My Buggy.

It seems like I very rarely anymore, do things with JUST Maeve. And that kills me. :( I miss her. I miss our moments. So this post is for her...



After nap time (so... around four, or so?) the sun was still shining and it was still *relatively* warm outside. BELIEVE IT OR NOT... I have not taken Maeve outside in the past few days- I can't believe it- warm weather and we've stayed indoors. So... after her nap today, I decided to let her romp around outside for a bit. I began to get her dressed- Ahhhh... getting dressed. Getting dressed these days is driving me a tad mad. She is totally at that age where she has an opinion- which is both adorable and frustrating. Adorable, when we have nowhere to be, nothing to do and she wants to wear her "Minnie Mouse" dress and stripped leggings. FRUSTRATING, when we've got a doctors appointment and she wants to put on her monkey bathing suit. Trying to convince her that she had to put leggings on this afternoon was tough- but we compromised- she wore her sparkly (CHRISTMAS!) skirt and I got her in a pair of pants. Oh and her mermaid boots :) By the time we were out the door in the front yard, it was around 4:30 and Mr. Man was screaming. Picture this: Me, wearing Henry in my Moby, literally CHASING Maeve around the house, stepping in piles of dog poo with my Ugg boots on... all the while, Maeve sloshing through puddles, tripping and falling (probably IN dog poo) and oh yeah, did I mention Henry was SCREAMING??? Stressful!!! I think I said a "Praise Jesus" when Ryan's truck came around the bend. He scooped up Mr. & I stayed out with Maeve. Originally I was planning on going in and starting dinner. But Maeve and I were having such a blast, dinner just had to be put off.

We walked. And walked. :) We did about 2 circles around our entire neighborhood. We held hands for a bit. She expressed her independence and walked five feet ahead of me... but always looking back every few steps to make sure I was there. She found a giant stick- I mean GIANT. I tried to convince her to find a smaller one, but to no avail. She hiked around with that giant stick, that was about 2 feet taller than she was. She also thought she was a pirate wielding a sword. A pirate, in mermaid boots, mushroom pants and a sparkly skirt, banging a 4 foot stick on the ground. :) Funny kid. We stopped at every (and I mean EVERY) sewer grate. She thinks fish of some sort live down there. At every grate, she'd get down on her hands and knees and say "come eat fish!" She'd then throw muck down into the water. We went to the park, which was soaking wet- but it was okay, because by this time, Maeve was just AS wet. She BEAMED as I watched her climb the stairs that were so tricky for her to maneuver just this past summer. I teared up as she went down the biggest slide without her reaching for my hand. Where did my little one go??

She showed me how she could jump over snow piles and into puddles. She had a few crashes but for the most part she landed on her feet. At one point she sloshed through such a giant puddle, some of the yucky water splashed up into her mouth. She looked concerned for a total of 2 seconds, as she fished the mud out of her mouth. GROSS.

We listened for "choo-choo's" and again, her entire face lit up when we actually got to hear one (I love living close to railroad tracks :). We looked for bugs ("Lion King bugs" as Maeve calls them). Maeve waved to all the kiddos playing in the neighborhood. She'd exclaim, "HI BOYS!" and wave her hands wildly :) After a good 2 hours outside, I finally convinced her to walk back home with the promise of some cake pops. We held hands the entire walk back to the house.

I will cherish these pictures and moments forever. It was one of those simple days that I'll never forget. Just my bug and I. I need to make it a point to do this more often.

Henry is a very needy baby. He has to be held...like- ALL THE TIME. Maeve has definitely been put on the back burner. I understand that we'll get through this- that Henry will come out of this fussy 24/7 stage and that things will get back to "normal" but this evening with Maeve has made me realize how FAST she's growing. How fast she's changing, figuring this world out and becoming her own little person. I need to be there. I need to live in the moment with her. I need to put down my never ending "to-do" list, and watch my little one twirl on her toes. I need to sit on the floor and do puzzles WITH her, instead of watching from the couch with Henry saying, "show momma how you do the puzzle." I need to sit her toosh in my lap and read with her EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. Even if that means she goes to bed a half hour later. I have to. And I need to sneak in her room more often while she's sleeping and just watch. Because before my eyes, my baby, my buggy is growing. And I don't want to miss a second of it.

I love you my bug. You are my first- the first one to show my what it was like to love someone unconditionally. You make me smile every day. Your simple, charming take on life is refreshing and much desired by me. You make me want to be the best I can be. As tough and as strong willed as you are, I wouldn't change a speck of you. You're the sunshine in my world and I will ALWAYS, always love you my little one. :)