The days of leaving Maude at day care have gotten slightly easier. She seems to enjoy her time there and is young enough that she doesn't care when I leave her and is only happy when I return. We get great reports every day and the teachers always comment about how pleasant she is. YAY! I am so thankful we have a baby that they look forward to seeing every day.
We had high hopes of including pictures of Maude's first trip to the beach in this update. We got up early Sunday morning and headed to Malibu, baby and dog in tow. We knew it was going to be windy, but the forecast indicated that the wind wouldn't pick up until noon or after. Wrongo. We parked the car on the PCH in Malibu, got out and felt like we were going to be knocked over by the force of the wind gusts. We still bundled up and walked down to the beach, but after about 10 minutes, Maude had enough. Stella was in pure heaven, but the cold wind took it out of the rest of us. Maude was melting down and Mike and I were feeling like idiots for even attempting it all. So we hiked it back up to the car. The minute I got Maude into the safety of the car, she was all smiles again. We'll definitely try the beach again this summer, but will aim for a warmer and much less windy day.
I mentioned Maude's potential aversion to peppers and onions last week (I like to call it "Peppergate"). I cut them out of my diet and it was clear they had been the culprit. I then made the mistake of eating them again on Monday, along with some beans. Big mistake. So, I'm officially very much off the onions and pepper for the foreseeable future. I love them both oh so much, but it's worth it to have a happy and gas free baby.
Maude seems to have found her voice this week. She loves to babble, yell (ok, it's more of a scream) just to hear herself. There are times when she's slightly fussy and crying a bit, but it sounds like she's incredibly ticked off because she's also screaming at the same time. We're taking our first flight with her on Saturday so I'm hoping she doesn't love the airplane acoustics and feel the need to give them a good sound check!
I have my first business trip on Monday - a meeting in Seattle. I was distraught over the thought of going overnight without Maude, so Mike took Monday off and we're making a weekend trip out of it. Unfortunately, another trip came up that I need to go on just a day after we get back and it's not possible to take Ms. Maude, so I'll be headed out on a very early flight Wednesday morning and will be back Thursday afternoon. Mike, Maude and Stella will fend for themselves all alone for the first time. I don't quite know how they'll do it, but I know they will and will be the better for it. And I'll do my best to try and actually believe that while I'm gone.
Just two pictures this week. I hope to have lots more next week after our trip to Seattle!
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| I don't think this photo clearly shows what Maude is doing, but over the past week or so, she's been really into sucking on her lips. It's pretty cute and makes us smile. |
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| Again, another photo that doesn't fully capture what's going on. This is the one and only picture we took at the beach. The surf was high and as violent as the wind. |
