Just another fun day in my neighborhood

Dear Maya,

this is just a quickie to capture the beauty of what we have here on Dryden Rd.

BFFs forever: Maya and Logan

Maya's 2nd Birthday Party

Dear Maya,

Today is your second birthday!
Happy birthday to you, my sweet child! Well.. sometimes :) You know we love you anyway.

This past Saturday we celebrated your birthday with your many friends, and from the looks of it, everybody really enjoyed it.. especially you!

Special thanks to Mr. Samuel Dinkins of Dinky Drums company for bringing a wonderful community-building ensemble to our home.  Not every two year old has a sooo many friends and of such a wide age-range, and so we are grateful that we could bring them all to celebrate with you.

Here you are with Dada really getting down!

And Maya everybody got into it.. not just you:

And here is the community we've wanted for you, right here in our own back yard.. and jammin together to boot!

Well our session ended with a Happy Birthday tribute to you and you got your very own Sound Shape! That was the only time you were a little shy...

Both your current and past nannies love you so much.  Maria baked you this lovely Elmo cake, and Yenely came early and left late and really allowed all of us to enjoy the party with you.  Thanks to Jeffrey for showcasing:

I know I have to stop somewhere but here you are opening your first gift.. how does Uncle Binoy know the desires of a 2 yo girl's heart??

Now I've saved my best commentary till the end.  I believe that only your mother truly knows the desires of your heart  (the good, the bad and the ugly).  I know that my mother would not want anybody to know this, but we thank her dearly for being the sponsor of our celebration.  You wore her alligator bargain shirt as a tribute, and we know that she was there in spirit.  We thank BOTH of your grandmothers for raising you from a distance.

23 months, including Orlando trip

Ok and now this is a little update on what you're up to leading up to your 2nd birthday.. 2nd!? I can't believe we're talking about this.  I think you are trying to decide between terrible and terrific, but so far you're by far.. TERRIFIC!

You started school.. "school" now Tuesday/Thursday at Becker.  I don't think saying goodbye in the morning is your favourite thing to do, so I've done what every good mother would.. I've asked Nanny Yenely to do it! Yeaaa, problem solved! You now go like a champ!  And most days, mummy gets to pick up up which is a lovely reunion.

So here are your many skills: (this one includes saying "cheeese" whenever you see the phone/camera:

We took a trip to Orlando for mummy's conference and you became proficient at applying sunscreen:

swimming at least twice daily:

Making coffee with Dada:

We went to SeaWorld and enjoyed the Shamu show:

And after all of that fun, you were so glad to get back home, you climbed into the bookshelf with your stuffed animals!

As always you're a star at the Gym:

And here you are with Ms. Ruby at Spanish Class:

Notice anything missing in this picture?

We love you sooo much Maya.. you are a joy!

22 months old including Alaska trip

Welll, how time has flown, little Maya.

You are no longer Baby Maya, you want to be known as "Nina Maya".

You are VERY fun, and VERY verbal.

We have made not one, not two but three trips with you in the last 6 months.

Yes, you guessed it.. starting October 20th, we'll have to pay for your plane seat!

Unfortunately, Mama (as I'm now known) dropped her phone in the toilet and lost all her unsaved photos from a great Boston 40th birthday/Intro to Maya celebration.  I'm working on recovery..

But, we have plenty of photos from.. ta-da-da-da.. our Summer Alaska Extravaganza!

This summer your Gran from Barbados, your Auntie Nicole and our little family went to visit your Alaska Grammy and family.

It was just a really special time.  

Just look at this smile! (This pic taken after a great poop at Matanuska glacier)

We also went to the zoo (above) and saw polar bears, and moose and all sorts of animals that the Houston Zoo would never be able to house.

Of course one highlight for Auntie and Gran was picking wild mountain blueberries:

You had a chance to swing and play with everyone:

This is us at the Matanuska glacier:

and best of all, you got to meet your Alaska family!

Here are Uncle Larry/Auntie Emy. Aunt Michelle/Uncle Cark, and of course Grammy who was soooo happy to spend time with you and was a PERFECT host to all of us!

I just had to end with this pic! :)

Maya's visitors 14 months to 16 months

Dear Maya,

in the last 3 months, we've been very fortunate to have a whole slew of visitors.

Back at the end of 2013, we had Auntie Erika and fam come from Barbados.  Now this was my first time meeting Ethan and Emily and Meagan was just as delightful as always.

This is Auntie Erika, still smiling after twins.. just an amazing person.

Then in February, came Auntie Nicole.
This was so special because it was her first visit where you could really bond with her.  You two read a LOT of books, and generally had a grand old time.

And thennnn, came your very own Grammy!
Oh how you loved to sit and read with her, and take her around and around and around the house.
Somehow we always manage to get shots that show your identical head shapes as well!

Thank you sooo much for visiting everbody!
We really appreciate the love.

Maya on the move - age 14 months to 17 months

Dear Maya,

one wonders how we even got any still shots of you.. you are on the move!

But so charming and so delightful.. especially since you're (finally!) sleeping through the night.

The time has just flown..

We did survive cold and flu season, and finally stopped your activities when we all got gastro.

We are so looking forward to your starting preschool this summer, because you are ready!

Take a look:

This was a day at the zoo.

You are VERY good at climbing and sliding, even very high slides.

The one of you on Dada's shoulders is at the zoo watching the sea lion show.

You are also a very talented giraffe-feeder and goat-brusher.. very passionate about all your assignments

Also on your list of talents is letting Jake out of his cage and, well, replacing him.

Bella, who we still love, moved to a new home of five people who will fight to pet her on their lap, and we know that she is happy there.

Hehe: this is Dada the day Jake came home.. truly love at first sight

This is Jake and Bella enjoying each other's company

 And back to you, Ms. Maya.. just a pose in Maria's hat and your snowsuit.. yes in Houston! This snow suit was a life-saver for letting your play outside in 40 degree evening weather.

And back to your action videos.
Mama and Maya still go to Little Gym class and just look how much progress you've made.
This is one of you doing a forward roll and today in class you did a backward roll.
You still love it, although I think you're getting a little bores of this age group as you're now one of the oldest.  Now you put the shakers back before the song is finished and head for the door when the good-bye song begins!

At your Fundamentally Music class, you just love Ms. BB.  In fact now if I even say her name you just giggle.  

On the homefront, you have wonderful set of friends and great role models for becoming a "big girl". Here are Olivia and Avery teaching you all sorts of Kindergarten skills.

And we went to dinner at Mimi and Emi and your learnt to eat pasta at the big girls table!
With a little extra help from Emeko of course..

Ok and your very artistic Auntie Ady decided to help your engineer-minded parents and got you a super art-board.  Now you can draw with chalk on one side, and on the other side you can draw with markers and play with magnetic animals.  We put this just inside the door to draw you into the house when we get back home and so far works like a charm!

Ok, now action, action action.. these stills below are of you on a neighbours bike and most importantly practicing wearing your helmet!

And here you are at the park with us.. ok you have two crazy parents and we're just curious to see what you grow up to be..

And finally, the record for the longest we've gotten you to wear your helmet!  What would we do without peer pressure?