margaretyagan

My Thanksgiving trip to Dow was a lot of fun, but it was exhausting and got me totally off schedule.  When we got home around midnight this morning, I had the hardest time falling asleep in my crib — I was fussing until after 1:00 am.  Then I got up around 5:30 — a time I usually am ready to get up for the day — but felt terrible and ended up sleeping until after 7:00.

Dad got up with me and fed me my bottle.  We headed out to Whole Foods, Home Depot, and Dominick’s.  This is the third week in a row that a nice cashier named Olga stopped to say hi to me and told me how pretty I am!  When I got hom, Mom and Grandma were up and so excited to see me.  Grandma fed me breakfast, but I just wasnt that hungry.  See?  My schedule is all screwed up!

But hey, let’s think good thoughts.  Here’s a video from the never-before-seen secret archive. Remember Halloween?  That was fun:

I had  a great time playing with Grandma Droste, but my afternoon didn’t get much better.  I didn’t really take a midday nap like I usually do.  I started getting a runny nose, too.  The highlight of my day was achieving a new development milestone: I use a toy lion to lift myself up into a standing position!  So, Mom & Dad, next time you try to force me to sit on my play mat, I just might decide to stand up!

I was really miserable by the time dinner came around.  At least I ate most of my dinner, but I was totally pooped (and not pooping as easily as I’d like!).  I only had about half of my bedtime bottle and could barely keep my eyes open as Dad read me Goodnight Moon.  I hope I sleep really well and kick this cold!

Dad got up with me this morning and Grandma’s & Grandpa’s house was quiet.  Dad & I tried to be really quiet, but we accidentally woke up Grandpa.  When he couldn’t fall back to sleep, he decided to come into the living room and “watch you guys have fun.”  I had my usual fare for breakfast, and then Dad and I got in bed and took a nap together.  I got up before Dad and hung out with Mom & Aunt Sarah.

I had my fourth (!) thanksgiving meal of the season (and my whole life) at Great Uncle Michael’s and Great Aunt Karen’s house.  My cousin Erika (once removed) and her husband were there, too.  While everyone else ate turkey, I ate lamb & lentil stew with rosemary.  Pretty sophisticated, right?  I got really tired and eventually Dad and I curled up on a recliner and I fell asleep.

We made a quick run by Grandma’s & Grandpa’s and then we went to GG Droste’s where Mom, Dad, and Aunt Sarah set up her Christmas tree and I hung out with Great Aunt Jackie who played with my on the floor and even fed me my apricots.  Right before leaving GG Droste’s, everyone gathered around me and dressed me up in a brand new Christmas outfit!  We headed over to Alton Square Mall to meet Santa Claus!

After snapping a few pictures with a somewhat Grumpy Old Chris Cringle, we headed back to Grandma’s and Grandpa’s, where we pretty much just hung out until 7:04, when Mom, Dad, Grandma Droste, and I hopped in the car and made the 4:40 drive back home.  Fortunately, I slept almost the entire way home.

I woke up with Dad this morning.  We had to be extra quiet in the morning because Aunt Sarah and Shelby and Hayden were sleeping in the living room.  I had my bottle almost silently, but by 7:00 I had made enough noise that everyone in the living room was awake.  Shelby, Hayden, and Sarah played with me until Mom got up and Dad fed me breakfast.

Then Peggy, John, and Stephen all came over and (while the guys tried to figure out how to make coffee) Peggy walked around with me for a really long time.  That was so fun!  Finally it was time for my nap and Dad took me into my crib and got me to bed.  I got a pretty good nap in before lunch (split pea stew & turkey).

Then we went to GG Droste’s house to set up her Christmas tree.  While Aunt Sarah, Dad, and Mom worked, I hung out with Great Aunt Jackie for most of the afternoon.  She was so much fun!  She played on the floor with me, she walked around with me, she let me crawl all over her, and she even let me play with her hair and her glasses!  I had such a good time playing with her.  I can’t wait to see her again at Christmas!

Finally, after about 5 hours at GG Droste’s, I was pooped!  I took a quick nap on the car ride home and woke up just in time for dinner.  I badly needed a bath and got a really good one from Aunt Sarah and Grandma Droste.  I finished my bottle and Aunt Sarah put me to bed!

The day started with some scary news from India, where Aunt Claire is galavanting around on an “independent study,” where terrorists bombed Mumbai last night.  Happily, we heard from A/C that she is fine and will be changing her travel plans to skip her planned stop in Mumbai.

Mom got up with me around 5:30.  I ate my bottle and then we hung out and played with Mom and Grandma.  After breakfast, we made an impromptu trip to Wal-Mart where we got some stuff for Thanksgiving dinner (and also saw my friends Don and Peggy and their whole room (!) dedicated to the St. Louis Cardinals).

When it was nap time, I got to sleep with Mom in her bed, which is the best.  I got up to find Dad hovering over the bed, ready to whisk me away.  Dad fed me lunch (split pea, parsnip, and pear stew) and then we walked all around the house.  My afternoon nap was with Dad, in his bed again!

When I got up, Great Grandpa Harris was waiting for me in the living room.  He’s so fun and he has an awesome Donald Duck voice that makes me laugh.  Then a bunch of other people came over for Thanksgiving dinner: Great Uncle Mark, Great Aunt Joanne, cousins Sam and Hunter, Great Uncle Michael, and Great Aunt Karen.  I missed Aunt Claire though!

For about three hours I got to hang out with all these people who love me so much!  Hunter was especially fun – he taught me how to take his hat off his head and he let me play with his Cardinals hat!  Uncle Michael also walked around with me for a really long time – I bet his back hurts tonight!  Mom made sure that I got my own Thanksgiving dinner tonight: turkey, sweet potatoes, and cranberries.

As soon as I got done eating and the Harris family left, we zoomed off to Great Grandma Droste’s house (after I changed into something appropriately feminine!).  It was getting to my bed time, so I took a quick catnap during the car ride over.  I had heard about the millions of people who go to GG Droste’s at Christmas, but I had no idea that there would be so many people there for Thanksgiving!

First I went to see GG Droste and Aunt Jackie who were finishing dinner.  Then I went into the living room where all the cousins were hanging out.  I especially liked sitting with Jen.  She’s so nice and she’s about to have her own baby!  And Great Aunt Jackie was so nice she even changed my dirty diaper.  It was such a special day, Mom and Dad let me stay up way past my bedtime!  Even though I didn’t get cranky my eyes started glazing over around 8, so dad gave me my bottle, put me in my PJs, we said goodbye to everyone, and we went back to G&G’s house in Dow.  I fell asleep on the way then back to sleep after we went in the house.  Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

As usual for a Wednesday morning, I woke to Mom’s sunshiney “good morning maggie!”  Dad was home, too, which was unusual.  I had my bottle, played with Dad, and then had breakfast – just as I usually would with Nana.  After my all-to0-brief nap, Nana and Grandpa were home.  Dad fed me lunch and then we made a quick run out to the airport to send Nana on her way to Syria!

Quick break to show you my favorite pictures from my eighth month:

http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf

We got back and Grandpa played with me for a few hours (and fed me a bottle) while Dad worked.  Dad got me ready for my nap around 4:00 and then Mom got home a bit earlier than usual.  Instead of my usual bedtime routine, Mom & Dad packed me up and put me in the car for a road trip to Grandma & Grandpa Droste’s!

Sunday night was a tough one.  I fell asleep just like usual but then I woke up at 10 and had a really hard time falling back asleep.  Mom tried for about an hour then Dad tried for about 20 minutes.  Then I finally went back to sleep.

Monday was my last day with Nana for awhile.  Grandpa came over to watch me until Mom got home around 6:15.  Mom helped me walk all around the living room and kitchen which I love to do.  I even figured out how to walk up the two stairs to the kitchen.  And Grandpa let me step on his feet.  When Nana came to pick up Grandpa, I waved at her through the window.  At 7 I drank my bottle and had a bath, then went to sleep.

On Tuesday I got to hang out with Mom.  We had a leisurely morning.  We even took a nap together.  We took a walk after lunch then a guy came to check out the furnace.  I fell asleep while he was talking to Mom, but I only took a short nap.  Mom was thinking about taking me to a party at her office but I was cranky so she thought maybe us sitting in rush hour traffic together wouldn’t be that fun.  So we played at home some more, I figured out how to move from my tummy to sitting, I had dinner, then helped mom unload the dishwasher, then went to sleep.  I had another rough night, after falling asleep at 7:30 I woke up at 10:15 and couldn’t get back to sleep until about 11:30.  Something seems a little off!

Sunday morning got off to a pretty usual start with Dad getting up with me in the morning.  Mom got up very soon thereafter and we hung out a bunch.  Mom put me to bed and Dad went for a run before we met up with four of Mom’s and Dad’s friends at Moonshine.  After brunch, we made a beeline for home so Dad could catch the rest of the Bears game.  Mom left for a couple hours in the afternoon to go shopping and I took a really, really long nap, allowing Dad to get some cooking done and to have the house pretty much straightened up by the time Mom got home.  We had some fun family time in the evening (including my first ever game of catch!) before I turned in for bed!

Dad got up with me in the morning and after a bottle and some playtime, we took off for Lowe’s, which I’ve never been to before.  It seemed just like Home Depot only really a lot farther away.  Our big purchases (literally and figuratively) were two big pieces of plexiglass.  We got a couple other things, too, before heading to whole foods, where Dad bought a bunch of food that I’m going to be eating over the next few weeks.  Finally, we got back home, where Mom had my breakfast ready for me.

I had yet another trip to the doctor’s office to get yet another dose of vaccinations.  Gee, I’m so glad that my parents decided to spread them out so I could get poked every month!  Dad weighed me while the nurse was out of the room and I came in at 19 lb, 3 oz!  Definitely heavier than a bowling ball now!

After I took a nap, Mom, Dad, and I went to Dominick’s, where we had a much quicker visit than usual because of the short week coming up.  Dad spent most of the day on his Maggie-proofing projects upstairs: finishing the gate and installing the two pieces of plexiglass along the railing in the hallway.

On Monday I started yet another  new food (two, actually!): amaranth & peaches.  It was a welcome change from cereal and prunes which I have almost every day for breakfast.  When do I get oatmeal?  I hear that’s good!  I had a very slight rash on my cheek this morning, but it went away by the end of the day.

The amaranth & peaches tasted a lot worse the second time around, and really my whole day was a bit off.  I wasn’t in the mood for much lunch and I was a little fussier than usual.

Wednesday was better and the big news on Thursday was that I started yet another new food: green beans and mint.  Mom had a work dinner to go to but Dad got home just in time to give me a bath and put me to bed.

Dad worked from home on Friday, so I got to see him everytime he came upstairs.  I spent most of the day with Nana until Grandpa came to cover for her in the afternoon.

So this was a pretty exciting weekend as we celebrated Thanksgiving (early!) with Dad’s sie of the family. (We’re going to be spending real Thanksgiving with the Drostes.) Uncle D had flown in a couple nights before to celebrate with us. But the first order of business on Saturday morning was to finish the move from Bourbonnais that we started last night. Dad had left his key’s in Nana’s car, so Uncle D headed over to Grandma’s and Grandpa’s apartment and came back with the keys. Uncle D then drove me over to their apartment while Dad drove the moving truck. Dad and Uncle D (and Grandpa!) worked hard unloading the truck while I hung out with Nana. Dad had only packed one meal and not enough diapers, so there was a bit of a time constraint to get done before I got hungry or dirty!

Eventually, I got food and diapers and by about 5:00, Nana, Grandpa, Uncle D, and I headed home. Dad had been home most of the day cooking Thanksgiving dinner! We had turkey, cranberry stuffing, mashed sweet potato, and corn cake pudding. Well, they had all those things! At least I got to have turkey…I made it half way through dinner before falling asleep.

Dad spent Sunday on a couple child-proofing projects. I hung out with Mom and Uncle D. But mostly it was a pretty laid-back day with the fam. Dad worked on putting together my 7th month photo album, though. So, enjoy:

http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf