Always changing...

Yikes!  I’m falling behind with blog updates!!  You’ll have that around the holidays I guess... busy busy busy!!  Thought I'd start with a picture of Malea in her new hat and boots from Ryan and Amanda.  Simply adorable!!!!

I cannot believe how much Malea is growing and changing!  Each day is something new.  She is a strong little girl... let me show you some of her tricks!  She gets up on her hands and knees and looks like she is ready to crawl, but after some hilarious noises and rocking back and forth, usually she just falls to her belly... gracefully : ) 

She also loves to do a “sideplank”.  She holds herself up on her side for minutes at a time... a lot of times she throws her arm up in the air to help balance.  It is so stinking cute, and everybody that has seen it says they have never seen a baby hold themselves up on their side that long.  Sometimes she even mixes in a leglift mid plank: ) 

She loves being on her side though.  I still lay her on her back when I put her in her crib, but she instantly rolls to her left side.  She either does that or rolls over and sleeps on her belly.  She very rarely stays laying on her back when I lay her down.  The other thing she does that is a true testament of her strength is her “bridge”.  If you set her in her carseat when she doesn’t want to be sat in it, she instantly arches her back and pops up out of her carseat quicker than you can get her strapped in.  This photo doesn't even do it justice...

One more move she wanted to show off... I'm not even sure what to call it.  It looks like another yoga move. 

Malea loooves her veggies!  I haven’t introduced any fruits yet, but she is gobbling up her veggies faster than we can shovel them in.  She started with green beans... she loved them... despite the fact that Mom told me AFTER the fact that I was brave starting her off on something green since a lot of babies don’t like the green stuff at first taste: )  She has also had a lot of sweet potatoes and squash, as well as the rice cereal and oatmeal we have been doing for quite a while.  She hasn’t had anything she doesn’t like to date.  I hope she keeps it up!  I’m thinking maybe we will sneak a fruit in there next.  Malea also has been taking a sippy cup for a few weeks.  She likes to hold the one with handles, but doesn’t drink out of it very well.  She drinks better out of the next step up, but I have to help her hold that one quite a bit. 

She babbles all the time, although we are yet to make out a definitive “dada” or something of that sort.  I think the day is near though where she is going to start saying real words.  Her “tired grunts” are classic.  They crack me up every time.  It’s easy to tell when she is close to falling asleep because she makes the same little grunts and noises everytime.  Caught a short bit of it on video the other day after I had her strapped in her carseat.  I have a video of it I will try to upload sometime soon.  My favorite sound in the whole wide world though will always be her giggle... man I love my happy baby girl!!!!

Jodi and Denny were kind enough to loan us Aubrey’s jumperoo, and Malea is a hoot in it!  She gets those little legs a goin and jumps the night away.  She gets so excited when she’s jumping... usually lets out some cute squeals in the process: )  She has already had hours of fun in the jumper, and enjoys playing all the toys on it too.  The funniest part is, they gave it to us a week ago Sunday... so she had a blast in it quite a bit on Sunday... so Monday I took her to Mom & Dad’s and Mom said when she put her in her STATIONARY walker thingy, she started trying to jump in it thinking it was the same thing... much to her dismay, that one didn’t jump with her: )  Many thanks to Aunt Jojo for letting us use the jumper, but there’s just one bad thing about it... she poops EVERY TIME she gets in it.  Apparently gravity has that effect on bouncing baby girls: )  Again, I will post a video just as soon as I can....

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Check out this turkey headband compliments of Aunt Amanda.  Awe!!! 

Unfortunately she wasn't in her Thanksgiving outfit too long because she had a minor blowout.  Oh well...

We went to Joel's aunt & uncle's for lunch and celebrated with his family.  Malea had fun playing with her cousin, Hudson.  He cracked her up: )

She had a good time playing with Great Grandma Vaupel too!

From there we headed to my folks' for supper.  It was really a great day!!  My mom found her the cutest bib for Thanksgiving.  What a little turkey: )

Malea got to experience her first hockey game last Friday.  We went with my cousin Monica who was back from California, my cousin Ash, hubby Nic, and my Godson Ryker, as well!! 

  We had a really good time, and Malea did great (for the most part; )

As you can see, she really enjoyed the action for quite a while (check out those cheeks: )

But she got sleepy at the start of the 3rd period, and crashed on mama.  That all sounds fine and dandy, right?  Well... it was... at first... until the Roughrider's scored a goal and buzzers were blaring, fans were screaming, and cow bells were ringing... all at once.  The poor little thing sat straight up, looked at me with the most terrified look on her face, and burst out in tears.  I felt horrible, but was quickly comforted by the fact that she was back to sleep in a matter of seconds.  Here is a picture from the game of Daddy with his little sugar.  Awe: )

Alright, well I have more to write, but I need to get some shut-eye.  More to come soon!