Summer Begins

First time in the sand. The "flood buggies" were so bad this day that we didn't stay long at The Palisades.

Don't look, I gonna eat some clovers.

Lately, we've been spending almost everyday at the park. We'll, Maya and her Daddy have, and I'm usually working. She loves to climb on the equipment, spin the spinning things, and go down the slide. She also likes to pick up pine cones, go for walks, and try to eat things that are generally yucky..mmm, wood chips. The result of all this running around and playing is a baby that goes to sleep much earlier and sleeps fairly well. This makes mommy and daddy happy because it means more mommy and daddy time.

Maya is interested in other kids at the playground, but doesn't really interact with them (she likes to watch). Although she does enjoy chasing Max around and laughing when she sees him.

She still loves fruit, won't eat ice cream or cakey. But if you cut up grapes-that's the good stuff.

Man she's a talker now. "Up", "Wylie", "Shoes", "Hot" - these are just a few of the new ones. If we pour coffee, or if you open the stove she says "hot" in this cute whispery way that Max used to do when he was her age. They told us that she would know six words by 15 months. We looked at each other because she already knew six and now it's like ten or twelve.

I don't mean to brag, but she's getting an A- in AP English.

She also loves her new big girl car seat!

Almost One!

Maya is six days away from turning one. Where did the year go?? I watch her sleep in my arms and I can't even remember her being a teeny tiny. It goes so fast!
Right now Maya is all about "getting dressed." But her version of getting dressed is wrapping things around her neck. Scarves, belts, playstation controls, she'll even try to get shoes on there. She's accessorizing I guess. In five minutes this morning she had a scarf, a belt, a measuring tape and then an attempt at a shoe- all around the neck.
She's also all about walking!! (five steps and then plop!) And talking!! Her list is growing: "momma, dadda (her favorite word), bye bye, ball (she'll even point to them in books and say "ball"), wheeeee!!, uh oh, whoa, bubble, kids (she'll say "hi kids" ), noooooooo, kitty, and dat?"

Blowing kisses!! "mmmmmmmmoihhh!" And another toothie! And eating with her left hand only??!! A leftie perhaps??

She still loves berries (gobbles them up!), veggies (nummy nummy), Nina and Star on "The Goodnight Show" on Sprout, and carrying around socks. From all the other eleven month olds I've run across she seems to be way taller. And she has huge feet. Where she got this tall/huge feet gene, I do not know.

But, damn. She's cute. And silly. And a firecracker.

This weekend we go to Ames to celebrate her birthday and she'll have another party at Grammy Paula's and Grandpa Jeff's on Tuesday!

Until next week when she is one!!

10 Months and Then Some

We have been busy with a cranky baby. First it was a nasty cold which she got from Momma. Then it was something else. "Why aren't you sleeping baby? Why aren't you happy? Why are you screaming your head off even when we hold you?" Oh, you have a new toothie that's why!

Then two days later she had a total of four new toothies. She popped out three in one night. She's still working on pushing them out, so she's still mildly cranky. Her new thing is that she's totally not interested in baby food. She just won't eat it. Good news is she likes chili (just beans and tomatoes). And she tried a pickle. Her face read, "Hmmm, it's weird but I like it."

Her new words are "duck," "bye bye," and "book." She also likes to just yell "whaaatt?" for no reason. At least, that's what we think she's saying. She loves being tickled ("tickle tickle" she'll try to say) and also to have her toes eaten. If I say, "Toes?" She'll pop them up for me to eat. She is a snuggler.

At the mall playground she loves to watch the big kids but seems to be afraid (Kyle said she cried when a seven month old started yelling) of baby's around her age. When I take her out and we see other kids in shopping carts she gives them shy little smirks, she also does this when strangers say "aren't you a pretty baby." The smirk is a Dieter trademark she must have learned from Max. At restaurants she jabbers away like she's in on the conversations going on in the entire room.

She has taken to letting go of things while standing and just stands there for a few seconds, and then slowly sits down. So she's a little closer to walking.

Lately

Lately Maya is loving standing up, following momma around the house, eating blueberries, talking to the kitties in her books, copying Max's laugh when he came over to play, going to the park to swing and watch kids, helping momma fold laundry, and sleeping in her crib.


Maya decided that the ducks at the park didn't need bread.




She doesn't understand what the fuss is about slides. "This is dull Momma, take me back to where I can see kids."

Nine Months!

On Monday Maya went to her nine months check up with Daddy. At nine months (I can't believe it!) she is 28 and a quarter inches tall (75%), 19 pounds and 10 oz (65%), and her noggin' is 46 cm (94%) As you can see from the above photo she has become very interested in the world around her. Cupboards especially, she uses her little fingers to open them and then pulls out all the pots and pans so she can sit in the cupboard. We play "Where's Maya?" and close and open the door saying "There's Maya!!) She likes that game. So at the moment all of our pots and lids are lying on the kitchen floor. She also loves standing up, she pulls herself to standing all the time and likes walking around (more like jumperooing/bouncing as she takes steps) with Daddy.

In this picture Maya is "lounging" with Momma on the floor. She spends lots of time looking at her books (which are covering our living room floor) and talking to the babies and animals in them. She is also crawling off her tummy and is so fast we have a hard time keeping up with her. With the standing and the crawling, and the trying to stand up from sitting we're expecting her to be walking by her birthday.


Thankfully (for Momma and Dadda) Maya is sleeping much better and able to fall back asleep without assistance from us- most of the time. We only have to get up and feed her once (sometimes twice) after midnight. (Maya is a gremlin and so we have to feed her after midnight or she'll take over the mall.)

So much has changed and happened in the last two weeks for her! She even likes playing with Uncle Jason now!!



She also will wave bye bye and occasionally say "Baaaaaa" to Momma when she goes back to work after lunch. And Momma still gets those "kisses" (more like puppy licks) when she asks for them..

Kisses!!

Ames Visit

Going after Trek under the table.

Playing peek a boo with the table cloth at the tea room.

A fake deer head?

Sleeping on Grandpa Greg

This last weekend we went to Ames to visit Grandparents. There wasn't enough time! On Saturday we had a "Girl's Day Out", we went and got hair cuts and such, picked up Maya and went to Ivy's Tea Room for lunch and some shopping, and then went to the mall for some "shopping and strolling." Maya did the strolling, we did the shopping. Maya was pooped out but still decided to skip her usual long afternoon nap because there was just too much to see.

On Sunday we went over to Grandpa Greg's and Peggy's for lunch. Maya enjoyed eating mashed potatoes and yummy corn bread. She then enjoyed Uncle Jason waving his arms and being silly with her. After all that, she slept...on Grandpa.

Then on Sunday night Adriana and her girls came over for the Oscar's (our second year to do this together with them), Banana made an armadillo cake and we ate it up! Maya played on the floor and marvelled at the big girls sitting next to her.

Things she's learned in the last week! Crawling off her tummy, not an army crawl (At Grandma Jo's), walking along the couch (at Grandpa Greg's), and pulling herself up to the couch (at home with mommy and daddy). She is also really into mimmicking (brushing her hair and teeth like mommy and daddy, laughing like mommy) and loves loves loves to laugh.

And spaghetti!

Daddy's Girl

Lately Maya's been super attached to Daddy. She still loves Mommy, and gets really excited when Mommy comes thru the door for lunch or after work, but she really really loves Daddy.

And Daddy gets a little tired of it. Maya constantly wants Daddy to pick her up and play with her causing Daddy to moan, "Can't I get a a break?"

Mommy says, "It's hard work being somebody's favorite."

Maya is constantly moving, grabbing, eating, and grabbing some more. She wants everything right now! She spent half an hour bouncing in her jumperoo before starting to whine (but continuing to jump). She likes to lay down in the bubble and talk, we think she likes the way she sounds underwater.
She's been eating and eating and eating lately, solid foods and lots of milkie. Here is a picture of her awesome tummy to prove it. I love this tummy, it's just adorable.




It's been hard for me to get good pictures of her lately. She sees the camera and squints her eyes.

Maya, on being beautiful

People are always telling me how beautiful I am. I know, I know! Momma and Poppa are constantly saying how cute I am. I have strangers holding me at the bookstore saying it, I have strangers coming up at the grocery store saying it, and those Grandma lady's say it too.

But can't you all see how smart I am too? I know three other babble languages, most importantly I can say "I'll have the sweet potatoes instead of the peas thank you." I can kick out morse code on the floor that states, "They're out of bananas, send more bananas!"

I am a food connoisseur and my palate takes great delight in chicken and sweet potatoes puree, and of course mushee bananas a la...mushy. Unfortunately, I also enjoying talking about my food while eating. Sorry, I haven't learned manners yet.

And as the picture above clearly shows, I am "The Kitty Whisperer." (Although Trek is trying to bat at me and attack me, we are clearly bonding in this moment).

Super cute, super talkative, super funny, and super intelligent. I pretty much am the awesomest "almost" six month old in the tri state area. But I heard about this baby in Tulsa who is a close second....