Our three graduating girls...

Dear Maya,

Mommy is posting early this week for a change because there is quite a bit to report.

First of all, sweet potatoes are a big hit with you.  Mommy even added a dab of unsalted butter because she read that eating a bit of fat along with orange vegetables like that help your body absorb the beta carotene.  Who knew?! The few extra calories from the butter are probably a good thing for you right now anyways.

Second of all, your Aunt Kelsie and Aunt Bobbie graduated from high school last Saturday.  Oh. My. Goodness! To mommy, it seems like they were your size/age only just yesterday.  We all arrived at the school about two hours before the ceremony so we could get good seats, so we got to sit right up front.

During the graduation you took turns hiding in mommy's arms when people clapped, looking around when people were dancing in the aisles (yes, there was a flash mob during the ceremony!), and being cranky.  Daddy had to take you out into the hallway a couple of times so you wouldn't interrupt the proceedings.

All in all you were good, though, considering we completely ruined your nap schedule for the day.  After the ceremony you were plenty smiley enough to take some cute pictures outside even though the morning's chilly weather had turned quite hot and humid.  You even got to try on one of your aunts' graduation caps!

photo courtesy of Elizabeth's dad :)

The last couple of days you have been working towards graduating yourself--that is, graduating from life on all fours to life on two feet.  You have started pulling yourself up even though you haven't turned 6 months old yet!  Just after these pictures taken yesterday, you even let go with one of your hands for a second!

Well, tomorrow's going to be a very special day, but we'll be talking about that in next week's post.
Love you!

Daddy's delicious Fathers' Day

Dear Maya,

Last Sunday was quite a busy day around here.

First of all, it was Fathers' Day.  You and mommy made daddy a card with your hand print on it, and put in a gift certificate.  While he was out, mommy made some cupcakes in his favorite flavor--carrot cake--and set out for decoration inspiration.  We also planned to bring some to Papa Stan and, when trying to come up with something he and daddy have in common, mommy realized that they both love the sea.

In fact, just recently daddy was lamenting how it's been so long since he's been to the ocean and he was wondering when his next chance would be.  So, you and mommy threw him an impromptu beach party in the living room; he came home to paper palm trees, a beach towel, beach ball, and a beautiful bouncing baby in a bathing suit and sun bonnet.  Not to mention how much daddy loves polka dots on you!

After our little beach party, we got ready for our next adventure of the day--feeding you your first solid food!  We opted for ground oatmeal mixed with some breast milk.  We weren't sure how you'd react at first, but you almost made it seem like you'd been eating off of a spoon forever.  You were a natural!  After a while you even tried to take the spoon out of our hands to feed yourself.  We almost couldn't keep up!

Since then we have introduced one more food: avocado.  At first you ate it without realizing we'd given you something besides oatmeal, but after a minute you got a very puzzled look on your face.  It seems you didn't like it quite as much as the oatmeal that first day, but nevertheless didn't refuse it or spit it back out.  Since then you've eaten it again and actually seem to like it quite a bit.  Next up: sweet potatoes!

                                          The moment you realize what's in your mouth and your
                                          eyes brighten about 14 seconds in is so adorable!!!

Other than that, you've been keeping us on our toes trying to keep you out of trouble.  You crawl to the most unlikely places and play with the most unlikely objects.  One favorite is the plastic box of baby wipes.  Sometimes when mommy is cooking and needs a couple solid minutes without picking you up, I put all kinds of toys around on the floor so that when you crawl you get distracted before going too far.

Well, we've got another big weekend coming up so mommy's got to get to bed!

Love you!

We're in trouble now

Dear Maya,

Sweet, adorable, wonderful baby you are, you've been stirring things up around here this week.

fuzzy alpaca pants make crawling on a slippery floor difficult

Monday, we went to see the pediatrician for your regular monthly appointment.  As we waited for the nurse to come in the room, mommy flipped back in her notes to look at all the questions we'd had to ask the doctor in previous visits.  Comparatively, we had very few concerns this month to address...or so mommy thought.

You can hold toys and play with both hands while sitting now--wow!

When the nurse weighed you, you were 3 ounces less than last month.  She weighed you again and it was the same.  The physician came in and we went down the hall to weigh you on a different scale.  Same thing.  After I explained how active you've been, they said there's probably nothing to worry about with a little weight loss.

Your new walker-thingy

Still, mommy has been worried about it, wondering if it's something she has or hasn't been eating, or the extra exercising she's been doing.  It doesn't help that for the three days since your appointment you've been spitting up a lot.  The pediatrician recommended we start you on solid foods so we plan to do that this weekend.

"Wait!  Usually I get the box and you get what's inside!  Not fair!" --Clio

Obviously you aren't wasting away, though, because mommy has now thrown her back out from picking up your little sandbag body all the time.  Obvious you aren't lethargic, either, as you started crawling for real yesterday!!!  This is the other reason for the title "we're in trouble now"--time to start chasing you around!

click to play the video of the 'chameleon crawl'

Anyhow...here are the top three laugh out loud photos from this week:

Too cute!
Love you!

We're moving on up

Dear Maya,

There's a lot of advancing going on around here these days.

First of all, your Aunt Kelsie and Aunt Bobbie celebrated their 18th birthday last weekend.  Mommy made them homemade pillows, albums full of photos of you, and cute graduation cupcakes since they won't be having a party when they graduate later this month.

You are also developing in leaps and bounds all of the sudden.  You're still not properly crawling, but your technique is improving to the point where if we put you on the floor and look away, you have usually made your way to the laptop cords or the cat by the time we look back.

And as if almost crawling wasn't enough, you have started to sit up by yourself the last couple of days.  Previously you could sit up for a few seconds if we put you in position, or you could get yourself to a sitting position but needed one hand on the floor.  A few days ago, though, you did this:

Your love for your daddy has been growing and growing lately, too.  When mommy picks you up first thing in the morning your eyes always look for him sleeping across the room.  When he comes home from work you give him a huge smile and when he gives you your good night kiss you seem to settle right down.

Finally, the strangeness of your sleeping positions is also advancing.  Sometimes you still do the rear-end-up-in-the-air snooze or the twisty-turny-style sleep, but you've added this odd position to your repertoire:

That's right--your legs are in a "v" and you're sleeping between them!

Smart, strong, sweet, funny baby--we love you!

Maya's pinup girl pose! :)
Sorry for all the nudity in this post, but we've had up to 95 degree weather here this week!

Your first summer begins!

Dear Maya,
We had quite a three-day weekend last weekend to kick off your first summer.  The best parts were:

• Our little trip to Bash Bish waterfalls 

                         You weren't too crazy about putting your feet into the cold mountain stream.

• Our barbeque at your great-grandparents' house for Memorial Day

You saw Aunt Kim and Uncle Jerry for the first time in ages.

You worked on your crawling technique--

--which sometimes involves giving up and putting your head down.

This week the weather has ranged from 90 degree heat one day to cool and breezy 65 degrees the next.  When it was nice but not too hot we took advantage of it.  You even got to wear your first pair of jeans!

June looks like it's going to be a pretty busy but also pretty fun month.  We're looking forward to watching you continue to grow and learn, too.

Love you!