Sunday, September 5, 2010

Why can't we just pick some apples like normal people?

Seriously.  We are not fruit hoarders . . . how did we end up with this many apples?


I'm going to plead ignorance.  I had no idea how many apples would fit into a bag.  Plus, last year we went to a different orchard---where you paid for a (much smaller) bag, and then got to fill it.  This place (Bishop's Orchards, which was great) weighed the bags, but we still overfilled them.  This is slightly over 2 bags of apples.  Very poor planning.   I'm hoping that applesauce freezes well, because Maya likes it.  Any other apple ideas?  Feel free to add them as a comment!

Anyway, we met my mom, sister, brother-in-law, nephew & niece at the orchard and had such a fun day!  Here are a few pictures:

                                          Emmie: Maya, I will set you free.
                                         Maya: You know how to work the straps?  I've been trying to figure it out
                                                    for months!

Cousin love (and tickles)

Complete pictures from the day are up on the blog's Facebook page (where photo memory is unlimited!).  Remember, you don't need to be a Facebook user to see our fanpage, it's public---just click on the picture at the top of this page, or google " 'Uncommon Sense Blog' Facebook".

Sudden Progress!
Right before we left my sister's house, Maya did 2 amazing things!  First, she signed "milk"---she's never done it before, and it's always amazing to see her sign something new.  I've been signing milk daily for months and months, and never even seen any indication that she cares when I sign it---then suddenly, boom!  She does it!

Annnddddd, then we decided to hand her her bottle (she gets one before naptime and one at bedtime) in the car to see if she could try to drink it on her own---and she did!  She needed a little help as the milk level dropped (we may need to switch back to smaller bottles that would be easier to tilt up), but she was able to hold her own bottle in the car.  I was a little bit giddy :)


Very slow progress:

On the opposite end of the progress spectrum, physical therapy type progress is slow going.  The great news is that Maya stands a lot more---she pulls up quickly and cruises well.  You guys get to see a lot of pictures where she looks like a stable, standing rockstar.  Like this:


However, in reality, she often looks like this:

(I like to think of this move as the "teapot" from the line "tip me over and pour me out" in the teapot song)

That's Miss Maya mid-fall, while cousin Collin thinks "What happened?  You were just standing so normally!".  She stands (and moves) with her knees locked---so the smallest wobble can send her tumbling.  She also tends to fall over when she gets excited (which is pretty darn cute, actually).  She'll be sitting on the floor and I'll say "Do you want to watch Signing Times?"---and she'll get all excited, start to laugh and wave her arms around, and topple right over :)     We're working on it. 

5 comments:

kris said...

Looks like fun times for the Gaeckles and Nieders. YAY, MAYA!!

I'll suggest apple crisp. It's what I did after my last (overzealous) apple picking experience. I made a few trays and gave most of the apple crisp away to friends. Have Dave bring a tray or 2 to school...you will be everyone's favorite (though you probably already are)!

Lisa said...

to be fair, we did try to point out at least once or twice that you guys were getting a LOT of apples! and you said that you wanted 'a lot.' Mission accomplished! Hehe.

We had so much fun yesterday I'm glad you came!

grandma said...

had such a fun time and it was so nice to see all the little grandkids playing and having fun!

Sarita said...

You found the perfect solution! Apples for the teachers on the 1st day of school. Thanks, Maya!

Alexs Auto Merch said...

I am a big fan of your writing style and information. Keep it up, admin.
This is my humble request to kindly write the next post on the topic"2021 Safety Precautions for Kids in Cars", Thank you so much.
2021 Safety Precautions for Kids in Cars