kissing cousins and other adventures

This past weekend my cousin's wife Jenn and their little baby Kellyn came to visit. Kellyn is 4 months old and approximately the same size as our little peanut. It has been interesting to see Maya become more social with other babies. She watched Kellyn's every move and you could almost hear her wondering aloud, "why can't she crawl or feed herself?" Even though Kellyn couldn't down mashed potatoes or throw her water bottle with complete accuracy, Maya still loved her enough to lean over and give her a big old kiss on the head.


Kissing Cousins


Can you guess who is older?


"If only I could crawl!"

She now puckers her lips and makes the mmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaa! sound when she is kissing. The first time this happened it was completely unprovoked which was so sweet. Of course we had to ask her to do it again for the camera. Being on the receiving end of one of these little kisses is very wet but the best experience ever. Maya also likes to kiss all of her stuff animals too. She is still blowing kisses and finds this to be completely handy when she is getting ready to do something naughty. The scenario goes something like this. Maya heads towards the cords of the lamp or computer. One of us says "Maaaayyyyyyaaaaaa" and she stops in her tracks with a very serious look and starts blowing us kisses. Amazing someone this young can try and sweeten us up before committing a spicy act. :)

This past week we also got a visit from Maya's friends Lola and Stella, the twins who were a part of our China group with parents Kirisi and Brad. It was good to see the girls and to see how all three are progressing at home. The girls enjoyed playing together on a blanket out back which was a welcome change to the hotel rooms we were used to having playdates in. Stella arm wrestled a biscuit out of Maya's hand much to Maya's amazment. Maya then proceded to offer her replacement biscuit only to take it back just as Stella was moving in for a mouth full. PSYCH!......two can play at this game! Needless to say it was very entertaing to watch. I'm thinking baby wrestling on the Disney Channel could draw quite the crowd.


Stella and Maya before the wrestiling match


Little Lola


"auntie" Kristi and Maya

We also got a visit from my boss Juan and his family. His son Vincent who is almost 5 has been a huge fan of the Maya blog. Vincent offered some free baby training so of course we couldn't resist. Maya was mesmerized by Vincent. But ever since the baby training Maya has been doing loud ear piercing, window shattering squeals. Hmmmmmm makes me wonder what kind of things Vincent taught her. I better check the baby training manual for the next lesson just to be safe.

Balancing 101 at the Vincent School of Baby Training

The weather is starting to turn cool and we've been enjoying many evening walks in the stroller. Maya seems to enjoy the scenery although she has a hard time staying awake once we get strollin. It seems to be a good pre bedtime routine since she is usually really wired and hyper right before crashing.


"I can't be seen in this!"


"Ok it is kinda cozy."

Her favorite thing is rolling around on the bed climbing Mt. mommy and daddy. She giggles with delight when she makes it over the hump of my hip or daddy's legs and can't wait to do it again. It has been so much fun to see how much she has opened up over the past few weeks. We have started to deal with a few sleep issues.....basically she doesn't want to go to sleep. Maybe we'll take this as a sign that she is enjoying life and doesn't want to miss a thing. A small price to pay for such a wonderful joy in our lives.


Mommy and Maya