11.24.2006

takara (treasure)

patterned paper: bo-bunny press
tab: 7 gypsies
frame: impress rubber stamps
magnet word: nickelodeon ("wing")
word stickers: k&co
flower eyelet: ?
flower brad: making memories
flower stamp: kodomo no kao
circle clip: close to my heart
angel and wing stickers: ? (got it in japan)
letter stamps: inkadinkadoo ("takara"), hero arts ("treasure")
japanese letter stamps: shachihata
journaling: september 23, '05 blog post

11.22.2006

oy vey

patterned paper: anna griffin (green & pink), chatterbox (floral), ki memories
letter stickers: making memories ("cute")
dome letter sticker: artoz ("m")
letter stamps: duncan enterprises ("oy vey"), hero arts (lowercase), all night media ("bad")
stamp: paper source ("registered no")
graphic rubon: american crafts
other: ribbon (michaels), tag punch (ek success), staples, photo corners, acrylic paint (delta), stamping ink, decorative scissors (fiskars)

11.17.2006

missing link?

not great quality, but here's video that proves maya is the missing link between humans and primates.

[warning: the video is 3 minutes long so it takes a bit to load, and there's no sound.]

11.16.2006

in a funk

i haven't blogged in awhile. have you noticed? i've been taking some time to do other things, namely sleeping. although i'm sure i have things to say, i don't know how to say them. hence, the lack of postings.

so i've decided to take a little break from blogging. gather my thoughts. do some crafting and reading instead. probably take some more naps.

and i'll be back. until then, i'll keep posting pictures on my flickr account so you can see what we've been up to.

toodles.

11.06.2006

what does that even mean?!

we went in for maya's 12-month check-up this afternoon. i had grand hopes she grew in the last three months but i was sorely disappointed. rupert guessed she would be 17 pounds (she was 15 pounds exactly at nine months old). nope, not even close. she was a whopping (and i use this term sarcastically) 16 pounds 1 ounce. she's in the negative third percentile! what?! there's no such thing; how can she be in the negative third percentile??

her height hadn't changed much either. the nurse got a measurement of 26 inches, which put maya in the (yet again) negative third percentile. the doctor looked at the figure and insisted we measure again (this happened at our last appointment too). this time maya measured 27 inches, which is in the 5th percentile. every last bit helps, right? her height is proportionate to her head circumference, which is between the fifth and tenth percentile.

no surprise, the doctor predicted she was going to be a petite (i.e., short) girl even when she grows up (most likely thanks to her grandmothers' genes). rupert suggested we sign her up for gymnastics class ... or jockey school. (for some reason that reminded me of the simpsons episode when lisa enrolls in gymnastics and excels because her big head gives her perfect balance.)

on surviving one year

having one child makes time pass quickly. having two children makes the time go by in the blink of an eye. i'm having a hard time believing that we've had maya in our family for one year.

i have whined and complained a great deal this past year (even more than usual). the adjustment from having a fairly self-sufficient, well-behaved boy to having a demanding, crazy baby girl was more than i could take on some days. i had doubts constantly about whether i made the right decision to expand our family.

but things must happen for a reason because, upon reflection, the past year has changed me in some ways ... hopefully for the better. i'm not necessarily a better parent by any means; i'm far less involved with my children than most parents are. and i'm not necessarily a better homemaker either; the chores still pile up and i don't accomplish much on most days. regardless of my lack of progress on these two fronts, however, i feel more balanced.

"find balance in your life" seems to be the mantra for the modern mom. it would be wonderful if we could achieve complete balance, but it's pretty darn close to being impossible. yet, modern moms try and try and try to achieve balance in everything they do, often at the expense of their own sanity. perhaps we try too hard and add more pressure, all in the name of "finding balance." at some point in the last year i gave that up. and you know what? i feel like i'm more balanced because in the back of my mind i don't constantly hear, "do this, do that, accomplish more, be more to more people, etc. etc." as a result, i'm not driving myself crazy when i don't finish everything on my to-do list, when i skip a day (or two or three) of cleaning, when i decide i'd rather read than make dinner. i'm happier, more rested, and more willing to do those chores when i find an extra minute or two. and, as often as i feel like i'm just going to lose it, i don't.

the last year has taught me to see the bigger picture. sure i have lots of bad days, but i just tell myself, "this too shall pass." and it does. i'm learning to see past the minutiae of every last gosh darn thing and embrace the imperfections of life. it's always been part of my personality to dwell on the negative of the past; minor, trivial things would haunt me forever. i was holding myself back from seeing the joy in today and the potential of tomorrow.

having maya in my life reminds me everyday that being a parent is the toughest job in the world. what could be more important, demanding, and agonizing than trying to raise a decent human being? are we making the right choices? what more can we do? but then i look at maya, and all she wants is to be loved; for us to smile at her, roll the ball around for her, feed her, take her outside for a walk, and sing to her. and is that difficult? nope. just doing those things will probably help her to become a decent human being more than teaching her the alphabet, moving to a neighborhood with a good school district, or signing her up for tons of classes. i realize those things could help her future, but the fundamental thing about being a good parent is to be there for your child(ren).

so, for the next year, and the many years that follow, that's what i'll try to do for maya and ian. it took me six years of being a parent to figure this out. and i honestly believe that i may not have realized this if i hadn't had a second child. for that, i'm grateful to my children: to ian for putting up with me (and my mistakes) for the last six years, and to maya for teaching me to be a better parent.

11.03.2006

week 52.

maya @ 52 weeks :: november 3, 2006

  • she is an expert at peeling off labels, stickers and tags. this talent also extends to opening packages (for example, my friend gave her an unopened pack of gum to play with but she managed to rip it open in no time).
  • she likes to go through the garbage.
  • i resisted giving her balloons to play with (for safety reasons) but she definitely likes the ones she gets from trader joe's.
  • standing with more confidence and balance; she can have things in her hands when she stands up from a sitting/squatting position. she can also take a few steps if you hold her hands (which we don't do because it's not rie).
  • new foods: castella cake, non-jarred baby food yogurt, kiwi
  • babbling all the time but not saying much ... i wonder if it's because she's "learning" two languages at home.
  • she can distinguish between elmo, cookie monster, and big bird.
  • kisses like a normal person, finally!
  • will feed you food, especially if it's something she doesn't want to eat like peas.
  • wields ian's plastic samurai sword like it's nobody's business. totally "kill bill"esque.