Book shopping

We all knew that Maisie likes books. But today she discovered the joys of book shopping.

We went to BookSmart today, a great new & used book store in uptown Minneapolis. Maisie first browsed in the Food/Food Writing section, showing some interest particularly in Anthony Bourdain. She then moved on to music. She tried to read the copy of Heavy Metal you can see in this picture, but it was shrink-wrapped so she couldn't open it.

We stopped her when she got to first editions & collectables, though!

Skoal Vikings!

Okay, it's been a week since we last posted on here. This week has been very busy, so we haven't had a lot of time to take cute pictures of Maisie! Plus, she's going through a growth spurt that's causing her to sleep all the time. Seriously, she goes to bed at like 6:15 pm and sleeps until 6:30 am, and then takes three naps during the day. When she is done with this growth spurt she is going to be three feet tall. But in the mean time, there's not much time to take pictures of her.

We've also got a super busy weekend coming up, and I don't know how much picture-taking will happen. So to tide you over, here's a picture from last weekend.

I think this picture is hilarious, although Aaron thinks we both look really annoyed. Maisie looks like she is saying "Come on and take the picture already, Dad!!" You can really see how blue Maisie's eyes are, and how long her hair is getting.

As you can see, I'm wearing my Vikings jersey! This weekend the Vikings are playing the Packers at home, and Aaron's friend Emily is taking me to the game! I am SO exited; it's a huge rivalry and it's always a really good game.

We can't wait to see you, Emily!

Dinnertime smiles

Maisie really enjoyed herself at dinner tonight, as you can see!

She enjoyed a tasty meal of edamame and blueberries. Yum yum! Maisie is generally a very good eater, and hasn't rejected many foods that we've offered her. But she especially likes meals where she can feed herself - so much so that when we give her yogurt or purees, we have to make sure she has cheerios, or else she'll grab the spoon and wave it all around. She hasn't really figured out how to use utensils yet. So in that respect as well, the blueberries and edamame were a real hit!

Saturday celebrations

One thing I love about the Twin Cities is all the random little neighborhood festivals that spring up during the spring/summer/fall. Today we went to two of them!

We started out at Woofstock in the Linden Hills neighborhood of Minneapolis. As you can probably guess from the title, this is a celebration of all things doggy.
We're not huge dog people, as you probably could've guessed, but our friend Brian has adopted two retired racing greyhounds and is really active in that community, so we went to say hi to him and his boys, Boogie and Crash. (Boogie is the black one, and Crash is the brindle.) As you can see, Boogie was exhausted by all the goings-on. Fortunately Crash is kind enough to let Boogs rest his head on his back. They are such sweet dogs. If we were ever thinking about getting a dog, we'd seriously consider adopting a retired racer.

After Woofstock we headed home. It was naptime, but Maisie refused to sleep! So we strollered up to a random little neighborhood celebration not too far from our house. There was a bounce house for the kids, sidewalk sales, deals on cones at our favorite ice cream place, and even a really cool taiko drumming performance.


Too bad Maisie slept through it all! She even missed out on the ice cream, one of her favorite treats. She fell asleep about two blocks from home, slept through the whole walk (including the taiko drums), and woke up again when we were about halfway home.

Oh well, it's not a bad thing. Aaron and I enjoyed a nice walk, and Maisie definitely needed the sleep more than she needed the ice cream.

Maisie & Aaron's week

Maisie's daycare provider took this week off. My supervisor is out on medical leave, so Aaron's staying home all week with her.

Even though it's been seasonably (or even unseasonably!) chilly out, they've had a good time so far - lots of strollering around the neighborhood in the afternoons, going to the park to see ducks and stopping by friends' houses. Yesterday they went to our community library to check out the kids' room. They've also had fun at home reading books and playing with the kitties.

A particular favorite game of Maisie's these days is the chase game. It's pretty straightforward - Aaron "runs" from the living room to the bathroom, to Maisie's room, to the kitchen, while Maisie crawls madly after him, laughing the whole way. When she finally catches him in the kitchen it starts all over, only in reverse.

Mondays are always difficult. But I think this coming Monday will be harder for Aaron than most. Even though it's been hard work, who'd want to go back to the office after spending a whole week at home with Maisie?

Books

I'm sure it comes as no surprise to anyone reading this blog that Aaron and I both love to read. We definitely hoped to pass our love of reading on to Maisie, and are happy to see that it seems to be taking!

We've made a real effort to read to her often, and we leave books scattered about with her toys. In the past she would show us a book she wanted us to read to her - most often it was "Yellow Bird" which was a gift from her Auntie Clare. But as you can see here, as she intently analyzes Sandra Boynton's "Not the Hippopotamus," recently she's started "reading" her books by herself - she will sit with them and very seriously flip through the pages and look at the pictures. She isn't interested in help, and will actually get a little angry if you take the book from her to read it aloud. Excuse me, but Maisie was reading that... thank you!

We're hoping it's the beginning of a life-long love of books!

Visiting Iowa + 10 months!

Happy Labor Day, all! We took advantage of the long weekend and went down to Iowa to visit Aaron's family.

We stayed with Maisie's Grandma Jo, who Maisie loves to pieces. Maisie gave Grandma Jo plenty of hugs at every opportunity! It was really cute. Maisie also enjoyed playing with Grandma Jo's toys, including this awesome car. We also got to see Auntie Clare, Auntie Brynna & Uncle Jason, Cousin Nika, and Grandpa Greg, Peg, and Katherine, and had breakfast on Sunday with Aaron's high school friend Emily! Hi Emily! We want you to come visit us!

We came home on Sunday so we were able to relax today, which is Maisie's ten-month birthday. Yay!

We celebrated by going out to Chiang Mai Thai, one of our favorite Uptown restaurants. We shared chicken satay, egg rolls, fried tofu, and toasted coconut ice cream. Maisie particularly enjoyed the satay and the ice cream, as I am sure you can tell.

At ten months, Maisie has lots of skills. She cruises confidently, and has started letting go of her support when she's standing up. She can only stand independently for a second or two... but I think walking is coming soon! She has three signs (milk, more, all done) and is getting very talkative; she can also recognize several words, including "kitty!" She plays peek-a-boo, claps her hands, and loves to give hugs. She finally got some teeth last week... the bottom front two, at the same time. I don't think the top ones are too far behind. And today's discovery: her armpits are ticklish! It's so cute.