Pumpkins

This year was the first that Maya has really participated in pumpkin carving. Last year she wanted nothing to do with it and wouldn't come near the 'guts'. This year she loved it and helped Chris pick out a pattern (A castle, of course), clean out the pumpkin then did her own little pumpkin craft while she waited for him to finish carving it. Owen and I mostly watched and helped Maya with her craft.

Cow or Monkey

As is par for the course, I bought two costumes for Owen. Quite honestly, I probably would have bought two for Maya also had the princess costumes not been so darn expensive. Owen's totaled half of what Maya's cost so I didn't feel so bad. Here is a preview of Owen's first Halloween. By the way, I tend to always buy two. I find good deals and can't pass them up. Last year Maya's back up Christmas dress cost me 1.99 on ebay. Granted, she didn't wear it, ha ha ha, but I always have back ups.

Gary and Gorgeous

My had 'adopted' to skulls. Yes, skulls. We got out our Halloween decorations and for some reason she really loves these skulls we have. She feeds them breakfast, puts them to bed, and even fed them broccoli at dinner the other night. She named one Gary and I named the other George. However, she can't seem to remember George so she tends to call him Gorgeous. A few days ago she was getting dressed and I told her she looked gorgeous! She looked at me and said "no, mommy, gorgeous is downstairs!" BTW, she is making a funny face, LOL.

334-6***

Last night Maya was out in the kitchen with Chris while he was cleaning up our mess from pumpkin carving when she started to repeat some numbers. Chris asked her to say it again....turns out it's our phone number. Chris and I were both cracking up. I have not tried to teach it to her nor had I said it at any point yesterday. So funny!! It made me wonder though. About a week ago I was at Babies' R Us trying to give the sales clerk my phone number for our 'rewards card' and it took her 4 or 5 times to get it right. It makes me wonder if our phone number had been circulating around her head for a week.

Rolling, rolling, rolling

Owen officially rolled over (front to back) today! We were all in Maya's room while I was putting her clean clothes away and Chris was trying to wrangle her in to some PJ's when Chris said "hey, look at Owen" (who was laying on the floor next to my basket). Sure enough a few seconds later her rolled over. Maya yelled "He Did It!!!!!!" I turned him back over and he did it 2 more times. So cute! Maya was just as excited as we were. It's so fun to share those moments with her!

Pumpkins

We went on our yearly trip to the pumpkin patch today but man, oh man, was it CHILLY!!! Maya had so much fun wandering around the pumpkins and the mud in her new boots, all bundled up. Owen snuggled in the carrier and slept on and off most of the day. We had fun picking pumpkins then we at a yummy lunch and checked out the kids play area, rode a kid's cow tractor ride (OK, only Maya did that) then went on a hay ride, played in the play area and even jumped in a whole pit of corn. I had no idea that corn could be so entertaining! We love The Farm!

Carousel

Like many kids, Maya has an obsession with riding the carousel. Our rule of thumb at the zoo is two rides. She was asking about the carousel today so I thought I would look back at a few pics of Miss Maya riding the carousel and even one with Owen's first ride.

Owen is 3 months

Three whole months have cruised by and I can't believe my little guy is 3 months old as of October 18th. He has changed from a skinny, sleepy little guy to one who is watching your every move and waiting for you to make eye contact so he can smile.

• Owen smiles with his eyes before it reaches his mouth.
• He is so happy when his arms are 'freed' from his swaddle.
• If I'm on the phone holding him, he is usually trying to participate too.
• He loves to cuddle and honestly would probably be a great co sleeper if we were down with it.
• Owen has super long eye lashes that are straight like mine, not curly like Maya and Chris' are.
• He gets a super big, sad lip just before he starts to cry.
• His angry cry sounds like 'mmmmmaaaad, mmmmmmadddd' so Maya often mocks him.
  
• He is long, long, long. I need to measure him and fill in that blank.
• Owen was born with light colored hair that hasn't fallen out.
  
• He snorts.
• He used to pee on me all the time; I'm good at timing it now.
• Owen loves taking a bath and gets the counter soaked while kicking water out of his tub.
• Can suck on his thumb fairly well though he prefers his binky.
• Calms and falls asleep very quickly once he's swaddled and has his binky.
• He likes to sleep with his binky pressed up against his cheek. He spits it out just before he falls asleep but he'll often wake if it moves away from his cheek.
• Loves the same John Deere toy Maya loved when she was his age.
• Is swaddled in the same blanket every night that we also used for Maya.
• Eats like a champ.
• He has my super long second toe.
• Owen loves to be carried around and isn't much for being left for too long. He will, however, sit for quite a while in his bouncey seat if you talk and sing to him with Maya.
• He loves watching Maya do just about anything.
• Owen is often called Oie; Oh We Oh, Oooohhh; or Mr Owen Pants. Even Maya calls him these.
• He hates the car; I don't think it's the car seat...I think it's the car and the fact he hasn't figure out how to see Maya yet.
  
• He is our finale and I'm trying to slow down and enjoy his babyhood more. I'm kind of sad to see him already trying to be mobile yet happy to see his big smile when he figures this stuff out.
  

Maya is 2 1/2

My girl is officially 2 1/2 on Saturday so I thought I would create a post all about her.

• Maya insists on 4 songs whenever she goes to sleep : Twinkle, twinkle; ABC's; Row, row, row your boat & Rock a bye Baby....always always
• Maya loves swimming and will jump off the edge, go all the way under water, and 'swim' while kicking and paddling with her arms.
• At meals she insists on dipping her chicken nuggets in syrup. She doesn't like any other condiments.
• She has funny ways of saying things such as 'Moresa' and 'pegaguin'. I'm always sad when she learns to enunciate...I miss 'bat da ba' (Tinkerbell).
• Maya is a princess through and through. She wants to wear a skirt ALL the time. At night she likes to wear nightgowns but insists on putting a skirt on under them. Tonight she even hugged her Dora skirt when she found it in the clean clothes basket.
• We are busy doing all sorts of 'projects' that range from dot painting to pumpkin face decorating. She loves making things to display or mail to people.
  
• She doesn't deal well at all with illness and usually is inconsolable to the point I sit up watching movies with her in bed in order to get her to focus on something else.
• She is almost 39 inches tall and 32 pounds.
• Maya loves doing what Owen is doing; For example, if he's in his bouncy seat in the kitchen, she pulls her princess chair out to the kitchen and covers them both up with blankets and makes sure they each have a toy.
  
• She has figured out there are 'unmonitored' times when I am busy with Owen thus is 'taking advantage' of it. I'm sneaky, however, and can usually catch her before any damage is done.
• Maya loves to walk around with whole fruit and will devour an entire pear, core included, if you don't watch her.
• Loves to dance and sing. She knows quite a few songs and is even starting to make up a few songs of her own.
  
• Maya loves her daddy. I tried to sit by her last night and she said 'no, that's daddy's spot.' Chris was upstairs getting ready for bed and we were all going to snuggle in to watch a movie. I love that she is so connected to her daddy.
• Washing her hands and brushing her teeth are things she loves to do all the time.
  
• She is working on potty training ....still. I love her enthusiasm when she goes and her determination when she doesn't want to sit.
  
• Maya likes to pretend to exercise with me.
• She does a pretty good forward summersault.
• When she is feeling unsure, she always wants to hold hands.
• Every morning she asks where her daddy is.
• Maya would eat pancakes for breakfast every day if they were offered.
• "It's not Scary" always means I'm really scared but I'm trying not to be.
• Maya can put on most of her shoes and jackets by herself but will take 20 minutes to pick out which ones she wants.
• Choice makes her giddy. She says 'I can have that one, that one, that one' with a big grin like it's Christmas.
• She loves birthdays and talking about birthdays.
• Maya has a huge sweet tooth.
• She can count to 20 though 16-20 are a little iffy some days.
• She has been singing her ABC's since she was about 18 months.
• Maya learned the 'I need a drink' trick about a month ago.
• I am in awe of her creativity and enthusiasm to the point that it inspires to me to have more of both.
  

Other Firsts

Owen is trying his hardest to roll over. He lays on his back and kicks himself from side to side. Tonight I thought for sure he was going to get all the way over. His darn arm just wouldn't cooperate though. I think it will be soon!

Was that Owen?

Tonight Maya was being her usual goofy self, swinging her pony tails around to hit herself in the face and suddenly Owen let out the funniest belly laugh. It was my little guy's first laugh. His eyes got big and we all started laughing. He did it two more times, but of course we never caught it on camera. Now comes the time when we will all spend hours trying to make him laugh again!

Remlinger

I keep asking myself why we didn't go to Remlinger Farms earlier in the season. They have so many fun things for kids from kiddie sized rides to jump houses and even a train ride and petting zoo. Maya and Charissa had a great day exploring all the rides and even picking out a few pumpkins from their store. I have to take Maya there when they open again in May. This is one of those things that makes me realize how grown up she is becoming. In August she went on her first ride all by herself at the fair only to make us realize she probably could have done it long ago. At Remlinger she had no qualms about walking on to the ride and having fun without us.

Cheers!

Maya learned how to 'Cheer's cups about a year ago. She now likes to cheers anything involved with eating. The other night she was about to take a bite when she stuck her fork out and said 'Everybody Cheers!' So we did!

What's my face doing?

Maya recently decided to ask questions I'm not so sure how to answer. Sometimes she sees her juice cup and asks 'what's juice doing?'....ummmm sitting, waiting for you to drink it? Yesterday, she looked at me and was shaking her head back and for and asked me "What's my face doing?" She just crack me up sometimes....I just laughed and told her "Your face is looking beautiful!"

Chickasan

We never know if we will be able to keep Maya in her seat for dinner let alone have her actually consume what we are also having for dinner. Tonight, however, I made Chicken Parmesan for dinner and much to my surprise she had eaten her entire bowl before I even had a single bite of mine. Granted, I was busy getting the paper towels and forks I forgot on the counter then turning the oven off, however, she ate it all and the asked for 'more chickasan please.' Love it!! Of course, as is par for the course with Maya it was all over her dress despite the bib BUT at least it all went voluntarily into her tummy.

meow meow needs a time out!

Since she was a baby, we have know that Maya is a sleep talker. I hear her at night (through the wall) say all sorts of stuff and never fully wake up. My mom told me that last time Maya stayed the night with her, she was asking for juice in the middle of the night so my mom rolled over to grab her cup only to turn over and find out Maya was fast asleep. I even heard her demanding someone 'share' in her sleep! Tonight Maya was calling 'Mommy, Mommy' about 20 minutes after I put her in bed, so I went up to see what was going on. She was half sitting up and tells me some gibberish I can't make out. Then she told me "There's trouble in my bed." I tried not to laugh and asked "what?" She then told me "meow meow was in trouble on my bed and needs time out." I couldn't help but laugh a little as I snuggled her back in. She was pretty much asleep by the time I shut her door again. It's totally obvious, however, that we have had some behavior issues around here lately with her half asleep reference to time out. She forgets nothing. I told her tonight as I was tucking her in that we will be making pancakes (her favorite) for breakfast in the morning. I would put money on the fact that it will absolutely be the first thing she says when I go to get her out of bed in the morning.