Maile's Toddler Pictures

We had Skye Johansen http://www.skyejohansen.com/ do Maile's pictures at 2 years old. The last time was when she was just 7 months and oh how she's changed. She looks so grown up to me in these! :) Here are some of my favorites.

I have been loving this age. I do know what people mean when they say there are many tantrums but it is also a very adorable phase. Maile loves to play all day long- playdoh, tea party, build blocks, stickers, crayons, and she seems to always be "cooking" for us. She loves to make "pizza" and "cookies" and offers them to us with an insisting "Try!" and then asks "it's yummy?". I love the way that she sings little songs "clean up, clean up, everybody do your share" and "mary had a little lamb" trying so hard to say all the words. She often comments of her doll, "She's so puuurty (pretty)". The other day I was trying on some pants at Target and she touched them and said, "it's cute mama!" She makes me smile the way she pronounces things, and is quick to throw my phrases back at me to get what she wants. Example: before naptime "I wanna watch Barney just a little bit" or "I wanna play outside really fast". ha ha! What a joy you are Maile Nicole.

Here's a cute summer cooking idea....My sister found this on a website and we made these little "dessert burgers" for a big birthday party when we were in California. Believe it or not the "buns" are made of vanilla cupcakes cut in half (sprinkle with a few sesame seeds on top). The "patties" are brownies cut into circles, the "ketchup, mustard and lettuce" are colored frosting. And last but not least, the "fries" are sugar cookies cut into strips sprinkled in sugar. How cute is this!! We had so much fun and got so much positive feedback that Lee said if he heard one more time how "cute, adorable, darling, etc." our hamburgers were he was going to die! :) ha ha. I guess it's women that appreciate a darling project like this a little more. :) You should try it!

Getting Rid of the Bottle...is our goal this week. I have let it go on for too long now, and even though Maile takes sippy cups and cups just fine- she prefers her milk in a bottle. uh-oh. Today she picked out a whole slew of cups at the store, and we threw all her bottles away "like a big girl". But it's nap time and not having a bottle to go down with is well...stressing her out to say the least. It's already been 45 minutes of crying, sobbing, and trying to gag herself. (ya that's right! what baby does that?!). Ah! So hard. But I'm sticking to my guns. Is there any better way to do this?!!