Maya's adorableness seems to be at an all-time high right now. (I realize I've said this before, but I guess she just keeps outdoing herself in the Cuteness department.)

She's just this really lovely mix of curious, affectionate, goofy, active, fun, mischeivous, innocent, and sweet. When people say they love kids, I think this is what they're talking about.

This morning, for instance, Maya woke me up by shouting for Daddy from her crib. "Daddy! Daddy! Daaaaaady! DaddyDaddyDaddyDaddy!" and so on and so forth, until I stumbled sleepily into her room and greeted her. (She did seem mildly disappointed to see me, not Daddy. But she got over it.) Then, she looked at me and asked, "Doo-doo? Pat? Kisses?" Which means, "May I please pat Ndugu and give him kisses?"

She's speaking in short sentences now. We hear a lot of "Daddy, what doing?" and "Where Toonces go?" My favorite is her "Where...is?" construction, as in, "Where cookie is?"

She's also singing along to "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Fortunately, she seems to prefer the Ella Fitzgerald version of "Jingle Bells," which is indeed a good one, so I don't mind hearing it dozens of times per day.

Seth is soooo super-excited to present Maya with her new tricycle this Christmas. Since Friday night Seth has been asking me if we can just give Maya her trike before Christmas, because he can't wait to take her to the park to use it. I have to remind Seth that Santa isn't FedEx. He doesn't do early deliveries! The trike will appear under the tree the evening of December 24, and no sooner.
:-)

We hear endless demands for cookies around our apartment these days. It seems we may have inadvertently taught Maya during the flights to and from Albany last month that cookies are infinitely available to her at any time of day upon request.

Oops.

Now we are paying the price.

7:30 a.m.: "Cookies?"

9:15 a.m., immediately after breakfast: "Cookies?"

11:30 a.m., as I slice her an apple for a snack: "Cookies?"

Lunchtime: "Cookies?"

4:00 p.m., on waking from nap: "Cookies?"

Dinnertime: "Cookies?"

Bedtime: "Cookies? Crackers? Cookies? Cookies?"

Sigh.

Sometimes you can even see the Cookie Switch in her brain turn on when she's thumbing through her Sesame Street coloring books and comes across a page with Cookie Monster on it. "Cookie Monster!" she'll shout. Then, "...cookie, Mommy?"

It's hard, when your child is small and "underweight," to hold the line on doling out snacks. But hold the line we must, else we risk creating a junkfood maven who will devour nothing but Pirate's Booty and animal crackers for the rest of her life. In our desire to bring Maya's weight up to speed, we are in danger of actually preparing her to be overweight later in life. We have to be careful!

Other Maya news: We really feel like we've got a true, whole, very communicative little person living with us these days, and it's (mostly) super-fun! She's putting phrases together, such as "Read to!" (for "read to me") and "Mommy, bite?" (for "Mommy, may I please ignore what's on my highchair tray and take several enormous bites of your dinner instead?")

Another really cool thing is her blossoming awareness of events going on around her. On our arrival at LAX after Thanksgiving, Maya noticed two adults hugging outside a taxicab on the curb and announced "Hugs." She points to other kids wailing away at Target and says, "Baby crying." At the farmers' market last Thursday night, she spotted a balloon floating way up high in the sky, just a little orange speck, and cried, "Bloon!" It's exciting having two-way conversations with Maya now, and not simply keeping up a one-sided monologue all the time. (It can be so wearying narrating out loud all day long for a baby!)

Maya's loving the new stepstool we got her from Target. She "helps" drag it into the bathroom twice a day to stand on while brushing her teeth. We shelled out for the two-step stool, because it's the only stool that gets her up high enough to actually reach the faucet. She also likes to sit on it while her daddy puts on her shoes for her. (Seth pretends he's a shoe salesman while he does this. "Plenty of room in the toe, ma'am? Can I get you a larger size? I've got plenty of fives but I'm out of four-and-a-halves...")

Maya is also loving Baby Carla, known simply as Baby around here. Baby is my old Cabbage Patch Kid "preemie" from 20-some years ago, lovingly cleaned up and presented to Maya by my mom (hi, Mom!) while we were home for Thanksgiving. Maya feeds Baby. Maya offers Baby some juice. Maya puts Baby "night-night." This morning, Maya gave Baby a "bath" in her old tub. It's all very fun to watch.

Less fun to watch are the mini-tantrums, which come on suddenly and for no apparent reason whatsoever. They freak me out and make me worry: Is Maya in pain? Is something horribly wrong and I just can't see it? What the hell is going on here?

But mostly, life with Toddler Diva Maya is full of laughter and joy!

A photo from Thursday, November 15, 2007:

Maya turns 20 months in three days!
This morning at work, a coworker visited with her 11-week old newborn daughter, and I was struck by how little and helpless and immobile the baby was. (It was all perfectly normal newborn behavior, of course!) I can hardly remember when Maya was that teeny and new---it's so weird how you forget ages and stages as the child gets bigger and older and more capable. I wish I'd begun this Mayalstones blog back when she was a day old! Of course, I could barely drag my exhausted, fresh-from-delivery self to the shower back then, much less to the computer, so I guess I can forgive myself.
Now then, here's what's new in Mayaworld:
First, I am very concerned about her lead levels because I performed a home lead test on a few of her most-used toys and found one that contains lead. (I called the test manufacturer twice to confirm the results.) As I type this, I have a call into the pediatrician to more or less insist that we get Maya's blood tested for lead. The doctor has declined to test Maya's blood for lead in the past; here's hoping she's willing to change her tune now that I have some scientific evidence that Maya has had some lead exposure.
In happier news, Maya's bronchitis seems to be gradually receding, thanks to the Horrid Pink Meds we've been forcing on her twice per day. Actually, we no longer have to force the Amoxicillin on her; she's pretty OK with willingly taking it, so long as we clap and cheer and do high-fives after each swallow. I also mime that I'm taking the medicine first, and she seems to enjoy watching Mommy put the syringe to her lips and fake-push the plunger. Whatever works, right?!
Maya's language development continues to grow. She's picked up a few little phrases, including, "Thank you, Mommy!" (no matter whom she's thanking), "What doing?" and "Where going?" She also communicates what she's seeing more and more frequently. For instance, she'll point to Toonces sleeping on our bed and say, "night night, baby." (Not sure why "baby" instead of "kitty cat," but we get the idea.) She looooves pointing out dirt on the kitchen floor. A-hem.
She asks questions, such as "Pat?" while looking at one of the cats, as in, "May I please pat Ndugu?" She asks to watch "Bump baby high" about three dozen times per day, which is Mayaspeak for our Sesame Street Beginnings "Make Music Together" DVD. (Her favorite segment is the one where Baby Elmo is bouncing on his daddy's lap. Part of the song goes, "Bump-bump baby high! Bump-bump baby low.") We try to avoid turning on the television until the afternoon, which does not stop Maya from asking for it all morning long.
I am also thrilled to report that Maya also asks to hear the song from the Sound of Music soundtrack that goes, "Doe, a deer, a female deer..." many many times during the day, too! She can sing a LOT of it. Like this: "Doe...deer...deer. Ray...suuuuuuuuuun. Me...name...seff. Fa...run!" The kid LOVES TO SING. She does some songs from school that we don't recognize. Something about Jesus and a boat, I think? Another one about elephants.
Last time we were at the doctor's office, Maya weighed in at 22 pounds. She's still petite, but she doesn't look unhealty or out of proportion or anything. She has a very tiny waist, and I think she's just small-boned. Her hair is to her shoulders, and we still haven't cut her any bangs. I'm feeling sort of anti-bangs right now, so I just pull her hair back in a little half ponytail each day---or sometimes pigtails. Her hair is wavy (like her mom and dad's).
We're having some sleep issues these days and are trying to get through them as a family. S and I are looking for and testing out some creative solutions, trying to find the right approach for Maya and ourselves. Please wish us luck! None of us handles sleep deprivation well. At all.

Maya's latest achievement is one of her most charming to date: repeating our most-used expressions and phrases back to us. She's been saying a lot of "There you go!" and "See?" and "I know, I know" and "Yup!" The really fantastic thing is that she uses them correctly! She'll present me with one of her shoes, for instance, and say, "There you go!"
She also understands more of what we say than we realize. Yesterday Maya was pointing to Ndugu and shouting, "Ndugu! Ndugu!" and just to make (what he thought would be one-sided) conversation, Seth goes, "Right. And what's our other cat's name?" And Maya answers, "Toonces," and Seth nearly fell over, he was so floored. (Although, she kind of compresses the double-o vowel sound, so it sounds more like "Tnces.")
She also has started using the word "home" to announce where we are when we arrive back to the apartment after an outing, and she understands the concepts of two items: Interestingly, she'll point to two items in succession and say, "two, one," instead of "one, two." I'm pretty sure this is my fault, because she first became aware of numbers when I started doing "three, two, one, blastoff!" in the mornings when taking her down from the diaper-changing table. Oh well. The teachers at school can clean up my mess later on down the road.
:-)

Maya turns 19 months old in a few days! I can't believe how close she's getting to two. Two! I remember when the one-year mark seemed far, far away.
Maya is delightful these days (when she's not throwing a tantrum or whining). She loves nothing more than to help Mommy or Dada with a chore or a task. All we have to say is, "Maya, could you please help us with something?" and she comes running. Her favorite tasks are helping to unload the dishwasher, helping load/unload the clothes washer and dryer, throwing things in the trash, and putting groceries away on the (lower) shelves of the refrigerator.
We are pleased that finally, finally her face rash is starting to clear, thanks to some new cream prescribed by a dermatologist. However, we noticed today that she woke up with two unrelated-looking, new, strange little blemishes that look like zits: one on her cheek, and one on her hand. We'll watch them to see what happens.
Maya is still spending what seems like the majority of her day singing. A few times this week, when I was singing "Edelweiss" to her before bed, she chimed in and sang a few words with me. I was thrilled and so proud! One of my not-so-secret agendas is to instill in Maya a love of "The Sound of Music" so that we can enjoy both the film and the soundtrack together for the rest of our lives and drive Seth crazy! Next summer I plan to bring Maya with me to the Hollywood Bowl's Sound of Music sing-a-long and costume parade.
Oh! That reminds me: Today at Target we found two potential Halloween costumes for Maya. We bought both and will return whichever one fits the worst. We found a fairy costume and a cheerleader costume. (The latter comes with pom-poms.)
Maya has learned her possessives: She'll point to something, like a coffee mug, and say "mama's." She'll point to neighbor Leilani's stroller and say "baby's." She can join in when we count slowly to ten, and she knows a portion of the ABC song (the "L-M-N-O-P" part).
Maya's sense of humor is in full bloom. She'll often put her fork on her head during dinner and announce, "Hat!" She looooooves to be tickled (unlike her mom) and to squeeze my nose or Seth's to hear us say "Honk!" She also thinks it's great fun to "fool" us by saying "Night night!" and curling up on the floor to fake sleep. That Maya. What a kidder.

This week, Maya has been doing and saying so many new things, I'm just in awe of this brilliant little person that is our daughter. I've even been getting a little teary-eyed on my way to work in the mornings, thinking of how far she's come and how accomplished she is at the teeny little age of 18 months.

Last night, for example, at the dinner table, Maya very matter-of-factly grasped her fork and started scooping up couscous with it and gracefully brought the couscous to her mouth as if she'd been doing that for years. I could not help but bust out a big grin and some praise for her, and she just looked at me like, "What? We're all civilized human beings here. We use utensils. Carry on, Mom. Your couscous is getting cold."

Secondly, this morning I walked into Maya's room to get her, and I had some diapers in my hands, and Maya clear as a bell announced, "Diapers! Diapers!" I was surprised and delighted because it's not as if we'd been trying to teach her the word "diaper." It's one she just absorbed and picked up on her own, apparently, and she said it back to me for the first time this morning.

Finally, as I was lifting her out of her crib this morning to change her diaper and generally get going with our day, Maya urgently said, "Doggie! Doggie!" So I grabbed her stuffed bulldog out of her crib and gave it to her, and she gave it a hug and kiss. Then, she returned it to me, saying "thank you!" And I realized, Wow, she just wanted to give her doggie a little love before leaving him for the day. That's a really human, sweet thing to do. It really floored me.

It's funny how we all have a general idea of how babies grow into children and how children grow into adults, but the thrill of watching that development in person, in your own home, is really unequalled, I think.

Maya is a little songbird. It's getting to the point now where I can figure out what songs they're teaching her at daycare by the little bits she sings at home. For instance, yesterday Maya spontaneously cupped one hand over the other, swung her arms back and forth, and sang, "baby bumbabee..." which I instantly recognized as that "I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee" song! So I said, "Oh, Mama knows that one too, Maya!" and I started singing it, which got her very excited, and the rest of the day, Maya would catch my eye and start singing, "baby bumbabee..." to get me to join in. She loves the part that goes, "Ow! He stung me!" She also sings bits of that Skidamarink song ("Skidamarink-a-dink-a-dink, skidamarink-a-doo. I love you!"), Twinkle Twinkle, and Itsy-Bitsy Spider. The really impressive thing is that when she sings her little bits of these songs, she's almost pitch-perfect. It really astounds Seth and me.
From what I can tell and what the teachers at St. Michael's tell me, Maya loooooooves music and singing. And when she does her little dances, it's very, very adorable.
I have to admit something: I love kids' songs. I mean, not the stupid ones, like the Barney theme song, but the good ones and the classics. Half the time when I play kids' songs for Maya, I'm actually doing it for my own enjoyment. Hee hee.
Maya is also running now. Hoo-boy. She recently spent about ten minutes tearing up and down the aisles of Borders book store, making somewhat loud "woo!" noises as she ran. She also does this thing that resembles the beginning of a somersault: She bends at the waist and peeks between her legs, with her head upside-down.
Oh! I nearly forgot to mention her most-funny new vocab addition: "Yeah." She'll say it while vigorously nodding her head. An example:
Me: "Maya, would you like a cookie?"
Maya: "Yeah!" (nods enthusiastically)

On the flip side, Maya throws brief, mini-tantrums when she's hellbent against doing something. She bends into a backward "C" shape and cries angrily. The good news is that these episodes don't last long. She can be distracted out of them.

Here are some recent additions to Maya's vocabulary:

arm

cheeks

toes

nice (picked up at daycare)

eggs (her favorite breakfast)

block

star

box

milk

dirt

Cheerios

crackers

Maya is also beginning to figure out the shape sorter, trying to jump (she has yet to get fully airborne), and singing snippets of "Twinkle, Twinkle." She seems to maybe be developing a bit of an attachment to two stuffed animals: the English bulldog some friends got her for her first birthday, and the all-white (and all-natural-fibers) dog that Jack and Beth Hoadley sent her when she was a baby. Watching her spontaneously kiss that little bulldog will just dissolve your heart into a warm, sludgey ooze.

Hello. Here are some new things Maya is doing these days:

1. She's marching. At first I didn't know what she was saying or what, exactly, was going on when she'd shout "Mock!" and start walking around with one leg kicking up real high in a cartoon-like manner. Then, one afternoon, I played her a kids' song about dinosaurs, and during the chorus ("We are the dinosaurs marching, marching...") she started up with the "Mock!" and the crazy leg. Hee! That's when I put two and two together.

2. Maya is saying "Up! Up!" when she wants to be held or when she needs assistance climbing some furniture.

3. She can climb up and down stairs unassisted (and without crawling) if there is a handrail at her level.

4. She now seems to kind of understand the meaning of "I love you" when she or someone else says it.

5. She and her dad have this game: Seth lies down on the floor, on his back. Maya climbs onto his tummy, straddles it while facing him, then just bounces up and down maniacally, while laughing her fool head off. Seth gets a little beat up (and nauseated) in the process, but he seems to think it's worth it for the fun value.

6. Maya is trying out facial expressions. She does this truly hilarious one where she narrows her eyes to slits, then rolls them way over to one side, like she's a lookout for a bank robbery and is trying not to be too obvious. I have no idea where this came from. The other expression she's been working on is one I like to call "Mom Is Not Amused," which is quite obviously an imitation of me looking annoyed. She basically knits her teeny little blond eyebrows together and frowns.

Photos from the wedding we attended this past weekend.

(The baby I'm holding is Leilani, our neighbors' daughter.)

Maya is beginning to speak in full sentences! Lately, she's tacking "It's" and "It's a" onto the front of nouns, so we end up hearing a lot of "It's a ball! It's Elmo! It's Ndugu!" She can also say "I love you," which is guaranteed to melt your heart into a big, soupy puddle of mush. Of course, I can't get her to say any of these things on camera, which is driving me nuts. As soon as I turn on the camcorder, she clams up and becomes intent on replacing the lens cap or looking at herself in the viewfinder screen.

Maya is also entering that awesome and entirely too short-lived stage of Toddler Helpfulness. Yay! Yesterday I spilled an entire pint of strawberries, and Maya industriously squatted down to help me pick them up. If it's time to change Maya's diaper, I can say, "Maya, please bring Mama a diaper," and she'll do it. It's really fun to involve her in little tasks this way, and I believe it's a good way to give her attention and make her feel accomplished. This morning I tasked Maya with carrying her little totebag all the way to school, and she did it!

Also, Maya is getting so big! I mean, she's still smallish for her age, but her little legs are lengthening. I notice her full-length pants are fitting her more like capris these days. We think lots more teeth are on the way, too. She's pretty cranky lately, and waking up at night crying, and greeting me in the morning with a chin dripping with drool.

Oh! Speaking of teeth, Maya now brushes her teeth like a big girl. She and I stand in the bathroom together and brush our respective choppers. Seth and I are still teaching Maya proper technique, as Maya would rather gnaw on the bristles than actually brush. (Although, I'm not too worried. I think even chewing on the bristles probably helps clean those teeny little pearly-whites of hers.) Maya loooooves brushing her teeth. She begs to do it during the day by shouting, "Teeth! Teeth! Teeth!" and bursting into tears when we tell her she'll have to wait till after dinner.

Maya is a (very young) woman who knows what she wants. And what she wants is Sesame Street. And a soft pretzel from Target. And to be put down. And some water. And some cheese. And her shoes. And to see the baby upstairs. And Dada. She is in the alternately annoying and endearing toddler habit of repeating the names of things she wants all day, every day. "Elmo. Pretzel. Down. Wa-wa. Geeze. Shoes. Baby. Dada." Offer Maya something she does not want, and she will emphatically bat it out of your hand and insist, "No! No! Noooo!"

One one hand, it's really wonderful to be communicating back and forth with our little bug. On the other hand, we are forced to disappoint her, all day long, by telling her she can't have what she wants. For instance, I can't produce a Target soft pretzel right here in our living room. I'm not going to play three hours of Sesame Street for Maya on the television. It is physically impossible to go see the baby upstairs this week, because that baby is in Florida with her parents. Poor Maya. She's constantly being let down!

It kind of makes me realize how luxurious it is to be an adult, able to act on most of my wants and needs, or at least console myself when I know I can't have them. I'm not forever relying on someone else to decide whether I can or can't get what I want. If I crave a tasty chunk of extra-sharp cheddar, well then, I'll just walk myself to the fridge and get one. And even if I know I can't have Target's cinnamon-sugar pretzel right at this very moment, I can reassure myself that I will buy one next time I'm there.

Anyway, despite my little groans and gripes about Maya's typical toddler behavior, I actually really love the toddler stage so far. It's so much fun and so rewarding watching my little baby grow into an actual---if small---person. She's trying to take an active role in her own life, just as she should be, and she's getting understandably irritated when her attempts are thwarted. Good for her! And really, it's nearly impossible for me to get too mad at someone in golden-blond pigtails.

We just never know what Maya will say or do next! This morning, for instance, when her toast popped out of the toaster, she shouted, "Toast!" She's also just learned to go down the playground slide by herself. And she's discovered how to walk backward and spin around in circles. (I remember spinning around in circles as a kid. I'd spin spin spin as fast as I could, then lie down on the floor and savor the ensuing dizziness. Thinking about that now makes me slightly nauseated.)

Maya can do some of the hand gestures for the itsy-bitsy spider song, and she loves to play "Where's Maya?" She's a master imitator, too. She'll roam the apartment calling "Maya! Mayyyya!" in the same tone of voice I do. And she's taken to saying, "I know, I know," which is what I say when she's crying for a legitimate reason and I'm trying to soothe her. I realize we are rapidly approaching the time in Maya's life when we must all change our "shits" to "shoots" and our "asses" to "butts" and our "damn its" to "darn its" when in her presence, because the next thing you know, Maya will repeat them back to us---or even worse, say them at her school.

I had been reading in one of my (many) parenting books that a kid Maya's age should "be able to build a tower of two blocks." I was concerned, because I'd never seen Maya do this. Granted, the few blocks she has are buried at the bottom of one of her toy boxes, so it's not like she gets an opportunity to tower-build all that often. But still, I'd never seen her really make a tower of anything---the act of placing one item on top of another wasn't something I'd witnessed her doing. I wasn't really worried, because I knew that if I were, I'd be Ridiculous Worrying Mother one-hundred times over. But it sort of bugged me. So, yesterday I pulled those blocks out of the toybox and showed Maya how to stack them. Wouldn't you know it, she stacked a tower of three, knocked them over with a toy drum stick, and moved on to bigger and better pursuits. I was satisfied and a bit ashamed of myself for being even the slightest bit concerned. I think Maya just isn't particularly interested right now in building things, which of course is perfectly fine. She's interested in music, climbing, walking, running, kissing things and people, petting animals, pouring water in her tub, and labeling ("Baby!" "Cheese!" "Dada!" "Elmo!"). Putting things together can wait!

Maya knows the word "pee." I'm not sure how this happened. What I do know is that every time I sit down on the toilet at home to do my thing, Maya toddles over and announces, "Pee! Pee!" Seth thinks maybe she picked it up from him. Regardless, it's mildly horrifying/somewhat amusing.

On Sunday afternoon Maya befriended Lucy, my friend Jen's little dog. Lucy is so calm and good-natured---she was the perfect little companion for Maya! Maya giggled when Lucy licked her face, and Lucy tolerated Maya kissing and hugging her repeatedly. There was much cuteness going around.

Seth and I went out for our first date in a year on Saturday night. We had sushi and saw a movie, Knocked Up, which was great and really funny, but probably not for you, Mom and Dad. We were back by 11:00, and Maya was snoozing soundly. One of the teachers at Maya's school did the babysitting. Her name is Lupe, and she's really fantastic.

I am reading an enlightening and very, very helpful book by leading pediatric nutritionist and mental-health professional Ellyn Satter called Child of Mine: Feeding With Love and Good Sense. (Bought with a Mother's Day check from Mrs. K.) It is wonderful, thoroughly researched, practical, and full of very useful advice. I only wish I'd read it before Maya was born! Anyway, Satter's years of research and clinical experience have taught her that children are skilled self-regulators when it comes to eating: They eat when they're hungry, they cut back when they're not. Even the most seemingly erratic eaters (Maya, that's you) get what they need over the course of a week, calorie-wise. According to Satter, it's the parents' responsibility to determine the what, when, and where of feeding; and it's the child's responsibility to determine the whether and how much of eating. In other words, parents make a variety of healthful, wholesome food available at certain times and in an appropriate, pleasant environment, and the child determines how much (or how little) of that food to eat. It seems like plain old common sense, but for me, who thought it was my responsibility to "force" food into wee little Maya, it's been a revelation. I am now able to relax more during meals, because I know that once I've presented the food to Maya, I can rely on her to take what she wants or needs. Even when that's not much, it's OK. Over the course of several meals and snacks, Maya will get herself adequately fed. I'm focusing now on providing nutritious meals and snacks for Maya, then sitting back and enjoying her company while we eat together. It's made a huge difference. Sorry to ramble on, but I just can't tell you how important this book has been to me!

Vocab Update:

Maya's newest words are shoe, hat, more, down.

She seems to be working on cheese, balloon, and bird.

Maya is also signing for "more," but she tends to overuse the sign, even when she does not, in fact, want more of something (so far as we can determine). She did, however, frantically sign "More! More! More!" after tasting some of my chocolate-chip-cookie-dough ice cream today. She kept signing it until she'd consumed about a third of the ice cream, in fact. It was funny.

Maya's first swim class was today. We all enjoyed it very much, even though one of the babies ralphed in the pool and forced the instructor to end class early. I felt bad for the kid's dad, whom I noticed silently hustling the kid out of there as everyone else was slowly getting out of the water looking miffed, like, "Huh? What happened? Someone pooped? What?" Oh well. I think babies have been turning their assorted bodily fluids loose in public pools since public pools have existed. No biggie. (But thank goodness it wasn't MY kid!)

A funny thing that is not unusual around here: This morning we three went out to breakfast. Maya was angelic and fun and sweet and charming, as she'd just woken up an hour before and was greeting her day with enthusiasm and joy. While we were eating, the elderly couple that had been sitting next to us left, and on their way out the woman dropped by our table to compliment us on Maya's good behavior. Later that day, we had a quick lunch at Rubio's, shortly after Maya had woken abruptly from a too-short nap and was thirsty, tired, cranky, and generally out of sorts. In the restaurant, she melted down on two occasions, and her wailing echoed throughout the place as Seth and I cringed. It actually wasn't, like, the most mortifying thing ever or anything---Maya IS one year old, after all---but certainly no one swung by to tell us what an utterly well-behaved little rugrat she was. And that's OK, because we don't need her to be in a good mood all the time, and Maya is only human, not a Perfect Little Girl Robot. It just strikes me kind funny that she is perceived differently by the general public depending on where she is in her day and to what extent she's had it, so to speak.

One thing that's consistent, though: People think she's awfully cute. How's this for proof? Last night, at dinner at a pizza place, Maya so thoroughly charmed the teenaged girl taking our order that I received a second pizza slice totally free of charge. "Don't worry about it," whispered the girl, sliding the pizza my way, then bestowing a huge shiny grin on Maya. Then, today (at Rubio's), I ordered a milk for Maya and the same thing happened! "Here it is, don't worry about it," said the guy taking our order, slipping a half-pint of milk onto our tray. And sure enough, no milk appeared on our receipt. I mean, I wish I had half the power over other people that Maya has! That two-toothed, pink-lipped smile of hers can do anything!

Here's a quick run-down of Maya's vocabulary as of today:

all done
bye-bye
baby
ball
bottle
dada
eye
hi
hello
mama

...and she's working on "thank you," "mouth," and "nose."

Zombie Baby is on the loose!

Maya is doing quite a bit of walking these days. Her style is best described as “lurching unsteadily forward, somewhat stiff-legged.” She looks like the world’s cutest, smallest, and most benevolent zombie. Yesterday I watched her lurch from one end of her daycare room to the other while carrying a spoon. That’s the other funny thing: Maya prefers to carry something with her when she walks. I’ve heard this is common among new walkers.
This morning Maya lurched from the living room to the kitchen. She’s also lurched from the hallway to the bathroom, and from the sofa to the front door. It’s super-exciting and fun to watch. It seems to me she might be walking exclusively by June! (She still crawls when she feels she must get somewhere in a hurry. She also does a caveman scuttle: moving forward on hands and feet. She’s like evolution personified!)
Maya is also repeating words and sounds. When Seth or I sneeze, she’ll go, “Ah-choo!” When I say, “Thank you!” after Maya offers me a bit of her dinner, she’ll say, “Tan-yoo!” And she still says, “Heh-yo!” when she pretends to talk on a phone. It’s all very adorable.
Maya’s eating is unpredictable and sporadic at best, which is really driving Seth and me crazy. As we all know, she’s very small, so she needs all the calories, fat, and protein she can get. So when she goes an entire day subsisting on some crackers, some avocado, and some bread, it worries me. I’ve asked the doctor about starting her on a multivitamin and am waiting to hear back.
Tomorrow is “picture day” at daycare! Too funny. So, I’ll send Maya in with her Easter dress and shoes and hope for the best. Seth made a good point: They’d better photograph the babies early in the day, before their hands, faces, and hair are caked with food and dirt!
We’ve also got an appointment at a local kids’ photography studio for Maya’s one-year portrait. Should be an interesting experience.

Maya's walking! Maya's walking!
Yesterday afternoon she trotted herself carefully from the hallway to the bathroom, where I was sitting on the toilet cheering her on excitedly. (Please don't picture that. Suffice it to say that motherhood means giving up your right to pee in peace and privacy.)
She did it a few more times that evening: four steps here, five steps there, always culminating in a soft little drop to the floor on her diapered butt. What's interesting is that she's actually much more graceful than I was anticipating. It's as if she's been taking her time, building up to walking slowly, not rushing it until she knows she can do it smoothly and with some precision. It reminds me of myself; I don't like to do things unless I know can do them well (which often results in procrastination, but let's get back to Maya, shall we?).
What surprised me was how excited I was to see this walking happen. I thought nothing could eclipse the thrill of hearing her say "bye-bye" for the first time. But I have to admit, this walking milestone is pretty awesome.
For now the walking is sporadic and brief---she still spends the huge majority of her time cruising, with some sprint-like crawling thrown in when she "needs" to get somewhere in a hurry. But I've heard that once a child takes her first few steps, things accelerate from there, and before you know it, she's walking around like a pro.
Other goings-on...
Maya's little-kid personality is taking shape. The girl could write a book on winning over strangers and blinding them with charm. When we're out at a restaurant, Maya will find a nearby dining patron and stare him down until he's forced to look at her. Then, she'll grin or chuckle, and her new friend will smile back, or say, "Well hi there, cutie!" or some such, and Maya will smile or squeal, and back and forth it will go for several minutes. It's as if she's playing the role of Perfect Happy Baby, and she deserves the Oscar, seriously. Last night at the pizza place she even won over a trio of self-absorbed 20-something dudes. She's a little spreader of joy, that one.
Now that, as far as we know, Maya's latest ear infection has cleared, we've resumed the dairy trial. Yesterday she had some cream cheese and a tiny bit of pizza cheese. Last night she woke up three times, crying. Hmm. We'll see how things go.

Cute Maya story: Earlier this week, Maya was cruising around the living room happily wreaking havoc and destruction at every turn, when she got it in her head to reeeeeeach clear over one of her toy boxes to play with the stereo buttons. She stretched that little body of hers and extended a finger, and, ta-da! Suddenly the Glengarry Bhoys CD started playing. Well, Maya was utterly delighted. She pulled herself upright, turned to look at us, and broke out in the widest grin of mischievous accomplishment I’ve ever seen. Seth and I couldn’t help but laugh. She then spent the next 15 minutes or so stopping and starting the CD. Mildly annoying, but funny just the same.

Maya does seem to enjoy music. Yesterday Seth arrived at daycare to find Maya thoroughly enjoying herself during “music time with Ms. Cami.” Seth said Maya was clapping and smiling as Ms. Cami sang some song about various animals. Seth also reported that Maya, “was not taking turns” touching Ms. Cami’s little animal finger puppets; in other words, Maya would touch the finger puppet, then touch it again, then again, and one more time, which was sort of blocking other kids from getting a turn. I immediately thought of that recent study about some daycare kids being less well-behaved upon entering elementary school. A-hem. I will, of course, hasten to teach Maya about taking turns once she’s old enough to understand.

We experienced a minor dietary victory recently when, after four or five days of trying, we got Maya to eat (and seemingly enjoy) pasta! I’m so glad, because it’s the pasta that’s enriched with protein, Omega-3s, etc., so it’s very hearty and nutritious. I cooked it with a simple marinara. The first several times I served it to her, she spit it out. So frustrating. But this week she changed her mind and pretty much scarfed it down. Hooray!

Have I mentioned that Maya can now sit and wave the cat wand around for Ndugu to play with? When I’m not worrying that she’ll poke her eyeball out with the wand (which, by the way, is about twice her body length), I quite enjoy witnessing Maya entertaining Ndugu in this way. The best part of it is the chuckling. Maya just chuckles away as spastic Ndugu leaps and contorts and generally goes bananas for the feather wand.

Things with Maya have been good, until this past weekend, when she quickly developed a really snotty nose and yet another double ear infection. She’s been extraordinarily cranky and teary for several days now, and I feel sad for her. She’s also teething, which is good news overall but adds to her discomfort. (I’m relieved to see more teeth are on the way, though! She’s still sporting just two pearly whites, and she’s now a year old!)

So, little My-My is on yet another round of antibiotics, and the pediatrician is pondering possible reasons for the recurrent infections and what to do about them. If Maya’s still getting infections regularly by the time summer rolls around, some sort of action needs to be taken. (I’m also concerned about the potential for speech delays, in the event that her persistent ear fluid is muffling her hearing.)

Yesterday we saw a new pediatric gastroenterologist, who seemed reasonable and friendly. He’s having us try out some dairy on Maya—a little bit of cheese and/or yogurt each night for two weeks. If that goes well and she does not vomit or show other signs of intolerance, then we graduate to little bits of whole milk here and there. Tonight will be Night 2 of this dairy test. Last night Maya had a few spoonfuls of yogurt and a bit of cheese, and she did not vomit, which was encouraging. I’m not going to get all excited just yet, though. It can take awhile for signs of allergy to present, so we’ll just take things day by day.

Moving on from health issues to more-enjoyable topics: Kacey and Terry recently visited us for several days, and they and Maya got along beautifully. It’s sort of challenging hosting guests while parenting a one-year-old baby, but we all managed and had a pleasant time. K and T were very understanding of Maya’s schedule. Highlights of K and T’s visit included being part of The Jimmy Kimmel Show’s studio audience; walking around Santa Monica and the Venice (CA) canals; hanging out chatting in the evenings; and strolling various beaches.

Maya is getting closer to walking on her own every day! This weekend I witnessed her take two unassisted steps before collapsing on the floor. She also gets a kick out of standing on her own and clapping at the same time—even in the bathtub, which is adorable yet very unsafe. Sigh. Maya reeeeeally loves the clapping, that’s for sure. As soon as I start singing “If You’re Happy and You Know It” or “Patty Cake,” she jumps right in with the clapping. I love how something as simple as clapping brings Maya so much joy. It’s sweet. The best is when she claps AND bounces to music. She’ll even bounce to the choo-choo-train sound effects that one of her toys makes. Hee!

Yay! Uncle Josh is here!
Josh rolled into town this past weekend and quickly set about his business of making Seth and me feel like inferior parents. Uncle Josh spends a full hour cavorting with Maya on the floor! Uncle Josh entertains Maya around the clock! Uncle Josh makes funny faces and does four million voices! Uncle Josh laughs at all of Maya's antics and tricks! Uncle Josh is waaaaay more fun than Mama and Dada!
That's OK; Seth and I are happy to play second fiddle to Josh's first violin. Josh and Maya see each other so rarely, they deserve to leave Seth and me in the dust while they delight in each other's company.
The four of us hit the beach on Sunday afternoon, just as the sun was setting on an absolutely flawless day. It's been like July here in SoCal. I love it! Josh took loads of pictures of Seth dipping Maya's toes in the ocean and Maya and me playing in the sand. An excellent time was had by all, even though negligent Mama nearly let a wave sweep her little peach right into the sea---thank goodness sharp-eyed Dada snagged Maya just in time. I think several years were shorn off my life in that moment.
Maya's new thing is to stand without holding onto anything for a few moments. We try to make a big happy deal out of it when it happens, to encourage her to build toward walking. She's also very much enjoying chasing and being chased, and oh my---the climbing! Look away for one moment, and the next thing you know, Maya has scaled a piece of furniture and is looking around, planning her next ascent. I wish our apartment had stairs. She'd love them!

Um, is it normal for 11-month-olds to throw temper tantrums? Isn't it a bit soon? I thought tantrums were the domain of toddlerhood.
Tonight went like this:
1. Dinnertime! I unwrap my chicken pita.
2. Maya spots the aluminum foil the pita was wrapped in, and cruises over excitedly to check it out.
3. Maya brings foil to mouth.
4. I thwart her attempt to eat the foil by shaking my head, saying, "No, Maya," and gently plucking it from her gums.
5. Maya FREAKS OUT. She busts out in angry wails.
6. The crying escalates. Seth tries to calm Maya. Nothing doing.
7. Maya, mid-scream, grabs the lint roller and brings it to her mouth.
8. Seth pulls it away, which enrages Maya beyond all reason. She turns red with fury and criiiiiiiiies and criiiiiiies.
9. Crying continues as I wolf down my pita.
10. After practically swallowing the pita whole, I whisk mad-as-hell Maya outside for some fresh air. She finally calms down.
The end.
Sigh.
Is this unusual? Or did she simply inherit her dad's temper?

We Kingsleys are sick and tired of being sick. And tired.
As you know, Maya and I (her mom) spent the past seven days being very ill---Maya, especially. Poor Maya: "Rotovirus" kicked her teeny, soft little butt for a full six days. Those were six of the scariest days of my life. Maya was vomiting, suffering explosive diarrhea, and barely eating or drinking for nearly a full week. Her behavior was frightening, too. She was often fatigued, sad, and listless.
On the advice of the pediatrician, we took Maya to the ER on Monday afternoon, at about 1:30. Door to door and back again, the entire trip spanned 8 hours! After waiting for four hours in the waiting room, Maya finally scored a room and was subjected to a fluid I.V., blood tests, and some gently forced Pedialyte. Maya was also diagnosed with an infection in each eye. We left around 9:00 p.m.
The following day, Tuesday, I experienced a second wave of the virus, after undergoing the first on Sunday and feeling a bit better Monday. Seth had to come home from work early to help me care for myself and Maya. Nightmare.
Today's Saturday, and Maya's tummy troubles seem to be gone---knock on wood---and her appetite back. I feel better, too. I'm trying to steer clear of overly fatty or seasoned foods, however. Don't want to trigger anything.
On a follow-up trip to the pediatrician's office (our home away from home) Monday morning, Maya was also diagnosed with yet another infection in both ears. We are treating that with a low-dose antibiotic, with a back-up high-dose antibiotic on standby if needed. Between the Prevacid, eye ointment, and oral antibiotics (not to mention the occasional inhaler puff), I'm forced once again to write all of Maya's meds down so I don't forget any of them.
Still, though, I'm always grateful Maya's ills are not more serious. She may very well outgrow all of them.

In other news, Maya is cruising! Her steps are small and tentative, and she seems to sometimes spook herself, but still, it's progress! She continues to say about 100 "Dadas" for every one "Mama," but that's OK. Today she was exploring my navel, and when I said, "belly button," Maya said "ba ba." Close!

Maya has been making some artwork in Daycare. The teachers provide the kids with shapes cut out of construction paper---such as snowmen, animals, etc.---and the kids finger paint and sprinkle glitter on them. We've got a bunch of art pieces decorating one of our kitchen walls, and today I tacked a few up here at work. I think it's great that Maya is involved in such activites as arts and crafts and "music time" at her daycare. I'm sure she gets a lot of help from the teachers, since she's only 10 months old, but I think it's great that she's being introduced to fun, stimulating, messy activities that involve creativity, exploration, and cooperation. I've noticed lately at home that when I start singing, Maya starts clapping. I'm sure that's something she's seen the older kids do during music time at daycare. It's neat.

Maya is popular! We visited Daycare today, and the kids seemed excited to see her. It was fun to watch. The toddlers shrieked "Maya! Maya!" and ran over to greet her when we walked in. Drake, a blonde little boy, got right down on the floor with Maya and made funny faces at her, which made Maya crack up. Macey, a really, really cute blonde little girl, helped Maya pull the laces out of her shoes. Maya appeared to enjoy herself immensely during the 20 minutes or so that we visited. There are many more age-appropriate toys there than there are here at home. We REALLY need to invest in some new, challenging toys for Maya. Unfortunately, money has been tight lately. At Daycare, Maya loved the playhouse, the activity table, and the miniature rocking horse. We have nothing like that here at home! Of course, her birthday is coming up, so I'll have an excuse to go splurge on these types of items.
:-)
Today Maya proved my efforts to confine her to the living room utterly fruitless. She will not be thwarted! Despite my barricading the living room with the ExerSaucer, a full backpack, a footstool, and various other random, heavy items, she STILL managed to wriggle her way through into the kitchen. Once there, she of course made a beeline for the cats' water dish, which is a definite no-no. Fortunately, she understands what "no" means and usually obeys me, so we've managed to avoid a major catastrophe so far. (Knock on wood.)
Back to work/daycare tomorrow! Sigh.

What a glorious weekend! The sun shone, I went "running" (more like "slowly jogging/walking") for the first time in about 18 months, and Seth had zero work to do! An excellent Saturday and Sunday were had by all. As a family, we took walks, made two visits to the park, watched some TV, cooked many meals, and enjoyed each other's company.

Maya has started cruising. She's taken some small steps while standing and holding onto the couch cushions and coffee table. It's exciting to watch, but also a bit bittersweet: our baby is rapidly becoming a toddler!

Maya made some gustatory explorations this weekend. She fed herself bits of avocado, which she really liked, and Seth and I fed her some hard-boiled egg yolk, which she tolerated but didn't eagerly pick up with her own fingers, like she did with the avocado. We're trying to expose her to foods with higher fat content, so that once she's weaned she'll keep getting adequate fat intake. (She won't be able to drink milk or soy milk right away, since she appears to tolerate them poorly.)

This afternoon Maya enjoyed petting a neighbor's dog. She continues to chase after our cats while laughing maniacally. (And I do mean maniacally. You've never heard anything like it! And it's infectious: Seth and I can't help but giggle when Maya's Maniacal Laughter rings through the apartment!) Fortunately, my constant exhortations to "Be gentle, be gentle" seem to have sunk in slightly---she's doing much less grabbing of animal fur than she was a few weeks ago.

Another piece of evidence that Maya is comprehending things we say to her: This evening, Maya was zipping around her room wreaking havoc while I changed her crib sheet. After pulling all of her shoes out of her shoe bin, she made a beeline for the space heater, then raised her hand to touch it---but stopped at the last moment and pulled her hand away. She remembered it was a "No"! I was fascinated, amazed, and very proud of her. She's learning!

Today I took Maya to Recreation Park. She's so active and busy these days, I feel that the apartment is too confining for her.
Maya swung on the baby swings, bounced on the bouncy pony, went down the curly slide with me, and rattled around on the shaky bridge. She spent the rest of the time crawling all over---from the sandbox to the grass and back again. Maya briefly befriended a two-year-old girl while we were there. They waved at each other, touched hands (read: "swapped germs"), and did a little bit of chasing each other. It was sweet.
Maya had a good day today. She continued to refine her clapping technique, and she climbed from the couch to the end table. She also climbed in and out of one of her toy boxes. We ate lunch at the Hummus Factory, where Maya threw her toys, the napkins, her spoon, and my cup onto the floor, and charmed several restaurant patrons.
For dinner tonight she tried some broccoli, some rice, some wheat bread, and strained chicken and prunes. She seemed to loooove the broccoli, but---ahem---it didn't love her. Much gas was passed.
Tomorrow Maya gets three solid hours with Daddy while Mom takes an infant/child CPR class at a local hospital.

Hello, Maya fans! This little blog will serve as a record of all things Maya: what she's up to, how she's growing and changing, which milestones she's reached, and which ones she's working on. I'll update frequently, so check-in often!

This has been an exciting week in the Kingsley household on the baby front. It seems as if Maya's cognitive and social development is making huge, impressive leaps all of a sudden! For starters, she has uttered her first official word: Dada. At first we thought maybe it was just a freaky coincidence that she was always calling out "Dada! Dada!" when Seth would enter the room or walk by. After way, way too many of these "coincidences," we've finally connected the dots: Maya has identified her dad with his proper name!

Even more recently, Maya clapped for the very first time today. She's been working on this skill all week, and tonight she succeeded in achieving it! I don't mean to brag here, but it is ADORABLE. And she seems really pleasantly surprised with herself when she does it. Honestly, I could swoon with pride.

Maya is also signing for milk now, especially when she sees me pull out the Boppy pillow in preparation for nursing. She looks at her cup whenever I sign for "juice," so I know she comprehends my sign language. I do sense lately that she and I have experienced some sort of breakthrough in our ability to communicate with each other. I'm so appreciative!

Other goings on:
-She's pulling up to a stand all the time
-She's climbing (most notably from the couch onto the armchair)
-She's mimicking like crazy
-She enjoys chasing us and being chased
-She self-feeds with some success
-She "kisses" other babies in daycare (according to the staff)
-She is expert at anticipating: She pauses expectantly when I'm singing Hokey-Pokey and am about to say "...and shake it all about," because she knows that I will grasp her and gently bounce her around during that line
-She helps me dress her by shooting an arm through an armhole or kicking her pants off

Maya is on the mend from a bout with two ear infections (one in each ear) and bronchiolitis. She's on antibiotics and an inhaler. She still gets tired easily but has definitely perked up since starting the medication. It's nuts: Each day this week we've had to give her two doses of Prevacid per usual, PLUS two doses of antibiotic, several puffs of the inhaler and one dose of iron drops. I had to write it all down and tape one copy to the fridge and one copy to her bedroom door so I wouldn't forget anything.

Last but not least, Maya's hair is getting so long! Her bangs are always in her eyes, and locks of hair are curling around her ears. V. cute.