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Maggie Has Another BFF

For a couple years in college I lived in a townhouse with three other girls and it was one of the best times in my life. We named our house The Palace and cemented friendships that  will last a lifetime. Nicole was the only other person in the house that stayed for both years, just as I did. There are many, many stories that could be told about that time in our lives, but the end of those stories are all the same – Nicole and I always have fun together.

She came to visit me while I was living/working in Delware/New Jersey and we went up to New York – days before September 11th. We also road tripped to California together, listening to mixed CDs that we made from our downloaded music from Naptster – way before iTunes.

Jump ahead nearly ten years and we’re both married and both have little tiny babies. Well, Nicole has a little tiny baby and I’ve got Maggie.  (As I learned yesterday at Maggie’s 6 month appointment, my child is anything but little.) We took Maggie to meet Caroline last weekend and she is such a doll with tons of hair and a tiny, perfect face!

At first Maggie was shocked that Caroline was so upset. Maggie did some stares and even tried to tug on Caroline’s shirt to comfort her. That didn’t work at all.

So, Maggie did the only thing she knew to do to make Caroline feel better: she started crying too. It was cute in a really babyish type of way.

Maggie’s big girl cries.

Caroline’s little baby cries.

I hardly remember when Maggie was that tiny and I’m sure that Nicole and Josh can hardly imagine what Caroline is going to be like in another 6 months.

Also, Josh took some fancy pictures of us and here is a bit of a teaser. As you can see I am making a really awesome face. I need to learn to stop talking when somebody is taking a photo. Other than that, I love the picture.

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6 Months

Maggie’s Sixth Month by hannah

Maggie,

You are an authentic traveller now! After logging some time in the tent over the summer, you now can say that you’ve been on an airplane; however, at this point I’m not sure that anyone would understand what you are saying!  We’ve had so much fun with you this last month, you are such a happy, happy baby.

While we were in Hawaii for two weeks you spent lots of time in the water with Grammy and everyone else that was on the trip. At one point you were swimming in the salt water pool with your parents, grandparents and great grandparents, not to mention your uncles, aunt and Chach! You were the  star of the trip and I think everyone fell a little bit more in love with you, which is hard to believe since we all adored you so much in the first place.

You have developed the habit of screaming for joy at the top of your lungs. Of course we think it is adorable, but I’m not sure about strangers that don’t know you. Our condo in Hawaii had lots of mirrors and you were content to look at yourself and scream, scream, scream! It is safe to say that everybody knew when you were awake because you’d be shrieking at yourself in the mirror.

You’ve also continued to love to stand up and are working on pulling yourself up! You aren’t really content to sit if somebody is nearby that will help you balance. We’re working on encouraging you to crawl, but I’m not sure  that you will be crawling for long since you love standing so much. At your 6 month doctor appointment they had you sit on the scale because you were trying to stand on it in the first place, obviously not wanting to lay down.

In the arms of either Papa or me is your very favorite place…even when you’re sleeping and I can honestly say that you might be starting to hate the car seat a tiny bit less. I think you may have traumatized Chach from your loud, angry screaming when we drove up to Hawi to look at the Pololu Valley.  She opted to ride in the other car on the way back to The Casa.

We love you, little girl. I hope that this next month brings as much happiness as this last one did. Having you around just keeps getting better and better…

You continue to be so loved.

Mama

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I Know, I Know

There are some things about my mom that I know for sure. I know that she needs to be in her garden and what feels like hard, hard work to some brings her great joy.I know that when we’re walking somewhere in a crowd she moves quickly in order to get to where we’re going, no lolly-gagging.I know that she loves the water and once, when we were in Ireland, she dove into the ocean on a cold, blustery day, one of my favorite memories.

I also know that grandmotherhood fits my mom perfectly, just as motherhood does. One of the great joys of being a grandma for my mom happens to be squeezing Maggie’s chubby legs and smooching on her.

Hawaii was a perfect opportunity for my mom to combine her love of water and getting Maggie’s skin exposed to some fresh air. Often Barry and I  would leave Maggie on the beach with my mom so we could get some snorkeling in together.

After swimming out to a distant point, we’d pop our heads up and float around in the ocean looking to the shore to see if we could tell what state Maggie was in. More often than not, we’d be able to spot my mom and Maggie sitting on the ocean’s edge splashing away together.  Two little peas in a pod, both happy as clams.

I don’t think a day passed on our trip that Maggie wasn’t in the water in some capacity and most times it was my mom that would first dip Maggie’s toes in, eventually peeling off her clothes to get all the way in.

Just as there are things that I  know for sure about my mother, there too are things that I know for sure about my daughter.I know that if I grunt at her, she’ll grunt back.I know that she needs sunscreen.I know that she needs time each day to play on her own, but she likes to be able to see me while she’s doing this.I know that she loves the water, whether it be the bath, shower, pool or ocean.

Regardless of what I think I know about my mom and Maggie, it is apparent that the two of them share a great deal of love for each other and being able to splish-splash around!