Sleepover with Cousin Ella

Last Saturday after swimming at the Centre, we had cousin Ella over for a sleepover.  (Jessie and Dan were in Mexico, so we kept Ella for the night and Lauren stayed with Grandma and Grandpa)  Luckily, thanks to our afternoon of swimming, we were both exhausted and basically got to the house, ate dinner, got ready for bed, and went to sleep.  (okay, it wasn't QUITE that easy, but pretty much)  In the morning, Mama made pancakes for us, so we had pancakes, then played around the house for a while before taking Ella back to Grandma and Grandpa's.  It was a very fun time! 

Enjoying our hero burgers!

We were both slamming milk like crazy - Mommy took some pics because she thought we were being silly.  Here's Ella's milk slamming pic.

And mine.  (the side slam)

Ella wearing her breakfast.

I have different places in the house I like to hangout.  One of those places is my basket - Ella paid me a visit.

And after the basket, I moved to my favorite drawer under the oven....

...while Ella played with my balloon....

...and then we met back up at Mommy's lap for some computer time.  (notice we're both wearing necklaces in these - we raided Mommy's necklace drawer)

When It's Cold Outside, Move the Fun Indoors!

Last Saturday, mommies and I met up with all of my McNamara cousins at the Centre in New Richmond for some fun in the pool!  I hadn't been swimming since last summer, and mommies weren't sure what I'd think of it, but I actually liked it a lot!  I was a little hesitant at first and spent the first 30 minutes or so attached to Mommy like a little monkey.  Once I became more comfortable though, I had a blast!  The pool at the Centre is zero-grade, so there were areas that were shallow enough for me to walk and crawl around.  Another favorite activity of mine was to climb out of the pool and crawl around the deck of the pool.  Mommies were thrilled to see how much I loved swimming since we'll be going to Arizona in about 10 days for more swimming.  (and some sun this time!!)

Before we left the house, mommies took some pictures of me modeling my new swimsuit.

Starting to get silly here.

This face makes mommies smile.

One more stop before we headed to the pool - the shower!  I'm always trying to get into the shower (not sure why), but since I was already in my suit, mommies let me try it out.

Hmm....  maybe the shower's not as exciting as I thought it would be.

Hanging out with Grace at the pool!

Sitting on the side of the pool, taking it all in!

Crawling through the shallow end.

A shot of the kids playing.  (and me in the background chilling on a kickboard with Mommy)

An attempt at getting a picture of all of the cousins together.  Valient effort.

Becky and Cal were there too but they decided to sit this one out.

It Finally Warmed Up Enough for Another Sledding Adventure!

We had a pretty nice warm-up last Saturday (we hit 30!), so mommies decided to put my snowsuit on me and take me outside for some more sledding action.  (I hadn't been since November!!)  As soon as they put my gear on me, I got really excited!  The first time I went sledding, mommies just dragged the sled around by the string.  This time, they let me go down the hill by myself.  (don't worry - it's a small hill!)  I loved it and was grinning from ear to ear!  The other highlight of my sledding experience was getting to pet the cats!  (especially Peanut)  I stare at them through the patio door, but rarely get to pet them since it's been too cold to be outside, so that was a huge treat.  Here are a few pictures of my outdoor adventure!

All geared up and ready to head outside.  (but of course, mommies have to take pictures first)

Checking out my mittens.

First time down the hill - that's my goofy smile!

This is fun!

Hey - are you guys coming?  I'm ready to go again!

After a while, mommies let me out of the sled to crawl around the snow a little.  (my walking's not good enough to walk through snow with boots on yet!)

Giving Peanut a kiss.  Such a sweet girl!

Two things going on here.  (1)  More nuzzling with Peanut.  (2)  I lost my boot at some point and crawled around with my sock inside my snowsuit.

Ready to go again!

My trademark Maggie "oooh" face.  This face always makes mommies laugh.

More Walking!

Ever since yesterday at Grandma and Grandpa McNamara's, I've taken my walking skills up a notch.  Mommies made several videos of me today taking way more steps than I even did last night at Grandma and Grandpa's.  They were smart this time.  They bought some Doritos for bait.  While I don't necessarily eat them, I do like to lick them and put them back in the bag, so we played that game for a long time.  Here's one of me walking down the hallway into the kitchen before feeding my Dorito to Joey. 

On the move!

Over the past couple of weeks, I've started to take some more steps.  I've been standing for a while now and taking one or two steps, but lately my one or two steps has become three or four.  (and sometimes more!)  For some reason, I really like to walk at Grandma and Grandpa McNamara's house.  While mommies have been too slow to catch me doing this on video, I walked enough times last night that they actually had time to get Mommy's iPhone and make a few videos. 

Last night, they used a bag of Doritos as bait for me.  It was getting close to dinner, and my cousin Lucy was eating Doritos.  I tried one, and I was hooked.  A little while later, I was sitting on Grandma's lap, and the Doritos were on the coffee table.  Out of nowhere, I got up from Grandma's lap and walked right over to the coffee table to help myself to a chip.  After that, they started using the Doritos as bait, and it worked!!  Here are the videos Mommy was able to capture....

This is the first one they took of my walking adventure...

This one is mommies' favorite.  Every time I would get to the coffee table, Grandma would grab me before I could get a chip and make me walk again.  After a while, Lucy felt bad for me and brought the chips to me.  As you can see, I get very excited when she brings the chips to me.  (and after she takes them away, I'm not too pleased...)

Here are some more steps....

Playing around

There's not much of a purpose to this post other than the fact that mommies have taken tons of pictures of me lately playing in the house.  (mostly playing with my best friend Joey)  The older I get, the bigger (and sillier) my personality becomes.  Mommies just have such a great time with me ... I really liven the place up!! 

Enjoying a little naked time with my train.

One of the many silly Maggie faces.

More train time.  (this time I'm pushing my baby "Carol" around)

Joey time!

He cracks me up!

Sharing my afternoon snack with Joe Joe!

Hanging out in my book basket.

Not sure what I'm looking at in this picture, but if Joey is near, you can bet I'll be smiling!

Being a goof.

Checking on my babies in the shopping cart before I take them for a stroll.

Taking my babies for a walk.

My new favorite thing to do in the bath is to touch the water while it comes out of the faucet!

Go Packers!

Some Packer fans will wait most of their life to see the Pack in the Super Bowl, but at 13 months, I'll get to see my first Packer Super Bowl!  Mommies are so excited!!  For all but the last playoff game, we had Lance, Melissa, Aftin and Bailee over to watch the game.  (I was sick for the last game)  Us babies didn't pay much attention to the game, but we did have a good time playing!  Here are a couple pictures of us playing during the Packers/Falcons game! 

This one makes Mommy laugh.  I look like a Giant!!

Far from the days when our parents were excited to get a picture of all of us laying on the floor next to each other.  We're a lot more mobile now!!

Mischief Maker

Around the time I turned one, mommies started to notice a much more mischievious side to me.  I'm no longer satisfied just pulling toys out of my baskets and tupperware out of the drawer - I need to get IN the baskets and drawers to get a closer look now.  In the last two weeks, they've caught me in my toy and book baskets, in the tupperware drawer and they even found me in the drawer below the oven.  (don't worry ... the oven wasn't on!)  I even crawled into Mommy's suitcase last week when she was packing for a trip.  Better keep a close eye on me - you never know what I'll get into next!!

It all started innocently - just checking out some of Joey's collars in the tupperware drawer....

Then Mommy caught me in the act!

Busted.

The next day, I paid a visit to the drawer under the oven.

And then hopped in Mommy's suitcase!!  (I just wanted her to take me with her!!)

Great accomplishments warrant a round of applause.

A few nights later, Mommies caught me standing on top of a case of Diet Mt. Dew.  I was Queen of the Mountain (Dew)!!