Maëlle has an Announcement!!!

I'll just let her take over and do the honors....

Follow us on our next adventure at poppyseedburton.blogspot.ca

Another Step

Okay, so for the past little while, Matt and I have been trying to expose Maëlle to the potty.  Not in a real concentrated effort to train her yet, just introducing her to it and helping her not be afraid.  She took a real interest, and I taught her the sign for potty, and would use it when I needed to go, or before her bath, just whenever. She caught on right away, so we decided to get her a little seat that fits over the big potty.  She loves it.  The real exciting/amazing/holy cow, you are getting SO big thing, is that the other day she was winding down for her nap, and she signed to me "potty." I asked if she need to go, she nodded yes, and so I took her to the potty.  I wasn't expecting much, sometimes she just likes to see the water and flush, however, you can imagine my surprise when, once she was properly seated on her throne, she grunted, pooped and then peed! I was astounded and super excited, and so was she.  She literally did a fist pump and giggled like crazy.  Then she waved bye-bye to her 'accomplishments' and we flushed.  Don't get me wrong, we are still a ways from being trained, but hey, give the girl credit. She did pretty dang good.  :)

A Baby No More...

Gah! We have been such slackers with the blog for a while, but I want to get back into it.  Maëlle is now 16 1/2 months old.  She is amazing.  She is talking and babbling all the time, running around everywhere and  curious about everything.  Here is a quick snap shot all about her:

Words: Dad-doo(for Daddy), Ba-ba(Bottle), Eye, Ball, Mama, and she will mimic "I Love You!"

Smarts: She can point to all parts of her body when you ask her too, including head, shoulders, knees, toes, belly, eyes, nose, mouth, hair, ears, wrist, chin, and fingers.  Pretty dang cute.

-She loves to READ--she will open books on her own and make sounds to mimic reading.  Her favorite books include: MOO, I Have to GO!, Mortimer, Hugaboo, I Love You, Peek-a-Baby, and my 100 First Words.

-She loves to dance.  She has discovered Ring-Around-the-Rosy, and pretty much would do it all day it I didn't stop. She also dances to the FlashDance song (She's a maniac, maniac on the floor....) by moving her feet really fast.  She also loves Head, Shoulders Knees and toes, and **throat clearing** Shake your Booty.

-Favorite songs for singing: Little Bunny Foo Foo, I Am a Child of God, Heavenly Father Loves Me, You are my Sunshine, and many more...

-She is no longer nursing, something that just kind of happened.  She also puts herself to sleep at night, no more rocking, and is sleeping through the night, no interruptions, and I am in heaven.

-Favorite activities: Swimming, splashing, bath time, playing at the park (swings, slides, etc...) Spinning, exploring outside, walks, being scared(BOO!) reading stories, saying prayers(SOOOOOO adorable), cuddling (which makes mommy very happy,) climbing up and down stairs, and being tickled.

With nursery right around the bend, and her growing so fast, I can't help but grow a little nostalgic....those baby times go so fast.  But with all the joy she brings us each day, I say BRING ON THE TODDLER STAGE! We can't wait!

So Much Joy

Well, Maëlle's birthday is only a couple weeks away, and we are planning a little family get-together. I have been thinking a lot about how blessed we have been this past year, and can hardly believe it has flown by so fast.

I am going to get the blog printed in a book for us, so I wanted to reflect a little about everything that our little Jelly Bean has inspired, and the overwhelming feeling is JOY she is responsible for.

I am happier than I have ever been in my life.

I thought I was happy when I married my best friend.

I thought I was happy when we spent 8 amazing years, just the two of us.

I thought I was happy when we found out we were pregnant, and started looking forward to our Jelly Bean's arrival.

However, after looking back on all that has led to this point in my life, I realize that yes, I was happy, but now I am SO much more.

Maëlle has inspired the deepest joy I have ever felt. From the moment she was placed in my arms, I can honestly say, my life was changed forever--changed in such a powerful, positive way, that I had no idea how deeply I would be affected. I had no idea how much better Matt and I's relationship could be when we fell in mutual love with our little girl. I had no idea that each day we'd have her, we'd love her so much more than the day before.

I know this is probably the most cliché and sappy post I've written, but I guess I never want to forget these feelings--and they are so very real, so you're just going to have to forgive me for sounding overly emotional.

My heart is full. I am SO VERY HAPPY.

First Word: Eyes!

So the big news is...Maëlle has said her first word!! And it is....

EYES!

Actually, it sounds more like just a plain old soft "e" sound, but it's unmistakable that she's using it in the right way.

She's been saying it for a few weeks now, but at first we weren't quite sure that she was doing it on purpose. But now there's no doubt. Whenever she picks up one of her dolls or toys she points to their eye and says "EYE".

Whenever she reads one of her books she turns the page, looks for the first face she can see and points and says "EYE".

It's extremely cute and it makes us SOO proud of her.

Other Progress

Maëlle also now stands on her own, and can even walk if she would just realize that she can. She's so proud of herself though when she stands. She rockets her arms above her head as if to say "Look mom and dad, NO HANDS!!"

Life Lately...

Can I just say, having a baby is the best thing ever? Maëlle is the most amazing thing to have ever happened to either Matt or I, and we can't get enough of her. She is growing and changing so much, so fast. It is so awesome.

Christmas was so much fun! Maëlle didn't really get the whole Santa Claus thing, but she sure loved the wrapping paper. In fact, she tried to eat it multiple times.

She was enchanted by the tree, and had so much fun playing with all our company. She got a few really cool toys (things that Matt and I are fascinated with too,) and a few adorable outfits too. I made her a Christmas dress, that is a little big, but she still looked super cute.

Some new developments:

-Maëlle can now clap her hands on command--she does it quickly, and is oh so proud of herself.

-She has another tooth--her top front, and the other one is coming in soon.

-She now goes to sleep without being nursed at night, which may not seem a big deal to some, but trust me, it is.

-She has enough hair for a small pony on the top of her head. Grandpa calls her a unicorn, and that may be true, but she is the sweetest little unicorn I have ever seen.

-She is VERY close to walking--she is just a little tentative. She stands on her own for short bits, will walk with a little push toy she got for Christmas, but isn't quite ready to let go completely.

She is getting so big, and we are loving every minute!

Family, Friends, Love & Laughter...

SO--Maelle is now over 9 months old, and a few weeks ago, we took a trip together to visit my parents in Alberta.

She really is a great traveler, on the way there she slept for 2 hours of the flight and then spent the other 2 being entertained by the 3 grandmas sitting behind us. It was such a relief to have things go so well. My dad picked us up at the airport, and we were off to little old Claresholm to being our visit.

It is an understatement to say that Maelle's Grandma and Grandpa are in love with her. I'm pretty sure, that if I just sent her, they would not even notice I was gone. Which is just how it is supposed to be. They spoiled her, played with her, hugged her, kissed her, and just generally enjoyed her. I loved being able to watch it all.

Maelle even got a special visit from Santa Clause...hopefully she isn't too traumatized.

Not to worry though, Grandpa came to the rescue and cuddled away all the tears.

I got to visit with my best bud Ashley, and her husband Caleb. So great. I miss being close to her--and they fed me too. Which was wonderful :)

I also got in touch with the girls I went to highschool with. It was the first time in a very long time we were all together--and it was so cool because we all had babies this year. I'm a little behind though, they all have 2, I've got 1, so I have some ground to make up. ;)

My sister came down with her kids, and we got to spend time with them. Overall, the trip was great--poor Matt was super lonely having us away, and we were glad to be home, but so glad that we got to spend some time with everyone!