Great memories for us to remember:

Ben counting:  One.... Two...Three.... Eight....Oh

Ben antics:  Ben asked for even more watermelon.  Scott said" If I can eat your nose, you can have more."  Ben thought for a moment, then very slowly leaned forward with a serious look on his face for Scott to take a bite out of his nose.

      Trying to night wean Ben, I tell him that the boobies are tired and need to sleep.  That has been going fairly well, and one night while we were talking about it, he looked at me and said "Do you brush their teeth too?"  (He asks every night if we have to brush his teeth..... it is not his favorite thing.)

      One morning I was able to sneak out of bed while he kept sleeping.  He woke up and was crying a little and Scott asked him where I was and he turned to my pillow and lifted it up, looking for me underneath it.

      He has had a runny nose and will come up to me and say "bugers!' and wait for me to wipe it.

      His favorite book right now is Curious George Goes to the Hospital and he plays doctor with Kala and Tank (if Tank lets him) and today he was carrying around a mask saying that it was a baby crying because she had to go to the doctor.

     
Maya antic:  She is getting a little older, so her "antics" are changing, but she is still so sweet and tender that sometimes I am so proud and overwhelmed by her.

     She wants to have a "dance party" at night where I put on classical music from Pandora and she dances around that living room.  It is even better if I record it and then she gets to watch it back.

     She is such a great big sister to Ben, she pushes his buttons in so many ways, but then I will turn around and she is comforting him when is falls backwards off his bike or can't get something to go the way he wants.  She reads him stories and plays games with him.... he thinks she is the best thing ever.

     She has such great artistic ideas and works with such amazing focus.

   

Rough Day All Around

Since today has been such a rough day, no nap from Ben (not that out of character), major meltdown from Maya (very out of character) I am going to do what I have been meaning to do for a while.  They are so wonderful, delightful and full of life and love, that I want to write the fully, lovely stuff down that they do and are doing.

Ben:  Really into trains and trucks and tractors.  Always on the look out for "tractor mowers", gets up really close in my face and kisses me and cuddles all over me, when he is nursing he wants to switch sides often and will say "mama, turn arrounnddd", he is so determined and when tired he is completely unreasonable.


Maya: She is the best, bossiest big sister.  She loves him to pieces and really takes care of him.  She is loving to teach him stuff, like how to crawl forward down the stairs like a snake (which he really can't do :) ) and the other day she had him counted up to twelve (repeating after her - which, when I told Scott about it, he made a comment that at least someone was teaching him..... ummm... Benjamin, I am teaching you stuff every day.  We sit down and work on something every day.  Don't worry, your education is not left just in Maya's hands.) She loves going to school, her teacher Ms. Patti, kids in her class and constantly surprises me with her maturity and loving kind nature. She loves to be silly and creative.

Here we are.
Maya has started kindergarten.  She loves it.  I was depressed for about 2 weeks.  I am still hoping that someday she will want to homeschool so I can be apart of all the cool stuff that is out there to do..... way more fun and educational than normal 9-5 school, but she is really having fun and is loving the social aspect of it all.  That is really good for her because she has been wanting to explore this and make some girl friends.
Ben is a real kick in the pants.  He is constantly asking why.  Why? Why? Why? and Why?  It is funny. He makes cho-cho lips and it is so cute.  Maya runs after him saying "cha-cha lips get tickled!"  They both scream with laugher.  I love hearing them play and talk and do things together.  Sometimes Ben doesn't want to share, or he wants to do it different than Maya, and she can't process how to handle this or wants it to be her way and there is screaming and fighting but it is short lived and I am hopeful that I am teaching them how to work with each other and like each other in the process.
We are FINALLY getting the baseboard trim and top pieces on.  We are having someone do it for us.  We just can't get it together. So, I stained everything and we are having a great woman put it in.  She is doing a great job.  Scott and I just keep on saying how great it looks.  We also painted the main level.  It was very bittersweet for me.  I know that the paint needed a refresher and was ready (sort of) for a change, but covering up all of our beautiful colors was so sad for me.  I cried.  So did Maya.  I love that girl.
We were in Cleveland for most of August.  We are going to Pendleton this weekend, probably a weekend in November, and Scott will likely go to LA in December.  I think we will go back to Cleveland in January and then to Hawaii in early April.  Most days I am good with the fact that our lives are on each coast.  We have lots of great family.

Benjamin Oliver

Maya called it.

On the 24th of October, she said to me; "Mama, the baby is going to come tomorrow!" I said in reply; "I certainly hope not! We have a lot to do before this baby comes!" Ben was born the next day.

The weekend prior to his arrival, Scott and I decided that we needed to put mulch out in the front to get us through the winter and try and stamp out all of our weeds. So, I weeded, he hauled and we both spread. There were several other projects that we were planning on getting done and I started to get the pillars ready to paint downstairs. The house was a total disaster. There was a ton of laundry to be done.

At about 10:30 pm I started to feel like, yes, maybe I would have this baby tomorrow. Scott, ever supportive, said;"You can't have this baby today or tomorrow.... I'm tired. " Great.

At about 2:30 am contractions started. Nothing serious or consistent, but definitely the start of something real. 5:30 am my water broke but nothing else changed. I called the midwives at about 7:30 or 8:00 in the morning and they said to call in at noon if nothing changed, otherwise, if things started to move along, I should come in. I called around to cancel appointments that I had set up and change plans for the day since I thought that I would be in labor all day.

Blythe called at around 9:00 and I asked her to come over and give me some acupuncture to help make the contractions more productive. My contractions actually stopped when I was getting the treatment. She put some press tacks in at LI 4 and SP 6. I continued to fold clothes and try to tidy up. Scott had gone to see a house, took Maya to swimming and then ran to the store for some food stuff to have during labor.

Blythe left and I was alone for about 20 minutes. I called the midwives to check in with them. Caroline, the midwife that I talked to, said that since nothing had changed to come in at 8:00pm at the latest and sooner if things got more intense. I said okay, got off the phone and called my mom. I gave her the update and had her call around and let people know what was going on. Scott called his mom and told her that the baby was coming today. Maya was wanting me to play with her and though my contractions hadn't gotten any closer together they were a little bit more intense. So I asked Scott to take her over to Mark and Sarah's because I couldn't give her the attention that she needed. The contractions were doing something weird by having a little partial contraction followed almost immediately by a bigger more intense one. Then there would be a break.

I decided to get into the shower because it was so soothing when I was in labor with Maya. That was my first mistake. I got in and couldn't get out. Literally. The contractions were so intense the only way that I could get through them was by doing my modified version of Six Sounds Therapy, a Qigong form that I barely ever did. I guess I will have to brush up on it for next baby.

Scott came home and came down to the bathroom to check on me and I told him to get stuff together to go to the hospital and to call the midwife. He called the midwife and she said to get to the hospital, pronto. Then he tried to get me out of the shower. I couldn't move. If I moved I would trigger a contraction, and the contraction was so strong that I couldn't move. Panic set in as I realized that I was not going to get into the car. Then I felt the baby's head. Shit. Scott called 911 and I continued to push because there was nothing else I could do. I was past my moment of panic and had moved on to having the baby. The 911 operator kept telling Scott to get me on the floor so we didn't drop the baby, Scott was like, "I am not going to drop the baby! What do I do????" I was already on my hands and knees so it didn't really matter but I tried to oblige and as I was turning around, out came little Ben! Scott caught him and Ben cried. Boy, was he mad! Not quite the entrance I think he had been planning. But he sure made an impression!

The paramedics got there about 5 minutes later, cut the cord and wrapped us up. I was in complete shock. I remember the paramedic talking to me and I couldn't really focus on what she was saying, then they put us on a stretcher and took us to the hospital for observation. It was the craziest, most amazing, wonderful, mind blowing thing. We were so lucky, but I also think trusting in ourselves helped us to handle this very intense experience. He was and is perfect in every way.

I feel very blessed to have a beautiful baby boy, an amazing, adaptable little girl and my rock and best friend of a husband to travel this journey with. Every day is a blessing and I am thankful each day for how rich my life is.

So, welcome Ben. You are almost a year now and it has flown by. It has been a year full of ups and downs with lots of adjustments along the way. I don't know what the future holds but I do know that your personality is showing me gentleness, determination, giggles and silliness, inquisitiveness and smarts. On one hand I can wait to see what you will become, but on the other hand, I want to freeze time, because it is so precious. You are my gentle boy with a shining spirit and I love you.

Maya....

After a particularly long day (for me), full of not listening and repeated requests (by you), I couldn't wait for it to be bedtime and to have a little quiet time. But as I lay with you waiting for you to fall asleep I was held in awe of your beautiful face, as it grew more and more relaxed when sleep crept upon you. I found myself regretting my lack of patience and impatience with your actions and called upon powers greater than me to give me better strength, more understanding, and a deeper ocean of patience. I found myself thinking of how quickly you are growing and how I want to protect you from everything and everyone that might ever hurt you or not understand you completely. I wish for you to always be surrounded by people who love and respect you and know that you deserve it and are worth it. I wish for you to march to your own beat and to be proud to do so. I wish for you to keep your tender heart and sweet feelings because they will serve you well throughout your life.

You are the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me and I am honored to be a guiding force in your life right now. I know that our relationship will change as you grow up and life moves, but I hope that we will always have a strong bond that shines through, even if it gets buried under all sorts of life stuff. I love you.

Thoughts

Family can be complicated. Family can be wonderful. And family can be confusing. On one hand, it is wonderful that my family "misses" me so much that all they can think about or concentrate on when they talk to me is that fact that they want me to live in Cleveland. But on the other hand, all of that wanting makes me wonder how much is really missing and loving and how much is controlling and wishing that I would do things their way? No one in my family has made a real effort to become part of or be really interested in my life here. It is almost like they are in such denial that I live in another city, that nothing here is real to them and so it holds no validity or sense of life or time passage.

And yet, even though Scott has brothers and other extended family that live here and around Portland, I never get that same vibe from his mom or dad. They love each other and have a wonderful connection but the desperate claws don't come out or even ever show. Is it truly possible that they don't miss him terribly?

No, I don't believe that. Having become a parent myself I now torture myself with thoughts of Maya growing up and leaving me, maybe even for a different country or planet (who knows what we will be doing 50 years when I finally let her out of the house) and the idea makes me catch my breath. Sometimes I think about the old idea that what you did to your parents your children will do to you, only worse, so I guess my kids are moving far away...... but they don't know that Scott and I have agreed to follow them. Insert wicked laughter.....

Maybe it is because both of Scott's parents left their families to make their life together and so feel more comfortable allowing their son's the freedom to explore that.

I think what really wears on me is the thought that because I am not there, I am less of a daughter or sister. And maybe I am. I mean, I am not there every day. I can't do everything that they all do, I am not at every family function and don't stop in to say hi or have lunch or meet up somewhere for tea. And that is hard for me. For as much as I love my life here, I do miss them terribly. For how awful they make me feel and how guilt ridden and small I have become in all of this, I do miss my mom, my dad and my sisters. I feel like I have support here, but I also feel very lonely and isolated at times. Who knows if I would feel like this there too? I don't know.

Parts of me harbor so much hurt and resentment to all of them, that I don't know what to do with it, where to put it, or how to really, honestly let it go. How do you get past 13 years of small hurts and slights and comments and being made to feel like YOU are the one in the wrong and the bad guy?

One thing that I have learned in all of this (I don't think I needed this big of a lesson, but maybe I did) is that I will never put my children through what my parents and sisters have put me through. It is not fair.

That may sound dramatic, but I feel it is the only statement that encompasses how I feel about it. No one should be made to feel like a bad daughter or sister or that they don't love enough, care enough or don't try hard enough just because they have chosen to be physically somewhere else. And you know, life happens, things change, plans don't always pan out the way you think that they are going to. And people need to follow their individual dreams, not the dreams of their family members.

So, kiddies, listen up. No matter how hard it will be for me (and I am sure that it will be hard) go where you want to go, learn what you need to learn, and love who you are meant to love.

And lastly, collectively decide to move somewhere warm so daddy and I can retire there.

I have done a lot of soul searching and cried many tears over this, and I am sure that this will not be the last time I think about it or maybe even write about it, but I do know that I can be happy wherever my heart is. And right now, my heart holds Scott, Maya, little Opihi, and of course Kala and Tank.

2010

What a year it has already been. At Christmas we drove down to Long Beach to spend Christmas there. We hadn't been for Christmas in a long time and it was great. Both Scott and I were not sure how the ride would go for Maya (as we had obviously never driven that far with her before) but she did AWESOME! We left at about 2:00pm, drove for a while, stopped for dinner, changed her into night-time clothes and drove all night. She pretty much slept the entire way. It was incredible! We got over most of the passes without any difficulty, hitting snow on the "GrapeVine" just outside of LA and barely making it through before they shut it down. Lucky. We got there in about 17 hours. On the way back we stopped somewhere overnight and it took a lot longer but we just didn't have the same sense of urgency to get back as we had to get down there.

Maya is constantly amazing me. She is making such cognitive leaps all the time and does it with her own sense of style. She is loving dance and games right now and is starting to get kind of tricky. She has her dad's sense of humor that's for sure. Today, when she was at the park with Scott, he told me that she was yelling up the trees at the squirrels asking them where they had hidden their nuts. A few weeks ago, while we were playing Candyland and she wanted to do something that was not in the rules she says; " where are the directions?" Proceeds to get the directions, opens them up and reads out new directions that say that "if you want to go across Rainbow Bridge, just go ahead. Just go ahead and go across Rainbow Bridge."

I am 7 1/2 weeks pregnant (finally!) but this long journey is not over yet. I have a subchorionic hemorrhage that could either resolve, not resolve, or result in a miscarriage. I have been taking it really easy, which is no small feat and hoping for the best. I am trying to remain positive and to be thankful for the morning sickness and tender feelings. Whenever this second baby gets here: YOU WERE WANTED! We have worked very hard to get you!

We leave for Hawaii in a few days and are all really looking forward to the vacation. We have not been in so long and Maya has never been. She is pretty excited.

Good Night God

Good Night God

By Holly Bea

and

Kim Howard

Good night God,

The day is done.

Good night birds

and good night sun.

Good night to the sky above,

and good night to the squirrels I love.

Good night God, the moon is here,

good night trees and good night deer.

Good night garden,

good night house,

And good night to the little mouse who lives beneath the bottom stair,

Good night kitties everywhere.

Good night God,

Its time for bed.

My daddy calls me sleepy-head.

Mommy loves to hug me tight,

and listens while I say good-night.

So good night God,

sweet dreams to you,

tomorrow there's so much to do.

But now its time to sleep and dream,

of rocket ships and fairy queens.

So thank you God for all you do,

and don't forget, that I love you!

Everyday is such a blessing

I graduated on September 3rd. Maya was so cute about it. She kept saying: "when Mama is all pow with school, Daddy will be all pow with work!" Hmmm, wish that were the case!

I then spent a month and a half completing my national boards and finally finished the last one on November 11th. It has been such a relief to have that completed and to now just have to wait for my license.

I have been spending my time with Maya and trying to get things done around the house. The things around the house part has been slow going. But the part of spending time with Maya has been great. I really just feel grateful that I can take a little breather and rest a little and not have to completely stress out about paying our bills. We are blessed that things are going well with the company and that I can take this time. I feel like I have been on constant overdrive for years now and need to step back a little and do some inward, slow stuff.

Hula, Hula, Hula

I think we have a hula dancer on our hands.... at least for the time being. Nana bought her, Pace and Malia a "How to do the Hula" DVD and all she wants to do is do the hula. She walks around singing Pearly Shells and Haukilao Song and had a whole routine that she did in the shower. She would gather all her toys in her arms, sing the Haukilao Song, and run around the shower spray, then run through the shower spray, ending by throwing all the toys on the floor and dropping to the floor in a ball or in some other ending position. It was hilarious. She hasn't done it in several days.

I found some hula lessons in the area. We are going to go and watch them this Friday. She is a little young for the class but we are hoping they will let her in anyways. I know I sound like any other proud parent when I say this, but she really does have an incredible attention span for her age. She does!!!!

Who knew getting pregnant was going to be so hard this time around. We just had an early miscarriage (about 5 weeks in) and I have just started charting my temps again. We will see. I definitely don't want to go through the miscarriage thing again, so we are not trying this month. It is funny, after so many months of hoping that this is the month, it is really weird to NOT try this month, and to really hope that I don't get pregnant this month.

We are there....

Wow, we have hit a new era. The tantrums are starting. I am hopeful that we can ride it out none the worse for wear but I am not sure. Some days I start out okay, and then I can't break the momentum of the crying and WHINING and she ends up throwing herself around the room and crying like her heart is breaking. I know that she is trying to process all of her emotions, but I really wish I could help her deal with it more effectively. I also don't want to tell her to stop crying (because I hated it when my mom would say that to me... like I was doing it on purpose) but sometimes the words tumble out of my mouth and I just want to shove them back in. I usually try to talk for a few minutes but that is working less and less lately and then I just tell her to cry all she wants (especially when we are home) and I will be here when she is done. Sometimes I am effective, lately not so much. It is exhausting!!

On the other hand, Maya is so sweet most of the time. She is really coming into her own self and is a fun and tender spirit. Whenever I cry (which is often these days) she will say: "You sad Mama?" and wipe my tears away. She checks on me and loves on the dogs. The other day I was upstairs vacuuming and usually if I am not within eyesight of her, every few minutes I will turn off the vacuum and ask her if she is okay. The rule is that she must answer me or she has to be around me. So, all of a sudden, I hear her coming up the stairs yelling "Mama! Mama! You okay? You okay Mama?" Apparently I had gone longer than usual and she decided to check up on me. So great.

"The Pig That Climbed The Tree"

We have been telling Maya stories lately. I am not sure what triggered her interest in it, but one day she asked for a story, and off we went.

Normally, if I ask her what she wants the story to be about, she tells me that she wants me to tell her (meaning I decide). But today was different. We were in the bathroom at Kinko's (because she loves to go potty everywhere!) and asked for a story while she went potty. I told her no because we needed to get going and she proceeded to tell me a story about a pig and a cow and a rooster that climbed on top of the car. The story went that they all climbed on top of the car and then was followed by her telling me what their conversations were. It was hilarious.

Tonight, after I told her a story at bedtime, she decided to tell me one. Here goes:

Maya: "One time, (once upon a time) there was a pig who climbed a tree. He climbed the tree

and saw a GORILLA! And then he saw a cow and a rooster. Then he saw a frog!

Me: "What did he say to the frog?"

Maya: "He said, want to come to my house?!"

Me: "What did the frog say?"

Maya: "Yes, I DO!" And then the cow saw a monkey.

Priceless. I can't wait for the next one.

Butter Nuts

Today I had some almonds out and Maya wanted some. Sure, of course, here you go. She has had them before and I actually thought that she didn't really like them. But wow, I think that I was wrong. She couldn't get enough of them. And the funny thing was, she kept calling them butter nuts. "Mama, I want some more butter nuts." "Mama, where are the butter nuts?" Then when I point to them, she says "Oh." in the way that only she says it.

One day it'll be over and I will not regret the time i spent responding to my children's needs. They will not be spoiled. Spoiled fruit is fruit that falls off a tree and is ignored, not fruit that is well taken care of.

Sass-I-Fras!

It is so much fun watching Maya's little personality develop.  She is going through a shy phase right now.  When she feels self conscious or insecure, she will cling to me, use her little, tiny voice and put her hands in her mouth.  Then on the other hand, when she is feeling her oats, she is sassy, imaginative, talkative, and funny. The other day, Scott was on the phone with his mom and she took the hand held solitaire game and was using it as HER phone and was chatting away and walking around in the living room.  I got some of it on tape.  It was hilarious. 

Scott worries about her shyness, saying that we need to push her out of it and kind of force her to interact when she is feeling shy but I disagree.  I remember how I used to feel when I was feeling shy as a child and I think that pushing me or calling attention to it made it worse and made me feel stupid.  I may be projecting myself and my experiences onto Maya (which I am really, honestly trying NOT to do too much!) but shy people, know shy people.  I think that pushing her won't really make it better.  It will just give her an insecurity that she will have to dig out of. 

Anyways, enough philosophizing.  

She has also been putting even more sentence fragments together and experimenting results with certain responses.  Often, I will say "Maya, I want to tell you something."  She will come over and I will say something like "I love you" or "I think you are wonderful." etc.... So the other day I told her that I thought she was wonderful and she looked at me and said "I think you are wonderful too!"  

The days get better and better.

"I love you"

We were driving in the car today and Maya says: "I love you... You're a nice girl, mama."  I laughed and said "well, I love you too!"  Later, when I was getting her out of her car seat, she said " I like you, you're a beautiful girl."  I don't know quite what got into her today, maybe it was the fact that she actually took a nap today (first time all week!).  She has been saying some of the funniest things.  The other day at dinner, she was telling us how much she loved us, and then suddenly switched gars and told Scott that she didn't love him.  He acted sad and I laughed and said that wasn't nice to say and then she said "I love you now."  She was so matter a fact about it when she said that she loved him now.  It was very deadpan.  I am not sure where she gets it because she says stuff like that all the time.  Wise beyond her years.  

She has not been taking a nap which has been stressful for all involved.  She starts fading at about 4:30 or so and then it is a downward spiral until 6:30 or so when we can put her to bed.  I hate it first because I feel like she really needs it, but also because I hate seeing her such a mess.  She cries and carries on and it is so SAD..... for me. 

One of the things that have been going on is that she is trying to figure out how to go to sleep all by herself.  It is just a transition period but I think that we are all struggling with it a little bit.  Maya, because she is the one that needs to do it, Scott because all his tricks aren't working and me because what I used to do, doesn't work completely anymore.  She nurses and then wants to go lay down, but then she just plays.  It is frustrating.  But we (Scott and I) need to figure out how we can help her learn how to do this.

I got a book out of the library on yoga and she LOVES it!  She will say "I want to do yoga" and loves to try and do the different poses.  We will sit down and go through the book.  She will do the pose and then take a deep breath.  It is the greatest thing!  Tonight she was doing "swan pose" in the shower.  She (like all other children) loves to move her body and is constantly amazed at what her body does.  It is so fun to watch and be a part of.  I want to keep that amazement alive and nurture her sense of wonder and fun. 

 

Time Flies When You Are Having Fun....

First of all: Happy Birthday Megan!!

Maya has been growing so quickly.  It seems as if she has gone through, or is in the middle of going through a big developmental spurt.  She is telling more stories, having longer conversations, crying a lot, skipping her nap, telling us what to do..... mostly good, mostly fun, a little bit tiring :)

She is into everything, especially calling people on the phone and talking to them (imaginary conversations). It is a lot of fun to listen to her call her cousins or Aunties and Uncles and ask what they are doing and tell them about Tank barking at the people outside or a recent event that happened.  

We have a puzzle that was given to Maya at Christmas of the United States and she is getting pretty darn good at it.  She can probably place at least 50% of them in the right spot and knows the name of the state based on the shape.  She will point to where Kentucky is and ask: "Where's 'Tucky?" And apparently her daddy told her that the little bunny on the state of Arkansas is pooping, because every time she puts this piece in, she says "The bunny pooping!" Great, Scott, thanks.  

She also knows who lives in each state.  Papa and Tutu in California, Nana and Grandpa Cal in Hawaii, Gramma and Papa in Ohio..... 

Since things are starting to warm up a bit, and we have had a few dry days lately, she has been playing outside on her play-structure more often.  She runs around underneath the slide and tunnel and says "Where's Maya?"  The other day she was out there, reveling in the notion that I was inside and she was outside and called me over to the window to look at what she had done. Well, what she had done was take handfuls of dirt out of the strawberry planter that I have on the back porch and thrown it all over the porch and stairs. She was very pleased with what she had done.  I asked her what I should do, since that was a big mess that I now needed to clean up, and she proceeded to put my hat on to cover her eyes, and say "Mama!  I can't see you!"  It was really hard not to laugh. 

Funny Stuff

I know that every parent says this, even people who don't have kids recognize the fun, silly and so earnestly honest things that kids say.  Kids are FUNNY!  They crack me up.  Especially my own daughter.  

This past Sunday, we were hanging pictures in the living room and moving some things around and Scott asked Maya what she thought.  She looked at him very seriously for a moment, then started smiling and said in her happy voice:  "I like Breakfast!!".  It was so funny!  

Uh Oh! A Big Mess!

This morning Maya was playing with her crayons which are in a bowl on her drawing table.  She will drop them all on the floor and then say:  "Uh-Oh!  A big mess!"  and then proceed to pick them all up.  

Also, she had milk in a cup and decided that the dogs needed to drink it, taking turns between the two of them of course!  She was very proud of herself with that!

Maya, you are cracking me up.  Today, on the potty, you said "I have penis!!" I said, "No, you are a girl, you have a vagina." Your response was "I have a lulu."  Yes, you are right, you have a lulu.  

She has gotten very into whispering things and will whisper something at you and make her eyes really big.  It is the cutest thing.  I will tell her secrets and when I ask her if I can tell her a secret, she will whisper "secret" in response.  

Maya is loving to chase the dogs around.  Every once in a while she decides that Tank needs to run a bit and she will trot after him, around the table, up and down the stairs, all over.  He mostly tolerates it pretty well.  She will also do a good job policing him.  If he is barking at the door, I can send her over there and she tells him to stop it and he does!  I think it is because she makes him so nervous, he just wants to move out of her way, but I'll take it. 

Potty training is going well.  I think that we just need to take the plunge and not use diapers except for naps and sleeping and car rides.  Even then, we could probably get away with it on car rides and trips. She is getting really good at it.  Pooping is hit or miss. She thinks it is really cool when she actually goes in the potty, but she is still more comfortable going in her diaper. 

It is so much fun watching Maya's personality emerge.  I see her sweetness and her eagerness to DO THINGS, her impatience, her silliness and her shyness and I wonder how that will grow with her.