48 months.

Maya @ 48 months :: November 4, 2009

[the last of my what-started-as-weekly-and-is-now-monthly posts about Maya]

• Visited a real pumpkin patch for the first time in Ventura. This was a tradition we started when Ian was little, but we stopped going after a few years so we'd like to resurrect it.
• Her counting to 20 is definitely getting better ... finally.
• She was a mermaid princess for Halloween and went trick-or-treating with her friend M (for two blocks before she got tired). She definitely loves her candy ... but she separated out the chocolates for me and Rupert to eat.
  
• From Rupert's Facebook :: "I'm shooting zombies out of my butt." -- not the words of a normal 3 year old.
• And calling bad guys (Biff from Back to the Future Part II) "poop heads."
  
• She's not very good at pluralfying nouns. Appropriately for October :: "ghostes" + "leafes"
  
• First parent-teacher conference :: academically moving along quite well, but socially it turns out she's a lot more similar to Ian than I originally thought.
• Rupert *still* spoonfeeds her cereal in the morning but she promised me that once she turns 4 she'll eat by herself (which she is totally capable of doing). Now, we have to make sure Rupert goes along with the plan.
  
• She has this thing about not wanting to be on the freeway because "it's boring!" If we're going somewhere she doesn't recognize the first thing she asks is, "Are we going on the freeway?" Then she asks, "Are we on the freeway now?" And finally she asks repeatedly, "Are we off the freeway?"
  

47 months.

Maya @ 47 months :: October 4, 2009

• Is a total Daddy's Girl right now ... which is fine by me since it means she bothers Rupert in the morning instead of me!
• Started "Hot Shots," a tumbling class, at school. It's a great way to get her to wear something other than dresses.
• She can be very lovable + sweet when she wants to be. I get lots of "Mama, I love you all day," which makes my day.
• On the other hand, she often hits or kicks Ian, usually in the face. Then I send her to her room for time-out and she always asks for the timer so she knows when to come out.
• Despite beating up on her brother, she enjoys spending time with him and his friend R when they are hanging out in the morning before school.
• Her drawing infatuation continues. Lately she's been drawing more animals and making bookmarks for me.
  
• She's taller than I think she is :: I put the scissors up high since she was having issues with cutting paper up, but it turns out she can reach it on her tip-toes (I didn't notice because she was good enough to put the scissors back after using it). She can also turn on the lights in the house; now, if only she'd turn them off.
• Has a fascination with butts and boobs.
  

46 months.

maya @ 46 months :: september 4, 2009

• we spent a week in palm desert with my parents (an annual tradition). boy, does she like staying at hotels! she also loves swimming and she'll jump into the pool if you let her hold one of your fingers, but she doesn't like to float around on her own.
• the following conversation pretty much summarizes her attitude right now ::
  

  maya :: i'm the boss!
  ian :: no, you're not.
  maya :: why not?! i'm three and three-quarters!
  

• went on an overnight trip with ian and her grandparents to legoland.
• one of her favorite books is "go, dog. go!"
• she started in the "official" pre-K class, i.e., the four-year-old class at her preschool. i'm happy 'cause tuition is lower thanks to the LAUP program.
• keeps talking about going to ian's friends' houses for sleepovers when she's 16 and 24. i guess it's because we told her she has to be a little bit older to go, but i think i would be hesitant to let her spend the night at a boy's house when she's 16!
  

45 months.

maya @ 45 months :: august 4, 2009

• wants to wear dresses all the time. probably influenced by all the girls at her preschool.
• we started going to our new farmers market down the block from our house and now she thinks the farmers market "lives" in that parking lot.
• always yells out "my school! my school!" when we pass by, which is often.
• enjoying splashing around in the water but isn't much about swimming (i.e., dunking her face underwater), although on a good day she'll let me pull her around while she blows bubbles and kicks her feet.
• can write ian's name and most of the alphabet correctly. she asks about the spelling of certain words, mostly names of people she likes (i.e., ian's friends).
• drawing cats and dogs and princesses.
• finally got to spend the night in ian's room.
• her favorite song is the "ABC song" but one day towards the end of the month she was upset because she "lost" the letter O in the song. it was really because she kept singing it, as most kids her age do, "ellamennow."
• it seems at some point she decided she does, in fact, have a favorite blanket :: the light green baby gap "wan wan" (i.e., puppy) blankie that once belonged to ian.
  
• she loves to stop by a bush near her preschool that attracts a lot of little yellow butterflies. she tries in vain each day to have one walk on her hand; she's only been successful once so far. (on occasion i gently catch one for her so she can see it up close.)

44 months.

maya @ 44 months :: july 4, 2009

• talks incessantly; a complete and total chatterbox.
• went to disneyland early in june with her grandparents and can't stop talking about going again.
• coined the term "snarted" when she sneezed + farted at the same time while sitting on the toilet. rupert was so proud.
• really, really, really wants to get a puppy + kitten :: she talks about it almost everyday, asking when she can get a dog and a cat. we keep telling her that when she gets her own house she can do whatever she wants.
  
• calls the zoo, "the jungle."
• no change here but she's writing + drawing up a storm.
• learned a "princess" dance from her classmates, but it's not particularly classy or regal. it's basically putting one hand on the side of her head + the other hand on her hip, and shaking her hips vigorously.
• spent a week away from mama + ian (while they were in paris). claimed she didn't miss ian at all (the feeling was mutual).

43 months.

maya @ 43 months :: june 4, 2009

• participated in her first "talent show," two dances for parents' night at her preschool. she danced to "99 red balloons" by blondie + "rollercoaster of love" by the ohio players. when rupert found a youtube video of "99 red balloons" afterwards, maya stopped what she was doing and immediately started dancing to the music.
  
• slept through her first semi-major earthquake. she experiences the second one (a couple of days later) at school; she got a nice lesson on dropping and crawling under a table. the earthquake doesn't seem to phase her much.
• no longer pretends to be a cat. instead, she crawls around on all fours barking. i wonder what animal she'll be next?
• caught her saying "jesus!" when she made an exciting discovery. (i can't remember her exact wording, but it was something akin to, "jesus! i like those stickers!") i had to somehow explain to her that it wasn't a bad word to use, but it wasn't the right word to use either. i blame rupert because i would never take the lord's name in vain, even though i'm not christian.
• opens the fridge in hopes of reaching the bottle of "pori pori" (probiotic pills).
• her drawings of people now have eyeballs and torsos are becoming an option.
• caught her first real cold (i.e., lasting longer than 24 hours).
  

42 months.

maya @ 42 months :: may 4, 2009

• when we used the compost for planting our garden, maya discovered the wonders of the earthworm. she digs them up from the compost and carries one around the backyard. she continues to try to bring them into the house, but the threat of the earthworm's demise convinces her to return the worm to the earth.
• her people drawings now have more hair, appendages sticking out of the head, and more details like eyelashes. i suspect she'll start drawing torsos very soon.
• there's been improvement on writing her name. if she gives herself enough room she spells her name correctly in capital letters, but if she runs out of space she puts the last "a" in front of the "m" so she becomes "amay."
• she's a pasta-freak.
• she had a good time at her "boyfriend" domenic's birthday party. apparently, domenic threw a fit when he found out maya's invitation went to the wrong girl. good thing rupert was willing to take her to the party at the last minute instead of going to the festival of books with me and ian.
• she says she wants to cut her hair like mine but i wonder what would happen if we actually took her to a haircut place?
• she's finally completely potty-trained! no more accidents! and wakes up on her own in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom! yay!

41 months.

maya @ 41 months :: april 4, 2009

• is really getting into the powerpuff girls dvd. she would totally shake her booty during the song between episodes. she doesn't seem to like mojo jojo very much.
• to delay bedtime even more, not only does she come out of her room at least twice to go potty, but she insists that she's scared of "bears, ghosts, witches, and mojo jojo." i have to tell her that the mommy bear, mommy ghost, and mommy witch have sent their kids to bed already and maya is the only one still awake and she better get her butt into bed.
• she's cutting with scissors quite well now. but i have to remember to tie her hair back when she uses scissors so she doesn't accidentally snip off some of the hair that's dangling in front of her face like she did the other day.
• loves to sing songs. now that i've lifted my own ban of singing to her in english she's really gotten into "old mcdonald had a farm." she also makes up songs, although the lyrics usually consist of her repeating one word (maybe two) over and over again [see below].
• identifying letters everywhere we go; a good sign that eventually she will, in fact, learn to read despite our earlier worries.
• got a new pony stuffed animal while we were staying in ojai. she named it "beauty" all on her own -- it's black.
• loves her friend domenic at school. so much that she sings a song about him incessantly if reminded about him at home. the song is just her repeating "domenic" over and over again in a semi-melodious way.
• so happy that her uncle aaron and auntie anne visited for grumpa's 60th birthday.
• she still whines but i think she's getting better. i truly believe it's helping that i'm interacting and parenting in a much calmer way. i rarely raise my voice at her and i try my best to explain everything to her in a clear and simple way. she responds positively to this and seems to be making an effort to follow my directions. now, her relationship with rupert, on the other hand ...
• but there are days when she is very liberal with her out-of-the-blue "mama, i love you!"s, which does make my day.
• drawing people with bodies (a line) and, on occasion, arms, but still no legs.
• loves animals (cats, especially) and is enjoying looking at her animal encyclopedia and identifying the ones she knows.
• when rupert pulled out the chinese take-out menu she immediately said she wanted, "chicken and bwok-li, and two rices." um, maybe we get take-out too often?
• her teacher said she has perfectionist tendencies, which really surprised me. i totally thought she would be more laid back and relaxed than ian (we're having some issues with him), but it appears she cares very much about her work being just right. the poor kids take after me ... on the bright side, her teacher did say she's doing quite well in most other areas of her school work. this particular teacher calls her maita, which is so cute and true!
• potty training is definitely not complete :: she'll go quite a few days withouth an accident and then she'll have several days of accidents in a row, especially while she's sleeping. we just have to keep working at it.
• she has a thing for wednesday; maybe she just likes to say it?

40 months.

maya @ 40 months :: march 4, 2009

• after she watched the monsters vs aliens trailer (on the kung fu panda dvd) she started saying, "suuuuusan ... oh, i scare myself!"
• when singing the ABC song, she repeats "k -- lmnop" a lot
• drawing faces and continues to color a lot. learning to trace her name at school; sometimes it comes out "moyo" or "moya."
• likes to pretend she's a cat. she also mentioned she wanted to bring the stray cat in the backyard into our house and keep it ... and hug it.
• randomly told me, "i don't like you" while we were shopping at the supermarket. when i asked her why, she told me, "you're awful." gee, thanks.
• while brushing her teeth with rupert she told him, "i hate this!" which is weird because she usually likes to brush her teeth.
• the two points above, we think, are preschool classmate influences.
• likes to do "where is thumbkin?" but misses about half the song.
• another thing she learned from a friend (we think) :: crossing her arms and stomping her feet. great.
• hopping on one foot.
• her friends call her "my-my" at school.
• loves to blow dandelions. this love is making our already dandelion-infested front yard into an even more dandelion-infested lawn.
• she actually said she didn't like the little mermaid dvd. hallelujah! but we'll have to see how long that lasts.

39 months.

maya @ 39 months :: feburary 4, 2009

• beginning of the month :: adjusting to preschool life. i can't say she wants to go (she's happy on the weekends when we tell her it's not a school day) but she goes without resisting ... most days.
• end of the month :: very rarely complains about going to school, and even asks to go on the weekend. even if she does wake up complaining about going to school, by the time i've gotten dressed for work she wants to get dressed and go to school too. she likes to get her hair done by her teacher, who does a much better job than i do. i've also gotten compliments on her behavior and how she's so good at cleaning up without being told. i did not know who the teachers were talking about. it worries me slightly that when i go to pick her up she often has to hug one of the boys from the 4-year-old class.
• her potty training is coming along; most days she doesn't have an accident. some nights she doesn't pee, other nights we change sheets totally bleery-eyed. but she still needs to learn how to use the right amount of toilet paper; sometimes she can't tear it off at the right place and ends up putting in a quarter of the roll of TP into the toilet!
• had a great time when her auntie L babysat while rupert + i went out for a few hours with our friends.
• loves to color. i made the mistake of complimenting her on how well she stays in the lines and now she gets a little upset when she doesn't. hmm ... i wonder where she gets that ocd from?
• she's no longer allowed in ian's room; we keep finding her in there raiding ian's sticker stash and also cutting them up with scissors on occasion.
• learning to clean up her room on her own a tiny bit better.
• her abc's are coming along but counting is still a challenge. she seems to always skip "3," even though she's three years old. when she does remember "3" she seems to forget all of the numbers that come after it.
• she's embracing "real" shoes (i.e., not crocs) and cute, colorful socks.
• she won't sit long enough to watch more than 10 minutes of her brother's basketball games, which means i don't get to watch more than 10 minutes of ian's games.
• she is quite the little charmer :: she got complete strangers to read her a book in the children's section of barnes & noble.
• grammar is not her strong point :: we hear a lot of "i is bossy!" and "i is rude!" around here.
• her favorite snack is dried mangoes from TJ's.
• her version of "are we there yet?" is "are we home now?"
• when we walk to school i noticed that she jumps over the cracks in the sidewalk. i'm grateful she does not want to break my back.
• her favorite movie characters :: tai lung and darth vader. and who does she want to be when she grows up? darth vader, of course. why? because "he fights and he's strong." zhoo-oom, zhoo-oom (my feeble attempt at making lightsaber sounds)!
• she calls pony tails "pony ride"
• her uncooperative conversational skills have already begun :: "what did you do at school today?" "i don't know."
• her favorite colors are pink and purple (no surprise). she often colors entire coloring pages purple or pink.
• we are seriously getting worried about what kind of teenager she's going to grow up to be. at the rate she's going we'll have a delinquent on our hands. just the other day i had to scold her because she colored all over her stool and the coffee table. i told her if she did it again i would take her crayons away. sure enough, the next day, i'm walking past her room and she tries to slam the door in my face, a sure sign she's up to no good. i go in and she's colored all over her floor. i tell her i'm very upset with her and take away her crayons. she starts to cry and claims she's tired so she wants to take a nap. fine. i leave her in her room, but notice sometime later that she's in the bathroom, washing her hands. for a long time. i yell towards the bathroom (why get up when you can yell?) to turn the water off. she yells back that she's still washing her hands. i go in and she's vigorously scrubbing her hands. wouldn't you know, if i take away her crayons but leave a ballpoint pen in her room she'll use that to write all over her hands. clearly, my fault. i take away the pen and go to assess the damage in her room. that's when i notice she's peed her pants. i guess the running water made her go. but she was too busy trying to scrub away the evidence of her actions to stop and use the toilet. needless to say i was not a happy camper that day.
• speaking of pee, i have to keep reminding her to "pee down" (i.e., sort of lower her behind into the toilet) or else her shi-shi shoots out of the toilet ... on to me.
• she's actually attempting to write her name by herself (see scribbles on picture above). she's also beginning to draw faces. she can also spell her name. i'm thrilled that school is really helping her academically; it's more than i managed to accomplish in three years. she's showing much more interest in letters and reading :: she points out letters while we're driving along and asks how to read words. when she wants to be read to but we can't at the moment and tell her to look at the book by herself, she always says, "i don't know words!"
• she randomly likes to say, "mama, i love you" or "mama, i like you," which is nice and all, but i can't help but feel she's practicing for, "mama, i love you ... can i [insert ridiculous request here]?"
• she can "sing" the imperial march from star wars.
• one of her favorite books is chicka chicka boom boom.
• when we do go to ian's basketball games she likes to hang out outside and do defensive sliding drills.

38 months.

maya @ 38 months :: january 4, 2009

• two of her new favorite sayings, both of which we are trying to expel from her vocabulary :: yada (no, i don't want to, uh-uh in japanese) + dumdum (from lovely spongebob square pants)
• her potty training is regressing a bit. when she's distracted with playtime or eating she just goes.
• trial day at preschool went fairly well, but we were there so i'm not sure how it will go on her actual first day. she, of course, hogged the sink before snack time, just leisurely rinsing her hands while all the other kids waited patiently. she also cut in line to wash her hands. i'm also concerned that she's not going to pull up her pants very well (she tries to pull up her panties and pants at the same time, and then her panties get all bunched up). i'm also worried that her jap-lish (japanese-english) will confuse the teachers. well, there's lots to worry about but there's no sense in getting too worked up until actual problems arise, i guess.
• still confused about hanukkah :: she wanted to blow out the menorah candles and she was really much more about the ho-ho-ho (i.e., santa).
• she likes to go on trike rides around the block with rupert.
• when you come into our house you are basically entering whiny-town. the whining has gotten worse lately; or maybe it's because we've all been home lately and we're getting on each other's nerves.
• her favorite new dessert :: one marshmallow after dinner
• she seemed to like the smurfs and the gummi bears cartoons, both rented from netflix
• she's taken a great liking to ian's new stuffed penguin, fluffy. there have been some tiffs about who gets to sleep with fluffy each night ("ian not need to sleep with fluffy!"), but ian has been very generous in allowing maya to play with fluffy ... as long as she doesn't hide fluffy in the kitchen cabinet again.

37 months.

maya @ 37th months :: december 4, 2008

• confused the show "pushing daisies" with literally pushing her stuffed duck daisy.

• when she doesn't want to walk anymore we hear a lot of "my leg broken" and "so much walking"

• wanna get her to do something? tell her dr. burgett wants her to behave :: "my doctor said?"

• actually unchi-ing on her own (sans miralax) almost everyday. hallelujah!

• when she wants to show you something, she requests that you "close your eye ... open your eye!" i always find it funny that she uses the singular.

• starting to do some "chores" :: wanting to help in the kitchen, using the handheld vacuum.

• favorite movie :: the nightmare before christmas (she loves jack)

• rupert instituted a rewards jar with skittles in it but, to be honest, it wasn't very well-thought out so it hasn't been particularly effective. we're going to have to come up with something better.

36 months.

maya @ 36 months :: november 4, 2008

• rupert taught her how to play candyland (actually following the rules) and she, of course, was two-for-two the first time they played.
• she's unchi-ing on her own a bit (harder unchi = uncomfortable unchi) but we still need the miralax.
• she exclaimed "dude!" and smacked herself in the forehead in frustration while playing the tightrope walking on wii fit.
• loves halloween :: every single time we pass a house with halloween decorations she yells, "halloween! halloween!". she even insisted, "halloween!" when we stopped at a light next to a derelict house.
• really enjoyed trick-or-treating and getting candy; the costume not so much. we told her she couldn't get candy unless she wore her costume. as for trick-or-treating, we practiced beforehand what she had to say and she was pretty courageous about going up to scary-looking houses.
• we're hearing a lot of "i not tired! i really not tired!" around naptime and bedtime, but she really still needs a nap ... i need her to nap!
• i am blessed that my pta/mom friends are so generous with maya; they help me take care of her and don't mind when i bring her to pta stuff.
• she enjoyed watching the new indiana jones and iron man movies. she can even identify robert downey jr. as iron man.
• likes to be the little mermaid :: when her hair's wet she says, "little mermaid hair" and she was insistent that i acknowledge she was like the little mermaid when she put chapstick on her lips (i didn't quite understand that, but whatever).
• finally starting to understand how the green lights + red lights work (which light to look at when we're waiting to cross the street).
• she insists that i dakko her (pick her up) when we talk about going to her grandma's house because, "lucy lick me. lucy lick my face. i not like it." (lucy is my in-laws' dog)
• interested in words and getting it that letters together make words that can be read.
• really psyched about her birthday. she's been talking about it a lot without really knowing when her birthday is ... or how old she's going to be, for that matter. well, i guess we can work on that!
• this has been going on for awhile, but she likes to use the pepper grinder and sprinkle a pinch of salt from the salt cellear to her eggs.

35 months.

maya @ 35 months :: october 4, 2008

• at the beginning of the month, her diaper was not fitting right for some reason (i.e., her pee leaked frequently). at first we thought it was because we got some huggies (we usually use pampers), then we thought it was because her pampers were too small, but now that we've switched to bigger pampers and it's still happening, we're stumped. --> duh, she's just peeing more!
• likes to make herself dizzy by twirling around, running in circles, or spinning on her butt
• favorite movie :: harry potter (usually "harry potter and the sorcerer's stone")
• favorite game :: wii fit ski jump
• favorite animal :: elephants
• we made her cry when we told her not to eat her boogers because it's gross
• she can wash her hands by herself. she even drags the stool over to the light switch to turn the light on and off.
• back to playing with her friend julia, but now i have to swing by ian's old school (after dropping him off at his current grades 3-5 school) so she can have her mini-playdate each morning.
• i cannot seem to get rid of the fruit flies in our kitchen, and when maya sees them she says, "bug :: squish it!" as she claps her hands together.
• collecting rose petals in her basket purse, ziploc bags, and spongebob tin.
• hiding her hands behind her back when she's taken something or has something that she shouldn't have.
• after some playdates with more potty-trained friends she's been going to the bathroom more consistently :: "i NEED to go peepee!!"
• climbing into her crib (swings her legs over the front if it's lowered).
• likes to use colored pencils :: the other day she was "drawing" colorful lines on a piece of paper and when rupert asked her what she was drawing she replied they were all "mad people."
• got a hand-me-down (3-wheeled) scooter from our next door neighbors. she's really cute in her doggy helmet, kicking along the sidewalk ... until she runs into something.
• the dreaded "why?"s have begun.
• she's beginning to express fear more frequently :: "i scared" and she hugs herself. she's been sleeping fine in her room without a nightlight but now she occasionally complains about the dark. (ian having just recently stopped using a nightlight we are trying very hard not to get her to use one.)
• a clear sign that we need to cut down on the tv-watching :: "i like this commercial!"
• breaking bones and choking ... and she thinks it's funny.
• when she's got attitude we hear a lot of, "i know!" but when she's being cute she'll say stuff like, "oh, i got ya!"
• calls the iphone "debbie phone," since my step-sis has one.
• taking fewer and fewer naps ... boo!knows a few more letters (w, c, r, q); rupert has been working with her using flashcards.
• learned from somewhere that after you say, "trick or treat!" you get candy.
• i've caught her using my scissors, snipping pieces of papers into tiny pieces.
• she likes to assign "mama," "dada," "baby," and "niinii" roles to everything living (usually by size).

34 months.

maya @ 34 months :: september 4, 2008

• finally realized the piano can be played. she actually plays quite well and smoothly considering her pretty short fingers.
• calls herself "superman" ... she also calls spiderman "superman."
• took her to the body worlds 3 exhibit at the california sciencenter. when we stepped in and she saw the first skeleton she said, rather unconvincingly, "i scared!" she showed great interest in the plastinized digestive tract; i showed her where her food goes and how her unchi was stuck in her intenstine. since then she talks about gummy bears going through her tummy bones (she doesn't quite grasp the idea of organs) back and forth and coming out as unchi with a plop. she was also intrigued by the lecture i gave on how jiji's lungs are black like the cancer-infested lungs on display and hers were more white/pink. jiji's lungs are now bacchi (dirty).
• while we were watching who framed roger rabbit she kept referring to jessica rabbit as "little mermaid."
• the thing she says most often may quite possibly be, "sowwy [sorry] mama."
• fun at legoland with mama and ian. she really liked captain cranky's challenge, which swung us around all over the place, and the big lego elephant that shoots water out of its trunk.
• a few days in palm springs with my side of the family. we spent a lot of time in the pool. she also confirmed that she is a complete flirt; she was after my sister's boyfriend the whole time we were in palm springs.
• likes to eat korean nori (seaweed), wrapped around rice or all by itself.
• playing with D's iphone ... she knows how to access the photos, zooms in and out, and plays games. in fact, she was so into popping bubbles that she didn't notice D tickling her feet.
• although we decided to forget potty-training while she's dealing with her unchi issues, she's been pretty good about going potty on the toilet before bed.
• can pick things up (like puzzle pieces) with her toes ... just like her mama.
• she is getting into the bad, lazy habit of saying, "can't do it" without really trying. gee, i wonder where she got that defeatist attitude from?
• now that football season has started, maya is watching games with rupert and ian. for almost every play she yells, "touchdown!"
• says, "sure!" for answering in the affirmative.
• i went to get her from her nap and she had torn apart and completely obliterated her diaper, as well as peed in her crib. lovely.
• she loves having "shake shake" for dessert (vanilla ice cream with milk).
• she is turning into a girly-girl :: at our friend's house she was all about their daughter's princess crown and dress-up clothes (i.e., ariel costume and tutu).

33 months.

maya @ 33 months :: august 4, 2008

• sings really random songs like, "don't know who farted" ... at least, that's what we think she's warbling
• second time at the movies :: wall-e
• her legs are finally long enough to pedal her tricycle
• she is a sticker fanatic. but, unlike her mother who hoards stickers, she likes to use 'em up. she sticks them all over the place :: her body, her face, the glass on our cabinets, the floor, the exercise ball, the inside of the car door, etc. luckily, she gets lots of free stickers at tj's, which i don't mind her using up immediately, but sometimes she gets into ian's sticker drawer and wreaks havoc.
• her favorite vegetable continues to be kyuuri (japanese cucumber) sticks
• lots of running = constantly scraped knees
• likes her swimming "class" :: she'll dunk her head underwater if i make her but she prefers to kick around the water on her back (but she keeps her ears out of the water)
• will take showers now but needs a bit of coaxing to look up so i can rinse her hair
• loves to talk about her "friends," who are really ian's friends
• hanging from the kitchen counter, door knobs, and her crib railing
• keeping summer hours :: staying up waaaaay past her bedtime
• her favorite movie :: little mermaid (watching it now, that movie looks really crude and the storyline is pretty weak compared to animated movies today)
• coloring and drawing with pens and colored pencils. they're mostly squiggles, but if she shows me a random shape and claims it's me, i'll ask her where my eyes are, and she'll go back and add eyes. i also bought her some crayola paintbrushes but i don't recommend this particular item (they're frustrating ... for kid and parent)
• miralax is really helping with her constipation; she now goes almost everyday, which hasn't happened since her first 10 months of life! she loves putting a happy face sticker on the calendar after she goes; she's very proud. she also insists on looking at the unchi in her diaper. yuck.
• becoming a little star wars fan because of ian's obsession with playing star wars battlefront, currently her favorite video game to watch.
• likes getting her ears cleaned with q-tips. she's always bringing me q-tips from the bathroom and i have to tell her that they don't need cleaning that often.
• she heard ian and his friend spew, "that's not fair!" during star wars battlefront so she said it happily for a few days without knowing what it meant :: "i shwim [swim], that not fair!"
• ian taught her how to play jyanken (rock-paper-scissor). we're not sure if she totally understands the "rules" but it keeps her occupied in the car.

32 months.

maya @ 32 months :: july 4, 2008

• first time away from mom + dad :: three days at baba's with ian and my aunt.
• first time at a movie theater :: kung fu panda :: and she actually sat through it on my sister's and her boyfriend's laps (until she fell asleep). now everytime she sees the panda -- on tv, in the newspaper, on a happy meal box in a random garbage can -- she gets excited, yells "kuh-fu panda!" + does her kung fu arm moves.
• first time on a real pony @ griffith park while she was with my mom. unfortunately, the camera battery died and there are no pictures of her going around the pony trail, by herself, twice (ian only went around once).
• the last month has been her verbal spurt. among some of the things she's been saying are her favorites :: "go away, ian" + "that's mine, ian." picked up "cool!" and "oh my gosh!" from somewhere.
• went 16 days without going poopy, a new record. we started giving her "candy juice," a rootbeer-flavored children's laxative. then she went 12 days without going so we called the pediatrician. we saw a new (to us) doctor who jumped into action right away, warning us that it could take a year or two for maya to get over her constipation. we got an x-ray done of her abdomen and, sure enough, it was completely clogged with poop. poor girl had to endure three days of daily enemas (her "i don't like that!" crying was heart-breaking), and now we have to sneak miralax into her food and drink. but it's the first step towards breaking the cycle of constipation (and, hopefully, crankiness).
• asks begs rupert to play lego indiana jones :: "play jones, daddy. please! just little bit!" she's actually pretty good at taking control of the nunchuk and, therefore, the lego character; guiding it around the screen and wielding the whip like an expert. she's particularly fond of the female characters, calling them "pincess maya," and she goes around the room screaming like willie. you can also get her to pretend like she's actually wielding a whip (using a long fabric scrap) with a "whupsh!" sound.
• she's really into candy -- she plays with it more than she eats it -- and popsicles. as you can imagine, the pinata at a friend's party really piqued her interest. after all, there was candy falling out of the sky!
• even with her short little legs she's becoming quite the climber ... but her jumping still needs some work.
• it's happening -- she's interested in disney princesses! the horror! the horror!! she watched "beauty and the beef" (yes, that's what she calls it) and "the little mermaid" at my mother-in-law's house. she also declared her purple dress to be her "pincess dress."
• when we bought rock band, she came in from the beach and instead of going down for her nap, through her groginess, insisted on "rock band! rock band!" sometimes she'll sing parts of "blitzgrieg bop," but usually she just dances to our horrid singing.
• while we were at the park last week a boy fell of the slide and the ambulance had to be called. maya asked her usual, "wha happen?" and we explained that he broke his arm and had to go to the doctor. ever since, when she sees an ambulance she talks about how "broken arms? boy broken arms?" the power of association is pretty amazing ... and maybe a bit traumatizing.

31 months.

maya @ 31 months :: june 4, 2008

• i got around to starting her on pull-up diapers. she opted for dora ones rather than disney princess ones ... thank god! but we aren't having much luck with getting her to go shishi on the potty very often.
• finally interested in the names of various shapes, and when she feels like it she gets her colors right. numbers and the alphabet aren't really coming along, but she did show some interest in the hiragana book i checked out for her at the library.
• it's happening ... the dreaded, incessant "why?"s and "what's that?"s.
• she is one bossy little lady. i will often find her talking to her little friends by literally wagging her finger at them and commanding them to do as she says.
• picking up new phrases like "calm down!" and "whoa! that messy! (in regards to her own mess in the living room that's been there all day)".
• one of her new favorite toys is the toy cash register and the pretend money in it.
• was actually quite well-behaved on our plane trip to milwaukee. it probably helped that she had her own seat and we replaced our aging portable dvd player. and much to rupert's delight, she called the photo of matthew fox on the cover of the inflight magazine, "daddy."
• she says, "c'mon! c'mon!" to get her unchi to come out.
• if i give her a 1-2-3 warning to do something, she usually does.
• she locked the bathroom door ... and shut it behind her.
• she now answers "two-half" when people ask her how old she is.

30 months.

maya @ 30 months :: may 4, 2008

• coloring better, and attempts to stay within the lines sometimes.
• spits ... in the house. but we put an end to that pretty quickly. another icky thing she's been doing lately is eating hair, oftentimes my hair.
• assumes "the position" to put her diaper on standing up.
• writes draws Os + Is, and recognizes a few other letters. when i complimented her on the O she wrote one day, she took a bow, so to speak, by saying, "thank you, thank you, thank you very much." her counting is improving ... sort of :: "one, two, three, six, seven"
• we're starting her on playing boardgames. the buzzer on "operation" scared her, though.
• movie of the month :: meet the robinsons. she also watched amelie with me a couple of times.
• when she's in the mood, she's kind enough to jump over the cracks in the sidewalk so she doesn't break her mother's back.
• she managed to clog the toilet ... twice ... this month (we had to call the plumber + get a snake for the toilet). she's also been reluctant to go unchi on the toilet lately, but we still make her.
• she loves to move the hose/sprinkler in the front yard with rupert when he waters the lawn. and even when he doesn't have to water the lawn she insists on going outside to do the "spinklah."
• she's capable of saying "sorry" and "thank you" at the appropriate moments ... it's just that she usually doesn't choose to. and who knows where she picked up her sassy "oka~y, oka~y!" from.
• for some reason she calls roly-polies "wakamolies." she also seems to be confused about "chickens" and "kitchens." it took rupert a few days to get her to say "pineapple" instead of "apple pie." yeah, it's taking her awhile to get the hang of the english language.
• has a new best buddy, the little sister of two kids who go to ian's school. at drop-off in the morning the two love to chase each other around and sit on the steps to the office and chat.
• the librarian gave her a tootsie pop, at which point maya wanted to go straight home to eat it. after she unwrapped it she asked me to take pictures of her eating it (like with the ring pop she got from the library last month).
• every little noise/change in voice/thing makes her ask, "what happened?" and she'll keep asking until you give her an adequate answer. i can only imagine what it'll be like when she starts asking, "why?"
• she and her brother are beginning to "fight" more. not real fights but little tussles. usually i'll find maya sitting on top of ian and hear his muffled cries of, "get off of me! get off of me!" but i'll also catch ian trying to bop her in the head with the couch pillow or throwing balls directly at her in the backyard.
• she's always curious about ambulance/fire engine/police car sirens, but she seems to be confused about the ice cream truck music. when the ice cream truck stops at the library on the next block -- which is everyday -- she asks with a hint of concern in her voice, "what that noise?"

29 months.

maya @ 29 months :: april 4, 2008

• she is finally -- finally! -- starting to use more japanese words. and she definitely understands that there are two ways of saying things. for example, she will ask me to draw her a "wani" and then repeat "ow-ee-gatow." (and by "ask" i mean she brings me her magnadoodle and says "wani" while pointing with the magnet-pen.) but she still does not speak very clearly; her enunciation is really quite poor, which is starting to worry me a bit.
• the movie-of-the-month is "mononoke hime (princess mononoke)," which she calls "shishi" for inoshishi (boar). her favorite line? "sare!" (leave!)
• she really relates to the "curious george goes to the hospital" dvd rupert bought for her recently. it must be because she often has a stomach ache. [warning :: the second story on this dvd, "mouse soup" is bizarre!]
• everytime we go to a birthday party she thinks it's her birthday. or, if she gets a present for whatever reason she thinks it's for her birthday. and she knows cake and candles come with any mention of birthday.
• she talks to her little friends (and me!) like she talks to my mother-in-law's dog :: "stop!" "stay!"
• she likes to look at my scrapbook layouts. she asks me to pull down the "pick-cas" (pictures) from the bookshelf and flips through the layouts, often mistaking baby pictures of ian for herself.
• we're able to get her to unchi (poopy) on the toilet exclusively. this is helpful since her poops are so huge that they are unpleasant to clean up after they've been deposited in a diaper. she's also getting better about telling us she has to go #1 so we've started getting her to pee on the toilet at least once a day. but i haven't had the inclination to actually start "potty training."
• it's not very rie, but i am going to have to start using time-outs more often.
• she's getting attached to my workout buddy, P (who also happens to be ian's best friend's mom).
• sticks her plastic stethoscope to her mouth by sucking in.
• enjoys talking on the phone :: she's always pretended on her toy phone but she got a taste of the real thing while rupert was out of town and now she always wants to talk on the phone when it rings.
• loves bandaids ... then again, what kid doesn't?
• gives loooooong, slobbery, full-on-the-lips kisses
• she sings this crazy song she made up over and over again. what i can make out sounds like, "i'm a boy." and because she is her parents' daughter, when she starts warbling ian reaches for anything and everything that will cover his ears.
• when rupert and i embrace she comes running and wedges herself between us, yelling, "no! no! no!" as if to say, "break it up, people!" just to bug her we hug often and hard. ;)
• likes to use the pre-k/kinder computer at the library.