After 1 Year

Maya was very sleepy after one year of growing, learning, playing, crying, screaming, laughing, eating, rolling, crawling, walking.....
Night - Night Sweetheart. We love you!

Maya's New Chair

Maya's birthday present, as I mentioned before, is her very own PINK chair.

Destruction

Remember when I mentioned that Maya had torn the border off the wall near her crib. Well, here is the proof. I have had to move the crib away from the wall and away from the curtain...

Happy 1st Birthday Maya!!!!

My little sweetie, Happy Birthday to you! I can't believe you are 1 year old. Your personality is REALLY blossoming. You are saying all sorts of words. You love Apples and love to say "Abble." You also love Bananas and love to say "nana." In fact, alot of your words revolve around food. You are a great eater and will try almost anything we put in front of you. You really know how to let us know when something makes you mad. You scream really loud -- but you get over it very quickly. You are walking more and more everyday. However, if you are trying to get somewhere fast, you might take a few steps and then crawl because you know you can move faster that way. Just this week you tore down about 2 feet of the border that goes around your room. It is just the height of your crib, so you took the time to rip it off the wall. You think that your brother, Mason, is so funny. You like to chase after him and also when he chases after you. You LOVE to climb the stairs, and Mommy hates it. If you get the opportunity, you quickly crawl toward and then up the stairs. If you look back and see Mommy coming for you, you laugh and crawl even faster.... You get really upset if I take you away from the stairs. You love to play ball, or as you call it "ba - ba." You like to throw it and then clap and cheer for yourself. You really enjoy Mason's little chair. For your birthday, Mommy and Daddy got you your own chair (pictures soon) and you like it a lot. This should cut down on the fighting over the chair. What a year we have had with you!!! We look forward to this next year and can't wait to see how you will grow up. We love you little Pita!

Cutie

I can't believe Maya will be one year old tomorrow! This is my little cutie after she crawled out of the dirty clothes hamper last night....

Maya's Shampoo Mohawk

The takeover bandita

I have commented before that Maya LOVES Mason's little chair. Many times when Mason is sitting in it, Maya will just come and try to take over. Here is a progression of what happens...






This time, Mason let her have it... he got up and walked away.

Deer Tail

Brian has had this deer tail in the garage for as long as I can remember... several years I think. Anyway, the other night, Brian heard this crunching noise coming from the other room and said "what is Emmitt eating?"...............

We found him with the deer tail in his mouth. He didn't want to give it up.... gross.

Crazy girl

Maya is so crazy. She loves to climb up in Mason's chair. Now not only does she climb in the chair, she stands up -- holding on to NOTHING and bounces around. Yes, she has good balance, but she still isn't walking... Anyway, she thought she had quite a treasure the other night when she stole the wash cloth I used to clean her face and hands after dinner from me. She would NOT give it up. She proceeded to crawl over to the vacant chair, stand in it, and swing the wash cloth around, VERY proud. I was taking pictures of this progression and Mason said "Mommy, look at me." What he meant was, "take a picture of me," so I did.














One other chair story though. Sunday morning we were getting ready for church. I left the 2 kids in the living room while I ran upstairs to grab Mason's shoes. When I left the room Mason was sitting in his chair and Maya was playing with toys on the floor nearby. When I returned, I found that Maya had climbed up in the chair on top of Mason and was trying to get him out of the way. Mason wasn't budging. He was looking at Maya like she was crazy.

Boots (and Hat)

Mason was handed down some cowboy boots which he wore for a few days straight. The newness has now worn off and he is back to his tennis shoes, but they are cute little boots.

Night 2 - NO PAPI

Way to go MAson... (not that he doesn't ask for it, but he hasn't used it.... but I did hide them all in the kitchen!!)

Brian is having a hard time with it. He says "but it is part of who he is..."

WHAT????

Bye Bye "Papi"

Most of you may not care or see the significance of this post, but it is a big one to us. Those of you who have had to break your children of any habit will certainly understand. Mason since birth has loved his pacifier, or as he calls it, his "Papi." (sounds like Pap - I) In fact, in the hospital the nurses brought him back to my room with one stuck in his mouth. We were sent home with the hospital with at least 2 pacifiers (I didn't bring any...) and we actually still have at least 2 of those VERY pacifiers at our house! Anyway, we had cut back the Papi usage to sleeping only about a year or more ago. I figured I would give him until his 3rd birthday and then go from there. Several times over the last month or so Mason has taken naps at school with no "Papi" and we have praised him each time for that. Last night was the next big step. We have a very concise night time routine. In that routine, we come down stairs after baths and head to the master bed room, brush teeth, and then get the "papi" out of the basket on my nightstand. Well, last night, we were running and little behind, and Maya seemed extra sleepy. Trying to hurry to attend to her next step, I skipped going to the master bedroom. The rest goes something like this:
We sat in our normal spots for a while before Mason ever mentioned it. Brian mouthed something about the "papi" to me and I told him not to say anything. Finally, Mason said, "we forgot my papi" and I said, "Mason, you know how we have been talking about that you are turning 3 years old soon...." Mason, "uh -huh", I said "3 year olds don't use papi's." At first he said "yes, they do". Then I changed the subject and when we went upstairs he asked about it once on the way... I said "you don't need it - you are a big boy". Then when we were tucking him in he whined a little for it - but not too much. He cried out at about midnight, so I went up there and was fully prepared to give it to him... But when I got up to his room, I could tell he was just having a bad dream. He just kept saying "I don't want Daddy...I don't want Daddy..." so I sort of woke him up and said you are having a dream. He didn't ask for the papi and I didn't mention it. He cried out at 5 am for his Papi - but then went back to sleep. This morning he got up about 6:15 and I told him how proud I was and then he came downstairs and Brian praised him too.... we will see what happens tonight, but I think we are on our way to Papiless days and nights!!

And while we are saying "Bye Bye" to things. Mason has stayed dry during the days in a pull up for about a week! "Bye Bye Diapers...." (in my mind, I am singing the "Bye - Bye Diapers, Hello Fun" song from his potty training DVD...)

What can I say? My little boy is growing up!

Maya, Maya

A few 11 month old pictures.

Also, she is saying a few other things..

Eme for Emmitt
Caca for Cracker... and she copies a lot of other things.. like when I am saying "Hooold on" when she is trying to wiggle off the changing table, she says "hoool da." She's a cutie.

Additional things heard today by many:

After hearing me sing "Clean up, Clean up, Everybody, Everywhere, Clean up, Clean up, Everbody do your share" over and over and over... Maya started singing in the same tune "een-a, een-a" (for Clean up, Clean up). I was so surprised.
Also, after she would throw the ball to Aunt Allison, she would say "ood ja" for Good Job. (which we say a lot). Some also think she was saying "a - go" for Way to Go. The language is exploding!!

Update on Maya's Health

Since a lot of people are asking... I thought this might be an easier way to update everyone on Maya's condition. We saw the Urologist yesterday. He confirmed a lot of what I had learned on the internet since finding out she had urinary reflux. There are 2 surgical options. At this point, surgery isn't recommended. This is because she is young, only has had one infection, and they need 2 points of data to compare. So, we have scheduled more tests for next year. He can then see if her condition has worsened, gotten better or stayed about the same. She has been on the low dose antibiotic since January and is doing fine on it. As long as she doesn't have a break through infection while on the medicine, he doesn't recommend surgery YET. She has about a 50% chance of getting better on her own over time. Mason is going to have to have an Ultrasound on his kidneys to rule out anything because siblings have a 30% chance of also having the condition. Since he hasn't had any infections, we hope his will be clear and normal.

While we were waiting at the Dr.'s office, it was hard to keep Maya entertained and busy for the hour... but after the Dr. started talking to us - she started being quite a little ham. She had just finished a bottle and loudly burped. He laughed. Then she was doing all sorts of things trying to get his attention as he spoke to us. He commented that she was a little "commedian." He also at one point said "Yeah, you look really sick..." We liked the Dr. and felt good about his advice.

Maya is 11 months old

Little Ms. Maya is 11 months old. She was born on the 29th and there is no 29th of February, so I waited till today to acknowledge it.

Maya is saying more and more things all the time.

Mama - my favorite. She says it for me - but she also says it for other jabbering purposes.

Dada - She says it for Daddy, and also for other purposes.

Bye Bye - and this is normally in combination with waving... so cute.

Ba - Ba - means Ball. She loves to play ball. Oh she also says it for book.

Uh Oh - if she drops something or hears anyone else say "Uh oh"

Na,na,na - means No, or NO NO! She says it as she reaches for my earrings because I always say "No, No, Maya" She also says it at other things she knows not to do or if she hears anyone else say it.

WHOA - she repeats it after hearing someone else say it... and just says it on her own sometimes... like "Whoa, whoa, whoa"

Hi - I think she learned this from her cousin Zoe who loves to say "HI" over and over and over.

I know there are others - I can't think of right now.

Maya is a very expressive. She makes lots of faces and gets very excited about things. She is a funny little girl. She has recently started to walk on her knees. And when she is very excited about something or wants someone to come pick her up she gets up on her knees, holds her arms out, and twists her wrists in circles.... hard to explain - but super cute.

Her daddy calls her Mayita little Pita, shortened to "Pita."
We also repeatedly say to her "Maya, Maya, pants on Fire (faya)" - I know - weird - but it rhymes and sticks and even Mason says it.... She likes it. If you say it over an over she will bounce to it. :)

I have no pictures to add today - but will post some soon of the little Pita.