Snow Days in Maine!

Here are some photos from this lovely week in snowy Maine.

First of all, Sadie loves the xylophone-percussion set her uncle Preston gave her.  And we love how she looks in her splendid Christmas day outfit.

And here are four generations of Sadie's ladies (and an uncle).  So nice to see them all together.

And here is Sadie's first time playing in the snow.  She is wearing a full snowsuit that makes her look like a little pink parade float.  Although she barely touched the snow herself, she made a stinky-yuk face while her mother and uncle pulled her around in the sled.  She hasn't embraced snowy fun yet it seems.

And here are daughter and mother looking fresh and beautiful out in the snow.

Happy Holidays!!

Happy Holidays from the whole family!!!

A Winter's Tale

It is a regular Winter wonderland up here in Maine and Sadie is having a lovely time with her grandma and great grandma and uncle. She took in quite a haul on Christmas morning and has been playing with all her body new toys for days.
More photos to come.

Little Trooper

Sadie took a spill in the house on Saturday and cut her forehead pretty badly. She is fine and, as you can see, in her usual silly spirits, but it was a scary morning. The nurse at the pediatrician's office was able to take a look and thought Derma-bond would be sufficient.  It was great that she didn't need stitches and that we could avoid the ER. So they glued her up and sent her home. She seems to be on the mend. 

Sunday we invited friends over for brunch. They brought their terrier Einstein over, who got a little yappy around Sadie. It was nothing dangerous, but we were nonetheless pleased to see Jasper come instantly to her defense. Sadie rewarded him with a snuggle. 

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Victoria Haynes
victoriahaynesonline.com

It's Fun to Play at the.....

The first winter with a baby was hard for it's own reasons. But this winter brings it's own challenges now that Sadie is mobile and needs lots of playtime. It has only recently dawned on me that we have a toddler, and with that title comes exciting new play options.

Behold: the YMCA!  Three days a week the gym is reserved for open play group, and kids can go run around on mats with safe toys. We went this morning for the first time and it really wore Sadie out.

Friday we went to toddler and mommy yoga, also at the Y. The yoga part was nominal, but they put toys in the middle for the kids to play with, and we sang songs and incorporated the kids into the moves. Definitely a nice (and free! With membership) option for a cold, rainy day.

The other great thing about the Y is that they have free childcare so parents can work out. You just have to remember to sign up a week in advance. We stopped using that for a while because Sadie was more anxious leaving me, and also I couldn't plan around her erratic naps while she was transitioning to one nap a day, but now it's time to try again. 

We realized in California how nice it was to get Sadie around other kids, so I am going to make an effort to do more activities like this. One advantage if indoor stuff over the playground is that the kids are sort of forced to socialize rather than just run around each other. OK, end of advertisement for the YMCA.

Back to Silliness

We are settling back into our routine, which means Sadie is up to her usual antics. She has taken up the harmonica (I'm working on getting video) She also managed to get a selfie of her feet in the carseat. Enjoy!



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Victoria Haynes
victoriahaynesonline.com

A few more Thanksgiving pix

Here are a few more photos I took over this long, lovely holiday weekend.
It would be hard to overstate how much Sadie has grown just in the week we have been here.  Suddenly, she is no longer parallel playing - she has begun playing with people.  She loves pulling the hula hoop around and making me roll it for her so she can run and bring it back.  She tells Grandma Vicki to sit in her little chair just so she can push her back out of the chair and then laugh gleefully (it sounds much worse than it is).  She walks through the swinging louvred door and then waits quietly just on the other side of the door until we go find her - then she laughs gleefully.  I can't do her justice - she has suddenly become a playful little girl and it is a joy to hang out with her and play.

Thanksgiving III: Cousins on the Lawn

Somehow the cousins got the idea that it would be fun to make a pile of leaves for Sadie to play in.  She was not as enthusiastic about that idea.