Party Time

Last week Barry’s parents came to visit Mags and see what she has been up to. Right before they arrived Maggie seemed to be pretty grumpy and her behavior was suggesting that she might need a little shut eye.

Once Greg and Linda arrived, Maggie was all about putting on a show – happily smiling and sing songing her way around the house. Nobody ever said that the child wasn’t strong willed and full of her own ideas.

She pulled out all her tricks and her and Greg got to recreate  their special mirror game – minus Greg’s massive beard, of course.

Before they were even out the door, Maggie had fallen asleep in my arms. She surprises me with how much of a people-person she is, always wanting to be a part of the action and interested in what everybody is doing.  I can hardly wait to see what this looks like when she starts talking.

Miss Busy-Body-I-Can-Walk-All-By-Myself

We’ve had a shift in the last two days. Maggie has become Miss Busy-Body-I-Can-Walk-All-By- Myself and the world is her oyster. We went to R.E.I the other night and she was all about exploring all the latest outdoor gear. She nearly went with Barry while he took one of the bikes for a test ride, and while we were checking out she ‘rearranged’ all the pens and brochures that they had nicely organized.

Then we went to Storytime at the library, which Maggie typically loves, but today she hardly had any interest in the books or songs. Instead, she wanted to motor around the circle and poke all the other kids, drink from their water bottles, happily scream or knock on all hard surfaces. On one hand, it was amazing to see her curiosity; but on the other hand, I wonder how many kids she really needs to poke and windows she needs to pound on.

We eventually went to the store to get bagels, vanilla and a few other things we were in need of. I forgot our grocery bags in the car and didn’t realize it until we were at the checkout, and we’d made it home before I realized that I had forgotten the bagels and accidentally picked up Pure Almond Extract rather than Pure Vanilla. Granted, I can’t blame my forgetfulness on Miss Busy-Body-I-Can-Walk-All-By-Myself-Girl. No, Sir.

But the fact of the matter was, that by the time we got home and unpacked there was no way that I was loading Maggie back into the car just to get some bagels and vanilla. She just had too much business to take care of at home, too much ‘organizing’ and ‘rearranging’ to do. It seemed that Mags got wind of the huge coupon craze happening and tore into the pile of coupons we got in the mail, as if each and every one was addressed personally to her.

It was like a Perfect Storm: Miss Busy-Body-I-Can-Walk-All-By-Myself & tons of pieces of paper. (Don’t forget about the graham cracker caked to her face for dramatic effect!) I was able to unpack everything and attempt to restore some sense of order to the trail that we’d abandoned earlier in the day and Maggie was able to have a coupon themed party in the kitchen.

And before we knew it, Barry was got home (and he brought bagels….I love that man!) and joined the party. Miss Busy-Body-I-Can-Walk-All-By-Myself greeted him and promptly took off down the hall to explore some other, undiscovered area of our house, leaving a dusting of coupons in her wake.