playing, parties, and penguins

Last weekend, Mae and I met her grandma and grandpa at the Children's Museum. After a quick lunch, we headed straight for the kids' play area. I put her in the super padded baby area with all the soft toys and she laid completely still and stared at me like I had insulted her. She was much happier when I picked her up and took her around the bigger kid areas. Her favorite area was the music room where there were lots of ways to make loud noises. I think we have a natural-born percussionist! She also loved and/or hated playing in the waterfall. She squealed with joy and/or terror!

Later that day, we tried out the baby swing for the first time. Mae LOVED it.

On Saturday, we went to Teal & Jon's gender reveal party and were thrilled to find out they are having a little girl! We also got to meet Courtney and Luke's little boy Everett for the first time. Mae liked playing with the other kids, but was much more interested in stuffing pink confetti in her mouth.

This past Friday, Mae had her 9 month check up. She gained almost a pound since her last doctor visit and finally passed the 15 lb mark! Her new pediatrician seems a little more relaxed about her weight and happy that she's stayed on one growth curve since about 6 months. Mae enjoyed her celebratory dinner of turkey burger bits, pieces of hamburger bun, shredded potato, and chunks of honeydew! We are still feeding her baby food, but offering bits of our table food during meal times. She also likes trying to eat things like dust bunnies and leaves.

We are trying to get a handle on the recent stretch of crazy weather. On Friday it was 83 degrees, and Mae enjoyed playing in the grass. The next day it was only 36 degrees! We went to the zoo to see the penguin parade where the penguins walk from through the zoo from one exhibit to another. It was so fun to see these waddling birds up close!