SUMMER 2013

Maia is growing and changing so fast and I realize that I never document it.  So, here is my attempt.  My little girl is 1 year old (14 months to be exact) and she knows it.  Really.  If you ask her how old she is she will hold up 1 finger and say "whaaan."

To celebrate her birthday (2 months ago...ya...I'm slow) we had a little get together with some close friends at the park near our house (it was a butterfly theme).

Party Favors

I made Maia a cake.

And she had a blast.

A few weeks later we went to Texas to visit Juan's family and Maia was lucky enough to get a second birthday party at the beach.  She had a Minnie Mouse cake there ("Mow" is one of her favorite characters) and every time anyone would sing happy birthday to her she would get the biggest smile on her face.

This little girl started walking a little before her 1st birthday and now I can't keep up with her anymore. She loves being outside and kicking around balls ("baaaah").  I don't know much about how much 14 month olds usually talk, but this girl wont stop.  It might be completely normal, but I am continuously surprised at how many new words she is picking up.  She not only knows how to say these words, but she knows what they mean and how to use them to either get something from us or to show us something that she sees.  Some of the words that she uses on a DAILY basis are:

- Mickey or Minnie Mouse "Mow"
- Ball "Baah"
-Water "Waaagee"
-Up "Bah"
-Down "Doww"
-More Please "Moooe geees"
-All Done "Aw dah"
-Airplane "Aiadee" - she also knows what one sounds like in the sky and will find it and show us every   time one is flying over
-car "caaahhh" - this one is said a lot when walking through the walmart parking lot (haha)
-banana "nana"
-milk "miiil" - she also calls this leche "liichi"
-thank you "chichoo" - she will say this when we give her something
-nose "nooo"
-ear "eaaaw"
-key "keee"
-glasses "glaasee"
-dog "daw"
-luci (our dog) - "lulu"
-papa
-mama
-grandpa "gapaw"
-baby
-cheese - said every time she realizes we are taking a picture of her

And I'm sure there are a few that I am missing.  When she isn't using a word that she knows she is just babbling away.  I honestly can't believe how fast she learns and grows.  I am so grateful to have her in my life and to watch her learn and grow each day.

As for the adults in the family, we have been staying busy.  I taught summer school and Juan and I spent the summer trying to decide if we were going to take a job offer that Juan got and move to Texas or stay here.  We decided to stay in California (for now at least) and I got a new job working at a charter school in 5th grade.  I'm now working longer hours and bringing more work home with me, but it is a great job and I am learning a lot.  Between jobs and spending time with Maia (and trying to keep the house semi clean), we don't have much time for anything else.

So that was it...our summer in a nutshell.  Nothing too exciting, but it was a good one.  Hopefully the fall will bring some fun with it too.