Look what I found!

I've always thought that babies finding their feet is about the cutest thing on the planet. So imagine my delight while getting G ready for bed yesterday when, out of nowhere, she started reaching for her toes.

Do these pink things come off?


A new translation for the phrase "cotton mouth"


Hey, fingers and toes can all hook together. Who knew?!?


Hold on, finding my feet isn't NEARLY as interesting as...


...playing ball with Big Bro (of course)

5 Months

Our little G hit the 5 month mark this past Saturday. While she has changed a lot month over month, these last few weeks have seen a big shift in her going from an infant to more of a bouncing baby. She smiles a lot, seems to have replaced her fat little legs with springs, and is starting to laugh (which is extra funny since it kind of sounds like Beavis and Butthead). She keeps Matt and me extremely entertained with her talking, screeching, and babbling. And while she is still refusing to roll - I say refusing because I know she can do it and truly believe that she's just being lazy - all of the sudden she's sitting up on her own for long stretches of time. This happened seemingly overnight while Matt was out of town the other week. Big girl!

Sitting up like a pro


Staring at daddy (with smiles, of course)


Looking everywhere but the camera


Caught the smile on film!


Yo. 'Sup.

Daycare is going well so far. G brings home little report cards every day so we know what she ate, when she slept, and how she played all day. Her teachers say she's one of the easiest babies which on the one hand makes me happy, but on the other I worry about her losing out on personal attention for not being a squeaky wheel. Matt keeps reminding me that we should feel lucky to have a baby who can entertain herself. Hmm, good point. Meanwhile you will find it hysterical to know that on her second day there, the teacher asked me if the baby was, "mixed or Italian" since she is so dark. Keep in mind that this teacher had, in fact, met Matt. I know there are at least 6 of you out there who are now laughing out loud at that.

Last weekend we went to a luncheon for the extended Maio family. While there were probably 45 people there, you can guess who the star of the show was. The location for said get together was Maggiano's Little Italy. Same 6 people laughing again?

Steve's GF Erin, Steve, Karl, G, Kathy, moi, and Matt

And in totally non-baby related stories...about two Wednesdays ago the doorbell rang around 6 p.m. Since it was a work-at-home day for me I wasn't exactly ready for my close-up, but I didn't look like I had just rolled out of bed. Or so I thought. It was a young guy selling windows and siding, and when I opened the door he said, "Hi, is your mom home?". Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. I felt like the Curious Case of Sarah Maio or something.

Anyway last but not least, here are a couple shots of our girl showing off her sitting up skills. With this skill down our little weed is ready for the next step: cereal and solids. Stay tuned!

Her first school project, definitely 'fridge bound


Hanging with big bro Ralphie. Yes that is drool that has saturated her shirt.

Ralphie quietly survives injustices of being a furry guy, getting ears and pouf pulled in all directions.

Hysterical!

Rub a Dub Dub

Here's one clean Squish, fresh out of the tub!

(What this rhyme doesn't allow for is room to explain that she needed an early bath due to a certain explosion issue within the pants region. Another onesie bites the dust.)

Wheeeee, I'm clean!


Drooling Machine - exhibits A & B


At least she wipes her mouth


Squishie cheeks to match


Reach for the toes - feel the stretch!

XOXO

Genevieve has this adorable red corduroy dress that I really wanted her to wear for Valentine's Day. But being that it's February and we're in Wisconsin, it is of course still sub-freezing. So instead we took a few photos this week while dad was away. Notice the piles of drool and the immediate placement of anything within reach into the mouth. I'm trying to get her newest hobby on tape for full effect - screeching like a howler monkey. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile when I went to Walgreens to pick up my copies of some of these shots, the lady said that the baby was so darn cute, could they use these pics in some of their displays. That's right, my baby is famous at the Walgreens on 76th & Center. Next up: Paris! Milan! Osco Drug!

Showing off for the camera


Uh yeah, we're still working on the whole "balance" thing


Mmmmmm, cardboard

On the Mend

It's been a full week since G got sick and although she's still totally congested we can tell she's feeling much better. The pathetic little puppy dog faces of a week ago are gone and we are back to enjoying our toys. Especially the latest: the Baby Einstein bouncer. When we first put her in it about a week and a half ago, she just sat there. But suddenly she figured it out this week and now she hops from one foot to the other as Matt and I sing the "Maniac" song (you know, from Flashdance).

So yes, fortunately we are on the road to recovery - just in time to go to daycare and get sick again I'm sure. She's still really plugged up so feeding her has been a bear this week. Thank god she's got a little extra padding, right?

You have "Maniac" in your head now, don't you? Ha ha, gotcha

Superbowl & Stuff

It's been a crazy busy last week and a half or so on good 'ol 66th Street. Matt wrapped up his month of paternity leave with baby G, and returned to work on 2/2. It was wonderful to have him at home and obviously he and his daughter had some good bonding time.

Oh, daddy

Genevieve learned lots from her time with dad, and is now an expert at razzing (Matt's favorite baby noise). Apparently she also learned how to use utensils.

The little Squish helped herself to my spoon as I was putting my bowl in the sink


Special K goooooooooood

We spent last weekend in Rochester for our annual Superbowl get together with friends. We stayed at my parent's house and everyone else piled into Kyle & Robin's place (thanks for hosting!!). Saturday was spent at at Lark Toys in Kellogg, MN, where they specialize in hand made wooden toys. We checked it all out and everyone found a treasure or two to take home, including:

Nerd Alert - Matt found a beloved childhood toy


Ethan worked on his city planning skills


Robin and Miles hanging out


Showing Genevieve the dolls -
Matt about had a stroke when he saw what a hand carved doll house cost


Ethan shows the rocking chair who's boss


Ethan goes in for a hug (while Melissa supervises)


Razzing for Shawn (which for some reason seems to make her ears look huge, no?)

The other cool thing about Lark is their incredibly beautiful hand carved carousel which they fire up every half hour. Naturally the kiddos had to go, so it was all dads on deck:

Scott & Ethan, Matt & G, and Kyle & Miles


Genevieve seems a little underwhelmed

There was one kid on the carousel who was probably 6 or 7, and spent the entire ride in hysterics - to the point that his mom was trying to cover his mouth with her hand. Good times! Although I can't really fault him as the carousel went a LOT faster than I expected. So much so that Miss G gave a good hurl pretty much as soon as they got off. Looks like she'll be staying on dry land with mom and dad next time there's a deep sea fishing adventure...

After Lark we crossed the Mississippi back to the Wisconsin side for lunch at - where else - a cheese factory. While the kids got their toys at Lark, the dads got their treats at Nelson.

Hard enough to get three moms to look at the same camera at the same time, but three babies too?


Who wants lunch?

And even though we were there "for Superbowl", we packed up the car early on Sunday as the next day was Matt's first back at work and Genevieve's first at daycare. Before we left though, there was mandatory cuteness among the kiddies:

4, 8, and 13 months...in other words, least to most mobile


Ethan: Dude, gimmie 5!
Miles: Whoa, there's someone on my left


Genevieve: I should hike my pants up
Miles: Whoa, there's someone on my right!


Ethan: Jazz hands!


Genevieve: He he, I hiked my pants up again
Miles: You people are exhausting me
Ethan: I'm pretty much done, can we go?


Ethan: Hey, I can walk! Peace out, suckers

Alas this cuteness was the immediate end to the fun. Earlier in the weekend I thought I heard a little rasp in G's cough, and by midday Sunday she was hacking like a veteran smoker. By the time we got home the nose had joined in the fun, so I did something yesterday that I've never done in my working life: took a sick day. Off to the pediatrician we went and sure enough the little kitten has RSV which is a nasty, nasty virus that is loading her up with fluids and mucus. Yesterday was pretty rough (as the pediatrician put it, probably the "worst day of her life" - how sad is that???) and while the symptoms are definitely still in full force today, she seemed to be happier. A huge thanks to Grandma & Grandpa Maio for taking time out of their work weeks to watch her while we work. I would take more sick days but this virus can linger up to two weeks and Matt is going to be out of town all next week for work so I will either be home with a sick baby or I'll be getting her going in daycare for the first time. Talk about the one-two punch! Until then we are spending lots of time in the bathroom with the shower on full blast, loading up on baby Tylenol, and putting Vicks vapo-rub on anything that will stand still. My house smells like a vapo-bomb went off. Stay tuned for more updates, and now you should go wash your hands (I wouldn't doubt that the virus may be strong enough to be electronically communicable).