The bear wakes up...

zzzzzzz....

uh-oh, someone's awake
waaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh...
uh..waahh (By this time mommy's doing something silly to distract her.)
It usually works.

And ladies and gentlemen, that's how the bear wakes up.

Maya-speak

"Mahmee"
Translation: Mommy

"Dahdee"
Translation: Daddy

"Baby"
Translation: Baby or Maya

"Hi!!!"
Translation: Hi and hello to you.

"Go-go"
Translation: Let's go!

"Bahbu"
Translation: bubbles

"Gabba-gabba" while holding up and pointing the channel changer at the tv
Translation: Can I watch Yo Gabba Gabba?

"Shish"
Translation: shoes

"Dug"
Translation: Dog or Charlie

"Moe?"
Translation: More

"Mmmmmmmmmmmm????!" (make this sound in a really high pitch voice)
Translation: Can I have some _______ (whatever her favorite snack is at the time).

"Whawee"
Translation: Water

"Yo-yo"
Translation: "Lolo" - grandpa in Tagalog

"Nyo-nyo" with index finger up
Translation: No, no. She's actually imitating Mahmee.

"Wow"
Translation: Wow

"Dada"
Translation: General term for both parents

"Mmmm-hmmm"
Translation: Affirmative as in "Did you have a good day today?" "Mmmm-hmmm."

"Puh-puh or pee-pee"
Translation: Sit on the toilet (only once she actually peed and no poo-poo yet)

The rest of her language sounds Chinese with a hint of German. Sometimes she goes into this long speech about God-knows what. So my standard responses are "Is that right?" or "No way! I didn't know that!" or "Oh yeah?" She seemed pleased afterwards with my response, so it's all good.

7am

At work.

At home on a Saturday morning. Choo-choo!

Cirque du Soleil

On Sunday, we went to meet up with family to celebrate Maya's great grandma's and her daddy's birthday. We went to see "Corteo". The show was amazing and the whole family enjoyed it. To be honest, I wasn't really sure what to expect when we decided to take the 14-month old to a two-hour show that's about a two-hour drive from home and a sit down dinner with adults afterwards. I was prepared to spend all of the two hours outside the tent chasing after the munchkin while everyone else enjoyed the show inside. Before the show started, we chatted with people next to us and they told us that we are really brave for taking her. Either they meant "brave for taking an unpredictable toddler" or "brave for possibly getting beat up because our kid just interrupted the show." I don't care. I think it's still brave either way. I armed myself with her favorite toys, snacks, songs in my head, and the determination to deal with the dreaded tantrums. She really doesn't have bad tantrums, but I was just preparing myself for the worst since we've never done this before. I looked like I was about to invade a small country with the size of the backpack I was carrying. I just expected to be in a coma after all this, really. Don't laugh. This may sound silly to you, but we're newbie parents here. Hehe.. Surprisingly, Maya did fine. Well...she sat through most of the first half saying "Wow!" The second half? Nap time, of course. On mommy's shoulder. Have you ever held a 20+ pounder on your shoulder for almost an hour? If you have, I now know how it feels.

mommy's reading material in the car

waiting to meet up with family

"Hey mommy..."

"...you wanna cracker?"

intermission

Trying to break the record: Longest sip from a sippy cup.

Picky eater, this one

Mommy: Did you have a good day today?

Maya: (nods head and smiles)

Mommy: Are you hungry?

Maya: (nods head rigorously ) Mmmmmm..

Mommy: Okay, Mommy will heat up the split pea soup.

(After attempting to feed her split pea soup, veggie rice, left over lasagne, Hawaiian bread, crackers, cheese, anything!...all received with a "Naaahh" or "bbffffttttttttt", we got to this:)

Mommy (frazzled and still wiping the last bffffffttt!): Uh, so you want yogurt then?

Maya (big smile, she loves yogurt): Yuh-yaaah.

Mommy: Great.

I read that you have to try to offer one type of food 12 times before the kid accepts it. Not that I'm keeping track, but moments like this feels like I've attempted 36 times already. So Maya ate yogurt for dinner. And me and Charlie? I think you have an idea.

Charlie, our vacuum cleaner, always on the watch for stray peas or cheerios. If he's lucky, he gets whatever "bfffffft!" produces.

Giggles

Here's Maya at 8 months.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doeDUYl0KPo

I wanna be like...

...daddy

I like to try on daddy's shoes, too.

And sometimes, I wanna be like mommy.