My little toddler...

No video yet. I know, I know. We actually took some today, but had a technical malfunction, so I'm hoping to get a good little movie tomorrow.

Our little walker has been getting more and more steady and confident in her new skill. She's also now very good at keeping her balance and standing up on her own without any support. She's really adventurous about it, so she gets lots of practice. It does, however, make for slightly more difficult meals out, as she would much rather be walking around and flirting with all the other restaurant-goers than sitting in her high chair and eating. The only place I'm sure to keep her attention is at Pie-tanza..it's her favorite pizza!

Sorry we haven't posted in a while-we've been without internet since Wednesday! It's been really painful. We're hoping that we're OK for a while...

Here are some pictures from today:

Walking:



You want this?





Her eyes are so blue!



Me and my mom:

Fancy portraits..

Well, for some reason the portrait place won't put the pictures online and I can't really scan them, so I had to take a picture of the little montage they did for me, which is a bit silly. I'm not sure that I'll use them again..even though the pictures came out nicely it was really so expensive and I feel like with some lighting and a black background (and someone singing silly songs behind me), I could do the same thing.

Here is the picture of a picture..

Birthday Party..

I'm currently too exhausted to type, much less upload a zillion photos of Maya's party..but I swear I'll update tomorrow with the whole story and pictures. It was a great time..but don't expect any pictures of Maya smashing and eating her cake!

OK..eta:

Maya's party was a good time. It was just the right amount of people without being totally overwhelming, but enough people to be a celebration. We ended up doing the party outside--the whole week we were going back and forth on it because the weather was supposed to be too hot. It was definitely a little muggy, but ended up being nice. We had cleaned up the lawn and it was nice to use it. Unfortunately, Maya decided to skip her afternoon nap--it made it difficult to run around and do the last minute stuff..and we thought she would be a big crankpot! She ended up being OK.

Maya's cake was a success with the guests, but the whole singing/eating thing didn't go over too well with Maya. She got overwhelmed and scared when everyone sang to her and then she really didn't know what to do with the cake when she got it. She played a little bit with it, but then wanted out of the highchair.

Here are some pics of the big day. I didn't want to spend the whole day with the camera in front of my face, so they're sort of limited.

Check out more pics: Flickr.

Happy Birthday Maya!

The day is finally here! Maya Joan turned one today! It was amazing to think that it was a year ago that she was born and came into our lives-in some ways it seems like it was just yesterday, but in others it seems like she's always been a part of us and our family.
She truly is quite scrumptious right now..she gives lots of smiles and waves to pretty much anyone who asks. She loves her da-da and is so excited when he comes home..all she has to do is hear the door open and shut and she gets excited. She has moments where we swear she is talking English-like today after someone was singing about clapping, I swore she said, "Clap, clap, clap!". I still laugh about the little girl in Neiman Marcus a couple of weeks ago who asked, "Does she speak English?".
We had her one year doctor's appointment-hey, we're nothing if not punctual! The stats:

Height: 30 1/8 inches (80th percentile)
Weight: 22lbs .8 oz (75th percentile)

We talked all about switching to whole milk, weaning off bottles, etc. It was very enlightening. The doctor was watching her and her attempts at walking and said from what she sees, she'll be full on walking in a week. I believe it!

We had lunch at Whitlow's nearby-her favorite lunch treat. We were joined by Grace, Margaux and Melissa. We went home for a nice long afternoon nap and then headed to a nearby studio for some photographs. I thought they turned out well..Peter thinks mine are better. He's so loyal! I'll have the prints of those on Saturday, I'll scan them in for everyone ;) Peter, Maya and I had pizza dinner (Maya's favorite) with Melissa, Daniel & Owen. We then headed to Baskin Robbins for a little first birthday treat. Apparently not too many people buy a cake at BR and eat it there on the spot..but we did! Here are the pics of that special event...I think they speak for themselves:










More pictures to come of Maya's birthday party and other fun stuff. Oh, and I swear we'll get some walking on video!

PS My dedication to this blog should be noted, as we are without internet access at home for some oddball reason-therefore, I am sitting in my car parked outside the apple store using their wireless ;) Good thing mom bought me this laptop!

11 months, 4 weeks, 2 days...and walking!

Well, today is the last day of Maya's first year! I can't believe it. It was a pretty normal day-she took a nice long nap in the morning, we went to Tumbles class and then she had pizza for lunch (she chowed down, eating almost 3 slices!). In the afternoon she took another good nap and then we cruised the neighborhood. Much better than last year when I was laying in a hospital bed being induced!

Oh..and this evening when we were putting her to bed we played with her on the floor for a bit...and she walked!!! She really, really did! We didn't take any pictures/video because we were so in shock, but we'll get some, I swear! At one point she walked 6 or 7 steps in a row! She could tell she was doing good too, because when she would get to one of us, we would start cheering and she started clapping for herself!

Here are some pics of Maya before she turned a year old..

Manual Settings...

I was playing with my camera today and took some pictures of the little munchkin. There's not much new going on here, except that Peter and I spend a lot of time asking Maya if she knows that she's almost a year old and that is usually followed by one of us saying, "I can't believe she's going to be one. Crazy."

At exercise class yesterday we sang an early Happy Birthday to her. She loved the spotlight. The teacher even asked me how often we sing that to her..that was the first time she heard it, but apparently she knows she is a star already!

I think a step or two might be in the near future..we're keeping the video camera close by!













Gosh..if I post this many pictures now, how many will I post on Thursday??

Peek-a-boo...

Maya played her first impromptu peek-a-boo this morning. It was the cutest thing! She had the towel over her face and then she pulled it down and smiled..I said, "Peek-a-boo!" and she smiled again and pulled the towel over her face and then pulled it down again. And so we played for a minute or so. It may not seem like a huge deal, but it was a sign of a little person in that toddler body!

We enjoyed the beautiful weather this weekend with several walks outside and some trips to the playground. We're getting ready for Maya's big day on Thursday and her big celebration on Saturday!

Here's a picture of mini-Peter and maxi-Maya in Old Town, Alexandria from yesterday:

Haircuts...

Well, we all got our hair cut today. For Peter and I it wasn't all that big of a deal-but my little Maya got her bangs trimmed! It was about time..they were in her eyes, and even though I was tried to use a barette to keep them back, someone thought it was great fun to pull the barettes out. Hint: It wasn't me.

Anyways, Peter's barber, Habib, did the honors. Peter has been a client of Habib since we first moved to DC back in 2000. I remember back then, I came to meet Peter as his haircut was being finished and Habib said to us, "One day you'll have a son and you'll bring him to me for his first haircut". We left that barbershop in Dupont Circle laughing about how that was so far off in the future.

Seven years later and not knowing if we'll ever have a boy (there hasn't been one on my mother's side since her older brother), we decided Habib should do the honors on Maya's first haircut.

I have to admit..the whole process has been a bit more traumatic for me than I thought--maybe it's just the start of many moments of realizing that my little baby is growing up.

Here are the pictures:

She loves to play...

I took a couple of pictures of Maya at the park the other day-she loves to play, especially outside! She had a great time picking at the dirt and trying to figure out the playground. She even stood on her own for about 20 seconds..and I was so in awe, that I forgot to pick up the camera and take a picture of her! Of course she didn't want to repeat that performance!

I think Maya's getting a lot closer to walking..she's getting so good at walking holding on to just one hand and she seems to understand the concept. I let her go yesterday and she tried to take a step by herself! It didn't work though..she fell, but she has the courage to try it, so we're getting places.

We miss Babcia...

Even though Babcia just left a couple of hours ago, we miss her already! Well, I don't think Maya knows she's gone yet, since she's asleep..but we do. Baba only came to town for a short visit on the end of her business trip, but she'll back soon enough for good!

We had a lot of fun..had some meals out, cooked a yummy one at home, shopped (what a surprise!) and took some walks around the 'hood.

Maya's been in a great mood all week-hopefully I'm not jinxing it! She's been flirting with everyone, giggling up a storm and eating big meals. It's so crazy that when people ask how old she is, I say "She'll be one in a couple of weeks". I can't believe it!

Here are a couple of pictures of Maya and her Baba...



Being a ham:

Assisted Walker..

Here are a couple of pics of Maya outside walking with her walker today...











Horsing around: