11 Months Old

I love this smile. It's the one she gives us when she's walking behind her baby doll stroller and is so proud of herself, but trying not to show just how excited she really is. =)

This is her whispering "puh-puh" (puppy)

This girl has changed a lot in just one month.

Some things:

- Waves when she hears "bye-bye"

- Also understands "puppy", "bottle", "pat-a-cake" (claps hands when we start saying it)

- Barks like a puppy when she hears the dogs barking or looks at a picture of a puppy

- Says "puh-puh" for puppy (she will only ever say it in a whisper, I have no idea why)

- Loves books

- Loves to laugh! She laughs ALL THE TIME. And if you laugh back? Well, she just keeps on laughing more.

- Calls me "Mom". Not mama or mommy, just Mom. :)

- Studies our mouth movements when we talk. She's really trying to figure out how to form words.

- Mimics our tone of voice, but in a hum

- Is a mama's girl (undoubtedly because we spend so much time together)

- Goes to bed without much, if any, complaining

- Is having picky eater issues

- Had her first haircut. Really though, I think I trimmed about 20 hairs total.

- Loves to put things in container, take them out, put them back in, over and over

- Will not keep ANYTHING on her head. Bows, hats, headbands... not happening for her. Especially the hats, which is sad for me.

- Also hates the car seat and car rides (I can't remember if she hated that last month)

- Was sick with both the flu and common cold both within a week of each other :(

She is picking up new skills every day and often surprises us with how much she really does know and understand!

Next month will be the big first birthday, we're excited and a little sad to be out of the baby phase. On to other things in the coming year- walking, talking, and... potty training at some point!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was low-key this year, which was fine with us. We went to the Bish's Trick or Treat Street where Aaron was handing out candy for the radio stations and went to Boo at the Zoo for the TV station (the zoo was AMAZING- they really go all out with the decorating. I think next year Maya will love it a little more). Maya didn't know what was going or why there were so odd looking people walking around. She did, however, look super adorable and scored her mama lots of candy.

It's almost that time!

So... I wasn't planning on doing a theme for Maya's birthday party. Until I surfed the web a bit


(just to see)


and these little party ideas showed up.



I am not a fan of characters being anywhere except on the TV... Winnie-the-Pooh nurseries, Dora the Explorer shirts, oh and Hannah Montana? Don't even get me started on how much I loathe seeing Hannah Montana bedding and clothing and purses and underwear and... good grief.

Now, I know the time will come when Maya will want Little Mermaid pajamas and... heaven forbid, insist on a Barbie birthday party...



But for this first little birthday?



We're going to keep it classy, character-free



& SnOwFlAkEy





Love the applique snowflake. These colors are just plain awesome together, don'tcha think?


UPDATE:
Who am I kidding? This is way too complicated.

10 Months Old

Maya's a big ten months old today. She's speed-crawling around everywhere and has stood by herself a couple of times. Only a matter of time before the walking (and running) begins.

Maya has 8 teeth now- 4 on top, 4 on bottom. I think they really make her look like a toddler rather than a baby :( But they're pretty cute. In the last week or so, Maya's been cuddling us all the time and we LOVE it! She hasn't done it with anyone else yet, but during the day and when she's playing, she'll stop what she's doing and come over- hug me and rest her head on me... for just a few seconds and then she's done. It's probably because her new nap-less lifestyle is rather tiring, but we like to think it's just because she loves us.

So yes, as I said, this girl thinks naps are a thing of the past. We try and get her to take at least one but they are usually really short. I miss the 2-hour naps she was taking a couple of months ago!

The bad part is that she gets overtired and grumpy and clingy by afternoon.

Whenever Maya sees me eating something, she comes over and if I don't share right away she whines until I do. Smart girl. Mommy and daddy are going to start eating a little healthier.
Maya's gotten quite a bit more wary of strangers recently. She looks at new people with this funny open-mouthed stare.

Maya's hair is getting pretty wild and out of control. Most days I just stick a little barrette in to keep it out of her eyes, but that is not even enough anymore. I don't know what to do with it! I just know, for some weird reason, I don't want to cut it. I feel like it would take away another little part of her babyness to have trimmed hair. Ridiculous, I know.

Anyway, Maya has a paper-eating habit. It's most likely just the age and the fact she still puts everything in her mouth, but she seems to be especially fond of paper. For example, she loves playing with the DVDs. Some of them have little cardboard covers that go over the plastic case- she loves to chomp on those and bite off pieces. Mail, magazines, books, whatever kind of paper- she eats it.

Maya loves Barney and all the retarded songs they sing. She doesn't actually sit and watch it for long- but that's good because I don't want TV to be a main source of entertainment with her.

That's about all I can think of! We love this girl and can't get enough of her! Here are a few pics from last month.

A few more pictures. Because I can.

Move outta her way- this girl has important places to go.

9 Months Old

:( 9 months is 3/4 of a year. Maya's growing up.

Height: 28 1/2" (80%)
Weight: 18 lbs. 13.5 oz (50%)
Teeth count: 7

Maya is really enjoying her mobility. She still likes to play in Jack's water bowl... only now she races me to it and tries to stick her hand in the water before I can get it away.
She can clap her hands and wave hello/bye.
She loves to play with water bottles and baby wipes (the other day she carried a wipe around for about half an hour).
She bumps her head on something about 10 times a day and is pulling up on everything.
We got her a little doll stroller that she can push and walk behind all by herself. It is definitely the cutest thing I've ever seen and she gets the proudest look on her face.
We've watched snippets of Barney a few times- and she loves it. One day when Aaron was watching NCIS, Maya got ahold of the remote. She started chewing on it and pressing buttons and, I kid you not, the TV flipped to Barney. We had a good laugh about that one!
Maya loves music and singing. If you turn some music on or start singing- she bounces up and down and hums. A few weeks ago in church, the congregation was singing the closing hymn and Maya hummed, rather loundly, through the whole song.
She is such a funny little goofball and so entertaining.

New hobby- or obsession? And a mischevious little monkey.

Here's what I've been up to lately:


I decided last week that I was going to learn how to crochet. For real this time. And not just a little crochet edging on a blanket or a little yarn potholder. I'm talking hats! I love a baby in a beanie -especially mine- but, I don't love walking into a boutique and walking out emptyhanded because vendors charge $20 for a little hat. Being the frugal little self that I am, I simply can't BUY something that I'm certain I can MAKE.

They make the perfect baby gifts for all the girls I know who've recently had or are soon going to have babies.
And, let's face it, Maya needs some cute little head gear for the upcoming chilly days that will be here before we know it.



Maybe one in every color?



I've gotta say, crocheting is not the easiest skill I've ever learned- I've made five hats total in the last few days- of which only two are salvagable. And I was doing the most basic and frequently used stitch incorrectly until last night.

Basically though, I love it. I feel like I have something productive and inexpensive to do in the evenings after the little one is in bed.

In other news, Maya is everywhere and just full of energy these days. Here are a couple of her new favorite things.



Walking the dog- she always grabs Jack's leash and I think it's awesome. He is amazingly gentle with her (more gentle than he is even with Aaron and I). Such a pleasant surprise. They are going to be best buds for sure.



Crawling all over. Just seeing this picture makes me tired...



Because I know she's headed for this!


Jack doesn't care though- he's happy to share =)

We are headed to Lagoon tomorrow- yippee for our summer vacation- even if it's just for one day, there's nothing like spending a fun day as a family.