Who needs toys?

Maya discovered the garbage can in our office and I found her pushing it around the house while collecting random things and putting them inside.

  

By the end she had selectively chosen: a TV remote, a playstation controller, an x-box controller, a sweatshirt, baby tylenol and a onesie.  She was pretty proud!

Pittsburgh fun

Maya and I flew to Pittsburgh last weekend to visit family and attend my Aunt's wedding. I was super nervous about traveling without Rey but Maya was a trooper and did better than expected. We had such a good time hanging out with everyone.  And, not only did Maya figure out how to stand on her own while we were there, she took her first independent steps! 

Fun times on the plane with Bennett, Aunt Amy and Aunt Jenny

Bennett and Maya helping push the stroller during our layover

The tired travelers upon our arrival

Enjoying the sunny weather

Grandpa taught her the fun of playing in the dirt

Playing with cousins

Sitting at the table like big kids

All dressed up and enjoying appetizers at the wedding (we chose to ignore the fact that they left fingerprints all over the nice glass table!)

Chatting with Great-Granny Pat

Snuggles with Great-Grandpa

Visiting a local park despite the rain - it didn't phase them one bit and they loved splashing around in the water

Dancing queen

This is a prime example of why she keeps us smiling!



From my Aunt Kay's wedding that Maya and I attended this weekend... she sure had fun.  Not bad for a little girl that learned how to stand up without holding on to anything only the day before! 

11 Months!!

I really can't believe how close Maya is to a year old.  She has been a growing girl in the last month and I think she's about 17lbs.

It is amazing to me how much she has changed in the last month.  I look at her and don't see a little baby anymore.  She is entering into toddlerhood and very quickly, I might add.  Her personality is growing each and every day.  She has realized she can have her own opinion on things and is not afraid to share it, especially if it is different from mom and dad.  Her range of emotions is continually expanding and we are learning them along with her.  She is a shy little girl for the first five minutes in any new place, however after she warms up she chats with everyone and loves to explore the new environment.  She has a great sense of humor and is constantly making herself (and us) laugh. 

New developments -

- She practically runs behind all of her push toys but no independent steps yet.  She is standing on her own more and more often.

- Her two top middle teeth popped through last week and they were not fun!  She is working on the next top two, one is just about poking through.

- Maya LOVES books.  She will sit and read them on her own both at home and at daycare.  She rushes to her teacher as soon as she sees her with a book.  She reads during diaper changes.  She reads while in the car.  She is a bit like Mommy in this area.

- Her food tastes are slowly expanding.  She reluctantly eats veggies (quite often I have to mix them in applesauce) and fruits.  However she loves meat and any sort of carbohydrate.

- She has added 'blowing kisses' to her bag of tricks. 

Who can say no to this???

Easter

We had a very fun-filled Easter Sunday with family.  Maya enjoyed the easter baskets (mostly the grass inside them) and had such a great time with Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and a very cute cousin.

We started out by dying eggs the weekend before with Brecken.

She got her own basket at home Easter morning.

Then off to brunch with Grandma Sarion and Uncle Roy.

Enjoying some breakfast.

Teaching Uncle Roy how to play with the stacking/nesting cups.

The last stop was Grandma and Grandpa Knowles' house for afternoon play, another Easter basket and a great dinner.  Who knew Maya would LOVE ham? 

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter!

And no, we did not coordinate our outfits.  We didn't even realize we all matched until long after we left the house!

The proof

This series of pictures clearly show that Maya refuses to sit still.  All we wanted was one cute picture with her and her friend Brecken (who is five months old).  This is what we got (and there are about 20 more of the same thing).  And Maya, honey, you better watch out, once Brecken is mobile I have a feeling he will want payback!

   

My favorite series...

And this is the last one we took... apparently Brecken is worn out but Maya finally sat in one place!

10 months!!

I am estimating that she is now 16lbs, she just went through a little growth spurt.  Finally growing out of her 3-6 month clothing and moving on to the 6-12.

Pictures with Maya are near impossible these days, she does not appreciate me trying to get her to sit in one place for more than 10 seconds.  Here is the best we could do.

Props will help keep her still... but then she's not looking at the camera.

- She is cruising around more and more each day, both behind her push toys and along the furniture.

- If you can distract her enough she will stand on her own, but as soon as she realizes it she quickly grabs onto whatever is closest.

- She has discovered she can 'screech' and loves to exercise this new vocal level.

- In addition to pulling things out of baskets/buckets/drawers, she has discovered the fun of putting them back in (I suspect Aunt Jenny helped master this new skill).

- She seems to be working on her two top teeth but I think it will be a little while longer before they actually pop through.

And nothing makes you feel better as a parent than having each of her daycare teachers tell us (at separate times) that they will really miss Maya when she moves up to the next class.