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Maren rocks the new pigtail look!

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Can't you just picture her as a teenager?

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At the Como Zoo new tropical exhibit. We are looking at a huge pond of cool (and BIG) fish

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studying the sloth

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Sitting in one of the beautiful gardens in the conservatory

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Being nice to the kitty

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Helping Mama dry dishes

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Getting ready to go grocery shopping with our reusable bags

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I think they are all staring at some treats that Maren is giving the kitty

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Having a playdate with friends!

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Maren in Mirror (16 mo).mov

Maren & Daddy Tickling (14 Mo)

This is Daddy and Maren's favorite game!

Thanks Grandma C!

Thanks Auntie Stephie!

Maren Mimicing

Maren Giggling

Mealtime with Maren (10 Months)

Maren Crawling Up Stairs (9 Months)

Giggling Montage

Maren stands in crib

Maren at Piano (7 Months)

Maren celebrated her 15 month birthday on Valentine's Day, and we can't believe how much of a young lady she is!  Maren has never had trouble communicating what she wants, but her vocabulary increases every day.  She tries to repeat words back to us and successfully says "Go, car, mama, dada, bob, and help" while imitating sounds for "Grandma/pa, tree, kitty" and many others.  She knows lots of signs and loves to use those to 'talk' to us.  Plus, she is HILARIOUS!  Maren loves to be silly, read books, push her baby stroller around the house (full of many objects, not just baby dolls), and is especially interested in fashion.  She likes to pick out her clothes each day and investigate our closets.  After a visit to her cousins in CA, Maren is now interested in princesses, too.  She still loves the Imagination Movers but we've found some other great kid CD's that she loves to dance to as well.  We love you, Maren!  

Now that Maren is on the move, she is really thinning out!  I expect this will continue to be the case once she starts walking but our doctor is guessing that she will be a little taller than average, based on the size of her feet and her head :-)  As a reminder, at 6 months, Maren's stats were:

18 lb. 4.5 oz (84.46 percentile)
27" tall (87.20 percentile)
17 3/4" head circumference (97.01 percentile)

Today, she came in at just under 20 lb, which is apparently just above average for a 9 month old.  She has grown another 2" but that, too, is just over the 50th percentile.  However, her head size is literally off the charts.  It was ABOVE the 100 percentile mark!  It's only an inch bigger than 3 months ago (about 18 3/4" now) but apparently that's pretty big. All the better to hold her large brain, right?

She's also sprouted TWO bottom baby teeth this week (which have been giving us quite the trouble at 4 am).  The good news is that she loves, Loves, LOVES to eat - tacos, enchiladas, pork chops, hot dogs, KFC (care of Grandma Olson), and of course any fruit she can get her hands on.  Spinach seems to be her veggie of choice, though she's not picky in that area either.  The only things she has absolutely refused are liver and blackberries.  Not sure what the common connection is between those things! 

Maren is officially able to crawl wherever and whenever she wants!  Apparently, 7 months is a little young for this motion but we're not complaining (yet).  She is still pretty slow about it but she can definitely get where she wants to and get into everything!  Luckily, we don't have alot at her level at this point.

One of her favorite things is to sit behind Jack and grab his tail whenever he wags it.  He's so big that she isn't hurting him, and he very patiently allows her to do it (as long as we're petting him so he's getting attention, too).  Now that she can crawl towards him, though, he usually gets up to move as soon as she's near him. 

We also started swim lessons last week and she LOVES the water!  She is very vocal during our lessons and loves moving around.  She doesn't flinch at all when we put her on her back to float and she has gone under without any complaints.  We did discover that she gets water in her ears, though, so this week I'm going to try a little alcohol & vinegar to help dry them out afterwards. 

Now that it's finally summer in MN, we got a little baby pool and can also enjoy the wading pools at all our local parks.  What fun!!
 

Maren sits up by herself really well (if you didn't notice in the pictures) and likes to practice the crawl position on her tummy.  She gets up on all fours and then kind of rocks back and forth before launching herself forward.  She pushes herself up into a kind of runner's starting block position but hasn't quite figured out how to move, although she goes backward pretty well.  She is very determined and likes to try getting to the objects we put near her. 

She also reaches for EVERYTHING, including our cell phones, keys, and computers.  And she's not shy about expressing her opinion!  We love her little (BIG) personality!

3/15/2010 6:11:55 AM - 002069701872
I love the little grin on her face in the above middle picture!