Bonjour, Grandma & Grandpa!

Maja's Log #070809... Been 13 days without Grandma & Grandpa and withdrawl symptoms (involuntary squinting for Grandma's camera flash, smiling on demand for Grandpa, sore neck from whipping head side to side searching for them throughout house) starting to subside. Wondering if they're missing me while they're in Moraco as much as I'm missing them. Only 10 more bedtimes until Grandma & Grandpa return to Canada - must start to prepare welcome home speech now...

I can't believe how quickly Maja is growing up these days. It seems like every day there is something new with her. For example, every time I look at her, it seems like her hair is longer and curlier. After her baths I don't specifically try to curl it, but the next morning there is usually a single curl on the top and some frizzy curls around the back. Of course, longer hair also means more opportunity for bedhead. Case in point below...
I've also noticed that she's getting more and more vocal. Sometimes she just sits and chats to herself while she's playing with her toys and sometimes she'll yell at Marvin & I if she doesn't like what we're doing or just done (like take away a toy or her sippy cup before she's finished). Another cool thing she's doing is using her right index finger more. She'll use it to play with the buttons on my shirt, play with the wings of the Beetle Bug in one of her books, or use it to pick Teta Linda's nose (happens on more occasions than I think Teta really wants). :) Maja's also starting to notice more obscure things around the house - like the ceiling lights, the dining room chandelier and the nice holes in the stairwell walls from when we tried to move the queen box spring upstairs. It's quite entertaining to see her grin and make a "heeeee" noise only to follow her line of sight and see that it's the hall light that is providing such a source of amusement for her. :)

A month ago I posted a picture of a mother duck who had set up a nest of 12 eggs in our neighbour's garden. Unfortunately a couple of weeks ago we woke up to see a bunch of broken, bloody eggs scattered along the fence and near the nest - most likely a raccoon ate the eggs. :( But, rest assured mama duck is still hanging around. Occasionally we've seen her drinking water from the neighbour's pool and then on Friday morning Maja & I saw her (and her man) out in our backyard wandering around! Here's a shot of the cute couple...
Friday afternoon, Maja had a date with some of her boyfriends in High Park (she likes to meet up with her boyfriends in small groups so they don't all find out about each other - if they did, she'd have some explaining to do for sure!). After a nice walk through the park, over to the petting zoo and around the playground, the kids wanted to sit down for a snack of yummy cookies and muffins that Liam brought (Casey, Liam's mom, tried to pass them off as her baking, but we know that's not the case - like she has time to bake!). Here's a shot of the kids hanging out after the snacks (from left to right: Luca, Nicholas, Maja, Stewart and Liam - respective moms are Karen, Susan, yours truly, Martha and Casey) - I love how Liam & Maja are trying to reach across Stewart to hold hands - true love I tell you...

Friday was a special day not only because it was my birthday, but also because it was the first time that Teta Linda babysat Maja all on her own! Despite almost burning down our kitchen while baking a birthday cake for me, Teta Linda did a great job with Maja (don't worry Linda, it must be something about the kitchen... remember I nearly burned it down earlier in the week by turning on the wrong burner and melting a bag of pasta on the burner and starting a full out fire)! :) Teta Linda went for a walk with Maja to the movie store, did some make-up shopping at Shoppers, fed Maja her dinner and bottle, and tucked Maja in for the night while Marvin & I went out for dinner! Job well done Teta! And just to show you how good of a job Teta did with putting Maja down for the night, here is a shot of Maja later that night (I love how she's using Pedro as a pillow)...

Earlier today, Teta Linda made Marvin, Bakica and me a wonderful pasta suta lunch ("Friday Nights with Teta" style) - poor Maja missed out because she was napping. Afterwards, Maja, Marvin & I headed over to visit Doug, Anna & Emily for a hour or so. Maja was a bit cranky given she didn't nap for too long this afternoon, so we ended up cutting our visit short so we could get the Princess home, fed and put to bed, which is where our dear Maja is right now.