4 Peas: April 2008

Sunday, April 20, 2008

First Train Ride

We ended our wonderful trip to Scottsdale with Maya's first train ride. We celebrated our last sunny afternoon at Railroad Park and rode the train with Maya twice. We're not sure if she had more fun riding it, or watching it though!
Our weekend getaway to Scottsdale was filled with fun family time, sun, heat, lots of Maya firsts, swimming, great Mexican food and beautiful scenery - definitely successful!

Maya sees her shadow

She got a kick out of watching her shadow. The whole shadow thing was new to her considering the amount of sunlight she has experienced over the past 9 months!
It was so cute to watch her stare at it - she was mesmerized!

Desert Blooms

Spring in the desert - surprising blooms dotted the landscape. The quirky purple prickly pear cactus sporting its yellow blooms were my favorite. But the red and orange flowers really grab your attention against the mostly brown backdrop. The nights were cool and clear, the days perfectly hot and dry. It was sublime!

The sun is calling

Just like her mommy, Maya just loved that sun - so much that she kept trying to escape the hotel room to get a little more of it!

Gelato!

Maya is definitely a girl of the '00's. Her first cold frozen treat: banana gelato.
We found a great little gelato spot and visited it every day - she looked a little scared of her first bite due to the cold, but it was not long before she was bouncing up and down reaching for the little flourescent gelato spoon. By the third day, just the sight of a gelato spoon was making her bounce! She is still a banana girl, but it seemed like apricot gelato was her favorite!

THE Dress

Vacation was the perfect time for Maya to wear this very special dress for the first time. This is the dress that Drew picked out for her at Gymboree on the day that we found out we were having a girl (of course it sports safari animals on the front of it.) He was so excited that he didn't even look at the price!
This little dress hung in Maya's closet from that day and we both imagined her walking around in it someday. It's hard to believe that day is already here and she couldn't have looked cuter in her special Daddy dress.

Playing in the sun

One of Maya's favorite pastimes is playing with Mommy's water bottles. What a treat to be able to do this poolside in the hot Arizona sun!

First Swim!

One of the best parts about the trip was taking Maya in the pool for the very first time! She loved every minute of being in the pool and did not even have to warm up to it. We were all so excited to be in hot sunny weather that we did not care one bit about our built in sun block - our reflective pale skin.
I love this picture of Drew and Maya - not hard to tell they are related! But, since I am posting a picture of him in his Washington winter coat, I thought it only fair to throw one of me in there too.

Arizona!

Maya could not stand the constant gray and gloom of the endless rainy season, so Daddy planned a last minute trip to Arizona. Ok, maybe I'm projecting...really it was I who desperately needed to get away to a sunny place. The desert just might be my favorite place to experience spring - everything was in bloom, the weather was perfect and we all got a decadent little taste of that bright round yellow thing in the sky that we often forget exists this time of year!
Maya took to the sun like a fish to water and cooed and ba-ba-ba'd her way through the Valley of the Sun. She was a great little traveler as she slept the entire plane ride both directions and even slept in the crib in the hotel room. Yes, I said crib! After weeks and weeks of crib "training", Maya has graduated from swing sleeping to crib sleeping. We're still working on sleeping through the night, but the crib is a step in the right direction :)

Bye Bye Memaw

Memaw's last morning brought Maya snuggles and tough goodbyes. It was a wonderful visit, just flew by too quickly as always.

Tulip Fun

Pink isn't the only color that makes Memaw and Maya happy!

Daddy in pink

It hasn't taken Drew long to get used to being surrounded by pink!

It's A Girl Thing!

3 generations of pink!

Tulips!

One of our favorite things about living in Washington - the Tulip Festival! This was Memaw and Maya's first venture up north to La Conner, where the tulips bloom like nowhere else on earth every April. They are late this year, after a late March snow and continued cold weather, but a few fields bloomed in honor of Memaw's visit. Even after 5 years here, I am in awe at the incredible colors and their stark contrast to the gray, gloomy northwest spring.

New favorite toy

It only took a few seconds for this new toy from Memaw to become Maya's new favorite! She giggles and bounces at the songs played when she hits the monkey button. This was her first time playing outside in the yard and her first attempt at crawling in the grass, which she did not like at all!

Our bench

Our special bench where Drew and I sat giddy with excitement at the idea of our baby. Now we sit, filled with more joy than we could have ever imagined or hoped for, as the proud and happy parents of Maya Renee.

Possibilities

I hope that Maya will see more possibilities than problems in her world. I may not always be able to hold her hand to help her stand up like I can now, but I hope that I will be able to help her stand upright through the tough times in some way.

Memaw always brings the nice weather, so we were blessed with a pleasant day, by April-in-Washington standards. We spent the day in Tacoma - lunch at Masa, a walk on Owen's beach at Point Defiance, and a walk on the Tacoma waterfront. For Maya, spending time outside with Memaw is a doubly delightful - two of her favorite things to do!

Memaw!

April showers bring something way better than May flowers - a visit from Memaw! No stranger anxiety for Memaw from Maya - she cuddled right up to her immediately. She loved when Memaw held her to read, play and rock her to sleep. Not one to sit still, Maya is so mesmerized by books that she will sit through one story after another. She turns the pages of Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? by herself and giggles away at our best imitations of animal sounds.

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Happy Easter!

Mommy and Maya on Easter Sunday. It's so fun to hold Maya's hands and help her walk!

First Easter

Maya looked so cute in her special dress on her very first Easter Sunday. Of course, it was cold and rainy outside so this is the best we could do for a springy Easter picture! She wasn't really sure about this daffodil though. We spent her first Easter with Andrew, Rich and Jess and their family from CO and Maya had fun being social.

All dressed up!

What a pretty girl !

Another gorgeous smile!

Freedom to choose

Mobility=freedom to choose my own toys!

Playmate

Daddy wants Maya to stay away from boys, but she has a lot of fun playing with Andrew.

Watch out!

Her favorite toys are the most unexpected ones, like this dowel rod (so much for our security system for the sliding glass doors). Watch out when Maya gets a hold of this!

Drinking like a big girl

Another favorite pastime is drinking water out of Daddy's glass. She just can't wait to be all grown up!

Favorite book

This is Maya's favorite book - the Old MacDonald Had a Farm pop-up book. Mommy sings it to her every morning and she flaps her arms and giggles away. She's given the book lots of Maya love - she recently ate the pop-up tractor.

Sleeping in the crib - a miracle!

After months and months of only sleeping in the swing, Maya finally fell asleep in the crib! A big moment!
We have broken 3 swings due to overusing the motors, driving many many miles to give her naps in the car and wondering if she would be 5 years old and sleeping in a swing, we see the light!

4 Peas