Soon To Be Retired...

Soon we will have to add another name to our outgoing phone message. Here's Maya with the current message that we recorded last year.

Lulu and the Zoo

As countdown to baby continues, Lulu came to town to take care of Maya during the big event. She's been here for more than a week, but baby is still illusive. We decided to go to the San Francisco zoo with Laura and Nick to pass the long days in baby limbo.

Maya, Lulu, and Momma

Two Weeks And Counting

Less than two weeks until the due date!!

Belly is getting big.

Belly hug...

...and kiss.

On The Move

Maya is a lady on the move. Here are few shots from the past months of Maya on some of her new favorite forms of transit...

Loving the scooter in July.

Loving the bike in August.

Los Angeles: Benny And Family

Todd had to head back to San Francisco for work, but Maya and Momma stayed for a little longer to catch up with Beth, Jenny, their adorable son, Jackson, and their baby that's still on the inside.

On the train at Griffith Park with Jackson and Jenny.

TUNNEL!

The next day we got to hang with Beth.

Maya was nice enough to take a picture of these two pregnant chicks.

Los Angeles: Valley Girls (and Boys)

We made a quick trip down to LA (Burbank really) to see a few friends before travel gets more difficult with the upcoming arrival of baby #2.

Maya and Zoey admire each other's PJs the morning after we arrived. Annabelle and Allen were nice enough to let us stay with them.

14 month-old Zoey is entranced by 4 year-old Maya.

Maya quickly adapts to LA style.

Hello sassy pants.

Later we saw the Kender Page clan and Maya discovered dress-up Disney style.

After much fun with the kiddies, the adults managed to extract themselves and go out for a classy dinner.

The next morning, they did a rare bit of walking on the Toluca Lake sidewalks outside Paty's.

Max, Maya, and Maddie having a great time together.

These two will be trouble in about 10 years.

Maya gets her M & M fix.

And a nice helping of Z.

9 Weeks Left...

We haven't been taking that many pics featuring the increasing size of baby brother. Last time we took this picture belly was a wee bit smaller. Now, we are at about 31 weeks and the belly is definitely a visible reality. Baby is very active and has been measuring well at our doctor visits.

Maya races down the hall for picture time.

Maya pats the baby.

Maya loves the baby.

Tomales Bay

Maya and Mommy had a great beach day with Megan, Malia, and Kai at Tomales Bay. I can't believe this place is less than an hour from our house.

Mommy, Belly, and Maya.
Mommy and Megan.
Malia, Maya, and Kai with very delicious watermelon.

Maya's 4th Birthday Party

Maya was very excited to celebrate her big 4th birthday a weekend after the actual event. It was a great day!

Mommy and Maya are just about ready for the guests to arrive.

Hooray for guests.

Maya had a great time playing with her friends. Here she is with her pal, Riley.
Tracy, the animal guy, thrilled guests with everything from hamsters to iguanas in a special birthday show.

The birthday girl got to help out Tracy a few times. Here she is with a chick on her arm.
She was very entertained to have a snake around her neck too.
The finale featured an albino python that the kids held triumphantly overhead.

All that fun with animals made Maya want to beat up a unicorn. Ever since Nick's party, Maya could not stop talking about how much fun it would be to have a pinata at her party. Apparently, Mom and Dad caved in.

Take that, cute unicorn with hearts all over.

Eventually, all that was left was a head in a tree...

...and a frenzy below.
Nice stash!
Oh the humanity.
Finally, it was time for cake. Happy Birthday!

Maya at 4 Years

Today Maya is 4 years-old!



Here are the current stats:


Weight: 36.5lbs (63rd percentile).

Height: 40 inches (55th percentile).

Maya is a wonderful little girl. In the last 6 months, the biggest change has been in her creativity and her ability to really understand the world beyond her own current experience.

Imagination is huge with her right now. She loves to pretend to be characters in stories or movies. She loves to be Elastigirl with Mommy being Mr. Incredible and Daddy being Dash. She also likes Mommy to be the bad witch from the Wizard of Oz and she is her pet flying monkey. Another game that is very popular is "Monster, monster." In this game, Mommy and Maya are both named Monsta Monsta and we only like stinky things. Daddy's name is Bill and he's a human that we like to torment. It's fun to hear all the little inventive stories she creates. At night after stories, she frequently makes up stories with Daddy before going to bed.

Maya is really beginning to understand more abstract concepts like time and maps. She's very interested in the seasons and when different things happen. She'll talk more accurately about things that happened in the past. She's also started asking tougher questions like, "What will happen to me if you both die?" "Do I have to go to the doctor if I get poop in my mouth?" Her statements are equally complex, "My brain won't let me stop crying." She also tries to make jokes or talk about things she thinks are funny and will then say, "Is that funny?"

Maya has also discovered that she is going to have a new little brother this coming September. It's been fun to talk to her about the whole thing. She's very excited to meet her little brother and likes to tell Mommy all the ways that she will help when he comes along. She frequently talks to him or refers to him as "my baby." We hope she has the same level of enthusiasm when her brother is actually here. It will be interesting transition.

Maya has moved through a bossy stage to a more collaborative stage. It seems like she is starting to realize that working with other kids is more fun than just bossing them all around. This has made playing with her more fun for Mom and Dad and for her friends. She's exploring more big kid activities like riding her bike with training wheels, playing in the water with her floaty, and climbing, jumping, and hanging off of everything. She's interested in more complex games and stories. We've been having a great time traveling with her as she enjoys everything and is pretty easy to manage these days.

Overall, Miss Maya is becoming more social, more creative, and is equally as excited about life. Happy Birthday little girl!

Memorial

Maya and Mommy headed back to New York to attend the memorial for Grandpa (Todd had to stay in the Bay Area for work reasons). It was beautiful weather and a wonderful weekend filled with family, friends, and beautiful tribute to Grandpa's life.

We arrived late June 29th. The next day we finished helping with the preparations for the memorial and then we took a little trip up to Skaneateles Lake for a little relaxation and family reflection about Grandpa.

Marimar, Coco, Lulu and Pop, along with Aunt Susie and Betsy and their families, along with a few other relatives joined Gram to share some special personal memories of Grandpa.

It was wonderful to hear some of the personal stories regarding his impact on the family.

Maya was thrilled about the post gathering boat ride with Coco and her cousin (once removed) Katie.

Gram's nephew Peter, and niece, Sally with Gram and Pop on the day of the memorial.

After a memorable tribute at the Presbyterian church, we went to the cemetery for the internment of Grandpa's ashes.

A lovely reception followed at Cortland Country Club. Here is gram surrounded by some special ladies holding a canned treat from Fiji. Betsy, Susan, Mary, Kearsley, Susie.

Kearsley and Charles, a distant cousin that she enjoyed living with in Australia many years ago.

Maya and Mommy have a nice swim in Skaneateles after the memorial.

Susan and Gram have an evening cocktail.

Peter pulled out a very rare whiskey from the Thomson family that was quickly consumed in honor of Grandpa.

The drinking led to the singing of a favorite Fijian song after the sunset.

Coco and Marimar had to leave early the next morning. Maya enjoyed reading stories with her Aunties before bed.

The next morning, Maya worked hard helping shovel some shale at the cottage with Scott and Katie.

Later she went swimming with Ron...

...and then with Cody.

Lulu with Susie, Pam (Lulu's brother's wife), and Betsy.

Kearsley and Gram.

Pop and Gram.

Gram and Lulu.

The evening started with some fishing with Ron.

Beautiful family.

Dinner at sunset which featured Thai food prepared by Susan and David.

Yum.

Being that the 4th of July was only a couple days away, we pulled out some sparklers.

Followed by more singing...

...and dancing.

The next morning we had to leave bright and early, but we were profoundly moved by the memorial and the gathering so many remarkable people who celebrated Grandpa's life in the way he would have wanted.