Maryam and her brothers

We have an old "Little People" toy that was the boys' from when they were younger. Every once in awhile, they'll sit down and join Maryam as she plays with it. Granted it's not really gentle (the Little People usually end up throwing each other off the roof or running each other over with the ambulance), but they have fun time and Maryam gets a kick out of it.

We've had to take away the Hot Wheels Maryam was playing with because I'm concerned about choking hazards, so I wanted to pick out a new Little People toy for her. I let the boys choose, because I wanted them to be able to play with her. We decided on a very cool Castle set we saw on the Toys R Us website, and made a trip out there. Unfortunately, they didn't have the set we wanted. I did pick out a pink castle and some dinosaurs Aidan liked, but the cool castle will have to wait until her birthday, I guess. Wayne spent a significant amount of time playing with Maryam's new pink castle, ceremoniously tossing the royal family off the turret and having them get attacked by the dragon. Boys... such strange creatures.

Maryam can now consistently pull herself up to her feet. Wayne got her giggling so hard that she knocked herself over, though.

I can't imagine raising my little girl without her older brothers. What a boring life she would have. What a boring life I would have!

Maryam's newest hairstyle

So what do you think? She didn't recognize me when I had it on, and had this blank look on her face, but when I took it off, she was all smiley. Silly baby.

Today was Aidan and Wayne's birthday party. Wayne invited three little girls,and when Maryam woke up from her nap, she had their undivided attention. Jim thought it was cute and took a picture. One of the girls kept following me around listening to the baby monitor, she was so anxious for Maryam to wake up so she could play with her.

Water Works

Maryam has discovered water, as in, the dog's water. She was never really a splasher before. In her baths, she wasn't one to get mommy all wet. This morning, though, I looked over, and she was splashing in the dog's water bowl. I grabbed the video camera I keep handy for purposes such as these, and got it on tape. She eventually tipped the entire bowl over, and slid on her belly through it, whining because she couldn't crawl on the slippery surface.

In her highchair, she continued having fun after lunch. I put her cup (not a sippy) on the far edge of her highchair tray, confident that she couldn't reach it. Seconds later, I turn around to see she's dumped the contents on her tray and herself and is happily splashing in it, eating soggy Cheerios and playing with the empty cup.

A Tale of Two Dollies

Our house currently has two dollies in it.

The yellow doll is mine from when I was a baby. The paint is coming off of her head, she has a dark mark on her face from marker, and she is dressed in a very ugly yellow outfit with a hideous collar. She is stained. Actually, it might not even be a she - it looks quite gender-neutral.

The doll in pink is new. She's actually quite cute in person (the picture doesn't do her justice) We bought her for Maryam at a very nice, small toy store that is stocked with wood toys, cool puppets, and other nifty non-Toys'R'us toys. It wasn't cheap, but we decided to get a nice first doll for her. We splurged. Perhaps we shouldn't have. Because....

Which one does Maryam prefer? The old yellow doll-baby, of course. Last night, as Jim was putting her to sleep, she would not let go of it and took it to bed with her. When you hold out both dolls, she'll lunge for the yellow one. Not the new nice pink one. The ugly yellow one that is over 31 years old.

She has never been attached to toys up until this point. I just wish she had gotten attached to something a little bit more cute. Pink baby is sitting here with me, and yellow baby is upstairs with Maryam in her crib, keeping her company. They're sweet together, but between Maryam and yellow doll-baby, Maryam is definitely the cutest.

Looking Back - 5 months through 9 months

Maryam is 9 months old today! She looks so big (and bald) when I compare her to her newborn pictures. She is the joy of my life, and I love her more than I ever thought possible. I have been waiting to be a mommy my whole life but never did I expect it to be so fulfilling.

A Look Back - newborn through 5 months old

I'm so glad my

sister Annika suggested blogging about Maryam - not only is it fun to take pictures and post about what's going on, it has held me accountable for documenting her growth. Since Blogger doesn't allow me to post more pictures at a time, I'm cutting this post in half. These are the first few months of her life. Amazing, isn't it?

You can't make me take a nap!

I usually nurse Maryam and then lay down with her to get her to go to sleep, and when she falls asleep, I transfer to her crib. At least, that's how it used to work. Now, I nurse her, and she coos, giggles, cries, crawls, climbs all over me. She actually pulled herself into a tripod shape this afternoon, and managed to stand up. So much for napping.

She is now all over the place - pulling her toys off the shelf, pulling up on her climbing wall, crawling after me or her brothers. Nothing or no one is safe. And she is so proud of herself!

I don't know if I should give up on naps for the time being. She napped in her carrier on my back when we were at the zoo today, and she did get a short morning nap when her daddy walked her to sleep before he left. But these afternoon naps are so hard, and she is so resistant. I truly feel it is because there is so much going on in her development. She actually keeps herself awake lately by blowing raspberries. I'll spend 45 minutes trying to get her down, and she'll sleep for 30 minutes, if I can get her to sleep at all.

I guess if I had just learned to crawl and was trying to walk, I wouldn't want to waste it sleeping, either. And she's just so cute when she does it - she'll look over at me and give me a huge grin. My baby's turning into a toddler!

Maryam's Moving

Ok, the little bugger can crawl now. Forwards and backwards, for real this time. She crawled across the room at a friend's house today to get to a bag. She wants to get to everything. Anything anyone has, she wants, and she wants NOW. She takes after her mommy in the gift of patience :)

Crawling....sort of.

Maryam is getting around on her own. It's mostly backwards still, but she has managed to go a couple of feet forward on her own. The other day she woke up from her nap and when Jim came in to get her, she was sitting up. She's also managed to pull herself up with her toy basket. She can also roll and roll and roll. She does this mostly during diaper changes.

But the best news of all is that last night, she slept for 5 hours straight! It was miraculous and wonderful, and probably a fluke. But both baby and mommy woke up in good moods.

I've also discovered the joy of hanging out clothes on a clothes line. Yes, a joy! Our electric bill has gotten quite high due to the AC being on in the hot weather, and diapers get all nice and white when hung out in the sun (it also kills bacteria that can make the diapers stink). So we've put up some line on the corner of our fence, and I started to hang up diapers. Now I've moved to hang up other clothes, and I love it. It feels productive and earthy and deviant. Deviant because it's against our homeowner's rules. But I feel like it's for a good cause, and we have an 8 foot fence. The only neighbors who can see it have a pool, which is also against the rules.

Mommy's new haircut and other more exciting things

Maryam loves to pull hair. She especially loves to pull my hair. She'll even use it to pull herself up to standing, the bugger! And in this awful Ohio heat, I decided that enough was enough and got it chopped. I love it - it feels so cool, and my hair no longer serves as a rope for my daughter, seen here eating toast.
This summer, the boys went on safari, hunting the great wild animals of the Harmon Household, using only a Starwars light beam gun and a baseball bat. Maryam helped by holding a miniature lion she caught and chewed on. Note the hats. It's vital, I've been told, to wear hats on safari.

Maryam went to her first drive in movie (seen here with her brother Wayne). We saw Ratatouille - Maryam slept through the entire thing. That was a very fun family movie night, even though it got a tad chilly in the end.

I woke up to this image on my camera. Jim takes the morning shift at our house, while I sleep in blissfully until 8:30 or so. And what does he do with my precious baby? He puts her brother's underwear on her head. HER HEAD! At least it was clean. And she obviously doesn't seem to mind one bit