our little talker

Here are a few videos we've taken recently, featuring our little monster at her talkative best (and yes, there is some screaming and crying in there too.) These are, really, only glimpses of the full-on two hour cooing and singing sessions she'll have sometimes - and in both of these the decibel level is a little higher than usual - but these are the best we've been able to capture on video thus far.

Welcome Cousin Hayleigh!

Last Saturday Maeby got a new baby cousin!!!






Hayleigh makes Maeby look like a giant!!!!


They are co-conspirators in the making, I just know it!!!!

Maeby & Tigers & Bears!

We took Maeby to the zoo in Portland with our friend Mindy for the first time and here are some things we saw:



A Larikeet. They have this very cool enclosure set up where you get to go in and just walk around while dozens of these beauties fly all around you.


We hadn't planned on snow that day - but we made the best of it. It actually made the whole experience quite unique and beautiful.


Two mamas and their babies.
Oh, and some random kid who kept stepping into my shot.
The baby elephant was by far one of the most adorable things I've ever seen.



Well, aside from that, of course.





Look at how wide her eyes are. This is her looking at an elephant (one of the big bulls) for the first time. It was one of the only animals she reacted to all day.


This chimp took advantage of the weather by helping herself to some home-made snowcones.

Larikeets french-kissing. Or something. Whatever it was it certainly looked lascivious.

She likes to chew on her snail these days - gum it - more than sit and suck on it.

a Sun Bear

She really liked sitting on the wooden horse. A lot. She sat there for a good 15 minutes.

By the end of it she was quite tuckered out! What a trooper!!

(For more pictures of the zoo animals, and our little animal, click on our flickr account on the right-hand panel)

"look at that hair!"

Everywhere we go - everyday - we hear those four words: Look. At. That. Hair.

Sometimes people throw an "all" into the mix between the second and third words, but that's about as varied as the comments go. We're at the point now where we just look at each other and mouth the words, simultanesouly, right as the grocery clerk spins them out.

Not that we mind, mind you - we're proud of our daughter's golden locks, so much so that we've decided to start expirimenting with it. We never quite imagined that we'd be buying (insert word for those little hair rubber band things) for our three-month-old infant, but que sera sera, no?

I call this her "Beethoven" coif.

Seriously - look at that resemblance. It's especially striking when she pouts.

. . .now with video!!

I won't be coy about this: I don't care for "home videos." They just, as a medium for capturing memories, hold no appeal for me. Maybe it's because I don't like seeing my own visage or hearing my own voice (who does?), or maybe it's because I find them inconvenient and dated. Whatever it is - they're not my favorite thing; I prefer (adamantly) the grace and honesty (or is it dishonesty?) of still-photography.

In any case, I keep hearing, again and again, how we need to capture Maeby on video - and I've gone and done it. I still refuse to own a video camera - but I did happen to remember that our old Kodak (the one with the busted flash that I haven't even looked at since I upgraded to SLR) takes video, so I fished it out and hauled it upstairs and into the nursery while Maeby was going down for the night.

Right before I started shooting, she was engaged in her usual nightly bout of conversing with her bird mobile, but as soon as she saw the camera she went dead-silent and just stared at me, sucking her fingers in earnest contemplation. And then the battery on this ol' Kodak up and died. So, that's what you get for now. Later, when she's awake and the batteries are all charged, we'll post some more video. For now, though - you win, Aunt Ronda :)

holidays!

We're back. From our trip to Washington, that is. We spent two weeks with the family celebrating the holidays, which was quite an adventure for Maeby. She enjoyed copious amounts of hugs and kisses (and general adoring attention) from aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, and one great-grandparent. She also received a generous number of presents, including three (count 'em!) Winnie the Pooh's. She was, at the end of it all, rather ready to come home, though, and let out squeals of delight (yes, now she's squealing - and it's ear-piercing) when she saw her own room again.


Pictures:


Here's Maeby with her great-grandma, Jan.

Asleep in the car. She spent a *lot* of time in the car on this trip - which was consternating for her. She does not care for the car.

Making her first snow angel with Nana.

Her first snow-angel.

I love that snow suit.

For this, I just made a giant footprint and then set her down inside of it. She found it hilarious.

She's at that stage where she gets really excited over just about anything. Sometimes, we can't believe we made such a cute kid.

Here she is listening to "Santa Mouse" for the first time.

Napping with Nana and enjoying her new Pooh-bear.

Another Christmas gift. She really likes the noise the bird makes when you squeeze it - and how soft it feels on her face (and, let's be honest, in her mouth - where everything winds up nowadays.)

Maeby and her Papa after her blessing. Jenn found the dress on e-bay. I love that the pacifier completes the outfit in some way. We call it her "escargot" because it has a picture of a snail on it. She loves that thing.

Maeby, her mama, and her escargot.

Napping with grandpa. It's difficult to say who snored louder. We'll call it a toss-up, for now.

On a totally unrelated note, here we have Jenn's 87-year-old Grandma sledding down a rather steep hill (backwards.)

Her first sledding ride.

Here we go as a family. Don't worry - we only went for about five feet - down a slope about as steep as your average table-top. She was never, at any point, in any danger.

Snow-angeling (I'm positive that's not an actual verb - but I'm okay with that) with her cousin Katie.

I love messing with her hair.

Going on her first pony ride with her cousin Jazmine.

She's only proficient in the western style, for now. We're working on the English, but it might take some time.

Balancing on her grandpa's hand. She took to this much easier than her mama ever did.

Just happy to be out of her car seat for a while. Don't worry - we were parked.

Napping with mama.