One step at a time...

As far as parenthood has gone, the above phrase has been used over and over, and in more than one way during this past month!  It's been a great few weeks since the last post, and as always, life with a now-toddler brings something new every day. 

Maelee's personality is showing more and developing more each minute, yet when Steve and I try to find words to describe it, we find it's actually quite difficult to label!  She's generally pretty laid back, but can be quite determined (or should I say, demanding...)when she wants something; she can be a bit shy and clingy around new faces and situations, but then will wave and smile, excitedly saying "hi" and "yeah!" at any stranger who makes eye contact on the street; she will give us the most precious hugs, kisses, and smiles, standing in her crib while sweetly looking up at us as we pray over her and put her down for the night, and then...  

Well, let's just say this "stage" in baby/toddler development of defiance, testing, and seemingly deliberate disobedience has made us both silently seethe through our teeth and want to crack up laughing at the same time!  Maelee's biggest infractions are throwing her food when she either doesn't like it or is just plain bored, being the opposite of gentle either with the kitty or us, and then yelling at us when we correct her.  We really wish it weren't so darn funny. We're experimenting both with the firmly-correct-it approach and ignore-it approach and the jury's still out on which is most effective with her.  Fun times!

She still has a blast with her animal sounds and pronouncing (or trying to pronounce) different words and there are many now that only we'll be able to understand- for example, "bera bera," as in "strawberries."  Yeah, close, right? :)  

The biggest news from the 14th month was her new-found walking skills!  She got pretty confident with the one-handed cruising soon after turning 13 months old and by the end of that month, was comfortably and quickly (!) pacing back and forth barely holding onto one of our fingers.  Every now and then, she'd venture a step without holding on to get between furniture but pretty unintentionally.  Any time she'd noticed she was standing on her own, she'd reach to hold onto something, so we were definitely expecting to have a very late walker on our hands!

Then, just days before turning 14 months old, on Father's Day in fact, she decided to take her first *intentional* steps on her very own without holding onto anything!  With Nana & Pop-Pop, and mommy & cheering her on, she walked from our ottoman to her daddy- a total of 3 or 4 steps!  It was pretty cute.  For about the entire week after, she was still content to just do a few steps, only to fall into the arms of me or Steve, but this past week, she's started to gain quite a bit of confidence and I think we can definitely call her a walker now!  She still hasn't tried outside, but is all over our apt now- let the fun begin!  I was really hoping she'd be comfortable by the time we went to the beach (in another week and a half) and she may get there just yet! 

Here's a link to a video of her taking one step at a time (just copy and paste into a new window):

http://vimeo.com/25847085

(password: MaeleeWalks)

Ok, enough of the updates, let's get to some pics, backtracking to just after Maelee turned 13 months old up to just over 14 months.

Some sweet pics of Maelee & friends at their "musical playdate"

Did I really once say we had a fairly "neat" eater???

Discovering the piano during a fun, week long visit to Nana & Pop-Pop's back in May

Including a special treat of seeing great Too-dad and "Nana-Nart"

Especially thrilled to see daddy after going a few days without him

Boat ride from Alexandria to the National Harbor

Some of our favorite people

Yummy lunch with 4 generations

Enjoyed another special treat during our time in VA of seeing old friends from San Diego who happened to be visiting VA and staying at a family lake house!

Another perk of our visit was enjoying a special treat of a date!

A more "official" first hair cut!
(not sure Maelee would qualify this as a "special treat" but she tolerated it quite well!)

Yummy breakfast at "Bread & Chocolate"

(Yeah, it's pretty yummy)

So much fun with Nana & Pop-Pop!

More pics from the trip to VA in this slideshow:

In the middle of June, we were also fortunate to get to see Aunt Kim as she had a conference in the city!

Fun playdate with friends (note the coordinating headbands- thanks to Jessica!)

At a very special and very beautiful wedding of friends from our church

Our "date night" included this lovely affair and a free hotel night (crazy deal that actually wasn't "too good to be true" from our credit card company) at a Fairfield Inn in Nyack.  We're so thankful Nana & Pop-Pop could come up to watch our little girl- all of them had a blast...

LOVES to swing!

Two of my all-time favorite shots so far...

And more pics from the 14th Month in this slideshow:

Shindigs & Chatter

Maelee's 13th month was a biggie, so let's get right to it! One of these days I'll get back to blogging every now and then on other stuff, but who really wants to read about anything else other than our featured subject anymore?

So, onto this past month's happenings!!!  Working backwards, I'll start off with the big 12 Month Photo Shoot since we only got a few quick snapshots of those in the previous posts.  Of course, we had to continue with the ladybug theme for this one (although, that's probably gonna be it with ladybug photo shoots for a while!), so we put our little bug in this specially made tutu by a friend's sister:

 

The apple was the only thing that got her to stay still- ha! We also got these adorable bloomers monogrammed and had to take some shots in that:

And here's a slideshow of more shots from the 12th Month Photo Shoot:

Month 13 started off with Maelee's birthday party followed by a wonderful Easter spent with Nana & Pop-Pop just before they headed back down to VA.  A couple more 1-year old friends' birthday shindigs followed, then a special second Mother's Day spent with good friends.

 

Opening the Easter basket and playing with the little chicky, courtesy of Nana & Pop-Pop

Celebrating Teegan's 1st Birthday!

Celebrating Giovanna's 1st Birthday (in the cute, purple skirt in the background) with Blake

(Playing pretend "telephone")

 

 

 

Enjoying a wonderful Mother's Day brunch

 

 Having a "ball" with daddy and his new present!

 

 Sporting another onesie from Japan, courtesy of Uncle Dan!

 Another sweet shot of the daddy/daughter duo!

And some more pics from the 13th Month in this slideshow:

Aside from lots of fun shindigs, one of the biggest happenings of this past month was Maelee's ever expanding "chatter." In addition to her favorites of apple, clock, Nana & Pop-Pop (which she almost always says together and says almost all the time!), Dada & Mama (even though "mama" trails the other three miserably... sigh), up, and kitty, she added cheese, hi, eye (there is a difference!), baby, beep-beep (what a car does, of course!), car, and ball. Some of them "only a mother" could decipher (kitty and cheese), or know the difference (Pop-Pop, baby, and beep-beep could confuse many a bystander!). :) It's adorable, though, and we love watching her try new words!

Just days after her 1st birthday, we also discovered that she was starting to make animal sounds and point to different features on her face.  Apparently she was actually taking some things in with the dozens of books she hands us to read to her each day! (I promise we have not been trying to "quiz" her, or even teach her, on this!!!)  My mom first noticed her pointing to her mouth when reading a "Where's baby's belly button?" book, and after picking her up from the church nursery one morning, we were told she was "roaring" like a tiger. It's too cute.  (Admittedly, after we discovered these cute, little abilities, we did show her where other features were and the sounds that other animals make. Just being honest!)  She gets so giddy with it- too adorable! 

She is still as delicate as ever with her cruising and as soon as she realizes she's standing on her own, she quickly sits back down or grabs something to hold. She sure gets around though and has turned into quite the speed-crawler, and quite the busy body.  Diaper changes are near impossible anymore...

Maelee will almost be 13 1/2 by the time I've gotten around to this post, so I'll save the more recent "cruising" breakthroughs for the 14th month post, but, no, she has not taken those first steps yet!  She just may be like her mommy... (who didn't walk until 15 months old!)

It's been another fun month.  We're looking forward to summertime in the city with a one year old!

65 Incredible Moments from 365 Amazing Days...

Brace yourself. There are indeed 65 photos below.

However, if you've stuck with me in this blog of reminiscing and quasi-journaling through year one of our first child's life, an explosion of pictures should come as no surprise for a post that's looking back on that 1st year! Actually, I initially wanted to include just two pictures from each month, but after going through the first few weeks alone, I gave up on that...  Some months were easier than others to only include a couple of pictures (one candid, one "photo shoot"), but other months were just too filled with family visits, playdates with friends, and too-sweet-to-pass-up expressions that I went ahead and allowed the camera-happiness to take over.

I'll let the pictures speak over my usual wordiness, but I'm including little snippets here and there from letters I've written to Maelee.  My original goal was to write a letter each month, but it was more like every-other-month and in some cases ended up being one letter over three months... Sigh.

You'll have to pardon the cheesiness and syrupy mushiness- our hope is that someday (like when they're teenagers) our children (I'm using the plural as some wishful but hopeful thinking that we'll continue this trend!) can look back on these little love letters from their parents and maybe realize we're not quite as terrible as they think and we really do only want the best for them. :) 

So here goes...

1st Month

 

 

With visits from her Uncle Daniel who lives in Japan, her Nana & Pop-Pop from VA, her Aunt Kim from NJ and countless friends from NYC, as well as a trip down to DE to meet her Too-dad and "Nana-Nart" and more family, with a couple trips out to Stony Brook, Long Island (including the trip to see her mommy's graduation!), the 1st month was a big one!!!  A little peak into our hearts right after she was born that we quickly jotted down in our "baby journal:"

She amazes us.  Seeing her for the first time and knowing she was ours was an incredible feeling.  She's so sweet to hold, and we've never seen something more beautiful.

2nd Month

The 2nd Month was a bit more low-key and we just enjoyed getting to know this sweet girl. We still got to take a quick trip down to VA where mommy & daddy had a night away for their 7th wedding anniversary while Maelee stayed w/ Nana & Pop-Pop and we even saw Too-dad and Mary Catherine in the visit!  Our little baby really was such a joy in those early weeks and months that we were completely taken by surprise- yes, we were somewhat expecting a little terror who cried all night...  We would've loved her just the same, but we were beyond grateful.  Here's a little excerpt from a letter written just after that 2 month mark:

We certainly don’t deserve you but pray every night that He will guide us in loving you and nurturing you better.  We would do anything for your good and are so in love with you.  We hope in some way that you know that even now, at just 2 months. 

3rd Month

4th Month

Highlights from the 3rd and 4th month were meeting her Mee-Maw and Grandpa Mason for the first time and enjoying a quick visit from her Nana & Pop-Pop and Too-dad & Nana-Nart.  After her 4th Month, I reflected again on that powerful love a parent has for their child...

Sometimes I’ll just say that I love you “beyond beyond.”  It’s the only way I can think of to describe it- to think beyond something, then beyond even that!  You’ll only understand it once you have your own child someday.  It is truly inexplicable but we are so thankful to God for giving us the capacity to love!!!

5th Month

6th Month

The 5th and 6th months were again filled with sweet visits from family and also included our move so it was definitely a busy time.  A special moment during that period was having Maelee dedicated at our NYC home, Apostles Church.  Here's the verse we picked out for her:

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Rom 8:38-39

7th Month

8th Month

9th Month

The end of year 2010 was filled with all that the holidays bring including a trip to North Carolina to spend Thanksgiving with Mee-Maw and Grandpa Mason and Christmas in VA and DE with Nana & Pop-Pop (and the special treat of seeing Uncle Daniel again!), and Too-dad and Nana Nart plus cousins, aunts & uncles, and even her 2nd cousin, Caleb!  It was a special time.  Her personality really started coming through during the 2nd half of her first year and we loved the giggles.  Here's a little blurb from a letter written during that phase:

“Tritty-trot” often gets the sweetest giggles out of you as you arch backwards and mommy gives you blow kisses on your tummy while tickling your neck.  You just have the sweetest personality and we are SO very thankful for you.  We truly do love all that you will be and everything you are!

10th Month

More fun with friends and family during the last part of year one and as Valentine's Day fell during Maelee's 10th month, that letter included just some particularly fun and quirky little things that we loved about our sweetie so here's a blurb from that:

We continue to love our special time with you at night just before putting you to bed when you get all giddy and kinda hyper and it cracks me up how you really started to stare and almost analyze the little green “toothbrush” that fits on mommy’s finger to clean your teeth and gums.

I know, random...

11th Month

12th Month

The last two months of year one were pretty filled with fun times with both sides of family, including a very special trip to IN to meet Maelee's "Grandpa Great" (Steve's grandpa), as well as time with good friends of ours and good friends of Maelee's.  We are so thankful for the number of tots born around the same time as Maelee, both in NYC and closer to Becky's family with her lifelong, childhood friend Cindy's little girl, Alli!  We can't wait to watch them all grow up together.  It's been such a wonderful year.  And here we are, just a day from completing the 1st month of year TWO!!!  Crazy.  So I'll end with the closing paragraph from the most recent, 12th month letter:

It really has just been a very sweet year with you and we love you so beyond words.  Each day is something new and you are more and more fun, with more and more communicating going on.  We truly praise God for you every day and still can’t understand how we’ve been blessed so deeply.  What a gift you are.  We love you sweet Maelee-Mae!