Maylee Skiing

Knowing Maylee likes to play in the snow and loves to wear adult shoes and does well walking in them, we decided to have her try skiing.  We got the smallest set of old skis my dad had and Maylee had great interest in them at the house.  Next, we had her try it in the side yard and driveway.  She liked it but the equipment was too big. 

A couple of weekends later, my parents came up to go skiing with Maylee and me while Kev was in Boise for a meeting.  I rented the smallest skis and boots for Maylee.  She did two runs and then a break in the lodge with Papa while Mom and I skied.  After lunch, Maylee did four more runs.  Using sign language, she would tell us if she wanted "more" or if she was "all done."  For run number five and six, Maylee was trying to hook her boots in the skis on her own because she wanted more.

Heading to the lodge...the sled is a must for hauling Maylee and gear

Maylee thinks, "Ammie, why are you having me put all this stuff on?"



First run...(16 months old)

Here are more pictures from the first trip.  Notice how she tends to look down because she likes to watch her skis go over the snow.  She also usually makes a "motor" noise when we go fast.  After lunch we tried the harness on her to help her stay more upright, but she still likes to look down at the snow.

Headed back to the car...

We decided to go ahead and buy Maylee her own equipment vs. renting and I found a decent deal on ebay.  We figured this set should last her through next season and possibly the one after that too, plus can be used for future sibling(s).  Kev was bummed that he missed her first time skiing so the next time we went his back and legs got a turn of skiing with her.  :-)  Again, Maylee loved skiing and beat her previous score of six runs by doing sixteen on this day!  She kept telling us "more."  Kev's back and knees were done after twelve runs and he skied over to the sled with Maylee to end the day.  She saw him take his skis off and said "No Dada! More!" Then she started shuffling her skis back over to the rope tow so they did four more runs.

She LOVES to go fast!!

We also taught our cousins Emma and Sarah how to ski this season, and brushed the rust of their dad.  :-)

Aunt Patty watched Maylee most of the times we skied with the girls and Wes.  However, the first time Emma and Sarah came with us Maylee joined them on the bunny hill.  Maybe in a couple more seasons, Maylee will be on the big hill with them.

Random January Pictures of Maylee

It has been fun watching Maylee grow and learn.  Maylee figured out how to put her helmet on and likes to pretend to ride Cinder like a horse.  She can be very systematic with her toys.  Notice how she lined up the Little People on her bike - all her idea.  Our wine cabinet in our kitchen has been empty since she started crawling and reaching for bottles, but now she lines up her Little People and other toys in the cabinet.  Maylee loves the snow and likes to watch Dada shovel snow off of the deck.   Our neighbors gave Maylee a deer hooded towel for Christmas.  After bath time, she likes to be a deer or a duck with her towels. 



Potty Training - 16 months old

One Saturday in January at the age of 16 months, Maylee yelled "potty" and ran to the bathroom.  After I picked up my jaw off the floor, I followed her to the bathroom, sat her on the big potty, and nothing happened.  I put her diaper back on and within a couple minutes she did go potty.  After a week of her saying "potty" while she was going in her diaper, we decided to buy Maylee her own potty and start potty training.  These pictures were taken the night we bought the potty (hence the potty being in the living room and Maylee being allowed to teach her baby how to go potty).

New Years 2011

We celebrated New Year's at Ammie and Papa's annual party. 

Those special preemie twins and their family joined us too.  Great Grandma Doris is holding sleeping Tessa so Maylee thought she needed to also been in Grandma Doris's lap and rocked to sleep. 

Later, Charlie was up and ready to party into 2011!

Maylee and the twin's brother Ethan got to hold the clock to prove they stayed up until midnight.  Just like Christmas, Maylee was a party animal with not much for napping during the day.  Again, she had a great attitude and deserved to sleep in but another molar came that night!  Poor girl! 

Days after Christmas

We spent some extra days in Kamiah between Christmas and New Years.  Here are a few pictures from those days...

Maylee likes to walk in other people's shoes now...

 Playing with Dada's old toys...



Playing with Mama's sewing scraps...

Grandma Shirley and Papa Dean gave Maylee a baby doll.  It surprised us how much she knew about taking care of the baby.  She got her changing pad and diaper out for the baby independently.  She also got a tissue to blow the baby's nose.  Later, she put the baby in the portable high chair and had to feed her. 



We also met up with some of Kev's high school friends who have girls around Maylee's age...



Christmas in Kamiah 2010

After Christmas with Wendy's side we traveled to Kamiah to celebrate Christmas with Kevin's side.

We woke up and pretended it was Christmas again...

Thanks Tabitha for the really good cookie!



Maylee's cousin got this same toy from Santa and played with it Christmas day out on the farm.

She was very excited to get one too!

Of course the new clothing from Uncle Craig and Tabitha had to be put on right away...

Grandma Shirley's reaction to the book we gave her...

Stocking Time! Maylee enjoyed pulling each little gift out one at a time.  When she unwrapped each one, she had to drop each ripped piece of paper off the edge of the coffee table and onto the floor before ripping another piece.  This was a long process due to most of the wrapping paper pieces she pulled off were small.  I was suprised by her thinking because no one told her or showed her where to put the wrapping paper.  She was systematic with all the pieces going on the floor one at a time! (Thank you to Aunt Karen for teaching me how to make the quilted stockings.  For those who haven't seen them, I have made each of them to have a snowman on the front to represent each of us.  Kev's snowman is hunting and my snowman is skiing.)

Maylee knew just how to use her new play cell phone...

Of course, Cinder scored with presents too!  She loves to unwrap them and we often had to guard Maylee's presents because she was so slow about opening them and Cinder was anxious to show her how to rip the paper off fast.