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?"

Almost there...

Well, we officially have a "cruiser." Maya is currently walking along the coffee table, with her walker, and holding onto my legs. The good thing about this is that it's a step closer to walking. The bad thing about this, is that it seems like everywhere I walk, Maya is clinging to either the back or the front of my legs (see below). It's awfully sweet though. I wonder if this means she is close to walking on her own. I'm not sure. Anyway, we've had a busy morning, and now Maya is napping, and I'm relaxing, since she has been a little fussy today. I sometimes wish she could just say, "Mommy, I have a headache, and I need some Tylenol." Unfortunately, it's always a guessing game. Is she getting sick? Why won't she eat? Is it her teeth? Is she just bored of the food I'm feeding her? Did she just get up in the wrong side of the crib? Hmph. I guess I have a couple more years of guessing, before she can come to me and tell me exactly what's wrong. Oh well. Hopefully she'll wake up happy from her nap... Wish us luck!

"Daddy, watch me walk with Mommy!"

"This is my disheveled look. Hey, it's close to bedtime - what do you expect?"

"Sometimes I hold on tight, sometimes I don't. Depends on my mood."

"Daddy! See me peeking out from behind Mommy's legs??!"


"This doesn't seem right. Usually I shower with Daddy, but now I'm showering with Mommy. What's going on? You take turns now? I think this is Daddy's job."

Taking a Walk(er).

Well, Brooke has recently been encouraging me to try letting Maya walk with a walker (a toy with a handle and wheels, so the baby can hold on and push). I assumed she was too young for this, since the one we have has wheels, and I think if she pushes it, it'll go so fast, she'll immediately fall on her face. This afternoon, I was at Cooperella Cafe with Brook, James, and Keira, and I decided to let Maya take a stab at using the walker. I held onto it, so it didn't go too fast. For a first timer, I think she did pretty well!

Superbowling.

Tonight we ventured over to Brooke and Ray's house for a Superbowl Party. We had a great time, although it didn't seem like anyone really cared about the teams or the actual game. We saw a few good commercials, but mostly, it was just a good excuse for a get together. We had a great time playing in Nash and Margot's playroom in the basement, and we ate lots of good food and beer. Kevin and I realized that Maya loves having space to crawl, climb, and play. She always seems to have a blast at Brooke's house, and I think that the space really makes a difference for her. She was such a good girl tonight. We put her in pajamas and gave her a bottle before we left their house. She stayed awake the whole ride home, but didn't make a peep. When we got home, we put her down in her crib, and she fell asleep instantly. What a good girl!

"Look at Keira and me! We're standing!"

"Mommy, you and your friends are making silly faces. I know you are all trying to look excited, but sheesh, you just look ridiculous!"

"Daddy and I are making serious faces."

"Gooooo Steelers! Or Cardinals... eh, I don't care."

"Look at all of us in our pajamas with our daddies! Aren't we sweet?"

10 Months!

Today is Maya's 10 month birthday! I can't believe she's almost a year old! I'm feeling a little nostalgic and weepy when I think of my little babe growing up! This past month was a very eventful one. Let's review Maya's great accomplishments:

1. Maya became the proud owner of 2 new bottom teeth!

2. Maya began crawling - forward!

3. Maya just recently began pulling up to standing on tables, chairs, dishwashers, beds, and couches - WOW!

4. Maya had 4 visitors - Nora, Adam, Grammy, and Debs. Everyone babysat for Maya, and she did great!

5. Maya had her first belly bug. Boo hoo. She took it like a champ though, so that's a great accomplishment.

6. Maya started clapping, and is even getting to know her favorite songs. She has "Itsy Bitsy Spider" moves and "If you're Happy and You Know it" moves. Maybe I should show her a Beyonce video. You think she might have some Bootylicious in her?

7. Maya learned that when Mommy and Daddy say, "Can I have that (paci, barrette, remote control, etc.) please?" She should hand it over... and she always does! She loves it when we say, "Thank you, Maya!"

"It's my 10-month birthday! Cake, please!"

"Mommy and I are partying."

"Yeah, I took out my barrette. What's your point?"

Hi, Daddy!

Maya has been waving like crazy lately. It's pretty cute. She has 2 types of waves - one is the open and close of the fingers, and the other is this crazy waving back and forth. This one is the open and close, and it's sort of subtle, but you'll get the idea...

Maya's New Trick

I wasn't going to write again tonight, but Maya did something very cool, and I have to share it with you. It was 5:30, and I had a very fussy and sleepy Maya, so I put her down for her third nap of the day. Usually she takes a 30 minute nap around then, so it was typical. I put her down, and she was fussing a bit, so I was watching her on the video monitor. I looked away for a minute, and suddenly, when I looked back, she was sitting up. I was trying to figure out what she used to pull herself up, since she usually only sits when I plop her down on her tush. She laid down again, and continued to watch her. Only moments later, she was on her belly, and she swung her legs around and sat right up again. Wow! She didn't use anything to pull herself into a sitting position! I'm so proud of her... yet a little worried that she'll decide to sit in her crib instead of lie down, thus, never sleeping again... Hmmmm.


"Ha! You thought you could control me, but once again, I have proven you wrong! I can sit on my own, and will soon be able to chase you around the house!"

"Mom, we certainly look stylish in this sling. Can we get one?"

"Yeah, I'm sitting in a flower. Pretty girly, eh?"

Maya Rolled Over Today!

Maya rolled over for the first time today! She did it 7 times! We decided to tape it, but we didn't think she'd do it again. As you can hear on the video, we were very surprised at how easy it was to get her to do it. Maya, you are so much fun!