My Name is Erin...

And I'm a Maja-aholic! :) I just can't stop taking photos of her... I think I have a problem! Here's what I mean - in the span of 24 hours, I've taken 42 photos of her. Sure I've thrown in another subject or two to make me feel better, but Maja is in all of those photos! :) Here are some from yesterday afternoon and today.

Here Maja & Marvin are hanging out in the backyard yesterday afternoon playing with Maja's toys... Here Maja falls for the "Hey, what's that over there?" trick by Marvin...
Here Maja is showing off one of her two new baseball hats (the other one is purple). She is getting very good at taking it off faster than I can back up and take a photo of her, so this might be one of the only photos you see of her in the hats...

Here I am giving Maja a buffet of food for her afternoon meal (on the menu: broccoli & potatoes, butternut squash, store bought (boo...) green beans, avocado and water from a cup)...
Here Maja is hanging out in the hammock - don't be fooled by the smile, shortly after this photo was taken there was fussing! I don't think she really like hammocks just yet...
This afternoon, Maja & I headed back into the big city to go visit Teta at work. We last visited her there in November when she was only 10 weeks old! Once we arrived, Maja was greeted with all kinds of smiles from giddy ladies and adoring men left, right and centre! She was definitely a hit! Here is a shot of Maja hanging out with Barba Frank (thanks again for the great bath toys Barba Frank - I'll be sure to test them out tonight!)...

Here Maja (with the help of Caillou) is teaching Janet how to spell her name with Janet's magnetic letters (the "T" was especially tasty apparently)...
Now if you look closely in the photo above, you'll notice Caillou is mooning everyone - here is a closer look (how rude!)...

Here's a shot of Maja & Caillou with the gang (from left to right: Janet, Shaindy, Barba Frank, Maja, Caillou, Teta Linda, Michael, and Allan). Thanks a bunch, Allan, for the great Caillou! Maja loves it...
Here Caillou is trying to eavesdrop on Maja, Barba Frank and Teta Linda's conversation (Maja seems to be enjoying the view from way up high with Barba Frank)...
And just in case you thought all Maja did while she was at the office was play around, think again. Here Maja is doing some of Teta's work for her...
And finally here is a shot of Maja & Teta sitting at Teta's desk (great shot of Teta, but Maja seems to be a bit distracted by something that character Barba Frank is working on off to the side)...

A Special Message From Maja...

Dobro jutro, Bakica - Sretan Rođendan! Ja te puno volim!

(translation: Good Morning, Bakica - Happy Birthday! I love you lots!)

Who Said I Don't Like Green Beans?

I've often heard, and unfortuately seen it come true, that children make liars out of their parents. Apparently, me saying that Maja doesn't like green beans is the most recent example of this. Over the weekend, Maja tried eating green beans that I made and she really, really didn't like them (as you can tell by the 7th photo in Monday's blog). But apparently it's not green beans that she doesn't like, it's my cooking! :) I went to Loblaws the other day and picked up a jar of PC brand green beans just to try, and lo and behold this afternoon when I gave them to Maja, she kept opening up her mouth for more like a baby bird! Part of me was glad that she liked them, but then I started to get offended that after all my hard work of plucking off the stringy bits of the beans, steaming them, pureeing them, freezing them, defrosting them and then heating them up Maja had enough gall to turn her cute little button nose up at them! *Sigh* :) Anyhow, enough yammering... here are some pictures from yesterday.

Here Maja is trying to make a run for it from the change table...
A close up of Maja looking confused as to why there's broccoli and potatoes all over her face...
After eating her meal (and I use the term eating loosely as you can tell by the picture above...) we needed to wash Maja's hands so we wouldn't find cereal, squash, broccoli or what have you in her hair later in the night...
Maja just checking out the neighbourhood from the living room window (and apparently telling everyone that she doesn't have any money given her pockets are turned out)...

Apparently there was something amusing outside that caught Maja's attention (maybe something shiny?!?)...
Over the past day or two, I've noticed that the wheels in Maja's head are starting to turn a bit faster. She's starting to play with her toys for a couple minutes before eating them and she's starting to furrow her brows a bit when she watches us show her how things work as if she's trying to really pay attention. This afternoon, Maja ventured into the kitchen cabinets and just kept opening and closing them grinning from ear to ear! I've now cleaned out the dishes (and now have to find space in our tiny kitchen to store them) and put a couple of Maja's toys in there for her to find. I love watching her get so pleased with herself! Anyhow, here Maja is tapping Lulu, The Letter Spinning Spider's, tummy to make her sing the alphabet...

Here she is playing with the caterpillar (or is it a worm, Teta?!?) and spinning the little "wheel-thingies"...

Right now, Maja is hopefully fast asleep while Marvin & I settle in to watch the second half of game three of the Raptors vs The Nets (I think we're losing by 11 right now... doesn't look good). Good night!

Raptors Celebratory Parade...

Ok so there wasn't really anything in particular to celebrate with respect to the Raptors (they didn't win a game since I last posted or anything like that) and Maja was the only one in the parade (with the exception of Marvin who, as you can tell by the second photo became Maja's chauffeur), but Maja wanted to have a parade anyhow. Here is a shot of Maja last night ready to go just waiting for Daddy to get his shoes on... Finally, her chauffeur arrives and they were ready to rock 'n roll...

Ever Heard of The Movie "Groundhog Day"?

For those of you not familiar with it... it's basically a movie about a guy (Bill Murray) who wakes up every morning and it's Groundhog day. Not just any Groundhog day, but the same one over and over and over. Now the reason I'm getting into this is because last night, the Raptors won playoff game number two against New Jersey (series now tied at 1-1)! I hope you all had fun doing what you did last night because until the series is over (ie. Raptors win four games) you'll have to do the same thing you did last night just to make sure we keep winning! :) Like I said, I hope you enjoyed what you did last night! :) The next two games are in New Jersey (Friday and Sunday), then they return to Toronto next Tuesday for game five... so stay tuned!

On Monday afternoon, Maja & I went over to Bakica's house to visit her before the crazy storm hit. As it turns out, our timing was perfect... the heavy down pour started right after we arrived there and stopped just before we left! Maja thought that a good way to cheer up such a lousy day was to celebrate that she's got some Croatian blood in her. Here's a shot of Maja & Bakica on Bakica's couch...
As you can tell by this shot, Bakica was pretty pleased with Maja and just had to try to take a bite out of her (luckily, Maja did the ol' arm block and saved her tummy from being eaten by Baka)...
Would you like something to eat? Perhaps I can get you a cookie, a sandwich, a lemon?!?!...
Yesterday, Maja had a house full of visitors (ok, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration...)! Stephanie and her two kids (Christine & Dash) along with Sara stopped by around lunch time for some good ol' fashioned girl chat (we made an exception for little Dash seeing as he's just so cute - that and he's too small to talk yet so we figured all of our girl-chat stuff was safe with him)! Here is a picture of Maja & Christine playing together in the living room...
Now, one of Christine's multiple talents is her ability to twirl upon request! Here is a series of photos showing her in action. Step one: face the audience to ensure you have their undivided attention...
Step two: turn around all coy...

Step three: Ta-da! Thank you, thank you... I'll be here all week and please don't forget to tip your waiters and waitresses! :)
Now you all know that we love Sara, but we have to admit for the odd thing with Maja she's a bit rough around the edges... for example with putting on hats (doesn't the strap go under the chin instead of down the face?!?!)...
Here's a shot of Stephanie & Christine (and Dash if you look carefully - the car seat is just behind Steph on her right side)...
And here is a shot of Dash who, as you can so obviously tell, was just enthralled by our girl talk...

What Were You Doing 8 Months Ago Today?

At the time I'm writing this, 8 months ago today I was 10 1/2 hours away from holding my beautiful daughter! It still brings tears (of happiness of course) to my eyes when I think back to that day! Here is a shot of that moment...
Ahhh the memories! :) Anyhow, this weekend Maja had a bunch of excitement going on. As you can tell by this picture, she was up and ready to go first thing Friday morning...
Friday afternoon, Sara stopped by to hang with us outside in the backyard and enjoy the nice warm weather we were having. Friday actually marked the first day that Maja really got to spend time playing outside. Back when the weather was warm last year she was too young and basically only went for walks (and slept the whole way) and then of course we had winter to deal with. I'd say that Maja enjoyed her outdoor time and is most definitely looking forward to the summer! Here is a shot of Maja peering around the lawn chair as she and Sara were walking around the yard...
Saturday morning, Maja got all dressed up to help Marvin & I get into the Raptors Playoff spirit just in time for the first game of the New Jersey Nets & Raptors series. Saturday was my first home playoff game ever (Marvin & I went to a Detroit / Raptors game five years ago in Detroit but I had never been to one at home before - very exciting)! It was so neat to go into the ACC and see almost all of the fans dressed in red (one of the Raptors analysts suggested that the fans wear red to support the team and then ACC handed out red t-shirts to everyone when we arrived)! Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell the Raptors to wear their red jerseys for the game and the New Jersey Nets decided to be smart and wear their red jerseys so it looked like we were all cheering for them! :( Despite it being an exciting game at times, the Raptors unfortunately lost the game and are now behind one game in the "Best of 7" series. :( Maybe we can get it to work for Tuesday's game. Anyhow, here is a shot of Maja showing her support Saturday morning...

Since yesterday was another nice day the family basically spent the whole day outside. Marvin started off in the front doing some yard work but was easily distracted once Maja came outside to play...
Here's a shot of Maja checking out the neighbours as they walked by...
Early in the afternoon, Teta Linda came by for a visit just in time to feed (or at least attempt to feed) Maja. The new food for the day was green beans. Now I did give Teta a warning that Maja wasn't really too fond of them, but we were still laughing at all the faces and noises that Maja made whenever Teta was fast enough to sneak some green beans into her mouth. Here is one of our favourite looks Maja gave Teta (love the furrowed brow as if she's saying "Why Teta, why?")...
After lunch Teta, Maja & I went for a nice walk up to Loblaws and back (in total about an hour and a half). Unfortunately, the tip of my nose got a bit crispy (what else is new) along the way. But rest assured, Maja had her hat on and didn't get burnt at all. Here is a shot of Maja chilling in the hammock after we got back from the walk...

I'm One Lucky Gal!

This morning's blog is dedicated to my wonderful husband, Marvin! I just wanted to let everyone know that I love him very much and am very blessed to have him as my husband. Last night was a rough night for me (and of course Maja and Marvin too) and Marvin was such a great husband through it all. He always carries the weight of the world on his shoulders but you'd never know it. I love you Marvin! Thank you!

And because I love you so much, I thought I'd post my favourite picture of you! :) Hope you don't mind!

Snot, Tears and Fussiness...

These are a few of my favourite things! Yesterday and today, our dear little Maja has been a little under the weather. She has basically had a runny nose turned on full blast all day and all night the past two days, which needless to say makes for an out of sorts Maja. :( Regardless, she is still smiling a lot and continuing to train for a marathon in the fall (or at least I suspect that's what she's doing given how much walking (even sometimes running if there's something exciting nearby - like Daddy coming home at lunch) she's been doing)! Today, Grandma came by to help me out a bit (thanks a bunch mom!) and watch Maja so I could catch up on some errands and sleep. And lucky you guys... Grandma brought her camera! Here are some of my favourites from the day.

Maja checking out the plastic serving tray Grandma brought...
Maja showing us that she can still yank on her feet and smile while getting changed...
Maja attempting to chew her way out of the crib when we took too long to attend to her after waking up from a nap...

Maja and I out front of Starbucks... Maja was "driving" the stoller the whole time...
Maja sitting in the living room trying to figure out which toy to play with next...

Maja demonstrating her "pinning" skills during the "Toy Basket Wrestling Championships"...Another shot of the wrestling match...

And finally a shot of Maja celebrating her victory over the basket once and for all...

Just Hanging...

This past Monday, Grandma came by for a quick visit and invited Maja & I to go shoe shopping with her at Sherway. Although Grandma didn't get any shoes, she did get a couple of good shots of Maja & I in the living room. Here is a shot of Maja and I hanging out on the couch just watching the world go by...
Here's another shot of us on the couch...
Then yesterday, Sara came by for some play time and some raw cookie dough (and a couple of baked cookies too). Sara was generous enough to let Maja play with the gift that Maja gave her for getting a new job. Unfortunately I didn't think to grab the camera to take pictures of them playing with the Leap Frog Fridge Magnet Farm (just like the one Christine has on her fridge) - I know... where was my head?!? But I did happen to get a picture of Maja using her "snake charming" skills on Sara in the living room during play time...
Over the past couple of days, Maja has been exploring new tastes with the solid foods she's eating. She is pretty excited about potatoes (that's my kid!), pears and apparently parsnips (at least as of this morning, which was the first introduction... we'll see what she thinks about them later today or tomorrow), although anything thicker than a puree makes her gag (which although it is frustrating sometimes, I have to admit it is a bit entertaining to watch an almost 8 month old gag at just the sight of thick food...)! I'm really hoping that by the time she's 27 she has gotten over the whole pureed food thing! How will she ever catch a man when she needs him to puree her food for her all the time?!? Mind you I caught a man even though he needs to cut chicken off the bone for me! Anyhow, this morning Maja wasn't really intersted in eating her cereal and started to exhibit her newest trait of "shouting" at me to let me know she isn't impressed with what's going on at the time. So instead of having the "You will eat the food that I give you and like it, and if you don't eat it now you'll eat it for breatkfast tomorrow!" fight (which, by the way, I swore I'd never have, but alas have already had that conversation too many times...), I decided to just splat some cereal on the high-chair tray and watch Maja "finger-paint" with the rice, oatmeal, banana and prune mixture...
And finally, Maja & I found out yesterday that apparently a new family has moved in next door. When I went over to borrow a couple of eggs from a neighbour yesterday, he mentioned that they have a duck that has made a nest under one of their trees in the backyard near the fence that lines our driveway. Apparently the duck is warming 12 eggs! Here is a shot of the mom-to-be...