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Last night we had dinner at Brooke, Ray, and Nash's house. They were so nice to have us over for a celebratory New Year's Eve supper. They actually went to services afterward too. Wow. We had a great time with them.


"Mommy is giving me apples, in honor of a sweet New Year. No honey, Mommy. I'm not in the mood for botulism tonight."


"Nash, you are so good at your sippy. Got any pointers?"








Today, Maya is modeling the sweater dress that Auntie Nora knitted for her, especially for the high holidays. What do you think? She's very talented. Nora, I mean. Maya is talented, but in other ways - like eating, rolling, jumping, and smiling. I can't wait to take Maya to services in her pink dress. She'll be the talk of the city - or the talk of the temple - or the talk of our row in the temple - or at least the talk of our house. Any of those would be just fine.


"Thanks for the dress, Auntie Nora! It's a little big, but I feel so snuggly."


"I'm wearing leg warmers today, because it's crispy cool outside."


"Okay, I'm done here. I'm going to make an attempt to crawl away. Darn. Attempt failed. Maybe later."

Happy Half Birthday, Maya B.!

Today we are celebrating Maya's half birthday (that's 6 months, for those of you who are mathematically challenged). We will be celebrating by taking Maya to synagogue for Rosh HaShanah services. This is a good thing, because we'll get to go to temple, but a bad thing because we'll get to go to temple. Wait - what? Yeah, anyway, in honor Maya's half birthday, we watched the home video of her birth yesterday. It was quite amazing to see our reactions when we saw her for the first time. I guess you could call it surreal. Maya had no interest in the video, and she napped through the whole thing. Right now, she is jumping madly in the Jumperoo. She's also laughing like an evil scientist. It's very cute, but strangely creepy.

"This is my family. Happy birthday to me!"

My First Rosh!

Tonight will mark the beginning of Maya's first "out of body" high holiday season. Last year on Rosh HaShanah, I was about 12 weeks pregnant, but this year, Maya will get to partake in the Jewish New Year festivities. We don't actually have all that much planned. Tonight we are going to eat dinner with Brooke, Ray, and Nash. Tomorrow, we will attend children's services at local reform synagogue. As you can see, Maya is very excited about going to temple.

"Yay Rosh HaShanah! Gooooo temple!"

Snack Picnic

Yesterday afternoon, we took Maya to Castlewood State Park for a snack picnic. We packed our favorite snacks and laid out blankets on the grass in the shade. We fed Maya avocado, while we noshed on crackers, apples, and rice cakes. It was fun. Maya even wore her strawberry bib for the occasion. Maya is doing so well at sitting, we were able to feed her without the Bumbo or the high chair. Go Maya! Oh, and in other fun news, tonight, as I ate dinner, Maya rolled halfway across the family room. Wouldn't it be funny if she never learned to crawl, but if she rolled around instead?


"I need some help with my sippy. Thanks, Daddy."


"It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!"


"You think I'll ever be able to drink out of a bottle like that? You are so cool, Dad."

Guessing Games...

Okay, Readers - I have a game for you. Can you guess which food Maya has all over her face in these photos? Please post your guess in the comments section, and I will choose a winner, at random, from the correct responses. I have not chosen a prize yet, but I will be contemplating my options throughout the day today. Oh, and by the way, that is a straw in Maya's mouth. We've begun giving her water with her food, and she really enjoys when we give it to her through a straw. For some reason, the act of giving her a straw is incredibly entertaining for Kevin and me. You want to give it a try? Maybe next time you come visit (Wow. I'm actually bribing you to come visit, with the possibility of feeding Maya through a straw. How odd).


"Thanks. I was thirsty."


"What did I just eat?"

Big Doings...

Good evening, friends! We're home tonight, because Daddy had to work. We've had a semi-eventful day today. Kevin was home this morning, but we went to Cooperella to meet Brook and Brooke anyway. Unfortunately the morning ended on a sad note, as Nashy has some sort of bug which has him quite under the weather. Get well soon, Nash! After our morning out, we decided to make use of the new high chair. What do you think? She seems pretty small in it. We decided that we'll just pull the high chair up to the table for now. She can see very well over the tray yet, so I think this is best. What do you think (see photo)? In other very cool news, Maya finally rolled from her back to her belly tonight. She's been rolling from belly to back for a few months now, but this is a whole new ballgame. What a tremendous feat! As many of you know, Maya is not a big fan of tummy time, so this rollover was very impressive. Too bad Daddy missed it - hopefully she'll do a repeat tomorrow.


"Yeah, I'm awesome. Just did my first back to belly flip!"


"This is my new friend, Charlie. He's asleep in Christina's Moby, so you can't really see him, but he sure is yummy."


"Feed me. Oh, feed me please."


"Am I cute, or what?"

More...

Okay, here are 2 more of Liz's photos. I'll stop now though, because maybe you're getting bored. We're off for some "coffee talk" at Cooperella this morning. Maya woke up nice and fresh, so it should be a great day (knock on wood).

We have a good camera, but...

...not this good! We got our professional photos back from our friend Liz. She did an amazing job. It was a really crummy day outside, but she somehow made it look beautiful. I'm not going to lie - I was sort of against getting professional photos taken, because we have a pretty good camera, and I take so many photos, so it seemed silly to have someone else do it for us. I admit it though - I was wrong. Kevin and I are somewhat obsessed with the photos now. Here are a couple... I'll post more later.

Maya loves her mommy...

...but not enough to sleep through the night two days in a row. Oh well. Maybe tonight.

A Momentous Occasion...

Hooray! Wahoo! Maya slept through the night last night! Previously, when I said I hoped she'd sleep through the night, I meant that I hoped she'd sleep until about 4:00 a.m. That seemed like sleeping through the night. She did that twice, both when we were in Connecticut, when she'd gone to sleep fairly late. Last night, however, she went to bed by 8:20, and didn't wake up until a whopping 5:30. For those who are lousy at math, that's an incredibly 9 hours, and 10 minutes. Not only that, but she didn't even wake up screaming! She was happy and calm. I am so excited. Now, don't go thinking that I assume this will continue to happen. On the contrary, I'm sure tonight will be difficult. However, now I know she can do it, so I'm holding out hope that at some point she'll do it consistently. I'm so proud of you Maya!

"Grover and I are resting together."


"I know, I'm as shocked as you are about sleeping all night."


"Good kisses, Mommy."

Ode to Being a Babysitter.

Today we looked after Nash, while Brooke went to the doctor. She's due to have her baby in about 4 weeks, so the appointments are getting less toddler friendly. Brook and Brie brought their kids too, and we made a play date out of it. Truth be told, Nash loves his mommy. He missed her terribly, but eventually got over it and had a great time with us. The best part was when she came back. She crept in, and he got so excited, he almost cried. It was adorable. Why am I telling you this? Well, basically, I think Maya will be very attached to her mommy and daddy too. She really seems to enjoy hanging out with us. She's the most snuggly, affectionate, happy little baby. Lately, when we leave her in her room at night to go to sleep, she cries hysterically as we walk out the door. It makes me so sad, even though I know she needs to learn to go to sleep on her own. I know she just misses us. I miss her when she's sleeping too. Maybe that's strange, but sometimes I almost want to wake her up so we can play. Not today though. I'm tired too...


"More peas, please!"


"My hand is flapping around so much, you can barely see it!"


"I'm having a grand old time in my car seat!"


"Good morning, Mommy. I've been patiently waiting here for you. You like my vegetable sleeper?"

Food is Messy

Maya has recently gotten very excited when it comes to food. We usually put her in her Bumbo seat, and bring over a little bowl of food, a spoon, and wet paper towel, for cleaning. However, once Maya sees the food, she gets so excited, she starts flapping her arms and hitting the seat. It's completely adorable, except for the times when she accidentally hits the bowl of food, and it goes flying. Just the other day, the bowl hit the wall, and splattered green beans all over the floor, my pants, the wall, and the kitchen chairs. The only thing that stayed clean was - yeah, you guessed it - Maya. Lucky duck.



















"I'm ready for my tubby, Mama."

The Big Race

Yesterday, Kevin was called into work. What a bummer. Maya and I spent the day together, cleaning the house and running errands. At about 3:30, Kevin called and asked us to meet him at Forest Park to see the Great Balloon Race. So, Maya B. and I dropped everything and went to the hospital to meet Daddy. From there, we walked through the park until we got to the balloon launch site. It's pretty neat - they launch one balloon, and then then the other balloons chase it. When the first balloon (called the "Hare Balloon," since it's usually the Energizer Bunny balloon) lands, all the others try to throw a sack (of rice, or something?) from the air, and make it land closest to the Hare. The one that comes the closest is the winner.

Anyway, Maya came to the event, happy as a clam, but quickly fell asleep and missed the whole race. Go figure. Kevin ate something that was appropriately called a "sweet meat stick," (blech), and then we hit the road. We had a great time!


"Thanks for giving me your tablescraps, Mom. Sheesh. What am I, a dog?"


"Wow! This is so cool!"


"I like the view from here!"


"We missed you, Daddy! So happy you're done with work for the day!"


"Well, I'm done here. Good night."

Hot Air Balloons Everywhere!

Last night was Balloon Glow, which is an annual event at Forest Park, in St. Louis. It's always on a Friday night, and thousands of people gather to see about 50 hot air balloons lit up in a field. It's really a beautiful sight. All of the balloons are really advertisements for corporations, hospitals, airlines, movie theaters, etc. The balloons don't fly during Balloon Glow. They're just sitting there, and you can walk right up to them, which is really neat. Maya was a little angel during the evening. It was very noisy and there were thousands of people around, so I think she was probably very overstimulated by the situation. The second it was over, she completely flipped out - but I guess it was worth it. She didn't seem to care very much about the hot air balloons, but I think she had fun anyway. Kevin and I ate ice cream and just walked around the whole time. We didn't have a chance to meet up with friends, but it was nice hanging out as a family.


"I fell asleep in the car on the way to Balloon Glow, and now I'm all disoriented. Not sad, just confused..."


"Glad I get to hang out in the jogging stroller. It's comfy in here."


"Mommy, you're a master photographer!"


"Mmmmm. It's good to be home and in your bed. Do I have to sleep in my crib tonight?"


"I love when I'm fresh and clean."

Bonjour!

Have I mentioned that Maya loves food? In fact, she hasn't met a food she doesn't like, which is quite nice. Kevin and I are veggie lovers, so we're hoping she'll be the same. Here is a list (in order of when she tried them), of the foods she loves:
Cereal (barley is top notch)
Bananas
Applesauce
Prunes
Sweet Potatoes
Avocados
Peas
Green Beans
We just added green beans to the list yesterday, and it was an overwhelming success. Kevin isn't very neat in his feeding technique though. He needs some work. As you can see in the photos, Maya somehow ended up with a French man's goatee. She probably looks happy because Kevin and I were cracking up.


"Um, Daddy, you realize that if you put that much in my mouth, I'm likely to end up with it all over my face, right?"


"You see? My name is now Pierre."


"I shaved my mustache."


"Clean. String beans are fun."

Fun at DeMun

"Mmmmm. The sunshine feels yummy, Mommy!"













This morning we met Brook, James, and Keira, and Brie and Alex, at DeMun Park in Clayton. DeMun Park is a small gated area that has a big kids playground and a toddler playground. As an added bonus, there's a Kaldi's Coffee right down the block! We all wish it was a little closer to our houses, but that's okay. The kids had a great time playing. Maya and Keira had some back and belly time, and James and Alex made good use of the toddler slide. Let me tell you, the other little kiddos on the playground were super cute. The weather in St. Lou has been absolutely perfect lately, so it feels good to make good use of the sunshine and cooler temps. Now we are back home, just relaxing and getting ready for naptime.


"Mama, I love you. Have I ever told you that?"


"Keira, please come out and play with me."


"Finally! It's nice to have a friend on the blanket!"

Hey Dad!

Kevin came home from his trip in New Hampshire last night. He hasn't spent time with Maya yet, because he got home late, but we sure are happy to have him back. He'll be home with us tonight, which makes us so happy. Maya was such a good girl for the past few days. She's been sleeping great, and has been such a happy camper during the day. What a good girl!

In other news, Maya went to her first Bris today. Mindy and Rich named their baby boy "Corey Lee." He's so adorable. We didn't spend too long at the Bris, but we were glad we went. Mindy and Rich seem to be doing well, although I can only imagine how overwhelmed they must feel. It's like a distant memory to me, but those first weeks are definitely intense. Having 50 people around fawning over your 8 day old baby must be tough. That first week is so exhausting!

Anyway, I'm going to put Maya down for a nap. She's been a strange napper lately. She's been taking 3 short ones a day! In some ways it's good, but in other ways, it's really tough, because I never get my own nap! Selfish Mommy...


"Bye bye. I'm off to get some sleep."


"Please don't bother me while I'm getting in my tummy time."

Brrrrr.

It's getting chilly in St. Lou these days. I guess Fall is on its way. This morning we ventured out to Starbucks with Brooke and Nash. We bundled up the babies and sat outside. I love the fresh Fall air. After the brutally hot summer, the chill feels so nice. I miss New England this time of year. I think we're going apple picking next week, which is so exciting. Anyway, we came home today, and Maya got some exercise in the Jumperoo. I love watching her have a great time. It's pretty priceless.


"Bundle me! Bundle me! Mmmm. You're comfy, Mommy."


"Hi Mountain Man Nashy!"


"This is really fun."


"See me in action!"