It's not easy eating green

Maggie tries some avocado; her first "real" food.

We're alive!

Rrr... sorry we haven't posted in so long. That was a little ridiculous. The Friday before Thanksgiving we took Maggie downtown to the Silver Bells in the City parade. She liked being up in the backpack so she could see everything.

Maggie's hair grew in since the last time we posted.

Santa! I know him! Maggie was not shy upon her first meeting with the big guy. In fact, she pulled on his beard (which was real).

We recently got Maggie an ExerSaucer. The thing is gaudy, noisy, and huge (it takes up a large section of the living room), but she loves it. It keeps her well entertained.

Bewitching

Tonight was Maggie's first Halloween. It was a rainy and windy night, so we didn't have a lot of trick-or-treaters. Maggie wore her witch outfit, and she was fascinated with the jack-o-lanterns on her slippers. Later we put her in her pea pod costume for a short trip over to Ray and Robin's. I don't think she liked the costume much, since she never really smiled and fussed a lot. Maybe she has inherited her father's distaste for the holiday, or maybe it was just too darned hot in a felt legume.

Three Cheers for Baby Gear

Really, what did parents do prior to the days of activity mats, swings and Bumbo seats? Mags has been enjoying all three, and she's still a fan of her bouncer, too. Saul and I think that she's teething hard core. She does not stop drooling, therefore requiring a bib at all times. The last week or so she's started to wrinkle up her nose. Sometimes she sighs mid-wrinkle, resulting in a glorious snort.

Hart Warming Smile

Yesterday's U of M 38-0 victory over Notre Dame made Saul feel better about the season. He celebrated by getting Mags her first jersey, upon which she happily drooled. The Wolverines have a new fan!

Crib Notes

It's amazing how cute Maggie can look, even when she's sleeping. Grabby McGrabsalot has really started to reach for things. Her feet are one of her favorite targets.

Rollin' with It

Someone besides the U of M football team rolled over today: Maggie! She was in her crib making her "Hey! Come get me!" noises, and lo and behold, I found her on her stomach in face plant position. Now she just needs to roll over and keep her head up at the same time.

The Dog Days of August

At just over three months of age, Maggie has a very curious mind:

As her parents, we felt compelled to explain some of the more shocking things about life. Here is Maggie's reaction when we told her how much college will cost when she is old enough to go:

Even though I'm a Michigan grad, I felt, to be fair, I had to tell her that going to Michigan State was always an option. I don't think she liked that idea...

Anyways, we have been very busy in the month of August. The weekend before last we went to a BBQ hosted by Al in Royal Oak. He cooked up some tasty sausage burgers. Last weekend we celebrated the wedding of our good friend Angie in Detroit... right in the midst of some seriously severe weather. Congratulations, Angie and Tim! Hopefully the newlyweds are enjoying their honeymoon in the Dominican Republic. Friday was our first full day away from Maggie and we missed her a lot. It helped to know that she was in good hands because my mom was watching her. Thanks, Mom!

Next Prez of the Happy Hands Club?

Maggie has emphatically discovered her hands. She stares at them, waves them around, stuffs them in her mouth, and slobbers on them. She also has a lot to say... she's often jabbering about something (wonder where she gets that?!). It's garbly-gook to us, but she knows what she means. Saul just found her in her crib blabbering away as she rolled to her side and then back onto her back. It probably won't be long until she's rolling all the way over. She's already 12 weeks old today. I think she's a spunky one, this one. She laughs after she poops. Now that's Miller humor.

Vacation (all we ever wanted)!

We just spent the 3rd week of July up north with my parents, sisters, bro-in-law and nieces. We rented a cottage on Lake Charlevoix in Boyne City. We had such a great time that we're looking to rent the same place next summer! We had a couple of rainy days, but were still able to enjoy the lake, which was beautiful. We cooked some good meals, the boys golfed, the girls shopped, and Mags got a lot of quality time with her cousins. Wherever Maggie was, Lucy (the almost 2-year-old) was not far behind. She didn't play with her baby dolls all week, as she had a live one of her very own! The only drawback to the family vacation was that none of us could bring our dogs. Artie stayed home and was graced with the attention of a -fabulous- pet sitter that we hired. We were lucky to find her; I think Artie really misses her.
On the 19th, Saul and I celebrated our anniversary on Mags's 2 month birthday. Four years of wedded bliss already... it's gone by so quickly! It's already hard to remember life before Maggie.

Independence Day

Hope all of you enjoyed your 4th of July as much as we did! Our friends Ray and Robin came over and we had an All-American feast of beer can chicken, corn on the cob, lemon barley, rocket pops, and Faygo. For dessert Robin made the best strawberry shortcake I've ever had (sorry, Mom!).
Maggie is doing well! She's 7 weeks old today. She's growing like mad and starting to feel pretty heavy. I had to pack up her "newborn" sized clothes, which made me sad. Grandma Susie came to stay with us for the last couple days, so Mags got some quality time in her stroller while we shopped. She didn't seem to mind at all, so there should be plenty more shopping expeditions in her future. Mom and I took her to get her pictures taken on Thursday, and she did great. I had a hard time getting her to wake up when we first got to the studio, but she didn't cry once.
We're dealing with some troubling news about Artie. At his annual checkup 2 weeks ago, the vet detected a heart murmur. On Tuesday Saul took Artie to a vet cardiologist at MSU, who gave him an EKG. The results showed that he has insufficiency of the mitral and tricuspid valves which causes backflow of blood from the ventricle back into the atrium. We have the option of giving him carvedilol, a beta-blocker for humans... but the cardiologist said it is "very, very expensive." We haven't yet learned just how expensive. The problem is that this medicine hasn't been proven to work for dogs, though research has shown that it delays or prevents progression of Artie's type of heart disease in humans. We're not sure we can justify the expense, since the tests at MSU are costly and Artie will have to have them done every 3 months to determine whether or not the heart disease has progressed. I have a pit in my stomach just typing this out. We have not seen any changes in Artie's behavior... he's as lively and naughty as ever, so we are crossing our fingers that his heart condition doesn't worsen so that he can maintain his quality of life.

5 weeks old!

Sorry we haven't posted in so long! Time is zooming by. It's hard to believe that Maggie turned 5 weeks old yesterday. She is doing well! A few weeks ago she met her pal Audrey. As you can see, she wasn't very happy at the time. Hopefully she'll be a better playmate when she gets a little older. Mags had a good first Father's Day with Saul... she's definitely already a daddy's girl. If I have to end up being the primary disciplinarian, we might be in big trouble. Bath time isn't too traumatic for Maggie, though sometimes she cries when she's cold. Her hair cracks me up afterwards... it's really spiky when it's clean. I took this bottom picture a week ago yesterday when Maggie was 1 month old. See how most of her length is in her trunk? This is proving to be a fashion setback. Already her onesies are stretched pretty tightly, and her pants are so baggy they look like Hammer pants. I have no problem bringing back the early nineties, but I'm not sure anyone else would agree. Ah well, the rest can go and play. Can't touch this!

Tummy Time!

Mags is two weeks old today. Last night she got some "tummy time", which I understand is good for their motor skills development. That remains to be seen. It is, for certain, good for drool development.

Maggie did well last night, not too much fussiness. We were able to get some much needed sleep. Today Maggie might get to go to an open house and a BBQ. The social calendar is impressive for such a young age.

Shout out to Zach and Amy, who brought over some delicious casserole on Thursday.

Whirlwind Weekend

Maggie had lots of family admirers come to visit this weekend. On Friday, Saul's brother, Scott, our sister-in-law, Jessica, and our niece, Kaytlyn, got to meet Mags for the first time. Artie was in his glory to have Kaytlyn chase him around. On Saturday, Grandma C and Grandpa D (Saul's parents) came to see the little bundle, who happily pooped while grandma was holding her. Sunday was Grandma Susie, Grandpa Eldie, Aunt Stacy, Lucy, and Sophie's turn. Lucy liked to play kiss the "baybay". Sophie tried to play peek-a-boo with Maggie and drew her a picture that she left in her crib.

Last night was our roughest night to date. Miss Margaret cried and fussed from 1-4am. Ah, it's not easy being 10 days old. At least she's extra sleepy today. The remains of her umbilical cord fell out this morning. Ew! It looked like a raisin.