Eighteen months old (and yes, finally a new post!)

Well hello there!  I promised myself I would update the blog sooner; I started several times but could never find the right place to begin.  How do I begin capture what it has been like to watch you learn and develop and grow these last six months? It has been incredible and humbling fascinating and rewarding and exhausting.

Some of it has to do with selfishness: I have so enjoyed these months, I've preferred to live them rather than to report on them.  I haven’t taken as many photos; instead of grabbing the camera I have been grabbing your hand as we walk to the pool or chasing after you in the park.  And I will admit that some a lot of it has been time management:  You dropped your morning nap and I started a new job.  You are always on the move and our days are filled with activity. I simply haven't made time to blog. 

Today you had your 18 month checkup and when I started thinking about all the amazing things you have done since your last checkup, I realized it had been much too long since I updated this space.  So here is my attempt at a recap.  Mamma is a bit rusty at this blogging, but here I go my sweet girl. I know that I will not be able to capture everything; I will not even try to include each milestone and miracle.  But I will try to hit the highlights along the way.  

  

So first, the basics:  You are 27 lbs and 33 inches long/ tall.  But there is so much more to tell.  You are running and climbing and counting and learning so many words!  When you wake up in the morning you say Mamma! Dadda! Milk?  You have so many words I cant list them all!  You say sock (sah), shoe (shooo), flower (fa-wa), book (buk), night night (nye-nye), please (peas), thank you (tay-you), car, ball, all done, doggy, cat, duck, bird (burrd), water (wa-dur), milk (miwk), hat, bubbles, apple, pasta (pasdaaa), swing (sween), slide, pool, swimming, and so much more.  You say Natalia (Talia) and Bubbie and Abu and Saba and Pappa and Oma and Opa.

You love animal noises.  Each night we read a few books before bed and one of your favorites is the animals book.  You know the horse says ‘neigh neigh’ and the lion says “rawr!’  Daddy’s absolute favorite is to hear you say Gobble Gobble like a turkey.  We even took a video of it during dinner one night... this was in the early phase but its still hilarious:

You have been learning to eat with a fork and spoon!  You are getting so much better at it.  Of course this isn’t all the time- you still love to grab fistfuls of corn and pasta.  It’s more efficient after all! Every fruit is ‘apple’ to you.  I think this comes from how much you enjoy eating pineapple.  We try to give you some fruit after every dinner.  When you ask for apple we ask- do you want Mango?  “Mungo!” you reply with a smile.  You generally do not discriminate when it comes to fruit; you love especially strawberries, blueberries, watermelon and of course pineapple.

Here is a picture of you at the farmers market eating some strawberries...

...and corn at home!

You are (very slowly) learning to share. You are becoming good about giving a toy to someone else, but you still sometimes take things away from your friends.  You are great at sharing cheerios and you offer sips of water from your cup to everyone at the table.


You even offered to share your lollipop with me last weekend!

You are totally a daddy’s girl.  Nothing makes you happier than snuggling up with him and watching The Wiggles or when he sings Row Row Row Your Boat. (You also love Baa Baa Black Sheep, Wheels on the Bus and Ring Around the Rosie)You love going up escalators together and clinging to daddy's leg and getting tickled by him.  (but not on the escalator of course)

   

You loved watching daddy hold a sparkler on July 4th and you braved a 4-day blackout in the summer heat with him. 

  

This summer you have really loved going to the pool.  On Saturdays we do swim lessons with Riley and Josh.  On Sundays I take you to the pool at the condo.  Whether its in the pool or chasing birds in the backyard, you love going outside.  If you see daddy watering the garden or a bird at the feeder you run to the door and say “Outside?” Peas?”  

 my big girl in the pool!

 

eating a home-grown bean from the garden!

You are a social girl.  You like to give hugs and play with all your friends at daycare.  And boy do you love your cousin Natalia!  She came for a visit with your Tia Patricia and Tio Ilan for a fun-filled weekend and you were in heaven.  The day after they left you looked all over the house for ‘Talia?’  Luckily we saw them again in NJ shortly after and you were reunited with your cuz.  You two had a blast running around the park and splashing in the pool.

You are going to be a big sister in November!  We announced this news to family and friends via the cutest billboard we knew of… you!  You wore your big sister to-be shirt with pride.  You don’t quite yet understand what all this ‘big sister’ talk is about, but you adore your ‘baby’ doll and I’m hoping the real thing is even better for you!  I guess we will have to change the name of the blog again soon- it will only be us three for 4 more months!

Maya's big news! 

This hasn’t been the only big change in our lives.  You transitioned to the toddler room at daycare and now you are a frog!  You get to play on the big playground outside and bring home the most adorable art projects.  I started a new job in March and now I drop you off at daycare and daddy picks you up.  When it finally got warmer this spring, while you and daddy would wait for me to come, you would stand in the front door saying "bye!" and waving to people as they passed by.  Sometimes kisses were thrown. You don’t do this as much anymore, you still love saying “Hi!!” to people and giving them a huge smile, but you would rather run around in the grass than stand in the doorway. You adore your daycare teachers.  Each morning you run to Miss Luiza and give her a big hug!

 You are fearless!

 

You are a ham (or sometimes a tiger)

Some of your favorite toys are balls, Lego's (especially the ones with wheels) pull-back cars, dolls (babies), your picnic basket and pretend food (you like to lay down the place mat and set up the picnic for me) and going in your shopping cart and car.  Daddy loves dressing you up in different costumes. So far you do not seem to mind this very much.

surrounded by your toys!

Your favorite books are the animals book, the Very Hungry Caterpillar pop-up book, Pat the Bunny, Baby Bear Baby Bear and of course, Goodnight Moon.  You like to watch Sesame Street, Cat in the Hat, Thomas (you dance to the theme song) and Wiggles.  You also enjoy Chica the Chicken and Star on the Goodnight show. You loooove bathtime! 

My sweet girl, I love you so much.  I love the fiesty and funny girl you are becoming.  I promise not to wait another six months before I post again.  Can you imagine what life will be like then? You will be a big sister!  What will you be saying and doing and thinking?  I can't wait to find out!

Love, 

Mamma

Twelve Months!

Well my sweet girl, this is probably the first of many times I will tell you over the course of your life that I should have had my act together a bit sooner. I actually started writing this post over a month and a half ago and... well... let's just say that you have kept me very busy. I wanted it to be perfect, but instead... it just is. SO. A full month plus late. Here is my 12-month letter to you. (Thanks goodness for backdating)



Dear Maya

My big girl, my drama queen, my energizer baby, my silly monkey, my sweetie, my love

Today you are twelve months old! 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12! I'm going to do a separate one-year lookback post about your first year and what it has all meant to me, but right now I am just going to write about this past month. And what a month it was for you!



First things first. You are walking!!! I feel like it was just a few days ago that you stood up for a few fleeting seconds on your own. Just after New Years, you decided that cruising was no longer enough. You had places to go and walking (or in your case running!) was the answer. Daddy and I are so proud of you. We love to see you take a few steps and then cheer for you and give you hugs and kisses.



Every day you become more steady and are able to cover longer distances and different surfaces. You are amazing. I used to look forward to the way your face would break into a smile whenever you spotted daddy after a long day at daycare, I still do. But now I also have this little burst of pride and excitement when I open up my arms and you come rushing into them. You see me, you recognize me, your face lights up and you come rushing over to me. I think about that feeling all day. We got you some fancy new Adidas sneakers (Costco's finest!) and you get so many complements on them!

You took your first steps on Monday January 2nd, the last day of your winter/Christmas break. All of your teachers were so excited to see you walking the next day. I will admit that those first few days were a bit much for you. You came home totally exhausted You have been learning so many new skills recently, I think all of this development was a lot for your little brain to process. Even though you had taken great naps, you would come home absolutely exhausted. But now you seem to have adjusted, as you always do, and we are back to our smiling and happy girl.



You like to sleep with your tush in the air and your arms tucked under your chest. And your head is always in the corner of your crib.


You are like your mommy, you can nap anywhere. A car, in the stroller, even in your wagon.

This month you also developed some very strong opinions. My love, I am somewhat reluctant to report that your first real word appears to be 'no.' It sounds a bit like naaaw but we know what you mean. And so do you. When you've had enough dinner, you tear off your bib and say naw naw naw. When you don't want to lay down to get your diaper changed, you squirm about and say nawwwwwwww. I recently told someone that you were 11 months going on 11 years old. I think this is a glimpse of what your teenage years will be like.

You had visits from both sets of grandparents. Saba and Abuelita came to visit and so did Bubbie and Grandpa. Boy are you loved! You had so much fun playing and laughing with them.


Cuddles with Abuelita


Sillyness with Saba


Wheee! A wagon ride with Bubbie


Giggles with Grandpa


lighting candles with Bubbie and Grandpa

You celebrated your first Hanukkah. You Skyped and lit candles with faraway relatives. You spun your driedel and absolutely loved tearing the paper off of your presents. Boy did you do well! You got puzzles and toys and books. Your two favorite gifts however, were your Radio Flyer wagon and your musical instruments.


dreidel


unwrapping gifts


lighting candles with daddy


first wagon ride!


fast wagon ride with daddy


harmonica


triangle and runny nose

You love you play the triangle and the cymbals. You could bang on the xylophone all day and you are fascinated with the harmonica. You sit riveted watching daddy play it. You keep trying to blow into it - I bet you will get the hang of it soon. You take your octopus bell shaker with you everywhere, you even have an outfit to match!


beautiful eyes and bell shaker


playing the xylophone

You had a very busy social calendar. You went downtown for daycare in DC and saw Miss Erika. You had several playdates- one with Nathan and another with Aidan.


hangin with Nathan

We raided Aunt Fara's basement and came home with tons of toys! Now in the evening, you and I go to the basement to play while daddy makes dinner. You love to bring books and toys over to me. You have become quite adventurous, crawling under the exersaucer is one of your new favorite activities!



On weekends we all hang out in pajamas until after your first nap. I like to read books with you. You love the 'touch and feel' books and pop up books. You love to feel the different textures and turn the pages too.



This month you tried asparagus, salmon and lamb. You like oranges and spaghetti. On Christmas Day, we went to a restaurant with you, and for the first time we did not bring anything for you. You ate regular food off the menu like a big girl!


dinner at Buca

You eat so well these days. There isn't much you refuse. I know it's coming... just not yet. Thankfully.


spaghetti


cruising in your cute overalls

You play so nicely with all of your toys, but some of your favorite playthings are unexpected items around the house. You can sit and play with an empty wrapping paper roll for days and an empty box is endless fun. One of your most loved toys is the laundry basket. You love to climb in, around and over it. You love it when I turn it over and 'trap' you inside. You giggle when we play peek-a-boo with it and use it as a drum or a car.


laundry basket madness


opening birthday cards

You are so loving to Jerry. You give him the sweetest hugs and like to pet his soft fur. You still have to be reminded to be gentle with the old fella, but he is patient with you and lets you lay on top of him.


Jerrylove

You have the craziest smile these days. You have two teeth coming in on top, but they are not your front teeth, so you have this baby vampire look going on. You like to chew on everything; your washcloth in the bath, your Sophie giraffe, etc. I am pretty sure more teeth are on their way soon.


crazyteeth

You have no interest in taking these monthly photos anymore; you want to stand on your chair or walk to your toys or grab the camera or chase the cat or hug mommy. It has been fun taking this series of pictures and seeing how you grow each month but I think you are happy it's over now.


12 month pic standing on chair


12 month pic clapping hands

Later this week, daycare is going to have a little birthday party for you and then we are going to have one at our house this weekend. Your have family coming to visit from New York and New Jersey and Florida. Daddy and I have been working to put together a really fun day for you, we can't wait to see your reaction to it all!