What's new with Maya?

I thought it was time to give a little update on Maya.  First of all, we are proud to report that Maya is now walking!  She has been taking a few steps here and there for awhile but now she is officially walking.  Well...walking means bumps and bruises which is exactly what happened today at daycare.  Maya had two incidents that involved a cut on her tongue and a black eye.  Yep, a black eye.  Tonight she fell again and bumped the same eye.  Oh boy did she cry and we couldn't blame her. 

 

Besides the walking, Maya is busy getting her 5th tooth!  We discovered yesterday her top tooth is coming in.  Well that explains why she wasn't all that hungry the past few days.  She is drooling a lot and is busy biting on her fingers so we think she may have another one coming. 

 

Maya is also taking swimming lessons.  She absolutely LOVES the water which is fantastic.  We spend most of our summer at the lake so it is very important she likes it.  I hope she becomes a little swimmer one day.

 

Here are some pics from today's black eye incident - the first one is before she fell the second time.  You can see that it is more swollen and black from the second fall.

 

Maya and her faces

Happy Easter

Maya spent Easter with her Grandma Julie and Great-Grandma Clara.  The Easter bunny visited and Maya loves her new toys.  Maya got to hang out with her Grandmas on Saturday night while we went to a movie.  How can we pass up free babysitting??? 

 

Maya found the cupboard with Grandma's tupperware

Maya with her Easter basket

Maya looks adorable in her dress

 

Happy Easter everyone! 

My-yah

Mommy's Little Helper

A Conversation on Race

First, you can tell when I post vs. Theresa - there tends to be a bit more seriousness :) - on that note, I do not want this blog to be anything other than the celebration of our beautiful daughter, however, I feel that the time is now to bring the conversation of race in our culture to the forefront. Our family is a multi-cultural family and we must all be aware of the environment that Maya will be raised in. We have an opportunity as adults to potentially make such a dramatic change in our children's generation in this next election.

Barack Obama gave a speech today on the topic of race that I feel is a great opportunity to begin an honest dialogue of this topic with our children and with our friends and co-workers. While it is very long, 37 minutes, I think it is worth the listen to engage in this most critical of conversations.

“In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination – and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past – are real and must be addressed,” Obama said.

I feel that we are at a cross-roads where we can elect a leader that can truly change our next generation of children.

“This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected,” he said.

 

Now - back to the photos of Maya! :)

Yummy Snack

Maya enjoys gold fish crackers for the first time.  Maybe next time they will actually make it in her mouth

Girly Girl

What a challenge it was morning to shower and get ready.  Maya had very busy hands this morning.  She managed to get into everything!  Maya especially loves to play in my closet while I am getting dressed.  Her favorite activity is pulling my clothes off of the hanger and wearing them around her neck.  Here is a picture of Maya wearing my sweater...it was taken a week or so ago but it will give you the visual.

Maya also loves to play with my stocking cap...

12 month check-up

Maya is so lucky!  She got to visit the doctor's office twice this week.  Once on Monday for a rash called hand, foot, and mouth and on Tuesday for her 12 month check-up.  Maya's rash is okay and should go away within 10 days.  She got 3 shots yesterday and boy did she cry.  I really can't blame her.  Maya weighs 21 lb 7 oz and is 29 inches long.  Both are in the 50th percentile.  The doctor is very happy with those numbers which makes us happy. 

A photo tour of Addis Ababa!

I found this online - it is a bit long but a great walk down memory lane from the city we visited last year.

First Haircut

Maya had her first haircut a couple of weeks ago.  She did great!

Maya's First Steps!

Game

Maya had a lot of fun at the basketball game last night (smile).