Life with Maggie

Happy Independence Day! Today in church we sang the National Anthem; it always makes me teary eyed. In sixth grade I had to memorize all three verses and today as I was singing I was sad to realize I had forgotten most of the second and third verse. I wish we could hear those two verses more often, especially the third since I think its message is the most important. Sadly, I'd be willing to bet that many American's don't even realized there's more than the first verse. But this post isn't about my opinions or wishes so I'll get to the point now.

Yesterday Maggie was playing outside while I watered a few plants. She ran over to my tomato plants and tried to pick one of the big green ones. I hurried over to her and told her "no" and removed her from the temptation. When I set her down I told her that we only pick the red ones. She immediately ran back to my tomato plants. I was tempted to tell her no again, but I hesitated instead as I was curious what she was going to do. To my amazement she looked the plant over and found two red cherry tomatoes. She picked them and carried them back over to me. Needless to say, I was pretty amazed. I haven't really tried to teach her any colors yet so I was surprised she understood exactly what I meant by "the red ones."

I feel no where prepared for this baby. I need to get a new room ready for Maggie so that the baby can take over the nursery. I have been checking Craigslist and other online classifieds religiously for the past month in search of what we need. I'd been debating if we should get another crib that transitions into a toddler bed, just buy a toddler bed, or have the baby sleep in the porta-crib until Maggie was ready for a big bed. I decided our best option was to get Maggie a toddler bed now. It's cheaper than buying a transitioning crib, which would probably only be used as a crib for a short time. Plus, when we decide to go out of town after the baby comes Maggie won't be able to use the porta-crib anymore so we might as well get her used to sleeping in a real bed. Anyway the point of this whole story is that I found a toddler bed with mattress included for $25. It was the best deal I had seen so we decided to buy it. We aren't planning on putting Maggie in it for a while, but we're at least prepared.

She loves her new bed. We still need a dresser for her room and I need to finish repainting the walls.

Maggie apparently has other plans regarding her sleeping location. She was so excited for her new bed that she got mad last night when I put her in her crib-- so she climbed right back out into my arms. That was the first time she'd climbed out of the crib. I put her back and hurried out of the room. She stayed in her crib all night, but didn't sleep very well. Tonight she pulled the same stunt. I have a feeling she'll be using the toddler bed sooner than anticipated. Right now it's 10:00 and she's still crying in her crib. It doesn't help that our neighbors are doing some type of loud obviously illegal fireworks that I'm sure are scaring her. I did just check on her, which reminds me of the next story...

We are still working on potty training her. It has been a slow and inconsistent process so far. We started her and things were going pretty well until I got my blood clot. Obviously that put potty training on hold. Now some days I feel better than others so I haven't gotten back on track like I should. We got far enough into the process that she likes to take her diaper off now. The first thing she does when she wakes up is take her diaper off and then call for me. That's fine I suppose, but a few times she's worked her diaper off in her sleep. Then I wake up to very unhappy little girl and a load of laundry needing to be done. Last night she figured out the last pair of pajamas that I thought were Maggie proof. They were my last hope to a guaranteed accident free night. When I just checked on her she had taken her pajamas off. What's a mother to do?

Maggie LOVES to jump. She's practically part kangaroo. She also likes to dance. Here's a video for your enjoyment. All in all life with Maggie is full of excitement, laughs, and sweet little moments.