Live, Laugh, Love

The BIG One!

After a low key party and a family bash, we headed to one of Maya's favorite places, Gymboree, to celebrate her 1st with her close buddies and ours. Our main goal in having this gathering was for the children to have a memorable experience. Everyone seemed to have a great time and our two instructors were amazing! They led the 20+ kids in a variety of FUN activities that involved parachutes, bubbles, songs, and exciting equipment! 

   

  

 

House Party!

My mom and dad came to visit, so we decided to invite some of our friends and family over for dinner and to celebrate, yet again, Maya's birthday. Mom went all out...she made idli sambhar with chutney and even fried up some YUMMY veggie samosas for appetizers. I baked up another batch of vanilla cupcakes with a fresh strawberry cream cheese icing. Maya enjoyed playing with her cousins and being the center of attention all evening (since that NEVER happens in this household) ;)

Oh, and let's not forget devouring the 2nd cupcake of the week! 

"One"derful Birthday!

Maya turned the BIG 1 today!

Since Chet was working all day, we decided to just have a low key celebration at home. I baked cupcakes and whipped up fresh cream to top them off. I stayed away from the sugary stuff since I didn't want her bouncing off the walls prior to bedtime. Don't worry, she'll get plenty during her 2 other celebrations! ;)

Waiting patiently for the yummy concoction, decked out in her mealtime gear!

Hmmm...what's this? Looks tasty!

Gimme five!  

Always in the mood to share!

 

Even with her 2nd favorite parent

It's hard to believe that a year has passed by so quickly. Our little baby is now a spunky and sweet toddler! I can't wait to see what the next 12 months will bring. 

A Very Merry Christmas!

We traveled to Waco, TX to spend the holidays with Chetan's family. Seeing Maya with her doting grandparents and great grandpa was so sweet. She definitely has them all wrapped around her teensy weensy fingers. Just look at the ham... she's probably thinking, "Muhahahaha!,  I've got them right where I want 'em!"

 

Christmas Eve, we headed over to Chet's uncle's home where we celebrated with a lovely dinner...roasted turkey, stuffing, carrots, potatoes, brussel sprouts, and tons of yummy gravy! Maya indulged herself (as did her mommy) in all the homemade goodness! Watching her play with all of the ornaments on the tree was fun, especially since she didn't try to eat any of them. Her fois even spoiled her with new toys and books! 

Hope your Christmas was as merry as ours!

Santa Train

We decided to support our favorite museum by attending one of their Santa Train rides this season. We bundled up and took Maya aboard the train along with some close friends. It was so much fun! The trail to the train was lit up with christmas and winter decor. Once we boarded, the train whizzed to our 1st stop, the "North Pole", where we met Santa and Mrs. Claus. The older kids told Santa what they wanted for Christmas. Maya happily accepted her candy cane treat from Mrs. Claus and gave Santa a high-five. As we continued on our journey, we even caught a glimpse of Rudolph's bright red nose in the woods. After the train ride was over, we warmed up with yummy hot chocolate and headed home to put the munchkin to bed. We will most certainly do this again next year, as Maya will be old enough to understand and appreciate the experience. For this year, the only thing she appreciated was the sweet taste of peppermint after tearing through the candy cane's plastic wrapper. :)

Maya, meet Santa...

We were invited to our friends' 2nd annual Christmas Cookie Party and Maya was introduced to Santa for the very 1st time. Poor Santa and poor Maya. There must have been over a dozen children there and about 90% of them had the same reaction that Maya did. I'm sure years from now, we'll all laugh about her 1st encounter with the jolly ol' guy. 

Needless to say, when her father, the hero, arrived at the party she cheered up rather quickly and agreed to a family photo op. 

Hope your Santa photo sessions went better than ours did. :) 

More, please...

Guess who just learned how to sign, "More"? 

My lil' shnookums, that's who. 

It's an amazing feeling when your child begins to communicate her needs and wants to you. A couple of months ago, Chetan and I decided to teach Maya a few signs to help her express herself, prior to being able to use verbal language. Signs like "more", "all done", and "thank you" are ones we introduced. For the past two months she would simply observe us using the signs along with the word, over and over again in different situations. 

Her breakthrough moment happened on Monday when I asked her if she wanted more snacks.  She was sitting in her high chair and she brought both of her hands together. I thought it was a fluke at first, but she's been using the sign meaningfully over the past few days. As a mom, I am flooded with emotions. For one, there's a sense of relief that she will now be able to express to me what she needs/wants without either of us getting frustrated, as she makes the connections with more words/signs, of course. More importantly, I am so proud that she has learned what certain things mean and when to use these concepts. I look forward to her new developments as a little learner. 

A child's mind is an amazing thing indeed.

Trip to the museum...

We went to a local museum this weekend with our good friends Jigna & Mahesh and their little girl, Shriya. They had fabulous exhibits including the butterfly conservatory, an outdoor area with farm animals, and an indoor play and learn spot with lots of sensory activities. We didn't get to experience "everything" because it was quite cold, but maybe when the weather warms up, we'll head back to re-live the fun!

Regardless of the frigid temp, the girls had a blast and were difficult to pry away when it was time to leave. Maya pulled the whole, "I'm now going to arch my back, turn all noodley and wobbly, and fake cry" bit, while Shriya could have camped out if we had only taken a sleeping bag. :)

What a blast we all had spending some QT together!

Sponges...

If you've ever been around children, then you know how intensely their little minds work. Maya is like a sponge, soaking up all the information that surrounds her. She's been doing some really neat things lately. For one, she's made the connection that you put phones up to your ears. It's so adorable watching her take our cell and cordless phones and hold them up to her ear, albeit backwards, but at least she "gets" it. 

Chet teases me all the time for singing silly songs to Maya, in even sillier voices. The "Itsy Bitsy Spider" has quickly become a favorite and everytime 99% of the time we sing it, she brings her index fingers together and starts bouncing up and down. I know, so stinkin' cute.

She loves babbling various sounds, like ba-ba, da-da, ma-ma, but she's made a connection with one particular word and its meaning: Nu-nu (a common word that Gujarati babies use for milk). When she wants it, she says the word multiple times. When I ask her if she "wants nu-nu" she makes eye contact with me and giggles, and starts crawling in my direction...QUICKLY. She'll keep repeating it until she gets what she wants. Chetan really gets a kick out of it in the mornings when he gets her from her crib and brings her into our bed. She literally lunges towards me shouting, NU-NU, NU-NU, NU-NU! At least I'm good for something. ;) How I will miss being equated with the yummy, white stuff in a couple of months. Sigh...

She's learning SO much and growing up way too fast. Love, love, love my girl.

Trick or Treat, Piggy Sweet!

Happy Halloween!  She was the cutest lil' piggy! Of course, she would not keep the hood or the hooves on. Maya celebrated her 1st spooky night at Oliver's fun Halloween Bash! All of Chet's fellow Cards Fellows and their spouses got together with the lil' goblins to celebrate. There was plenty of good eats, sweet treats, and adorable costumes. We somehow managed to get a decent group picture, without major meltdowns. What a fun night!