who's one year old?

Mary Beth had quite a birthday weekend. She started her birthday with a visit to Dr. Z for her one-year Well Check. She checked well. :-)  All good on the height and weight front, and everyone agreed that Princess Mary Beth, who visited the office with her crown, is the cutest redhead ever. Saturday Auntie Kim flew into town and was greeted by MB and an awesome sign. A bunch of people came over to the house for an informal gathering/party where MB giggled, laughed and had cupcake icing for the first time. Sunday we went to the park to swing, and then played soccer in the back yard. That's right, MB is ready for her Rowdiettes jersey and soccer cleats. There's a TON of photos, so have fun!!

a night of firsts...

...first cup of juice...

...first taste of black beans...

...first cheese quesadilla...

Chipotle rocks. Mary Beth agrees.

 

seriously...

...do you think anyone could say no to her if she was selling cookies? I think not.

11 months!!

(As most new parents will understand, we've been swamped these last few days with the snow and haven't posted this. She turned 11 months on the 12th, so we're just 2 days late!)

Dear Mary Beth,

How is it possible that you're 11 months old?? A year ago today my friends/coworkers at Regent threw us a shower and we received some great presents for you. You even still use some of them today - like your blankets, bottles and steamer. The next day we were packing up our home in Florida and moving to Texas. Well, the packers were packing. I was working and your dad was supervising. We then spent the night at the Westin Diplomat and your dad kissed me Happy Valentine's Day at 430 in the morning and took off for the drive to Texas. You and I spent our first Valentine's Day together - me feeling quite fat and lonely, and you enjoying the chocolate and raspberry sorbet dessert I had.

In this past month, you've really started trucking along on the walking front. You LOVE your little car/walker that my boss Andy gave you. And you walk along the tables, couch, mirror -- anything you can as long as you can hold on to something. Speaking of the mirror, boy do you love the mirror! We learned that a long time ago, but we bought a huge mirror for the entry way and it's not even worth trying to clean your fingerprints off.

You old daycare is closing down at the end of the month, so we were forced to find you a  new one. Actually, we were looking for a new one anyway because we felt you needed something more as you got closer to "toddler status." You've been at the new one for just a week, and you're doing well. You're not a fan of when we leave you in the morning, but they say you're making friends, practicing your walking and even trying new foods. You're fearless.

You also enjoyed your first snowstorm. It snowed in early December but it didn't really stick to the ground. And then we had already gone to San Antonio when the Christmas Eve snowstorm hit. But this was a HUGE storm. Record-setting for the amount of snow in 24 hours here in the DFW area. So we made your first baby snow angels, and you had your first taste of snow. Literally. You loved it. But don't get used to it...

Last, you're getting cuter every day, which I'm not sure how that is possible. But it is. You love to smile, laugh, and now you're talking, saying "Ah-tah" to us. We have to repeat it back and forth a few times or you get mad at us. Very cute.

We love you, Baby Love

Love,

Mom and Dad

winter wonderland

Well, we missed the Christmas Eve snowstorm here in Dallas since we had already gone to San Antonio. So today when we woke up to a few inches of snow (and more coming), we had to take advantage of it. I'll post the pictures of her making her first baby snow angel later, but here is a video of her doing what she does best -- putting anything and everything in her mouth. She said snow is quite tasty...

best ten bucks ever spent at target...

...and trust me, I've spent a lot of money at Target. But this dancing frog was irresistable, and Mary Beth LOVES to dance. So three videos for you... two frog dances, and one where Caddyshack Gopher made an appearance. He was feeling left out. Mary Beth can groove...

monkey

her best dustin hoffman imitation...

...and that would be from Midnight Cowboy, not Tootsie or Meet the Fockers. Little Mary Beth said "I'M WALKING HERE! I'M WALKING HERE!" Well, with the help if her walker/car, but still damn cute! Two videos because it was twice the fun!

what's up?

No reason for the post, except to show the cutest little redhead EVER! :-)

all the mothers cry...

Dear Mary Beth,

I don't think it's just the mothers. I think anyone with a heart has felt the tears starting to swell this past week. A horrific, unimaginable earthquake shattered the already poverty-stricken Haiti. When we lived in Florida, we knew a lot of people either originally from Haiti or that had family members there. People who went through their own horrors to get to the United States so they could work and send money back to their family so they could eat, drink and have shelter. But that shelter has failed when the earth opened up last Tuesday.

I'm a news junkie and can't stop watching the news or reading it on the computer. But I've also spent a lot of time walking away from it lately because it truly is heartbreaking. In a country that already was the poorest in the western hemisphere, and had an outrageous number of orphans, the photos of torn families are unspeakable.

So if you actually can remember your tenth month and wonder why you suddenly were showered with even more hugs and kisses, it's because of this tragedy. I just don't want to let you go. I'm even typing this while watching you sleep on the monitor. And in the morning I'll race to your room to watch you smile and stand up in your crib.

I've never been one to hide my emotions, and a tragedy of this magnitude would always affect me. But now that I'm a mom I think it's different. To see other moms crying in pain because their children are gone, or babies in orphanages or hospitals while their parents didn't make it... it's just unbearable. So don't roll your eyes at me when I sneak in your room later tonight to give you your 498th kiss of the day. Just keep sleeping soundly and dream of a time when all is right in the world again.

Love, Mom

purple people eaters

It was a dangerous day here in Texas. There was this adorably cute, redheaded 10 month old girl who was continuing her late Grandpa's love and desire for the Vikings to win a SuperBowl. So she was dressed in all purple (sorry Rob, no helmet) and she cheered whenever Brett scored a touchdown. Well, she missed the first few since she was napping, but still...  And then once the nap was over and the score was quite favorable for Grandpa's team, much to the dismay of her father, this adorable little munchkin did the most blasphemous thing.

SHE WENT OUT IN PUBLIC IN THE DALLAS METROPLEX WITH HER PURPLE ON!!!

The nerve. But seeing as how it was to Target, whose headquarters is in Minnesota, her mom thought it was safe.

And she'll be wearing purple again next weekend.  :-)

happy 10 months!

Dear Mary Beth,

Ten months? Really? Wow.

So lately you have taken up "speed crawling" and can make it across the room in 3.4 seconds. Or something close to that. And you also like to pull yourself up. On tables, chairs, pant legs, etc. You name it, you'll climb it. And you like to push buttons on the computer too, making interesting emails go out early sometimes!

You're teething like crazy, too. The doc said "any day now," but that was a month ago. Oh well. Eventually you'll get one! Until then you'll just keep drooling on and biting down on everything imaginable.

So happy 10 months! We love you!

Love, Mom and Dad

giggle monster

Mary Beth and I had most of the day alone together. And you know what happens when girls get together... someone always gets tickled!!!

happy 2010

Dear Mary Beth,

You're SO unconscious right now, enjoying your little baby girl dreams of milk bottles, shiny mirrors and visiting grandparents. You entertained us earlier tonight as "Princess Mary Beth," jumping up and down and laughing with your crown on. I'll make you a better one next time.

It's officially a new year, and I promise to make it unforgettable. Well, you probably won't remember it seeing as how you're an infant, but hopefully you'll have a blast. You'll learn to walk, eat new foods, say mama and dada (and actually mean it as a name for us) and so much more. The world is out there for you to explore, and your dad and I will love showing it to you.

For your first video of the year, here's you enjoying the Care Bear book that Nana gave you for Christmas. I've never seen you attack one of your toys like this before, and it was too good to pass up. So thanks, Nana!

Love, Mom

first christmas!!!

So, I think Kim and I started planning to spend Mary Beth's first Christmas together, oh, about a year ago! We knew it would be a tough time with memories of trying to celebrate Christmas last year right after Dad passed. And seeing Mary Beth just brings out the smiles in anyone, so you can't go wrong there. Kim bought her a plethora of gifts, and couldn't wait to open presents with her on Christmas day.

We headed down to San Antonio on Wednesday, which apparently was the right move since most of the Dallas/Ft. Worth area was snowed and iced over on Christmas Eve. Bad that we didn't get to see the snow, but good that we got out of there before it got nasty. Over the next 5 days, Bob and I put a lot of miles on Loop 1604 going back and forth between family gatherings -- seems everyone wants to see the little tike on her first big holiday! She spent most of Christmas Eve with Bob, Jeff and Andy, Christmas day with us and Kim/Matt at Mike and Carol's (Matt's dad and stepmom), and even the day after with Terri for a while (Matt's mom - AKA "quasi-grandma).

I joked that I was only going to give her boxes, wrapping paper and bows for Christmas. Turns out that those things really were some of her favorite items to play with. But she also loved her toys, clothes and books from everyone. What she didn't like was the boo boo she got on her nose when she took a dive off the leather ottoman. With me RIGHT THERE. I caught her as she caught her nose on the rug, cutting it. So poor baby looked like Rudolph on Christmas. Hey, 9 months old and this was the first visible injury -- I call that a winner.

 

 

well this can't be good...

Mary Beth is starting to figure out how to pull herself up on things. That won't lead to any trouble, right?

calling all you angels...

Dear Mary Beth,

I know he visits you. So does she, but I know even tonight your Grandpa came and visited you and made me come into your room. I felt him there, trying in his not-so-sly way to remind me that there is so much more happiness in my life going on to feel sad that he is gone.

What games does he play with you in the mornings when we hear you "talking" in the early hours? Don't fall for the one where he says he's got your nose. It's just his thumb. And quit listening to him when he tells you to burp up on me. That's just not nice. I know he thinks it's funny though. I'm thinking he also loves watching you dart across the room in your turbo crawling speed. Have loads of fun playing with him. He could always make us laugh, entertain us and just plain have fun with us. And he always had a soft spot for really cute girls, so you're in luck there! I think he'd even look past the fact that you have red hair...

I miss him tremendously. This last year has been such a strange year filled with terrible sadness and great happiness. Maybe that's why it happened when it did -- to help me keep things in perspective. Still sucks though. Wait, don't say "sucks." Bad Mom. Eh, if that's the worst word you learn in our house, I'll be happy.

So I'm not sure what Grandpa looks like when he visits you, but I thought you may want to see some of my favorite pictures of him. Ask him about some of his plaid suits. Classic Filmore.

Love,

A Very Sad Mom

from the desk of mary beth

normally mommy writes me a letter each month saying all the fun things i've done. but you've all seen my fun things already - smiling, swinging and crawling. LOTS of crawling.

so tonight i hijacked the computer to write a letter to them.

mommy, keep the milk coming. and food. i like when you give me little bites of your chicken and fig newtons. and i like when you roll around on the floor with me making me giggle.

daddy, COME HOME ALREADY!!! it's been fun hanging out with mom all week, but i want my daddy!! i like when you hold me up over your head so i can be tall. and let me splash you when you're giving me a bath. plus, mommy looks like she could use a nap and you'll have to play with me during that.

everyone else reading this, i really like this crawling thing. i didn't know it was going to be this fun!! there's a whole world of things to get into now!

it's bed time now. off to my crib where i get to roll around and pull the monitor down in the morning. what? it has a pretty green light on it, and i LOVE flashing or shining lights. and then when i do that, mommy or daddy come into the room and laugh when they see me smiling. life is good.

love,
mary beth

santa claus is coming..

The neighborhood that we moved into has a TON of kids. None of them really live by us, but just a half mile down the street today they had a Christmas gathering. Donuts, hot cocoa, an old-fashioned fire truck and SANTA!!!! Well I couldn't let that opportunity pass by, especially on her 9 month birthday! So we bundled up (about 45 and drizzling) and headed down for her introduction to jolly ol' St. Nick.

She did  SO good, and didn't cry. But when we took out the 9 month sign, she got a little fussy. Still, I'm impressed with my little munchkin.

crawlin' fool

No real reason for the post except to give more photos and let everyone know that Mary Beth is a crawling fool now. Shoes and remotes are not safe on the ground anymore. Nor is leaving her on our bed left to her own devices. And poor Orbit...