In the aquarium tunnel

Lots of fun stuff happened in March. Kim (my sister- also pregnant due end of Sept.), Rigo and Elijah came for a long weekend and we had great trips to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco and to Children’s Fairy Land in Oakland. We were so happy they could come. We miss them lots!

Maisy meets Snow White

Maisy and Elijah got along really well. Maisy looks up to Elijah very much and now knows who Michael Jackson is and asks about him (MJ) often.

Kissing cousins

Since the weather has been more pleasant we took a trip to Tilden Park to ride the steam trains. Maisy is a big fan!

Steam Trains in Tilden Park

Waiting to take off

We celebrated Uncle Steven’s 30th birthday as well! Maisy was very excited to show off her “Happy Birthday” singing skills and especially enjoyed the happy birthday cake. She wishes every day was Uncle Steven’s Birthday.

Happy Birthday Uncle Steven!!

Maisy and I are doing a lot more fun projects at home. We’ve done maps, play doh, wand making (out of a stick and yarn) and baking. She is learning and learning- She can now confidently count to 3 and can pick out about 5 letters. She got her last two canine teeth as well. So now she has a full set of chompers. She is very into “baby” and loves reading books about babies and older sisters. It’s adorable- if you ask her how old she is, she replies, “Older sister.” Also a cute Maisyism- we have a Buddha on our window sill in our kitchen. She likes to kiss the “baby Buddha”. One day Maisy and Todd were dancing to some music and Todd said, “Yeah, shake your booty!”. Maisy said, “Yeah, shake the Buddha!” So she now refers to dancing as, “Shaking the Buddha.”

Little Geographer

And last but not least update on the baby to be news. We had two appointments in March, the last one being today and they have both gone very well. They had to up my thyroid medicine because my levels were a bit high. The doctor will have to test me every 6 weeks to make sure my levels stay within the normal range. Maisy comes to the appointments with me in her stroller and is a very good girl. She wants to know exactly what everyone is doing and where they are going, usually saying, “Who is that guy?”. That’s her statement for pretty much anything, (What is that? Who is that? Why?). So, we are working on that. Maisy holds the doppler for the doctor while we listen to the baby’s nice strong heartbeat. She is a very proud big sister helper! We go on April 15 for our big ultrasound, where we will find out the sex of the baby. So more then!

Here is a picture taken today at 18 weeks. I’m finally starting to look a little big pregnant and a little bit less like I ate February.

Self Portrait (the best I could do) at 18 weeks pregnant

Much love, Todd, Becky and Maisy

Maisy in her holiday get up

Well it’s been a while since we’ve updated. I guess the holidays just took off and we went a long for the ride.

We enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving at home with friends and family with a deep fried turkey! Yum. Maisy wasn’t too keen on the turkey- she’s not really a meat fan. I’m beginning to wonder if she’s actually my child! ha

Christmas morning #1

Joan (Mimi to Maisy) and Joel (Papa J to Maisy) came for an early Christmas at the beginning of December. Uncle Steven came over and we all had Christmas morning in the first week of December. We had a great visit and it was a wonderful way to kick off Christmas!

Maisy and Papa J

Maisy had her first meeting with Santa at the Oakland Zoo for Zoo lights. She was NOT a fan. As a matter of fact, she was down right upset about the meeting. She calmed down to check out the Zoo lights, which she LOVED, however on the way out, Todd asked, “Do you want to go see Santa again?”. She burst into tears and said, “No, No, No way, no way!” We couldn’t use the “S” word around our house for a few days, but she eventually got over it and by the time Christmas rolled around, she and Santa were on good terms again.

SANTAAAAAAAwaahhhhhh!

Maisy had her year and a half doctor’s visit in early December. Maisy is now 2’ 7’’ tall and weighs 22 lbs and 5 oz. She’s talking constantly and has more words in her vocabulary than we can count. She is making sentences and likes to “sing”. We continue to go to music class and library group each week. She really enjoys seeing the other kids. The only issue is that she gets a little too excited and ends up being too rough. We are really working on “gentle hands”. Maisy is really into babies, drawing, Snow White, books and her tea set.

Living the life!

We headed off for warmer weather about mid-December for LA. We were lucky enough to get to leave Maisy with Nana and Papa for a week while Todd and I went to vacation in Ilsa Mujeres, Mexico. It was a wonderful childless vacation. Maisy didn’t miss us a bit, although we missed her terribly- however it was nice to get away. Maisy never freaked out or even looked for us when we were gone. Actually when we called she wasn’t even interested in talking with us. I’m glad she was so happy and getting along so well with Nana and Papa.

Maisy and Nana playing stickers

We arrived back in LA on Dec. 23 just in time for my birthday and Christmas. My mom made me and Kim our favorite dinners (lasagna and stroganoff) and got us some cakes. It was so fun to celebrate with my sister just like old times!

Happy Birthday to US! Becky- Dec. 24, Kim- Dec. 19

Maisy had a great time Christmas morning with her cousin Elijah. Santa was very good to both kids. They must have been extra good this year. Elijah is going to be Michael Jackson when he grows up and all he wanted for Christmas was a Michael Jackson hat and an MJ microphone and Santa delivered! Maisy got a Skuut walking bike that she’s still a bit too short for. But she was still very excited to see it.

Maisy and Elijah AKA Michael Jackson

The New Year began in our living room with friends and their little ones. We celebrated the New Year New York style at 9pm. The kids were all losing it and getting quite silly by that time. Maisy had a great time with all of her friends. By 9:15, all the families had returned home and we were in bed well before midnight.

Happy New Year!!!

More later! Hope your year is off to a good start and that you had a happy holiday season.

Much love, Todd, Becky and Maisy

Walking with Daddy along the path by Old Faithful

M aisy came through just in time with her walking skills. She took her first steps on August 12th. It was perfect timing as she was set to be the flower girl in Todd’s cousin’s wedding (Congratulations Daniel and Theresa) in Montana just a week later. She walked down the isle like a pro. Todd dropped her off at the end and I snuck around front and she walked down the isle with the biggest smile on her face. It was adorable!

Swing me Daddy!

Uncle Steven, Maisy, Daddy and Grandpa J

Getting our dance on

We took the opportunity to make a family vacation out of our trip to Bozeman, MT for the wedding. We stopped and saw Yellowstone along the way. Truly an amazing and very unique place!

Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone

Waterfall in Big Sky, MT

Upon returning home Maisy and I joined a music class for little folk. Maisy enjoys playing with the instruments and other kids. We also enjoy regular driveway play dates with Maisy’s good friend Evan. We are so sad to see them moving next month!

First Music Class

Going tap-tap-tap on the stairs with Evan

We were only home from Montana for a few short days before heading to HOT HOT HOT Los Angeles for cousin Elijah’s 4th birthday! We had a great time.

Happy Birthday, Elijah!

Bye, Nana and Papa!

As the saying goes it’s good to be away, but it’s good to be home!! We are happy we are home for a while now to really get down to work on our front back yard, which has been in the state of torn up for over a month! We are lucky enough to celebrate our 9th anniversary of dating (today actually) and next week our 3rd wedding anniversary. Time flies when you’re having fun!!

Maisy goes for her 15 month shots later this month. She’s also getting her two top 1st molars in and doing really well with them. Not too much fussiness. Maisy’s language skills have just really exploded! She can say so many words now- and imitate almost anything you ask her to, although not always on command. Time to really pay attention to what comes out of OUR mouths!

Lesson of the month: Don’t go into a store with a child that can walk (who is not yet under voice command) without some sort of restraint, like a stroller or a cart. Trying to chase Maisy down or hold her hand while she squirms away, while my hands are full of Hardware goods is not an easy task. Paying at the check out is even more tricky- as every time I tried to get my wallet, Maisy tried to escape. Finally the checker lady, a grandmotherly looking woman, asked if it would be helpful if she held Maisy while I paid and yes it was helpful. Whew. Won’t do that again!

Hope you are all having a great September!

Much love, Todd, Becky and Maisy