Maya's Second Birthday

Maya is now 2 years old. Oh, how the time flies. At 1 year old, she was just learning to walk. Now, we have trouble keeping up with her.

This year, we decided to separate the birthday party from the fair. Instead, we had it the week before at our house. We knew that this would rule some people out because of the long drive. But, it was a little hectic doing it all after the fair. I say that and I hardly did anything. Most of the planning and preparation was done my Maya's wonderful Momma.

Because of Maya's love of all dogs, Lezlie decided to go with that theme--dog plates, dog napkins, and pin-the-paw on the dog instead of pin-the-tail on the donkey. Lezlie made a very good brisket and Grandma Violet brought her famous potato salad. And, I think we had about 25 guests. I could definitely see how small our house really is.

Maya started opening her presents soon after lunch which is normally her naptime. But, she was determined to see and open everything. I'm not sure if she really has a favorite present. She is playing with them all equally well. She got a kitchen set, a tent/tunnel, a wheel-barrel/rake/broom for outside play, and many other things. I'm gonna have to start storing all her old stuff.At one point, I believe Maya was a bit overwhelmed by everything and we actually lost track of her. She had sneaked upstairs all by herself. But, she soon got her second wind and finished the day off playing with Easton.
All in all, it was another memorable birthday. Now, I'm sure Lezlie is already planning next years. Thanks to all who came and/or gave presents.

Bye Bye Beebie

We have officially taken Maya's pacifier away from her. Last week, Maya had a different teacher who wasn't familiar with her oral habit during nap-time. So, she didn't even think to give it to her. They said she slept fine. So, we figured this was our best chance to continue what they started. The first couple nights were pretty bad. She simply had no idea how to soothe herself to sleep.

For the most part, we have been sitting in her room with her until she falls asleep. We had to do this same thing when we transitioned her out of her crib. So, it feels like a little regression. But, I have a feeling it won't be long that we won't have to do that. I tried just putting her in her bed and leaving the room on Thursday, and she only cried a couple minutes. But, I have no idea how long it took her to get to sleep. I wish I had one of those cameras to keep an eye on her.

Rockaway 2009

I just looked at my last post and realized it's almost been a month. A lot has happened. I'll start with our Rockaway Beach vacation.

It was another great vacation/reunion at Rockaway Beach. I'm not sure what the official count was this year but I'm guessing around 50 people showed up at some point in time. Lezlie and I ended up going down on Monday but left Maya with my Mom and Dad. They ended up coming down Thursday morning. It was kind of hard to leave her as we had never been without her for more than 2 days. So of course, we were waiting at the door as my Mom and Dad drove up, just itching to get our hands on our little girl. She was all smiles as usual, but the toddler in her soon came out and she got bored of us and wanted to explore.

The rest of the week we did a lot of chasing, but we got a lot of help from family. Cousins Alyssa and Bailey helped out a bunch and were very reliable. And of course, Grandma and Grandpa helped out a lot too. Most of the time, Maya just wanted to swing. In total, I'm betting Lezlie and I spent a good solid 4 hours swinging Maya at the playground.

We went to the pool a couple times. We quickly learned that Maya would have nothing to do with her little lilly pad floating device. It was just too constrictive for an almost-two-year-old. I tried to take her out and swim with her. But again, this was just too constrictive. She wanted to swim herself. Obviously, I did not let her try. So, we settled for the kiddie pool. One of us sat in the pool and the other sat outside of the pool to ensure that she didn't take a b-line and dive in the big kid pool. Ah, the joys of chasing a toddler.

This seems to be the only way we can get Maya to smile for the camera. We don't say "cheese," we say "show your teeth." It may look a little fake but at least she's smiling.
All in all, it was a fun time but we were definitely ready to get home and sleep in our own bed. But that whole work thing...ya, we weren't so excited about that.

Mark Your Calendars

Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at 11:30am. That is when our baby boy will be delivered. For Maya, after 20 hours of labor, the doctors finally decided to have a C-section. So this time, Lezlie had the choice to do another C-section. Let's just say it was an easy decision...for both of us. I honestly don't think I have been awake for that long in my life. And, you all know how I like to sleep.

Lezlie tried to talk the doctor into delivering earlier (she's already ready to get it over with), but she was rejected. The official 9-month due date is October 13th, and the doctor likes to deliver C-section a week early. Any earlier, and insurance will not pay.

On another note, Lezlie and I are officially on vacation. We'll be heading home to Cole Camp for a couple days and then off to Rockaway Beach/Branson. We initially were gonna save our vacation, but I think we waited too long before taking some time off. So, we decided to take the whole week. Grandma Barb is even gonna take Maya from us for a few days. As much as I'd like some time away from responsibility, I'm sure I'll be missing her smile the minute we leave. But, I know she will be given all the attention in the world.