Pics from break

Birthday dinner:

Central Park Zoo:

Dave: "Cheese!"

Maya: "Forget the picture, Daddy, there's a giant bird next to me!"

Bronx Zoo:

Leaving the zoo is the saddest part of the day :(

Dancing Queen :)

Maya gets her groove on at music class:

This does not bode well for the teenage years . . .

What can I say . . . the girl loves the telephone :)

This was a new development today . . . I think the video speaks for itself. (I was using our landline to call my cell phone, which is why you hear beeping)

Clearly, the second half (1:28-end) is the most amusing :)

This week was Dave's February vacation, which has been really nice :) As usual, we did a million projects (requiring a few trips to Target---first to buy, then to return, then to buy), ran errands, and had general fun. More pictures will be coming as I upload them from the camera.

In no particular order,we:
-went to 2 zoos (Central Park & Bronx)
-had 2 doctor appointments (both for Maya)
-had 1 dentist appointment (for me)
-celebrated at my belated birthday dinner (while my parents babysat)
-cleaned out and re-organized a closet
-visited in NJ with my parents, sister & Maya's cousins, Collin & Emerson
-had a normal therapy load
-met our new Special Instructor . . . Maya's going to be seeing her 3 times a week now


Also,

-Dave recovered from being sick
-I freecycled (What's that? You don't know Freecycle?)a bunch of stuff

-We have 9 rats now . . . mwah ha ha (evil laughter aside, it's just the circle of life)

Here are some NJ pics. The kids got along fabulously, although Maya was mostly silent. She's definitely a watcher . . . taking it all in and laughing.

First they examined her, like when you add a new monkey to a cage:

Yes, we like her!

Maya tries Dave's famous "I've got something to show you---no I don't!" (jk, but it looks like it!) I'm on standby to make sure she doesn't try to pull hair.

Emerson attempts to kidnap Maya from Aunt Lisa

"Well, if I can't hold her, I can ride her!"

Sharing the barn :)

Tubes & books

1. We had an ENT appointment Monday. Poor Maya has another ear infection developing, which sealed the deal for tubes. She'll be getting them on March 16th, or earlier if there's a cancellation. Based on the doctor appointments we've had we can definitely say she's had fluid in her ears for at least the past month, but since she had an ear infection in November and one in December it could be much longer. Maybe the surgery will help her hearing (fingers crossed). We're not super psyched about another surgery day, but this is supposed to be an easier procedure and recovery that the adenoids were. You can find more info here about ear tube surgery.

Playing in the waiting room:


Chilling at Blockhead's on Valentine's Day (note the heart shirt, and Dave's stylish tie):

2. I've rejoined the website Paperback Swap. If you like to read, but have gathered enough books and want to clear some out, this site is great. For every book that you mail out to someone, you get a credit and can request a new book. I have had the recent urge to get rid of all of the "stuff" in the apartment, and I like amassing credits so that when I want a new book I can get one for free!

PS. Oh, and the rats are huge and live in a double decker:

The least fun snow day in all the land

As I'm typing, I'm watching the swirly snow coming down outside the window---I can see a handful of kids with some grown up making a big snow creature on the rooftop playground across the street. I had big plans for today! If you know me, you know that I love Love LOVE snow :)

So yesterday Maya and I checked the cabinets, went to the store and made sure that we had all of the fun stuff necessary for a snow day--hot chocolate, waffle mix, strawberries, and heavy cream (for whipped cream). Yum, yum, yum. We would have a big waffle brunch, play in the snow, maybe take a nice nap, and then play in the snow some more.

I woke up, ready to go. Maya woke up, cranky, clingy and sad. And Dave woke up, and threw up (over and over). Sigh.

Poor Dave is really sick. Maya and I went out for a walk, which was the only time today that she wasn't crying (she might be getting sick too).

(that's Maya in the stroller, watching a pigeon party)

When we got home, I made her lunch and my breakfast. I was so excited to enjoy my waffle. I feel the need to state, for the record, that I've made waffles many times before . . . but it seemed exactly right that today my waffle came out like this:

(PS-I still ate it)

Progress is what happens when you're busy not paying attention

The past week has been great. Maya's made all sorts of progress---suddenly, as these things tend to happen. What I mean by "suddenly" is that we plug away, doing things everyday that seem to make no difference (like standing her to play, or putting food on her tray even though she won't touch it) and then *suddenly, amazingly* one day she just does something new (like standing up on Friday).

In the past weekish, here is the progress she's made:
-(PT) She's pulling to stand, playing while standing up, and learning how to get back down again.
-(OT): She's gotten good at putting coins into her piggy bank toy, and today started to pick up food to feed herself:


-(Feeding): At each meal, she has some "real" food that I blend in the baby food processor in addition to the baby food (at least 1/3 of her meal). She also is eating Gerber puffs---they used to have to be broken into 6 pieces per puff, not we're down to only 3 pieces per puff.
-(Speech): She's babbling a lot more :)

And she has some things to say:

Oh, it's embarassing when they put me in shopping bags:

Walking at the mall:

Mommy, this is NOT the zoo! This is just a stupid pet store! Honestly . . .

Aunt Lisa, Uncle Jay, Collin & Emerson got Maya this little barn for Christmas . . . it's like crack to her. For whatever reason, she goes freaking crazy for it. Take today, for example:



Do NOT take my barn again. I'll be watching you.

We fought a brave battle against the acquisition of giant inflatable toys . . . but we've lost the war. Maya's OT (occupational therapist) brought over a big pool/bouncer thing, which I finished inflating this morning:

Hey, mom, I can stand in this!


It's dual purpose---we can put her in there with her rice bin, because she enjoys picking up and throwing the rice more than digging in it. Also, it can be filled with balls & beanbags so that she can "feel her body in space" (that's therapy talk for roll around in it). :)

And here are the furry, eyes-open, hopping-around, 9-pack of rat pups: