While waiting for our Mexican food, Maggie kept busy by writing and/or drawing (I'm not sure which). I'm fascinated with what she chooses to do with pen and paper... no loose scribbles, no wide slashes and stripes. Just careful and calculated, tiny little markings. Graham thinks she's imitating letter writing because you can sometimes hear little whispers of the alphabet.

I feel that I can already see a left-brain thinker in the works. She always seems to choose number play over letter play and you may have already seen the way she straightens everything into neat rows (magnets, figurines) through Graham's tweets.

How will I ever relate???

Bi-lingual baby.

Our biggest adventure of late was buying a baby seat for my old bike. We're hittin' the streets in style (and causing traffic jams in our parking lot).

I'm pretty sure Maggie loves it. And I do too. We went on our first big ride, yesterday, all the way to Nana and Pop Pops house. Truth be told, this is only a mile or two but it still felt like an adventure. The front-mount seat is great; perfect for interacting with her and chipping in when the helmet slips into her eyes.

Looking forward to many many bike rides.

Can you believe we forgot charge the camera battery for Easter? She looked so darn cute in her Easter dress, too.

No photos but a few videos, instead. (The yogurt video is a repeat from Graham's Twitter but it cracks me up.)

Showing off.

Well, we have no idea what inspired this but she suddenly decided that tonight was the night she was going to walk! Leading up to this, she had taken a few solo steps, here and there, but tonight she made a major break for it and was loving every minute of it. (So were we!)

We're not sure who Bridgette is but Maggie had a lot to say about her tonight.

Well, I think we officially have a first word! There have been a many times were she has mimic'd a word or sound back to us (which is wonderful and adorable on its own) but suddenly she has a very complete comprehension of the word "cat"! She seems to know exactly what it refers to and can pronounce it at will. She has pointed to our cats to say it, identified cats in books, and carries around a little tiger figurine at her Nanna's house, saying it. She definitely reserves the word for when a cat is actually in sight... except for one occasion where she was falling asleep in my arms and staring into space, when out of nowhere came a very loud and pronounced... CAT!!!

It's a bit hard to hear, but we're so glad we could preserve this on video. Enjoy!

Enjoy.

Showing off her new tricks.

P.S. I added a new link to the Family and Friends list: The Journey of Ellis. Please visit and send prayers and positive energy to this family.

Maggie loses it (plus a mood swing at the end).

This blog will be quiet for a bit. We're off to the beach house with friends for four long days. See you next week!

The best part about this video is how much Maggie loves to watch it. Whether she knows that it's her or she thinks it's another baby, she's completely entertained.

Thought you may want to see Maggie's carrot reaction for yourself. This week we are trying squash and we can already tell that she finds it far superior.

In other news, my mom discovered today that Maggie is cutting her first tooth! I still can't get over how quickly things change. Every day is something new and different.

This little swing set is a short walk from us and we've taken advantage several times this past week. Maggie's definitely a fan.

Our weekend was really enjoyable. I hope yours was too. We went to my grandparent's beach house on Friday night and stayed through Saturday. It's sort of silly to call it that because it now belongs to my parents and technically it's not a beach – it's a creek. However "my parent's creek house" sounds totally off. (My siblings will know what I mean.) Anyway, our time there was really a great way to get out of our house and relax. I was able to get some reading in which is a rarity. Maggie spent a lot of time absorbing her new environment. She's big on that. I've started calling her the "quiet observer".

Then today, of course, was my first mother's day! Graham took Maggie out for some errands this morning so that I could sleep in. Then upon his return he brought me breakfast in bed. (Quite luxurious!) Later on we brought Maggie to the swings and watched a few minutes of the kids'  soccer game that was being played on the adjacent field. Tennis (with Maggie napping court-side) and replanting our flower boxes rounded out the day, as well our usual Sunday house work. 

I may have a new favorite holiday.

The camera-work is terrible but the audio makes up for it. I was finally able to make Maggie laugh on camera. I can't tell you how much I love this video. Hearing her laugh is the most wonderful thing!

Maggie has a very strange obsession with the sound visualizer that comes with iTunes. She'll hardly stop to blink when we turn it on for her. I'm not sure if this is a healthy pass time?

Okay, so this isn't the best video of it... but good news... Maggie rolled over for the first time, yesterday! For the past week or so she has been truly focused on this endeavor and would make attempts at every opportunity. Typically she would get stuck on her side, unable to turn that last little bit, and it was pretty adorable to see how much this would frustrate her. She would squawk and grunt and shout, all in exasperation.

Well, yesterday, she finally made it over while she was at my mom's house for the day. It's silly, but when my mom called my desk to tell me, I felt a little lump rise in my throat. Not because of the accomplishment but because I wasn't there to witness it! I hate that I will have to miss milestones.

Fortunately she showed off a little bit for me and Graham when we got home.

I think she likes this song.

Here we are, learning shapes... and getting stumped in the process. You can get a brief glimpse, here, of how she interacts with me and how it's different from interacting with Graham.