11 Months and another Tooth

Maya turned 11 months on the 22nd and she started walking around everywhere that day. When we were taking pictures with her bear she refused to let it sit up. She would knock it down and/or throw it every time we tried to sit it by her. Then she tried to pull the sheets down. After she succeeded, she pulled up on the chair that was supporting them and walked away. We didn't get too many pictures with all this.

Carrying around a sock while we were getting ready to make pictures.

On the 24th, Maya and I went to the library for storytime then out to lunch with some of the other moms. We enjoyed it and hopefully will have the opportunity to do it again soon. After lunch we went grocery shopping. By the time we made it home, I felt a backache coming on. I assumed I would have some pain for a couple of days and then be fine again like last month. But by Friday, it was still getting worse. Derek and I joked that I was going to be one of those people pain medicine seeking people that go to the er in the middle of the night for a backache that they've had all week. If it weren't for Maya, I probably would have been in search of something. I thought that there really isn't much they can give me while I'm nursing. Instead, per my mom's suggestion, I found a chiropractor instead. I had to wait until today to get in so I spent all weekend moaning and puffing. Maya started mocking me. It was pretty funny. Apparently I have some discs misbehaving. I'm sporting a stylish brace and ice packs. Thankfully, I'm feeling some relief already. I'm looking forward to being able to get down and play with Maya again and being able to pick her up without pain. Maya and Derek spent the morning rocking out to some music. Maya has apparently learned to dance.

On the 29th, her fourth tooth finally cut through. Her sleep still hasn't really improved. Poor Derek has been getting up with her a lot more the last week since I've been in so much pain.

Finally a Third Tooth

Maya's third tooth, the top left front one, finally popped through on Thursday. This is one of the four she has been working on for at least two months. Unfortunately, it hasn't resulted in better sleep. The last two nights have been worse even. I'm hoping this just means the other three are about to cut through as well. Other than in the middle of the night, Maya is a joy to be around. She recently started patting you when she hugs or snuggles you. It's too sweet really. She also has recently insisted on feeding herself. At least some of it makes it into her mouth. She has also started walking more the last couple days. We packed up her swing and jumperoo today to make room for Christmas toys and soon to be birthday toys. Bittersweet. 

Video from Thursday:

And one from Friday (sorry about the shaking and such, Maya was trying to help):

Lazy Weekend

We had a good three day weekend. On Saturday we went to the park.

On Sunday we went to church and then a potluck. Maya enjoyed playing with the big kids. On Monday we finally bought a dresser for me. I've been living out of boxes since we moved here, ahem, a few months ago. After shopping we bought some frozen yogurt. Maya wasn't so sure she liked it at first but then kept asking for more. Maya enjoyed helping put the dresser together.

 Yesterday, Maya and I ran around all day. We went to story time at the library and then grocery shopping. Maya kept waving at everyone. Whenever anyone would wave back, she would give them a great big smile. Several people commented on how social she is. Today we took it easy and spent most of the day playing at home and practicing walking. We called my mom to wish her a happy birthday. When I mentioned calling her, Maya kept waving hi at the phone. Too cute.

Other cuteness: She has decided that if you poke someone on the nose, you then have to kiss them. Not sure where she got this but who am I to deny kisses. Also, today I checked her diaper and didn't pull her pants all the way back up because she needed a change. As I was getting up to change her, her pants fell down. She thought it was hilarious.


Happy birthday, mom. Unfortunately you won't get the same birthday present as Derek's mom, that is a visit from us. But here's some photos to hold you over.

Also, I know I'm late with this but happy birthday to little E. I can't believe that you turned 1 on Sunday. Seems like just last month that you were born and Maya was kicking you from the inside when I held you the first time. I'm in denial that Maya will soon be joining you in turning 1.

If you look closely, you can see the teeth she's working on.

Shoe

It's been pretty amazing to watch Maya's language comprehension develop. One of the relatively new words she gets is kiss. If you ask her for a kiss, she will often give you one. There is not much sweeter than baby kisses (although they can be a little gross at times). Last week, I was trying to teach her to blow kisses. She understood the kiss part but not the blowing part. She would just lean over and kiss me instead. Then Thursday, she was nursing and kept trying to stick her finger in my mouth so I kissed it. She stopped nursing, sat up, and gave me a big kiss. Then flopped back down and continued where she left off. Too sweet really. Another new word is shoes. If you talk about shoes she checks her feet. Sometimes you can even get her to say it. She's becoming a parrot already. 

The Best Laid Plans or Something Like That

The past month and a half or so has been pretty crazy. Right before Maya turned nine months she had her first real cold. Then I got it and then Derek got it. Derek then had another cold. Then on December 11, Maya had her first stomach virus complete with fever, puke, and lower gi issues. She was sick for a week with it. We celebrated my birthday with take out on December 14. Derek and Maya got me a blender since apparently I'm rough on them. This is my third since we got married. On the 19th, Maya started showing signs of another cold and our garage door broke. Also around this time Maya started taking lunging steps, that is she'd lunge from the couch to the ottoman and take a few steps in between.

We left town on the 20th for our tri state tour. Maya was stuffed up and snotty for the first week we were gone. State one was visiting with Derek's family. While there, Maya turned 10 months old. How are we into the double digits already? As posted below, we had our monthly photo shoot. And yes I hauled her bear across the country so that we'd have it for the photos. Derek probably thinks I'm nuts.

On Christmas eve, Maya puked again twice. I didn't really sleep that night. I was concerned that she would vomit again and spent a lot of time just snuggling her. I was also worried that she had another virus or wasn't getting over the original virus. She didn't act ill though and was fine by morning. We are still not sure what the deal was. Maya celebrated her first Christmas with a stocking from Santa first thing in the morning. She later was spoiled with gifts from Derek's family. She wasn't really into unwrapping things but liked to pull the tissue paper out of gift bags.

On December 27, we left state one and headed two states over. We spent the night in a city in between that we frequented when we lived in state two. We ate good food, walked around the city, looked at a Christmas exhibit, and had a lovely day. We then headed to state two for a wedding and a visit with friends. On December 30, Maya took her first real steps. Then a few hours later started puking again. I was at first mildly concerned that she wasn't getting over the first virus. However, the next day Derek and I got sick as well. We decided that we shouldn't get sick at the same time again so that someone can take care of the peanut. Unfortunately the timing also meant, we missed the wedding rehearsal and wedding. I rang in the new year with a nap while Derek and Maya played. I woke up feeling much better at about 12:15.

On January 1, we slept in recovering from the bug and then drove to state three to visit my family. We had our belated Christmas celebration on January 2. Maya was much more interested in unwrapping things this time. Sometime during the festivities she stood up without pulling up on anything. (On a side note, it's nice that she's had many of her major firsts while Derek has been home to see.) I think we brought germs with us to my mom's house. On the 3rd my mom got sick. On the 6th my nieces and nephew got sick. And on the 7th my grandma got sick. Fortunately it was a short lived bug. Unfortunately, since we were all contaminated we got to see but didn't get to snuggle our new cousin that was born on the 3rd.

We left for home on January 7th. The trip was smooth. Our flights were on time, early even. This never happens to me. I was thinking that everything was going too smoothly. Then we went to pick up our luggage. Only three of our four bags made it. (Yes we had four bags. Yes it is a lot. Funny thing is only one had clothes. The other three had presents. We had to buy another bag so that we could haul everything home.) The finally found the bag and said they would deliver it between 1 and 5 on Sunday. We waited and waited. At 5:30 or so, we finally heard from them. They were stuck in traffic. The eventually made it here and fortunately Maya's first Christmas ornaments, that were in the missing bag, survived. The moral of this story might be to not check luggage containing a fire safe box or other suspicious items.

Sunday while we waited for the luggage, we unpacked, bought groceries, and such. Sunday night our fridge started making a horrible noise, worse than usual which is saying something since it has sounded as if it's dying since we moved in. The new noise apparently was in fact indicative of the fridge dying. On Monday, we bought ice and a cooler. Tuesday the fridge seemed to get a second wind. But our landlady was able to get us a fridge that afternoon. I feel like we are turning into those renters. We just had the kitchen and tub facets replaced/repaired. Now it's the garage door and the fridge. Not that any of it has really been our fault. It's just general wear and tear over the years.

Also on Tuesday Derek and I celebrated our 8th anniversary. We put the kid to bed early then bought her a big girl car seat with our Christmas money. I think that means we are getting old or something.

On top of all the sickness, Maya has been working on four teeth on the top for the last month and a half or more. They still haven't cut through. Needless to say we haven't really gotten much sleep lately.

10 Months

Maya turned 10 months on December 22. We took her month pictures then but are a little late with posting them since we were out of town. She was cheesing for the camera. But kept pulling the sheet down and playing peekaboo. She points at everything these days. It's kind of fun since it gives a little glimpse into what she is thinking about.