girls, girls, girls

It had been way to long ... but this past week we managed to have not one but TWO play-dates with the Millar girls (Mak refers to them as Sara and "the girls").

Yesterday was a play-date was at our place ... we played inside and out and had lunch.  It was outright insanity, but I think everyone had fun.

Today I took Mak & Mae swimming with the Millars.  Also fun, but I'm not up for taking both kids swimming on my own (especially in the middle of potty training) again anytime soon!  My hands were very full for this one, so no pictures.

Mak did manage to have all three girls in his bed with him yesterday, and shower with them today though.  Way to go Mak, you can check "sisters" and "twins" off your bucket list!

surveying the damage

Cabbage Patch: MAEYER ELOISE

hard workin' man

Mak wanted a ball cap "yike Dadda's."

 

(embracing his inner farmer)

fresh air

Spring break and the weather is amazing.  Mae seems to love being outside (which is great cuz we've got a big summer of outside and camping ahead!)

Montessori home

For a variety of reasons (and influences) we are actively working to create a Montessori home.  Justin's Mom is our main mentor and Montessori guru - thanks Lee!

We have converted a bookshelf (conveniently located behind a baby gate where Mak can get to it, but Mae can't .. yet) to a Montessori shelf.  Lots of Mak's toys have elements of Montessori tools, but these resources are set up a little more intentionally.

At this point, I'm only organized enough that we have consistent dedicated time to work with these tools 1-2 hours/wk ... but Mak loves them so much that he brings a tray to his table and works on them on his own some almost every day.

spooning beans

scrubbing a chair

loading the dishwasher

part of the Montessori shelf

A quick shout-out to the Montessori home-school blogs out there that provide me with ongoing motivation and inspiration:
Counting Coconuts
Living Montessori Now
Maybe Montessori
Montessori on a Budget

And an amazing online Montessori resource:  Montessori Print Shop

If you're interested, check out this Montessori Print Shop Giveaway Contest! This is being done in celebration of the two year anniversary of Living Montessori Now.

playing 'naptime'

Maklin will suddenly say, "Dadda ... go to sleep!!" - and want Justin to lie down on his 'vroom-vroom bed' and 'nap.'  Then Mak folds out his little couch bed, snuggles in and has his 'nap.'

I'm not sure who enjoys this game more.  Mak pretends to nap; Dadda might just milk this for all it's worth!  ;)

"Nana ... come play 'rains!!"

Highlights of a visit from Nana:

Maklin:
1) getting to pick her up at the bus station.  Even though we didn't even see a bus, Maklin thought this was an excellent adventure.
2) trains, trains, trains, trains, cars, trains, cars, trains, cars with Nana.
3) stories with Nana!




Maeyer:
1) snuggles
2) giggles
3) stories











Me:
1) someone to chat with during dreamfeed
2) Backgammon
3) QT with my Mama

Thanks for the visit Nana!!  We'll be home to visit you in 103 more sleeps!!

togetherness

Mak has taken to reading to Mae, singing to Mae, bringing Mae toys ... even wiping up her spit-up from time to time.

But then ... he also has moments of hitting her with a book, yelling at her, and taking away her toys.  All sibling-like ...

5 months ... already!

My Maisy-Mae ... isn't a baby anymore.

At 5mo old she:

- is continuous rolling and scooting
- is sitting on her own
- sticks out her tongue in response to you doing it (SO cute!)
- giggles, coos, laughs, and smiles constantly
- loves to play with her feet & toes (she has 'happy baby pose' nailed!)
- is completely enamoured with following every move her big brother makes (which means he goes back and forth between showing off and encouraging her, and whining "don't do that Maeyer!!!")
- continues to be a rock-star sleeper
- is by no means starving, but is very interested in food and watching us eat (won't be long now Mae-bear!)

"Check it out -- I'm balancing all by myself!"

and drools constantly (yes, there are teeth on the way!) 

At this point with Maklin, we were starting our first round of antibiotics to deal with the eye infections (from blocked tear ducts).  Mae's eyes were goopy just like Mak's for about 3 weeks, were really bad for a few days ... and then cleared up.  This was in early January, and they have been clear as a bell every since!  YAY!

swimming

Our weekly brunch with Lulu & Baba turns into a morning swim and brunch at Ricky's about once a month.

Sometimes Mae & I swim ... other times she naps, and I play with my camera.

Maklin has decided that this is a wonderful ritual.  He has a blast at the pool - hence swimming lessons (sans Mama) starting soon!

At brunch, he always gets pancakes, and eats them smothered with peanut butter (with a little drizzle of syrup).  Ricky's (in Leduc anyway) has a treasure chest by the door with take-away goodies for little tykes, which is a huge hit with the Macaroni Man.  He loves that place, and has lovingly dubbed it ""the pancake house".  PLUS - while waiting for his pancakes, he always gets to walk over to the nearby pet-store with Lulu.  [Yes - Maklin naps really well on these Sundays!!]

so tuckered after swimming, he needs a snack before we go for brunch!

jump-jump-jumparoo

Mae is 4 1/2 months and is very active.  In the past month or so she has started:

1) grasping toys very intentionally (and promptly guiding them to her mouth!)

2) rolling over (back-to-front and front-to-back)

3) jumping in the jump-a-roo (she's limited to MAX 30-40 minutes a day, split into usually 3 sessions ... and she maximizes every minute).

4) sleeping through the night.  She's always been a good sleeper, but over the past month or so she's built up to consistently sleeping 10+ hours.  [knock on wood]

5) taking a bottle from Dadda!!  Strangely enough, Mae was pretty willing to take a bottle from me early on, but wasn't so keen on taking one from anyone else.  This week, she's finally realized that it doesn't matter whose hands are on the bottle ... it's the same good stuff inside.  YAY!  I'm hoping this means we can keep up breastfeeding for as long as we can, but that I will also have some flexibility to do things without her sometimes (and allow her to have some quality time with her Dad or grandparents).

rollin' rollin' rollin' ...

Mae was wiggling around while I was doing laundry; I couldn't resist putting her in here.  She had a blast!

baby kimono

When Mak was born, one of our most precious gifts was a gorgeous kimono (thank-you Cory & Karla!).

Mak and Mae both had some of their newborn pictures taken wearing it, and then I did full photo shoots with them when it fit.  As I was comparing photos -- I noticed that they were taken the exact same week, but two years apart!  So ... they share the same birthday, and the same growth pattern I guess!

Mak's photo shoot was prior to me doing this blog, but cuz they're just so darn cute,  I'm going to post my favorites of him too.

Maklin (taken Feb 22, 2010)                            Maeyer (taken Feb 28, 2012)