Maya, my sweet peanut, happy birthday. You are four. Four years ago you were my tiny baby. Now you are a smart, funny, kind preschooler. (But you'll always be my baby.) It was a big year for you. You learned to write your name. You learned to hop on one foot. You are learning to read. Your vocabulary and memory are ridiculous still. You started preschool. You played soccer. This was a tough year for you in some ways. You learned to be a big sister, how to share mom and dad and your stuff. Your favorite friend moved away. But you remained my happy, bubbly girl. You are such a joy. You always literally have a bounce in your step. You are always filled with enthusiasm and wonder. I hope that you always keep this zest. Your dad, sister, and I love you so much.
Love, mom
2/22/14
Maya, my sweet peanut, you are three years old. When you woke up on your birthday (a Saturday), I asked "do you know what day it is?" You replied "Thursday" then realized it was your birthday. You ran around telling me, dad, mama Nell, and baby sister happy birthday. I asked you how old you are. You replied 5. You decided you wanted a Minnie mouse cake this year. At first, you wanted dinosaurs, particularly dinosaur train. But when we went to get hats, "party trumpets" (the kind that blow out but don't make noise), and cups (all things you specially requested) you decided you wanted Minnie instead. You also wanted popcorn for your birthday. I always told you that you could have popcorn when you were 3. You enjoyed the popcorn but didn't enjoy it getting stuck between your teeth.
You are such a big girl now. Next week we will get your official stats but I'd say you are 33 lbs and 38". You talk all the time. Your vocabulary and pronunciation are pretty amazing for a 3 year old. Since you are tall and talk so well everyone thinks you are older then you are. You know the sounds that most of the letters make. You can name words that start with every letter and given a word you can generally tell what letter it starts with. You can spell your name. You can count to 10+. You are funny and smart. I love being your mom.
Two days before your birthday you became a big sister. You weren't so sure what to think of your little sister at first. And you didn't like that I had to be away from you for two days/one night. Now that we are home and getting settled you are doing a great job as a big sister. You love to help change her diaper, pick out her clothes and gently rub her head. You keep asking "is that my baby sister? Does she have a tiny nose/hand/foot/etc?" I'm not sure how long it will take for you to call her Eleanor or Nora. I guess that's the hazard of mom and dad not picking a name until after she was born.
I really can't believe it was three years ago that you were born. Seems like just yesterday we were bringing you home. And you were so tiny and your dad and I really had no idea what we were doing. Now you're three and we brought home your sister. I'm still not sure your dad and I know what we are doing. But we love you. And I hope that you and Eleanor will be best friend one day.
Love, mom
2/22/13
Maya, my sweet peanut, I blinked and now you are two. I'm not even sure how to sum the two year old you up in words. You still talk all the time. Because you are so verbal sometimes I forget how young you are. You have lost many of your baby talk words. But you pull things "apark", you like "nanas", "wegos" and "wowwypops", and talk about boys and "grils". You are just starting to figure out pronouns. You love for us to read and sing to you. Right now you especially like twinkle twinkle little star and row your boat and request them continuously. You quote books and songs all the time. Even in your sleep. You recognize all of the alphabet and numbers 1-9. You do really well naming things that start with a given letter. You also seem to grasp rhyming words to some degree. You recently started "spelling" things, like you told me "f e spells house" and "m y z spells Maya". You know your colors. You like to draw and play with stickers. You like play doh. You love pretend play, cooking, dolls, little people. You enjoy your Lego's. But even with them you play house. Recently, you enjoy putting all of your stuffed animals in your crib, along with a blanket and pillow. Then you get in and jump. You love to help me in the kitchen. Every time I try to cook you come running saying "mom hold you". You are mostly potty trained. You still don't usually tell me that you need to go. You just start doing the squirm and grab. And you don't want to stop playing to go. You are hilarious. We went for a walk and you pushed your doll in her stroller. You kept leaning over around the stroller and talking to her, mostly saying "I'll tell you what, I'll tell you what, we are going home". One day I was getting you a cup of milk. You told me "you are driving me nuts". I responded "me? What am I doing?" You replied "standing there. Standing me nuts". You are under the impression that dad just eats, plays and skis at work. You are a sweetie. We love you so much. Love, mom
Maya, my sweet peanut, you are 18 months old. Every day you seem less and less baby and more toddler. You've shot up in height and lost you chubby little cheeks. You run everywhere, climb on everything, and talk all the time. Well not all the time, since you are actually quite shy. But as long as no strangers talk to you, you are talking. You are hilarious and giggly. You peek around corners and say boo or surprise. You are so sweet right now. You give kisses when someone says ouch or leaves, give hugs after your morning milk, say please and sorry. You say wait turn and wait patiently, at least patiently for someone your age, when we are at the park playing or have friends over. You like to share. I hope you stay this sweet forever. You enjoy shopping. When I ask if you what you want to buy you say food, cheese, moo milk, peaches. You recently learned that you can buy toys rather than just playing with them and putting them back. You are really good about putting them back though. No tantrums and you even seldom ask to buy. Actually you seldom have tantrums about anything and even when you do they are mild, just a bit of crying usually when you are tired or hungry. You seem to dislike when I have to go to the bathroom though. You often flop on the rug and whine. I've started calling the rug the rug of mourning. Your interest in the potty seems to not be deterred by your feelings toward my use. You are still not sleeping through the night, but you usually only get up once. I think we will work on that when we get back from our upcoming vacation. You are such a joy. We love you so much. Love, Mom
2/22/12
Maya, my sweet peanut, happy birthday. You are one year old. Unfortunately, you were sick on your birthday. One year ago last night, I was up all night waiting for you to make your arrival. Last night I got only slightly more sleep. You didn't feel well and would scream whenever I tried to put you down so we spent all night snuggling on the couch. We spent your birthday snuggling and playing at home. Due to our rough night, dad worked from home and spent some time with us. In the morning you opened your gifts. You knew how to rip the paper off. In the afternoon, you and I took a short walk to the park and watched the dogs. In the evening, we had cupcakes. You blew out your candle but weren't too interested in the cake because of your sore throat. You had a bite or two of frosting. We had a small party for you on Saturday. You were not sure why everyone was singing. But you appreciated the gifts and cream cheese frosting.
You are getting so tall. I don't think you've gained too much weight since nine months since you've been sick all winter. We should find out tomorrow.
You are becoming quite a little toddler. You almost never crawl anymore. You can standup without pulling up on something. You have started trying to climb on things. You insist on feeding yourself most of the time. You do well with finger foods and decent with a spoon, although it is messy. You love to drink out of a sippy, straw, or cup, but you don't swallow the water. It just reigns out of your mouth soaking your clothes and usually mine. Your receptive language continues to amaze me. You know where your toes, nose, ears, hands, eyes, mouth, teeth, belly button, and hair are. You know shoes, socks, shirt, books, owls, caterpillars, fish, water, bubbles, dog, just to name a few words. You only say hi, dad, shoe, fish, yes, and whowho for owl. (shoe, fish, and yes sound all about the same) You know a number of signs, such as milk, more, all done, please, fish, up, book and love. Today, I think you signed again. You are the sweetest peanut. You love to kiss me then dad then me then dad. And you give hugs and pats. And when you sign love, it's almost too much sweetness. We love you so much. Love, mom
1/22/12
Maya, my sweet peanut, you are 11 months old. Only one month shy of a year. I am both happy and sad about this. It's like I can see you growing and changing everyday. It's exciting to watch you and teach you new things. On the other hand, I'm a bit nostalgic. You are not my snuggly baby anymore. We packed away your swing, jumperoo, infant carseat and a ton of clothes this month. You are becoming a toddler. This month you went from taking your first shaky steps to walking everywhere. I try to remember this at 2 and 4 in the morning and enjoy our middle of the night snuggles, despite the lack of sleep.
You give the best hugs (complete with patting) and kisses. You always greet dad and me with a hi and wave. You also love to say hi on the phone. You will wave at other people when we are out but usual not if they wave or talk to you first. Hi and ow are the only words you use regularly. You also say dad frequently. You can say shoe, banana, and mom. You try to say fish but the f sound is hard. You do the sign for fish though. Your receptive language is exploding. If anyone says eat, bite, or banana you start smacking your lips. If we talk about caterpillars you find your caterpillar toy. You love to read and if we mention books you get one and bring it to me to read to you. If we say squirrel or bird you look out the window. You started shaking your head no this month when I say no and when you do/see something for which I always tell you no. Like when I drink coffee or you pinch me. You also say ow when you pinch so at least you realize it hurts. Not that that makes you do it any less but it is a start. You are into food since you are finally feeling better. (This month brought you your second stomach virus around new years) Your favorites seem to be yogurt, bread, bananas, peaches, squash, and sweet potatoes. You also liked beans, hummus, and broccoli when you tried them this month. You prefer to feed yourself and have nearly mastered the spoon. You celebrated your first Christmas and New Year this month. You puked for both. I'm ready for the winter to be over and you to be healthy again. Your dad and I love you so much. Love, mom
12/22/11
Maya, my sweet little peanut. Today you are ten months old. You are learning something new every day and developing quite the personality. You are so much fun. You know how to sign all done, milk, and more. You love to point. It's like a little window into what you are thinking. You also love to wave and play peak-a-boo. You are standing more and more without holding on. You recently started lunging between furniture taking some steps mid lunge. You were sick a lot this month. You were just getting over a cold at the start of the month. Then you had your first stomach virus complete with fever. Then you got another cold. I hope that you won't have such bad luck the rest of the winter. I might have to quarantine you for a few months. You are also working on four or so teeth on the top. This combined with being sick means you haven't slept very well and haven't really been into solid food. People keep asking when I plan to wean you. I think it's too early to think about that yet. I am excited for your first Christmas in a few days. You really love Christmas trees and checking out the presents underneath. You are so curious. You take in everything. Your dad and I love you so much. Love, mom
11/22/11
Maya, my sweet peanut, you are nine months old. You are oh so busy and into everyrhing. You crawl very fast, climb over obstacles, pull up on everything, and cruise while holding on. Three days ago we were outside and you stood on your own for several seconds. Long enough for me to tell your dad to come look. He distracted you when he came out though and you fell. You have let go several other times since then sfo that you have both hands free to play. When you realize you aren't holding on you fall. You hate to sit still unless we are reading books. It makes you so mad when we have to hold you still to put your clothes on our something. You wrap your leg around our arm and push it away. You did this move on your doctor yesterday when she was trying to look in your mouth. She called it your wrestling move. Nothing in within your reach is allowed to be on or in anything. I think your favorite thing to do is to take things out of something, toys out of the basket, food out of the cabinet, bibs out of the drawer, laundry out of the basket. In the last few days you have learned how to put things in other things. Yesterday you were moving the food from the cabinet and putting it in your carseat. You also like to carry random items around with you while you crawl, such as junk mail or a dirty sock. Tonight I was sitting in the floor eating pizza and you kept stealing my crust and crawling away with it. I never know where I'll find things. You recently discovered how to feed yourself cheerios and puffs. You seem to prefer it to purees this week. You still love cups. Today you had a meltdown at the store because you had to put a sippy cup back. You were ok putting the toys back but not the cup. You have come a long way from the 6 lb 1 oz, 18 in peanut 9 months ago. You are now 21 lbs and almost 29 inches. You had a cold last week. It was no fun. thankfully you are feeling better now. Your dad and I love you very much. Love, mom
10/22/11
Maya, my sweet, little peanut, today you are 8 months old. This has been an exciting month for you. You learned to pull up, crawl on your hands and knees, and clap (and say yay we think). You also got two teeth. You have bit me several times. Ouch. Hopefully you will get comfortable with your teeth and that will stop. I tried to weigh and measure you last week. You didn't want to stay still but I think you are just over 20 pounds and around 27 inches long. You are so big and so much fun. Your favorite toy is your musical table right now. You also enjoy animals both real and fake, dolls, cups, and bottles. You think it's funny when dad sings when getting you out of the bath. If anyone is drinking anything you beg for them to share. You do well drinking out of a cup and a straw. Your dad and I love watching you grow and learn. Love you. Love, mom
9/22/11
Maya, my sweet, huge peanut. You are 7 months old. You are so big considering you started so tiny. You squirm and talk all the time. This month you achieved mobility. You don't crawl in the traditional sense, even though you can get up on your hands and knees. Your crawl is more of a swim. It's hilarious but effective. You started pulling up on our hands this month. You are going to be running around too soon. I am taking advantage of the times you still want to snuggle. This month you also started copying us when we blow raspberries. It's probably a bad habit for us to teach you but it's too cute. You and I took our first trip without your dad this month. You are quite the traveler. You enjoyed flirting with everyone then playing bashful. You also enjoyed looking out the plane window at the clouds. The landing made you giggle. Your dad and I love you very much. Love, mom.
8/22/11
Maya, my sweet peanut, today you are six months old. You are getting so big. You are over 17 lbs now and you are almost too long for your 3-6 month sleepers. This month you started eating rice cereal, oatmeal, green beans, and sweet potatoes. You had a rash after the rice so I took you to the doctor. We still aren't sure what it was but we aren't giving you any more rice for now. You really didn't like green beans at first but you seemed to like everything else. You prefer to drink your cereal out of the bowl rather than eat it off the spoon. We have so much fun when you are awake. You are almost always smiling, laughing, and talking when we play. You can say ba and da and occasionally ma. You enjoy playing with cups, bottles, and paper more than your toys most of the time. You tried out the swings at the park this month and really liked it. You also like to go to the park just to watch the other kids play. You can sit up very well now and you roll all over the place. You inch forward on your belly using your legs but it's not as fast as you would like. You are always reaching and grunting for toys just out of reach. Nap time and bed time are not so fun. You don't like to sleep so you cry, kick, and squirm. You still aren't sleeping through the night again. Nothing wakes you up faster than putting you in your crib or your dad whispering. We are so in love with you. Love, mom
7/22/11
Maya, my sweet, little peanut. You are five months old. This month went by even quicker than the last. You are getting so big. At your 4 month appointment you were up to 14 lbs 4 oz and 24.25 inches. You have the cutest cheeks and pudgey little thumbs. I keep expecting your growth to slow down. But no signs of it yet. I guess you just really enjoy your milk or at least you seem to. You make the best sounds. For awhile it was always sort of a slurping. Now it's usually more of an mmm with every gulp. You have learned so much this month. It is pretty amazing. You roll over from back to belly and belly to back. You spin around in circles on the floor and roll all over the place. You are practically sitting and show signs that you will be crawling soon. You laugh when we hold you up in the air, when stuffed animals "attack" you, and when we nom on your belly. You also think it's funny when we say eee it's a caterpillar or peanut. You enjoy chewing on your toes. You don't like getting dressed or sleeping. W love you. We wish you would sleep more but we love you so much. Love, mom
6/22/11
Maya, my sweet pudgy peanut, today you are 4 months old. It really seems like yesterday that you were my tiny little peanut. Now you are more than twice your birth weight and are changing everyday. This month started off rough. You cried for about two weeks straight. Every time you were awake you screamed. After a couple of days I took you to the doctor because I was afraid you were sick. You were smiley at the office but cried the rest of the day. Thankfully you weren't sick and you finally are back to your happy self. This month you started to roll. You frequently roll from belly to back. You can also roll from back to side but your arm get in the way so you don't quite make it over to your belly. You also started giggling. It is the greatest sound. Your dad caught your first giggles on video. The same day you giggled, you also started reaching for toys. You love to grab things and chew on them. If you miss you chew on your hands. You also love to bounce. You flew for the first time this month. I'm not sure if you are still adjusting to the time zone or what but for the last few nights you have been waking up every two to three hours at night. You spoiled us before. You are still mostly wearing 0-3 month clothes, you have a few large newborn things and small 3-6 month things that also fit. You started wearing size 1-2 diapers this month. You go to the pediatrician next week so we will see how much you weigh then. I would guess around 13 lbs. You are such a cutie. Everywhere we go people are drawn to you. Random strangers stop and tell us how beautiful you are. I think it's your cute little checks. Your dad and I are so in love with you. It is so much fun to watch you grow and learn new things. We feel blessed to have you. Love, mom
5/22/11
Maya, my sweet, pudgy peanut, today you are three months old. These three months have flown by. I am really enjoying being your mom. You have grown and changed so much this month. At 10 weeks you were up to 10 lbs and 11 oz and 22 inches long. You started wearing 0-3 months clothes at the beginning of this month. So far they still fit you really well. You started sleeping through the night in your own bed in mom and dad's room. You still prefer to nap in our lap or in the wrap or occasionally in your swing or mom and dad's bed. I won't complain though. I really enjoy snuggling you. I am snuggling you now as I type and you keep smiling in your sleep. You hold your head up really high and have even rolled over twice during tummy time. Your colic has largely ended and you are all smiles and coos these days. Your big gummy smiles always make us smile. You are so cute. You really enjoy sucking on your hands these days. Your pictures from today are an indication of that. Your dad and I are so in love you. We feel blessed that you came into our lives three months ago. Love, mom
4/22/11
Maya, my sweet little peanut, today you are two months old. You have grown so much but you are still a little peanut. Dad and I think you are so big. But other people say you are still tiny. At five weeks you were 8 lbs and 6 ounces and 20.5 inches long. We're not sure how much you currently weigh. You are still wearing newborn diapers and newborn clothes but some of your outfits are getting a little snug. I'm curious to see how much you weight when you go to the pediatrician again at 10 weeks. You have changed in a lot of ways this month in addition to getting so big. You have started staring at faces. It makes you a little cross eyed at times. About two weeks ago, you started smiling. At first, we weren't sure if it was a real smile but as the days go by you are smiling more and more. A little over a week ago, you started cooing. You have also recently started looking for me if someone else is holding you and you hear my voice. This month, you have become quite the little traveler. You went to visit all of your great grandparents, your grandparents, uncles and aunt, and cousins. Then you made the trip across country to your new home. You were initially not impressed with the whole moving thing. Before we left and during the drive you were very cranky for 2 to 3 hours in the evenings. Now that we are getting settled again, you are slowly starting to get back to your happy self. At your 1 month checkup, the nurse practitioner was surprised at how content you were. She kept saying now this will make you mad while she examined you, but you just looked around taking it all in. You are a sweetie and a beautiful little girl. We love you very much. Love, mom
3/22/11
Maya, my sweet little peanut, today you are one month old. You have grown so much in the last few weeks. You are getting cute little chubby cheeks. And you have officially outgrown your preemie clothes. Who knew that newborn clothes would make you seem so large. Next Tuesday we have your one month well baby visit. I look forward to seeing how much you weigh now. The last four weeks have flown by. Your dad and I have spent the days snuggling you and getting to know you. The first week you and I struggled with nursing. After we figured it out, you have been a happy baby. You generally only cry if you are hungry. The last few days, you have been a little cranky. You think you are hungry all the time. We gave you a pacifier on Saturday and then again today. The first time, you were not impressed. Today you liked it a little more. Your dad and I are both already wrapped around your tiny little fingers. I love to hear your grunts and squeaks. And you have the cutest cries. You do a perfect wah. If you get really worked up, your chin quivers. Your dad and I are thankful that he has one more month to spend with us before he starts work. In a few weeks, we will be making the trip across the country. At this point, you still really hate your car seat. We are hoping that you decide you like it before the move. Your dad and I haven't quite figured out diapering you yet. A day hasn't gone by that at least one of us hasn't been pooped and peed on. Despite your dainty lady like appearance you can fart and burp with the best. Recently you started spitting up a little this was after I told everyone you never did. Some nights you sleep really well. You go down at 10 or 11 and give us 4.5 hrs straight. Other nights however you still think it is awake time. Your dad likes to sing lullabies or soccer chants to you. He often can't remember the words so he makes up his own. We love you very much. Love, mom
2/22/11
Maya, happy birthday. You are my tiny little peanut. You are much smaller than I expected. But you are so beautiful. Even though your birth didn't quite go as planned and you continued to worry us until the end with your lack of movement and decelerations in your heart rate, we are so happy to have you here. Your dad and I spent all day snuggling you and gazing at you. We are very much in love with you. Love, mom
2/21/11
Baby girl, you are very loved. Before you were conceived, I prayed for a little one when we were ready or the time was right. You were my answered prayer, even though we didn't know that we would be ready so soon. Aside from the first trimester morning sickness, our time together was uneventful until the beginning of the third trimester. I thought that once I felt you move, I would worry about you less. I was very wrong. You are a very laid back baby and don't like to kick as much as you should. Because of this, every morning and evening we have our special time for kick counts. I had to make sure that you moved at least 10 times in an hour. When you didn't make it to 10, we went to the hospital or doctor's office for a nonstress test. We also earned a routine nonstress test once or twice. This meant we spend a lot of time at the doctor's office but I have listened to your heartbeat for hours over the last three months. I have spent most of the third trimester worrying about you and I am anxiously awaiting your arrival. I look forward to meeting you, to seeing what you look like, to being able to look at you and know that you are okay, and to hearing your squeaks and cries. Love, mom
