Dancing and Sledding

I know this blog already has a bunch of videos of Maya dancing, but I think this one is especially adorable. Hyder was playing blues music for her on his guitar and she loved it! In fact, she danced so much that she rocked her high chair from side to side: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT9nNAnxf14.

Today we took advantage of the good weather and the immense amounts of snow to go sledding on a big hill nearby. Maya seemed to have an ok time, but we didn't see as many smiles as the last time we went sledding. Apparently she was quite tired because she fell asleep in the car on the way to lunch afterward. Anyway, the rest of us had a good time!

And here's a video of the sledding: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBhYyHN7XFE.

Brrr That's Cold

Well, it's definitely winter here in New England. Lately it's either ridiculously cold, or snowing. I've posted photos of the snow, so here are some photos of us braving the cold:

Apologies for the poor picture quality; all I had was my BlackBerry. Anyway, the blanket that Maya got from her Ajji is coming in handy - I wrapped her up so tight that all I could see were her eyes! And the second picture shows the thermometer in my car dashboard at ZERO DEGREES. As you all can imagine, getting out of bed in the mornings has been especially difficult. 

In happier news, Maya has decided she can sleep without her binky, and she has decided to drink milk from a sippy cup. My baby is growing up!

Happy Birthday to Mama!

My birthday was a few days ago and I enjoyed a number of presents and celebrations. First, on the day of my birthday, we were treated to another snowstorm in the Northeast. It was my day off so I was hoping to just stay home, but we had to go to a couple doctor's appointments for Maya. Fortunately, the roads were pretty empty so we were able to stay safe. Second, Maya made me a present in her diaper - it was really delightful. ;-)

The celebrations continued through the weekend - Saturday night we dropped Maya off with her canine buddy Jack and her human buddy Aunt Helene. Hyder and I enjoyed some delicious tapas and dessert at a Spanish restaurant called Solea, then we watched a movie (The Black Swan). Somehow, this is the only picture I have from that night:

On Sunday we went out to brunch with our neighbors Marilyn and Ken. As usual, Maya enjoyed herself with all the attention:

 

And to finish off the night, Maya treated me to some poop in the tub! Really, my birthday weekend would not have been complete without that. ;-)

Random Eating and Music-Making

It seems like more teeth for Maya = more fun eating for Maya, as pictured below:

 

I'm just glad she's eating the food that I make for the adults - making more than one meal per night would be tiring! 

In other news, she is still thoroughly enjoying her musical instruments - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeL_u0V7ftg. Thanks to Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Ken for the wonderful gift!

Football with Friends

Well, the sad news is that the Patriots' season is over after their loss to the Jets last night. But at least we got to watch the game with good friends, both human and canine. And of course, the food and drinks were delicious - we can always count on eating well at Helene's!

Maya did celebrate the few Patriots touchdowns in the game:

Meanwhile, Caroline was focused on keeping the dogs from blocking the television or wagging their tails into our drinks:

Dan and Helene were hoping their matching Welker jerseys would bring some luck to the Patriots:

But it was not meant to be. At least Ava and Odin got some quality time together:

And Jack did his best to hoard dog toys:

As they say, there's always next year! Maya ended the night with a mournful performance on Helene's piano: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1-TCHba-cs. I'm not sure yet if that's real musical talent!

Fun in the Snow!

We had a full weekend, including lots of fun with good friends. Saturday we went to visit our friends the Johnsons on their farm - I thoroughly enjoyed staying up late and catching up with Jessica. I can't believe we've known each other for over 15 years! On the other end of the spectrum, Maya got to meet a new friend, Ben. They played together well in the evening: 

And played together again the next morning, when we all went sledding:

Here's a video of Ben pushing Maya, in her sled, down the hill: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEPxBzfUG1U. 

Of course, she loved it - she was all smiles after each run down the hill:

Ben seemed to be enjoying himself too:

After sledding we ate a delicious late breakfast, courtesy of Matthew. Maya took a nap, then got changed into her football outfit to get ready for the Patriots game:

It was a great visit and I am so glad we could spend time with Benjamin, Jessica, Matthew, and Zoie.

Goofing Off with Friends

Last night a few of the guys in our circle of friends got together for a guys' night out, leaving us moms to fend for ourselves with our kids. So, I invited a few of the girls over for a girls' night in at our house. The kids enjoyed goofing off together and dismantling parts of the living room:

I think Zach and Lilia had a good time, and I was glad that Rachel and Sharona made it up our street in their cars without any mishaps! There is still quite a bit of snow and ice on the roads, so driving everywhere takes a bit longer than usual...

Happy Snow Day!

We managed to miss the last snowstorm here in Massachusetts (we were still in Texas), but today we weren't so lucky. This area got all the snow that was forecasted, plus more; by noontime, there was at least a foot of snow at our house and it was still coming down. We both worked from home today - it wasn't worth it to venture out on the roads. Here are a few pictures from earlier today:

 

 

After a couple hours spent shoveling snow and clearing off our cars, I think we'll be ready to get out and go to work tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed!

Even More Dancing

As we all know, Maya is a big fan of dancing, so I usually play dance music during and after dinner. It makes the whole feeding process more entertaining! And we've been loving Pandora on the Tivo for this purpose. Here's a clip of her dancing, with a new head-bobbing move, to a reggae fusion song ("Calabria" by Enur and Natasja Saad): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN--eVU3OwA

Funny Faces and Even More Presents

Like so many other kids, Maya loves making faces. Tonight I got a good picture of her latest face where she shows off all her teeth, like a little monster:

And lucky for her, she had a couple MORE presents waiting for her:

 

 






 Thanks to Aunt Helene for the great books!

Recovering from Vacation

It was so wonderful to spend time with our families over the past couple weeks, but I was a bit worried that Maya wouldn't be able to adjust back to our regular routine when we got back. Fortunately, we've had a smooth recovery from vacation - Maya seems to have gotten back on her usual eating and sleeping schedule.

And of course she's been enjoying her toys; here she's dancing to the LeapFrog Fridge Farm toy that her buddy Ryan got for her birthday - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9noMXG29YzE.

Maya was also lucky enough to find yet another present waiting for her when we got back from vacation. She enjoyed opening it:

And she enjoyed playing with the musical instruments that Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Ken got her for Christmas - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV1TvsNXzKg.

She is one lucky little girl and we are lucky parents!

Adventures in Walking and Dancing

We've finally been able to convince Maya to take a few steps by herself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jnvGx_0ofg.

And of course she has continued to dance her little heart out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uofh0DOHdU and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCrQ4AhQquQ.

Happy New Year!

We had a relatively rockin New Years Eve, compared to some of our friends who are also parents of small children. Maya hung out with us for a little while at a friend's house party, where she wanted to go into their pool:

 

Then she went home with the grandparents while we partied a bit more. We put on our new year's hats and tiaras:

 And we had fun with sparklers:

We had a lot of fun and we were glad to be invited to this party!