Merry Christmas

Attempted home invasion

Maya and I were hanging out out the couch a couple of weeks ago and heard something behind us at the window. This video is what we saw when we turned around. Maya was squealing in horror, or amusement, probably the latter.

Catch up

I'm slacking on blogging again as you may have noticed. The days have been short and the nights long. Maya is still working on one to four upper teeth. I never thought that three hours straight of sleep straight would feel so refreshing. I have been trying to get a papers left over from grad school finished up. I've spent more hours than I would like at the dmv the past two weeks. There is a never ending pile of laundry to be done. And we haven't even started Christmas shopping yet. So that's my excuse for not blogging.

Maya is generally a lot of fun these days. She is once again waving and saying hi hi, generally in a whisper. She just started repeating who. It's extra hilarious because she's so proud of herself when she does it. And when she amuses herself she looks up and snorts. This last week she's also started say nana and mama sounds. Before it was always dada. I'm not sure she uses them correctly because she says them all the time but she seems to know who mama and dada are. If you ask she will often look and point. Meal time has been hit or miss since she's been sick and teething. I think she just prefers to feed herself. She easily picks up puffs and cheerios but still refuses to try anything not crunchy. She will sometimes let us feed her purees or other soft things. She will usually let me feed her anything off of my plate with a fork. I bought some little squeezy pouches of carrot apple sauce that she can eat with minimal help. She loves them. She recently started signing all done when she wants out of her high chair. She is getting more steady on her feet. She can stand without holding on but she doesn't feel secure doing it. She does like to hold onto our hands and walk around to kick things.

I realized that I never posted her nine month with her owl stickers so here those are.

Also here is a funny Thanksgiving one that I meant to post. Mostly she just poked it, trying to figure out what it is.

Monday, Maya and I tried to get a photo for Christmas cards, not an easy feat these days. She was not impressed. She refused to smile

I do love her ear curls in this one though

She preferred to make faces like this

or this

Or she refused to look at the camera at all

Right after this photo was taken, one of these ornaments meet an untimely end and that was the end of our pictures for the day.

the end

1st Thanksgiving

Happy thanksgiving from our little turkey.

The day didn't go quite as planned with some flooding of our garage, a minor injury, and forgetting to take the diaper bag when we went to a friends. It was nice not to have the stress of travel but we did miss everyone. And I am going to miss the shopping tomorrow as I've done in recent years with my mom and Derek's mom. Overall though today was a pleasant day with good food, family, and friends.

Maya celebrated with turkey, pumpkin, and grean beans and a cute little turkey bib.

9 Months

Maya turned 9 months old today. Crazy, itsn't it. She had her 9 month well baby checkup today also. She's 21 lbs (84rd percentile) and 28.75 inches (87th percentile). Her head is in the 94th percentile. The doctor was impressed with how active and mobile she is and how well she grabs/handles objects. She recommended that we up her solid feedings to three to four times a day rather than just the two we have been doing. But said that her growth looked great. She is also cutting teeth on the top, not showing through but definitely working on them. This along with a cold that started last Monday, have meant a very cranky baby and very little sleep around here. I think it was mostly the cold. All day, she would whine until I'd pick her up then she'd whine to get down, then whine for me to pick her up. At night she was up every hour or 1.5 hours. It was just starting to get better the last couple of days. But then I caught her cold and now Derek. We're hoping that her teething or flu shot doesn't disrupt her sleeping again. I'll blame this combined with a visit from Maya's grandpa and gram the week before on my lack of blogging. To make up for it, here's some pictures

This one is from Saturday

This one is from today

What has Maya been up to since I last wrote. Two weeks ago, Maya started waving and saying hi. She won't really do it recently. She's not as much into clapping, either. Maybe it's just because she hasn't been feeling well. Two Saturdays ago, Maya went to the zoo for the first time. She seemed to like it. She made her happy squeal noises at the animals that moved around. This past Saturday, Maya stood for several seconds without holding on to anything. She's let go a few times in addition to this. She's usually fine until she realizes that she's not holding on and then sits. Sunday, she started fake coughing. It's funny. She's really into eating puffs and cheerios this week and not into purees unless its squash or sweet potatoes. She won't pick up anything and eat it unless it's crunchy. We've tried bits of sweet potatoes and smashed peas without success. I'm wondering if her appetite will pick back up after her cold is completely gone or her teeth break through. She is as always into cups. We went shopping today. We played with several toys and put them back. No tears. We looked at a sippy cup and put it back. Lots of tears.

Happy Halloween

More Milestones

Before I forget, Maya started sitting up from crawling last Friday. Yesterday she started cruising on the furniture a bit. Not too fast or far but she's getting the idea. Sometimes she thinks she can stand without holding on to anything but she promptly falls over. The first few times she had a really shocked look. Today she thought it was a good idea to pull up on the high chair. It, however, was not. She bumped her chin on the chair then crashed her head on the floor. It was a horrible noise. It didn't really seem to bother her much. She stopped crying after a little snuggling. I think I took longer to recover than she did. In some ways, I'll be happy when she is more stable on her feet. But then she'll probably start running around and climbing on things. I'm not ready for that.

On the food front, Maya is making progress. She has been begging for our food the last few days. Last night I gave her a green bean. She took several nibbles without gagging. Today we went to a halloween party at Derek's work and Maya had some pieces of banana. She also had a few sips of an apple juice box. She wasn't sure what to do with it at first. She preferred my water to juice. I think because it was in a familiar container. Tonight was day 1 of prunes. Hoping they will help with any future tummy troubles.

First Word?

We think Maya says yay when she claps. It's the only time she says it. Usually she says da, ba, or her new thing is sort of a kk sound. Her other new thing is swinging arms and legs around like crazy when we are trying to get her dressed after her bath. You can witness all three new tricks.

New Foods

Maya had peas last week. She seemed to like them. We tried giving her puffs last Tuesday. They didn't go over as well. She wouldn't chew them and so then would hit her tongue in large solid pieces it would make her gag. She had chicken for the first time on Saturday. This is the first meat she's tried. I pureed it myself and it looked gross because of the texture. We mixed it with squash which is about her favorite. She seemed to like it. It seemed to have cause some tummy issues for her though. She was up crying from 1:30 to 3:00 on Sunday night which is very unusual. Usually she just wakes up to eat and then is out again.

Maya's teeth are really starting to show. She's been a drooling mess. Last week she bit me at least once a day. She seems to be getting the hang of her teeth though and it's happened less in the last few days. On Sunday she started chewing her food. It's hilariously over exaggerated. She chews pretty much anything purees, water, a napkin. The napkin still makes me laugh. Usually she doesn't put them in her mouth. She got two bites before I was able to get it away from her. But at least she chewed it.

Yuck face over puffs.

Gagging over puffs.

If you look close you can see her two teeth.

8 Months

Where has the time gone? And who shrank her bear?

3/8/2011

10/22/2011

Milestone after Milestone

Maya now crawls on her hand and knees the majority of the time instead of creeping on her belly. This means she is faster and can get over obstacles. As of Thursday, she has had more success pulling up. And as of Friday, she has what looks to be two teeth poking through. Someone tell her to slow down. She didn't listen to me.

Thursday, I sat Maya in the floor and turned around briefly to grab a shirt for her.  When I turned back around, this is what I found:

Here is one from today. I tried to get one of her teeth but she wasn't having it. So instead I show you her first fast food water. This kept her entertained for a long time. She dumped the water in her lap and cried when I finally took the empty cup away.

Goodbye to my papa

Early Friday morning my family lost a great man. My grandfather passed away at the age of 91.

Papa was an honest, hard working,  Christian man. He was dedicated to his family. He was often in song. He enjoyed his garden. He had a tickly mustache stubble that made Maya laugh when he kissed her. He had a kind heart and a great sense of humor. I was always amazed at his wit and spryness.

We didn't make it back home for the funeral, but I am thankful that Maya and I were able to visit him last month. At the time, he had recently been diagnosed with cancer but was doing fairly well still. The visit was bittersweet. He said that we may never see him again. I told him that we loved him.

We will always remember him.

4/12/2011

Fall Fun and New Skills

It has been exciting here recently. On Friday, Maya started crawling on her hands and knees.  She still alternates between scooting on her belly and lunging on her hands and knees. On Saturday, we went to a friends house then headed to a pumpkin farm and corn maze. It was a great fall day with our little family and some new friends.

A few days ago Maya started clapping. This morning we went to story time for the little ones at the library for the second week. Maya seems to enjoy the books, songs, and other babies. Today she was clapping and another mom commented on it. I told her I didn't think she was really doing it intentionally. But then this evening we are fairly certain that she was purposely doing it. She'd clap when we would say yay and clap. A week ago Sunday someone at church thought that Maya was waving at her. I'm not sure if she really was waving.  I didn't think so at the time since she likes to wave her arms around any time she gets excited but now I'm not so sure. Monday, I was on my stomach on the floor. Maya crawled over, stuck her face in mine, and started talking to me. She sounded like she said hi. I think it's just coincidence but I was surprised because usually all she said is da da da.

After her pulling up last weekend on the couch, she has tried to pull up on various things with limited success. She pulled herself up on the bottom shelf of her changing table yesterday, then practically climbed on it. It's fairly low to the ground so I think that helped. She has tried to pull up on her musical table to play a number of times but she can't quite make it up. Today she would try to pull up on it several times, then give up and crawl over to me to help her. After I'd help her up she'd lean towards the table. Last night she was hanging on to the edge of her crib trying to pull herself up. She didn't make it up but we decided to lower the crib today.

Maya started carrots on Friday. She really seemed to like them. She had a few rashy spots on her cheeks, arms, and thighs Saturday and Sunday but they are all gone except one on her arm. Hopefully it's not related to the carrots. Today (Tuesday), she had avocado. At first, I tried just smashing a ripe one. It went much like the banana mashed did, that is, it resulted in the gag face, so I pulled out the blender. I wasn't sure how it would go but she was a fan. I think peas are next on the agenda in four days or so.

 

 

Here's a couple of videos of Maya. The first is from Monday. She may look more like Derek but she definitely gets that from me. The second one is from tonight. She is showing off her new skills.

Cutest Pumpkin

It's been cool and rainy the last few days so Maya has been sporting her fall look. I am a fan of baby hats but think this one is particularly cute. And isn't this jacket adorable.

Random Stuffs

Friday, Maya and I picked Derek up from work and we went to get a new tire for Derek's bike. The bike shop had a dog roaming around inside. Maya thought he was great. She would squeal loudly and kick anytime she saw him. It was a pretty small shop so that was pretty often. And it was fairly crowded so we were there for a while. I think she entertained the other customers or annoyed them. I thought it was pretty hilarious and cute, but it was loud. Tuesday we went to a park and saw two more dogs and she was excited about them too. I need to get it on tape. It's pretty funny. I want to take her to a petting zoo sometime and she how she reacts to other animals.

Saturday, we picked up a little musical play table for Maya. We couldn't figure out how to get the legs off and she was too excited to play with it so we helped her stand at it. On Sunday, I plopped her in the living room while I threw some towels into wash. I was in the garage and walked through the kitchen. As I walked by the living room I did a double take. Maya was pulling up on the couch the first time I looked and tumbling over the second. She's been able to pull up using our hands or climb on us if we are in the floor since Sept 7 but hasn't shown any interest in pulling up on anything else. I think the new toy is encouraging her to give it a try.  Derek told her she should finish learning to crawl before learning to stand and walk. Not that he's one to be giving such advice.

We got the hand-me-down high chair Sunday.  Maya seems to like it, but she gets distracted from eating by looking under the tray. It makes her look tiny. Nothing terrible exciting happening in the food department here. We tried rice cereal again on Saturday since she's been rash free for over a week. So far so good this time. Also on Saturday, I pureed and froze a bunch of pears, apples, and butternut squash for her. We tried pears for the first time on Monday. We usually feed her after we eat but we might have to start doing it during as she really wants our food. Not that she would want it if we gave it to her. Anything lumpier than a puree still makes her gag. We tried non pureed banana again and after the first bite she refused to try any more. She's really started to like the purees though. Last night and tonight I've had to refill her bowl of pears and oatmeal.

Maya is still growing like crazy. I really can't believe how fast she has grown. I put on a 6-9 month dress on her Sunday morning and it was tight. Maybe that brand just runs small. That's what I keep telling myself. Most of her other 6-9 month clothes seem to fit fine, not that she has that many. She and I have gone shopping several times recently and picked up some odds and ends. I'm not sure that they are going to last til 9 months but she needs something to wear. It still need to pick up some socks, tights, and white bodysuits. I picked up 12-18 short and long sleeved white bodysuits and 18-24 ones one clearance yesterday but didn't have any luck finding 6-9 or 6-12. I've been putting off buying socks because I'm not sure what kind will stay on. But with the weather getting cooler, I'm not sure I can put it off much longer. If anyone has any recs let me know. I'm thinking we might need to pick up some soft soled shoes for her sometime soon if the pulling up continues, maybe that will help keep the socks on. Or maybe then I'll just be replacing shoes and socks.

We played with her spider today. It is much less scary now.

A few pictures from Friday, she's all smiles and giggles the last few days:

Her new exercise program

And one from Monday after her bath:

When she gets teeth, I'm going to miss these big gummy smiles

Tonight eating pears:

7 Months Part 2

I took Maya's 7 month photo's last Friday but I am just now getting around to posting them.  I put Maya down laying on her back in the living room and ran to the office to get the camera.  She started screaming before I got back and this is how I found her.  

I'm not sure if you can tell from the photo but she is almost sitting but she couldn't quite get up all the way off of her support arm.  It was apparently very frustrating.  Of course I snapped a picture before I helped her up, because I'm mean that way.

Taking photos is getting more difficult as she's getting older, but I got a few cute ones.

These photos were taken before she pulled off her sticker, tried to eat it, then crawled away.

This photo makes it look like she crawls on her hands and knees.  But really its more like this

It's slow going, but eventually she gets there.

But I need to sweep/mop the back porch.

Friday night and Saturday night Maya didn't sleep well at all.  We were up every 30 minutes to 1 hour about all night.  Getting up every 3 hours is an average night these days.  But one night this week she slept for six.

Sunday Maya had banana for the first time.  I just smashed up a ripe one with a spoon.  She was not impressed.  Because she's had issues with textures in the past, on Monday I blended it with milk then added oatmeal to thicken it up. She liked it much better that way.  While I was working on it, I put some small pieces of banana on her tray.  She enjoyed mashing them around and throwing them in the floor, but I don't think she realized they were food or got any into her mouth.

She's really starting to interact with me more.  It's a lot of fun. She will copy you if you blow a raspberry.  Sunday she was trying share her paci with me by shoving it into my mouth. Finally I bit down on it with my lips and she thought it was hilarious.  Tuesday night, she rediscovered splashing in the tub. She's usually too busy sucking on washcloths. But the last few days she'll splash and then laugh about it, especially if someone says eww. If you put her down on the floor and leave the room she will crawl after you. Usually whining because you left her but not always.  Yesterday she was following me, but then got distracted and took a detour into our bedroom. We need to do some baby proofing this weekend before she gets any faster.

7 Months

Maya and I made it home safely last night. The trip went well but now we trying to readjust. Maya was extra sleepy today, took more naps than usual, and then cried this evening for almost an hour. She was almost asleep but just could quite get settled. After finally taking a nap, she happily ate/drank some oatmeal. Derek ran her a bath while I fed her and she was really excited when he put her tub in the floor beside us. She was trying to jump in. She'd lift both feet off the ground and try to stick them in the water. She couldn't quite reach and I couldn't help her in because I was laughing at her. Mid bath we had a bit of an issue requiring prompt removal from the tub.  Apparently it was too prompt and she finished the job on the floor and my foot.  I hadn't been pooped on in months. While we were trying to figure out what to do, she managed to get her foot in it and fling some. Good times. 

I will update on our trip when I've caught up on sleep, laundry, etc.  I also need to do Maya's month sticker photos. Between her naps, lunch with Derek, and a bit of shopping (I was looking for a baby gift, I didn't really find anything, but Maya now has a cute little denim jacket), we didn't have a chance to do them today.  Hopefully I can take those tomorrow.  I can't believe she's seven months already.

Milestones of Sorts

Saturday, we stripped Maya down to her diaper and put her in her chair to feed her some acorn squash.  She liked the squash better than apple sauce but not as much as the butternut squash.  While we were feeding her we noticed that she was scratching her chest and stomach.  My poor rashy baby has learned to scratch herself.  Now we know that her rash does in fact itch.  Maybe this is contributing to her whiny and clingy behavior as of late.  We are having a hard time getting the latest flare up under control.  Also, milestone for me, I weighed myself Saturday and I'm back down to my prepregnancy weight.

Sunday, Maya went to the infant class for the second time.  The first time was two weeks ago.  She seems to enjoy it, taking everything in.  After class, we went to the nursery where Maya napped and I learned the lack of sleep is getting to me.  The lesson started and I was listening, then the next thing I knew everyone was singing again.  I didn't even feel like I was getting drowsy.  I was just out of it.  Sunday night we went out to eat with some friends.  Maya got her own empty kids cup and she was happy until she got too tired.  She fell sleep in the car and didn't wake up when we got home like she usually does.  Derek and I promptly fell asleep on the couch.

For labor day, we went to a friends house for a bbq.  Maya really enjoyed watching all the kids play.  The host had a mirror hanging in the hall which Maya enjoyed.  Hopefully they don't mind a little spit.  Maya was a little clingy so I was holding her while I ate.  She accidentally stuck the sleeve of her new sweeter in my chocolate pie, then she tried to do it again on purpose.  At least she slept well after all the excitement of the day.

Wednesday, Maya reached what I would call mobility.  It's almost crawling.  It's not pretty and it's not fast, but it seems to get the job done.  She also learned to drink from her straw sippycup.  Maya and I picked up her prescription cream for her rash and ran some other errands to get ready for our trip.

Maya and I leave today.  Hopefully this trip goes as smoothly as the last.

Not Your Average Sized Peanut

Maya had her 6 month well baby doctor visit today.  She is healthy other than her rash that flared up again last night.  And she is huge.  For a peanut that started out in like the 5th and 3rd percentiles for weight and length it's extra crazy.  She's 18 lbs 2 oz.  That's just shy of 3 times her birth weight.  She gained 4 lbs in two months.  She's 26.5 inches long.  This puts her in the 83rd percentile for weight and 72nd for length.  Her head in now in the 92nd percentile.  The doctor commented on how strong and wiggly she is and wanted to know if she was crawling or pulling up yet.  Not yet on either but the last few days she has shown more interest in standing.  When Maya was immunized today, she was more upset that I was holding her down than she was about the shots.  She's was pretty much over it as soon as I picked her up.  But then got mad when we put on her clothes.  She was extra sleepy and clingy the rest of the day.  We spent most of the day cuddling in the rocking chair.

Tuesday, Maya tried apple sauce.  She wasn't really impressed.  Today she had apple sauce with oatmeal, that went over a little better.  Her favorite so far has definitely been the butternut squash.  I got an acorn squash we plan on trying after a few more days of apples.

Sporting her cool bandaides

This one is from Tuesday.  The poor rose didn't fare very well.

6 Months Part 2

Maya and I did another photo shoot today, this one with her month stickers. Compare this to one month.  Maya has her six month well baby visit a week from tomorrow.  I'm curious to see her new stats.

I made Maya butternut squash today.  She really liked it.  I dished out more than she usually eats and she cleaned the bowl.  I'm not sure if it's because she was hungry, just likes squash, is getting the hang of eating, or if homemade tastes better. We also tried a new bottle tonight.  She recently decided she wasn't a fan of the one we were using.  Not that we use it that often which is probably part of the issue.  But I have to make another long visit to the dentist tomorrow.  I'm not sure I've mentioned it here but I'm in the process of getting four crowns put on.  I have two completely finished and start the other two tomorrow.  Good times.  The first appointment took hours.  Fortunately, I didn't need a root canal.  The dentist said going in it was a 50/50 chance. All this is to say that since I have to be away for hours again it would be good if Maya would take a bottle.  She seemed to do ok with the new one but if not at least she will eat solids now.

I'm sure you've all heard me rant about diapers/poop before so I'll just say that she still poops a lot and we still haven't found anything that consistently contains it.  Also, it's kind of amusing that months ago I was wondering if I should let Maya sleep longer than 7 hours and now I'm wondering if she will give me at least 3 hours straight.  We've also been having more trouble getting her down for naps and in the evenings.  She seems to know that bed time means her crib and her crib means we leave and this makes her a bit hysterical. Then I feel bad so I snuggle her more which probably compounds the problem. 

6 Months

Six months already?  We had professional photos taken on Sunday and for once Maya was full of smiles.  Maya and I had some fun in the back yard today.  She wasn't as smiley but I think I got a few good ones.  I plan to do her month sticker ones tomorrow.  I always seem to be late with those.