Angry Baby

Mairead is becoming more and more independent, especially when playing with her toys. She'll hang out in her boppy and play with her Winnie the Pooh or her hippo. She also likes to explore things with her hands and wrap her fingers around things. These are all good signs that she is developing her fine motor skills. She spends a lot of time underneath this baby 'gym,' and yells at it quite a bit. There is a mirror in it and she can see the 'other baby' in there. Apparently, Mairead gets very angry that the baby won't talk to her, so she yells at her!

My First Christmas

Mairead celebrated her first Christmas and enjoyed all of the family traditions in Lowell. On Christmas Eve we got all dressed up and we went to the children's mass at church. Then, we headed over to Danny and Katie's.

At Danny and Katie's house, Santa made his annual appearance to give all the good little boys and girls a very personal visit. Mairead was very happy to see him since she was such a good girl this year!



On Christmas morning, Mairead got into the spirit by wearing her Santa outfit and opening gifts. Her favorite part, though, was the wrapping paper.


My Nana gave her her first official Red Sox hat! And, she gave her this amazing horse. Mairead loved it... almost as much as we all did!

On Friday, we head to New York to celebrate Christmas with Grandma, Grandpa Ivan, Aunt Ryane, Uncle David, and of course, Rachael! Mairead is so lucky to celebrate her first Christmas twice!

Merry Christmas!

We will be celebrating Christmas twice this week-- first in Lowell with Nana and Grampy, and then in New York with Grandma and Grandpa Ivan. Mairead is very lucky to have two celebrations for her first Christmas!

We wish all of you a very happy, healthy, and safe holiday, and hope that you all enjoy the time you have with your loved ones. We know that we are very lucky to have our beautiful little girl here with us this year, and for many years to come. We are definitely looking forward to seeing how she grows in 2008.

2007 was an amazing year for us and for our little girl, though it did come with some scary moments. In her short life, Mairead has already overcome such a difficult experience, and she is an incredibly happy and healthy little girl. We hope that she will continue to thrive and to impress us with all that she does.

We will definitely be posting Christmas pictures soon, and we hope that you will check back to see them. In the meantime, Merry Christmas to all of you and Happy New Year!

Rolling over!

Mairead has really been practicing, and is pretty successful about rolling over. She gets pretty proud of herself when she does it!

Happy Birthday, Steve!

Mairead's uncle, Steve, is celebrating a birthday today (December 17), and Mairead just wanted to send along her birthday wishes. Happy Birthday, Steve-- hope it is a good one!

Mairead is having more and more fun in her bouncer. She has learned how to get it bouncing pretty well, even hopping on one foot. Her physical therapist had her doing all kinds of exercises today, and she is doing very well. We are happy to see her gaining skills, strength, and coordination.

My first tree!

This week Mairead helped to decorate her first Christmas tree. She loves the lights and tries to grab all the ornaments. She really had a good time! We had some extra time to decorate because we were snowbound due to the 11 inches of snow we had!

Christmas Tree and Snow!

This past week was definitely a busy one! After Monaghan family tree decorating we still had our own tree at home to decorate. First, we had to go out and choose one for Mairead's first Christmas. She liked tree shopping-- I think she liked to be outside and she loves going places. Her dad took this picture of Mairead and her mom while we were looking at trees.

This week also brought the first real snowstorm of Mairead's life. She is too little to play out in the snow so the only part of it she saw was in the car for our 2 and half hour drive home from Brockton (usually 25 minutes). She was so good though, and didn't complain about it at all! Luckily, we all made it home safely in what people were saying was the worst commute since the Blizzard of '78. If you want to know anything about that blizzard, ask my nana, she'll tell you. Anyway, we don't have pictures of Mairead in the snow, but I do have one of the house... it definitely looks a lot better than it did last winter! Dave did a great job of putting up the lights and wreaths. We will post indoor Christmas pictures soon!

My new jumper

Grandma gave Mairead a jumper that used to belong to Rachael, and Mairead loves it! She has figured out how to use her feet to hold herself up and to bounce around in it. Thanks, Grandma! Also, if you click on 'comments' at the bottom of each post, you can leave us your messages if you like. We'd love to hear from you!

Tree Decorating at Nana and Grampy's

We headed to Lowell on Friday night for Monaghan Family Tree Decorating. Mairead got to see Nana and Grampy, and her aunts Jen and Katie, and her uncles Brian and Steve. She also met a minature version of Santa.

After 'talking' to Santa for a bit, we decorated the tree. Katie showed Mairead all of her favorite ornaments, and her godfather, Brian, got her up close to the tree. Mairead loved the tree-- especially all the lights. We are really excited to enjoy Christmas with her. She is a very good girl, so I'm sure that Santa will put her on the 'Nice' list.

A Visit to BHS

On Friday, Mom picked up Mairead from daycare to bring her for a visit to Brockton High School. She was very friendly and had a good time meeting all of Mom and Dad's friends at work. She even met some of the students. Everyone was happy to see her because she looks so different from the last time she was there.

Cereal...Mmm...

Mairead had a big day today-- she rolled all the way over by herself, AND she tried cereal for the first time!

4 Month visit to pediatrician

On Tuesday we went to the pediatrician for Mairead's four month check up. The doctor said she is doing very well, which is always a relief to hear. She doesn't seem to show any ill effects of the stroke, and we are so thankful for that. She is meeting all of her milestones and growing very well. So well, in fact, that she is in the 75th percentile for weight, and the 90th for height! I guess she is going to be tall, like her dad. We don't have to go back to the doctor until she is six months, and we don't have to see the neurologist again until she is about 9 months. Everyone is really happy with how she has grown and recovered. She is a tough little girl!

December 1

Today we returned from New York after celebrating with the family for Mike and Andree's wedding. Mairead is a bit too young to be out so late partying, so she stayed in Massachusetts with Nana and Grampy. Since so many people asked about her, and since Kandi's blog is such a great idea, we wanted to set up one for Mairead, too! This way, we can share pictures and updates with you. I'll try to update the blog often because she is changing all the time!