Goin' to the Chapel of Love

Thursday we were among the lucky few invited to our dear friends Cassandra and Fonz's intimate chapel wedding. We have been friends with them for nearly five years now, and were so excited to see them celebrate their love and devotion for one another! Congratulations Ojeda family! We love you all so much!!

The beautiful and happy couple.

Mama bride and ring-bearer son.

Maevey and her daddy had coordinating outfits for the wedding. She was very well behaved and only (happily) squawked during one prayer.

FebruMaevey

The end of February brought us to Maeve's 5th month birthday mark! How that is possible, I'm not even sure. She's continued to be an opinionated, squeal, chatty little munchkin. So long as she's not tired, she's a social butterfly. Loud, louuuud, happy squeals fill the rooms where strangers are found. Her way of saying "Hello!" "I'm happy!!" "You're new!!!"

Being her mama (and if you ask Adam, her daddy) is nothing (ok...mostly) fun! She can be quite exhausting, but for the most part she's an easy baby, and I'm really starting to feel more and more sure of myself. Sure that I know her needs and can identify her cues pretty quickly.

She's not sitting up on her own quite yet, but she likes to practice. She'll give the Bumbo a shot here and there, but after about five minutes she begins arching her back and trying to climb out. Never mind that she can't climb. (Did we mention she wants what she wants?)

Another super cute Maeve-ism, most smiles she scrunches her nose and sticks out her tongue. It.Is.Adorable.

Also, the girl who was not so in to tummy time before is the tummy Queen! She is our little alligator, flipping over and trying to crawl away the moment you lay her down to change her diaper. On the play-mat she flips over almost immediately and we often return to find her turned 180 degrees.

Watching her doggies.

She is very impressed with her Christmas toy from her Grandma and Grandpa. (Spot on grandparents!) A gyroscopic music box it has the music on one side, a mirror on another and the third side has little beads you can slide back and forth. A few weeks ago she watched me slide the beads back and forth and push the toy to make it swing and copied me. Three times in a row! It was absolutely amazing to see her do something deliberately. Amazing!

Another Maevey favorite is still eating her clothes. Particularly dresses and long shirts. But in a pinch, bibs will satisfy.

Look at those yummy baby feet! How I love this little girl and spending all day kissing her chipmunk cheeks and nibbling her little toes!

Our Swimsuit Model

This weekend was the perfect kind of weekend. Relaxing for both Mama and Daddy, with sweet sunshine you could practically smell. We attempted the pool on Sunday since it was 75*, but the water was a wee bit too chilly so we settled for sitting in the hot tub (more like warm tub) and letting Maevey dip in her toes every so often. Don't worry, I did not immerse my five month old in a whirlpool. :)

Mama and sweet baby girl.

A hint of a grin.

Sweet, silly girl. Can you see the sheen on her cheeks from her drool covered hands?

Of course by the time we tried to get a picture of Maeve and her fiery red locks and how they shone in the sun, the sun had moved and you couldn't quite tell. Oh well. Next time.

She looked darn cute in her new swimsuit, hat and cover-up though. It really made me excited about the warmer weather and vacations to come. She loves LOVES bathtime, so my hopes are high for the pool and ocean. Right now she kicks and rolls and talks the whole time in the water. Being a fishy is in her blood. (My mother's maiden name is Fisher after all.) My brother and I spent our summers and various other holidays in Hawaii at my grandparent's. I don't remember a warm day where I wasn't swimming as a child. An area swim club offers Mommy/Daddy and Me swim classes starting at six months. We plan to sign Maevey up for some special time with Adam. Hopefully it's a hit!

Butternut Babe

We've resumed operation "Maeve Tries Solids" and she is much more receptive this go round. She is a huge fan of butternut squash, and an even bigger fan of Mama and Daddy pretending to eat her food all up! She is less entertained, however, by us taking our time to feed her.

An Attempt at Rice Cereal

Maeve may only be four and a half months old, but she's already formed a pretty opinionated self. When Maeve wants something, it's pretty hard to calm her or make her happy until you've met her new expectation. And if she's decided against something?

Hah! Just give up now.

I know her passionate personality will make her a strong young woman, and serve her well. I know as a toddler it will most likely be the center of our training and parenting, you can't always have your way. But have you ever tried explaining that to someone so small? Yeah..So for now, she's pretty well catered to. Don't misunderstand me, she's mostly a very cheery, smilely baby. People often comment how often she's just looking around with her wide, watching eyes with a silly grin on her face. It's just that she has two sides. Happy and annoyed. :)

Rice cereal, she announced last week, makes her the latter.

Her pediatrician had told us that sometime between now and six months we could start cereal, what signs to look for, what to consider, etc. She's still doing just fine nursing, and in retrospect isn't showing much interest in table food and what we're doing. But I got excited. So many of our friends have babies a week or so older than Maeve (Hi Megan! Hi Christine!) and they started, so why not!?

My lil' Maevey Bean watching Daddy pour her cereal.

Priming her. Isn't this fun Maeve?

She would like you to know it is indeed not fun.

And there you have it. Two bites in got us many loud screams and the biggest tears you've ever seen. We'll try again in a few months.

Four Month Stats

Baby girl's appointments are often the highlight of my month. It's exciting to see how much she's grown, hear where she is percentile wise, and find out the pediatrician's take on her development. The shots...I could do without the shots, and so could Maevey, but what can you do?

Holding steady our munchkin continues to be tall and skinny. Though not in the 90% like we were as babes, she's still 77% at 25.5in and up from 33% to 40% at 13lbs 5oz.

I'm convinced the weight gain is all in those sweet Fisher chipmunk cheeks.

(Along with her nose, it's one of her for sure Mama traits

Funny enough, the when the sweet older nurse at her appointment remarked on those "big ole cheeks" Maeve burst into tears. Upon apology and telling our sensitive girl it was meant as a compliment, she stopped crying.

I could not make this up. It was hilarious.

Four Months Old

I cannot believe it's been four months.

But it has. Monday marked four months since I birthed our little smiley sassy pants. Four months since I went from "I will never have this baby" to "I will never sleep again" to "I will never get anything done again." Four months since our surprise redhead made our lives complete. (for now at least ;)

Every day I am reminded, at least once, how lucky I am that we're able to make this stay-at-home thing work. While I do get stir crazy from time to time (how many trips to Target can I "need" this week..) and the adult conversation is a little lacking, it's still wonderful to get to spend my time watching Maeve change and learn new things. It's amazing to me how literally within the span of two days she'll have developed a new skill, make a new sound, notice new things or even have grown an unbelievable amount! Yesterday I went to put her in a 3-6 onesie that fit her last week and this week the buttons were barely clasping!

At four months Maeve has mastered rolling front to back and back to front. As of this weekend she's begun rolling around to get where and what she wants. Goodbye playmat. Goodbye ten minutes to wash dishes. She can also inch her way towards things when motivated. It seems the dogs are a great source of motivation.They will be very inconvenienced once she can crawl and doomed once she can walk. She is in love with her puppies, especially Kitri who still isn't quite sure what to make of Miss Maeve, but is very curious and gentle with her.

Kitri keeping Maeve company while I dried my hair. (Yay for...doctor's appts?!)

Maeve has turned my days into some new form of mommy alligator wrestling. Changing her diaper is a challenge as she flips herself around and kicks her legs as fast as she can while "talking" to me. Bathtime is a similar event, and often ends with her splashing too much water in her face or getting us soaking wet. She is super giggly these days too. I can never seem to catch it on film, but it makes you smile just to hear her deep little laugh. Among the things Maeve finds funny; pretending to eat her up (especially if you munch on her cheeks and feet and make plenty of "nom nom" noises), raspberries on her tummy, her feet in Daddy's beard, Mommy's hair in her face, singing and dancing silly songs, funny faces and her doggies. Everytime she gives a good smile her dimples pop and her little eyes sing! I LOVE it! I'm pretty sure people on facebook are petitioning I quit posting baby pictures but I.can't.help.it!!!

Ofcourse by the time I got the picture she was distracted, but still. It's so cute to see her perch with Adam and rub her little toes in his itchy beard!

As sweet and cute as she is, Maeve is also a tad opinionated and has very little patience for things not going her way. She's not high strung, but she's definitely not laid back either. Things that upset Maeve: not getting what she wants, being held facing in and not the crowds, being held by strangers, carseat, stroller, swing, bouncer...basically anything that contains her. Things that make Maeve cry: blowing your nose, sneezing loudly, dogs barking, keeping her contained too long and not putting her down on time for her naps. That girl loves to sleep and she's becoming less and less portable during naptime and bedtime.

All the cliches surrounding motherhood and parenthood are all I can think of to say about being a mother to my sweet little munchkin. I won't, because who really likes hearing those things, but know they're all true. Even in times of frustration I look at her, especially while nursing and think, "You're amazing! You're beautiful! I adore you and can't believe I'm so lucky to have you!" I imagine what she'll be like as a toddler, a child....a young woman. What her interests will be and where they will take her. How is it possible to love someone so tiny so darn much?

She was talking to me here. "Bah bah bah oooooooh"

Happy four months munchkin! Our lives will always be for the better because of you!