"I threw up in Mommy and Daddy's bed."

This is what Maggie kept telling us all evening, because she did actually throw up in our bed last night. The fever started later in the evening, went away with some ibuprofen, and came back again in the middle of the night with vomiting too. Her fever was getting so high (close to 104 degrees) so quickly, that her and I spent most of the evening in the bath together trying to bring down the fever a bit until we could give her the next dose of medicine. Poor girl. Today she stayed home with Daddy, and had a fairly good day, but was feverish all day. When I got home her fever raged back up. We switched to Tylenol, and it came back down a couple degrees so that she could have a pleasant evening. She's like a different kid when her fever drops to 101 or 102---it's much more pleasant! We waited out the time, and gave her another dose of meds before bed so she can maybe get some good sleep for awhile in her crib. It's been so long since she's been sick we sort of forgot how exhausting it can be!

This is the masterpiece that Maggie created during her good spell tonight. I asked myself what activity would make her the happiest, and distract her the most, and then of course offered up her paints...

Yes, she still paints herself. I particularly like the hand prints on her chest.

What a lover that B-Dog. She loves her Moo!

The Fair

Getting ready to head to the fair!

Riding the trolley to the gate!

(Isn't she beautiful?)

Looking at antique tractors with Daddy.

The chickens! Maggie agrees with Zac and I---we need chickens!

Cows, cows, cows!

PIGS

Her favorite! Just like Auntie Hailey, we had no idea!

Zac bought himself a corn-on-the-cob, and Maggie of course insisted she eat one too!

The funny thing is that we thought she might like a "fair treat" and bought her a snow cone. She wanted nothing to do with it. She wanted "Pita and corn!"

Mommy and Daddy sure did enjoy that snow cone though:)

She preceded to eat the WHOLE cob on her own!

Throwing a tantrum in the car on the way home---nap time!

News Flash: Two Year Old is Brilliant!

• Two WHOLE days with absolutely no accidents with toilet training
• She can complete a 12 piece shape sorter in a flash!
• A couple nights ago she started rattling off all the countries that the babies are from in her Global Babies book
• She now feeds her baby, burps her baby, cleans up her baby's spit up, changes her baby's diaper then puts her baby to bed (all in that order)
• She can sing all sorts of different songs with me!
• She can label all her emotions, and let me know how she's feeling

I swear all this happened in about one week! It's so amazing to watch!

Biker Girl

Potty Girl

Holy Crow! I mentioned in one of the last posts that Magnolia had been wearing her underwear quite a bit the last few days, well yesterday and today she's insisted on ONLY wearing underwear. She had one accident outside yesterday, but that's it so far. We've even been out running errands, and it hasn't been a big deal---well, Mommy's a little nervous, constantly checking for the closest restroom, but Maggie's doing great! She was even dry at nap time! Pretty cool; it's all been her doing. It looks like Zac and I are getting a pay raise soon (no more diapers, yay!)!

Last Year of the Loop

It's Maggie's last year in her looping program at the BSU children's center, and I'm mixed with a lot of excitement, and a little sadness. The children in this program stay with the same teacher(s) and children for three years. Each year a few new children join the group, as the group grows. This last year there are actually no new children on M/W/F. So Maggie's been playing and learning with these children for 1-2 years now! I used to do a social group in this last classroom with Chris, and those years I spent teaching alongside her, as she allowed my students with special needs into her class more than willingly, are what made me realize that having her as your child's earliest teacher would be an amazing experience! In this last class Maggie will begin to really prepare for preschool. She'll become very independent with self-care tasks, and she'll solidify her relationships with peers she already adores. She'll continue to work on pre-academic skills that are functional, meaningful, and interest initiated by her and her friends. I was already shocked when Chris told me that Maggie will get her own diaper and wipes out of her cubby, to bring to the bathroom each time she needs changed; it's already resulted in three days of wearing underwear most of the day, and she's only had a couple accidents. Maggie now signs herself in (early print awareness/pre-literacy skill) each morning by searching for her name and placing it on a board. Chris has already provided plenty of opportunities for independent tasks at mealtimes such as scooping food to serve themselves, pouring their drinks, etc., but now they will really take this on independently. It's absolutely amazing! I'm so lucky as a parent that Chris believes so much in the value of the home-school connection. I think a lot of parents feel they miss out when they work and their child attends an early learning setting. I'm so lucky that if Maggie does something new (which she does often at school, because there are so many experiences that just don't happen at home, and visa-versa) Chris makes sure she at least gets photo documentation to keep me informed about Moo's day. I really don't feel like I've missed anything. I think if anything, Maggie's and Zac and I have just gotten so much more from it.

Here are some pictures Chris sent me of Maggie's first day of the new fall semester during a mealtime...Enjoy!

Summer Fun at School

Here's the new pictures Chris gave me of Magnolia's summer activities at school. She's had a fantastic summer! She absolutely loves school so much! To think most of these little ones have been together for two years now...

I think you can see from the pictures how much Moo gains from not only this amazing learning environment, but the amazing relationships she's developed with her peers and her amazing teacher!

Dressing up

Enjoying ice cream at the zoo with her friends

Buggy rides with friends

Going to the park to climb

(this series of pictures amazed me!)

Napping with friends

Playing with babies---I know, shocking!

Enjoying snacks outside with friends

Helping friends, and getting help from friends

Exploring art

Going to the zoo with her friends

(Maggie told me to post this one)

For Auntie Hayyyeee and Auntie Juuuueeee

I told you guys that she talks about you all the time! She LOVES her family!

She's also wearing the PJs you got her. Cute, huh?

Loves!

Joe Vandal

Joe was downtown Boise today visiting with market goers in anticipation of the grand opening of the Vandal Store in Boise! Maggie was so excited to go and see her Joe, but of course when she saw him she became mute and couldn't take her eyes off him! A U of I representative took a picture of Maggie with her Joe doll to post on the U of I Facebook page, if I see it I'll share it!

"I Got Money!"

Parker couldn't make it to Maggie's birthday party, so instead Parker and her family gave Maggie a whole $7 (which included a $2 bill, since she's two now), so that Maggie and Parker could go to TCBY together. Maggie put her money in her purse and talked about it ALL week, occasionally taking it out to show people. She was very excited to spend her money on her little outing with her favorite neighbor this evening! They had blast! Here are some pics Zac took of them...Enjoy!

"I Got One Too!"

I adore this video. Maggie and Cousin Issac were talking about how they both got cookies in their favor bags for her birthday! Sorry it took me so long to post, the video was saved on my camera's internal memory, and I couldn't find my USB cord anywhere until today!

Enjoy!

Miss Magnolia

We play a lot of music at our house, and as Maggie and I were listening to Pandora (a personalized Internet radio) I heard this song start to play with what sounded like "Miss Magnolia" in the lyrics. I looked down at the computer to see what was playing and sure enough, the song was "Miss Magnolia" by Matt Costa. I found the song on I-tunes and downloaded it for Moo, and she absolutely loves it! She calls it "My music!" Every time Matt sings "Miss Magnolia" Maggie stops and smiles at us. She also plays her harmonica along with the song, as you can see! Hopefully you can hear a little bit of the song over all the great harmonica playing!

Blue Toes and a Black TuTu

Just a real quick one (I've been blogging way too much lately!). Maggie insisted that she get some blue nail polish for her toes, so Auntie Sara obliged and picked her up some nice blue polish. Mommy also picked her up her first tutu, and she can't get enough of it. She actually won't wear anything but the tutu!

Oh, about that last picture...she just thinks she's a dog too! Not quite sure how to address that one. Especially when I tell her that the water is for dogs, and she tells me that she IS a "dog."

Enjoy!

The Two Year Stats

Magnolia had her 2 year well baby check-up with Dr. Ally today. Maggie was super excited/anxious about going to see her pal Dr. Ally. She even told me yesterday "I no cry go see Dr. Ally" which meant she wasn't going to cry when she went to see Dr. Ally. She also told me "I get ball at Dr. Ally's." Somehow she remembered from her 18 month well baby check-up that she gets a token after her shots to go get a bouncy ball! She was very tough when getting her shots again. She did cry though, but recovered quite quickly!

Here's the stats:

Weight: 26 pounds, 40%ile

Height: 33 inches, 25%ile

Head Circumference 49cm, 85%ile

She actually moved up off her growth curve a bit, just a little bit though! Dr. Ally agreed that she's doing amazing! We discussed how Maggie's advanced language and cognitive skills seem to be more her focus over her gross motor development, which has a lot of emerging skills right now, but is a bit behind. Maggie's really starting to work on those big motor tasks like running, jumping and climbing now though.

Ally was also very pleased to hear that we got a new camper, and that Maggie's getting out in the wilderness a lot! Ally's apparently a big fan of vintage campers too!

Ally commended Zac and I for staying on top of a well rounded, less processed food diet for Moo. She of course has been there since the very beginning when we had discovered that Maggie had the soy/dairy protein intolerance.

She agreed with our dentist that Maggie needs to get into see him now for her first dental exam, so we'll be getting that scheduled soon.

I think that's about all the news though! Our next well baby check is a whole year away now!!!

From the Mouth of Moo

I had to note these on the blog just so I never forget!

• She used to say "Yem," instead of "Yes"
• She used to get those tricky pronouns all mixed up and would always say "Hold you!" and "Help you" instead of "Hold me" and "Help me."
• "No" is her negative context in every type of sentence lately, such as "I no want my sunscreen on!" and "I no cry when I go see Dr. Ally."
• Daddy: "Maggie, how did you sleep last night?" Maggie: "Well!"
• Maggie (when I arrive to her classroom to pick her up at the end of the day): "Mommy! I need my....pacifier!" Mommy: "You need what!" Maggie: "My pacifier bugsy!"

Her language and vocabulary is growing and changing each day! It's one of the most amazing areas of development in my opinion!

Maggie Fans: Did I miss any other cute Maggie sayings?

Breathe Mommy, Breathe...

I often write about the things that Maggie does each day that I just LOVE, the things that melt my heart, those things that make you think, "and that's exactly why I wanted to be a mother."

BUT, it's time to tell the whole story. There are certainly those times where you all of a sudden think, "Really!?!? Is this the cool part about being a mom, cause this really kind of sucks!"

Like today for example, when I pick up my cute little girl, and hear she hasn't napped at all today. This wasn't a big surprise since her and her friends just transitioned to their new classroom, which was fun and exciting, but, there's no nap room anymore. Maggie was super happy at school all day, super happy in the car on the way home, then all of a sudden it hits. The "Mommy HOLD ME! I NEED a BUGSY!" "I NEED milk. No want to play! Maggie EAT!" All mixed with lots of screaming and crying and throwing herself on the floor---over and over again. She wants me to make her dinner, but she doesn't want me to put her down. She wants milk, but not in the purple cup. She wants her bugsy, but not the green one. Tye-dye blanket is stuck, and she needs help! Now she's mad I helped her, because she really wanted to do it herself!

And this is when I told myself to BREATHE! I then repeatedly moved my tantruming daughter to the couch, and managed to get her some dinner made. After a little food in her belly she returned to her cute adorable self. She decided to play with her babies, she took a nice bath, read her books and passed out almost a half hour before her bedtime!

This is the reality of being a mother. You get all the good, the bad, the amazing, and all the down right shitty that your child has to offer. You love your child no matter what they do. You love them at their worst and at their best all the same, but you sure do have to breathe through it some days.

I love you so Magnolia!

A Magnolia Weekend

Mowing the yard with Daddy.

Painting!

Getting breakfast at Java, and hanging out downtown.

Heading to the market in the new wagon that Omah and Opah gave her for her birthday!

She also celebrated Gramma-Gramma's birthday yesterday. I think Grandma Tara got some pictures of the party---I'll try to get them to post.

Happy Birthday Gramma-Gramma!