Happy New Year

Our sweet maya

Happy 2007. Maya just turned 15 months and has been with us now for 5 months. As of today she is now 18lbs and 10oz and she is wearing 6-9 month clothes size. Wow how fast time has gone. In many ways it seems like Maya has been with us since her birth, and of course we can't really remember life before Maya. It seems like we have always been her parents. Funny how that happens. Our conversations now revolve around the consistency of Maya's bowel movements, what she ate, what made her giggle etc... "Ah who says the romance is gone when you have kids?" Actually, we wouldn't change anything. She has brought a whole new dimension to our lives which is so exciting and fun......oh yeah exhausting too!

Maya is walking really well. We often get stared at when we are out and about and often stopped by people asking how old she is because it does look a little strange seeing someone her size cruising along. To me she looks so big now but then I see her around other kids her age and realize she is still tiny. Tiny in size but BIG in personality. She is very quick when she wants something. Her favorite thing lately is to be in the refrigerator. If she even sees us open it she pushes her way in and sits on the bottom edge of the fridge. She has even tried to scale some of the shelves. It is a constant battle of who can be faster. I have to know exactly what I'm going in for otherwise if I linger then I'm wrestling her out of it.


"This looks like a good place to sit!"




"If only I could get to the top shelf"

She loves to help out mommy like unloading the dishwasher.....when I'm loading it. She also enjoys helping put clothes from the washer into the dryer. I praise her for helping because I know some day she'll not want to be so helpful. However, sometimes I find interesting objects in the dryer such as dog bones or toys that have slipped passed the mommy inspection. Another favorite pastime is putting all of her blocks or little plastic balls down our shirts or even in her pajamas. I came home from work one night and she looked like she had popeye muscle legs from all the things she had hidden in her clothes. She was walking around like nothing ususual.It didn't look particularly comfortable. Maybe she was just trying to get us to take her clothes off. The girl loves to be naked! The minute we even remove a shoe she starts getting crazy wild with laughter and jumping up and down. Once she is naked it is a mad dash to try and get clothes on her again.



Ignoring that sticker on the container which showed a baby with a slash through it.

She has also started saying a lot of new words. So far her vocabulary includes "dog, meow, (she says that whenever our cat walks by), uh oh, mom, dada, apple, ice, up, and out (she sounds a bit Canadian when she says that one). And oh yes she also says "TAHDAH!" when she does somersaults courtesy of Aunt Linda. Her little voice sounds so sweet. It has been amazing to watch her blossom over the past 5 months. We had many rough days and nights in the beginning and it is so great to see her getting more and more comfortable in her surroundings. She still has the occassional night terror but they are less frequent now.



Hanging out

As many of you know we have been bombarded with snow since before Christmas. One blizzard right before the holiday and another a week later followed by smaller storms continually throughout the new year. We have all gone a little stir crazy not being able to go outside much. Maya seems a bit fascinated by the snow and like everything she is very observant and just takes things in stride.


First blizzard 12/06



New friends: Sadie Maya and Maelyn

Our first Christmas with Maya was incredible for us. We feel so lucky to have her here with us and she is the best gift we could ever have. Maya seemed pretty overwhelmed by the holiday and seemed to find solace in the paper and the boxes more than anything else. She would carefullly tear small bits of paper off each package and hand it to us. A long process of unwrapping but as with everything in parenting patience is the key.



Dressed up for Christmas


Who needs presents when you have a box!


I have all the necessities....ready to move in!


Trying out her new backpack from auntie Kristi and uncle Brad

We took our first plane ride since our trip home from China and ventured to Seattle to see John's mom, sister and niece. Now that Maya is walking she was not to keen on sitting still on the plane ride. Funny how a 2.5 hour flight seemed way longer than the long flight from China. Maya also got to experience her first ferry ride over to Vashon island where John's mom lives. She seemed to enjoy the boat ride and was very curious about her new surroundings. Maya loved meeting her Nana Marilyn, Auntie Lynn, and cousin Claire. She immediately took to Claire and followed her everywhere. Claire was great with her and kept her well entertained during our visit. After a few hours she warmed up to nana M. and aunt Lynn too. We also got to visit with John's Uncle Jack, Aunt Norma, and his cousins and their kids. Every one on our trip was so generous and Maya got some wonderful new toys, books and clothes. We are so glad that she finally got to meet all of them.


Waiting for the ferry to arrive


First ferry ride


Making friends with cousin Claire


"Nana Marilyn makes me giggle."


Snuggling with aunt Lynn


Taking a walk on the beach


Cousin Claire, daddy, Maya, aunt Lynn, and nana Marilyn



Thanks uncle Jack. 3-2-1 BLAST OFF!

We were lucky enough to have a friend of nana Marilyn's come take some photographs of Maya. Kathleen Webster is a photographer on Vashon island and she captured some wonderful shots of Maya and Claire. We are so grateful to her for taking them and we will treasure the photos for years to come. These next set of photos are taken by her.


Maya, mommy and daddy



Beautiful face


Maya, cousin Claire, and nana Marilyn


Dimples


So serious


Maya and Claire reading



Maya started getting sick the last day of our stay in Seattle. Our apologies to any family members who may have caught the bug too. The flight seemed like an eternity with Maya unable to sleep and crying continually. Our flight attendants were less then compasionate which made me want to scream at them that we used to be flight attendants and that their lack of empathy was disgusting. Now that passengers can't carry on liquids we were unfortunately at their mercy. They basically refused to get any water for Maya's bottle until they were done with their beverage service. One flight attendant was ok and took the bottle but had to rely on the other to get it. When he tried to hand the bottle to him you would have thought that he was being handed a diaper filled with diarrhea and he refused. I seriously wanted to crawl over the seats and hurt him. There was nothing worse then seeing Maya sick and feeling helpless to do anything or being able to comfort her. By the time we got home to Denver she was doing terrible. She was completely lethargic and could barely even get a cry out. John had to dig our car out of the airport parking while Maya and I waited back at the terminal. About an hour and a half later we finally were on our way home. While waiting for John, Maya finally gave in to her exhaustion and fell asleep. Every once in a while she would open her eyes and just give me a little smile and a deliberate blink. I swear she could sense my worry and was just trying to make me feel better. She had a terrible cough and head cold which turned into a sinus infection. Her whole face was swollen and we could barely see her little eyes. She has gotten better but now seems to be heading into round two with a little bit of chest cold. With everyone trapped inside it seems inevitable that the cycle of colds just continues.



Germ Pit O' Fun!



Not feeling so well

I started back at work in January two days a week. I hated leaving Maya and felt like I was missing so much but my sister Linda was nice enough to watch her which made the transition without mommy a little easier for both of us. My sister adores Maya and the feeling is mutual from Maya and she has learned to turn on the charm for aunt Linda. Maya started daycare this past week which I was dreading. Before officially starting I had been taking Maya for a few hours each day off and she has slowly started to warm up to the other kids and teachers. We made about 9 visits all together and I think this was a good transition for her. I really noticed last week how her comfort level increased and she would finally leave my side and play with the other kids. I think she is finally feeling secure that we won't leave her and that she can venture out without fear. The first day was much harder for me than it was for her. I cried all the way to work and was choking back tears throughout the morning. But Maya got rave reviews on her first week. The teachers said that all the other little kids were following her around handing her toys. The other kids sort of tower over her and think she is their own little baby doll. I was most concerned about nap time since she would have to start sleeping on a floor mat. She still struggles with sleeping at home so I thought that there was no way she would ever just lay down and fall asleep. Once again she proved me wrong and she slept 3 hours both days. I think the peer pressure of seeing the other kids doing it was definitely a motivating factor. They said she only cried once when the kids were getting ready to go outside for play. It was just a little too frantic for her and maybe she thought she was getting left behind. Other then that she seems happy to play with the other kids and is adjusting well. I just feel fortunate that I have a job that doesn't require me to work 5 days a week so that I can spend as much time as possible with her.



Waiting for mommy



First day of school



At school a.k.a daycare with daddy


The Chinese New Year festivities are finally under way. We went to our AAC agency party last week and Maya was enamored with the Chinese dance troupe. Little girls from about 4-10 all beautifully dressed. During practice and the performance Maya and the other kids were up on stage having a blast. Maya loved being in the center of all the commotion and got upset when we tried to pull her off stage. I think I see dancing in her future. Actually she gets a pretty good groove on already and seems partial to reggae. Although Chinese New Year is not until February 18th this year, we have several related functions which has been a fun part of joining our two cultures together. We definitely want Maya to embrace her Chinese heritage as she grows. More than anything we look forward to the many new adventures Maya will have in the year to come.



Maya gets her goove on at the Chinese New Year celebration



Simple pleasures