Family Visit...

We had been anxiously anticipating a visit from Brad's family for months and were so excited when the day finally came!  It was so fun to see everyone and for Maya to have some QT with her Auntie Deanna, Uncle Paul, Cousins Caleb, Weston & Isaac and her Grammy & Grampy!

Paul, Deanna and the boys all stayed with us so it was fun for Maya to spend her mornings with Isaac, who also likes to get up at or before 6am :)  It was very sweet to see these two hang out.  Isaac is a great big cousin and I'm sure he'll continue to watch over Maya for years to come...

Maya also got to spend time with Caleb and Weston.  The boys are so sweet with her and makes me wish we all lived closer together!

Of course, Auntie Deanna loved her Maya time!  

And it was great for Maya to spend time with Grammy and Grampy!  You can see a little more about Maya's time with Grammy once everyone else left in my previous post.

One of the highlights of the visit was a trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  I was really excited to take Maya and even more excited to see how much she responded to and enjoyed all the exhibits once we got there.  Added bonus, she did great in the car...slept all the way there and minus a 5 minute scream-fest around Gilroy (after which she fell asleep for the remainder of the ride) she did great on the way back too!  

love her reflection in this one :)

We miss everyone already and looking forward to the next visit...it couldn't come soon enough!

First Piggies...

Missy was born with lots of hair, so it's no surprise that I'm able to do this at 6 months...

Pretty stinkin' cute, don't ya think?!

Fun with Grammy...

Brad's mom, Joan, is in town visiting and Maya is enjoying hanging out with her Grammy!  It's very sweet to see them together and it makes me feel so thankful.  I look forward to all the great memories these two have ahead of them.

At the Monterey Bay Aquarium

Dancing in the mirror at Gap

Hanging out before bedtime

6 months...

Can you believe it??  We're half way to ONE!!  WHAT!?!?  Here's the little 6 month old...

There's always something new with Maya B these days.  Here's a few tid bits of what she's been up to...

1- Maya is on the verge of sitting!  She's so close...a little wobbly still and tends to fall forward, but almost there! 

She starts off like this...

But ends up like this...

2- As you've seen in previous posts, Maya is starting solids!  So far, we've tried...

Rice Cereal

Sweet Potatoes

And bananas

Can you tell she loves her solids???  Actually, we did have a more successful morning with bananas.  I guess mixing them with rice cereal helps take the edge off :)  And sweet potatoes have been much more well received since the first attempt you see above.  Avocado is next...crossing my fingers for a happier introduction than the first three foods.

3- Maya is meeting new friends!  I recently got involved in Las Madres (neighborhood playgroups by birth year).  We've met lots of new babes and their mommies and are enjoying having fun activities to attend every week including park play dates and story times. 

 

4- Maya is starting to use a sippy cup!  I just introduced it when we started solids.  It was more for fun and to get her used to it, but she's doing quite well and knows how to hold it and drink the little bit of water I put inside :)

She's also had lots of firsts...

5- She went to her first baseball game: A's vs. Twins 7/31

5- Went on her first trip to Santana Row 7/26 (an important one, i know)

6- Had her first time in a swing 8/4

I can't believe we've had the joy of this little monkey for 6 months already!  In 6 more months we'll be celebrating her birthday!  Time went by so fast!  The last 6 months have been amazing and I so look forward to what the next 6 have in store!

'Naners...

We tried bananas this morning!  I thought they'd be a sure thing, but missy wasn't sold.  By her facial expressions, you'd think I had spiked the banana with lemon juice... but this was straight banana, freshly peeled and pureed!


**Not sure how to change the landscape of the video, so for now it's sideways...sorry!  If anyone knows how to fix it, please let me know!

Sweet Potatoes...

I decided to continue my "make your own baby food" journey over the weekend and hit the farmer's market on Saturday to see what organic options I could find.  I had never been to the Willow Glen farmer's market before...eh, it was so so.  After experiencing Campbell's market, it's hard to compare.  Sure, Campbell is SUPER crowded (almost impossible with a stroller; never doing that again!), but the quantity to choose from cannot be beat.  I did find some sweet potatoes and carrots, two of the staples on my list.  So after farmer's market, I decided to make them both.  

We got pretty excited and decided to go ahead and give Maya her first taste of sweet potato Saturday afternoon.  You're supposed to follow a 4 day wait rule in order to check for any reactions due to food sensitivities or allergies, so Maya will be having only sweet potatoes through Tuesday.  Then she'll be introduced to the wonderful world of the banana on Wednesday :)

Here are a couple pics from Saturday and Sunday's tastings...

First taste...

eh, not too excited

Much more fun to play with the bowl...

Messy face...

Then things took a turn for the worse...

They say you shouldn't try solids when your child is super hungry because they'll just get frustrated.  And as I experienced, you shouldn't try solids too close to nap time either...noted.

Hopefully things will only get better from here!

Homemade Baby Food...

I made my first homemade baby food today!  Any guesses what it is??  

Per the suggestion of a few friends after reading my cobbler post, I agreed that making baby food was a great way to use up some of our peaches.  It was really pretty easy and I got everything done, from picking to freezing, all while little miss was napping.  

For anyone interested, here's what I did...
1- Peel, pit and dice peaches
2- Steam for 5-10 min or until soft
3- Puree with a little water from cooking (I used my Cuisinart mini prep plus...love this thing!)
4- Strain with mesh colander and spatula
5- Poor into ice cube trays, wait till cool and then pop in freezer

Once they are frozen, I think I'll pop them out of the trays and put them in some freezer bags so I can label them and use the trays for another food.
Less than 2 weeks until Maya's 6 months!  Then I can finally see what she thinks of solids...can't wait! :)

What we're reading this week...

One of Maya and I's favorite outings these days is a trip to the library.  Fortunately, our local library is only a five minute walk away!  We love story time on Thursdays (and Mondays in Los Gatos and Fridays in Campbell...it's the story time trifecta), but we'll go any day of the week to check out a few books.  Maya loves reading and will stare at the pages as we read to her. 

Not that Maya cares, but its nice for Brad and I to get a few new options to read every week or two.  Here's what we're reading this week...

Love these two books.  They're really cute and entertaining for us!  There are others in each series like Llama Llama, Red Pajama and How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? that I'll be getting next time.  

Another great book Brad and I love and highly recommend is Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type.  Hilarious!  

Happy Reading :)