Maya's first birthday

Dear Maya,

one of a mother's proudest moments has to be the first birthday.

You as an individual made it, and we as a family made it.

We had your whole "village" over for a pizza and samosa party, and you had the time of your life.

I think over 50 people came out to wish you the very best in life.

Here are some of the captured moments.

Special thanks to Uncle Hayden for the party pics.. and for bringing the turnovers!

Auntie Keitha handmade all of your decorations, and Auntie Ady came to help us hang them.

Nanny Maria made the cupcakes and the purple smash cake in the background.. and no, you did not smash the cake.. at least partly because you had diarrhea going into the party.

In addition to all of the decor, Auntie Keitha made the cake on the left with the candle, which you'll see closer-up shortly.

Dada rounding up people for the cutting of the cake.

The lighting of the candle:

Smiles before your many helpers blow out the candle.

The best part of the presents is the wrapping!

Auntie Achilia sure has great blue pants!

Loving the presents the next day:

From Auntie Nicole all the way from Haiti:

Planting your birthday plants from Auntie Janet:

11 months - Vancouver trip

Dear Maya,

we not only survived Vancouver, but we had a great time.
You behaved so well on both flights and weathered the rain with us EVERY day, with your great smile.. definitely ready to be a Larrier-Turner.

On this visit, we went to the Aquarium, we found a community centre with playtime for tots, we went in some pretty heavy rain to see the Capilano bridge and river, and we ate a lot of room service food! We discovered that you like buttered toast and Cheerios. We saw at least 3-4 new teeth coming in when we paid a surprise visit to the dentist.  Your favourite words were "Abudabi" and "Pollo-pollo-pollo-pollo".


Arriving at YVR airport at 11pm Houston time, sporting one of Yazzie's onesies (a recurring theme in these pics) .

At our visit to the Aquarium, just after the Dolphin Show.

At the nearby Community Centre with toys that reminded you of home.  You made LOTS of friends here (despite showing up in your pjs).

The gorgeous view from room 1785 at the Westin.

Enjoying the hotel lobby with Daddy

Sporting Grandma Turner's rain gear at the Capilano Suspension bridge:

Warming up in the gift shop afterwards; making good use of Auntie Onica's backpack carrier.

How we kept Westin Room Service in business:

A funny video:

11 months old - Gran's visit with family photos

Dear Maya,

Well as you know from the last post, Gran came to visit.
While she was here, we took the opportunity to have some family photos taken, and here they are; they really speak for themselves, but you know I have to throw in my 2 cents worth.

By the way, since I last blogged, you had Roseola virus (3 days of high fever followed by a rash) which started when we were in Galveston for Daddy's triathlon.  As you recovered from that, we flew to Vancouver (mummy had a conference there) and spent a wonderful 5 days together.  While there you fell off the bed, bled about 1 tsp from your mouth, and seemed ok, but just to be safe we went to the dentist there and saw that in addition to the nine teeth we knew about, you had at least 3-4 more budding..ouch!  You are such a trooper, and definitely ready to be part of the Larrier-Turner family.

Three generations:

I don't know whose idea it was to sit on a bridge, but you people better not let me go;

Right on, Gran!

Just chillin with my walker and showing off my dress (compliments of Auntie Jenni):

Maya? Who's Maya?:

Oh yes, how could we forget this cuteness:

 Saving my favourite for last; my two lovebirds:

10.5 months old

Dear Maya,

This is how you greet the world EVERY day:

when you wake up in the morning and we open the blinds, this is your exact face.  Yes, you are truly excited to be alive.  I still remember when you were colicky and one night I promised you that things would get better.  I think you now agree, and I'm going to try to remember this face when you're a teenager.


Auntie Nicole came to visit us by surprise one weekend recently.  We didn't get any pictures of you together which made me resolve to do a better job with pictures, and so we've tried to be better since then.  These are some roses that she brought for us from her very own garden in North Carolina.

So lots of people as us how we're doing with the dogs.  You and Jake are fast friends, and you even know how to..very deliberately.. open his cage. Bella is having a harder time, to the point that Mummy (and Daddy's coming around) would like to find a new home for Bella.  She really misses her lap time and doesn't particularly like to be swatted by a baby.  It is strange though to think that you may grow up without knowing Bella.  We promise to find her a very loving home.

Daddy took you to a neighbourhood party and reported to me that you ate "a lot of watermelon".. good thing we have neighbours who send mummy pictures even when she's at work.

And yes, you are such a Daddy's girl.  Sometimes.. with the stress on "some", I feel bad for daddy because you won't let him out of your sight.  But this is a very special bond, which I'm sure will continue to grow over the years.

So this summer, quite a few visitors came to town.  These are friends from Barbados, Kayla and Megan who loved playing with you.

And our most important visitor..ta-da!! Gran came to town.
Gran is here today
Gran is here today.
We're so glad that Gran is here, let's all shout Hooray.. Hoooray!
We can sing this for two more days and then we'll have to say, until November.
I did try to capture a few of your moments together, even though there could never be enough pictures that capture how special it is to see you two together.
You were merciful, and broke gran in slowly..

You took her to all of your activities, including the Children's museum:

High tea with Gran at the museum:

Bargaining with Gran for La Senorita.  Do you notice how blurry you are in many pictures.. you are a fast mover and shaker.  You and La Senorita have a very special relationship, which you'll see in the video below.

Some other activities:

Swinging in the park:

Sliding and making friends in the park:

Riding bicycles with Daddy:
(although you can't go very far until you let us put on your helmet!)

Playing in the fountains at Discovery Green:

You were in heaven.  One passerby commented to me "She has no fear!"

Playing at Little Gym class:
(Mummy is so lucky to have Monday mornings off to take you to gym class)

In this one the teacher said you were multi-tasking which is a gentle reminder that you still needed your pacifier towards the end of class.

On the homefront you've had some very exciting additions to your toy collection:
This puzzle came all the way from Gran in Alaska.  She is a mastermind at choosing presents for you, and struck gold yet again:

Here's one of your favourtie outdoor toys, and I have to capture a video of you walking with this because you can go a good few ?15 steps with this all by yourself.  We have to put you in long pants and shoes outsides though because you insist on crawling and walking on the concrete.

This past week, I had a week of vacation to spend with you and Gran, and it was great.  We spent our mornings doing activities with you, and then took some hours in the afternoon to go out and shop or .. well, shop :)  We also worked on sleep training.. oww, you are a tough cookie, but can now take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour to put yourself to sleep.  Sometimes you cry a little at the end, but mummy stays with you and gives you encouragement if you need it, until you are asleep.  You also get a little rice cereal and yogurt at 6pm to try to help you settle.  You are now sleeping much better at nights, and we have our fingers crossed that this will last.

9 months old! Where is the time going?

Dear Maya,

Happy 9 months!
I took two days vacation to try to catch up with where life is taking you, and to share a little of how nicely you're growing.
This first picture is from a party just this past weekend at Auntie Jennis/Uncle Foddy (Scottie).  You're actually sporting a dress that they gave you as a present a little while ago.  Mummy was just proud to match your cloth diaper with the sleeves.  You stayed with Neighbour Leyla for about 15 minutes all by yourself!

Around the same time Aunt Jenni gave you the dress above, she gave Lily the tutu below, and they had to put it on your to convince Lily to wear it.

Here you are with all of your neighbourhood cronies: Logan, Emi, Mimi, and Lily.

So big news, you are now able to ride in the jogging stroller.  Mummy has taken you out two Sundays now.. now I didn't say we jogged.. although we did, just not all the way.. and with lots of stops.

You now like to sit up in the trolley at none other than Target.

Just yesterday we visited Bellaire Library and found a very nice story time group for you.  You were very busy playing and greeting all the other children.

Then we went to your 9 month appt, where we found that you are growing very nicely.  No shots (yea!) but you did have an Iron and Lead level check and these were both normal.

Today, now we visited The Little Gym and you were so happy and even did a summersault.
We took Maria too, and she danced with you, and rescued the other children as you are very friendly and social.

And last but not least, here is the new decor in our living room.  We have created a safe zone for you to climb and fall at your leisure.

Maya you are just doing amazingly well.  We are also hoping that you sleep through the night at some point.  Ok, I just had to throw that in :)

8 months old.. or so.. this is a recap because life is busy around here!

Dear Maya,

This is a retrospective summary of probably your 7th and 8th month of life.  Boy have we been busy, mostly trying to keep up with you.

As I lie here on the couch with Daddy.. something I haven't done in what seems like eons.. we're saying that it feels like the big financial life changes that came with you arrival are winding down.

I almost wish I had the following list before having you, and so I'm recording it for posterity.

We started with the garage appt- not just a place for family and friends to visit you (although they say us), but also under which is now a child's paradise.

Then we hired Nanny and BFF Maria.

Then we started your college fund.

Then we go life insurance.

Oh, and very important, a very quiet diswasher.

Then, and this is just the day before yesterday.. a second car, the Mazda 5.

And then today, car insurance.

Whew-weee, you're quite an investment.

You're so worth it Maya, and here's what you've been up to.

We outfitted your room, and the bookshelf on the left is now full of books that Mimi and Emi donated to you.  Right now you loooove to pull them off the shelves, ok and read them too.  The blur in the second picture is your head enjoying story time with Daddy.  The book is Owl Babies.

This is one of your faaavourite books that we read at least once a day. It's from Auntie Nicole and it's called.. as you might guess by the holes.. The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

And you learnt to crawl.  You are so fast, we have to be very careful.  The first and the second video are about a month apart.

Surprise-Surprise! Your Boston Nana, Mrs Burns, came to visit you and we had a fun time eating at Black Walnut with the whole Burns clan.

Now it has gotten as hot as 106 degrees here (over 40 Celcius) and so we've had to be creative and beat the summer heat.  We go eveeeery weekend to the Bellaire pool, and boy do you have a ball.

And I want you to remember your very first Father's Day.  We took Daddy out for a delicious.. low salt.. lunch at Ruggles Bakery.