Carving Her 1st Pumpkin

Maylee wasn't too sure about carving her pumpkin.  She enjoyed herself but didn't want to touch the slimy guts...only the seeds.  She copied me of putting the seeds in the bowl but then she decided to put them back in the pumpkin.  Cinder of course had to be in the action too and couldn't wait to eat some of the carved pumpkin pieces.  Maylee tried saying pumpkin but it comes out as "puh-puh."

 

 Seeds go in the bowl...

 

Seeds from the bowl back inside the pumpkin...

 Stirring the seeds and Cinder getting a bite...

 Sharing with Cinder
(got a new spoon after Cinder licked it)...

All the guts out...time for Mommy to carve it.

Cinder and Maylee checking out the pumpkins on the deck.  Maylee would point to them and say "puh-puh."

 Trying to put the lid on...

Hunting Camp 2010

It was another disappointing year for Kev and elk hunting...all he saw was wolf tracks in seven days!  However, we did have fun camping at hunting camp and Maylee enjoyed walking around and playing with her cousins.  For meals, Maylee sat in her portable high chair in the middle of Grandma Julie's and Grandpa Bruce's camper table...she loved being the center of attention.  The weekend before Halloween, Maylee really liked cousin Sarah's pumpkin that she carved.  We had good weather until the last weekend...taking down camp in the mud is a very dirty job.

(Uncle Wes bought the Baby Ski-Doo hat for his oldest daughter 11 years ago - sister of Sarah in the photo)

A Nice September Day

Maylee is quiet mobile now and exploring all the time!  On this day she enjoyed learning to walk on the slope of our side yard and practice going up and down our steps.  She also loves to swing!

 

 

 

Maylee's 1st Birthday

Maylee turned one on Friday, September 10th but we celebrated in Moscow on Saturday so that our relatives wouldn't have to drive all the way up to our house...plus, people could see my parent's new house.  We went down to Moscow Friday night and stayed up until midnight helping Mom unpack stuff.  Saturday morning I was totally shocked to find Shelly and Brother come out of the other guest room!!  What a wonderful and unexpected surprise!!

We chose a killer whale theme since that is the one thing we know that Maylee loves!  We also gave her a stuffed animal killer whale scented with coconut.

 

 

We put Maylee in a kiddie pool lined with a cheap table cloth (easy clean up).  She was amazed when everyone started singing Happy Birthday to her.  She put her toe in the cake first and it took her a while to realize she could eat it.  After she ate (mostly played with) her cake, I wrapped her up and took her straight to the tub.  She had a blast!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

After her bath, she went right back to playing and entertaining her 30+ guests!  It was a great party and she was a trooper to have a great attitude the whole time!  (The nap right up until party time helped.)

 

 

Maylee also enjoyed the chocolate chip cookie that Kathy W. gave her...

 

 

2010 BBQ Days

We went down for BBQ Days to visit with family and so Kev could see some old high school friends who were in town.  We pulled into town 10 minutes before the parade started. Maylee enjoyed watching the floats...check out her facial expressions!  Maybe next year she will understand the excitement of gathering candy.

Maylee with Paternal Great-Grandparents

Wrestling with Uncle Wes and cousins...

Where's Aunt Patty???

 Maybe she will make it to her 26th class reunion...Parade starts at 11:00 every year! :-)

WALKING!!

Maylee started officially walking on August 24th!!  On Friday, August 17th I was working in my classroom to have it ready before we went over to the wedding.  She surprised me by using a bear crawling position to stand up without using anything for help in the middle of my room! Then she would take one step forward to reach a table for treats that I set out for her.  On the 24th we went to Moscow and stayed the night at Wes & Patty's house because Cinder was staying with them while we went to the wedding.  Maylee must have been excited to see her cousins because she was showing off how she could stand on her own and then would take two steps towards them!  At the hotel, she reached a high mark of 11 steps before falling.  On Labor Day weekend, she reached a new high of 28 steps and is getting faster!  Now, she is picking up speed, waddling all over the place, and loving it! The one negative she is finding about walking is Cinder's tail wagging height...it is right at her head level and sometimes takes her down.
We put a poll up on our blog when Maylee was just a couple months old for people to vote whether they think she will walk before she turned one.  The results were 63% thought she would walk before her birthday so most were correct!