Marjorie at 18 Months

At 18 months, Marjorie is non-stop. She is a go, go, go type girl. But! She knows when she's ready for "nigh nigh" and will tell you and head into her bedroom. Here's a snapshot of M at 18 months:

-Talking non-stop. Lot's of jabbering and lots of words--mama, dada, ditz (Fitz), bear, apple, happy, nana (banana/Nana), Papa, water, milky, doggy, puppy, kitty, kitty cat, butterfly (firefly), gah (garbage truck), bird, owl, wow, bye, hi, no, tank yoou (thank you), mine, "Y" (the letter), "M" (the letter), "B" (for the letter A, not sure how that happened), nigh nigh, monkey, baa baa (sheep sound), booooowwwww (cow), e-i-e-i-o, uh oh, oh no, shoes, pool... and probably some more that I'm forgetting. She'll try and mimic just about anything you prompt her to say.
-Understands what seems like everything I tell her. Knows lots of body parts, and can follow commands (when she's in the mood).
-Still loves reading books and will literally walk up to me, open my hand and place a book inside it for me to read to her.
-Starting to get into dress up play and imaginative play. Loves playing with her animal figurines.
-Is constantly moving. Wandering around the apartment, climbing up on things, loves going to the park and is getting better at climbing on all the equipment, but still hates the swing.
-Loves loves loves a horribly annoying Baby Genius show we found on Netflix. It is an awful sing-a-long song show but she asks for it every single time I let her watch something. I'm trying to promote Sesame Street and Daniel Tiger presently. 
-Still super friendly. Sometimes pretends to be shy when someone turns their attention on her, but mostly walks right up to people and chats them up.
-Loves nursery. She goes right in without a fuss and seems to have a blast. (Mom and Dad also love nursery, yay for being able to actually pay attention in church!).
-Picky about food, but I know it could be worse. She's good with all fruit, most carbs (except rice? why?), and most dairy. We eat a lot of eggs for breakfast and PB&J for lunch so she gets some protein because home girl does not like meat and definitely doesn't like veggies. I keep giving them to her but it's always a "nah" with a hand out and firm head shake no. She does however love dried seaweed and will pound an entire container. 
-At her 18 month appointment she was 20lbs and a few oz (can't remember) and in the 5th percentile still.
-She's generally a very happy girl which I am grateful for. And most people seem to think she's adorable and happy too. Just don't keep her out too long past "nigh nigh" time or you'll see the super grump side of Marjorie.

We love her so much and I love seeing her little personality blossom more and more!

Glamme's Birthday

Marjorie and I flew up to spend a week and a half in Fresno for Glamme's birthday. I got to take these sweet pics while mom read to Marjorie in all her dress up glory. It had been a very long time (maybe 10 years?) since I'd been home for mom's birthday so it was nice to spend the day with her. We sure love her!

Back Porch

In our apartment, there's a front porch which is in direct sunlight the majority of the day (=too hot to play in), and has a random dirt patch at the end of it which I didn't want Marjorie messing with. It became where the dog did his business and I lamented the fact that I couldn't just send M out to play.

But we actually have a back porch as well, off of our bedroom. It had leaves all over it and was a bit dirty so I didn't think of M being able to use it for a month. Because I'm a thinker, I finally got it through my brain that if I simply swept it, M could hang out "outside" and have space for messy play. Please ignore the box spring we stuck out there. Dan has dreams of re-purposing it somehow. I think at this point there are too many bugs and outside things involved with it and it needs to go over the fence into the trash. I think I will win eventually.

You can't go wrong with a bowl of water and measuring cups.

Everyday moments

In August, in the middle of our moving craziness, I took an online photography class (I had signed up long before we knew we were moving). I really wanted to be able to understand my camera better and be able to use it in manual and have an idea of what I'm doing as I spin settings up and down. I've been wanting to capture every day moments of our lives in a beautiful way and feel more confident when taking pictures for friends and family. I feel that as I've practiced and become more comfortable, it's easier for me to get what I want, so I can put the camera away faster and enjoy the moment in the moment more, and I look for the beautiful moments more often in our day to day lives.

M was quiet for a while in her room one day and this is what I found when I snuck in on her. Love that little reader of mine.

Torrey Pines Gliders

A few weeks after we first moved to San Diego, my NYC BFF Julie came down from Santa Monica to visit. We drove all around La Jolla and went up to Torrey Pines and were surprised to find a bunch of hang gliders jumping off the cliffs and soaring around. It felt pretty magical and reminded Dan and I that we were happy to be living here despite all of the new moving stresses. And now a billion pictures because that's all I really want to do here, and because I don't know how to format them into a cool collage, you just get a big long list of them.

Goodbye NYC

It's been almost two months since we left NYC in a whirlwind. It still feels like a dream. I can't quite believe this is our new life and other times I can't quite remember how we lived for so long in a one bedroom with a baby in the busiest city. How did we survive there? And how am I going to survive the suburbs? It's so quiet!

I miss it, but I don't. I'm so glad to have more space, and sunlight (although I am seriously missing fall), and the ease of doing errands with a car!!! The other day I went to the car wash, Costco, Target, and Walmart grocery within an hour and a half. Something like that would have taken me 2-3 days to do in NYC and I would have been exhausted at the end of it. But when I'm sitting at home wondering what to do with ourselves, all I can think of are my favorite places in NYC. I haven't replaced them yet and I miss going fun places, eating delicious food, and being a "part of it all." I know all of that will come with time in San Diego, but sometimes it's hard to remember to be patient.

Before we left NYC we took a few pictures in front of our bridge.

 

And because I'm all about keeping it real...

 

Oh George Washington Bridge, I learned to love running on you, we watched for you sparkly celebratory lights, and I loved seeing your huge patriotic flags. I sure miss you.

Just when I think I can't take it any longer...

Just when I think I can't take the whining, begging, overall grumpiness and constant touching any longer...

 

 

 

 

 

She comes and gives me a voluntary snuggle.  Motherhood is pure bliss one minute and complete exhaustion the next.