Life with Margo

Grandma Elaine and Grandpa Richard came to visit Margo from March 7 – 16. It was a fun-filled visit. Some highlights included:

Grandma and Grandpa took care of Margo for the full day on Tuesday, March 10, giving Grandpa Jim and Aunt Nora (who normally take care of Margo on Tuesdays) the day off. This was the first time that Elaine and Richard had taken care of Margo on their own (and the first time that they had changed her diapers), but they handled it all like pros — getting her changed, fed, and napped all day.

On Friday, March 13, Elaine, Richard, Maia, and Margo headed to the new California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. The museum is huge (with natural history dioramas, a planetarium, an indoor rainforest, an aquarium, and a green roof) and was very crowded, so the family could only explore a little of it. Most of the time was spent in the aquarium, where Margo was fascinated by watching the fish in the huge tanks. Maia, Jake and Margo will definitely head back there soon to see the rest of the museum.

On Saturday, the whole gang was joined by Grandma Nancy, Grandpa Jim, and Smokey for a trip to Crissy Field. Although the weather was unexpectedly cold, everyone enjoyed walking along the Bay and watching the sailboats.

Elaine and Richard traded apartments with a friend of a friend and stayed in a lovely Pacific Heights apartment. From that home base, they had lots of opportunities to enjoy San Francisco’s restaurants and museums.

Margo was sad to say goodbye to her grandparents and is looking foward to seeing them again this summer in Long Lake.

Things sure are changing quickly. Margo has incorporated all sorts of new tricks into her repertoire in the past few weeks. Here are a few examples:

1) She waves hello when she see you. She does this when Maia or Jake go into her room in the morning or after a nap, pick her up from daycare, or just about any other time that a new person arrives on the scene. If she is particularly excited, she waves both hands.

2) She points at things that interest her or that she wants.

3) She gives kisses (although she seems to have lost interest in this recently in favor of other tricks). She will still kiss each page in her favorite book, Goodnight Kisses, a gift from Uncle Dan.

4) She shakes her head “no” when she is done eating or doesn’t want to do something (like take a nap).

5) She plays peek-a-boo by covering her face with a napkin, bib, newspaper, or anything else she can get her hands on.

With all these new ways of communicating and playing, Maia is certain that any day now, Margo is going to stop reacting like Maia is crazy when she does baby sign language and actually start doing it back.