11 Month Photos!

Where the heck did February go!? It seemed like everyday I found myself saying "I'll have to do that tomorrow" and then tomorrow turned into the next day, and the next. Sheesh!

It was a busy month and one filled with some more milestones for baby Mak. She started walking. She got her third and fourth tooth. And yet again I was amazed at how much knowledge she soaked up and how quickly she learned new skillzzzzzzz.

Our growing girl is 11 months old. Wow. Just wow.

This past month was full of crazy cute faces...

And crazy cute hair...

And some crazy cute outfits...

No, that's not a belly shirt, it just happens to turn into one because the elastic likes to roll up over her buddha belly. Doesn't it make you giggle? 

Currently, she is very interested in figuring out how things work or how things are "supposed" to be. She likes to try and put on her own socks and shoes. This basically consists of her setting them on her feet, haha. It is very sweet.

Oh and something a little less sweet that she likes to figure out is the TV and the remote....they realllllly need to make it harder to record shows. Our queue is full of fun little surprises from this nugget.

Mak has also started to take an interest in dolls. She loves to kiss her baby and hold her hand, and in this picture below she was even humming to her! Heart officially melting.

In addition to loving on her baby she is super into puzzles! She has a Melissa and Dog set with basic shapes that get placed into pictures of dogs, trains, butterflies etc. and she has a great time with it. Circles are her specialty ;-)

And of course, she is still digging her magnets, especially now that she figured out they can stick to the dishwasher too. Every time she sticks one to the dishwasher she laughs. Silly magnet.

What else, what else....ah yes, MikMak is still not a great napper. By that I mean her naps are short and inconsistent. However, I am thankful that when she does nap, she is able to sleep pretty much anywhere....her crib, the car, her stroller, my back...

As far as her "official 11 month photo" goes, by now I'm happy to snap a shot of her 1) in the official onesie (which definitely doesn't snap anymore, but I'm amazed at how much stretch it truly had - it is size 0-3 months!) and 2) actually sitting still. So here you have it...

And of course, some of the outtakes. They've really become more and more obnoxious with the passing months.

In the next one she is pointing to a picture of a puppy dog in one of her books. We've been practicing "what noise does a doggy make..."

She is pretty geeked about dogs...and all animals for that matter...

Even though this was Mak's photoshoot she manages to look like SHE is photoboming GINGER. I love it. 

Looking forward to another month of fun, frustration and firsts before the big BIRTHDAY!

Caption This!

Sooooo, this keeps happening....

Did she jump? Do we need to get out the white chalk? No, no no. Someone is a little juice drunk perhaps?

I don't know what it is but these photos just really make me giggle. She only stays that way for less than 5 minutes, but it's long enough for me to snap a picture that I can laugh at over and over. 

She Walks!

Guess who can walk now?!?!

^^^ This girl!

 And apparently she likes to do it with her hands full! 

And to think I thought it was hard to snap a photo of her before!! 

What we would officially call her "first steps" occurred on February 4th, just a few days after her 10 month birthday.  She could hardly contain her excitement.

Every day since then she has grown more confident (and more focused, haha). It really is like everyone says, all of a sudden they go and there is no stopping 'em!

This was just a few days later, and she had already become an independent woman...

Walking has really opened so many new doors for her....

(Pun totally intended because I'm cheesy like that)

And now, not even two weeks later the girl is all over the place. From one end of the house to the other, cutting corners like a pro. At this pace she'll be signed up for her first 5k next month ;-)

I swear I do other things besides chase her around with my video camera all day. 

We are looking forward to running around the park this Spring and the pool this summer. Okay, no running at the pool, that's just down right dangerous, but you catch my drift ;-)

So proud of our munchkin girl!

Pictures are worth 1000 Words

Sometimes when I check out my favorite blogs, I don't feel like reading, and I just want to look at the pictures. Can you relate?

Behold a bunch of random photos I've taken over the past couple weeks, that are too cute to be forgotten.

They don't need a big, long post explaining them. Just look...and smile :)

Ready for a friend's birthday party...

 Exploring her room...

Loving on her baby...

Enjoying the park...

 Sipping on coffee (staying true to her WA roots)...

Stoked about Pancake Sunday...

 Spending time with her pups...

 Guess who had cheese for lunch...

Sensory Sunday Funday: Toilet Paper Roll Turned Ball Chute

Lately, Makaela has been all about putting things in containers and taking them out. She has a couple toys where she has to put a ball into hole, and basically it's the most exciting thing in the world to her.

She gets VERY proud of herself when she does it, and so do we :)

Earlier this week, I decided to make a lil somethin' somethin' with that concept in mind. 

All I did was take one of the toilet paper rolls I've been hanging onto and covered it in the left over felt I had from her sensory station. I just used the hot glue gun to make sure it was on there good (enough). 

Then I bought a bag of pom-poms in assorted colors and sizes. I picked out a few that were small enough to fit through the toilet paper roll and just grabbed a plastic container to store them in. 

The idea is that Makaela can drop them through the "chute" and into the container, or wherever. 

I can't get over the look of concentration on her face. Too. Adorable. 

She loves dropping the pom-pom down the chute and watching it fall out the other end. 

Sometimes it gets stuck mid-chute and she has to flip it around and check out the other end, or give it a little shake.

It's a great quiet time activity or a good game to play when she is getting restless with whatever else she is doing. This really seems to capture her attention and calm her down. 

Sometimes if we're feeling ambitious we even "practice" our colors. In other words, I say the color of the pom-pom and she looks at me like I'm interrupting her concentration :)

I don't store this game with the rest of her toys because I'm worried she'll stuff a pom-pom or two in those chipmunk cheeks of hers, or that the dogs will eat one and ain't nobody got time to be sitting in the ER or at the vet for a silly pom-pom related incident.