Maya got all dressed in green for St Pat’s day and probably got pinched anyway (it’s the cheeks).

Maya’s First St Pats – 4 months old

Last night, we took Maya to a game night that friends of our host on a monthly basis. We tried this out a couple months ago, and essentially she either cried or slept the entire time. What a difference two months makes (go figure). She was downright charming this time, looking around, smiling, letting people hold her. We’ll have to get her out of the house more. We don’t want her to be an antisocial hermit like her parents.

The important thing about this game night though is that we made the Smitten Kitchen Irish Car Bomb cupcakes. This was a special request from Sean, and he doesn’t make too many, so I spent a couple of my precious hours making cupcakes for him. The cake part of these cupcakes is Chocolate Stout Cake made with Guinness. They’re filled with irish whiskey-laced ganache and topped with Baileys buttercream frosting. I don’t care too much about the ganache or the frosting, but that cake, oh my gawd. It was so moist, and the chocolate had a pleasant bitter edge from the beer. I’m already thinking about baking a cake, and we haven’t even worked our way through all the cupcakes yet.

Maya on the changing pad – 4 months old

Completely unrelated to St Pat’s … I know this is odd, but one of Maya’s favorite places to be is on her changing pad which is currently located on a bathroom counter where she can look in the mirror. She spends a lot of time grinning at and talking to the baby in the mirror. Add to that the joy of being footloose and pants-free, and you have a very happy baby.