Trucks

Maryam loves her Tonka Trucks! We keep some on the back deck for her to play with. The boys used to play with these a lot at our old house, but they've grown out of them for the most part.

Ducks

Jim had this idea - he wanted to make a pull toy that was a mama duck with her babies following her. Of course, it would be made out of wood that wasn't treated with chemicals. This is it. Jim designed it so that the ducks wobble as you pull them.

They're made of unfinished pine wood, although if he makes more they'll probably be made from another stronger wood.























Maryam thinks it's absolutely wonderful! She giggles as Jim pulls them around her in a circle. She can't walk yet so she can't pull it.





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Maryam and her daddy with the ducks. I'm quite amazed at how well they turned out, and hope Jim does more.

Nursing gymnastics

Maryam doesn't sit still anymore, not even for nursing. It's gotten to be crazy, how she'll twist her body in weird contortions and still eat.

Maryam is still supposed to be getting most of her nutrition through breast milk, and she still does like to nurse. But I'm telling you, it's a bit awkward when she won't lie still. Even at night, she'll nurse a bit, than try to crawl and nurse at the same time. It doesn't work that way!

She's so proud of herself, and happy. Jim and I often ask ourselves what we did to deserve such a happy, wonderful baby. Oh, just a side note. I measured her thighs today, and they've shrunk from a huge 14 inches to 11 inches. My skinny baby! Ok, so not skinny perhaps. But not as chunky!

Bath Fun

Maryam loves the water. She would sit in the bathtub all day if I let her. We have a nice big soaking tub, and it gives her lots of space to crawl around in. She has discovered the fun of splashing mommy, and gets a kick out of getting as much water out of the tub as she can.
She is such a joyful baby. When I put her in a swing, she just giggles. When her brothers come home from school, she gets so excited her body literally wiggles. When her daddy comes home, she screams (from joy, not horror). She scans the area for anyone who will smile at her, and gives them a huge grin. Life is so full of wonder for my little babe, and life is just good. I pray that this joyful disposition stays with her throughout her life.

Maryam really loves her doggie. Sera is so patient with Maryam, much more so than the cats. Every morning, the three of us go on a nice walk to the park, where Sera chases her ball and Maryam swings on the baby swing. Sera gets sooooo excited, and Maryam just loves watching her. She'll turn her head to whatever direction Sera goes, and gets frustrated when her dog is out of sight. Sera loves Maryam for dropping all sorts of food on the ground. Maryam loves Sera because she's entertaining and interesting. Theirs is truly a balanced relationship.

Maryam is 10 months old today!

One of Maryam's favorite stuffed toys is a frog with one of his legs sewn on backwards. The boys have dubbed him FrankenFrog, and the name stuck.

We tried to get a good picture of Maryam and her bear, but she kept trying to climb off the couch. She is so mobile right now, and does not want to be sitting still next to her teddy bear.

Wayne was pushing Maryam around in her own little chariot, aka laundry basket. She loved it!

I tried to get a nice picture of the kids today. What I got was a picture of Maryam crawling all over Wayne. Aidan looks nice, though!

Maryam is getting two new teeth in. I was watching and feeling for them to come in on top. She has surprised me and is growing them in on the bottom! So in a couple of days she'll have four teeth on the bottom, and none on the top.

Oh, and her outfit is 24 months, and barely snaps at the crotch. And this is with her slimming down with the crawling!

Toys

Maryam has lots of toys. But when given the option, what does she go for? Kitchen tongs, whisks, the cat, and my screw driver! It's her other toys that have me worried, though.

Almost all of Maryam's toys are made in China. There have been so many major recalls lately from major companies whose products are made in China due to lead and magnets. None of Maryam's toys have been recalled (yet), but I'm still scared. Every toy can't be tested. Even bibs have lead in them! I just don't want to take the risk.

So Jim and I have made a somewhat drastic decision to clear out nearly all of our toys that are made in China, with the exception being some stuffed toys and toys without paint or magnets. In some ways, this is good. Maryam doesn't need so many toys, and as you can see in the above pictures, she is fairly happy with whatever she can get her hands on. My intent is to sell her made in China toys to a consignment shop and get one or two wooden toys that are made in the USA or Europe. They're definitely more $$, but at least I'll be more confident with their safety standards.

Wish us luck with this - over 80% of all toys are made in China. Perhaps we're being overly dramatic with this, but I guess I'd prefer to be safe on this one. And it does encourage us to be more particular about what toys we do purchase for her. There are some very cool things out there; they're just harder to find than all of the plastic junk that fills most toy stores.

We're sick

Maryam and I have caught a nasty cold. Last night was the first time in two nights that she has slept for a stretch longer than 20 minutes or so. She had a fever of 102.2 (after medicine), but it finally went down yesterday. Today she is napping much better, but her nose is running a lot.

The boys have been very helpful, expecially Aidan. One of my goals was to teach him how to do laundry this summer. I never got around to it, but when I was sick, he asked to help with it. He now knows how to run the washer and drier, and actually seems to enjoy helping out with this.

Jim has been the best husband and daddy with our sickness. He has taken all the nighttime duties (except nursing), and last night I had two 4-hour stretches of sleep. He took yesterday off so I could rest. He's amazing! Neither him nor the boys are sick with this - they have superior immune systems, I guess. They never seem to get sick, especially Jim and Aidan. I hope Maryam gets their genes for this, but it looks like she has the Chalfant immune system, which certainly isn't the greatest (no offense to any Chalfants lurking out there)!

Inspired by the dog?

In the above pictures, Wayne is playing "fetch" with Maryam (his words). He would toss his watch, and Maryam would crawl and get it, and bring it to Wayne.

The bottom two pictures, Maryam is just hanging out with Sera. Whenever Maryam gets near Sera's toys, Sera drops them, thinking that Maryam will throw them. After almost 10 months, you'd think Sera would get it. I do have to watch that Maryam doesn't chew on the dog toys. She does try!

Swimming pool

It's been sooooo hot here, and today I let Maryam go out in our little plastic pool outside. She had so much fun, until she tried to climb out and tipped out before I could grab her. Now she has a little knot in her head, and I feel horrible. She screamed for about 30 seconds, then wanted to go back in the pool.

New blankie

I just finished sewing a new 'tag' blanket for Maryam. One side is a soft pink fabric, and the other side is a beautiful print. Along the sides I've sewn ribbons for her to play with and suck on.

She's moving around much faster these days, and getting in to lots and lots of things. She is intrigued by my knitting, and partially pulled out some of my stitches this morning.