One Year, and a Day.

Back to normal life again. We didn't do much on Maya's actual birthday, except go to her doctors appointment. Dr. Putt Putt had very good things to say about Maya. She weighs 19 pounds, 5 ounces, and measures at 29 inches. That's the 22nd percentile for weight, and the 47th percentile for height. Very respectable numbers, don't you think? She got 3 vaccinations, and also got her finger pricked for the first time. Needless to say, she was not a fan. It took the nurse about 5 minutes to get the sample she needed from Maya's finger, and Maya was a little irritated. Well, make that hysterical. Anyway, the rest of the day was full of naps, cuddles, and playtime. Today, we got back to normal life again. Only 363 days until Maya turns 2!

"I'm a big girl. I even have my very own toothbrush!"

"See? I have my own tube of toothpaste that I like to carry around the house. If you're wondering about that long cord, it's the vacuum cleaner. Mommy vacuums every day, in case someone comes to look at the house. She's a cleaning machine these days!"

A Little Cake Video

I just realized we have the whole thing on video!

Our Little Birthday Girl.

I really cannot believe that Maya is ONE!!! I'm so proud of her first year of life. We had a great party for her yesterday. Many of her little friends joined us at Coldstone Creamery for ice cream, cake, and playtime. I think a fun time was had by all! These photos are a little jumbled (timewise), but you'll get the idea. I'll let Maya narrate the party!

"Mommy took this picture before the party started. Christina and Ed and Charlie were there a couple of minutes early to play!"

"Mom, you know I don't wear hats. What are you thinking??"

"Fine, I'll wear this hat, but I'm only doing it for Daddy, okay?"

"Alex loves ice cream. He even got to make his own cup!"

"There were 2 cakes at my party. One was a big cookies and cream cake, and the other cake was just for me! It had pink icing and vanilla cake. Yum. I ate it all myself!"

"Nash made his own strawberry ice cream creation!"

"Mommy and I shared some raspberry sorbet. Mmmmm. This was before the cake."

"Here's Daddy, making his coffee ice cream with chocolate shavings and a giant mountain of Reeces PB Cups. He loved it."

"Mindy, Rich, and Corey were there too, but Corey is too little for ice cream. Poor guy."

"Daddy, what is this thing you're blowing at me? It's ridiculous!"

"This is my big cookies and cream cake. Everyone was already so full from making ice cream, we still have almost the whole thing in the freezer!"

"I'll start by sticking my fingers in it. That's how I usually eat."

"When they put the cake in front of me, I started eating it with my fingers, just like a lady. Soon, I decided to just dive in with my mouth. Yum. Frosting is delicious. For real."

"This is so good. Jealous?"


"Nash, that looks like food coma. Am I right?"

"Yummy."

"See? I'm one, so I can feed myself."

"Mommy, how do I look?"

"Kiss me, I taste delicious!"


"Okay, I think I'm done here."

"Oh no! My poor cake!"

"Nash gave me a birthday hug on the way out. We're so cute, don't you think?"

"Here it is from another angle, in case you were interested."

"We opened presents when we got home. My friends are so nice. I'm sad to be moving. Maybe I'll drive back to visit, in the car that Alex, Josh, and Risa gave me! Can I, Mommy? Please?!"

A New Addition to the Routine

I know, I know. I've been posting all videos lately, and I promise, I'll get back to posting photos soon, but this one is pretty sweet. I was told that I didn't need to brush Maya's teeth until she has 4 teeth, but we decided it was time to add a toothbrushing to our evening routine anyway. Maya absolutely loves having her teeth brushed, and she even enjoys carrying around the toothbrush and toothpaste all the time. Good thing the toothbrush came with a cover. It's been all over the floor lately!

A Professional Stander.

Maya isn't walking yet, but she sure can stand like a pro. I realized this week, that I don't have any video of her standing on her own, so here you go!

This is it - The Last One!

This is the last in our series of Nash and Maya videos. What a cute couple. Does my heart good to see Maya playing with her little friends.

What?! You want MORE Nash and Maya?

I couldn't resist posting another video. I might even have to post a third. Somebody stop me! No, seriously, if it's getting annoying, tell me to stop.

There's Nothing Sweeter...

Watching 2 babies play together is just about the cutest thing. Yesterday, Maya and I had to rush out of the house for a "showing," since the people arrived 20 minutes early. I whisked Maya out of bed and ran out of the house, forgetting to bring a snack for her. We went to Brooke's house to play for a bit, which was really nice and peaceful. Nash and Margot have tons of toys to occupy Maya, and she seems to have a blast there. At one point, both Maya and Nash asked for a snack, so we gave them pretzel sticks. When Maya saw that Nash was loading up his bulldozers with the pretzels, she was intrigued, and went over to play with him. I took a ton of photos and video, but I think this one sums it up. Honestly, I think this was the first time they have actually played together. It was beyond adorable.

Mommy's Food is Always Better.

A few nights ago, I was having ice cream after dinner, and I let Maya lick the spoon. There couldn't have been more than a speck of ice cream on it, but she loved it. She eventually grabbed the bowl and started licking it. The next day, I had just finished a bowl of oatmeal, and Maya wanted to lick the spoon again. Here she is, licking the spoon, and then going for the bowl.

It's about that Time Again!

"I always play in this drawer. It has all the good plasticy stuff."

I haven't posted tubby time photos in a while, so here we go again! Our little girl is getting so big! Gotta love all her folds and big belly. Anyway, our camera is on the fritz, so there's no telling when I'll be able to post photos again. I'm trying to do it daily, but unfortunately, or camera won't hold a charge at all. Boo.
"Just doing some pre-tubby playing. Mommy forgot to remove the red-eye in this one. Silly Mommy."

"I still love cups. Love 'em."

"Hello. I am cute and I know it."

"Yeah, that's right, I drink the bath water. Gotta a problem with that?"

This is MY Tunnel!

The play area at the mall is always a good time. Maya loves the tunnel though. She could go back and forth over and over and over again. She's not a big fan of other kids in the tunnel though. I think it scares her. She freezes up and doesn't know what to do. You'll see what I mean...

Maya in the Mirror

We hung this mirror on the side of Maya's bed, so she'd be able to play with it in her room. Really likes kissing the baby in the mirror, or at least bumping faces with her.

Maya's New Words.

Our little sweetie made some great progress this weekend. First of all, she has 3 words, which I actually think she understands. They are "Mama," "Daddy," and "more." More sounds suspiciously like "Mama," but she says is as she does the "more" sign, so I actually think she gets it. We are really excited. In addition, yesterday she took her first step. Yes, one, solitary step on her own, which she repeated this morning. She only seems to have the confidence to manage that one step so far, but that's okay. Lastly, her 2 top teeth are on the verge of popping out, though they haven't quite made an appearance yet. I can see the swelling, and I can even see that the actual tooth is right at the gumline, so I'm expecting couple of ridges any day now. Finally!
"I love tunnels. This one is very slippery though."

"I can't get enough of the swings."

"I love you, Mommy."

"Who knew a cash register was actually a fun toy?!"

"Another tunnel! I love going back and forth in this one. It's addictive."

"What is this ridiculous thing on my head?"

Always Eating.

"I'm snacking at Whole Foods. Mommy let me eat an entire fruit leather!"

"Where's Maya?"

"Peek-a-boo!"

"I'm eating, as always!"

"Just call me 'Miss Manners.'"

My little munchkin is quite the eater. We just got home from Sweet Tomatoes, where she had mac and cheese, black bean chili, turkey noodle soup, carrots, peas, corn, and a little mountain of shredded cheese. Last night, for dinner, she had whole wheat pasta, fish sticks, tons of broccoli. I'm very impressed with her appetite, although sometimes I wonder if we should cut her off. I sort of expect to her to explode after these big meals, but of course, she just seems like a happy little girl who just ate like a queen.

Maya? Is that you?

So, I went into Maya's room to get her this morning, and this is what I saw:

"Mommy? Is that you? I can barely see anything!"

"Oh, it is you! Now please pull my hair back to I can see again."

2 Buddies Swinging

Maya and Nash had fun on the swings yesterday. It was a very peaceful morning at the park.

Our Happy Little Camper.

Nothing much is going on here, but I thought I'd post a few pictures of our happy little girl, just doing her thing. She's feeling much better this week, after a weekend of having a cold. We are having wonderful weather this week, so we've been playing outside with friends a lot. I try to keep Maya out of the house so she doesn't cause too much destruction, as we're trying to keep the house in "showing condition." It's good to spend time with friends. When we move, we won't know anyone. We'll miss our playdates. Maya is a social butterfly!
"I love the playground. Soon, I'll learn NOT to eat the woodchips."

"I'm playing in the drawer of bottles, and testing each one to see if there is milk or juice inside. So far, nothing."

"Mommy and I enjoy cuddles. Daddy too, but he was taking the picture."

Little Miss Manners

Since yesterday, Maya has decided she'd like to try using a fork. Now, granted, she can't get the food onto the fork, but if I put it on, she likes to feed it to herself. Silly girl.

I'm a Swinger!

St. Louis has turned a corner - we are now having absolutely beautiful spring weather. This weekend we took Maya to the park, where she took her first ride on the swing set! She loved swinging back and forth in the bucket swing, but she didn't play very long, since she wasn't feeling very well (she's much better now though). I think we'll take her back soon though - and it'll be even better when she can walk! There's something a little yucky about crawing around on the ground of an outdoor play area. Yuck. Oh well - soon enough!

"This is the life!"

"Higher Mommy, higher!"

"I like it here. Can we come back?"

"My new favorite pastime - taking everything out of my drawers. Mommy and Daddy love cleaning up after me. Really."