Maggie's Favorite Things

[11/26-So, I started this and then never posted it because I needed to finish and add a picture. Finally got to it. Ta-da! Here is Maggie on 11/24 at library time with her edible turkey craft.]

I can't believe my little Maggie is already eighteen months. I thought I would commemorate the day by telling you about some of her favorite things:

the library--Maggie loves our weekly library time. When they announce it is time to march in for storytime, Maggie squeals with excitement. She loves singing songs, listening to the story, doing the dances and parachute, and marching in the marching band with the other toddlers. She especially loves the parachute now, though she used to be terrified of it. After toddler time is officially over, she loves to stay at the library looking at books, coloring, doing puzzles, playing on the computer, and wheedling the children's librarian into reading her another story or letting her help check out books. She rarely wants to leave when it's time, but finally leaves blowing a kiss good-bye on her way out. And she LOVES to read her books when we get home. She is already a little bookworm. She loves both being read to and looking at books on her own. If I am busy doing something, she will sit on the floor paging through books and "reading" aloud to herself.

getting pretty--Maggie loves to put on bracelets and necklaces...especially if she can get ahold of some of mine. She also likes to stand by me when I put on make-up and have me help her "put on" chapstick and blush. One of her favorite places in the house is her the cabinet under my bathroom sink where I keep a box of body splashes and lotions. She carries the bottles all around the house with her, trying to get someone to help her spray some fragrance on herself.

the phone--Anytime the phone rings, Maggie puts her hand to her ear (her self-created sign for phone). She enjoys jabbering on the phone when she is in the mood or just listening with a big smile. She was really excited when we found an old cell phone she could carry around. The toys just weren't cutting it anymore.

bags--Maggie loves taking things out of bags (especially the diaper bag, which can be a pain when we're trying to go somewhere and she's taken everything out), putting things in bags, and carrying bags around the house. Yesterday, she insisting on carrying the library bag out of the library even though it was much too heavy for her, so she was kind of dragging it behind her the whole way on the ramp. Today, she wouldn't leave the house for playgroup without the little purse someone in our ward made her with her cell phone inside. It was funny because she has never insisted on bringing a particular toy with us somewhere, but the purse had to go. She wouldn't even let me take it off her arm to buckle her in.
"thank you"--Maggie does not have many words yet, but "thank you" or "dant-doo", as she says it, is the most popular. She regularly gives thanks for getting help she wanted or receiving requested items. Sometimes she even thanks the person in advance, hoping to get her way with whatever she is wanting. I feel her manners are off to a good start, as are her manipulation tactics.

blowing kisses--Ever since Maggie learned to blow kisses towards the end of the summer, she has all but stopped waving good-bye in favor of blowing a kiss towards whomever or wherever we are leaving. This seems to leave a warm feeling with relatives, shopkeepers, and random strangers alike.
pushing things--Maggie's dad got her a doll stroller for Halloween as a present to both me and Maggie. Maggie had played with her Aunt Rachel's before at Grandmommy's house and loved it and Mike thought it would help the long indoor days go by a little faster. He was right. Her stroller is by far her favorite toy. She loves wheeling it around the house and if she is getting bored I just say "Where's your stroller?" and off she goes to find it. It's also good preparation for being a big sister. She also loves to push her big umbrella stoller (when she's not in it) or the shopping cart when we are out and about. She is a big helper.
helping--Maggie is still my little helper. She loves to help me with little chores around the house. Doing laundry and putting away dishes are still her favorite chores and she also is getting good at putting away toys and wiping tables. She also enjoys helping her dad. She planted some bulbs with him several weeks ago and is looking forward to seeing them come up in the spring.

ducks--Maggie knows a lot of her animal sounds at this point and has gone through phases of favoring different ones. First it was "moo" (pronounced "ooo"), then "meow," and now "quack" (pronounced "kack"). Thus, ducks are her latest obsession. We will be reading a book and all of a sudden Maggie will start going "kack-kack" (for some reason, Maggie's soft little voice gets really loud for this particular animal sound); then I realize there is a little duck somewhere in the picture I didn't notice. It's fun how observant little children can be.

sweets--Candy, or "coh-kgoh" as Maggie says, is definitely a favorite ever since Halloween. Maggie definitely likes her sweets and requests "coh-kgoh" often, pretty much whenever she is hungry or sees some candy somewhere. But luckily, she is a good eater and is fine if we just keep it out of sight or offer her some fruit or real food if it is meal-time. She loves fruit just as much as candy and when I'm cutting some, she will stand under me at the counter hoping to get a taste. And of course, being my daughter, she loves ice cream and gets excited whenever she hears the word. Mike told me that at nursery, there was a little toy holding a pretend ice cream cone and Maggie got really excited and licked it, thinking it was real. I think she was rather disappointed when she realized it was not.
nursery--Maggie loves going to nursery at church. She started going a few weeks early, by special invitation, and has loved it ever since. I am told she is a calming influence in there.

music--Maggie loves music. She likes to listen to me sing lullabies as she gets settled down to sleep, she loves to dance to music on the radio (her favorite artists include the Wiggles and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir--I never knew "How Firm a Foundation" could be a dancing tune), and recently she enjoys humming little songs to herself (though I haven't been able to recognize any of her tunes yet, I think they're originals). She also loves to page through the hymnal during sacrament meeting at church and sing along with everyone else or sit at the piano and play to us, turning the pages of whatever songbook is on the piano to find a new tune as needed.

I know I am biased, but Maggie is the sweetest little girl I could have asked for. She is such a good little friend. She is beautiful and loving and smart and has so many endearing qualities and habits.

This is probably why I don't blog about her too much. It's too easy to start bragging. Let's just say, she makes her dad and I extremely happy. We love her so much and look forward to continuing to watch her and her sweet personality develop. We feel so blessed she is ours.