Giggles...

Though that first laugh happened over a month ago (6/13), missy isn't too liberal with her giggles, so it's very exciting when I get to hear them!  Here's a little video...hope you enjoy!

Peach Cobbler

One of the perks of living at my dad's house is the availability of multiple fruit trees!  We have two fig trees and a nectarine tree in the back yard and a peach and a persimmon tree in the front.  So far, only the peaches are ready for picking.

There are far more peaches on the tree than we would ever eat, so I decided I needed to whip out the apron and do some baking before they all go bad and fall off the tree (or before the squirrels get to them all!).  I haven't baked anything in a while and in my previous life (pre-Maya) I really enjoyed my time in the kitchen, cooking and baking.  I found a great recipe for Peach Cobbler on allrecipes.com.  I LOVE this site!

The recipe was easy and the finished product was quite yummy...

I have plenty more peaches, so I'm sure there will be more cobbler in the future.  

Now I'm just waiting for the figs to be ready...I told Brad I'd make him some newtons!  

mmm, spaghetti....

Brad and I often put Maya in her little seat (which she is clearly outgrowing) on the table when we go to eat dinner.  She normally just sits back and hangs out with whatever toy we put in her lap while we eat.  Tonight we put her on the table and we're grabbing drinks from the kitchen.  When we turned back around we saw this...

Not only was she sitting up in her seat, she was reaching for my pasta!  

CAUGHT!

She may look like her daddy, but let's not forget...she's an Italian girl!  

By the way...

Have I mentioned how much I love this little monkey?

I do.

A LOT!

And I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to spend each day with her

Boring...I mean, Yummy cereal!

Maya had her first rice cereal yesterday.  I haven't been in too big of a rush to start any solids, but with sleep training behind us (for the most part) and only a couple weeks to the 6 month mark (my goodness!), we decided to go for it.  

Maya was pretty indifferent to her first "solid" food which made the whole even pretty anti-climatic.  Of course, I still took a hundred pictures anyways...here are a few...

what's this dad?....

mom, what did dad just give me?  i thought i could trust this guy... 

i'm not so sure about this stuff...

...at least i get to play with the bowl!

Bananas are next week...stay tuned!

5 months

Miss Maya is 5 months today!  Here she is...

She did it!

She's been close for a while, but she finally did it...she rolled over!  Fortunately, I was recording her with my phone when it happened!  Yes, I used the nukie to encourage a roll...but I didn't touch her...she did it on her own!  Please turn down the volume so you don't have to listen to me ;)

Little Swimmer

Thanks to our friends, Anne and Brian, Maya has had her first experiences in a pool!  We were super excited...she loves the bath, so we were hoping the first dip in a pool would be a positive experience.  I'm happy to report that we were correct!  No tears were shed and she seems to really enjoy the water.  I know Brad is eager to get her into swim lessons...not so much for me.  I just don't quite understand what she could possibly learn.  I guess it's more about getting her used to the water...either way, I'm in no hurry.  

Here's our little water baby in action over the weekend...

Solids or Sleep?

At Maya's four month appointment, we were given the green light to start solids and to do some sleep training as well.  A good friend of mine suggested not doing both at the same time...too many new things at once would overwhelm little missy.  It wasn't too difficult trying to decide between the two.  Not only would her little digestive system be more ready the longer we waited to start solids, but getting her to be able to fall asleep on her own seemed just slightly more important ;) 

Though it hasn't been easy, I'd say sleep training has been a huge success!  We read a book called "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child", and based on the type of baby Maya is, we decided the Cry It Out approach was the way to go.  Not everyone believes in it or can handle hearing their child cry and not respond.  Like I said, it's not easy, but knowing my child is now getting the sleep she needs and not waking up every 1.5-2 hours (yep, no kidding!) like she used to, it was well worth it.  Maya is now falling asleep between 7:30 and 8pm and wakes around 3 or 4am for a feeding.  Then it's back to sleep until she wakes for the day anywhere between 6 and 6:30am.  A few times she has skipped the feeding entirely and sleeps all the way till morning.  We love those times, but don't count on them.  We are ALL sleeping better and Maya seems much happier and well rested! 

Happy and well rested Maya

I find it pretty interesting to see in what position she falls asleep.  Before sleep training, I would lay her down very neatly with her arms at her side.  I love that she chooses to sleep like this instead...

...very lady like.  

Now we just need to tackle naps...that's a whole other debacle.  

So next up is solids!  I'm pretty excited to start them and can't wait to see how Maya reacts.  I've been reading "Super Baby Food" which was suggested by the pediatrician.   We already bought the rice cereal and I'm planning on prepping some bananas, avocado and sweet potato sometime very soon as Maya's first foods.  I'll be sure to post pics when the feeding fun begins!  

I decided to give our high chair a test run today.  It was the first time I put Maya in it...she looks like such a big girl!