We are so thankful...

Dear Maya,

This week was your first Thanksgiving.

The busyness started last Saturday with a visit to your great-grandparents, then a long day of food shopping in five different stores. You were well-behaved, as always, until we got home. While we were busy putting the groceries away you very quietly pulled all the tissues out of a box. It was pretty funny, actually.

with Grandma

On Tuesday your Grandma and Papa Stan arrived from North Carolina with their dog, Tessa. They brought you a Cabbage Patch Kid and an adorable elephant toy that shoots balls out of his nose. You aren't too crazy about your new doll yet but you figured out how to turn the elephant switch on pretty quickly.

with mommy and daddy

Mommy and daddy spent a large part of Wednesday in the kitchen preparing food for Thanksgiving and other meals. You hung out in the other room with Grandma and Stan and the dog, chattering and laughing and happy as a clam. At the time it seemed you were taking all this extra attention and activity in stride.

the whole gang (with mommy taking the picture)

Thursday we had our big meal in the evening. Auntie Rhi was taking care of the turkey so mommy and daddy weren't in the kitchen quite as much. We paid more attention to you but still you decided you weren't tired and cried through your entire morning nap time. We were worried the rest of the day would be difficult.

eating your first turkey!

spitting out your first turkey!
you didn't like the texture no matter how small it was cut up or what it was mixed with
but when mommy pureed it with some pears today you finally ate it all up!

You weren't yourself on Thanksgiving and still haven't completely recovered. But, considering all of the extra stimuli what with lots of people, new toys, new foods, and a dog, you were pretty good. It was actually really good practice for a couple of big days we have coming up next month--Christmas and your 1st birthday!

opening and closing doors is your new hobby, especially closing them

We have so much to be thankful for in you--a sweet, fun, easygoing, loving, smart, strong and adorable little girl.
Love you!

Attack of the doppelgangers...

Maya doppelganger #1: Laa Laa

Dear Maya,
Well, this week's post is going to be brief. We haven't even gotten to take any photos of you this week. I think that's a first! Mommy even forgot to take a picture of you with your Aunt Bobbie when we went on a road trip to visit her at college on Tuesday.

Maya doppelganger #2: Italian actor Salvatore Cascio in the movie "Cinema Paradiso"

It seems that you have yet to recover from skipping your naps that day, because you've been cranky for two days straight. We understand--babies have off days, too. It's just that it's so rare for you to be this difficult, and so you've spoiled us. We need to remember that.

Maya doppelganger #3: Japanese candy-maker Fujiya's mascot, Peko-chan

You've been really hungry, too. Perhaps it's a growth spurt, or maybe you're just excited that you get more finger foods these days. You got to practice picking up edamame this week and had your first corn, too. Every day now you get at least one snack in addition to your three meals, if not two.

Maya doppelganger #4: Let's Go Fishin' game fish

Well, mommy's going to go sign off and enjoy some TV time with daddy. Here's looking forward to a visit with your great-grandparents on Saturday, the arrival of Grandma and Poppa Stan on Tuesday, and watching you eat your first turkey on your first Thanksgiving! Things are going to start looking up, I know it!

Love you!

Maya doppelganger #5: The dramatic chipmunk/prairie dog

Shorter days, shorter nights?

Dear Miss Maya,

You are learning and growing in leaps and bounds. Lately mommy and daddy say to each other every day how smart, sweet and funny you are and how very very happy we are that you are in our lives.

This week you've finally mastered the art of hand clapping! You can make a sound when you do it and you sort of know when it's appropriate. Well, sometimes you do it just so that we will clap for you, but still...

Much to mommy's chagrin, your other new talent this week is clicking the button on the laptop to start and stop YouTube videos. We only occasionally use it to play songs for you, which now takes twice as long. :)

This week has been hard on mommy and daddy because it took you quite a while to adjust to the time change. Finally this morning you slept until 5:40 after days ranging from 3:00 onward. Thank goodness!

It probably didn't help your sleeping schedule that you got a flu shot at the beginning of the week. As always, you only cried for about 5 seconds and stopped as soon as mommy picked you up. You're such a strong girl!

Surprisingly, this week's other development did not affect your sleep. The night before last you went to bed with three teeth and woke up in the morning with four! Wouldn't it be nice if the rest came in that way, too?

Thank goodness for more teeth as they allow you to add more textures to your diet! This week you had your first bok choy at home and your first animal crackers at the library's mommy-and-me program. Yum!

Well, mommy needs to get some shuteye as we have a pretty busy couple of days coming up. We love you so so much and can't wait to see what you've got in store for tomorrow!

Happy first Halloween, Maya!

Dear Maya,

Last Sunday we woke up to a foot of snow on the ground! The weather was nice and the roads were clear, though, so we got our ocean family costumes ready and headed shopping, then to your great-grandparents' house to trick-or-treat. You were a sea turtle, mommy was a lobster/crab, and daddy was a jellyfish!

Our super easy homemade costumes:
Maya's is wearing a frog bathrobe and a dollar store basket with ribbon and cellophane 'seafoam' streamers.
Mommy is wearing all red with her red oven mitts (visible flour optional!) and plastic eyeball /pipe cleaner headband.
Daddy was thrilled that all he had to do was hold this umbrella with ribbon and cellophane 'tentacles' for his costume. 

I didn't know sea turtles like to munch on jellyfish tentacles!

It was your ten month birthday, but you are still too young for Halloween candy. So what did your great-grandpoppy give you instead? A $10 bill which you ran around with and wouldn't let go of! You had us all in stitches and you got mad when mommy took it away, so he gave you a $1 bill. Thus the spoiling begins...

One edible treat you did get for Halloween was your first taste of baby snacks. Every day now you've been eating either wafer cookies from your grandparents in Japan or rice crackers we bought here. At first you chewed them very slowly and delicately but now you go through them pretty quickly. You love them!

You've been toddling around like crazy lately! Every evening you have mommy and daddy running around so much that by the time we put you to bed, we're exhausted. Still, it is so much fun to see how proud you are when you pick something up and bring it to us or move it from one place to another. You're growing so fast!

Here's something mommy didn't think she'd be saying this soon--I started a new job yesterday. It's only a few days a week when daddy can stay home with you and it's close enough that mommy can come home for lunch to feed you. At first, mommy was so worried about the separation, but you handled it really well and mommy was excited to wake parts of her brain that had been hibernating. Plus, even though you tired daddy out, he loved getting to spend that time with you. It seems to be a really a great arrangement for all of us.

Well, it's time for mommy to sign off and get some rest. We get an extra hour tonight for Daylight Savings, but I'm sure that only means you'll be up an hour earlier in the morning. Here's hoping that's not the case. Love you!