Emily, John and Maya (keeping it real).
Isla, Elliott, and Maya discuss the intricacies of eating Cheerios.
"Where did everyone go?"
"Wow. It's crazy in here"
At the lagoon at Crissy Field. 
Playing in the sand with Coco.
Maya loves Coco.
Nick and Maya having a tea party, Castro style.
Remember the last time they had a pool party. Either the pool is shrinking or these two are a lot bigger. San Francisco heat wave = less clothing = serious belly exploration. Enjoy!
In the more wild and naturalistic 'California' section of the gardens.
Big trees!
Our picnic spot.
Dad and Maya on the very popular stump.
Maya looking at dragonflies.More Easter excitement...
Maya and Egg (photo by Susan).
Maya finds a chick.
Maya and Natalie give Julie some eggs.
Charlotte and Maya (photo by Susan).
Tyler, Julie (36 weeks pregnant), and Natalie (photo by Susan).
Susan and Charlotte.
Maya and Mommy (photo by Susan).
Maya's reaction to the phrase 'quick family photo' (photo by Susan).
Easter is good!
Maya discovers more Easter treats at home.
Maya finds a cute note from Grammy and Papa in a special purple egg.
Maya likes these 'egg hats' knitted by Grammy.
Maya calls the little basket (also knitted by Grammy) her 'egg bag.'
"I've got my bag. See you later!"
Maya just turned 21 months old so we figured it's time for another update. No doctor visit until she's 2, so we don't have any exciting stats. She's definitely healthy and growing.
These days it's hard to keep track of all the new things she's learning and doing. She's definitely a full blown toddler now. She's very busy and comes up with all sorts of interesting ways to occupy her time. She loves to 'help' me do things like putting laundry in the machine, sweeping, or cooking. She also likes to pretend and will feed her dolls and animals or put them to bed. She's very good at becoming boneless when she doesn't want to do something and will get very fixated on the things she does want until you give them to her or find an adequate distraction. There are definitely small tantrums now and again.
She's developed a sense of past, present, and future. She seems to know if we are talking about something we are going to do versus what's currently happening. She will also remember what we did earlier in the day very well. We are always surprised at the strange details she remembers from various locations, people, or events. Occasionally we will ask her what she did today, and she will say the names of the people she saw or some word that evokes a particular experience.
Her language skills are increasing at an amazing pace (at least to us). As we mentioned in an earlier post, she knows the alphabet and some numbers. She says new words every day and her vocabulary is so big we don't really have any idea how many words she knows. Recently, she's been putting together 'sentences' which might go something like 'Mommy car,' 'Daddy bye bye,' 'yellow truck,' 'Where daddy?,' or 'Mommy sit.'
She's still very into books. Here new favorite thing to do is find a picture that's the same as another picture. For example, when a book has a cover image that's also in the book, Maya will always notice it and then will want to flip between the two and say, 'same.' She also seems to have very little problem with abstraction. For example, I recently put out some matchstick slices of cheese on a plate for her in a very loose semi-circular pattern and she looked at it and said 'sun.' She also routinely sees letters in her toast (Picture Maya looking at a piece of toast with a bite out of it and saying 'C').
Her personality is still pretty happy and mellow. Luckily, she hasn't gotten really possessive yet and doesn't have any problem sharing. She's very thoughtful and really seems to put careful consideration into her actions.
Physically, she getting more and more complex and creative with her movements. It's funny to see her experimenting with movements or expressions in front of a mirror. She likes to walk backward and climb down the stairs backward. She really wants to jump, but still hasn't figured out how to get her feet off the ground. She runs around, does bizarre dance moves, and likes to tackle her Mom and Dad. She loves sitting on the big couches and chairs and now refuses to sit on our laps. She has to have her butt right on the chair itself.
Maya's favorite activities these days include pushing her mini-stroller and mini-shopping cart around the house; going to the beach with Coco; playing with Nick and his dog, Elsie; going to her music class; drawing pictures with crayons; blowing bubbles; and getting ice cream at our local Cafe.
We've been experimenting with a little potty training and it started out going well. Maya likes sitting on the potty and we did actually have some success with peeing and pooping in the toilet. Unfortunately, she's developed some anxiety about pooping lately and now refuses to poop. Now she just poops when she's sleeping which is gross and a little weird. We've laid off the training for now and we're hoping Maya will decide it's okay to poop again.
Maya's doing pretty well with the food. Some days she's tricky, other days she's not. She still loves carrots, broccoli, blueberries, and couscous. Lately, however, she's started liking spaghetti, fish, mac and cheese, and anything made out of potatoes. She likes a few restaurants, but her favorite is a sushi place (our little California girl). She loves their gyoza, rice, and cooked fish dishes and she can't get enough of the waitresses there. Last time we were there, when we let her down from her chair she ran up to one of the waitresses and gave her a hug.
Overall, this is a great age. It's fun to see Maya blossom and see her discovering all the details of the world that we frequently take for granted. Her joy wears off on us.
Brighton came over to visit and introduced Maya to the hilarious fart sound...comic genius.
We've uploaded all of the blog photos for "18-20 Months" to Kodak Gallery.
Maya Photos, 18 through 20 months
It was an ordinary day until I walked into the living room and discovered this...
Maya found a new place to store her baby.
On April 3rd, Maya lost her great grandma, Josie. Daddy was lucky to have his grandma and grandpa in the same town he grew up. Grandma Josie and Grandpa Joe showered their grandchildren and great grandchildren with love. Maya was able to meet her great grandma just a couple months ago, and they shared some very special moments together.
We will all miss her wonderful, caring spirit.
Here are some photos of Josie through the years, surrounded by the people who loved her.
Grandma Josie, Todd and Shelly on Grandpa Joe's lap, and Boyd in the backyard in Homewood
Josie, Shelly, Todd, Boyd and Joe at Disneyworld in 1980
Sisters Nora and Josie, 1920
Sisters Nora and Josie in the early 1920's at Belle Isle, just outside of Detroit
Nancy, Josie and Norman, mid 1950's
Sisters Martha and Josie in the late 1960's
Josie, Joe and Nancy, late 1960's
Josie in the Homewood house, late 1990's
Josie and Iraj in Venice, Florida, December 2008
