by Mommy K

So, while I was out on a stroller walk with my daughter around my neighborhood, I noticed some new signposts had been placed along the road.

The signposts say “Sebago to the Sea Trail”, and I had never heard of that, so I figured I’d hit Google and see what I could dig up. Well, to my delight, it’s a very cool project! Here the description from their website, sebagotothesea.org:

The Sebago to the Sea Trail vision is to establish a contiguous trail from Sebago Lake to Casco Bay connecting Standish, Windham, Gorham, Westbrook, Portland and Falmouth. Members of the Sebago to the Sea Coalition are working with partners within each corresponding town to acquire rights of way. Connecting six towns, this trail will provide residents and visitors with wonderful biking, hiking, walking and commuting opportunities.

Their website has tons of info on the trail, including maps. Check out sections 4a and 5 for Westbrook sections of the trail.

I am so proud of Westbrook for supporting and participating in this project! And, I am beyond thrilled that my own neighborhood is part of this! I wonder what interesting people will come through Westbrook as they walk trail all the way to the ocean! Very cool!

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• Family

by Mommy K

So, I feel pretty bad that I missed a couple of days of blogging, but I’ve been so darn busy!

Tuesday night I had an evening work event, so after working a really long day, I just didn’t have the brain power to write anything. Not to mention it was a full moon, so Mary was up practically every hour through the night. Wednesday I was dragging through the day, and Mary had another rough night. Poor girl.

Today I took the day off to take Mary to the pediatrician for a check-up. She’s doing great! She weighs less than I thought she would, a little under 18 lbs (54th percentile), but is a nearly 2 ft and 4 inches high (81st percentile).  While we were waiting for the nurse to get the vaccine shots ready, she decided to play with the paper on the table:

 

 

She discovered that if she pulled on the paper on the table, that more would come out. She must have eaten through a couple of feet of paper while we waited Glad I got a new ‘Raising Readers’ book to try to distract her with

Mary was not a happy camper after her immunizations and was sad and grumpy all afternoon.

 

 

Of course, I did discover another reason why she was so upset this afternoon – her two bottom teeth have broken through!  How did I find this out? She started gnawing on arm like usual, but this time it actually hurt!  This is such an exciting time for our family!

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• Family

by Mommy K

So, my husband and I had the day off today for Columbus day, so it was an awesome treat to enjoy the 80 degree weather here in Maine! Record-breaking heat for October!

Couple of quick thoughts and updates, since I am exhausted and need to go to bed soon.

One of the annoying things about living in this particular city is there is no reasonable way to get rid of large items. We’ve had a broken grill stashed under our deck for about a year. I bit the bullet today, and asked my parents who live in a nearby town, if they could take it to their town dump and toss it. I felt really bad about this, but what else am I supposed to do? The city gave me no option then to have to take my trash to another town to dispose of it properly. No wonder there is so much illegal dumping happening.

So, my preparations for winter have begun. My parents have generously offered to store the containers of my daughter’s outgrown clothes and newborn supplies, so I’ll be slowly sending bins over with Mary this week when we drop her off for daily childcare at their home. They have a lot of space now that all us kids have moved out. In fact, they have prepared a bedroom just for my daughter while they take care of her during the weekdays! It’s so sweet! I love my family!

Speaking of family, my mother-in-law stopped by on her way home from Massachusetts this afternoon. Isn’t it funny that just when you want your infant to show off her mad new waving, crawling, or climbing skills she ignores all your begging and pleading and stares at you with confusion? Yeah, she  totally made me look like a fool for a good half-hour before finally crawling around, waving, and trying t o climb the staircase for Grandma. No, really, my girl can do those things – just on her own schedule LOL!

Mary received a couple of treats with Grandma’s visit, including a pop-up disney toy and a “Pat the Bunny” book. Fun!!

Wow, what I busy weekend! Plus, tomorrow will be a long day, because I am working an open house for my graduate programs at the University in the evening. Gotta hit the sack. Ta ta!

 

 

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• Family

by Mommy K

One of my husband’s high school friends mailed him a birthday present, and a couple of gifts for Mary! Here is Mary meeting Monkey Man for the first time on Friday:

She was concerned with Monkey Man at first, but then she hit him, he fell over, and she saw his tail. She grabbed his tail and stuck it in her mouth, and now she loves this toy. Thanks, Amy!

Today was a very busy day for Mary and I. We did dishes and laundry:

 

We took a trip to Two Lights State Park and played in the sunshine:

Sadly but perhaps inevitably, Mary has gained my dislike for hot weather and my difficulty seeing in bright daylight, which is why she looks so grumpy. My eyes are really sensitive to light, and she certainly has my eyes. However, she made the best of it my pulling up as much grass she she could get her hands on:

And she also discovered that her new shoes taste amazing:

We didn’t end up staying very long at the park, because it was not stroller friendly. I need to look into these things beforehand next time. Oh well. It was still nice to hang out in the grass.

So, we had an hour or two before sundown, so Mary supervised while I cleaned up the postage-stamp sized  yard in front of our apartment:

 

Overall, we had a great day today. Mary took her first ride in her new carseat, which I’ll snap some pictures of tomorrow to share.  Mary’s off to bed, and I am exhausted too. Maybe I’ll turn in early, after I pay a few rounds of “Words with Friends” on Facebook

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• Family