margaretyagan

Mom & Dad were on quite a mission this morning.  Apparently Dad was supposed to have found a place for them (and 6 friends!) to spend New Year’s Eve…but he hadn’t yet!  Dad and I played for a bit until Mom got up, but as soon as she did, Dad was freaking out.  Around 10:00 they found a place and Dad started jumping around the house.

To celebrate, Dad and I went for a walk to pick up pizza.  Then Dad and I hung out upstairs and cleaned up the house a bit while Mom got some work-work done.  We were so busy all afternoon that we all totally forgot my 3:00 bottle.  When we realized what had happened (at 4:30), Mom decided that starting today, I would only get two bottles a day!  All this time I thought she had some master plan.  We moved dinner up a bit and I played with Mom & Dad until bedtime.

Today was a pretty fun, relaxing day, except for the fact that Mom wasn’t feeling too well in the morning.  Dad got up with me and together we unpacked from our week in Dow, with a special focus on getting out all of my new toys!

We made a mid-day trip to Whole Foods to pick up some apples and oats to make oatmeal for me and also some soup for Mom.

Around 4:00 we headed out for (another) Christmas dinner!  Nana is still in Syria and Uncle D is going to visit us for a week in January, so it was just me, Mom, Dad, and Grandpa Yagan — a totally different experience from the festivities in Dow.  Mom’s and Dad’s friend, Mike, is spending a week as a chef at an awesome restaurant in Chicago, Vivere.  He stayed at our house while we were in Dow, so as a thank-you, he invited us for dinner — which he helped cook!

It was definitely the fanciest restaurant I’ve ever been to and the longest meal I’ve ever had.  Everyone was in a great mood and I even witnessed Grandpa drink wine (along with Mom & Dad, of course)!  The food looked so good.  Of course, all I got were Morning O’s and some veggies. It was so fun to get quality time with Grandpa and to see him in such a good mood!

I’d been looking forward to Christmas ever since Thanksgiving, when there was so much discussion about my Christmas attire and when I got to meet Santa for the first time.  I slept in a bit (until 6:45) and Mom got up with me because Dad still wasn’t 100% yet.

While Mom and Grandpa went to church, I hung out with Aunt Sarah.  After my morning nap, the festivities began.

First of all, I love opening presents!  Granted, I need a little help to get them started, but ripping paper is so fun!  I always try to rip Dad’s grocery list at Dominick’s but he never lets me.

Second, I got so many gifts!  I got socks and books and clothes (thanks, Aunt Sarah for making sure I look good and girly!) and toys and bangles and things I couldn’t even identify.

Third, I got to crawl around and play with Aunt Sarah’s dog, Marjorie, and watch everyone enjoy their presents.  (Interestingly, I think every single person got pictures of ME as a gift — that’s pretty cool!)

The gifting took so long that I watched the end of it from my high chair, eating lunch!  After it was all over and I was done eating, I took a nap with Grandma Droste.  I got up, had my bottle, and we all headed over to Great-Uncle Michael’s house for yet another Christmas celebration.

Oh, and here’s your gift…the photo album from my 9th month:

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

I had a lot of fun there, especially getting to hang out at the kids’ table while Mom and Dad were in with the old folks.  I’m also really starting to like dogs a lot and was happy to to play with Tess and Belle.

But I was especially happy to see all my cousins.  As usual, Hunter paid special attention to me and played with me almost the entire time I was there.  He’s always been so good with me and he’s getting even better every time I see him.  I also enjoyed hanging out with Great Grandpa Harris — he does a great Donald Duck voice that makes me smile every time I hear it (even though I don’t think I’ve heard the real Donald Duck, himself!)

I was exhausted and by 7:00 I was more than ready for my bottle and the long ride home, which I am happy to say I slept all the way through.

Merry Christmas Eve!  Today started out very unusually.  Dad was going to get up with me in the morning because he was off today, but instead not only did Mom get up with me, but as soon as she did, she ran me out of the room!  It turned out that Dad was feeling really sick (he had a fever and threw up!) and so Mom quarantined him and banned us from having any interaction today.  Who knew she was so powerful?

While Mom was taking care of Dad, Grandma Droste and Aunt Sarah played with me and made sure I was happy.  I wasn’t allowed to play with Dad (or even touch him!) all day, but every once in a while I was allowed to peek in the room and wave to him.  He looked so pitiful!

The big event every Christmas Eve is dinner at Great Grandma Droste’s.  It’s supposed to be crazy AND insane.  I was ready.  We (everyone but Dad) headed over around 5:45 (turns out her infection wasn’t contagious) for the festivities.

When we got there, it wasn’t very crowded yet, but I was immediately picked up and passed around.  I think I did pretty well mingling and socializing.  I got to walk around a lot, which made me happy (even during the nativity story!).

I really enjoyed all the caroling — I learned lots of new songs that I really liked.  I also realized I am really good at soccer (for a nine-month-old).  Hopefully I get a soccer ball soon so I can practice at home, too.  Otherwise, I’ll just have to wait for my next trip to GG Droste’s!

Mom kept me up way, way, way past my bedtime.  I had my “7:00” bottle at 8:45!  What happened to being so strict about my schedule?  Finally, I got really cranky and Mom decided to head home, but the house was so full of family members that it took about 25 minutes just to get into the car.  But when I did, I fell asleep instantly and so deeply asleep that I didn’t even budge when Mom moved me from my carseat to my crib.

All in all, I met dozens of new family at GG Droste’s and realized that I have so many more people to play with than I ever could have imagined.  Next year should be even more fun!

Today ended up being pretty uneventful.  I got up early with Mom (and Aunt Claire & Grandma Droste).  Dad was working today so I didn’t see much of him.  Mom was off, but had to spend an hour or so on a conference call, which meant I got some quality time with Aunt Sarah.

After we had lunch (with Dad!) we had planned on going to Great Grandma Droste’s but she called and said she had an infection and feared that she might be contagious.  I was so bummed that I didn’t get to see her!

As has become standard practice for Dow, I refused to nap in my crib (even though I sleep overnight just fine in it).  Usually Mom, Dad, or Grandma ends up laying down with me in one of their beds.  I like that.

Then the weather turned really bad so we just hung out until bedtime.

I woke up in Dow with Mom greeting me in my crib.  Grandma Droste got up pretty quickly thereafter and we all played.  I spent the morning playing with them and Aunt Sarah (and I started yet another new food: chicken!).

The big news today was that Aunt Claire was arriving back from her semester in India!  We all rode over to the airport together in the biggest car I’ve ever seen! We hung out in baggage claim and I mostly got to play with Aunt Sarah while everyone else went to Starbucks or did other things to keep themselves busy.  I even made a friend, Isabelle, who seemed about twice my age.

Finally A/C made her way out of the concourse and I was so happy to see her!  It was so cool to see her smile “so big” to see me, too!  Of course, everyone made me show A/C all my new “tricks” like pat-a-cake and walking.  We bonded and reconnected and it’s like she never even left!

We stopped by Whole Foods and then had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. I think the highlight was that I spilled a huge glass of ice water all over Dad.  After dinner I walked around the vestibule at the mall and witnessed the Christmas shopping madness for myself…before falling asleep on the ride home to Grandma’s & Grandpa’s.

As usual for a weekend morning, Dad got up with me around 6:00 and we hung out together, trying to be relatively quiet so Mom could sleep.  After my breakfast, we went to the grocery store — and I witnessed for the first time Dad getting in a verbal fight with a total stranger.

I’ll spare you the details, but after there was a disagreement over a parking spot at Whole Foods, this crazy woman starts yelling at Dad about having “no sense of awareness” (while she herself blocked two lanes of traffic).  Then, they crossed paths in the store and she instigated another conversation during which Dad steamrolled her with logic.  She ended by saying “I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree.”  I think that means Dad won.

We then went to Dominick’s and then headed back home.  I hung out with Mom and Dad until their friend Mike arrived at our house.  He hung out with the three of us until he had to take off, around 2:30.  Grandpa Yagan came over a couple hours later so Mom and Dad could go Christmas shopping!

Sunday was a whirlwind as we got everything ready for our long drive to Dow for Christmas with the Drostes.  Mom ran some errands in the morning, but otherwise it was just Mom and Dad scurrying around the house, playing with me while also managing to cross things off their to-do lists.  I think they were multi-tasking me!  We left for Dow as soon as I finished my 7:00 pm bottle and I slept the whole way there.

I woke up on the 15th with  Grandma Droste ready for me in the morning!  It was my second day of broccoli risotto and my third day of finger foods (Morning O’s!).

It was a tough week from the nap perspective.  For some reason, I just never felt like taking naps, even though I was rubbing my eyes like I really needed them.  I think I’m still off-kilter from the craziness of Thanksgiving and the ear infection I had last week.

I’m definitely crawling a lot more but I really, really love to walk (with help).  In fact, some times if someone puts me down to sit, I just scream until she comes back and walks with me.

I really like the Christmas lights and Grandma Droste really helped me get into the Christmas spirit by singing me so many carols.  My favorite is O Tannenbaum.  But back to the lights, because I’ve had to devise very sneaky ways to get my hands on them.  For  a while, I could crawl under the dining table before anyone noticed, but finally Grandma Droste tied them up and put them out of reach!

On Wednesday I had my first cheese ever (ricotta), an ingredient in a blackberry parfait that Dad made me.  It was a bit tart (NOT as bad as cranberries!), but the ricotta definitely made it more palatable.

Wednesday was also notable for my first bruise ever!  I was playing up in the kitchen (two steps up from the family room.  I threw a spoon down the stairs and figured I’d go get it.  Ahhhh!  No one told me I’m supposed to go down the stairs backward!  Anyway, I ended up with two bruises (my knee and my head).  Grandma took great care of me and to show that I’m no whimp, as soon as I got my bearings, I crawled right back to those stairs and went back to the kitchen.

I got to go outside a bit this week, even though it was really cold!  Grandma and I walked to Dominick’s (where I still hate those balloons!).  On the way back, I dropped my glove in the snow and we had to backtrack two blocks to go pick it up.

On Friday I had my 9-month checkup.  It was a week lake because when I went to see the doc about my ear infection, she suggested I reschedule for after I finished the course of antibiotics.  Anyway, my head is still 95th percentile.  I’m 28 inches long and I weigh 20 pounds, 7 ounces.  I impressed the doctor with my pat-a-cake skills and my assisted walking skills.  Oh, and my ear infection has been defeated.  Maggie: 1; Acute Otitis Media: 0.

Today was such a fun day.  After breakfast, Mom, Dad, and I spent about half an hour in their bed horsing around.  Dad and I wrestled and jumped all over the bed while Mom was like an obstacle that we had to climb over and around.

After my nap, we went to Reza’s for Grandpa’s birthday brunch!  Grandpa was so excited to see me.  Reza’s was very baby friendly because it’s so big and they put us in a corner where we couldn’t really bother people.  I especially liked the big huge mirrors where I could see my friend, Maggie!

The afternoon was full of fun, hanging out with Mom & Dad.

Today was a really fun day.  I almost slept through the night (I just needed a quick visit from Dad around midnight) and got up around 5:30. After I drank my bottle, Dad and I played on my mat for quite a while, until Mom came down and joined us.  Dad and I went to Dominick’s and Whole Foods before breakfast.

Breakfast was fun because it was the first time I officially got to eat finger foods!  Mom spread out little chunks of oatmeal and bananas all over my high chair tray and I got to go at them on my own.  After breakfast, I took a very short nap on my own and then a much longer nap in bed with Mom (I am training everyone very well!).

Mom and Dad and I played together until about 3:00 when we tried to run a couple errands, but pretty much failed miserably.  I was getting impatient and the traffic was terrible!  When we got home, I finished the bottle that Mom started with me in the car.  I played until dinner at 6:00 and then my bath and bedtime at 7:00.