Maggie's 2nd Birthday!

The day before Maggie's birthday, she went to her first Cubs game. Uncle Justin had some tickets so they invited us to go with them. It was pretty cold out, but Maggie and Blake seemed to really enjoy it. We left after the 7th inning, but since we parked at the firehouse, we were blocked in! Of course, the game wasn't over until the 11th inning then we finally got to leave.


Maggie had a wonderful birthday on Thursday. It was raining a lot, but she got a lot of good presents from her mommy and daddy! Some of her favorite presents were the bracelet that she wore all day long, her slides that she could only play with for a few minutes because of the bad weather! Her favorite was her new "Twinkle Toes" shoes that light up in the front AND on the sides. We tried to go to dinner at Chili's, but it was a 45 minute wait, then we tried Buffalo Wild Wings, but it was a 2 hour wait at minimum! We figured it must be because the Bulls and the Blackhawks are both in the playoffs. We finally just ate at Panera, since we know Maggie loves their food and there was no wait. She even got a pumpkin muffin for her birthday treat, which she absolutely loved!!

Maggie's party was on Saturday, which ended up being a pretty nice day. We had a bug theme party. Maggie loves bugs, especially ladybugs and bumblebees, so that's what there were lots of! Chris's aunt Laurie made a beautiful dress for Maggie, which she just loves! Maggie decided not to take a nap until 3, so she wasn't up until after 5 and people were waiting to see her. As soon as she woke up, we got dressed and went downstairs to see everyone. After everyone ate, the kids had a bug hunt in the front yard, which was a lot of fun. Then we sang happy birthday, ate some bee and ant cupcakes, and open a bunch of presents. The rest of the kids were very involved in opening presents too and kept "oohing" and "ahhing" at everything. Maggie was so nice, she went and thanked everyone for their gifts after opening each one.

After everyone left, Maggie rode around the living room on her new tricycle from her Grandma Peggy & Papa Steinmetz and walked around holding her new flashlight from her Grandma Mickey & Grandpa Rich. She even fell asleep with her flashlight. Every present was great and she's been playing with everything. We can't wait for it to be nice and warm out so she can wear her new clothes and play with her outdoor toys!

We are so happy to have such an amazing, beautiful, fun daughter!


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Zoo trip (again)

It was beautiful weather again yesterday and I am really enjoying taking walks outside, so I figured Maggie would love going to the zoo. We actually saw some exhibits that we had never seen before like the huge Boa constrictor and the inside of the giraffe habitat. Maggie and Ethan still really enjoy seeing all of the animals and now I'm incorporating some learning into our visits! We were working on the Spanish name and Sign Language for Giraffes, Zebras, and Bears.

Aquarium part 2

Aunt Natalie came for a short visit on April 1st, so we tried to do as much as we could while she was here! On Saturday morning, we got up early and went straight to the aquarium. Since it was going to be one of the nicest days in Chicago for months, I knew there would be a lot of people visiting the aquarium, so I wanted to get there when they opened! Which turned out to be a great idea because when we were leaving, there was a line out of the aquarium to get in!!

The kids absolutely loved it! We went so many places in the aquarium, but still didn't see everything. After we left, we went to Oakbrook mall for some shopping & dinner to celebrate Aunt Natalie's birthday. Maggie & Ethan didn't sleep for a minute on the drive. Instead, they had a hilarious conversation that went something like this:

Maggie & Ethan saying "no!" back and forth. Tonia & I saying "don't say no to each other!"
Ethan "No, Maggie!"
Maggie "Don't say no, Ethan!"
Ethan "Go timeout Maggie!"
Maggie "I'm not going to timeout!"
Ethan "never, never, never!"

I wish I could remember the rest of it because it was hilarious! It just shows how I need to keep this blog more updated! And the weekend showed how much we miss Natalie and truly enjoy any time we get to see her!!

First Visit to the Library

Maggie had her visit visit to the library on Monday, April 4th. She attended a class with her cousin Ethan where they played, listened to some books read to them and completed an Easter craft! She and Ethan seemed way more interested in the reading part of the class, so I figured I would just take them myself.

We went to the library again today. I pulled them in the wagon, which they loved. Unfortunately, Maggie got her finger stuck in one of the holes on the way there, so when we got to the library, she was pretty upset and kept asking for her paci and a nap! But, as soon as she saw the library, she really cheered up! We went in and they kept taking books from the shelves and sitting at the tables to read. I read several books to them and they each picked out a book from the author Margaret Wise Brown to check out. It's so great that Maggie seems to love reading as much as I do!

Aquarium

Maggie went to the aquarium today with Ethan, Mommy, Sarah Hester & Sarah's mom Michelle. Maggie loved it! We stood at the giant fish tank for the longest time just watching all of the fish, eels, and turtles.

We are going back on Saturday when Aunt Natalie comes to visit, so I will post more pictures next week.

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Smarter every day

Maggie is quickly approaching her 2nd birthday and she is learning so much every day! Here are some things that she knows & some things that she is learning:

Colors
Maggie knows her colors in Spanish! The only one that she has a hard time with is Orange, which is a pretty tricky one!
We are working on naming different animals in Spanish & counting in Spanish. Everything we talk about, Maggie always asks "What's that in panish?" **Note: She says panish, not Spanish, so it's not a typo!! lol

Presidents
Maggie can name the first 3 presidents when given their first name. She also can tell you the current president (Obama!) but she's been able to do that for awhile. Her favorite to say is "Joe Biden!" She doesn't need any help with that name!! We are working on naming the Secretary of State, the Mayor, the Governor, and the 4th & 5th presidents.

ABCs
Maggie can recognize all of the letters of the alphabet in Uppercase. She also knows at least one word that begins with each letter.

Finally, she just learned that her birthday is April 21st! I cannot believe my baby is going to be 2!!!

almost two

Maggie's birthday (and party) are coming up very soon! As I'm planning her theme, I have come upon several ideas. Some of my favorite blogs are Kara's party planning (who is giving away a $100 gift certificate to Picadilly Circus designs, which has some cute shirts for birthdays!), the Hostess with the Mostess, and of course I love Etsy!

More to come on Maggie's party!