Where's my Baby? In the toddler room!!

So first, I'll get the health stuff out of the way. Felt pretty good all day, took a long morning nap after dropping Mari off at daycare but was able to hit the pet store (so Ollie-dog would not die of malnutrition) and a leisurely stroll through Target before picking Mari back up. Now, I've got the chills again and my temp is over 100, but thankfully the other symptoms are staying away. So maybe I just overdid it...I'll rest more tomorrow.

But on to the fun...

I dropped Mari off at daycare this am, my niece Madi arrived just seconds ahead of us, so I put Mari on the floor with Madi and they starting playing...around us were babies screaming everywhere. I asked the baby room teacher (is that what you call them?) if they had some "new arrivals" and she said they had several (and they looked pretty young). I joked, "well Mari's laid-back, do whatever you need to with her." Melissa looked at Mari and Madi playing on the floor and said "if all the kids were like those two, my job would be a breeze." What a great compliment!!

So anyway, when I returned I walked into the baby room and couldn't find my kid!!! I said hi to Madi who was trying her best not to take a nap and Melissa said, "oh, Mari's over the wall now." (Kind of like being over the hill??) The toddler room is separated by a short wall with a doorway that they keep gated...this allows the kids to transition back and forth and helps with child/staff ratios. They moved several kids over within the last few weeks and I knew Mari's time was short but.... So SAD!! But she looked like she was having a blast with all the new stuff to play with. I guess Miss Madi is the queen bee in the baby room now! She's starting to really recognize me when I come to pick Mari up and it is so sweet to get a grin out of her from across the room. She loves her Auntie Jill! I'm sad the two got separated but it will be VERY soon and Madi will be "over the wall" too.

So in celebration of Mari's big day in the toddler room, I decided it was time to jump full-force into the table food world. We have been working on table foods (green beans, carrots, pears, peaches) for a couple weeks just sporadically but I haven't been ambitious enough to get to crazy. So tonight, we tried a Gerber Graduates Pasta PickUps...beef and tomato ravioli, along with green beans, and had some applesauce (which I threw in some chunks of apples) for dessert. She rocked it!! It was so cool! For the first time, we had dinner together. Mari is so demanding about her food--keep it coming fast and don't stop--that trying to eat at the same time is impossible. It is also sometimes difficult to eat in front of her even if she's just eaten so I usually have to wait until she is down for bedtime to eat. So tonight, we pulled up to the dining room table and ate dinner together. I was very impressed by how messy she got (considering the ravioli is self-contained) but also impressed that she didn't get one piece on the floor.

So, as her 1st birthday comes looming closer, we are growing up so fast it is crazy. Not to mention that the toddler room must be a happenin' place because she fell asleep in my arms at 6:15 tonight while watching Max & Ruby (Mari NEVER falls asleep watching TV).

Only one cute picture to share, more soon as I continue to feel better and more energetic. BTW, tried on Mari's Easter dress the other day...let's just say it is a good thing Easter is this Sunday because her fat little Buddha belly isn't going to let her wait much longer on it!