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.