Her Daddy's Daughter

Along the lines of "If Jim Likes To Eat It, Maya Will Too" - peas were a huge hit last night pureed into some mashed potatoes. A vegan shepherd's pie for baby! All this good eating has Maya's legs growing ever longer and her belly ever rounder. If 1 chin is cute, 2 is cuter, right??

Also on the eating horizon - tofu and asparagus... I don't have high hopes for these (though Jim does like asparagus...), but they're worth a shot. If Maya had her way, she'd probably just have pears for every meal. This girl can put a serious hit on an orchard...

Summer Olympics 2028 Star!

Maya donned her first swimsuit today for her inaugural dip and whirl around the pool. She LOVED it. She excels at floating on her back (chubbyness helps!), kicking herself along, and being a great swim student. She didn't fight or protest at any of the new maneuvers and looked like a seasoned pro. Maya learned quickly to purse her lips shut when they went under water and although we're not blowing bubbles yet, hopefully we'll pick that up along the way. I've never been so proud, and we're hopeful Dad will join us soon so he can snap some pictures of her in action. Future swim champ in the making!

"Mom, these swim pants are a little snug... I hope no one notices my belly hanging over the top..."

Poor, Maya... the rule for the swim lessons is a swim diaper plus built in swim pants in the suit. This means one tight little bottom for her (to avoid any embarrassing leaks in the pool). We could barely get her bottom in these pants! She'll have to wait for the beach to sport any bikinis!

Crazy Cohorts

Maya enjoyed lots of family time this weekend. She was thrilled to see her Pau Pau and Gung Gung again, as well as her Cue Cue (Uncle Timmon) and Kim Kim (Aunt Janetta). They brought along a lot of laughs and reasons to jump for joy in her jumper.

"Pau Pau, can you hem this mini skirt up a little, I want to show some more leg. But, don't tell Daddy."

"Gung Gung, people say we look alike, but I think you're much skinnier than me."

"Push me again, Mom! And don't put me on that slide anymore!"

Maya was also giddy with delight that Pau Pau is no stickler for pesky naps or sleeping during the night. It turns out that if left alone, neither of these two would ever sleep, they'd just play and sing around the clock... and I'm sure her Pau Pau would have it no other way.

No matter how big Maya gets, she still loves and fully expects to fly as much as possible. Too bad her parents' triceps aren't keeping up!

Hair Watch

Maya's fuzz is coming in ever so slowly but surely (okay, surely might be a stretch). We're hopeful to sport a bow by our first birthday. Even if it's the tiniest of bows.

Baby Love (thanks, Grammie!) is her current favorite book. She loves to flip up the animals on her own and has little patience for waiting for Mom to read along.

And, Maya was overjoyed with her success at feeding herself today. She managed to get her banana-flavored rice puff to her mouth all on her own. She was grinning ear to ear, proud as a peacock. Nevermind the other 12 that flew off her tray to the floor. We're getting there...

Day With Daddy

Maya enjoyed a fun-filled day with her Dad on Saturday as they ventured out to Cox Farms to meet up with friends. And lo and behold, Maya is a bluegrass fan and even sang along to a few tunes!

"Dad, how embarrassing, you and the 4-year old have the same outfit on..."

"Mom, I like your costume, what are you supposed to be?"

And though it was an exciting morning, Maya still enjoyed a little nighttime trick-or-treat action in the drizzle. There were mobs of cute costumes (and some lame older kid attempts - a tie-dyed ghost? for real?) and lots of giggles in the night - which made it tough for Maya to wind down for the night, but all in all it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, her chicken outfit was meant for a traditionally chilly night and it turned out to be way too warm and humid for her. Maybe we'll see an Easter chick in the Spring if we can calm our growth patterns down...

"You eat your tootsie roll, I got my thumb, thanks."

In exciting every-day life news... Maya is either turning into King Kong, or she's trying to find a way to pull herself up. Her poor Play Place doesn't stand a chance, as she rips each toy off in an attempt to heft herself higher. I think our days of the easy stationary baby are soon coming to an end. Make way for the mobile Maya!

Also, Maya has added Cheerios to her daily menu :) Day 1 of Cheerios snacking involved sucking, gumming and then swallowing them whole (gag, cough, cough, Dad has a heart attack). By Day 2 we learned to move them to the front where her two teeth are to break them in half before swallowing those parts whole. It was so cute to see the light bulb go off in her head - "So that's what these sharp guys are for!"

Cold #2

Poor lady seems to have found her second cold. Not quite sure where this one came from, but hopefully she'll be quick on the mend. A sick chicken on Halloween would be just too sad...

"Mom, I'm innocent! Whatever Monkey said is not true!"

At Least Someone Thinks Mom's Funny

Maya was a pile of giggles this morning. Having such a good sense of humor might be just what she needs when the other kids starting picking on her round little belly - especially in outfits like this one where the buttons are barely holding on for dear life... But I love the smiles... they make even the gloomiest of days bright.

Maya has also become quite the thespian. My new favorite character she plays is "crying diva." She squinches her eyes shut, wrinkles her nose (yes, even that small of a nose can wrinkle), tilts her head back, clamps her lips together and pretends to cry. It's the cutest and I shouldn't laugh everytime she does it, but I just can't help it. She's not ready for a daytime Emmy, but it's quite entertaining nonetheless. Hopefully I can capture that face in a photo soon...