fun. We need to make another trip back soon to pick up all the loot we couldn't get in the car the first time - Mabel is one lucky, lucky girl. And it may have been said before but definitely bears repeating - Grandma Sandy picks out the best books for kids, hands down. Every single one she's given Mabel has been a huge hit. Currently we are loving 'A Tale of Tails'.

Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve, and our Nugget is nestled all snug in her bed, with visions of .... kitty cats? woof woofs? tofu dogs? .... dancing in her head. Here she is showering Walnut with love earlier today.

Snow!

'Nuff said. We had a ball in the snow.

Don't Stop the Fun

Sometimes it's hard for Mabel to stop playing at the end of the day, which I can totally understand. I mean, I'm a heck of a lot of fun to hang out with. Nonetheless, we can't all play imaginary kitchen all day, and sometimes a Nugget needs her rest. One night she was so attached to her little spatula and spoon that I let her take them to bed with her. As you can see, she's keeping a tight grip just in case someone tries to take away her fun.

Yardwork with Dad

I came home from work one day and Dylan and Mabel were in the back yard raking leaves, and they had raked big piles into letters to say 'We [heart] Mom'. Except they ran out of room so it said 'We [heart] M'. Very, very cute. As you might imagine, Mabel was a fantastic helper. It also seems there was some snacking involved.

Thanksgiving 2009

I'm a bit tardy in posting this, but Happy Thanksgiving! We went to Shepherdstown and had a great time, so much fun that I only managed to take four pictures the whole time we were there. Here's Mabel with the turkey Grandma Sandy gave her.

Hats Off to Grandpa Tom

This one's for Grandpa Tom. Mabel wants him to see her new hat.

Mabel and Dave

Mabel and I had lunch recently with our friend Dave, who is fantastic. How fantastic? A few months ago he gave Mabel his very own Pooh bear, that's how fantastic. She loves Pooh and sleeps with it every night. Here she is with her generous benefactor.

Welcome to My World

Here is a brief glimpse into Mabel's room. Let's review: rocking chair for me to climb onto, then climb off, repeat - check. Dollhouse from Grandma - check. Toy kitchen that I love with all my heart - check. Mommy's headband that I like to wear around sometimes to keep the hair out of my eyes - check. Life's good if you're The Nugget.

Saturday in the Park with Dad

There is a great park just down the hill from our house that Mabel totally digs. Everything's sized for smaller kids and it's usually not crowded so she can have the run of the place. Here she is with Dylan in the fire engine-climby thing.

Buzz, Buzz

A friend of mine loaned us a Halloween costume for Mabel and of course we (and by 'we', I mean 'I') wanted to put it on her immediately! How could I possibly be expected to wait until Halloween to see my child dress as a tiny bee? As expected, Mabel + fuzzy bee cosutme = adorable.

Please Be Seated

Dylan took Mabel to Ikea earlier this week and got her a perfectly Nugget-sized table and two chairs. And it's not an exaggeration to say she is in LOVE with them. She now takes her bottle at her table, thank you very much, and enjoys tormenting me by standing up on the chair and pretending to listen when I ask her to please put her bottom on the chair .... but then she does a little dance instead.

Just Put One Foot in Front of the Other

Batten down the hatches, lock up your remote controls and medicate the cats - Mabel is officially walking. She has been flirting with it for a month or so - she'd stand up, look around and then decide, you know what, I think I'd rather sit. Then she'd stand up and if you asked her to walk to you she would comply, as long as you were only two or three steps away. But about two weeks ago at day care she just took off, and now she is walking all the time, everyhwere. It's really quite something.

By the Numbers

Mabel had her 15-month checkup yesterday and I am pleased to report she turned in very impressive numbers. Height - 32 inches. Weight - 25 pounds. Head circumference - I neglected to write this one down, but suffice it to say her melon is appropriately sized. (Although she was NOT pleased when the nurse wrapped the tape measure around her head.) We switched practices so this was our first visit with Dr. Feldman, and he is clearly a professional - he heaped praise on Mabel (to the delight of her swooning parents), let Mabel hold his shiny tool that had a light on the end (to the delight of an almost unbelieving Nugget - Wha?? You're going to let me hold this shiny object? Do you know that I am a very tiny girl who drops things a lot? OK, GiveitGiveitGiveit) and after the exam pronounced her 'perfect'. Plus, he has six kids, so we're pretty sure he knows what he's talking about.

On a separate note, this morning when I gave Mabel one last snuggle I caught the subtle scent of peanut butter on the back of her neck. I'm not entirely sure how it got there, but I have a pretty good idea.

Stop the Carousel, I Want to Get Off

The weather was gorgeous this weekend so we wnt to Glen Echo Park. We have been there before but this time we wanted Mabel to have her first carousel ride - the carousel at Glen Echo is absolutely gorgeous; it's from the early 1900s and has been completely restored. Plus they have live music and dancing in what used to be a bumper car pavillion, and all sorts of yurts (that's right, yurts) where artists teach clases and sell their wares. It's a very funky, cool place. Dylan remembers coming here for art classes when he was in high school.

So, at first Mabel seemed to be into the carousel - we put her on the horse and she immeditately grabbed the shiny pole in front of her to hold on. But as the music started and the horse began moving up and down and the carousel began spinning, she was ... not so into it anymore. She was very brave and tried to hold herself together, but after a minute or two I could feel her little body begin to shake and then she was bawling. But of course you can't get OFF the darn thing until it stops moving, which took a few minutes. But all was not lost - after the horror of the carousel wore off, we got something to eat and Mabel had her first taste of rice pudding. She is officially a fan.

Mmmmmmm ..... corn pudding

I have been wanting to make corn pudding all summer and I finally found a good recipe and some time to make it. I used a Barefoot Contessa recipe so it had an entire stick of butter and a lot more delicious ingredients - and wow, let me tell you, it was some good corn pudding. Unbelieveably, outrageously good corn pudding. I gave Mabel a bite because she was eyeballing me while I was chowing down, and she went nutso for it. Just a little tip from me to you, cleaning up a baby after she's eaten A LOT of corn pudding is rather challenging. Here is Mabel in a corn pudding haze, with a nice sheen of butter coating her little face.

Please Don't Make Me Wear This Ridiculous Hat

Dylan's birthday was last week and I wanted to get a picture of Mabel wearing the same party hat she wore for his birthday last year. Turns out she's not so into the hat anymore - but it's still kinda fun to see how much she's changed.

Car Talk

Mabel has a little plastic walker that also converts into a car. (Hmmmm ... so I guess the car is a convertible?) Anyway, she is very enamored with the car these days. It has a little trunk in the back that opens, and we like to store things in there. Blocks, small toys, pieces of paper; anything a Nugget might need on her long drive across the living room. She hasn't yet mastered forward motion, though, so she scoots herself backward until she gets stuck in a corner or up against the wall, and then waits for us to get her back on course. And if we don't respond fast enough, she simply rolls off and moves on to another activity, like reading that day's newspaper or tormenting the cats. She's got things to do, you understand.

A Nugget and Her Drawer

Mabel loves to be in the kitchen if that's where we are, and as we all know kitchens can be a bit dangerous for kids. Especially if, for example, you keep knives in drawers that are within a certain someone's reach AND you haven't put drawer locks on yet. So we came up with the super clever idea of giving Mabel her own drawer that she can access easily, open and close to her heart's content and is full of Nugget-friendly stuff: wooden spoons, rubber spatulas (very handy for teething - who knew?), boxes of tea bags, etc. You get the picture. Here she is enjoying her drawer, and here she is sizing it up for future use as an alternate nap location. A girl's gotta have options.

Shameful

I'm afraid it's true - sometimes we turn on Sesame Street for Mabel when she's playing in the living room and we want five minutes to read the paper. Go ahead and judge, but so far her brain doesn't seem to be rotting and leaking out her ears.

Just Beachy, Thanks for Asking

Last week Mabel and I went to Annapolis to visit my friend Amy and her daughter Olivia. Amy and I used to work together and we try to hang out once a month or so. This time we all went to Matapeake Beach, on Kent Island just over the Bay Bridge. It was a gorgeous day - mid-80s, no humidity and a light breeze. (This was a nice contrast to the rest of the weekend which was in the 90s and humid and disgusting.) We had a ball at the beach - it was Mabel's first visit and she loved it. Although I had to do a fair amount of hovering to make sure she didn't eat any of the little rocks that were everywhere. I wasn't as concerned with whether she ate the sand, though, and by the end of the day she had a lovely sand moustache + goatee to show for a hard day's work.

Milestones

Mabe had her one-year checkup this week. Yes, I know, she's way past her birthday, but this is what happens when A) your pediatrician's office is booked very far in advance and B) you wait until the week before your kid hits the 12-month mark to make the appointment. Moving on! Mabel's checkup was good, and as usual she charmed the socks off Dr. Snow. Mabel weighs 24 pounds, 12 ounces and is 31 and 1/4 inches tall, putting her in the 80th percentile for both. To quote Dr. Snow: "She seems to have moved past her maximum fatness point." Hmmmmm, I don't think I like the sound of that.

Mabel's Favorite Things, Summer Edition

Once again, and in no particular order, from the home office in Hyattsville, MD, we present a few of Mabel's favorite things.

1. Pink stuffed bunny

2. Blueberries

3. Swimming

4. Vintage rocking horse (see previous post for photographic proof)

5. Sorting through baskets of laundry (no need for it to be clean) - who doesn't want a pair of socks to wear on their head?

6. Waving

7. Tofu hot dogs

8. Sesame Street

9. Mom's headbands

10. Cat toys (please see photo above)

Back in the Saddle Again (sort of)

Well, as it turned out Mabel had a double ear infection. Also, a 103.4-degree fever, which apparently accounted for why she gave off the heat of a roaring campfire whenever you got near her. (Note to self: maybe our thermometer needs new batteries, since it told us Mabel's fever was a normal and non-panicky 99.6?) At any rate, she's on antibiotics now and feeling increasingly better, although still pretty tired by the end of the day and a bit more snuggly than usual. Which suits us just fine. She is a very good snuggler, a Snuggle Bunny if you will, and only occasionally sticks her fingers in your mouth. Or up your nose.

I should also add that while Mabel is, in fact, wearing pants in this picture (they're just not visible), her co-pilot Winnie the Pooh is not.

Sick Day

Mabel's had a rough couple of days. Thursday night we were up with her every two hours - feverish, crying, barfing. Yesterday she took a three and a half hour nap and went to bed for the night at 4 p.m. Not much of an appetite, although still happy to play 'Where's Mabel?' if you ask. We're off to the doctor this afternoon and hoping for some good medicine (or advice) to clear this all up.

Upstairs, Downstairs

Mabel can now climb the stairs. All of them. All at one time. We tried last week and she had no interest. We tried again over the weekend and she just went to town - climbed all the way up on her first try. Of course I hover behind her to make sure she doesn't plunge to her death, and once I inadvertantly got a bit too close and touched her bottom. She turned around and gave me a look that I have a feeling will become all too common as she gets older: Mommy, I can do it myself! Next on the to-do list: install those baby gates that have been collecting dust in the front hall closet for the past six months.

Very Casual Baby

I guess when you're a baby, pretty much every day is Casual Friday. Food on your shirt? No problem. Bananas from yesterday's breakfast still where you left 'em, rubbed all over the back of your head? Not to worry. Wanna spend the day hanging out in your t-shirt and diaper? By all means, go right ahead. Mabel so embraces this laid-back approach to life that whenever she gets the chance - in her stroller, riding in the cart at the grocery store, after a satisfying meal in her high chair - she likes to put her foot up and relax. Ahhh, yes, that's much better. One must be comfortable in order to thoroughly enjoy the adoration.

Blueberries for Mabel

We've started a nice weekend tradition of making blueberry pancakes for Mabel. Usually we do it on Saturdays, all the better for swimming lessons to wash away the blueberry stains left behind on someone's little nugget fingers.