Meulendyke Family Adventures: Just Another Day at the Park

Just a small update, compared to the last. Sorry, but in the last two weeks, I've only taken about 70 pictures. We haven't been up to too much. John started teaching on Monday, and I think he's gratefully to be back into his schedule, but also missing the relaxation of the summer. He had his first day of baseball practice today, so Maggie and I have more baseball games to look forward to.

I have been applying for part-time jobs. I've applied to a number of them, but I'm feeling picky and wanted for the right one. Unforetunately, I can't be too picky or wait too long. We would like to move out of this apartment eventually.

Maggie and I have been spending a lot of time outside walking and playing at the park. Daily, we walk (even Maggie walks) to the park around the corner, and before school started we would walk over to the playground at St. John's to visit John. Maggie especially likes the St. John's playground because there are more pieces to climb on. She is a monkey! But now that school is back in session, there are too many big kids to play there during the week. Maggie won't move, she just stands there and stares at all the kids.

The first few pictures are at St. John's. Maggie can now go down the slides all by herself, sitting up. (For the last few months, she was going down on her belly.) Then, once she gets to the bottom, she tries to climb back up. Unless of course it is the big, spiral slide, then she runs around to the stairs to go down again. I would say she's fearless, but lately she gets really freaked out by loud noises (like the Harley that regularly cruises down our street). Although, that has gotten much better lately.

Maggie enjoys the Merry-Go-Round also. She runs to the middle and stomps her feet to make loud noises.

Maggie is also becoming (more) independent. She refuses to crawl up and down stairs, but instead insists on walking up. Usually, she needs one of us to hold her hand, but at the playground the railings are just her size.

We had a rough week a couple weeks back. Maggie got her first molar. It was a hard week of very little sleep, plus at the same time she put herself on one nap a day. We spent good, long parts of the day snuggled up on the couch.

Another big step Maggie's taken is she has switched to the big swings. She no longer likes the baby swings, and luckily there are two big swings that are very low to the ground. She has only fallen off once, and it was a pretty mild fall. She also likes to push the swings herself (which usually makes her fall down) and push her stuffed animals.

The one big problem with the big swings is that she drags her toes.

Maggie has all of a sudden become very attached to a few stuffed bears, two are Bearista bears and one is a Beanie Baby. She carries them around the apartment and takes them with her wherever we go. She also feeds them her food and drinks and has recently learned how to soothe them if they're upset. (She pats them on the back and rocks them back and forth - adorable!)

Here she's pushing the bear.

This may have been right before she fell, but I can't be sure.

Liek I said, Maggie is a monkey! She will climb anything and everything, her favorites... the chairs and the step stool. She climbs the chair by the computer every chance she gets. The other day I was doing the dishes and heard a banging. She had climbed on the chair and was playing with the drawers and the computer.