Special Moments

August 12th
Ms. Anju Roy, Director of the Society for the Rehabilitation of Children in Kolkata, India {- aka - the orphanage where Maya spent her first 9 months} - visits Maya at our home! Anju was in the USA for Dillon International's India Camp, and happened to make a stop to visit a friend of hers in a city close to us before heading back to India.
We are sure that Maya recognized Anju - especially after Anju spoke to her in Bengali for a few moments, using her orphanage name 'Ruprekha'. Truly a special day!




Friday, August 25th
Maya pulls herself up for the first (2nd, 3rd, ... 30th..) time!
Maya also uttered a first word on this day! Well, she has been saying 'Da Da' all the time recently, so other than that.. Her LeapFrog Learning Table said 'Bye Bye', and she repeated it EXACTLY - including the sing-song tone.
Ahh.. a very proud mommy day! Unfortunately daddy was still traveling home, so he missed it. Luckily I was able to catch her first 'pull-up' on videotape. Whoohoo!





Ah! NOW I understand the lead paint issues! And to think back on how many times I have required tenants to sign the 'Lead Paint Disclosure' forms, and laughingly told them to just 'please don't lick the walls'.







A new use for the exer-saucer!

Well, finally today, we found the source of Maya's recent crabbiness and sleepless nights. We knew she must be cutting a tooth, but we could not see or feel anything coming through. Today she finally cut a teeny portion of a top lateral incisor!! What amuses me endlessly is that by Halloween, it should nicely resemble a fang!! For all of you who know how much I enjoy this upcoming holiday (don't be frightened - I'm sure my obsession {and expensive dental issues} can be traced back to the immense sugary joys of trick-or-treating!!) - it is quite appropriate. 2 teeth on the bottom and a top fang. Fabulous!!
For those of you who are family and local friends - here or in my hometown: Maya's first birthday is quickly approaching! We will be holding a party for her out west on her actual birthday (a Saturday - bonus!), and another party in Indiana on October 14th. If you are family and thinking about traveling out to join us - we will be sending you an invite to the 10/14 party. Please start planning now - Maya would love to see everyone!!!

Photos! Photos! Photos!

It seems that my photo uploading issues were related to my browser. Sooo.. here they are! A few photos from our first photo shoot. Poor baby.. having a mom who is a professional photographer must be annoying!
Having a captive subject who is so adorable is very fun for mom though!


For all of our family members out there who are anxiously awaiting copies of the photos taken when you visited - that is my next priority! Should be done today or tomorrow. No nanny today, so it is dependent on this wild little monster who doesn't like to nap!



Looking innocent, but on the prowl for non-baby-proofed cabinets!!

Yes, We Are Still Alive...

Ok - Seems to be an issue with Blogger tonite, and I am not able to upload any photos. I've been trying for 30 minutes! I give up. Will try again tomorrow. Stay tuned!
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Wow - time definately flies by when you are taking care of a baby, working 2 part-time jobs, and trying to manage your life while your husband travels 4 days/week!!

Yes, we are still alive over here, and doing great! Just busy. Priorities have shifted, and blog updates fell to the bottom of the list (just below 'paying bills' and just above 'handling tenant complaints' HAHA!...oh wait, do I have any tenants reading this? ...scratch that last comment...). But happy news - we have hired a part-time nanny, and this was her first week! YAYAYAYAYAY! After only 1 1/2 days of her working, things seem to have already fallen back into place. My house is super-clean (Maya naps for 2 hours in the mornings and she cleans during this time!), my pile of paperwork is down from 2' to 2", I'm no longer bleary-eyed by 7 pm, and best of all - Maya loves her!

Sooo - updates from the past 6 (!! can it really be 6 ?? No wonder I am getting so many complaints!!) weeks of blog-free living:

* Maya is AMAZING! We love her more every day, if that is in any way possible. She has attached very well to us, and us to her, and it is difficult to remember life before she was home with us!

* She is very healthy. Still too small and we are trying to bulk her up, but no major health issues. We had a slight scare when several of her first tests came back abnormal - but the 2nd round proved that there are no issues. Must have been travel trauma, etc.

* Have I mentioned that she crawls? Ok that is an understatement. She is FAST! Turn around for 2 seconds and she disappears. Thus the bleary-eyes and total exhaustion every day! We still need to work on baby-proofing. Every time I think we are caught up, she finds something new! And to think that she could be walking soon... ACK!

* She is not yet pulling herself up - though she did do it once. She will stand and take small steps if you pull her up and hold her hands. Still quite shaky though.

* We started Gymboree last week. I can see how behind she is in motor skills and some language skills. Hopefully she will become more adventurous and we can take advantage of what Gymboree has to offer. She seems to enjoy sitting on the mat with her thumb in her mouth while the other moms tell her how cute she is. :) She does love the parachute games... and she did try to claw out another baby's eye the other day. She's coming along!

So that is my update for today. I know that I have more to say, and probably could be much more interesting.. but it is 10:45 pm and I'm dead. The day began at 5 am, and I think I'm ready for it to end.
I did finally finish the baby announcements, and will be mailing one to all of you that are on my mailing list. I'll post the electronic version on the blog at a later date.

Watch for photos tomorrow.