15 Month Old Mya Bear

Ooops- I promised to write more often... I'm really relating now to what people commonly say about kids growing up so fast and how it just goes faster and faster- it is so true!  We had so many changes the last few weeks with deciding to have me stay home full time that I have written nothing down about what Miss Mya has been up to!  I don't know why it's so hard for me to commit to writing one thing a day- since there really is something new every day... so here goes my mommy memory...

Ok, first of all:  expressions
Mya's social development is so fun to see.  She has so many expressions and tells you a lot with her eyes.  This has made her seem so much more "present" and engaged in the moment.  If she hears something surprising, she'll turn to you with her mouth real small like an oooo...

Secondly, Mya has the best sense of humor!  She loves to laugh and laugh hard!  A lot of times it's for no reason at all; she will just walk around throwing her head back and crack up laughing.  Then there's the times when adults will be talking about something (not even having to do with Mya at all) but if anyone starts laughing, she'll surly chime in just a few seconds late.  And finally, there are the times she makes her self laugh.  Whether she physically does something silly that she finds amusing, or lately she's been telling jokes in her own language.  It follows the pattern of a joke:  "baadum bo doobee da.... da ba desho a baba... ooo boba seeda---- badaroo!!! (punch line)" Then she throws her head back because she is so funny :)

More to come.... I need to go to bed!

SAHM Time!

I have been a full time stay at home mom for one week now officially.  I put my notice in at the chiropractic clinic I was working as a receptionist at mid-February, which I really had no intention of doing until just a couple days before when Mya's sitter quit.  It hadn't been working out with her anyways, but her text message we received on a Saturday night didn't give us a whole lot of time to figure things out for Monday.  We lost our trust in in-home day cares situations like we had, and would only do one again if we knew the person pretty well (so we didn't have any options there).  And all of the daycares we looked into either quoted us at $200/wk for two days a week, or one was $55/day but such a small room for how many kids they had.  After lots of thinking, discussing, praying, and budget crunching, we concluded that it was best that I stay home with Mya. 

I am very happy with this decision (so is Brooks, and so is Mya!)  Our budget has never been tighter, but my house has never been cleaner :)  I know we fill find a way to manage financially.  We had been saving to buy a house, but are putting that on hold, and can use the money in a pinch.  My biggest concern is Mya and I going completely stir crazy!  About the same time all of this was going on, we took our old Ford Taurus in to be fixed finally.  It runs fine, but is super loud and we suspected there were a number of issues too.  Well, turns out the entire frame is so rusted they can't even work on it and recommend not to drive it at all anymore because it could just crumble in a crash.  Needless to say, I don't want to drive my precious child around in it, so we are stuck being homebodies for a while.  Both of us get antsy at home and enjoy being out and about so we will see how long we last before going completely crazy ;)

2/1/13

She’s at a stage where everything is so amusing to her which is  fun for everyone :) All I have to do is make a silly face or sound and she’s cracking up!  Peek-a-boo is still her favorite- she’ll go hide behind her crib and pop out with arms stretched saying “Ahhhh “ really high pitched.  She’ll do it a few times, then point to me to go hide- whether she’s the one scaring or being scared, she gets the biggest kick out of it.  We play this game everywhere and is guaranteed to get her so excited she kicks, squirms, and squeels!

She likes when you put things on her head- she’ll grin and move real slowly til it falls out- it’s so cute to see her try to put it back on her head because her proportions are still so her hands just barely reach the top of her head- she especially loves this game in the tub…

            The tub… she loves baths!  When I ask her if she wants a bath, she says “baaaa” and runs into the bathroom- trys to climb in the tub!  She has an Ariel bath toy that I will make to sing like “ah ah ahhhh… ah ah ahhhh (like in the movie)” and Mya will join in (in her own way)  So now she knows what singing means and will hum if you ask her to sing or if she finds Ariel ;)

She is suddenly really showing that she knows what words mean and tries to say them:  I often tell her when food is “hot” and blow on it so now she says “hot” (in a sweet whisper) and blows back and forth.

            Mya says “nanana” for “banana”

            I think she said “duppy” the other day when we saw a dog- she still makes her squeaky high-pitched puppy whimper sound when she sees or hears “puppy.”

            She “ooooohs” really high pitched for a cow’s “moo” and goes “ah-ah-ah” for monkey.

Her super strong head nods and shakes is still her most prominent form of communication .  She has learned she gets something to eat when she nods her head and points so she does it a LOT  and to try to get out of taking naps.  I got her something to eat when she first nodded her head when I laid her in her crib because I didn’t want her to be hungry when napping.  Now I’ve learned that she is smart and sees the nod as her ticket out. 

Recap from 1/12/13

“Now that Mya is really good at walking it’s all she wants to do.  She refuses to have me carry her anymore and squirms and fights til I set her down. She lets us know she wants to go out and walk around by pointing to the front door and waving her hand “bye-bye”  She’ll also get her shoes and bring them to me so I can put them on her (or bring us our shoes)

Recap from 1/7/13

 “Mya does this head-stand/downward dog yoga pose so she can see you upside down- it’s the cutest thing cuz she’ll hold the pose until you poke your head down to look at her.  Then she immediately laughs and falls flat on her belly.”

“She nods her head “yes” a LOT now.  If you say “Mya, would you like something to eat? (or food or milk or lunch) she will always stop whatever she’s doing to look you in the eye with a BIG nod “yes.”  When I try to imitate it, it hurts my neck to nod as forcefully as she does!  She definitely makes it clear she wants food and she would like it NOW :)  It will immediately stop her crying.  Sometimes I ask Brooks if he wants some food and she comes running from the other room nodding her head dramatically!”

“She has been walking very well for a couple of weeks now and is getting so fast!  She still falls a lot but I think she likes to fall :)”

“We took Mya to the Children’s Museum and every area we went, she would grab some objects and quickly hurry out with them- very serious.  We ‘ll have to watch our little thief.”

Bringing it back!

Mya is at such a fun age and doing new things every day- it's hard to keep up with filling people in on what she's up to lately.  My plan is to go from the current infrequent posts to too many posts!! This is because I will also use this as my online journal so I will have record of things that may not be as interesting to other people, but I will want to remember.  So, read as much or as little as you want; I'm just giving you fair warning that it will be overload (but appropriate amounts for grandparents and the like ;)