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Major milestones – ABCs and 123s

Yesterday and today brought exciting new developments – we are so proud to say that Maeve counted up to 10 yesterday in the car and today said her entire alphabet! Tonight at dinner we captured both achievements – the proof of course is on video in the 2008 gallery. Although she said the ABCs more clearly earlier in the day than she does on film and her numbers are clearer when she doesn’t have her mouth full of bread! My favorite part is that she giggles every time she gets to 10. I should also note that she is watching me sign the letters as she is saying them, so we are extra impressed in the possible recognition of/response to the ASL alphabet.

There have been other ways in which Maeve shows us that she is learning to identify letters – such as picking them out on her fridge phonics (magnets that say the letter and the sound it makes) and on her alphabet playmat. Examples also include at a friend’s house yesterday when she pointed to and said the letter I, and on Sesame Street when she said the letter E when it was on the screen. We are not pushing her to do this because we know it will all come in time, but we are very excited that she is showing an interest in learning them in context as we spell things like her name and count her toes.

As an added bonus and since I can’t seem to stop bragging, she is recognizing/saying some colors and seems partial to purple and blue. She took her bow out of her hair tonight and said “blue” and when I pointed to the stained glass windows at the restaurant, Maeve correctly identified the orange and purple ones. WOW! We can’t wait to see what’s next…

We had a wonderful visit to the Nature Museum yesterday to see the butterflies and slide down the slide with Maeve’s friend Jackson and then had a playdate with Evan and Max. Today we enjoyed a lunch date and nature walk with Olivia and her parents! Tomorrow will bring a fun trip to Itsy Bitsy Yoga and hopefully more sunshine.

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18 month check-up

Tonight, Maeve survived the ugly weather and her MMR shot. She remembered immediately upon arrival that these visits don’t end well, so she was too scared and upset to show off her 30+ words, social development, or physical advances. She was very brave though, and pretty excited about her Elmo and Dora stickers! Maeve’s weight gain was her biggest achievement – she is finally over 20 pounds and Nanna had the closest guess with 20 lbs. 15 oz.!

Measurements:

Weight: 20 lbs. 13 oz. (5th-10th percentile)

Length: 32″ (50th percentile)

Head: 18 3/4″ (75th percentile)

Mommy and Maeve are off to the Nature Museum tomorrow morning – hopefully it’s not still snowing. Nanna, Aunt Peggy and Aunt Heather are all visiting G.G. and Aunt Nancy this week in the warm, sunny Bahamas – we are jealous and we wish G.G. a very happy birthday this weekend!

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Happy Easter!

We hope that everyone had a good weekend. Our 18-month-old marveled at the spring snow storm we got on Friday and Grandad taught her how to build her first snowman (we’ll have to wait for Grandad’s pictures to see our masterpiece!). Maeve had lots of opportunities to practice saying Grandad and Nanna this weekend during their visit – her early attempts were witnessed in the armchair video. We enjoyed Maeve’s first Easter egg hunt at Cantigny, making crafts and coloring. We ate at restaurants a couple of times and Maeve was so well-behaved even though she wasn’t feeling 100 percent this weekend.  

Maeve is practicing all kinds of new words…”sit down” in her new chair, “hop” like a bunny, and “sticky” when she touches the tape or decorations on her drawings. Speaking of the arts, Maeve is a budding artist and musician – she loves using her crayons and new Color Wonder markers; she also enjoys playing her piano and drums too! She also is practicing a secret instrument for debut one day soon…

We have a quiet week in store except for Maeve’s check-up, and we are looking forward to our upcoming trip to St. Thomas in a couple of weeks!

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When Irish eyes are smiling…

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Maeve turns 18 months old this week and we will take her in for her next check-up at the end of the month. We had a really fun time with our friends Tammy and Tim visiting this past weekend and an Irish get-together with our local cousins, complete with cornbeef and cabbage. Maeve also visited with many friends this weekend as we had playgroup on Friday morning, joined some neighbors at the park on Friday afternoon, caught up with Gwen and Olivia at Chief O’Neill’s St. Patrick’s Day bash on Saturday, and then had Itsy Bitsy Yoga on Sunday morning.

She continues to expand her vocabulary and understanding of social cues (as evidenced in the most recent video of Maeve in her new green armchair) and we are really enjoying our conversations with her. She constantly impresses us with her ability to enunciate – even when it’s babble it sounds very important! New words (and the all-important manners) this weekend include “oatmeal,” “upstairs,” and “excuse me.” She also knows the difference between “up” and “down” (demanding both regularly!) and asks to “push” the garage door button.

Daddy will be in DC for work this week, but we look forward to a visit from Nanna and Grandad for Easter weekend.

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ABCDEFG!

Yes, Maeve has completed the first part of the alphabet. We are so proud of her! She is quickly approaching 18 months old and her language abilities have achieved overdrive… She is mimicking us and trying out many new words. In addition to practicing her letters, Maeve recently added “blueberry,” “please,” and “no thank you” (almost) to her vocabulary! We had a busy weekend with playgroup, lunch with Maeve’s friend Olivia, dinner with Maeve’s friend Mia (they learned how to “Cheers!” – if you don’t believe me visit the photo gallery), Itsy Bitsy Yoga (I think she really likes it!) and a trip to the South Side for a real Irish party.

This week congratulate our friend Nikki on starting her new job at the Library! We also wish Daddy a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

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Fun weekend

We had a quiet weekend, but had lots of fun too! Friday both Mommy and Daddy went to work, so Zlatka and Maeve went to music class to make-up for Wednesday when Maeve slept through it. We made our first visit to the Kohl Children’s Museum north of Chicago on Saturday. Maeve loved the water play room and the Clifford the Dog slide (his tail was the slide!). She also had lots of fun in the music room, banging on drums and metal objects, so when we got home we brought out her drums and made music all afternoon! She also spent quite a lot of time stacking her colorful rings and saying “ABC” when working on her letters (on the mat and on the fridge). 

Today we started our Itsy Bitsy Yoga class at Bloom. Maeve and I did Mommy and Baby Yoga there more than a year ago(!), which was mostly for Mommy…but now the yoga is for Maeve! She willingly tried a few poses and liked the songs, but I think she’d rather turn her downward dog into a somersault. She can do somersaults on her mat at home with only a little push to get her legs over! We also went for a walk this afternoon to enjoy our 50-degree sunny day before the next round of snow.

We’d like to wish our friends Christi and Martin a happy wedding anniversary today, which is also happy birthday to Christi! Hope everyone has a good start to March – I know we’re looking forward to St. Patrick’s Day celebrations and a visit from our friends Tammy and Tim.