One Year Old

On May 23, I celebrated my first birthday! We had a great big party in Colorado with my whole family. Uncle Logan graduated from Fairview High School on the same day, so it was an extra special day and an extra big party! The best part was my CAKE! It was so good I enjoyed it with my whole body.



I also got lots of great clothes, books, and toys, including this tricycle!


Thanks, everyone!

Sign Language

As many of you know, I am pretty good at sign language. I don't have too many words that I can say with my mouth, but my hands are getting pretty good.

Tonight, after dinner, I was feeling a little sleepy from my long day. I watched Dad's soccer game (1-0 victory over a previously undefeated team)and then I did some gardening with Mom. Sometimes my parents don't know exactly what I want so I walked up to my mom and rubbed my eyes. That's sign language for "I'm tired." Then, I rubbed both of my hands on my chest which means, "bath." When the first two pieces of the puzzle were understood, I reminded Mom about the milk I would need after my bath by squeezing my hands open and shut a few times.

It's probably the longest continuous communication I've had with my parents so far.

I'll catch you all later,
Z

What????

This just in... Mazie has added a third word to her vocabulary. Mama? Dada? Nope.

"Belly button"

Seriously. It sounds sort of like "Bell butt," but it's surprisingly clear.

Strange kid.

"Bye-Bye"

My parents are officially ready to announce that I have said my first word. I've been saying "Da" for a while now, while pointing at our dogs (or cat), but I guess they didn't think that was quite clear-cut enough to be considered my first word. About a week ago, Mom, Dad, and I were playing in my room, and then I decided to get up and walk down the hallway. About halfway down the hall, I stopped, turned around, waved, and (enunciating very carefully so they wouldn't miss it) said "Bye-Bye." Even then they weren't sure if it was a fluke, but I've managed to convince them that I know what I'm saying. Yesterday Mom and I was driving home from Dad's soccer game and I told her a 10 minute-long story consisting entirely of "Bye Bye" and "Da!" (Mom and Dad have also figured out that I always point when I say "Da," whether or not there is any "Da" in the vicinity.)

Oh, I have so much more to say.... Stay tuned.

Walkin' Mazie

With only weeks to go before my first birthday, I am officially a walker! I'm getting more and more confident on my feet, and Mom and Dad can tell how proud I am to be moving around like a big person. Along with this mobility, I'm really enjoying my independence, and I spend more time entertaining myself. As Mom writes this (I'm dictating to her of course), I am happily pacing around the front porch and playing with my toys. Right now I'm pushing my Elmo vacuum around -- the one big kids like Tobin and Miles used to play with. Who's the big kid now?

Speaking of Miles and Tobin, last week we went to Durham and I got to see them!! Jacob, too, of course. We sure had fun together. Our parents couldn't believe how big we've all gotten. From little blobs that could maybe drool on each other a bit, we've now become a bunch of toddlers that can play together, share toys, and give hugs and kisses. Of course, we're a little harder to manage now, too. Our parents tried to line us up for a group picture, but this is the best one they got.

The candid ones are better. There are more here.






Here's one of me helping to change Jacob's diaper!


Of course, Tobin is still the really big kid in the bunch, putting together elaborate racing tracks for his cars and equally elaborate stories, and Miles is pretty advanced, too. His dad told my dad that after we left Durham, Miles reported that he missed me! I miss you, too, Miles, even if my language skills aren't quite up to the task of expressing it. Mom and Dad haven't taught me the "I miss Miles" sign yet.

I am getting better at using other signs, though. I use "more" and "milk" the most, and have started pointing to my mouth to mean either "food" or "water/juice." I'll sign "bath" back to Mom when she tells me it's bath time, and if you ask me how big I am, I'll let you know that I am "SOOO big." I'm definitely understanding a lot more now, too. I'll "throw" something if you tell me to, I'll point to my mouth if you ask if I'm "hungry," I'll "sit" in the bath when Mom asks me to, and I DEFINITELY know that "no" means "do it again!!" So even though my verbal words are hard for Mom and Dad to understand now (with the exception of "Da" = dog or cat), it won't be long before I'm a talkin' Mazie, too!  

Oh, one more funny thing that I do.  When Mom and Dad are in the front seat of the car talking and laughing (Mom laughs a lot, so Dad must be pretty funny), I'll chime in with a little "Ha ha ha" of my own.  I don't really get the jokes yet, but I figure I might as well just laugh along anyway!

MORE Grandparents, and Easter!!

April has been another fun and busy month. Nanny and Papa came to visit, which was lots of fun! On Saturday, April 2, we went for a nice long bike ride around Lake Monona. I got to ride along in my new "bike buddy," which Mom says is a lot different from the bike buddy she rode in as a kid!

We also went to Chicago with Nanny and Papa and had a great dinner at a little Italian restaurant called Volare. Mostly it was just great to hang out with my Papa and Nanny -- they enjoyed all of my new tricks! Papa helped teach me how to "careful down" the stairs, and now I'm a pro! Up and down, up and down. It's a workout!


Yesterday was Easter, and we went to Milwaukee for brunch with Great Nana, and Dad's Uncle David and Uncle Gordon, Aunt Stephanie, and cousin Sarah. That was fun, too!


More pictures from the last month or so are here. Mom keeps bugging Dad to put videos up, too, but I've been keeping Dad pretty busy these days with my new sleep schedule (much less napping) and active ways. He'll get to it soon, though....

Diez Meses

Mazie's mama here. Mazie turned 10 months old this week. I remember my dad telling me that babies got really fun when they turned 10 months old. Mazie has been fun from the beginning but we're starting a whole new kind of fun now. In the past month Mazie has started communicating. She has a small vocabulary of signs, including "hi" and "bye" (waving) and "more" (touching her chest with her fist - dad has a good story about the first time she did this one that he'll post soon). She also responds to the question, "How big is Mazie?" by throwing her little arms up in the air. "Sooooo big!"

Mazie's cutest new trick is dancing. If we put some music on or just sing a little bit she starts waving her hands around and shaking her head back and forth. She looks a little odd, but the music is definitely having an effect on her.

Another change is that she is transitioning from two naps to one. Until a few weeks ago, she was routinely sleeping about 4 hours a day, mostly on Dad's back. Recently, she's been sleeping much less during the day, which sometimes (not tonight) means that she'll go to bed early enough that we can have a few hours to ourselves. Sleeping less during the day is a mixed blessing for Dad. He has less time to get stuff done while she sleeps, but also has more flexibility with their outings.

We also celebrated a pretty big milestone on Thursday. Mazie took her first steps. I was lucky enough to be home getting a late start on the day when she decided to take a couple of steps from her dad to me. She hasn't really repeated the feat, and mostly seems content to stick to crawling (she's pretty quick!). Nanny and Papa are coming this week, though, so maybe she'll show off for them and start running.

With all of these changes, Mazie continues to be a sweet, happy, calm and curious little being. It's wonderful to connect with her in new and exciting ways. Yesterday, she played a game with us involving trips back and forth from her sock drawer to us, diligently transporting ONE pair of socks with each trip and placing them in our hands. Pretty cute.

She is also definitely starting to do things for the sake of reaction. You can see her do something and then look to her parents for a response. She understands "No" and likes to hear it. In the bathtub she likes to stand up, look at Mommy and shake her head and then sit back down. I'm sure this testing will get frustrating at some point, but for now, it's pretty amazing to watch her processing, communicating and asserting her own little will. In short, (too late) we're having lots and lots of fun. Papa was right.

Some good videos are on their way soon.