This is what she looks like at the beginning of the day.
This is what she looks like after a nap.
And she's smiling even though her hair looks that way because she's gotten to eat this.
Why, you ask, are you eating a "Happy 1st Birthday" cake for Maggie? Clearly that date has already past. Well, we went shopping at a new store this week, one where the rumor is that your kid gets a free cake on their first birthday. So when we were going past the bakery, we casually asked if it was true. They said "Yes, pick out one of these." They never asked when her birthday was or questioned why I have such a large and precocious infant. They just asked her name, gave us a coupon for the register, and off we went to have our cake and eat it too! (It's not cheating the system if we didn't get one when she actually turned one. We just got behind schedule, is all, for our justly deserved free cake. That's our story and we're sticking to it.)
This week Maggie practiced pulling something backwards (push it forward til it stops, pull it backward til it stops, push it forward til it stops, pull it backward til it stops). I guess I must have made "beep beep beep" noises a couple times for reverse, because now every time she goes that direction, she also beeps. We also worked on the "When I say ___, you say ___" chant. She'll now do "When I say drink, you say juice. Drink. Juice. Drink. Juice." And "When I say wicked, you say awesome. Wicked. Awesome. Wicked. Awesome." And it is awesome to hear this little teeny voice go "awesome!" right in rhythm. What else? She learned a new body part, wrist, and a new word for dog, puppy. She learned that chile is wonderful even though it's painful: A bite of red pepper-laced cheese was followed straight away with an actual scream. And then with the sign for more. It was really funny, actually. She's helped me pack a few boxes and has played castanets in her stroller along with me on a couple of runs.
Hey, it's been a good week. There was a I'm-trying-to-make-dinner-so-you-won't-be-so-hungry-and-cranky-but-I-can't-make-spaghetti-with-you-in-my-arms moment. But no one got burned or went to time-out or anything. So it must have been a good week.