Macie at 20 Months

I don't know why, but 20 months seems so old to me. It makes it so real that my sweet little Macie will be 2 before I know it! Even though I have been out of school for a short time, Macie is changing and growing every day. Here are some things she is up to (it's a long list but I want to document it):

• She is talking more and more and we are having conversations so to speak. Well, she always knows what it is she is telling me anyway! She will repeat most of what we say. What a scary though!
• She can climb now! Often times I find her in places and I am shocked because I forget she can climb. In fact, today I had the tray off of Gavin's high chair and I left the room and returned to find her in the high chair.
• She can tell you the sounds for lots of animals: elephant, lion, monkey, dog, cat, cow, sheep, bear, horse, owl, bird, duck, snake
• She can point to lots of body parts: hair, eyes, nose, cheeks, ears, neck, chin, tongue, teeth, elbow, knee, belly, toes, shoulder, back
• She loves tv and watches Sesame Street, Mickey Mouse, and Barney (much to my dismay) the most. She has started responding to the shows and doing what they say. My personal favorite is when she calls for "toodle" on Micky Mouse.
• She loves to be outside. We have already gotten a lot of used of her playground, especially in the swing. She loves her pool and bubbles too!
• She helps you count to ten. She can say the numbers: 2, 6, 8, 9, and 10
• She knows the word purple so if you ask her what color anything is, she will say "purple".
• She is better able to walk with me when I am holding her hand. This helps me when I have both kids by myself. I obviously have to carry Gavin and the bag, so it helps if I can kind of drag her along.
• She is very social, but also a bit shy. When we get to a new place or around people she doesn't know, she is a bit clingy. But once she warms up, watch out!
• She loves to read books and play with toys. She also wants everyone to be where they "should" be. If I'm not in my chair or Gavin isn't on the blanket, she is disturbed!
• Gavin is still her very best friend! She loves him so much. She is always trying to play with him or share stuff with him. He lights up when he sees her.
• She is starting to tell us when she has gone to the restroom. She will grab her crotch and say "tut". Is potty training in the future??

Grams B's Birthday

On Friday, Grams B turned 86! We celebrated with a lunch today in a room at her apartment complex. It was a really nice setup and we are thinking about having Christmas there next year. It would make it easier on everyone, especially Grams B. We had a delicious lunch of fried chicken and all the fixins. Macie had a blast playing with her cousins and Gavin enjoyed being loved on. We took several pictures with Grandma. I am kind of bummed though because the one with her grandchildren didn't turn out. My picture was blurry and there was a window behind us so there was a huge glare on the picture. Hopefully someone else was able to get a good one. It was a short get together, but overall a lot of fun! We don't get together often enough on my Dad's side of the family so it is always good to catch up!

Angel face
Grams B with all of her great-grandkids. This was quite the chore to take, but no one was crying (at this point anyway)! Last year, Gavin wasn't in the picture and next year we will have another baby. My cousin, Jamie, is expecting her second at the beginning of December.

Grams B with her kids

Macie loved to play with Kaylee. I had a very hard time getting a picture where she would look at the camera!

I think this picture is so funny because it looks like Kaylee is choking Macie bu she was just trying to turn her face towards the camera. Look at Macie's face...you can tell she looks up to Kaylee the way I looked up to Lori (Kaylee's mommy) when I was little.

Grams B with her cake. She LOVES sweets!

Aunt Dawn and Gavin

He was so chill the whole time!

Gavin and Anya

This afternoon, we took Grandy's over to Rachel and Eric's house for lunch. Brian and the kids hadn't had a chance to meet Anya yet. After we had both of our kids, people (including Rachel and Eric) brought us food. It was the best gift we could have possibly gotten, so we decided to return the favor. The lunch was yummy and we had a pretty good visit. Macie was a bit of a grouch and made quite a scene at one point because she was very tired, but other than that, all went well. We laid Gavin on the floor next to Anya. He looked like a giant! Anya is so sweet and tiny and was very well behaved:) They say we just caught her at a good time, and trust me, we know how that is! We are just so thrilled that Anya is here and we hope to see the Maurer family again soon!!

Anya was getting hungry!

Gavin was all grins!

Tay

As sad as it is that my kids are growing up way too quickly before my very eyes, I am also enjoying each and every stage they are in. Macie is talking more and more and she is better able to understand what I am saying. Often times I will say something like, "I'm going to take Gavin out to the car and then I'll come get you, OK?" and she will say "tay". Or I will say, "I need to feed Gavin and then you can have a snack, OK?" and she will say "tay". She sounds so sweet when she says it. The good thing is, she actually gets it and we don't have nearly as many meltdowns as we did when Gavin first came. She is learning that Mommy will get to her as soon as she is done with whatever she is doing.


We had to take Macie in for a quick trip to see Dr. Voyles today. When I was changing her diaper before nap time, I noticed red blotchy whelps on her behind. They were raised and hot. Then, I noticed two more on each thigh. I started to get a bit worried and stripped her down to do a full inspection. Thankfully, I didn't find anymore. I rubbed a benadryl stick on them and put her down for her nap. I knew that I couldn't call the doctor's office for another hour because they were on lunch. The benadryl stick didn't help at all and they were actually worse by the time she woke up. They didn't seem to bother Macie at all, but I went ahead and called in anyway. They had me bring her in around 4. I was a little nervous about taking them both in, but they were both very well behaved. Even though, Gavin was a little crabby. Dr. Voyles said that Macie just had hives. I can't come up with anything that was different that would cause it. He didn't seem too concerned, but said it was good that I brought her in. For now, she is just taking benadryl orally 3 times a day and hopefully they will clear up. Unfortunately, it may take her getting them a few times for us to figure out the cause!


Tonight, we went with Allie to the Holy Spirit Summer Social. We were a bit worried about the weather, but it held off and we had a great time! Allie jokingly called me a celebrity because I knew so many people there. It is always great to see all of the people from my school and parish and to have so many people dote on my beautiful children! Macie ate a corn dog again which she loved, but that wasn't her favorite part of the night. We decided to let her get in the bouncy house for the first time. She kept pointing to it and saying "bounce, bounce, bounce". I wasn't sure if she would even get in it, but we bought 2 tickets anyway. That was the best 50 cents I think I have ever spent! When she first got in, there weren't any other kids. She barely started getting used to it when other kids started coming in and jumping. She kept falling down and laughing the whole time. Then, she got braver. Brian got some video. I was cracking up!! She didn't want to get out and we had to pull her out screaming. Gavin was pretty chill the whole night. I snuck into the classroom to feed him. Perk of working at the school!

, She was wiped out by the time we left! You can't really tell, but she had cheese all over her face!!