Adventures in Camping

Last Saturday we packed up the car and headed out for our first family camping trip.  I admit, I was very, very nervous about the whole thing.  How would Maya sleep in a tent?  Would she eat OK?  Would she be entertained?   I worried for nothing.  We had such a good time and Maya loved spending so much time outside playing in the dirt with the other kids and the puppies.  She even slept well, which was quite a shock to me.  It must have been all the fresh air.  Many thanks to the Bakers for inviting us along!

Helping with the tent.

Sitting in a camp chair.

Brecken and Maya waiting for breakfast.  Ignore the 'Coug' hat, Brecken is still under the influence of his parents and doesn't know any better yet :-)

This is how she spent most of her time, walking around the campsite, simply because she can.

Yes, that is a champagne cork.  Apparently mimosas for the grown ups equals fun toys for the kids.

You may notice no mention of Fourth of July festivities.  That would be because we headed home the afternoon of the Fourth and Maya and I were both so exhausted we fell asleep and missed out on all the fireworks.  She must have been tired as she slept through all the noise (and our neighborhood goes nuts with the fireworks).

And PS - A big thanks to Maeve for all the clothes!  As you can see, they have already been put to good use!

Her best friends

Maya loves our kitties.  She gets very excited every time they walk into the room and follows them as they run around the house.  She knows which toys are kitty toys and she is kind enough to walk them over to the closest kitty and hand it to them to play with.  Each day she becomes a little better at gentle touches instead of grabbing handfuls of their hair.  They have both been incredibly tolerant and I think they are actually starting to enjoy the love she gives them.  If we could only figure out how to keep her out of their food!

Lobsterfest 2010

Growing up we had an annual tradition in which Papa Knowles flew in fresh lobster from Boston and our family and neighborhood friends all gathered for a feast.  This was known as "The Lobster Party" and was held for many years.  Amy, Jenny and I have vivid memories of these lobsters who lived in our fridge for the days before the party and allowed us to race them across our kitchen floor.  All before dropping them into a boiling pot of water, of course!  We decided to revisit this tradition last weekend and it was as great as I remember.  Family, old and new friends and some East Coast lobsters all made the trek to the Knowles home. We relaxed, enjoyed the sun, played some croquet and badminton, tapped the keg and indulged in some great food.

Meeting the Lobster

Which can be a bit upsetting

The "before"

The "after"

A feast for all

Even Maya, who got a hold of her first ear of corn

Lots of playtime with friends and cousins

And some rolling around in the grass. As Maya was running across the lawn she tripped and fell. Lucky for her she has a friend in Avery, who quickly laid on the ground next to her to make sure she wasn't alone!

13 month transitions

There have been a lot of changes for Maya in the last month and she has dealt with them all in stride.  I'm continually impressed with her ability to adapt.

- She is officially in the 'little toddler' group at daycare.  She has done so well and her teachers tell us how easy her transition has been.  Her day is a bit more scheduled in this room, which she seems to like.  Meals and snacks are served at little tables and chairs instead of the highchair.  Naps are on a the floor on a mat instead of a crib and she is working her way to one long one instead of two.  They spend a lot of the day playing outside (which Maya loves), have story time, sing songs, paint and run around exploring like the little toddlers they are.

- We have eliminated formula and she is now a whole milk drinker.  The girl can't seem to get enough of it.  It is a tricky balance to make sure she drinks enough, but not so much that she is too full for real food.  We have dropped all daytime bottles and she is great with the sippy cup. 

- New teeth!  The poor thing has cut three new teeth in the last week and a half.  She now has her top four center teeth and her two top molars have broken through.  Add in her bottom two center ones and all of a sudden she is up to eight. 

- She is becoming better and better with her signs.  Please, more and all done are used all the time.  We are working on eat and milk.

 Doing what she loves most, playing outside.

Our goofball

A few of the things that make Maya happy these days.

 

"mittens"

climbing into her carseat by herself, with mittens on, of course

her purse

daring me to react as she knows she shouldn't be playing with the cat's water, purse in hand, of course

"bracelets"

New discoveries

Maya discovered the fun of toilet paper!  And you will notice in the back ground that she has also discovered tampons, which for some reason she loves to take out of the drawer and carry around the house.

She pulled it off the roll.

Tore it up.

Ate some.

And then helped clean it up.

After a long couple days with a cranky, teething baby (she's working on molars!) where nothing would make her happy, I remembered the fun she had with the toilet paper and handed her a box of kleenex.  I think I got a full 10 minutes of smiles as she pulled each and every kleenex out.  It was SO worth the wasted tissue!  Unfortunately, I didn't think to take any pictures.

Again, who needs toys?

All you really need is an empty box and a DVD.  This entertained her for days.