The little fish

22 Months

Maya's vocabulary is massive! I know I'm totally a biased parent, and I think she's the smartest little thing ever, but seriously. Two months ago we made a list of how many words she could say. In a matter of three hours, our list was well over 300. Now she's actually talking in sentences, and knows the difference between you and me. She calling me Joy and daddy Jimmy when she wants our attention and says some of the funniest things. Her newest thing being "do myself". Yesterday we found out a nasty situation... we have a mouse in the car... ew. Well first thing this morning Maya says to daddy-

Maya-"Daddy, mouse in car!"
Daddy(very groggily)- "oh yeah?"
Maya - "yeah, he eats Maya's yum yum"
Daddy - "He eats your yum yum?"
Maya - "oh yeah, mouse eats sushi"

This is another thing... the kids loves sushi, yes including the raw stuff. She asks for it more often than I wish to purchase it! She digging down on the fruits and veggies, but still has to be manipulated into the carbs... we continue to wonder, if she is in fact Italian.

She's doing awesome in swim class, and gets passed through the hula hoop under the water, while she kicks and paddles with he arms... She's seriously a little swimmer. I'm starting to let go of her, and she totally kicks her way up to the surface. When she's out of the water her favorite thing to do is jump. She goes around the house jumping(and actually gets air) saying "hop hop hop".

She is totally attached her her panda bear, her Elmo doll, Knut the baby polar bear and "Murry". Murry is a little black lamb, and somewhere between Murry from Sesame street and the song "Mary had a little lamb", Maya's lamb is now Murry. She scream for him before bed and when she wakes up so she can hug him. We also have to drag these favorite stuffed animals everywhere we go, to the store, to the pool, to the park, to church. I have to wash them while she sleeps! Which is what I need to go do now, more later!

Halloween

Maya LOVED Halloween this year... We lucked out with a break in the showers, and got to go out two nights and do some trick-or-treating... The first night Daddy had to work, so Mommy and Omi went out with Maya. Maya dressed up as a Geisha, and was more than happy to repeatedly hold still for applications of hair spray and makeup.(even eyeliner)... We went to downtown Grants Pass, and collected some candy from all the stores... Maya doesn't know what candy is, but was thrilled to see more and more little objects in her goody bag. We then went to Daddy's work for Sushi, but had to leave early because after the first trip the the potty Maya had to go more, and went all over her costume, and Mommy forgot the backup outfit! The next day, after church, Maya dressed up as Cinderella,(a costume she's been wearing for the last month). We went to Ashland and met up with Shaya and Madeline for the parade. Ashland knows how to do Hallween and Maya was super interested in all the costumes, drumming, and stilt people. We ended the evening at Caldera Brew house for some beers and chatting.... Happy Halloween!

The Pumpkin Patch and Petting Farm

The pony ride was THE CUTEST thing I've seen in a long time. Maya took this whole thing so seriously. She watched for a while as the other kids went around the circle, and she was first in line. When it was her turn the lady asked her which pony she wanted and she pointed to the smallest one. Once she was sitting in the saddle, she paid close attention to how the lady was strapping her in and then fell in love with her little pony. She petted the pony, and then held tight while the pony started walking slowly in the circle.

Next we petted all the other animals including a tiny baby pig... Maya was very gentle and gave each animal lots of attention which telling all the other little kids to "Look, a duck!" To end the day we went to Fort Vanoy Farm to pick out a pumpkin and go for a hay ride. Poor daddy got stuck carrying pumpkins while Maya got her picture taken trying to find the best "baby pumpkin"...

Fall

The leaves have been changing, we FINALLY got some rain, and every morning starts with a warm fire. Fall is finally here. Maya has been bundled up in warm hoodies and trying to figure out her silly hello-kitty rain boots. We've been cooking soups and banana bread, and feeling homey. We've made several weekly trips to our local farm to pick flowers and veggies. Maya's favorite has been the flowers... They give her a basket and let her go to town on the sunflowers, needless to say our dome has been filled with flowers!

Slacker Mama

Sorry we have been MIA, we'll do our best to blog more.... :)

Mommy and Daddy

Mommy and Daddy actually got to go out on a date... Thanks Omi..

Maya at 18 months

What a little monster we have our hands on... Maya has turned into a little teaser, giggling like crazy when she hides behind our clothes and jumps out to reveal herself. She purposefully splashes water on us, or just pours cold bucket fulls down your back when you least expect it. What a little stinker, but her big toothy grin melts our hearts. She has turned into a little person and is not longer a baby, until sleep sets it, when she needs Mama and Dada, not "mommy and daddy"... She is insisting on wearing big girl underwear, or "undies" as she calls them, which is keeping us on our toes with the potty training. She is pretty good, until she doesn't want to come inside to go.. luckily we live in the sticks and she's starting to be ok about going outside too. She is staying dry through the night and naps though, and always tells us when she has to go poo, so the pee pee accidents that rarely occur aren't so bad, (unless they happen to be on the slide in front of the other kids in the playgroup, no one wants to slide down the pee pee slide.) She's become quite the talker, and is putting together sentences like, "Illy eat yum yum too" or "Mama earrings big" or "Gramps, pool, Plllleeeeaase" and her favorite "Mama says NO" and then she says "no no". I have to admit most of her sentences are demands... It's adorable, especially since everything is taking on a sing-song tone... She says so many words now, and it's surprises me all the time, when she knows a new one that I've hardly mentioned.. She's becoming very particular about her food... She likes sushi, tofu, and LOVES edamame and asks for it all the time, today she asked for peas for breakfast, and last night would only eat blue berries and peaches for dinner. She also now asks for these things. She's VERY good at telling us what she does and doesn't want. Her favorite toys are her swing, her babies, her vacuum, and her flash cards. She HATES woopie cushions, and will freak out when you bring them near. She also knows how to dress and undress, and though she could take all her clothes off at church last week, and got very upset when we wouldn't help her take them off. She goes to play group once a week, and LOVES any chance she gets to see her big cousin Jessie, who she kisses freely and is the only person she has said "I Love You" to. She LOVES the river and the pool, and puts her head under by herself (especially when swimming with Gramps). She helps water the garden daily, and eats strawberries, and peas right from the vines. Her favorite thing to watch is Charlot's Web, and laughs out loud at the part when Wilbur is kicked out of the house with the broom, which makes Mommy laugh even harder. She thinks the basic point of the grocery store is for the "Lady" to give her cheese (at the deli), and the only point to any other store is to buy "shoes! shoes! shoes!) Daddy loves this idea.;) When she hugs, she pats our backs, and she wakes us up in the morning with songs and kisses. We feel so lucky for the time we get to spend with her, and every day gets better.

Bend Trip

We headed up to Bend to shoot a wedding and had some fun where it all started... We walked around downtown, went to the river, saw some good friends, and enjoyed all the Inn had to offer... Our only complaint was too little time.. we wish we could have stayed longer!

Naked River Days

We havn't been uploading lately, because we've been so busy hanging out at the river and soaking up summer... Maya has turned into a little fish.

First Ice Cream Cone

This weekend was super warm, and we allowed Omi to buy Maya her first ice cream cone... She LOVED it..

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was awesome again this year... it's totally turned into my favorite holiday... I LOVE being Maya's Mama, and Jimmy really makes Mother's Day special. This year he and Maya bought me a huge dogwood tree with pink flowers and we went to brunch at sunny Summer Joes... Maya was a champ and played in the grass while Jimmy and I could actually eat and talk for a while. Uh oh... pressure for Father's Day!

Who did it?

This is Maya's new answer for anytime there's a question of who made the mess, who drew on the tv stand, who broke this picture frame... Always the same answer...

Maya right now.

Maya is growing so fast, right now she is passed out across my lap, and I know I should go and put her in her bed, but oh how I love feeling her little weight, listening to her little breaths, and watching her sleep so sweetly... I often wonder exactly how many more times I'll be able to do this before she's just too big.

We have still been very busy with working on the dome. Jimmy is trying to do a bit of finish work on the inside, but when the weather actually is nice outside (it's snowing as I type this) we all want to be outside, so we've planted a little lawn out where the "mud pit" used to be, and next is a fence around three acres to keep the dogs in and the cougars out. Things are getting fixed, very slowly but surely.

Maya has started to sleep through the night once we night weened, and we are day weening as we speak. She's also often only taking one long nap a day, allowing Mommy to get some thing done, such as update this blog. She's also getting to be fairly potty trained, telling us when she has to go pee and poo. This can be a bit challenging when out and about dealing with public bathrooms with freak mommy out, and the car potty only works when it's not pouring down rain, and when the car isn't parked too far away. Either way, we see the end of diapers and that's awesome!

She's also totally into her babies. Sometimes we have to take the babies everywhere dragging them to the store, to Omi's house, in the bath, to the potty, to the park.. you name it. Sometime she wakes up saying "baby, baby, baby", or walks into the house and yells "BABY" and runs around yelling then until she finds one. She puts them to bed with blankets, feed them dinner and snacks, shows them how to color, cleans them and drys them off, kisses and hugs them, tells them to "SHHHH", pats their backs, and takes their clothes off over and over and over again, then says "uh oh mama"... this is my cue to put all the clothes back on.

Coloring is also a new big thing in the house. Maya LOVES her crayons and coloring books, and we seem to be going through them very fast. Her favorite is Sesame Street, and she knows to color Elmo red, Big Bird yellow, and Cookie monster blue.

She's been spending alot of time outside these days getting filthy in the dirt, digging, watering the "baby lettuce" and picking herbs for the dinner salad. She comes in at the end of the day with dirt in every possible crevice, and bright red cheeks.

We started swimming lessons on Monday, and she LOVES it. She loves all the baby, and thanks to Daddy's lessons, she can already blow bubbles, kick on her tummy and back, and can jump in from the side of the pool. Maya cried at the end of the lesson when it was time to get out. She looks absolutely adorable in her tiny little bathing suit.

She's slowly starting to talk more, and connecting a few works here and there with encouragement, like "Up Please" and "Here Doggy" "Night night baby" "Bye bye Daddy" "Maya's Chair" and other little things like that.

She's very into hiding, and there's alittle space between the stove and sink in the kitchen that is just big enough for Maya and the other day I heard her calling me and ran around looking for her to find her giggling in her hiding spot.

More to come soon, but I'm going to enjoy this little snoozing person passed out on me. xoxox

The Mullet

Maya's hair is getting a little crazy - total mullet that she sometimes let me put into pony tails, but most days she just rocking a totally crazy 80s do.

Potty Training

Maya has been around 70 percent potty trained for around a month or more. She tells us when she has to go poo poo and pee pee, and doesn't often go at night anymore. She had one little mishap when we went to the potty at a Portland restaurant and the automatic flusher went off before she was finished and it scared to right off the toilet for a day or two, but with a little encouragement and ALOT of sticker rewards, she's now even going on the big toilet and not the little potty! She sure does love her big girl panties!

Running and crashing

Coast Trip

Mommy, Daddy, Maya, Illy, and Selma took a trip to the coast, and enjoyed the super warm, sunny, winter day. We ate fish and chips, played in the sand, checked out the redwoods, and relished the day away from dome work... Maya loved running on the beach towards the waves giving Mommy and Daddy near hear attacks. We can't wait to go again.

Christmas 2010

Maya was in love with Christmas... She learned to say "Santa", "ho ho ho", and what card board boxes being delivered to house meant very quickly. She was obsessed with Omi's moving Santa, and all the little ornaments at the bottom of the tree that Mommy played with when she was little. December was filled with the sound of little feet carrying around little bells, and "anta" outfits being washed overnight so they could be worn again the next day. How much better the holidays are now that Maya is with us.

Lots of Catch up starting with Maya's 1st Birthday

Maya's first birthday was filled with family, healthy cupcakes, balloons, lots of pink, and fun presents... She loved being sung Happy Birthday, and relished being the center of attention. This year went by WAY too fast, and we love our sweet girl! Happy Birthday Maya!

Maya's First Painting

Maya's New Chair

Maya got a new chair for her birthday from Great Grandma Hayes, and loves sitting in it with a morning bottle of water while mommy and daddy drink coffee.

Giggles and Snorts

Patty Cake