Halloween, elephant-style

Halloween 2009 was quite eventful. Keeping in line with her full set of elephant stuffed animals, we decided that Maisie need to don an elephant costume for this years' festivities. And what festivities they were:
-- Dress up storytime on Wednesday at the library with Rina and her neighborhood friends
-- Halloween party Friday with her friends from playgroup (the babies you used to see posted here when Maisie was 3-9 months old, who are now all running around)
-- Neighorhood block party on Halloween eve with all of our new neighbors

Maisie loved her costume. Well - she loved hugging it and carrying it around - not so much wearing it. But we got some good pictures anyway:

Dancing and clapping at the library:

Posing and not too sure about it:

I can hear it now...MMOOOMMM get me out of this costume:

The whole family back from the block party, and FINALLY, a smile:

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

18 months!

We took Maisie in for her 18 month check up today. I know these stats are boring, but dammit, I'm a proud poppa, so I'm going to post them anyway.

As an aside - since Maisie can't read, I think I'm ok typing bad words like the one above on this blog. Saying them around her is another story altogether, and I've had to learn the hard way that watching Aggie football this year with Maisie is not a good idea.....

Ok, back to the stats:

• Noggin size: 47.5 (no idea what the unit of measure is here - centimeters??) - 75th percentile
• Weight: 25 lbs 14 oz - 60th percentile
• Height: 33 1/4 in - 95th percentile

Shocking, she's tall and skinny. :)

And since I know these stats are only interesting to us, here's something that's hopefully a little more entertaining - Maisie learning some key life lessons earlier tonight:

A mental image

We had wonderful weekend - the weather in Houston finally turned nice and we spent most of our time outdoors.

Everyone tells you that children are wonderful because of their joy in the world around them and the fact that you get to be a kid again. Well, Maisie showed us this first hand this weekend.

Sunday was a beautiful fall day - clear skies and 70 degrees. Maisie, Mandy and I were playing the empty lot beside our house. I was showing Maisie how to lean down and feel how soft the grass is. Maisie (in her infinite wisdom) decided that the grass looked so nice, she should just lie down. Our rambunctious, can't-sit-still toddler flopped on her back, stretched out and smiled.

I couldn't help but laughing and then decided to join her. Brian saw us from afar (I think he thought Maisie was hurt at first) and came out to join us. The three of us spent 15 minutes just lying in the grass together. Every time Brian or I tried to sit up, Maisie got up, walked around to our side and pushed us back down (by our head or shoulders) and then came and laid back down on her back between us. Rolling around in the grass - talk about a picture perfect Sunday afternoon!

No pictures from yesterday (just memories), but here is the album from September.

September

Our daughter doesn't listen to me very well.

Should I be concerned??

Daddy's girl

We all knew that Maisie was going to turn out to be a Daddy's girl and have Brian wrapped around her little finger. In case there was any doubt:

Swimming in the water that's already getting a little too cold:

Posing in daddy's baseball cap:

Showing dad how to use a fork
Don't be confused by the fact that Brian is not in this picture....you'll notice his favorite condiment makes an appearance:

Making her opinion known

Maisie is getting more and more opinionated each day. Some examples

• She'll grab your hand and pull you where she wants to go (e.g. to the refrigerator for some milk, to the study for dad to show her Sesame Street clips on YouTube)
• One of her few words is a very clear "NO"
  
• If you don't want to go where she wants - she's been known to throw herself down on the floor and cry and scream. She has quite the temper and unfortunately sometimes we don't know what it is she wants. We are trying to learn Maisie's language and hoping that one day soon, she'll know ours too!!
  

We took a few videos last weekend. Luckily in these she was in a good mood and saying "Yay!" instead of "No!"

Maisie and Daddy in the pool. We have gotten good use out of the pool since we moved and are lamenting the fact that the water is already starting to get pretty chilly.



Maisie is getting pretty talented too - she getting pretty good at using a spoon. Amazing that in the course of year she's gone from eating running rice cereal to feeding herself - using utensils (occasionally anyway!)



Finally, here are the pictures from August - there are so many good ones its hard to pick out the best to send around....enjoy.

August 2009

Lots of firsts - a trip to Shreveport

About a month ago we took a family trip to visit our Lousiana relatives. Maisie is a seeasoned traveler (this was her third plane flight), but it was still a trip of firsts for Maisie...

First ride on a tractor...(she wasn't too sure about the loud machine to start, but once she got the hang of it - she wanted to drive!)

First introdcution to a kitty cat (Maisie's response - saying HHHIIII! HHHIIIIIIIII! over and over to the cat)

First horseback ride with Nanna (I'm sure this will be the first of many)

In addition, we had some good ole fashioned family fun - Maisie got to see Pop and Anne, Nanna, and Aunt Julie/Uncle Ken