Happy Halloween

It was cold last night for trick or treat and the ladybug was a warmer choice. Thank you all for your votes. Today Maya has a runny nose and has been sneezing like crazy. Mike has been really sick with a cold for the past two days so I don't know if I should blame the cold weather last night or blame Dad. Oh well, we'll survive.

A Poll. Please Vote!

We have 2 options for a Halloween costume and they are both so darn cute that we can't decide which one to use for Trick or Treat night. Please post your vote in the comments section and help us make up our minds.
This is option #1, the cat (yes, cat. I know it looks like a mouse but she's supposed to be a cat) in action. Maya likes the cat but I'll have to admit, she's just a little biased.

Option #2 is this ladybug. We did Trick or Treat at our local farmers market on Thursday as the bug. It's a small market so I thought it would be a good first run. Maya loved it! She pointed and Ohhed at all of the little dressed up people. We have been practicing saying "Trick or Treat" for weeks now. She only said it once but did say "thank you" a couple of times. She carried her little candy bag over her arm and would hold it right out for people to put her candy in. It only took one time for her to get the hang of that move.

Ladybug in action.

Maya has become quite a nurturer. She loves to take care of her dolls and stuffed animals. She feeds and bathes them. She hugs and kisses them and has them give each other kisses too. Maya still loves to ride in her Baby Bjorn. She will bring it too me to put her in sometimes. She brought me the bear and was wearing the bjorn herself a few days ago. I had to make it fit so that bear could get a ride. She wore that thing for nearly a half an hour.

Check out the vintage Oshkosh bibs. These were my nieces when she was a tiny girl. That was more than 20 years ago. They nearly got too small before I got a chance to put them on Maya. As usual she looked just darlin' in them.

Have you ever seen anything as pitiful as this? Fisher had a hematoma on his left ear and had to have surgery to drain it on Wednesday. He was really playing the pathetic card when he got home.

The bandage stayed on for nearly 24 hours and then he became a beautiful flower. Heee Heee Heee! He was freaking out after the bandage came off and wouldn't stop scratching and shaking. So he got to wear this new version of the Elizabethan collar. This one was much easier on our shins and door facings than the old cone collars...and much more stylish, LOL.

Don't forget to let us know...ladybug or cat!! Thanks.

A Bowl...with a Straw!

Maya has been doing a great job with feeding herself. She does best with these spoons with the big bowl-like scooper part if the food is liquid like soup or cold cereal (both of which she LOVES). I got a couple of these bowls with the straw attached. She thinks they are a blast to eat and drink out of. Each time I put her in her highchair and go to get out a bowl she says "staw! bowl!". She wants these silly bowls with the straw. She will eat every drop usually. She will give the spoon a rest sometime during the meal because it's just so much more fun and messy to eat with her hands.

I taught her to put the noodle-Os on her fingers...Maybe not the best idea but it sure is fun

I am getting better with the pony tails. This time I put them up while her hair was still wet from the shower. She likes to look at herself in the mirror and shake her head so the pony tails shake.

I remember my Mom telling me to get my hair out of my eyes when I was younger. I never knew why it bothered her until now. I am constantly pushing Maya's hair out of her face. I refuse to cut bangs though so we'll just have to keep using the little clipies.

Maya loves to scoot up under this big ottoman that we have and wait for us to say "where did Maya go?" Then she scoots out laughing her head off.

Last week we had another little friend at Busy Boppers. Gretel came to play. Gretel will be 1 year old in just a couple of days and she is a tinsy tiny little beauty. She had a great time playing with the big girls and we hope that she'll come back and play often.

Maya said her first sentence of sorts last week. My Mom asked Maya about a scratch on her hand (you can see it in the bowl pictures above). Maya pointed at the scratch and said "MeMe (Maggie our cat) mean!". It was too cute and now she says it every time she notices the scratch, which is nearly gone. She is also telling me "mean" when I tell her no. Oh boy, that defiant streak just gets bigger and bigger! I love toddler hood!!

Papaw :}

I lost my Dad on February 29, 2000. He would have LOVED Maya without a doubt. But, who couldn't. All of the grandkids in my family have called Dad Pops. For some reason while going through our routine of naming every person in the photos on the wall in our hallway, I called Dad Papaw to Maya one day. She has been saying "Papaw" a lot lately and I can feel my heart in my throat each time I hear Maya's sweet voice speaking to the Papaw that she'll never know in person. She always goes through her list of people she is talking to on the telephone. Usually it's "Hello? Lella? (Ella Lazar, Maya's roommate and best bud from Yangchun City CWI), DaDa?" and that's the list. Well, yesterday she added Momaw and Papaw. Oh, how I wish she could speak to her Papaw on the phone or face to face. Maybe she does...

Turn up your volume. You don't want to miss this sweet voice!

I'm working on better pony tails. It is very hard to draw a strait line on a moving melon!

Dora Birthday Party etc...

Maya and I went to Lauren's Birthday party this weekend. Lauren was a very sick little baby that I took care of in the NICU. She is now a perfectly healthy 3 year old beauty. I love my job. Dora was at the party. Maya has never been around a dressed up character before and we were anxious to see how she would react. When I told Maya that Dora was going to be at the party she was very excited and was also very cooperative about getting ready to go as we were running late and had to be quick about it. We don't watch Dora but we have a few Dora dolls (thanks to our secret pals) and Maya loves Dora. She can pick her out in a store when I don't even see her. She shouts "Dora!" and I have to look all around to see where Dora is.
I carried Maya in to the party and pointed Dora out as we walked over to where she and all of the other kids were. She smiled and started kicking her legs but had a pretty tight grip on my shoulder. Then I sat her down and she walked right up to Dora then immediately ran reaching to me. I picked her up and we talked about Dora and her eyes (as that was what Maya was talking about). Than she wiggled back down and was fine the rest of the time. She even took a little wagon ride with Lauren as Dora pulled them around.

Just had to add in these cute pics. She loved her pocket.

Who's That Girl?

Well, it's Maya and her Mama with a brand new haircut.

This was me yesterday before going to work. This is how I wear my hair almost everyday in the summer. Occasionally, I will french braid it. Late this spring I was watching the Today Show and there were people all over the country cutting off their hair and sending it to Locks of Love. I decided that day that I would chop mine off at the end of the summer. I've had long hair since high school except for a few months about 4 years ago. I got it cut not as short as it is now and let it grow out again from that very moment.

I really like my new do. I wondered what Maya would think when she woke this morning and found her Mama without a ponytail or scrappy hair hanging all over the place. I didn't think she really even noticed until tonight. I was cooking and Mike was holding Maya behind me and she reached out and ran her fingers through the back of my hair. She has just recently started trying to pull her fingers through my hair but it's always such a ratty mess that they just get tangled up in it. It's all silky now and she can pull her fingers all the way through it. And, it stands up to a piggy back ride.

Bye-bye hair. I hope it will be as good to someone else as it has been to me.

And, just a sneak peak of a potential Halloween costume for Miss Girl. I wondered if Maya would keep this cat headband on. She loved it and wore it for quite a while last night. Then she found it again tonight and wore it some more.

Still Hot

It has still been hot as an oven here in good ol' WV. Certainly not a typical October with temps in the 90s all last week. We have started going to a little Mom and me class on Tuesdays and it's been a lot of fun. Klaire and her Mommy have been going with us. There are not many kids in the class but I'm hoping that when the cool weather arrives more people will come. Last week Klaire and her Mommy and Jackson, Bodie and their Mommy went with us. Jackson is 3 and Bodie is 15 months. Check out what a big boy Bodie is standing next to Maya. We missed today because I worked last night and just was not up for the 40 mile drive to get to Busy Boppers. Maya gets very excited when we talk about going and says "boppa,boppa"!!

She still loves pictures. Pictures of anyone really but especially of herself. Can't say I don't agree!


All this heat (and butter by the looks of her shiny face) can make a girl very tired. This night she couldn't even make it through her dinner.


What ever happened to that little girl who wouldn't put anything in her mouth? I have to really keep a close eye on her outside because she loves to pick grass and leaves and put them in her mouth. We planted some new grass around the house and the hay has been so much fun for Maya.


Our neighbors got a new puppy. This is Sadie. Maya loves her because she is much more her size than Fisher. Maya doesn't always understand though that she has to be a little more gentle with Sadie than she is with Fisher. Sadie doesn't mind a bit.

Fisher, on the other hand is not so sure about the tiny little thing always sniffing and licking his face. But he takes it like he always does. He's such a good boy. We have noticed that Fisher is losing his hearing. We have always battled ear infections with him. I think that is taking it's toll on him:(


We have been cleaning out our garage to try to fit both of our vehicles in it. Contrary to the way Maya looks in this picture, she is certainly not a girly girl. She is totally filthy. We are so glad that she doesn't mind getting dirty.


Look at those hands!


Dirty bird or not she's still the prettiest girl on the block!


On to another dirty subject...Maya is a picker. Here she is concentrating ever so hard on scratching off a little scabby place on her leg...Gross!!!

Whew, that was tough work. Now I need a drink.

We just had to buy Maya a slide since sliding is about her favorite thing to do lately. She has had a blast with her new toy and will run straight to it when we go outside.

Just had to add this pic. This little guy was hanging out beside of our front door a few nights ago when I took Fisher out. How cute is he? That's my finger below him as a frame of reference as to just how tiny he is. Disregard the hangnails :)