(more info to come soon, but I've got to stick this here for now)

Mini-break update

Christmas break has come to an end :( It was so nice to have Dave home for a while, and we got a ton of projects done over break . . . so much so that I can only do a mini-update now:

1. We saw Santa:


2. We decorated (and then promptly undecorated so as to get the new furniture in, see #4)


3. We dressed up:


4. We got new couches. The other ones made you lean to the side when you sat on them. Despite our best reconstructive efforts, it was time for them to go. These ones recline . . . our gut reaction was that reclining couches might be a little low class, but our bodies' reaction was that they are fantastic. Here are Dave & Maya on the loveseat: (The loveseat has 2 separate recliners and the couch has two more. If you'd like to come put your feet on you can email me to get on the waiting list.)

You'll just have to wait for more :)

I'm not a performing monkey. Well, not all the time.

I need to take pictures of our Christmas decorations, this is the best time of year :)
For now:

Too cold to swing?! It's never too cold to swing!

She watches a Signing Time video (which is supposed to help teach/reinforce sign language) once a day. Yesterday her gate was open and I think she was worried that I would trap her if she wandered into the gated area. So she watched her video from wayyyy across the living room.



Maya loves her new chair, passed on from cousins Collin & Emerson. She climbs right up, but needs to practice getting down gracefully:

If you are here because you recently got our holiday card---fess up. Did you understand it? We've had a shocking number of people (more than 0) say:

"Oh, your card was cute! It was funny that you put 3 crying pictures . . ."

and then I have to say

"Yeah, because the inside is that song lyric, you know 'it's the most wonderful time of the year' . . . get it? Like she cries all of the other parts of the year except for now?"

(pause)

"OHhhhhh . . . I get it"

Sigh. I thought it was fairly obvious. Maybe next year we'll have to do a test audience. Or include a back that explains the card :) I have to update on Maya's new tricks, but for now here are a few pictures. Oh, and we're getting our tree tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!! December is the best :)


Working hard:



Hardly working:


Just hanging:

Results in!

Surprise! The results came in already, and everything is totally normal---no brain abnormalities!

Hooray :) And Happy Thanksgiving :)

MRI Done

Thanks for all of the thoughts, prayers, and well wishes. The MRI is done, the stuffing is in the oven, and we're looking forward to Thanksgiving :)

We got to the hospital a little before 7:30am, and Maya (who had not eaten or drank since 7:30pm last night) was miraculously not cranky. Dave played with her while I filled out paperwork and then we broke out his laptop and played "Signing Times" (her sign language dvd). She watched it until it was time to go in. Dave took her back while they put her under, and then we went downstairs and read in the cafe for a bit. 40 minutes later we went upstairs just as she was waking up. She whined/cried a little, but was mostly just tired. Drank a bottle, filled out another form, and we were on our way home (a little after 10).

She's been fine, slightly sleepy but really no big deal. The nurses commented that she was very easy---some kids really scream I guess.

So that's it---I'm not expecting to hear anything from the doctor before next week.

MRI tomorrow

I know, I need to update more. Having said that . . . (that's a nod to this week's Curb Your Enthusiasm, if you watched it)

Tomorrow Maya has an MRI in the city in the morning. It's scheduled for 8:30am, requires an hour or two of sedation (with no eating/drinking beforehand, sigh), and is a little stressful. If you remember back to her adenoid surgery, coming out of the anesthesia was rough . . . we're hoping that things will be easier this time around.

Keep us in your thoughts tomorrow. I'll update when we're home.

I'm working on an update, but my time gets stolen away really easily. One week of not updating and there's so much to add that it becomes too big of a job, so I procrastinate and it gets bigger, etc etc. I just uploaded a bunch of pictures, so now I need to sort and organize them and then I can update with pics.

I had Maya's IFSP meeting this week (where we look at her progress and determine her thearpies for the next 6 months). We're increasing everything, so now we'll get PT for 120 mins a week (up from 60), OT for 120 mins (up from 90), Speech & Feeding for 120 mins (up from 60), and we'll get evaluated by a special instructor (who I think will work on things like pointing, reading, clapping, etc). I'm sure she'll qualify for that too. I'm working on the new schedule but it's hard to coordinate the schedules of 3 therapists and us, too. And Maya seems to be switching from 2 naps per day to 1, so I'm not sure how that will factor in as well.

For now, I'll leave you with the best picture that I think I've taken this month. This was at the park----Maya was holding a coin for the piggy bank and I asked her to give it to me (which she did). Then I put the coin in the bank, instead of handing it back to her, and this is what happened:

MOMMY! I can NOT BELIEVE that you just fed my coin to the PIGGY instead of giving it back to ME! I am so MAD! MAD! MAD! MAD! I'm just going to sit here and cry :(

Things I do, 2 awesome updates

My life in pictures:

I'm a great eater of baby foods :) This is one week's worth of jars (M-Sun), plus I eat a lot of yogurt and mashed potatoes! I'm struggling to progress to thicker textures, but we're working on it.

I go to the park! At the park, we do physical therapy-ish exercises, crawl around, climb on stuff, and swing!
My pants get super dirty from crawling around. Everyone else at the playground can walk, so I look ridiculous in my constantly blackened pants. Mommy wonders if people think that she doesn't wash my clothes.I'm figuring out how to climb and chase the big kids!

A few times a week, I go swimming :)

And when I wake up from my nap, I like to turn on the mobile and gather my book, baby, and bunny all together:

I like to sit in my giant egg. Ok, just kidding, these are from a trip to Central Park Zoo that I took with Mom & Grandma. I love the penguins and the petting zoo!





And every day ends with a fun bath with my daddy. He's the best bath giver in the world. Then I get all wrapped up like a little flower.

And . . . . DRUMROLL, please . . . . . . . . . . . .

2 giant milestones this week! On Thursday, I babbled my first consonant babbles. I now say "Mamamamamamama" whenever I'm tired or agitated :) It's super cute and mom & dad are psyched that I'm making more noises.

AND this morning I stood up----all by myself!!! All of a sudden mom & dad looked over and saw this:

I'm getting big & strong :)