Dear Maya,
My sweet happy baby, our little Hazelnut. Our fearless lunatic. Today, you have been alive for six whole months. Where did it go? Weren’t you just swaddled and placed in my arms? Didn’t I only recently give you that first kiss? I'm a bit sad that half of our first year together is over, but hasn't it been wonderful?
These months have been filled with more laughter and joy than I knew possible. My heart has grown with love not only for you but for your daddy as well. He is such a wonderfully involved, tender yet silly, super daddy. I can’t help but smile as I watch the two of you play and make silly faces at each other.
Now that you’ve been at daycare for a month and we’ve gotten used to our new work schedules, we have settled into a daily routine. Daddy wakes you up, feeds you a bottle and gets you dressed. There are many many giggles during this time. This is prime time for you- happy, rested and full. We give kisses goodbye and Daddy drops you off at daycare where you go for walks, listen to music, play with your friends and hear stories. Mommy picks you up in the afternoon and you fall asleep in the car on the way home. You nap long enough for the grown ups to have a quick dinner before you wake up for some family playtime. Then it’s time for your bath, mommy’s salon (lotion, massage, hair and nails), bottle and bed. I so love our evenings together. You play with my necklace as you drink your bottle and I love to smell your just-washed hair as I rock you to bed.
I said this to David the other night during dinner and I will say it again to you now my love: "This is the very best time of my life." I am happier than I ever knew I could be. Each day I look forward to being greeted by your smile. It lights up my heart. This month has been filled with tender moments and exciting milestones.
You have started eating solid foods (which in truth are actually quite runny). From your first bite of oatmeal, you loved it. You weren’t quite sure how this whole eating thing worked, and swallowing food is still a bit of a new concept, but you love the flavors and new textures in your mouth. So far, you have tried oatmeal, rice cereal and sweet potatoes. You love to play with your spoons. Sometimes you aren't that into food and other times if we don't feed you fast enough, you lunge forward in the chair with your mouth wide open, hoping there will be something in the spoon when you get there.
Your motor skills and depth perception have rocketed; you reach out for toys and papers and eyeglasses and necklaces- whatever is nearby. You are very good at spotting toys and tracking moving things. I walk into a room and you immediately see me. You have been experimenting with transferring toys from one hand to the other. You love grabbing anything you can get your hands on — and stuffing it directly into your mouth. This goes for toys and books and burp cloths but also things like Jerry’s fur and the TV remote. Anything your hands touch gets studied, mouthed, talked to, shaken and played with and then thrown away. It’s a game we play. You seem to get great joy out of watching me fetch whatever item you have recently disposed of. Its such a blast to watch your face light up when I recover it for you, wipe it off and hand it back to you.
You are a crazy girl. You nosedive for toys like a kamikazee. You are fearless. When you get really excited, you do your "happy dance." You kick your legs and flail your arms and thrash your head back and forth with this big smile across your face. I think this is why you still have that big ol bald spot on the back on your head.
Bathtime is an adventure; you just cannot sit still! You have so much fun kicking and splashing and diving for anything and everything; your duckie, your rinse cup, your wash cloth, the sink faucet. Sometimes we sykpe with family during baths, it's so much fun to share these times with far away family. Sadly though, I think the days of bathing in the sink are coming to a close.
You've started rolling over in earnest now; you flip over and over on your playmat. You roll over from both front to back and back to front, and you wriggle all over the room this way. You even do it in your crib at night. This was somewhat distressing for you the first few nights. Daddy and I would wake up to your cries and I would rush in to find you disoriented on your tummy. This seems to be going away slowly as you begin to get used to your new abilities and mobility.
You can almost sit on your own. You prefer sitting to laying down now and we prop you up with the boppy or pillows. You sometimes fall sideways- bonk! - or forward -whoops! - but more often these days you are catching yourself and correcting your balance. You are very proud of yourself.
You can lay on your mat and play by yourself, but you really love to play face-to-face with your parents, family, teachers and friends. You love to see the happy baby in the mirror and you love peek-a-boo. I read somewhere that at this age even when you are fussy, you should be increasingly distractible – and it’s true. You are moving a lot more now and sometimes bump your head. You start to cry but a rattle or a song will make you forget all about it.
You have started to imitate actions. One of the little boys at your daycare sticks his tongue out when he doesn’t like his vegetables and you’ve picked up on this unladylike mannerism. Except- you don’t eat peas yet. So you just sit there and spit and blow raspberries by yourself.
Your ability to demonstrate love and your sense of humor is just developing, but I can tell you are going to be a confidant, warm, intelligent and social person. You smile all the time. Your teachers call you their “Sweet Maya” and friends and strangers are met with smiles and coos and giggles. Mostly, you are delighted at the world. You are curious about everything and your joy is contagious. You make people around you happy. It is incredible to watch
You seem to enjoy hearing your own voice as evidenced by your squeals, babbles, shrieks and operatic octave changes. Sometimes you sound like you are meditating; you make this low and steady hmmmmmmm hmmmmmmmmmmm hmmmmmmmm. Sometimes you respond to a sound I make in one of your books, like baaaaa and you go ayeeeeeee or ah-ya-ya-ya-ya
You have discovered Jerry. You squeal with delight when he comes into the room and you wiggle and dance with excitement as he makes his way over to you. You love to lay on his soft fur and grab his tail. Thank goodness he is so old and good natured- he tolerates your antics until you yank on his tail a bit too hard. He looks over at you as if to say "ok kiddo, I've had about enough of this activity" and then he moves just out of your reach.
You met your cousin Natalia. Tia Patty and Uncle Ilan came to visit you for a weekend this month. You had so much fun playing with your cool older cousin. She showed you all kinds of neat things; I think this is how you learned to sit. We went to Annapolis and celebrated Daddy’s first Father’s Day together with them, it was a very special weekend.
You celebrated July 4th with Abuelita, Saba, Natalia, Tia Patty and Uncle Ilan in Amish country. We showed you horses and buggies and you loved playing in the pool. You went on the swings for the first time and met Uncle Sam.
We’ve been using sign language with you. We’ve just begun, but soon hopefully you will begin to understand that our hand movements have meaning and you will be able to recognize things like ‘more’ and ‘milk’ and ‘all done.’ Hopefully in a few months you will be able to express these thoughts yourself! The next foods we will introduce to you are squash, peas, bananas and avocados.
My love thank you for giving me these past six months. Every day is an adventure, an all-out sprint, a challenge and a dream. I love every moment and I love you.
Love,
Mommy
