Oh, snap!

Things have been pretty quiet around our house for the last month or so; and I mean that in a good way. We haven't traveled for over a month and I think all three of us are really enjoying weekends in our home--cooking, cleaning, the farmer's market down the block, a visit from a friend or two, and lately, Bears games. The slow-pace has been rejuvenating after a summer that came and went before we ever got a chance to go to the pool.

I say "quiet" but I certainly don't mean uneventful. Last weekend, on the official date of Maureen's 11-month milestone, she started walking. We'd seen a few steps here and there, but she was determined to get the remote from Joe's hand--so determined that she walked across the living room for it. It took well over a week to capture this video, but here is the proof:



I'll follow that one up with a new trick that caught us by surprise:



It is hard to believe that we're nearly rounding out a year since our little girl was born. She's darn cute and we're so happy she continues to surprise us every day.

All her yammering cracks me up.

Maureen is really flourishing--it has been an incredible few weeks watching her personality develop and seeing her become more independent. Here are a few more videos from the past weeks:


In our last efforts to enjoy summer at our apartment, we dined al fresco and ate spaghetti. Maureen mastered the art of asking for more AND slurping the noodles.



Our friends Dan and Sandy joined us for a picnic at the Morton Arboretum. We ventured into the Children's Garden and found this marble ball/ fountain thing that Maureen loved (it had water on it, go figure that she loved it!) I would argue that the afternoon was probably more fun for us, the adults, wandering through all the kid stuff.



More from the Arboretum. Maureen the rule-breaker--



And this one is just fun. All her yammering cracks me up.