I’m starting to get pretty busy at work, so I’ve decided to ramp up Maile’s training on the ol’ computer. She’s taking to it even better than I could have hoped!
(Note: the truth is that the desk I work at when I’m at home is in our living room, so Maile sees me on the computer all the time. She always wants to play around on my computer – which obviously is a problem – so I gave her this extra netbook computer that I received at a conference to play with. It is the perfect size for Maile girl. Its pretty interesting watching her figure it out. She knows that things she presses on the keyboard causes things to change on the screen. And if you watch the video, you can see that she has the basic typing movement done – probably from copying me. A few more weeks and she might be ready to add to the payroll 😉
Maile is getting closer and closer to walking every day. She loves playing outside. Several times a day, she’ll make her way over to the door and clap her hands please/whine (depending on her mood) to indicate that she wants to go outside. We’ve started taking her out after dinner for some exercise. We bring the walker and Maile will do her laps – typically 5 to 6 up and down the path outside our apartment. We’ve also started venturing beyond the apartment to the San Francisco streets. Maile likes this better because she can flirt with whoever happens to be passing by.
(Dad note: I like this video. How happy Maile is playing around, but also how it is framed – you kind of get a feel for how little Maile is compared to the big city. Or at least the big sidewalk! Plus, she nails the wave goodbye at the end.)
Hannah’s dad, Josh, takes MUCH better pictures than I do. He sent over his shots from the Three Amigas birthday party and I thought I’d share. See the slideshow below. (And yes, I ordered a book from Amazon so I can learn to take better pictures!)
On Saturday we celebrated Maile’s birthday on her home turf with two of her closest girlfriends, Allison and Hannah. Allison turned 1 back in June and Hannah turns 1 in August, so we decided to combine everything into one big fiesta. Literally, we made it a fiesta – check out the invitation we sent out:
Invitation to the 3 Amigas First Birthday Fiesta
It was a lot of fun celebrating with all of our San Francisco friends and the girls had a blast. It was the first time in awhile we got everyone together with all the little ones in one place – definitely a bit of a madhouse with ~10 kids under the age of 4!
The birthday girls: Hannah, Allison and Maile
And with the mommies!
"Daddy when you said there was going to be a pony, I had something slightly different in mind..."
Each girl had their own birthday cake (Thanks Grandma Gail and Grandpa Cal for Maile's!)
Maile had her own Maile-sized cake!
Proud parents and Maile Girl - we survived a year!
We typically don’t watch much TV while Maile is up and about. If there is a sporting event on, I might turn it on, but for the most part she ignores the TV (which is impressive considering it takes up about half of one of the walls in the living room).
That all changed when we introduced her to Yo Gabba Gabba! the other day. (More basic background here.) We were first introduced to Brobee and his pals when we went to visit friends in New York back in March. Maile’s friends Maggie and Jane LOVED Yo Gabba Gabba! and they were about a year and a half when we saw them. With Maile turning one, I thought I’d see if she’d also come under the spell of DJ Lance Rock.
Sure enough, as soon as I turned it on she was riveted. It was actually a little scary – they’ve tuned that show like a dog whistle that only toddlers can hear.
To celebrate my first birthday Grandma Jill and Daddy took me shoe shopping for my first pair of shoes. I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into, but they seemed quite excited, so I went along for the ride…
Okay, I'll smile for the camera - this is fun, Daddy!
It took Daddy a little while to get the shoes on my feet - he said my feet were like a jelly fish. Not sure if that's good or bad, I think my feet are cute.
Ta-da! What do you think? Pretty, right? (Dad note: we sent this picture to Mommy to make sure we had the a-okay from the boss...)
Wait? I don't get to take them off? They stay on?! What is this? You didn't explain this properly... Take. Them. Off.
For Father’s Day, Maile Girl sent Grandpa Mike a Star Wars t-shirt she found online. She actually sent him two (one Maile-sized and one Grandpa-sized). Unbeknownst to Grandpa Mike, Maile also got Daddy one. So when Grandpa Mike and Maile put on their shirts for some pictures, Daddy snuck upstairs and put on his too. Then Star Dork hilarity ensued…
Mommy said I should amuse them. Here it goes...
Maile: "Ha! Take that." Grandpa Mike: "You can't win, Maile. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine."
Oh no, Grandpa Mike is attacking Maile with the dreaded Mum Mum Saber. But wait, she's fine, she parried it with the mouth counter-attack! The Force is indeed strong with this one.
“Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas any more.”
– Dorothy
Last Friday, we hit the beach in Swampscott with our good friends Justin and Kerin, and their twin boys, Nolan and Quinn. Maile had met the boys once before back in November – with a few more months under their belts we were excited to get them all together again.
When we told Maile we were going to the beach, she mentally prepared herself for the beach she went to recently in Hawaii. Needless to say she was in for a bit of a surprise…
Whoa! This water is freezing! What is the deal, Daddy!?
Hey Mommy, can we talk? I have a few things I want to discuss re: this so-called "beach". First, this sand is like pavement! What's up with that?
... Five, did I mention how cold the water is? I can't feel my legs anymore. Six, speaking of the water, why can't I see through it like in Hawaii? Is it dirty? Are you letting me play in dirty water? Seven, ...
"Out of all the sand pits on the beach you ended up in mine..."
"I hear long distance is tough." "Yeah."
We took about 10 pictures trying to get everyone looking the same way - this is the best we did! Justin, Kerin, Nolan and Quinn - great seeing you guys can't wait to do it again soon!
As I mentioned previously, on Sunday I celebrated my birthday with a bunch of friends from the Boston area. Grandma Jill (especially), Grandpa Mike, mommy and daddy planned a really fun BBQ. I got to see some old friends I hadn’t seen since my last visit to Boston in November and I also made some new friends.
Below are some pictures from the festivities – I am definitely a very lucky girl and appreciate everyone who came over to help me celebrate!
Really? Must I wear the hat?
I'm glad I took the hat off, you guys look funny...
Playing at the party with my new friends, Jordy and Alex - they are 4 and 5 years old - basically the same age as mommy and daddy. I learned a lot from them!
This is how I see the world. Everyone is so tall.
Check out the AMAZING cake that Grandma Jill made! She made it completely from scratch and designed the dress to match the dress I was wearing at the party. At first, I was a little nervous that my guests might get confused and eat me instead, but everything worked out okay...
I asked mommy and daddy to help me blow out the candles, but my wish was all my own!
