Baby in a Basket..

Here are a couple of pictures I took today..Maya was only amused for so long:







Current milestones/updates:

1. Maya is waving now! It's not 100% reliable, but when she starts, she can't stop! Yesterday at Target, she was waving to all the check out people as we were leaving. She's irressistible too--no one can deny her smile ;)

2. She is a true Greek girl-she ate (and loved!) some spanikopita yesterday. She couldn't get enough really. Other new foods include quesadillas, pizza, cherries and pretty much anything you put in front of her.

3. She is definitely pulling up now. A few days ago I heard some clamoring in her room and went in there and she was standing up in her crib!

4. There is a possibility that she is saying "Hi!". A couple of people have seen her waving and saying Hi. We need to record this on tape!

Maya's been spending a lot of time with her "boyfriend" Owen..here are a couple pics chronicling the love affair over the past couple of weeks:

9 Months!

Well, I think Maya is officially not a newborn anymore! I'm not sure when they official become toddlers, but she has definitely become a monkey and a worm. She can't sit still! She doesn't really like to be just held anymore...she'll only stand being carried if you're actually going to go somewhere. Staying in one spot is unacceptable.
Crawling is now definitely Maya's favorite mode of transportation. She's been getting better and better with each day-it's amazing. She'll almost come when called, which is a skill Ajax still hasn't mastered at almost 7 years old.
We were very punctual and took Maya to her 9 month appointment on the actual day! The stats:

Weight: 20 lbs, 12 oz (85th percentile)
Height: 28 1/4 (75th percentile)

Pretty impressive, huh? The word on the street is also that her two front top teeth are on their way..but the doctor said it could be anywhere from a few days to weeks..so we'll just have to be patient.

I didn't get a chance to take a whole lot of pictures today, but we managed to snap a few before she went to bed:






Yesterday with Ajax..funny how he all of a sudden wants to be her best friend when there is food involved:

Father's Day...

This morning I fell in love with my husband all over again. You might be expecting me to talk about how I fell in love with him because he is the best father and loves his (human) daughter so much that he got up with her at 6am. Or that it was so cute when he was making her giggle so hard when he was tickling her. Nope. It's because of the following conversation:

Me: Well, it's father's day..what do you want to do?

Him: I don't know...

Me: We can do anything you want to do.

Him: I did really want to go to the Leesburg Outlets.

How can you not love a man whose ideal Father's Day is spent eating wings, shopping and going to the pool?

Maya enjoyed shopping..she got very excited about a shirt at Polo:



Checking out the bargain prices:



For his father's day gift, Maya got him a new iPod and a framed picture of her and her mom...here are a couple of the shots from that day (yes, I know--it's father's day, not mother's day, but these are cute pictures!):









Notice the location in back--I can't get away!!:



And she crawled again today! It wasn't a one time thing!

One small programming note..we've changed the title of this blog for obvious reasons, but the address remains the same.

She crawled today!

Granted, it was only a couple of little steps and then I think she got so freaked out by my screaming, "Look! She's crawling!" that she stopped and might never do it again. Both Peter and I saw it though, so at least we know it can happen!

Maya attended her first party today for one of her friends who was turning one and had a great time playing with all of her peeps.

Generally, it's been a fun week..lots of walks, spending time with her good friend Owen and trying all sorts of new food.

Hey there!:



OK, are you going to pick me up now?:



Hmm..we stumbled on this sign when we were walking along the canal...:



Owen asks, "Are we still walking?"...



What happens when we all get stuck in a thunderstorm on our walk? We have an impromptu playdate!:



Maya admiring our blooming hydrangeas in the front yard:



Hey! The blue things come off!



Mmmm...Noodles:

Just a lot of pictures...

Not too much new to report here..Maya's just been great! She's getting better and better at her new skills (pulling up and sitting up from laying down) and seems to be progressing a tiny bit on crawling. Knowing her, I'm pretty sure she'll learn it one day and be scooting around the next.

As always, she's a ham. She's very social, loves to flirt and smile. She would much rather be out and about checking out new things than sitting at home..

Here are a bunch of pictures from the last few days:






Torturing Ajax:





Looking pretty in her dress:







Lunch: Grilled Cheese and a Pickle. How much better can life be?



Getting some love from Dad:



Just hangin' around:



And finally..driving her friend Owen's car:

Milestones, Milestones!

OK..I apologize for being a slacker and not updating the blog with news and pictures. I'm bad--but I've been keeping so busy it's hard to get a minute in!

First the Milestones:

1. Yesterday Maya pulled up on the edge of the bathtub from sitting to standing completely on her own! She's been almost there a couple of times before...but this was the first observed time that she did it completely on her own. She tries doing it everywhere! She pulls on the coffee table, your pants..anything she can get her hands on! Yesterday she tried to do it on the elevated dog feeder, but ended up with half a bowl of dog water in her face.

2. Today Maya got from a tummy (laying down) position to a sitting position on her own! She managed to do it several times too! The first time I didn't see it--I looked over one minute and she was on her tummy and the next thing I knew I looked over she was sitting upright--a huge difference from the usual complaining to get me to sit her upright...Unfortunately she was too tired to show her dad when he got home.

3. She is SO close to crawling! She gets herself from a sitting position to an almost crawl, but then collapses on her stomach when she can't keep all the weight up. She's gotten on all fours a couple of times though. She is managing to scoot on the floor backwards..so I think forward is coming soon!

As for other news...

For my birthday last Friday, Peter whisked me off to the Bahamas..Atlantis to be exact. Dziadek and WaiPo took care of Maya and an excellent time was had by all. Unfortunately it rained the entire time in the Bahamas..but we were just fine--we slept really, really late, took really long lunches and dinners, took walks around the resort and explored and Peter even managed to win some money!

On Tuesday I held a wine night for some of the other moms in our playgroups...it was great to see everyone dressed up a bit and be able to relax and chat without the babies..we've sworn to make it a monthly thing..

Summer has arrived in Arlington..it's been in the 90's several days and tomorrow it's supposed to near 100. Lovely. Good thing we have a pool membership! Pictures of swimming Maya to come...

Here are a few snaps from tonight..more to come..

Almost Crawling:







I hear Taps over at Ft. Myer..means it's bedtime!