Cuteness!

I really think she gets cuter by the day :)

Marin's New Favorite Word

Sunset Beach Trip

We were able to go to Sunset Beach, NC again this year with my parents. Marin really loved being in the water, but was only able to tolerate being on the beach for short periods. She really hated the sand and sunscreen in her face (I don't blame her). Overall, she did really well. I am sure she will enjoy it more in the years to come.

Fourth of July

In July, I took Marin to Cincinnati. Adam and Meredith were in town and they hadn't seen her since last November. We had a great trip and we were so glad we were able to spend time with both families. The most exciting part of the trip was when Adam proposed to Meredith on the 4th of July!

Marin's First Baseball Game!

My friend Dawn came to Cleveland this past weekend for an Alumni event and stayed with us. We went to the Indians vs. Reds game on Saturday night. It was Marin's first baseball game! She wasn't really interested in the game (obviously), but enjoyed walking around the stadium and eating vanilla ice cream. She was terrified of the fireworks that went off every time the Indians scored...thank goodness they lost :)

New shoes and a stroller!

Here's a video of Marin walking in her new shoes with her stroller outside. She was doing so well! Hopefully she'll be walking on her own soon!

Marin's First lollipop!

Marin's first lollipop! One of the servers at our favorite Mexican restaurant gave her one. She loved it of course!

Giggles

I took this video the other night because I realized I didn't really have a video of her laughing yet. Listen closely at the end and you'll hear why Patrick and I started laughing...Yes, we have a 5th grade sense of humor :)

Spaghetti!

Up until last night, Marin really hasn't liked tomato sauce or anything with tomato in it. I made spaghetti last night for myself and of course, as usual, she scoots over to me and pulls up on my knee and literally begs for a bite...reminds me of the dogs. She pants and smacks her lips until I give in. I gave her bite thinking she would spit it out as she always does, but instead she swallowed it right down. After a few bites of mine, I made her her own plate. She loved it! She also enjoyed picking the plate up and licking it. I'm so glad she finally likes spaghetti....it's my favorite dish!

Here's a picture of Marin in her 6-12 month outfit she got last summer (it was big on her then). Now she is 14 1/2 months and it fits perfect. She's our little peanut :)

This past Saturday I helped host a baby shower for one of my good friends here in Cleveland. Marin of course was there and seemed to enjoy the shower, although it took her a while to warm up. After the shower we let her play with all the leftover balloons. We had to videotape it, it was so hilarious. Enjoy!

Marin sitting face forward in her car seat for the first time at 14 1/2 months old. She loves it!

These past few months have been both fun and also frustrating. Fun because of all the new things Marin is doing, and frustrating because she has been having ear problems that have sent us to the doctor 10 times since February! She developed an ear infection in her right ear back in February and was put on oral antibiotics. We had a follow up appointment a few weeks later that revealed the infection was still there. We went through two more rounds of oral antibiotics when they decided it wasn't clearing up enough. Next step was antibiotic shots three days in a row, which finally seemed to do the trick although I think an ENT visit is in our near future.

This past month Marin finally hit 20 lbs! We were so excited to finally turn her car seat around so she could face forward. That will definitely be a plus when I am driving down to Cincinnati...she will now be able to see the DVD player :) Marin isn't walking yet, but she's cruising on the furniture and she is able to stand for a few seconds on her own. She walks well when we hold her hands. She's a master at crawling and scooting and gets into plenty of trouble even though she can't walk yet! She is babbling constantly now. We can't really understand what she is saying except for mama, dada, and woof. She has long conversations and seems very intent on what she is saying. I tried to video tape her several times, but she always stops talking when she sees the camera. She's been doing better with associations lately. When she hears the water running she starts rubbing her hands together (check out the video below) and last night she saw a commercial with a dog in it and said "woof!". It is so fun watching her learn and figure things out.

Marin's First Birthday!

March 13, 2009 was Marin's first birthday. Patrick and I drove to Cincinnati that day, and had a little party for her the following day. We went to Johnny Rockets with both sets of grandparents and Michelle. Marin did really well and ate her first chicken fingers. She fell asleep in the car back to Patrick's parents house, so we let her nap for a while before we started the party. When she woke up and saw everyone, she got a little shy and upset but eventually warmed up. She received lots of beautiful gifts and really enjoyed playing with her new doggie from Geri and Joyce, her stroller from Granny and Pappy and her drum from Grandma and Grandpa. She also enjoyed eating her cupcake that I made for her out of babyfood. Marin had a wonderful first birthday and we look forward to celebrating many more!