Maya's Naming

The week after Maya was born, we went to Chabad and gave her a Hebrew name. David was called to the Torah for an Aliya and our daughter was given the name Miriam Ronit.



It was a really beautiful moment for our new little family, but it was also a cold dark morning in early January so we kept it very small, saying that we’d host a larger, less formal party when the weather warmed up. Well, it's August and very very warm, so we hosted a Naming celebration with family and friends at our house this weekend. It was incredibly special.



We had a brief ceremony which included a few words of thanks for our beautiful healthy daughter, an explanation of who she had been named after and some of our hopes for her future.



We explained how we have dedicated our daughter to the Torah- to a never ending fascination with study and learning. We have dedicated our daughter to chupah- to never ending growth as a human being, capable of giving and receiving love. We have also dedicated our daughter to ma-asim tovim- to a never ending concern for family and community, justice and charity.



As we did in January, we again asked that G-d bless our daughter in the way He blessed Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah, who possessed qualities of strength and softness, modesty, and conviction. We asked that the Lord bless her and protect her, deal kindly and graciously with her, bestow His favor upon her and grant her peace.

Here is a video of the ceremony (I just wish the cicadas had not been so loud).


And here are some pictures from the afternoon















We were overwhelmed by the love shown for our daughter on Saturday. People traveled from near and far to be with us, but not everyone could be in Maryland as inclimate weather, logistical travel-related challenges, pregnancies, summer vacations, etc happen. Whether you were with us in person or simply in spirit, please know that our lives are truly richer for having you in it.

Seven Months!

Dear Maya,

My Giggle Machine, Our Sweet Hazelnut, Little Baby Butternut, Crazy Kamikaze Superstar

I tell everyone who asks (and several who do not) that I've won the baby lottery. I truly have. You are sweet and happy. You are a wonderful sleeper and eater. You are easygoing. This month you have become very social and also very independent. At your six month check up, you weighed 18 lbs and stretched to 26" long.



You continue to love daycare. You are interested in all of your baby friends and their toys. I hear about your action-packed days: how much you love music time and story time, how you go for stroller rides outside by the pond, how the people in the office bring you in for company and let you play at the computer, how you went to the playground and all the toddlers came up to you. Everyone wants to play with you, hug you, kiss you and make you giggle. You are a happy playful baby. You love all activities and you are learning so quickly. All of the teachers say you are joy to have.


Dressed up and ready for "Fairytale Day" at daycare

You are beginning to do things by yourself like reach for toys and food. You are determined. You are trying so hard to hold your bottle. It’s still a little too heavy for you when it’s full, but this doesn’t stop you from insisting that you can hold it. You also seem to think that by smushing the nipple into your face, you will be able to get milk out faster. We keep pulling it out a bit and tipping the bottle upwards to show you… hopefully you will pick this up soon.


Holding her own bottle... sorta

You love to play. You can’t get enough of your exersaucer and you love making your musical toys light up and sing. At daycare you seem to really enjoy the maracas and piano (although, I’ve noticed that you try to put the entire side of the piano in your mouth with no success). You love to swing on your swing set in the backyard and go down the slide. You love to touch, mouth, and manipulate squishy rubber balls, you enjoy gnawing a chilled teething ring, and hearing bells jingle inside a stuffed animal. You also like stuffed animals like your cabbage patch doll and octopus. You love peek-a-boo and silly faces...we play “Where’s Maya?” and you pull the blanket off your face all by yourself now so you can hear, “There she is!”


reaching for a toy


swinging in the yard with Bubbie


Loving the lights and sounds

You can reach for and scoop toys towards you. You can pick them up and transfer objects from one hand to the other fairly easily. You take your pacifier out of your mouth and put it back in. When you can’t reach a toy, you wiggle, shimmy and roll your way over to it. This is especially frustrating to Jerry who is now realizing you are almost mobile. You adore Jerry. Whether in the bath or the highchair, whenever you hear him meow you immediately stop what you are doing and look for him.


Love for Jerry

You like to explore. The computer seems to fascinate you. The scenery outside the car window captivates you. We’ve been signing to you pretty consistently. We do signs for milk, bath, more and all done. You don't know what any of these mean yet, but “all done” gets a great big laugh from you every single time. I know it’s still just imitating what you see, but when we say “high five” we put our hand up and sometimes you do as well! It’s very cute.


Computing with Daddy


See Daddy? I can do that too!

You’ve got a great appetite. No teeth (yet!) but your diet is expanding and you seem to really enjoy the textures and flavors of each new food. So far, you’ve had squash, sweet potato, peas, carrots, banana, avocado, mango and prunes. You had your first stomach bug. We think it was a virus; you couldn’t keep anything down for a few days. Once you were able to tolerate liquids, you had a really upset tummy. I felt so bad for you, but you really do have a wonderful disposition and you handled your illness like a champ. Except for when you were actually getting sick, you had a smile on your sweet face the whole time. Then a few days later your little body seemed to overcorrect itself and you got all backed up. Again, I felt awful for you and you were more uncomfortable this time, but you were still my smiley and giggly girl. Thankfully, all of your plumbing seems to be in order now.


healthy again and very happy!

You went to the beach for the first time. We joined Bubbie, Great Grandma Rona, Pappa Donnie and Uncle Brian in Myrtle Beach for Grandpa’s (belated) birthday celebration and you had a blast! You loved the sand and waves. You loved sucking the bow on your bathing suit to taste the salty water. We went to the aquarium and boy did you have fun! You couldn’t get enough of the brightly colored fish and sea life fluttering past you in the big tanks. You were especially fond of the orange jellyfish bobbing around; you were shrieking with delight. I wasn’t sure you were old enough for this activity, but you were in awe the whole time. I just adore watching the way you respond to your surroundings these days.


First time in the ocean


Family beach pic


Hangin' and reading a book with Uncle Brian


showing off her fancy 'shark' balloon hat


LOVING the fishies at the aquarium


She LOVED the fish. Couldn't take her eyes off of them.


pooltime fun

You are a blur. You are always moving. I used to get nervous when daddy would roughhouse/ play with you but you love being thrown in the air. Anything that involves swinging high and low makes you laugh out loud. Anything that involves shaking or wiggling makes you cackle in delight. Your hysterical laughter usually results in a fit of hiccups which are short lived. Your are getting stronger. You sit up so well and you can ‘stand’ while being held up for balance.You grab necklaces and glasses, but also parts of faces and clothing as well. You are a master at taking daddy’s pen out of his shirt pocket. While rocking you to sleep at night, you often grab my tank top or nose.


grabbing daddy's glasses


Sitting up and watching Sesame Street on Saturday morning

You babble like crazy… I swear you said baby the other day. Of course it was more like, “Bayeeeee Beeeeee” We still think your first word will be “Hi.” I sometimes wonder what your voice will sound like when you got older. Sitting in the car on the way to daycare, we often hear you say, “da da da da.” Daddy likes to think you are saying ‘daddy’ but I don’t think you are quite that advanced. Sometimes in the bath or during dinnertime, you make sounds like “teh teh teh" and once we heard you say “maaaaaaaa.” When you get excited you shriek and do your happy dance, kicking your legs and moving back and forth like Stevie Wonder.

You were lucky enough to see all of your Great Grandparents this month. You saw Great Grandma Sara & Great Grandpa Joe in NJ for Abuelita and Saba's BBQ. You spent the weekend with Great Grandma Rona and Pappa Donny at the beach and you even got a visit from Oma Ruth and Opa Paul for a few days! Boy are you loved, my sweet girl.


G&G Ehrlich


G&G Felder


G&G Koles

I think you might be on the verge of teething. You’ve become a little more drooly than usual, and although you are rarely fussy I’ve noticed some discomfort / inability to quite get settled recently. I’m going to miss that gummy smile but time marches on I guess.


My beautiful baby girl


Daddy and his little girl



This month had ups and downs, but you are so much fun, my sweet girl. I can't wait to see what kinds of adventures and discoveries next month will bring.

Love,
Mommy

Six Months!!

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