Maile Girl here. I need your help. I’ve just spent the last week at Grandma Jill and Grandpa Mike’s house and I have to admit I’m a little confused. Basically, I’m just not sure anymore what a “toy” is. Sometimes I see something and start playing with it and it’s fine. But other times, I get in trouble for playing with things that look exactly like toys. Let me see if I can explain with a quick example.
Grandma Jill and I playing legos...
So in this picture I am playing legos with Grandma Jill. Notice how the legos are about the same height as me. Grandma Jill encouraged me to “touch” the legos and even when they fell over and broke apart we all had a good laugh.
Now look in the picture below:
Grandpa is saying to me: Maile that is not a toy, do not touch it.
See that bike right next to me? It’s just about my size again. Looks EXACTLY like a toy. Guess what? According to Grandpa Mike, not a toy. In fact, he got really anxious when I got too close to it. Even worse, it’s in this room with all types of things on the ground that look JUST LIKE toys, except they aren’t and I can tell nobody was pleased when I was checking things out.
Grandpa Mike, I really, really want to touch this bike.
by Papa K on November 29, 2010
We had a bit of an adventure with poor Maile Girl on Sunday. Mommy was eating cheerios and peanut butter and Maile was on her lap. Maile decided she wanted to try one. We actually discussed quickly whether we should let her and decided that it was a safe a place as any to let her try.
Well, we didn’t have to wait long for the results.
I don't like how I feel right now.
Within a few minutes Maile started coughing a little bit and then really rubbing at her ear. I thought something might be wrong because I remembered that if I eat something I’m allergic to, my throat itches and rubbing my ear sometimes helps. We kept an eye on Maile and about ten minutes later her face started getting a bit red. From there things happened pretty quick – the left side of her face got really swollen and hives started breaking out all over her upper cheek and eye area. We immediately gave her Benadryl and then debated what to do. We put a call in to my old pediatrician, but decided we didn’t want to wait around and headed to the hospital.
Maile at the hospital - this was pretty much the peak of the reaction...
They saw us right away at the hospital and we quickly determined that we hadn’t given Maile enough Benadryl. They gave her a bigger dose and then we waited for about 45 minutes. Luckily, the hives started to go away and the swelling went down a bit. Maile never had any breathing issues and we got the all clear to take her home. We continued to give her Benadryl every 6 hours for 24 hours and by this afternoon, her face looked pretty much back to normal.
I want to stress that Maile is fine now. She was clearly uncomfortable during the reaction, but I honestly think it was harder on Mommy and Daddy than poor Maile Girl. Definitely a scary situation. We’re going to be talking to our normal pediatrician to determine next steps. Obviously, Maile won’t be having peanut butter any time soon – not sure what other precautions we’ll need to take. Also want to mention that it was really nice having Grandma Jill with us to keep us calm!
(Click here for the video.)
by Papa K on November 28, 2010
When we arrived in Boston, Grandma Jill was all excited to give Maile an early Hanukkah gift. Grandma Jill had been searching far and wide to find a doll that looked like Maile – meaning that she wanted Maile to have a hapa doll. She finally found the perfect doll – it was a Lots to Cuddle Babies doll. As you are about to see, these dolls are scary realistic (some might even say creepy).
Hey Maile, check it out - Grandma Jill bought you a present...
Fun, fun, let's open it...
Mommy: Wow Maile, it looks like your very own baby! Maile: Do all babies come in boxes for Hanukkah? Mommy: Umm... let's go with "yes" for the time being...
Hey Mommy, this doll kind of looks like me...
Seriously, this doll looks just like me. Come check it out.
I mean, it's uncanny.
I love my Mini Maile!
Grandpa Mike, let's show Mini Maile how much we love her...
Maile and Mini Maile
A short while later…
What do we do with this thing? You got me.
by Papa K on November 24, 2010
Apparently, just shouting at your 16 month old to “be careful” while playing on a moving escalator is not the proper way to prevent an accident. Lesson learned – and Maile Girl was absolutely fine. Whew.
(Dad note: Despite our worries heading in, the red eye actually went amazing. Probably the best flight we’ve had with Maile since she turned 9 months old. We got to the airport about an hour early and Maile ran around all over the place tiring herself out a bit. When we got on the plane, it took maybe 20-25 minutes for her to go to sleep, but once she was out, she pretty much slept the entire way to Boston. It was a bit uncomfortable for Mommy as she was shifting and tossing in her sleep a bit, but really no worse than if she was awake and squirming all over. One good flight doesn’t a rule make, but we may have stumbled on to something here…)
(Click here for the video.)
by Papa K on November 23, 2010
Dear Daddy From 6 Months Ago –
What were you thinking when you booked a red eye flight back to Boston for Thanksgiving? We’re all curious.
Thanks,
Present Day Daddy, Mommy and Maile (about to head to the airport)
Seriously.
Maile Girl here. My mommy and daddy rock. I mean they are normally pretty cool, but on Sunday they took it to a whole other level.
First, we get on a bus – and well, you know how much I love buses (and the wheels going round and round, and the people going up and down, the whole thing…)
In any event, we take the bus for a little bit and then Daddy tells me he has a big surprise for me and then we walk into this BIG room and then someone hands us these black glasses (that looked oddly familiar) and then I look up and I see this big screen that looks just like the screen when I watch the Yo Gabba Gabba TV shows … (breath) … and THEN Daddy tells me I am going to get to meet DJ LANCE ROCK and the Yo Gabba Gabba crew! We were at Yo Gabba Gabba Live! (A little confusing because they always seem “live” to me… but I wasn’t complaining.)
The show was awesome – they dropped like a million balloons from the ceiling and they had bubbles (I almost caught two) and these long colored ribbons that mommy said were “streamers”. And all my favorite Yo Gabba Gabba characters were there and they sang and danced and THEN Biz Markie came out and did his beat of the day (Daddy really liked that part).
So fun! Thank you Mommy and Daddy!
Me and Mommy before the show starts - I was so excited I could hardly sit still!
Check it out we're a family of DJ Lance Rocks!
The show was A-Mazing - I don't think I blinked the entire time...
Oh, I almost forgot. At intermission I met this really nice boy sitting right next to us. I chatted him up a bit. He's a bit older. Then Daddy came and got me. That's all.
by Papa K on November 21, 2010
Daddy, I gotta say, legos are WAY more fun now that I understand that you can actually build things with them (instead of just breaking apart things that you build)!
Legos were one of my favorite toys as a kid, so I probably jumped the gun a bit early with Maile Girl and got her first lego set awhile back. Up until today, Maile “playing” with legos mostly consisted of (a) dumping them all over the ground, (b) watching as Daddy built something and (c) breaking apart whatever it was that Daddy just built.
Happy to say that Maile has now figured out that she can actually build her own creations with legos. We had a lot fun this morning building a car and then a house. Here’s a video of how the car came together…
(Click here for the video.)
by Papa K on November 18, 2010
Last Sunday a Curious George exhibit opened at the Contemporary Jewish Museum. The actually opened the gallery an hour early and invited kids to come meet Curious George, make some art projects and basically have the run of the place. It sounded fun and figured it would be a good excuse to put Maile back in her super adorable Curious Maile outfit to meet a new friend.
Maile had a great time at the museum, but I think it’s fair to say she wasn’t quite as excited as we were about meeting Curious George himself…
Hmm... I'm not so sure how I feel about this Curious George guy. What type of money doesn't have a tail?
Okay, Curious Maile let's go meet Curious George...
You know what, Daddy, I think I'm good right here.
Scratch that. GET ME OUT OF HERE!
Maile, there is nothing to be scared of. Scared? I'm not scared. Well, maybe a little. Look, let's have mommy come with me, cool?
Is this close enough? Can we just take the picture and get out of here? Sure thing, Maile Girl, sure thing.
by Papa K on November 18, 2010
Have you heard of the latest new art gallery in San Francisco? Perhaps not. Here’s a peek:
Maile in her new art gallery (a.k.a. our living room ... err Maile's play area)
Megan has been doing lots of art projects with Maile and Hannah. Every day when we come home from work there is a new addition to the gallery. I had Maile give me a tour and show me what they’ve been up to:
Hand Stamping Trees - apparently these are mostly Hannah's because Maile wasn't psyched about getting dirty with the paint...
Leaf Stamping - Maile was more down with this one...
What else can one stamp? Apparently apples... Apple Stamping!
Maile, is that a Turkey Plate you have there? Yes Daddy, and I glued the face all by myself!
Daddy: Hey Maile, how many of those door hangers you think you can pump out a day? Maile: The feathers can be tricky, it can take a few hours, including time for naps and everything. Daddy: Okay, well, get crackin' we have lots of holiday gifts to bang out...
(Dad note: Special thanks to Megan for working on all these cool projects with the girls. They love them and they definitely make the house quite festive!)
by Papa K on November 17, 2010
Tonight I was putting Maile in her jammies. We were in her bedroom. I had left the music playing in the other room. You could barely hear it, but all of a sudden, Lady Gaga came on, Maile’s ears perked up and she started doing a little shimmy on her changing table. I finished dressing her, brought her into the other, restarted the song, and below is what transpired…
(Dad note: I realize it was only a few months ago that I published the original Maile Gaga, but does it really ever get old? Also, I did add the song in using iMovie, but only because it was hard to hear on the video – trust me it was playing while she was doing her little booty shake…)
(Click here for the video.)
