New Bed

Maggie's crib converts to a toddler bed and then to a regular double bed as she grows. We decided she was ready for the switch a few weeks back and this weekend we finally went for it. Let me tell you, she has loved it from the first time she saw the new setup. More than the "new" bed, she loves the new bedding and the idea of laying with a sheet over her. It's such a fun novelty that throughout the day on Sunday she climbed in and would pretend to sleep. So far naps have gone OK and bedtime has been great, so fingers crossed that sleeping well in this bed continues.

Family in San Diego

Chad's parents and grandma live in San Diego so we got to spend quality time with them while we were down there. Maggie had so much fun playing with her grandparents and I'm pretty sure they felt the same way. Maggie also enjoyed snuggling with her great-grandmother, Hazel, and I'm glad we got a photo of them together during our visit with her. The bottom left photo shows the four generations on the couch: Ross (Chad's dad), Hazel, Maggie and Chad. Neat!

San Diego

Chad, Maggie and I went to San Diego last week and had such a fun time. A beautiful city to visit, for sure. We spent time with family and friends, ate good food, hit the beach, shopped, napped, enjoyed Chad's 20-year high school reunion, and overall had a great vacation. Here are some shots of Maggie playing at the beach. I don't see any particularly wonderful photos here, but a fun morning so I figured I'd document it on the blog anyway.

Portraits

We were in San Diego last week. I don't have any photos ready from that trip, but I do have a few shots of Maggie that I took in July. I was trying to get her to smile naturally, not her super-happy-photo-cheese smile, but instead I got no smile at all. While these are not her typical look (she almost always has a big smile), I do like the simplicity and softness of them.

Tomatoes

Those of you who are around Maggie regularly know how much she loves tomatoes. Her favorites are the warm ones she picks straight from the vines in our garden. As happy as I am that she likes the fruit, we'd feel much more comfortable with her eating them after they're sliced, while she's sitting down and supervised. The tomatoes we grow are small and delicious and the perfect size for getting stuck in your throat. Yikes. So...we've started a new thing where after we pick our tomatoes for dinner, Maggie brings the basket of them into the house and helps me wash them. We move a big chair to the sink and she gets to stand on it and give the tomatoes a good scrubbing. She loves it and it's one less (easy) thing I have to do. Now, she may fall off that big chair and break her arm, but at least she's not going to get a tomato stuck in her throat...

Dentist

Maggie had her first trip to the dentist last week. I know I'm a year late getting her on the dentist train, but sheesh, she still doesn't even have all of her teeth so give me a break.  We went to a pediatric dentist near us and the office was great. I am not going to brag about Maggie and her bravery because she left that in the car for this first visit. The visit started with the hygienist showing Mags the dental instruments, which thought were pretty cool. The hygienist then put the spinning brush on Maggie's fingernail to show her how it worked and Maggie thought that was OK too. When it came time to get that brush in her mouth? Forget it. She didn't even want to sit in the chair anymore. So instead Maggie showed them how well she brushes her teeth with a regular toothbrush (standing up).  After waiting just a minute the dentist came in to examine her mouth and teeth before giving her a fluoride treatment with a little brush. Once again, she did just OK. This exam consisted of Maggie laying on my lap, me holding her arms down and the dentist gently exploring her mouth. The office assured me that it's typical for a 2-year old not to want to be there, so I'm not going to be hard on her about it. At the end Maggie picked out an orange balloon and an Elmo book to take home (to go with her new toothbrush, paste and floss) for being a good patient. The photos above were taken when things were going well. Ha!

Playland

After the zoo that Sunday we went to Playland. It was our first time there and our expectations were pretty low. Chad knew they had a carousel and Maggie totally digs those things so he wanted to take her. We bought tickets (cheap!) for the ride and we couldn't wipe the smile off her face. She hugged and kissed her horse before they exited the ride. Then she and Chad went on a little helicopter ride, which she also enjoyed, before we headed home.

Summer Zoo

We own an annual pass and have made the trip to the zoo in the winter and spring, but this was our first visit in the summer. We picked a mild day to go, got there early and left before noon. Not having to sweat made it much more enjoyable for all of us. Chad is crazy because he suggested the three of us go, just two days after his Half Dome trek, on a Sunday morning. Apparently his body recovers quickly from excruciatingly long hikes.  Anyway, when we got there we found out it was one of the giraffe's first birthday at the zoo and they were having a party, hence the party hat on Maggie. While there we looked at some of the animals, watched the bird show (Maggie wanted to tickle the owl after the show...yikes!) and had a nice morning. We like the zoo.

Grapes, our second summer

I thought we'd remove our grape vine after last year's buggy attempt (see here for a refresher) but before we got our lazy butts around too it, our vine started to grow. This year it really took off. We have leaves and vines all over and these past few weeks we started getting ripe grapes. I'm not sure why we didn't get bugs this year (still working totally organically) but the good news is that we didn't. And the grapes are delicious! Maggie's been scarfing them down and I'm happy to report that we have a few more large bunches soon to be ready. I'm glad our lazy butts didn't take the vine down last year because this year it was totally worth it.

Happy Birthday, Maggie (again)

Last week we visited our family up in Northern California. They threw Maggie a birthday party filled with swimming, food, cake, music and presents. She had a blast. It was super fun seeing our family and the only way it could have been better is if Chad and my dad were there with us. Hopefully next time.