Mommy and Daddy are a little jealous, Bampa Bill...

Little pleasures...

...that we enjoyed everyday with baby Maya are harder to take advantage of the second time around. Maya is away for the night, with Nana and Papa. She was so happy and 'matter-of-fact' about leaving us. My reminder to be "a good...." "Obeyer" was quickly finished. To which she flippantly added, "Oh-tay. See ya, Mom. Oh-tay I doe now. Bye."

When I came home from playing in a wedding today, I found Ryan..and Sophie asleep on the couch. A sleeping baby on your chest....it doesn't get much better than that. We both agreed that we just don't get to do that enough.

We took her to Target tonight. I didn't realize how much of my attention is usually diverted on such adventures. She just stared at us, admiring us. Happily looking for...anything. A smile, a look. Attention. She is just too sweet.
Sophie is so generous with her smiles and delightful squeals. I hope I'm not taking them for granted.

"Dot it, Mom?"

Maya is definitely two.

Full of opinions, certainty, and will.

Lately, she's picked up my condescending tone. She loves to order me around, telling me what to do and say. It's terrible and also really funny.

I think that maybe four hundred times a day, I say something like, "Could I hear that in a kind voice, please?" or "Hm. I'd like to help a girl that uses kind words.".

Some recently heard phrases that I'd like to correct for the future, but never want to forget....

In the car on Saturday: "I want milk, Mom. Momma! Dad! I NEED MILK. Hey.
You unnerstann d(g)uys?? You unnerstand??"

Monday morning: As I cut the last whole wheat waffle in half to share with her...(she's already eaten 3 or 4)
"NO, NO Mom. Don't tut it!!! Jesus dave it to us! To ME. He dave it to ME."

Everyday: "Hi Arfur. What you DOIN' Arfur?! You ridin' a tarousell, Arfur?? What's his name, Arfur??"

At first I thought I was 'Arthur'....so I'd reply with, "Hi, Maya. I'm Arthur. Yes, I'm riding the carousel, Arthur. Who are you?"

No. SHE is Arthur. And I am supposed to say "Hi Arthur. What you doin' Arthur?...."
The script continues. It's rather repetitive. And it lasts all day long.

It's difficult to keep up with the imaginary character she is pretending to be. It changes every few days, or minutes, or even mid-sentence. But lately she's decided that she'd like to script our conversations. Sometimes we're 'Cinderella and the Fairy Dodmuvver'. Sometimes we're 'Dus and Jatt', you know, the mice. Or maybe 'Arfur and'...his friend? Today she's been cousin Jared who recently had a birthday. So I watch her open her 'birff-day presents' over and over again.

Coming when she is called has been our most recent...project. We're working on it. A lot.

Sometimes, when I call her to come, she'll obey, but she'd like for it to be on HER terms.

I say, "Come here, Maya. Hurry. Hurry and obey, Maya."

And she replies in her best motherly tone with, "Tum here, Arfur. Hurry, Arfur. Hurry and obey, Arfur!" (Waits. Mischevious smile.)

the cabin

The girls shared a room for the first time, Maya on the bottom bunk (where I always slept as a little girl)...and Sophie on the top. Well, maybe someday she'll sleep on the top. Sophie actually slept in the crib next to the bunk beds.

I like to think about the summers they will spend together here, canoing, building, exploring, imagining, reading, sleeping in bunks...or maybe sharing the attic room.




This cabin trip, though very different from past cabin stays, was still refreshing, invigorating, decadent. We tried not to eat as much ice-cream as we often do (and we were successful, I might add, except for one ridiculously large cone of chocolate chip cookie dough that Ryan got for me). But we did enjoy opulent breakfasts of eggs, veggie sausage, toast, and hazelnut coffee every morning by the crackling fire. We read (I even finished 2 books) on the new deck and in the hammock, we strolled the shops in Cedarville, Hessel, and St. Ignace (this time on the hunt for a potty much of the time), we walked through the woods, Maya and Ryan explored the bay in the canoe, we found two wonderful playgrounds, drove along the breathtaking coast to Detour, wandered on dirt roads and 2-tracks to find the Raber Bay Inn for pizza, fell in love again with the Cedarville library (this time with the amazing children's section...which puts Norton Shores to shame), stayed up late watching some Olympics and Paris, je t'aime and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
The Creekside Gallery. My new favorite upnorth shop/garden. It is rather magical. I also noticed a massage table? Hm...an idea for future cabin trips.


Ryan and Maya navigating their birch-bark canoe. Ryan meticulously sewed the bark we found in the woods to make the perfect canoe, sealing it with glue for sea-worthiness.

As we leave Grandma and Grandpa's house...

"You tummin' right bat, mom? Oh-tay. Byeee. You duys. You duys be tareful!"

Four Month Sophie

Her smiles make life seem more optimistic. But so full of consequence.
Her happiness makes me feel lighter, while my love for her is painfully heavy.

Mmmadeline....Adeline tummin over??

I've been hearing this question a lot lately....ever since Maya and Addy had a fun morning together on Monday.


Later in the day, Ryan asked Maya if she and Addy had talked about anything interesting. Maya, rightly, said 'Milk.' That was a big part of their conversation. Their babies really needed a lot of milk.

The Mayan Language

No, not this one.

My Maya's language.

Some of my favorites phrases lately....

"Ow 'bout....milk." or "Ow 'bout more" or ...."Ow 'bout______" (insert really anything that she wants. Sometimes it's used as a response...to argue for her preference instead of what I've told her will happen.) This phrase is used several times daily. It's a favorite right now. Still,
I was surprised a few weeks ago while we were walking up the stairs, counting each step as always. (Sometimes we count in Spanish, other times in French, but most often we count in English.) On this particular trip up the steps, I was saying "Un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq,..." and suddenly, she interrupted with "Ow 'bout Eendlish....Ow 'bout Eendlish, Mom. Oh-tay?"

So I'm a little overzealous when it comes to exposing my girls to other languages. I was obsessed with learning French just before Maya was born. Since I knew she'd never have the 'optimal' advantage of living in a truly bi-lingual house...I wanted to cram as much as possible to make up for my lack of linguistic knowledge.

We have a great book from the library (in fact, we just renewed it because it's one of our favorites these days). It's a rhyming book of Spanish vocabulary. Since we've been reading it, I've started 'conversing' with Maya (in my very rusty and limited Spanish from high-school) to reinforce what she picks up so quickly from the book.
We play the "Donde esta ___?" game. And she points to her 'narriz', or 'boca', 'ojos', or 'manos.'
She loves to ask us "You my Madre? You my Padre?" And sometimes when I tuck her in at night, I say "Goodnight my little Maya." And she shyly responds with ..."I'm hija (daughter)".


She's staring to learn how to give a shoulder rub. Sitting behind Ryan or I on the couch, she often grabs our shoulders and gently squeezes. This could be really good, I think.
Sometimes, when she's especially affectionate and cudly, she wraps her arms around my neck, and in a very motherly gesture...she begins to gently stroke my face or my hair. She looks me right in the eyes and says sweetly " 'dat feels nice, Mom?? You lite 'dat?"

We've been working on using kind words. The demanding "I WANT _____" voice has started since the 2nd birthday. Much of the time, she puts together very polite and articulate sentences to voice her desires, express gratitude or happiness, or tell a 'story'. Sometimes, though, we cringe when we hear what she's 'picked up' from who-knows-where. Like "OH shoot!"

We're not sure where "OH my DOSH!!" came from. Despite our valiant efforts to suppress or hide our amusement, she knows it's hilarious and cute and she loves the response she gets with this one. We've tried to soften it to "Oh my doodness" which seems a slightly more fitting exclamation for a 2-year-old.

When she's asked for an opinion, I love it best when she wrinkles up her nose, puckering and twisting her lips as she nods her head saying "Yeah. Mmm-hm. Yup."

When did she turn 15?

Sophie

She's sitting in her swing now...broadly smiling at me. She's also creating a very loud rumbling sound in her diaper.
In the last few weeks, she seems so much older. Smiling most of the time...if she's not angry or sleeping. And she's becoming a little more demanding of our attention. Sometimes she yells and grunts with this scolding look of frustration and annoyance....until we look at her and smile. She just has a lot to express. And it's important...even urgent that someone listens.

I have a little shirt that says '3 Months.' I can't believe it's almost time to get it out of the drawer.

We love our Daddy.

Happy Fathers Day!

Love,
Maya and Sophie

2 months old

Earlier this month...

...Maya turned two! And we celebrated all weekend.

On the morning of May 2nd, Ryan and I went upstairs to get our happy little 'Birthday Girl' out of bed. As we opened the door and started singing, we saw Maya already sitting up in bed, beaming at us. We felt like she had just been waiting there, happily, anxiously,...knowing what day it was. Expecting something wonderful. The smile lasted for most of the day.

The birthday breakfast...


A visit from Great Grandma Marge delivering some cream of tartar to help Maya bake her first cookies, "French Buttercream"...






A special present from Mommy and Daddy opened during Daddy's lunch break...


When Ryan came home from work, we discovered (after a long drive to Grand Rapids) that Frederick Meijer Gardens had already closed for the night...just minutes earlier than we had arrived. So instead of seeing 'The Butterflies' as planned, we took our first trip to the 'Build-a-Bear' store. After receiving her special 'Birthday sticker', Maya chose her bunny, 'helped' (watched) as she was stuffed with a tiny heart and lots of fluff, 'bathed' her in the giant bath tub, chose a dress for her, and named her "Massachusetts".
Not sure what kind of expense/time commitment/complicated activity/chaos at the mall we were getting ourselves into, we were pleasantly surprised to have a very nice evening, returning home from Grand Rapids early enough for a decent bed-time.





The celebration extended through Saturday (when I was so sick while shopping with Sophie for the party, that I threw up in the check-out line at Meijer and nearly passed out) as we prepared for Maya's Birthday Party the next day. Nana, Papa, Go-Go, and Bampa came over and helped so much on Saturday night (while I mostly laid miserably on the couch all day making requests for furniture to be moved, floors to be vacuumed, children to be bathed, and food to be made). By Sunday, I felt fine with even enough appetite to enjoy the burgers Ryan grilled and the wonderful salads made by family.

Besides Maya, the other 'guest of honor' at the party...
...was Elmo.

Aunt Marianne, the artist/baker, brought him...an exquisite (and delicious) cake that she carefully designed, baked, carved, and decorated.












She's really 2 now. She loves to announce, "I'm two!" as she holds up her hands...all ten fingers spread before you.
She's two and she loves her sister. She loves to color, to make 'lines' and 'circles.' She loves to 'read' and she loves the library. Today, her favorite books are Curious George, Madeline, Olivia, and Goldilocks. She uses the potty and wears 'big girl underpants' all day every day. She can tear apart a room in about 2 seconds. But she's also learning to 'clean up' a little too. She likes to act out her stories and expects everyone in sight to participate. She is VERY assertive at times, and she is learning to be gracefully articulate. She still loves Elmo and occasionally enjoys singing "Sunny day, sweepin' the clouds away" at the top of her lungs. If you are near her when a song comes to mind, she'll like it if you sing it with her. But if you are too timid or polite, she might just say, 'Sing it LOUD!'



Two is fun. It's also sometimes quite 'terrible.' But we love it anyway.