Year and a half!

That's right! Maia is now halfway through her second year. She is 18 months, and in 6 more she will be two years old! Where is the time going?

Although, it also seems like it's been way longer than just 18 months. I keep thinking of her as being two, or almost two...and I have been doing a double-take when I realize that she is only just now hitting 18 months. Crazy.

As usually, I have tons of pictures of her, even given that I have been trying to keep up somewhat with posting.
Some quick stats/info: She weighs 22lbs 4oz and is 29.25" tall. She loves pointing to her eyes, nose, head, ears, and feet and naming them (as best she can). She loves waving hello and goodbye. When teaching her to say "please", we eventually just got her to say "puh"...the sound that the letter "p" makes. And we can't get her to go beyond that. It's cute, but it means we have to listen extra hard for it. Matt has gotten her to say "A-E-I-O-U" and she will often yell "DADA" when she is by herself in the gated-off living room and wants to be attended to. She loves giving hugs and is amused by a great many things. She is also annoyed by a great many things, including her big brother (who seems to excel as much in making her angry as he does in making her laugh). She may be only 18 months but she has the "twos" thing down pretty well now. She is very brave and is constantly standing up on her chair, and on less stable objects like her ride-on-cars (you know, the ones with WHEELS). She LOVES pretending to eat things...she'll often pinch something up in her fingers and pretend to eat it with great smacking sounds...or offer it up to one of us for the taking. Put a pillow or blanket or anything soft on the floor and she will lay down on it, butt in the air and a big grin on her face. Hand her a stuffed animal and she will hug in a squeeze of love.
I could go on and on and on....there is just so much to share about her. But as usual, I am supposed to get sleep at some point, so I need to move on to the pictures.

Naturally I have to take the "messy face" pictures, to later use to embarrass her.

She was so cute in her lumberjack coat, interacting with my grandmother (notice Liam in the background, with his matching coat?). I am sorry that this wasn't a good picture of my grandmom.

One of the many shots of Liam and Maia hanging out together.

Matt and I have a thing for Hello Kitty, so I am sure Maia will as well by the time we are done with her (or an intense hatred?)

Maia also loves getting her picture taken (though often she wants to see herself in camera/phone)

She was giving the A-OK for something...

Maia loves playing with necklaces when she can get her hands on them (we are careful about those)

She got annoyed that I kept trying to get her to look up for the picture. She has definitely learned how to furrow her brows in annoyance.

Ah yes...my first attempt at pulling her bang back into a mini ponytail. Looks more like a unicorn, doesn't it? 

I only have a few pictures of Maia "mothering" her dolls, but she does it all the time. It's adorable.

I think this has to be one of my all-time favorite shots. We attended the Westampton Emergency Services Open House at our local fire station and Liam was sharing a water ice with Maia. (note to self, red cherry water ice and white coat on a toddler aren't a good mix)

Maia was very happy to be out, and was enjoying the music

We snagged a pink firefighter hat for Maia

Maia was rather interested in Sparky the Dog and wanted to follow him around, but she was afraid to actually get up close to him. Poor fella had to work hard for her approval. 

 But eventually she gave him a high five

I discovered that I could use Liam to feed Maia her lunch so that I could get some work done. They were both amused by the situation (and Maia was pretty messy by the end of it).

And I learned that I can use even Maia for some cheap labor. She was happy to pick up little twigs and branches and toss them into the can.

Later she made friends with the local faeries

While Maia enjoys eating with her hands and getting it all over her face, she was not happy with the placement of this particular rice.

I took the kids to the PTA Movie Night, and Maia was quite content to snuggle down into her chair with her juice cup and a handful of popcorn in a cup (at least for the first half of the movie).

As I said, Maia loves to give hugs. Liam didn't even ask for this one. 

BTW, we didn't even plan to match these outfits. Liam picked his shirt out on his own while Matt was in the other room picking out Maia's shirt. Voila!

My little cutie (this was the best I could get of her, as she kept turning her back to me with an "Ehhh!"...typical difficult toddler speech for leave me alone). (PS, Matt did her hair. He seems to be able to handle the toddler hair tie thing)

Liam is always rearranging the kid furniture in the living room and creating things, like this "ice cream truck". Maia likes to join him on/in his creations.

That's it for now, folks. I hope to get more up THROUGHOUT this next month, instead of starving the blog for a month and then throwing an entire months-worth of pictures at you. (I've said this before, haven't I?)

SCA: River Wars!

I always love taking the kids to our SCA events...it gives them a chance to do something different, to see different people (as well as familiar faces), to learn something new, and to have the freedom to stretch their legs. Maia always loves the opportunity to run around a wide-open new place. This event was no exception. The playground was the most popular location.
(attended September 29th)

Maia made "friends" with the playground equipment

She was amused by the big wooden castle

Especially when she learned she could go inside

"Look at me, Mommy!"

Big brother Liam loved pushing her in the swing

Maia got cozy inside the train

She explored some tunnels

Liam and Maia took turns driving the train

(Maia was greatly amused)

As the day turned colder, I had to borrow Liam's cloak for her (can't find hers), which she looks cute in (but very short)

Okay, here she just looks like a cackling witch (I've got you now! Ah ha ha ha haaaaa!)

After all that excitement, a nap was definitely in order (I didn't even get a complaint)

Maia Miller, 17 months

Today, Maia is now 17 months! Time just keeps flying by. So many little things happening in her everyday life. It's hard to keep up with them all, and explaining them here just doesn't do it justice. But I'll try.

She is forming a few more words. We can't get her to say please, but we can get her to say "Puh", as in the sound that the letter "P" makes. She will mimic a few animals sounds, like horses, cows, cats, dogs, and sheep. They all sound somewhat similar, but there is a difference. She also says "apple" very clearly. She keeps changing how she says Liam, at first it sounding more like "dedeh", and I think now it's closer to "eheh". Not sure if she really is trying to say it, but I think so. She has also taking to rolling her tongue when talking, which makes interesting sounds (and very cute ones).

It's kind of hard to get her to stand straight and sit still for measuring, so I don't know how tall she is. But she weighs 20lbs 8oz.

She tries to climb up everything and is becoming way too comfortable with her environment, clambering on stairs without too much concern (we are right there with her, but REALLY need to be within a hands' reach).  She is constantly trying to climb up on the couch and loves it when Liam pushes one of the little chairs up against the couch, because she can use it as a stepping stone to get up there. But I've seen her twice try to put her leg up to climb onto the arm of the couch...which would mean a drop off the other side onto the floor. And one end of the couch is up against the gate, with hardwood on the other side...so...nipping that one in the bud. Liam has been instructed to avoid moving the chairs near the couch.

She likes running when she is outside, and is getting better at it. She also runs if you growl at her while on the floor, as if you are going to chase her, although if you keep chasing her, she will turn and brace herself. heh.
Oh, she has an obsession with spray paint on sidewalks. You know how utility workers will spray dots or markings on sidewalks? Maia cannot resist stopping every time she sees one, to crouch and point at it, and babble something about it.

I am starting to call her Mama Maia, because she LOVES stuffed animals of all kinds, hugging them to her constantly. And at Daycare, she has "adopted" a baby doll that she carries with her everywhere. During mealtimes, she "feeds" the baby, and she will often put it in a swing during playtime. Apparently the staff got a little highchair and cradle for the baby so that Maia can use those.

Maia still loves playing with her brother, but she is also less tolerant of his rambunctious behavior. One minute she thinks it is hilarious that he is bumping into her and knocking her over, and then the next she is done with that and getting very annoyed at him. She is starting to really want her own space, and wanting to play in her own way. And she is less into sharing, which causes an issue when Liam takes a toy near her that apparently she wanted to stay there. I told him to prepare himself, since she seems to be entering her "terrible twos" early. But at least they still mostly have fun together.

I am sure there is so much more I am forgetting to write about my little cutie-patootie, but it's late and I am tired. So here is just one more, with her very first hair clip. Her hair was starting to get into her eyes, but it was too thin and wispy to clip back. It's finally thick enough to do that...mostly. Slips out after a while, but at least it's something. And she is so cute with it. She looks less like a baby with it, and more like a little girl. And I guess now she really isn't a baby anymore, but a toddler. My little toddler. Wow.

Something Maia loves is to see herself on the iPhone Skype/Facetime camera. She often won't stay put for a picture, but instead comes straight over to my side and points at the phone. So I have to "flip" the camera so she can see herself. She LOVES to wave at herself, and often crouches down and laughs with amusement.

"Oooo, mommy has the camera"

"Hey, let me see"

"THERE I am!"

"HI!!"

Update 9/24: Maia pretends to eat things out of small objects. Yesterday she had a small box that my contacts come in (slightly larger than a raisin box) and she would sticker her fingers in it, pretend to pull out something, and then stick her entire pointer finger in her mouth and pull it back out while sucking on it, like she had dipped it in honey. And sometimes she would say "mmmmmm". She also offered some to Mommy, Daddy, and Liam. Today, she was using an empty thread spool, picking "food" off the top.

And apparently she taught herself how to back down stairs. She does it so quickly I have to wonder if they have a set of stairs stashed away at daycare for her to practice on. I stay right there with her, of course, but she gets down on hands and knees, and slides one leg over the edge and down until she feels the step, then does the same with the other one, then kneels, and starts the sliding again. And she does it super quick, as if she is in a race. I have no clue where she learned to do that, and so quickly. She is WAY too brave. I am proud of her...but understandably nervous. Eep.