Monday, April 25, 2011

Already showing her the way

Maya is definitely fulfilling her role as big sister, here she is teaching Laurel how to play on the playmat.

Easter

We enjoyed a very relaxing Easter Sunday with the family.  Maya was pretty excited about the goodies she received from the Easter Bunny.  Luckily for her, Grandma and Grandpa saved some eggs for her (and Uncle Preston) to color...  Mommy has been a bit preoccupied and dropped the ball on this at our house!

Sisters!

Checking out her easter basket


Coloring eggs

Monday, April 11, 2011

A family of four

Well, Laurel has been a part of the family for two weeks now and we are starting to establish some routines to make it all work.  Evenings are the toughest, Laurel is a big eater and there is no saying how many times she will want to nurse between 7:00 and 11:00, of course this is the same time that we are getting Maya ready for bed.  But, we are figuring it out and Maya has been a trooper.  She is a great big sister and loves helping out with, "Baby Laurel".  She showers Laurel with kisses and hugs, can't wait for Laurel to wake up in the morning so she can help get her out of bed, helps with every diaper change and makes sure Laurel always has her blanket and a clean binky (seriously, she takes them all to the sink to wash them!).  There have been a few growing pains along the way and Maya has been a little more sensitive than usual, but that is to be expected and who can really blame her.  Overall, I'm impressed with how she is handling all the change.  Here are some pictures of the last few weeks:

Maya holding Baby Laurel

Snuggles with my girls

Laurel's first bath

Maya helping with a diaper change

A very peaceful Laurel

What's new with Maya?

I wrote this post prior to having Laurel, looks like it never got posted.

Lots.  This kid is growing up like crazy and it has been so amazing to watch.  And this post is just a proud mommy bragging about her little girl.

- She has learned almost all of her colors and often uses them to describe whatever she is looking at.  A green car, a purple jacket, her pink glasses.  She watches the stoplights as we are driving and yells out "Green Go" and "Red Stop" as they change.

- She sings along with her music and although the only word that is usually understandable is the last one of the line, she sure thinks she gets them all.  She has also started reading along with her favorite books (the ones we have read over and over and over and over again).  Again, it is usually only the last word that we can actually pick out.

- She loves her ABCs, but needs someone to help her through them.  If she does it on her own it is A, B, C, D, H and then sometimes she throws in the L, M, N, O, P.  Although, we did catch her singing the ABCs along with her elmo doll the other night and she managed to get most of them right.

- She can count to 10, but for her it starts at the number 2.  In Maya's world the number 1 doesn't seem to exist.

- She is a chatterbox.  Which shouldn't be a huge surprise since she has always been that way, even when she was a baby she never stopped babbling.  She is trying to speak in full sentances, but I think her brain works quicker than her mouth and we don't always know what she is trying to say.  Which, in turn frustrates her.  Every time we turn around she has picked up a new word.  It really makes us aware that we have to watch what we say, she listens to it all!

- We've started the potty training process, but aren't pushing it very hard.  Mostly because I haven't had the energy for it yet.  She likes to use the potty and will occassionally ask to use it on her own when she knows she has to go but that is sporatic.  They've started having her sit on it at daycare as well so we will see how that goes.  Maybe we can get rid of the diaper sooner than I thought?!?!

- She is a little gymnast and it is really hard to keep her from climbing.  In some ways I've given up.  We keep her off the dangerous stuff (like climbing up the toilet and onto the bathroom counter), but for the most part we are helping her learn to be careful when she climbs because it is a losing battle.  She has great balance and can really get anywhere she wants to.  She's learned how to jump and attemps somersaults and after each one she puts her arms up and says, "Ta Da".  I think the tumbling classes she is taking at daycare are really helping her out with all of this. 

Here she is being silly - everyone should wear sunglasses with dinner!