I Have Kidnapped the Computer...

Maja's Log #090817: Overhead Mommy & Daddy talking yesterday. Mommy taking extra year off from work so able to spend more time with me. Not really sure when October 2008 is but sounds like long time away! Very exciting news!

Woke up this morning. Spent 1/2 hour watching excavation next door - love the big machines... thinking of getting into construction when older - get to wear neat hat. Had breakfast with Mommy (have to reinforce with Mommy that squash, beans and carrots not appropriate breakfast food). Invited Bakica for coffee date at Loblaws. Arrived before Bakica so waited inside by window. Very excited when Bakica arrived (waved arms and kicked legs to get Bakica's attention)! Mommy did shopping while Bakica and I people watched from upstairs and played with paper coffee cups. Bakica wore me out so needed to regenerate at home.

Woke from nap "bright-eyed and bushy-tailed" according to Mommy. Looked for my bushy-tail but unable to locate. Think Mommy's been drinking - need to call A.A Monday morning (again). Bored with Mommy so headed off to Grandma & Grandpa's place.

Mommy was moping around so decided game of Peek-a-boo was in order. First hid behind glass table...
Then peeked out from behind table at Mommy. Mommy amused - job well done..
Mommy wanted me to explore other career options. Thought maybe shoe sales woman...
Feet way too stinky for me to work with. Sat with Mommy to discuss other options (know for sure don't want to be boring, stuffy accountant though)...

Helped Grandpa install huge and ever-so-attractive (insert sarcasm here) antenna for radio in backyard...
Emergency hand & foot washing took place when Grandma remembered that lawn fertilized yesterday. Enjoyed rubbing soapy hands together with Mommy...

Noticed Grandpa heading for favourite kitchen appliance (aka fridge). Tried to crawl into fridge and play with plethora of contraband items but Grandpa too quick and blocked me with bag of milk. Curses! Must be more inconspicuous next time - need to maybe borrow Harry Potter's invisibility cloak...Pretended to give myself a "time-out" but really just trying to linger by fridge in hopes of getting second chance to crawl inside...
Posed for photo for Grandma after getting diaper changed by Mommy. Four poopy diapers in one day. Impressed with myself - must be new record...
Tackled 10 full steps upstairs to bedrooms. Let Mommy "help" me up the stairs - makes her feel like she's needed...
Headed back home for nap. Although snagged soother/duda, unable to sleep in car because Mommy withheld Pedro and wouldn't stop singing. Think ears are bleeding still. Anxiously awaiting Daddy's arrival from work. TGIF - means more time with Daddy!

On The Road Again...

On Tuesday, Maja, Grandma & I headed out early in the morning to go and visit Auntie, Will, Graham, Peter & Anna for the day. After falling asleep for a short bit in the car (Maja... not me, the driver), we arrived at the local swimming pool just in time to catch Will & Graham's swimming lessons. They are both doing really well with swimming - there was plenty of face dunking, swimming on the back, swimming on the front, diving down for sunken rings and of course, plenty of splashing. To help pass the time, Maja, Peter & Anna hung out in the small kid's pool just beside the big pool playing with yellow noodles (which Peter ingeniously pieced together to make a lemon that they then all sat in - very cute!), flutter boards and diving rings. After the swimming was done, it was back to Auntie's place for a pizza lunch, playing with more toys, refusing to nap (again Maja... not me) and a quick Facebook lesson for Sandra (I think she may now be bitten by the bug!). It was such a nice day (albeit a bit hectic with five kids running around together) and I really enjoyed being able to chat with Grandma during the drive and with Sandra at her place. Here are a couple of pictures from our road trip.

Maja getting very excited when she realized the Starbucks card Grandma gave her to play with had an unlimited account balance...
A cute shot of Maja giving cousin Anna a peck on the cheek when we arrived at the pool...
Maja & Anna getting ready to race across the front hallway (neither of them won the race as it was cancelled due to distracting toys laying across the raceway)...
Maja with a protective arm around Pedro on the ride home...
Given Maja & Pedro had been up for six hours and had a very busy day, they fell asleep in the car within 5 minutes of starting the drive home...
Yesterday morning Maja discovered that instead of there being only one Pedro there are actually two (little does she know there are really four of them plus one that Teta has, but I digress). Here's a shot of Maja beaming with excitement over her new discovery...

Then late morning after her nap, Maja had a couple of visitors over for a couple of hours. Stephanie, along with Christine & Dash, stopped by for a playdate. We all had a good time chatting about anything and everything, dumping Cheerios on the floor then picking them up and eating them and then eating yummy fresh baked chocolate chip cookies (Steph and I like to make yummy baked goods when we get together under the guise of making them for the other person - cause it would be rude to not be able to offer anything to eat your guests, wouldn't it?!?). Here are a couple of shots from yesterday.

Here Maja is delighted that she and Christine are hanging out on the kitchen chairs together...
A shot of Christine, Dash & Maja in the basement (Christine is holding Dash's head to make sure he doesn't spontaneously pop out of the "purple, not pink" Bumbo)...
Then later in afternoon, Maja & I went over to Bakica's place to visit. As a special treat for Bakica, Maja wanted to wear the really cute dress that Grandma & Grandpa bought her in Croatia. Here's a shot of Maja again very excited (getting the feeling that maybe Maja has just learned to throw her arms up in the air?!?)...
After our visit with Bakica, Maja & I headed back home and waited outside for Daddy to come home from work. As we sat on the front steps watching the birds, cars and neighbours go by I snapped this picture of me & Maja...

A Cure for Common Crankiness...

This morning Maja woke up on the wrong side of the crib... she was tired from the rough night last night (we were up every hour and a half... *yawn*) and was upset when you held her and then upset when you put her down. Maybe she realized that today is her 11-month anniversary and was feeling old... who knows! :) After a little bit of picking up and putting down (along with a few tears from Maja), I gave Maja a bottle and she took a short nap. Yippee - one for Mommy! But then when Maja woke up from the nap, she was still a bit miserable (one for Maja). So we called Bakica and off to the park the three of us went! I feel like I've just learned about this little parenting secret/trick of taking your kids to the park. I mean I always knew parks existed, but really didn't understand what a great thing they are! Cranky Maja?!? Long gone after we arrived at the park! It was difficult to tell who had more fun at the park with the other... Maja or Bakica! Here are a couple of pictures of us at the park as proof! Here's a great shot of Maja walking to the park with Bakica... Here is Maja going down the slide with Bakica's help...
While we were at the park, a little girl took interest in Maja and started to follow us wherever we went. The little girl introduced herself as "Emma Jane Stewart" and is three years old. Emma was very cute, especially when she grabbed Maja's hand and started walking over to the slide with her. Here's a shot...

After all the park activities, Maja figured it was time to sit down and have a little picnic. Here she is "picnic"ing with juice and Cheerios...
Now for some catching up... last week, Maja thought she should touch base with some of her boyfriends, you know, just to be sure they weren't losing interest over the summer months! Here is a shot of me along with Alina and her son, David, and Casey with her son, Liam (Maja got herself all worked up over the boys that she crashed and napped for the majority of their visit - I'll have to work on her hostessing skills with her)...
Grandma also came over for a visit last week and Maja thought she'd show Grandma her newly found skill of kissing. Maja will now give kisses on demand (complete with kissing sound) and will more often than not blow kisses if asked. Here is a shot of Maja kissing Winnie The Pooh on the window (she'll pretty much kiss anything these days)...
Maja's bottom teeth are also progressing well. Although it is hard to take a picture of them (she sticks her tongue out over the teeth whenever you try to pull down her lip to seem them), Grandma was able to take this shot a couple of days ago (you may have to click on the picture to enlarge it and look carefully, but they're there)...
Although I've often complained about Maja's sleeping and how it leaves something to the imagination, I couldn't believe it the other day when I left Maja alone in the living room for about 10 minutes to play (while I prepared lunch) and came back to find her asleep on the arm of the couch. Take a look...

Ok, you got me... she's really just trying to crawl across the arm of the couch to get to the window sill... fooled you didn't I?!? :)

Here Maja is all upset that I put Daddy's slipper on the wrong foot. I believe the arm motion means "Mommy! How many times do I have to tell you the other foot?!?"...
This past Friday our neighbour's house was torn down. Although it was a bit noisy (although not as noisy as I thought it was going to be) it was really neat to watch. Here is a shot of the house after the first hit to the roof...
And here is a shot of the "house" after all was finished...
Of course, Maja was sure to wear her protective eyewear (aka Bakica's sunglasses) while watching the demolition...
Here's a cute shot showing how excited Maja was to see Bakica when she woke up from her nap...

A nice shot of Bakica and Maja just hanging out...
The other day I was holding Maja on my shoulder and she kept pointing to something behind me excitedly. First I thought she was pointing at Elmo, then Doggy, then Winnie the Pooh... finally I realized she was pointing at Caillou! Here's a shot of her and Caillou playing...
Yesterday Grandma came by for a visit and got to hang out with Maja alone in the backyard for a while (I was grabbing a quick 30 minute nap - thanks again Mom!). Here's a shot of an excited Maja opening up the "mail-cart" to see what Grandma dropped in the mail for her...
Who says you need to play with blocks with your hands?!? Feet are so much better...
Here's a nice shot Grandma took of me and my angel reading together on the blanket...

Tomorrow Maja, Grandma & I are all heading out to see Auntie, Will, Graham, Peter & Anna for the day. It will be nice to see them!

I've Got Static-Cling Today...

Or at least I have Maja-Cling... Maja seems to be very unhappy if she is more that 3 inches away from me today! I put her down to make her breakfast, she cries. I pick her up, she's ok for a couple minutes she then wants down. I put her down to go answer the phone, she cries. I pick her up, she's ok for a couple minutes then she wants down again. And on it goes!

I think it's because she didn't get a good night's sleep last night (I was up with her 9 times in just over 8 hours... *yawn*). I think she was still too excited about spending the entire day partying with Grandma & Grandpa while Marvin & I played golf in his company's annual golf tournament. Apparently, although I was constantly thinking of Maja and wondering how she was doing, she didn't give Marvin or I a second thought all day! Grandma took her to the park, let her play with the phone (a contraband item at home), let her play with real books (as opposed to board books whose pages can't be ripped out...) amongst a whole bunch of other fun things! Maja also got to hang out with Grandpa on the deck in the hammock and practiced her high 5s with Grandpa. All in all, I'd say the day was a great success! Thanks again Mom & Dad for taking care of her so well!

Anyhow, like I said... after we finally got Maja down for the night (after 45 minutes of trying...) she ended up getting up way too many times for my liking. And so far today, she's proven to be in a bit of a mood. Here's hoping that she wakes up on the good side of the crib when she wakes up from this nap. Good thing she's so cute! :) Anyhow, here are a bunch of photos that Grandma was able to take yesterday while she & Maja partied.

These days, Maja really loves lids. She loves to play with them, eat them and sometimes even try to put them on containers. The other day she was soooo proud of herself when she snapped the lid to the bottle on to the bottle. She was absolutely tickled pink! Anyhow, here is a shot of Maja trying to put a lid on her belly...
Here Maja is checking out Grandma's calendar to see when they can arrange for their next play date...
Here is a shot of Maja flying through the air on the swing at the park just down the street from Grandma & Grandpa's house (Grandma also took a video that has Maja squealing with excitement each time she swings close to Grandma... so cute!)...
When they got back home Maja wanted to brush up on her amateur radio stuff and impress Grandpa, so she sat down and started reading the "2006 Handbook for Radio Communications" (I love how her belly sticks out in this picture... when exactly does a big belly like that stop being cute?!?)...
Maja just hanging out, sucking her bottom lip...

A great shot of Maja trying to climb the stairs into the kitchen. I love the wet spot on the jeans. It was after this picture was taken that Grandma realized that Maja had leaked all over the place. Thank goodness for digital cameras or Maja may have stayed in those jeans all day! :)
A shot of Maja (in a new outfit) looking out the back doors onto the deck to watch Grandpa do whatever it was he was working on...
Here Maja is chatting to Grandpa about all the things she read in the Handbook earlier...
And finally, Maja giving Grandpa a high-5...

So Many New Things...

It's really amazing how quickly Maja is growing up. I swear every day she's learning something new and it's such fun to watch. Maja now has a whole new bunch of tricks up her sleeve. Maja will now plant a nice, big, wet, slurpy kiss on your cheek if you say to her "kisses, kisses, kisses"! It's the cutest thing. She's also starting to learn to hug on demand although sometimes a hug request ends in a slurpy kiss instead, but that's ok for me! :)

Maja is also really picking up the pace with her walking. She's now walking a good 7 or 8 steps between two people without a problem, she's standing up on her own more and more, letting go of my fingers so she walks a couple of steps on her own around the house, and cruising along furniture with ease. I think it's time for me to start clearing out anything that is 3 feet or lower around the house! :) And what goes along with walking? Climbing up stairs apparently! I have now found Maja climbing up stairs a couple of times. She is definitely going to be handful (but I can't complain... apparently she comes by it naturally according to my mom).

Maja is also able to give out High 5s on demand... it used to be High 1s (because she'd point to your palm) but is now opening up her hand. And one of my favourite new tricks is one that Marvin taught her... Maja will "blow" her nose when you ask her to and then hold a kleenex up to her nose. Marvin & I aren't really sure if she's blowing in or out, but at least she's blowing her nose (this is a great trick because I can use it to trick Maja into letting me wipe her face after eating)!

Anyhow, here are a bunch of photos from the past couple of days. Here is a close up of Maja that I love...
Maja standing up on her tippy-toes trying to get a better look into the toy chest at Grandma & Grandpa's house...

Maja carefully watching a Raptor walk along the "balance beam" (aka the toy chest edge) in the 2007 Dinosaur Olympics (she was asked by the O.D.O.C (Official Dinosaur Olympic Committee) to be a judge given she's such a Raptors fan during the regular season)...
Maja watching Pedro do his best impression of the Molson Indy that went on this past weekend (right after this picture was taken it was discovered that Pedro was actually hiding some of Maja's Cheerios in the trunk of his car and was trying to make a break for the border, but we were able to catch up to him when he made a pit-stop at a carrot patch just up the street)...
Maja showing off her newly aquired stair climbing skill...
Maja "the space cadet" watching Captain Hup on Treehouse at Grandma & Grandpa's yesterday. I swear she didn't blink the entire 5 minutes they were on...
Maja trying an orange juice popsicle for the first time (loved it!)...

Maja sitting on Grandma & Grandpa's nice clean white carpet just before deciding it needed to be peed on (I wish I was making that up... sorry again Mom!)...
Maja playing with her new set of golf clubs generousity provided by Mona (thanks again Mona!)...
Maja demonstrating how she needs to have my complete attention at all times by pulling on my pants while I wash some dishes...
And finally, Maja playing the "bass guitar"...