Welcome To South Carolina

So, I finally made it to the DMV to switch my license. I should have given it up when I got out of the car and noticed that Maya had wiped her nose all over my shirt, again. I made it through the line and waited the 15 years for them to call my number while Maya amused herself by attempting to pull off all the leaves of the closest ficus tree. Finally my number is called and I carry up my 300 pieces of identification only to be informed that my birth certificate is unacceptable. The lady behind the counter told me that it is lacking some numbers that the hospital is supposed to put on there. I pointed out that this birth certificate was good enough for a Florida license, a Tennessee license and even a passport, when she told me that I could use my passport as a replacement for my birth certificate. The passport that I obtained with the unacceptable birth certificate.Keeping her occupied.

Maya's "treasures".

Cooking and still refusing to give up her "treasure".

Learning why it is bad to throw baby wipes all over her room.

So Pretty

Maya has had a cold for the past two weeks, which means that under no circumstances is she to behave in a sane manner or allow anyone to leave the house without her first wiping her nose on your shirt. My beautiful little girl has turned into a deranged puddle of mucus. Several times I've had to scrub down our furniture thanks to Maya using it as a giant handkerchief, really, she will actually press her nose against the cushions and start walking. It's beyond disgusting. If this is what girls do I can't begin to imagine what she would be up to if she was a boy, probably just serenading me from the bathroom.
I can't stress enough how crazy she has been lately. She will be playing happily on the floor and, out of nowhere, just start freaking out. These moments of insanity can happen anywhere and at any time. The strangest part is what makes her stop. The other day Maya was having a breakdown and I handed her a slice of bread, suddenly the sun came out, birds started singing and all was right in the world. Is it normal to be scared of your toddler?

Our attempt to please it.

Signs She Is My Daughter:

A natural with her dolls.

Loves to accessorize by turning everything into a purse.

We Got Away!

Last weekend Maya got a visit from her Granny and Papaw. This visit meant that Maya would be spoiled beyond recognition and apparently so would we. On Saturday we received over six Maya free hours! Such a thing has never happened before. We called to check up on her but mostly to revel in the fact that someone other than ourselves was watching Maya. Eating out was once again an enjoyable and cheerio free experience, and did you know that movie theaters were still around?

Dancing Baby

I was going through and deleting the old videos on my phone when I came across this one that I had completely forgotten about. It was taken when Maya was 9 1/2 months old and it's the first time she danced. She was watching me in her playpen and apparently this is her copying my dance moves.

Slow And Steady

Earlier this week I took Maya to the children's museum where they have this fun room for kids under 3. There was a ramp that the kids were walking up and it led to a little play area. The ramp was a little steep but the experienced walkers didn't haven't a problem with it, luckily for Maya there was a rail so that those new to the whole walking thing could still play with the big kids. It was so cute to watch her automatically reach for the rail and carefully guide herself along as the "big" 16 month olds would walk past her. Always polite, Maya made sure to wave as they went by.

It didn't take long for Maya to notice the giant mirror. It's always good to see someone with high self esteem.

Comfort has always been a priority.

Okay!

Maya is a very talkative little girl, the only problem is that I'm not sure what language she's speaking. So I was happy to see she has decided to at least say OK.

Baby Steps

So the same day I was telling Grandma that I didn't know when Maya would be walking, she finally throws me a bone. Here's the video of the most solo steps Maya has made.

Patience Is A Virtue

Due to popular demand, see: the only two people who ever post comments, I have finally updated the site.

Everything Has A Price

Just a look at what I'm willing to put up with for a little "Mommy time."

Brought To You By The Number 8

Recently we received a package from my parents filled with the standard Petland t-shirts and beach towels. Packed along with all of the Petland paraphernalia were some staples for Maya.

Extra food- Because Grandparents know what growing babies need.

Stuffed animal- Because Maya is deprived of her Nana's love.

Numbers- In case she needs a snack.

Look Ma, No Hands!

At Maya's 12 month visit I was happy that her Dr. didn't seem it was a big deal that she wasn't walking. In fact, she only recently started standing on her own. She's still pretty wobbly but she knows she's doing something special because she will flash us the biggest smile. The Doctor did tell us that Maya has an umbilical hernia which is common and usually goes away on its own, but even so, we would prefer that she didn't have any issues. Maya is holding steady in the 95th percentile for height but at only 20lbs. 11oz. she has dropped to the 48th percentile. Tall and skinny, I guess she can't complain!

Friends Are Fun

If I had to guess what Maya's favorite part about the weekend was, I would say it was definitely having her cousins around. By the time Monday arrived, Maya worshipped the ground Aubrie walked on. Aubrie was so sweet with Maya, she helped feed her, she played with her and she even wanted to ride in the car with us so she could be closer to Maya. Finally, Maya had someone to pick up her sippy cup no matter how many times she would drop it! I couldn't believe it when Jacob got in on the fun. He would make sure Maya was entertained and was exceptionally attentive when Maya was opening her gifts. He was right there in case she needed someone to help her play with any of her toys!

Comfort has always been a priority.

Maya's brief stint as a local weather girl ended when she was fired for allegedly eating the props.

Birthday Monkey

It only took me two weeks to recoup from Maya's birthday weekend and finally update the site! Everybody was here for such a short time and yet it was so exhausting. I guess that's what happens when you try to cram so many activities into only a couple of days. We had Maya's party at the park where we reserved a covered area with several picnic tables in case of rain. We were told that rain wouldn't be anywhere near us until 3, which was right when the party was supposed to end. Naturally, the rain started shortly after we arrived and stopped as soon as we were packing up to leave. But all was not lost! I got to see Jason and Troy grilling in the rain, more importantly, I got a picture of it.

The burgers and hot dogs were fine, luckily we bought large buns so they soaked up most of the water. Finally we got to the part where Maya gets her first cupcake. I was so excited to see her take those first bites and I couldn't wait to see her smear the cake all over her face, but Maya had to be different. That child didn't play with her cupcake at all. She ate every last bite and then when there was just icing left on her tray, she ate that too! Jason and I kept trying to get her to share some of her cupcake with us but she would just smile and shove a huge piece into her mouth. This is the same child who finds great joy in sharing her cheerios and puffs but wouldn't spare a crumb of her cake.
For our special present to Maya we decided to get her a chair of her own. I had so much fun imagining how cute Maya was going to look just sitting in the living room in her own Maya size chair. I found it online and anticipated its arrival for a week. I was just so excited for Maya to get her special chair! She was happy to see it and immediately squealed and crawled right over to it. Jason sat her in it so she could see what it was like and proceeded to topple head first out of the chair. The wonderful birthday chair is now in Maya's room with Hanukkah Pooh sitting in it.

Rugrat

My little monkey will be turning 1 in a couple of days and she doesn't seem like she's going to hit the walking milestone before then. She pulls up on everything and cruises along the furniture but she doesn't have any interest in walking. I can't really blame her since she is a little speed crawler and you should see her go when she gets close to the kitchen! The kitchen and bathroom are no crawling zones, but you always know when she gets close to making it to the kitchen because she starts panting and laughing and that cutie just has her arms and legs flying! With all of the energy Maya could be using on walking, she instead decides to use it to stalk me.