WALKING!

Our little girl walks!  She surprised us last Tuesday night by taking steps all on her own.  Mike and I were both on the floor and she was walking between us, but holding onto our fingers as she cruised back and forth.  And then she let go and walked all on her own!  She's getting better and better every day and we're having so much fun watching her master this new skill.

Since we now officially have a walker, we decided she should get a decent pair of shoes.  I'd heard lots of advice to go to Nordstrom's and get her measured.  We went this afternoon and I gotta say, those people do it right!  They gave us great advice on the type of shoes to buy for an early walker, measured her feet and went and found all of the shoes they had in her size.  We picked out our favorite pair and they made a really big deal of them being her very first shoes.  They gave her a little stuffed animal called "Nordi" and took a picture of her with her new shoes on!  So fun.  We could tell for the rest of the day how much she loved her new shoes.  She kept looking at them and touching them.



New shoes!  Mike took this pic on his iPhone - she hadn't gotten "Nordi" the stuffed animal yet. 

 We're headed to LA on Saturday for a little vacation.  We're so excited to see all of our friends there and have them meet Maude as a 14/15 month old.  We moved the day after she turned 6 months.  She's a different gal than she was 9 months ago!  I'm hoping this older baby handles flights as well as she did then.  I'm slightly worried about how it will go.  We've been saving up new books to bring out on the flight, hoping she'll be so enthralled with them, she'll be a happy gal from here to LA.

Two videos - the first was taken the night Maude walked for the first time.  The second is of Maude playing on her new slide we found on Craigslist.  It's the perfect size for her and small enough we can bring it inside on a rainy day.

Addition on Monday, April 23 - Mike sent me a few good photos of Maude with her new kicks.  

Apparently the checkout lady at the grocery store couldn't get enough of Maude's shoes.  Who knew our small investment in good footwear would result in so much additional attention and admiration or our sweet girl?!

Hanging with her pal Stella.  I think she was telling her she should check out Nordstrom's - you get lots of attention there! 

CHEESE!  I smiled really big and silly-like to Maude last week while she took a bath and said "Cheese!"  She immediately imitated me and now loves to give big grins and say "CHEESE!"

14 Months and First Haircut!

Maude is now 14 months old.  The big event of the day was her first hair cut.  Her hair isn't super long and I want it to get longer, but it was looking pretty scraggly.  I debated on whether we should cut it and finally just did it.  I'm so glad I did.  Even though it's not a big change or anything, it looks so much better!!  She wasn't quite sure what to think of the the whole experience, but she did well and seemed pretty pleased with herself once it was all over.

She continues to talk up a storm.  This morning she was laying in bed with Mike and I and she started doing the hand motions for the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" (one of her favorite songs) and as she did the down (down came the rain) motion, she said "down."  We've been keeping track of how many words she knows and she's well over 20 at this point.

Maude still isn't a walker, but she is now comfortable holding on to just one hand when she walks with us.  I think we're at least a few weeks off from her walking on her own, but who knows...  She's been walking holding on to our hands for over two months now.  I certainly thought she'd be over that and on to walking on her own by now.  Maybe she'll walk holding on to just one hand for another two months. 

We went to her buddy Joseph's birthday party yesterday.  There were lots of other kids there and Maude had fun watching them all, helping Joseph open presents, and checking out all of his new books.  I think I've mentioned it before, but Maude is ridiculously obsessed with books.  She can sit and read for hours.  It's our bribe for getting her to do something she doesn't want to do - like coming in from playing outside.  All we have to say is "we'll read some books" and she high-tails it in the house and right to her room to her books. 

Joseph is Maude's buddy from ECFE.  Joseph's dad is one of three guys in the class.  He, Mike, and the third dad have been getting together once a week for play dates with the kids.  On Friday, Mike and the other two dads made homemade pizzas together for lunch.  I'm guessing the other moms in ECFE don't get together to do such fun stuff together!  I'm so glad there are other dads in the class they take and especially that Mike really likes them and looks forward to get togethers!!

Some photos from the past few weeks:

High kick!

Checking out her 14 month sticker and showing off her hair clip.

Before Hair

Getting a hair cut!

Not quite sure about this...

Blow dry!

Messy face.

She loves to swing!

I think she looks like such a big girl here.

Helping open presents at Joseph's party!