a visit to the moa

Greta and I met my friends, Rhiannon and Sarah and their kids at the Mall of America last Wednesday. I love taking Greta to the MOA because she loves to people watch and is often lulled to sleep by all the noise. She usually does pretty good at the mall for several hours which gives me lots of shopping time.

We all met at Legoland and it was super busy!

Greta's first time at Legoland. She wasn't too impressed.

She met Sharky from Underwater Adventures. At first, she was curious.

And then had a meltdown.

We had a delicious lunch at The Rainforest Cafe.

After lunch, we said goodbye to our friends and did some serious shopping.

I think we were both exhausted by the end of the day.

We've got a little over a week to rest up before our next trip to the MOA with our friends, Johanna and Harry. I think we'll be ready.

greta's 1st christmas

Greta had a wonderful 1st Christmas and was incredibly spoiled. We spent the holiday in ND with Chad's parents and had a great time.

Greta opening a couple gifts at home before Christmas.

She is obsessed with paper so she was thrilled with opening gifts and ripping the paper.
So serious.

The 3 grandkids on Christmas eve.

Sofie & Greta

Greta kept wanting to put the paper in her mouth.

Grandma and Grandpa with the grandkids.

Our happy family!

Greta checking her stocking on Christmas morning.

A new hat from Santa!

Greta was 10 months old on Christmas Day!

It was magical to see Greta at Christmas this year.

merry christmas from our family

I hope to have pictures from Greta's 1st Christmas posted on the blog soon.

so big

Greta is growing and changing so fast. I know I keep repeating this on practically every post but it is just so true. I keep a list of "Greta's firsts" and I was looking at the list today and can't believe how much she's changed in just the past 2 months. It was just 8 weeks ago that Greta started clapping or just a month ago she started crawling. Chad often comments when he comes home that Greta has changed so much just from the previous day. I'm so glad I've been able to see all these changes first hand and give her lots of praise for all the new things she is learning every day. Greta's new "trick" today was putting her hands above her head when I said "How big is Greta? So big!". I just started practicing this with her yesterday and she quickly started mimicking me today. She first did "so big" when Chad was home tonight so I'm glad he got to see one of her "firsts" too. Now, I need to get this new trick on video.

Here's how a typical morning starts at our house. Greta likes to dig in her toy bin and pull out toys to play with.

So smiley before class.

Whoa!

Big girl!

Yesterday, we went to Eagle's Nest with our mom's group and then had lunch with everyone at Perkins. Greta did really good at the restaurant but we missed most of the time at Eagle's Nest because she took a longer morning nap than usual. Greta still usually naps 3 times a day but the morning nap seems to be her most important. If we can get a good morning nap in than the rest of the day seems to fall into place.

Sofie also had a playdate yesterday with her boyfriend, Charlie.

Greta trying to pet Sofie.

It is not easy getting a good picture of 2 dogs and a 10 month old.

Besides bringing Charlie over, Nana Carol also brought some fun Christmas gifts for Greta. Greta loved my bichon calendar.

Her new thing is biting her bottom lip.

Showing me all the puppies.

Greta and Nana Carol

Today, we had a playdate at Barnes and Noble with a few moms from our baby class. Afterwards, Greta and I spent a few hours at the mall trying to find some new glasses for me. She offered little help and I think I need to bring Chad with tomorrow night to get his opinion.

Happy Wednesday!