It happened...

Well, we'd gotten our first few steps here and there over the last month. But, tonight it happened: Maizey started walking! Walking everywhere! Walking anytime we put her down. It's like someone just flipped a switch and now she's a walking fool! And, if I may add a hint of ridiculousness to this, just in time for summer! Now she can wear dresses and shorts and I don't have to worry about her little legs! Yay! On the other hand, it's time to safety proof, and I mean really safety proof! Here she is just tonight...

Also, Maizey had her 1 year checkup today. Weighing in at 19lbs and 12oz and measuring 29.75in she's growing nicely along her curve, a fact that makes me very proud. She's in the 75% for height (taking after daddy) and in the 25% in weight (not taking after mommy). We also were instructed to start weaning her off of formula and the bottle and to start giving her cow's milk and feeding her what we eat at our meals. Um, the thing is we eat randomly and sort of sporadically these days with me in school and studying at night. It's time for us to buckle down and start being better and preparing healthy, well thought out meals. I don't want Maizey eating a ton of processed garbage. I was raised eating really wholesome, nutrient-rich, fresh foods (shout out to my mama). We almost never ate food that came out of a box and every night at dinner we sat around the table with candles lit and salad and milk with our meals. I want the same for Maizey, but I want to expose her to all different types of foods. At the moment she's still a vegetarian (and I'm fighting hard to keep it this way--Ryan has a different agenda), and tonight was to be her first real meal with mom and dad. So, we had huevos rancheros and glasses of milk. She loved it!! I think that all the big girl treatment is what got her walking tonight! I'm very proud of my girl, but very nervous I'm gonna eff her up and give her food issues. It's time to pull out all my useless-til-now organic toddler food books.

So, there is a lot more to cover. Maizey turned one on Saturday. Unfortunately, she was pretty run down with a cold. We spent most of the day in bed trying to make sure she got as much rest as possible so she'd feel good for Sunday--which was the day we celebrated. And, boy did we celebrate! The morning was pretty low-key, Maizey fell asleep in the Moby wrap while I vacuumed. I gotta say, I didn't think the Moby would be useful once Maizey got a little older, but something about it still really chills her out. I strap her to my back and she's content there for hours--and this is a girl who doesn't like to be held for more than a second, she always wants to be busy busy. Anyway, Sunday afternoon we met up with Maizey's friends and family at the Little Gym. I gotta say, the Little Gym kicked butt. The teachers were awesome and SO helpful. Maizey had a great time and we are enrolling her in classes ASAP. This girl loves any place where she can go crazy, and the Little Gym is that place! We played hard and then had cupcakes and snacks and then played some more. I think that everyone had a great time, I know Maizey did. After the Little Gym we headed back to our house with our immediate families for dinner and more cake! We didn't want to use up play time at the gym to open gifts, so we opened them at home. Maizey made out like a bandit! She got amazing toys, books, and clothes. She definitely won't need anything until her next birthday for sure! After a long day, my still sick not-so-little girl fell fast asleep. The next day she had 3 of the biggest, dirtiest diapers on record. I think that's what eating 1/4 of your body weight in cake will do to you!

Here are a LOT of photos of the event. I know it's boring to other people, but I loved too many to whittle it down any more.

Looking adorable in, what else, Naartjie!

Cousin Harper

Cousins Ari and Darren, or as I often call them Dari and Arren.

All lined up.

Jack and Maizey. Already in love.Upside down.Jack and Tatum, brother and sister.Happy birthday to you!Her first bit of cake.Cousin Jackson putting a whole mini-cupcake in his mouth!
Playing with the teacher.

The parachute might be her favorite thing in the WORLD!

Jackson had the biggest, craziest grin on his face! He loved this!!!!All of 3 of us mamas had our babies within about a month.
After party. Playing in the backyard. Gettin' love from uncle Brion. He's whispering about Porsches into her ear.

Riding the dog. She thinks this is the funniest thing ever! Her own little cake.

She got daddy messy, but she was just getting started! See what I mean?Um, she missed her afternoon nap and was sick. So after a long day, she was quite fussy.
We got her washed up and changed and she was ready to open gifts!Elmo Live was a hit. But, I think the adults enjoyed it more--mostly Brion.

Here is Maizey's new face she makes for the camera. It cracks me up. I want to eat her up!

Princess.

Crazy lovin' the outdoors!

We went and saw Seinfeld with the Fasts last week. We had a blast and he was hysterical. We started the night with dinner and drinks at Von's, saw the show, and then had more drinks at another bar before heading home. It was a great time!

Josh and Lacey.

The weekend before last we went to Tahuya (the cabin) with our friends. Here's Maizey on the ferry ride over. She's ridden ferries plenty of times, but I think this is the first time she really "got" it.

Darren being shy to auntie Jill. I think this picture is hysterical.

George and the kiddos.

Half of the gang. The half that is related.
Auntie Jessica with her posse. I think this photo is so funny. I was sitting with Maizey, who is eating rocks, and Ari, who is nourishing her cuticles--because what else would a little girl want to do at the beach?

The love of my life.

Cousins and BFFs.

1 year old!!!!

I fully intend to write something thought out and meaningful about the past year with my doodle bug, but I don't have the time to say what I want right now (because, after all, I am the mom of a very active now one year old loco chica). I did want to share this video that I took this morning. Louise and Allie (also Porter, but he was MIA in this video) are the most amazing and patient pets and they always let Maizey crawl all over them. They were being especially cute together this AM, so I stopped making the bed and went and got my video camera. I thought I was just going to record a cute interaction, but it became something else entirely. Watch until the end...

So, Maizey has taken steps before, but not like this. She's never just walked off. It was crazy! And, did you notice how she even managed to make it over some uneven ground? She's amazing! I think if she's properly distracted she will walk anywhere, but the minute she notices she's walking she freaks and plops down to crawl.

I love this girl!

The Cabin, Easter, and the Science Center

When I tell you that we're loving this weather, I mean it. We're loving this weather. It just makes me want to get out and live life to the fullest. It even helped us decide to ixnay the ablecay. It was a really hard decision, I mean, what about the Real Housewives? I love that show. But, we made the decision and the dude came to take our cable box away yesterday, and I felt really excited to be "freed" from my shows. Um, the thing is, the cable never got turned off. I'm not happy. I decided to take the plunge and now the lazy dudes don't want to climb the pole. I'm not sure I'll ever have the guts to make this decision again, but they're making the decision for me, and Real Housewives it is!

So, yes, this weather has inspired us to get up off of our butts and suck the marrow out of life (if you consider cleaning until late and going to the Seattle Center marrow). We even got new phones (the new Blackberry Curve 8900--sweet!), recently a girl from class guffawed when she saw my phone and asked me "what is that dinosaur??" Clearly, she is much younger than me and is unaware of what real dinosaur cell phones look like (can you say 4inch long, think, rubber antenna--we even had one that came in a case and had to be unzipped). But, I've gone through 4 phones since I've had Maizey because they are the only way to keep her still during a diaper change, so I was due for a new one. Anyway, not all of my contacts were saved to my SIM, so don't think I'm lying if I suddenly don't have your phone number! :-)

Last weekend Maizey and I joined my parents and sissy in Tahuya. We had a good time, aside from all the drama, which is kind of par for the course (a lot of people in a relatively small area and 3 moody people plus my sweet mom and baby equal chaos). I did a lot of relaxing and no studying, also par for the course. The best part about the whole experience was that Thursday night, on the way down, Maizey and I stopped and had a layover at my parents house. They took us to dinner at Red Robin and, out of no where, Maizey started dancing! It was the first time I'd ever seen her even bop, and she was full on dancing. It was hysterical and adorable, and probably my favorite milestone after the first smile. It must have been all the excitement of her first balloon and seeing Red in person.

All excited to be at Red Robin, check out her first balloon--the string anyway.

She wasn't exactly scared of Red, but she was constantly aware of him. This is her tracking him as he passed.

Maizey knows exactly what you do when you get to the cabin!

In a trance in auntie's arms. Why, yes! That is a 13in tube TV in the background, it will be available shortly if you want it!!

Grammy and Maizey having a moment.

They don't call her crazy Maizey for nothin'!!!

Then, Sunday we went to Ryan's parent's house for dinner, where Maizey had her first Easter egg hunt! I didn't really think that she'd even care, but she was totally into. This girl is constantly amazing me! We had a great dinner and Jan sent us home with so much candy it was ridiculous. And, it's not just any candy--it's British candy, the best you can get. Cadbury's everything, and smarties, and Jelly Tots. Oh my god, seriously, I had candy for breakfast and lunch on Monday and Tuesday. It was insane and I'm glad that we've eaten almost all of it so that it is out of the house!!!

This was the very beginning of the Easter egg hunt. She's totally into it!



She was on the hunt!

The eggs had puffs in them and she would shake them like rattles.

Action shot!

Playing with daddy.

Look at that cute baby. As for the adults, Ryan and I think this will make a perfect "before" shot.

This is seriously the best picture of Maizey and I from Easter. Ryan can engineer anything, but the focus on a point and shoot camera is confounding. I don't get it.

Being silly in her Jane Fonda head gear.

These series of shots took place in a second, this new camera kicks ass. I love this interaction between daddy and baby. Sweet.

I spent all day trying to capture her dancing. This is the best I could do. The girl has rhythm. Enjoy.

Lastly, Maize and I had the distinct pleasure of joining Bethie and Harper at the Pacific Science Center. It was a blast, but surprisingly ghetto. The whole place smelled like a 1970s movie theater, except the bathroom and the parking garage--which smelled like the stinkiest urine ever. The dinosaurs, the water area, and the butterflies were Maizey's favorites. I enjoyed Fun Forrest and the Center House, it brought me back to my childhood. I would like to take a trip to the Fun Forrest again when they are operating all the rides, but I gotta say, the caliber of people that they have in charge of operating the rides is a little/a lottle discouraging. It's just really fun to spend the day with Beth and baby, it's like one of those perfect mom days you dream about having when you are imagining your adult life.

Hey Maizey! Don't turn around!

Uh, it's just an over sized kitty.

They had little dino terrariums for the littlest people to see.
She crawled from one to the next.

I think it's funny, and kinda weird, that these large animals (eating the flesh of another animal in this exhibit) didn't bother Maizey.

In her apron, ready to get wet!
The girls!
Peekaboo!


TROUBLE!

See what I mean?

She is getting so big!

The girls, surrounded by the cleanest mirrors I've ever seen.

Mama and Harper.
Butterflies!So much to see!

I heart her. I love this photo!
And this one!The sweetest baby face I've ever seen.

We know where she gets her squishy cheeks from!

Bye Butterflies! I think these are cool photos...One last stop!
Tired and ready to hit the road!

Just FYI, I think it took me almost 2 hours to do this post. This is why I hate blogging, the formatting alone is what takes the most time. It's a nightmare, but I do it for you fine people. It's 11pm!??? I gotta go.

Peace.