Spring flowers, Autumn snow?!?

Dear Maya, 

Just a few quick updates tonight because it is getting late...

Mommy was hoping to get some photos of you among the lovely fallen leaves, but all of the sudden we've got snow! Here we are in October and we had an inch or two Thursday night into Friday morning. The weather was gorgeous on Friday and it pretty much all melted, but now here I am on Saturday night listening to the plows going back and forth. This afternoon it started coming down hard as we were on our way home and now we have several inches and the lights keep flickering. And did I mention that it's October?!?!?

Mommy took you outside Friday morning to see what all the fuss was about and to see how you would react. You were quietly curious as you touched the snow and watched it stick to your hands and melt away. Then your biggest interest seemed to be getting it into your mouth before it dripped away.

Although your final Halloween costume won't be debuted until tomorrow, we played around with another costume accessory today. This is something that mommy picked up a couple of years ago, looking forward to the day she would have a little girl to wear it. And now here you are, my little flower.

At first you just humored us, keeping it on long enough for a click of the camera before pulling it off. Then you began to really play with it and it looked as if you were trying to put it back on yourself. You are so funny!

And did I mention the significance of this little costume piece? Well, mommy wore one very similar to it for Halloween when she was a little girl! Check it out!

The other big news this week is the arrival of your third tooth! It's your upper left front tooth and though it doesn't seem to be causing you any pain or crankiness during the day, it could be part of the reason you haven't been sleeping as well as usual lately. 

Speaking of sleep, it's really time mommy gets to bed herself. Love you!

P.S. New foods = butternut squash, sweet dumpling squash, white rice, snow :)

P.P.S. New word = "Wow"

Maya Motormouth is born!

Dear Maya,

There is so much to report about this last week that it's hard to know where to start. I guess the biggest news is that you are becoming quite the little chatterbox. Your 'first word' was about ten days ago, but after saying it several times one afternoon, we didn't hear it again for a few days so we thought it was a fluke. You started up with it again this week so now we know it's for real: we get to hear you say "Uh-oh" several times a day! Your intonation is perfect and your voice so cute--now if only you knew what it meant... Oh, well.

Mommy has also been trying to get you to say "toh-chan" which is "daddy" in Japanese. You're familiar with the word because mommy uses it all the time and you look to him when she says it. Hilariously, though, on many occasions when mommy has repeated it over and over, you have copied the intonation but instead said "daa-daa" as if you were translating for everyone else in the room. Tonight, though, when mommy said "toh-chan" by your ear you gave us a very close version of it. You made daddy so, so happy!

This weekend we helped Auntie Rhi set up for the library Halloween event. There was a scary haunted house (which didn't bother you in the least) and some other events for younger kids, too. You were such a good sport considering you missed your nap and mommy kept taking pictures of you on prickly hay bales outside.

We've spent a lot of time with family this week. Grandma and Poppa Stan made a quick trip up from North Carolina in the middle of the week after Aunt Kelsie had a car accident (she is absolutely fine, thank goodness!) Also, Aunt Bobbie came home from college two weekends in a row. It was so good to see her!

This weekend we also celebrated Uncle Matt's upcoming 30th birthday with daddy's homemade pizza, Mountain Dew cupcakes from mommy, cards, presents, and candy. Grandma and Poppa Stan even wore birthday hats when we Skyped with them so we could all sing "Happy Birthday" together. It was funny!

 Well, mommy's got to go get some laundry folded before bed. Love you, sweetie!

photo by Auntie Rhi

P.S. This week you started eating lentils and played dress-up with Aunt Kelsie's panda costume. You're so cute!!!

photo by Auntie Rhi

Terror on two feet

Dear Maya,

This week has been a blur. There have been late night and early morning crying sessions on your part that may have contributed to that, but there are a lot of projects that mommy and daddy have been busy with, too. And have we mentioned that chasing after you and cleaning up after you is getting to be quite the challenge?

We have three of these storage ottomans and you like to open them up
and pull out their contents, oh, about fifty times a day!

When you've been wreaking too much havoc, we resort to that favorite parental no-no:
sitting you in front of a computer screen. You love watching the YouTube video for
the Japanese children's song "Omocha no cha-cha-cha," so we take advantage...

--Super cute outfit courtesy of great-grandma and great-grandpa

You also continue to pull down your board books and
spread them out around your room as often as you can.

You may try to use your pajamas as camouflage, but we still see you over there getting into everything!

And, of course, we're getting closer and closer to your first Halloween! We're still working on the homemade costumes that we will wear for the actual holiday, but tonight you tried on the adorable costume that grandma sent to you. You may not have been particularly comfortable in it, but you sure were cute!!!

In these first three photos, the mouse that was included with the costume kept you entertained enough...

 

...But then the furry hat part got on your nerves and you really started to look the part of a lion.

ROAR!!!

Rest assured--once the hat was off, you were back to your mild-mannered little lion cub self!

Well, mommy is going to get some rest now because tomorrow looks like it will be a busy day. Love you!

P.S. Tonight you tried one of the packets of baby food that your grandparents sent over from Japan for you. It was perfect for the season, too--pumpkin macaroni gratin. You loved it!!!

P.P.S. Despite the title of this post, mommy in no way thinks that you are a terror! I was just playing on the Halloween theme and your 'scary' lion costume.

Your first autumn begins

Dear Maya,

Our busy 3-day weekend means mommy is posting this on a Tuesday morning, but better late than never I suppose. We had summer-like weather this weekend, but it really started feeling like fall nonetheless. Mommy made applesauce, chili, Halloween cupcakes, got pumpkins, and did some indoor Halloween decorating, too.

Last week was your 9-month well visit with the pediatrician. You weighed in at 18 pounds 13 ounces and are now 28.5 inches long. The doctor says you look great and are very advanced. You cried a little during your shots, but you cried a lot during the finger prick blood draw. You perked up soon afterwards, though.

You are finally starting to get the hang of waving on command. This is especially endearing when you say goodbye to daddy in the mornings before he goes to work. You are also really enjoying this whole peek-a-boo thing. You grab anything you can--curtains, Tupperware lids, etc.--and start up a session with us.

You also pull out your books every chance you get lately. Though it is hard to get you to sit still on mommy's lap so I can read you a whole story, you like to look through them on your own. The most adorable thing is that sometimes you also put the books back in the bookcase! They usually end up falling out, but still!

We went for a little hike on the Copake Rail Trail this weekend, hoping to see some nice fall-colored leaves. No such luck for the most part--everything was still pretty green. It was a nice walk, though, if a bit overrun with mosquitoes. We'll have to remember to get some baby-safe but repellent one of these days.

And, preparations for your first Halloween are underway! There have been dozens of costume ideas thrown around, but we've narrowed it down to the one homemade costume you'll officially wear for the holiday. That doesn't mean that there won't be some fun dressing up ahead of time, though, like this cute monkey!

Well, mommy's got to go use the rest of your nap time to get ready for our Mommy and Me time at the library a little later. Today we should finally be able to see your buddy Wyatt there after several missed connections. He loves to show off for you and give you kisses so it should be fun. Love you!

P.S. You have added plain homemade yogurt to your food repertoire. Due to mommy's forgetfulness, you also had your first sugar when I accidentally fed you a helping of sweetened applesauce instead of the sugar-free batch I made for you. Ah, well--you certainly seemed to like it!