Waffle Breakfast

Maya loves when we get to have waffles with her friend, Riley.  It's even more fun when dressed up as firefighters.

Can you guess how old they are?

Cheetah

Maya has decided that Cheetahs are amazing.  She talks about them all the time and wants to be one for Halloween.  Here love has also been translated into her art...

Cheetah in Africa.

"More Giggles With Dexter" video

Laughing babies are funny...

Dexter's First Haircut

Dexter has a surprising amount of blond hair.  Momma decided he needed a little haircut to clean up around his ears and get rid of some of the really long wispy hairs.  Like Maya, Dexter was not very excited about this event.  These pictures are a bit staged as Dexter spent the haircut in my lap, but tears were present throughout.  

 "I think that this woman..."

"...is trying to destroy me."

Cookin' With Dad

Maya tests out her new cooking gear from Grammy with Daddy.

Yes everyone, that is an egg.  Jealous?

Maya at 5 Years




Here are the current stats:


Weight: 40lbs (50th percentile).

Height: 42.5 inches (50th percentile).

In the last few months, Maya has blossomed into a full fledged kid.  She's stretched out and lost her baby face.  She seems very comfortable in the world as she understands it.

It's been interesting watching her become the oldest in her pre-school helping the younger kids and the teachers.  She is now much more content to get engaged in activities on her own and do them for long periods of time.  She is also much more patient and collaborative with other kids instead of always wanting to direct everyone.  She has become very good friends with our neighbor's daughter and a few of the kids from her pre-school.

She remembers everything and picks up on what is going on around her very quickly.  She is really understanding humor and is making up jokes that are actually funny.  She is great at communicating and has begun to really understand abstract social concepts like being polite. For much of the time that Maya was 4, she was somewhat outgoing and would talk to people she knew but cling on my leg sometimes around new faces.  Now, she has entered her talk show phase.  She will talk to anyone about anything.  We have to stop her from yelling out our front window to passers by to tell them what exciting thing she did that day.

Her very favorite person in the world is Dexter.  She loves her brother and wants to show him off to everyone.  She is a great babysitter and baby entertainer.  We never thought that she would be so engaged with her brother at this age.  It's really fun to see them bonding.

Maya is starting to take more of an interest in reading, but we still haven't moved beyond her being able to spell a few choice words.  She love writing letters frequently sends Mommy "notes" from school.  The area with the biggest development has been with her art.  She is now drawing lots of figures, places, animals, and rainbows.  She likes to draw stories.  She has also become fascinated with comic books.  We've found some cool comics for kids that she loves.  She is also loving having chapter books read to her.  She is also becoming a savvy film watcher.  She has a small hand-selected library of movies that she's watched (some of them many times).  She's really starting to understand the complexities of the stories and asks lots of questions about them.  She doesn't scare easily and seems to be attracted to the darker scenes.

Maya loves playing outside, taking walks, riding her scooter, and sometimes riding her bike.  She enjoys going in swimming pools, but she still doesn't know how to swim.  She's becoming fascinated by different sports and has become much more coordinated. Right now she is particularly interested in Kung Fu, Ballet, and Soccer.  She loves special outings, but she also has a great time doing simple tasks like helping Dad take out the trash or watering plants.

Maya is our wonderful little buddy.  We are really enjoying this chapter.  Happy 5th Birthday!

Maya's 5th Birthday Party

This year, Maya's party was on her actual birthday.  We had a fun time with Maya's good friends and a magician!!

Party time! 

Maya with her friend, Ruby, from her pre-school and Brighton photo-bombing behind them.  

Magic show! 

The kids were entranced.

Maya helps with a rope trick. 

Brighton and Nick enjoying the show. 

This time the obligatory piñata is a bumblebee. 

Miraculously, there were no bat injuries.  Except to the bee who, I must sadly report, did not survive the festivities. 

Time for treats. 

Laura, Chris, Nick and little Teddy... 

...and Riley and Laura wish Maya a Happy Birthday!!

'Birthday Cape' video

This is how Maya started her 5th birthday....

4th of July Parade

On the 4th, we went to Alameda to see their local parade and hang with the Gordon clan.  Fun!

 Kai, Malia, and Maya check out parade excitement.

Malia and Maya get patriotic.

Look, horses!

Dexter gets wild at the post-parade party.

Fireworks!!

Every night during the Marin County Fair, there is a fireworks display.  We decided to get a babysitter and take Maya on a special night out to see the fireworks on July 3rd.  It was a really fun night with our little girl.

Our view for the display.

Us #1.

Us #2.

Us #3.

Fireworks!

Snaggletooth

Dexter's first tooth officially broke through the gumline today.  Our little guy been extra drooly and moody over the last few days and now we can legitimately say it was due to teething. One down...only nineteen more to go.  We love you, snaggletooth!