Cabin time!

Hi Love,
Life has been busy and I have been not very good about keeping your blog updated. It is definitely not because there isn't a lot to talk about-as there are new things happening every day.

We took you to the cabin last weekend! Grandma and Grandpa were already up there. Our good friend Cara and her boyfriend and his son came up also! This was the first time in a while that we went on a long car ride with you and we quickly realized that the days of you sleeping happily in your carseat during the whole trip were over!!! You did take two naps but were otherwise not that happy about being constrained to your carseat. I kept handing you things (water bottles, my wallet, toys etc) to try to keep you occupied! But then you would just throw them off the side of your carseat!! So I ended up putting a pillow between your carseat and the car door so that even if you through them off the side of your carseat they would still be in reach for you. You had a lot of fun at the cabin. It was pretty hot on Saturday, but the water was still really cold, as it is only May!  We started out by putting you in the sand which you loved playing with. Then I sat you on the edge of the water and you liked it!! You actually scooted yourself deeper into the water and didn't even cry! I think you really liked the water! It was so fun to see you on the beach. I think of all of the generations of Culberts that have sat on the same beach! I actually had a moment where I said to myself  "I am now the mom of the baby on the beach"! One day you will be swimming in the water all day and think that your mom is so old and boring and won't understand why I don't want to swim all day too! I will remind you that when I was little I LIVED in the water while at the cabin. I would even sleep in my swimsuit!

We stopped on the way home to see Great Grandma Bev. She always gets so much joy out of seeing you.

What else is new.....well today you climbed up all of the stairs!!! I wasn't home but your daddy was with you. You can now easily pull yourself up into the standing position! You are crawling more and more but still scooting a lot! You continue to LOVE black beans! You continue to use you outdoor voice (or should I saw your outdoor scream) on a daily basis. Yes, I am now that mom at Target with the screeching child! But thank god you aren't usually crying!

You continue to demonstrate your independence and I reminded that although your dad and I created you and that you grew in my tummy for 9 months that in reality you don't belong to us. You are you own person with you own life ahead of you.  My job is to guide you through the different stages of life and to make sure you always feel loved and secured. I hope to have some influence on you but in reality you will find your own path in life.  This parenting thing is tough work!!! In reality it is selfless work. It really makes me appreciate all that my parents did for me!!  The work is of course worth it Mayabird. I have already learned so much about life and myself since becoming your mom!!!

Thanks for being part of my life!!!

I will do it myself!

Hi Love,
You are continuing to demonstrate your independence and like to remind your dad and I that you we don't have as much control over you as we thought or wanted!

This week you decided to go through a stage where you won't let anyone (me, dad, grandma) feed you! You would take a bottle and breatfeed and of course feed yourself food but you would not let a spoon near you at all. Of course this was right after I had a made you a big batch of this homemade apple oatmeal yumminess and dad had made you an ever bigger batch of this awesome soup. (which contains tons of good veggies along with rice and chicken). You wouldn't even let me feed you yogurt which you usually love. So we were getting frustrated with you! You little stinker. I would try to feed you and you would pretty much swat/push the spoon away in defiance and make a big mess! So I then went on to make you homemade mac and cheese and you initially wouldn't eat that, instead you rubbed it all of the counter with your hands and of course all over yourself (including in your hair!) But now you will feed yourself the mac and cheese in addition to other things. And you let grandma feed you food yesterday and Mary had no problem feeding you today. We will have to try the soup again some other day,  but for now it is all pureed and in the freezer!

In other news you have slept through the night the last two nights-yeah and I have vowed to never feed you during the night again!!! I was getting tired and a little resentful toward you because everyone time you wouldn't eat during the day I would think to myself, "ahh, now she is just going to get up and want to eat at night". I didn't like being frustrated with you and therefore it was time to let you cry it out. The first night was Friday night and it was a little rough. You woke up around 3 am. We let you cry 10 minutes before we went in to soothe you (which we were unsuccessul). We then went 15 minutes. I don't know what I was thinking, but somehow in my sleep deprived state I thought it would be a good idea to crawl in your crib with you to soothe you! It didn't really work because all you wanted to do was eat and your dad was not happy with me and ended up going downstairs to read. I don't how much longer it took but you did eventually fall asleep. I went to check on you and of course then you woke up! Ahh! So then we had to start again, but it didn't take as long and then you slept until after 7!!! We all survived!!! The next night it didn't take nearly along and then the next two nights you didn't wake up at all!!!!

Sunday was mothers day and we celebrated by going to lansboro with Grandma Karimi. We rented a bike for her and a little bike trailer for you! You weren't quite sure what to think about it, but I think you overall enjoyed it. We want to get one of our own now so we can go on family bike rides. We have been going on family runs (including lucy) so you have started to spend a lot of time in your jogging stroller and you love it!!!

The other bigs news is that you are crawling more and you can now pull yourself up into the standing position. And you figured out how to go up a couple of stairs. It is so fun to watch. You crawled up into the landing at the bottom of the stairs. I let you stay there for a while to see if you could figure out how to get back down. You weren't quite sure but you definitely were cautious and didn't just throw yourself down. It is amazing that you already have a "danger" instinct.

Well I think that is enough for now, my little nut nut!!!

Stubborn little thing!!!

Hi Maya
I just put you to bed and you are already fussing. I knew you would even before I put you down as you have been very feisty this evening! A little girl on a mission. You have been scooting around and CRAWLING around and getting into things. Tonight you even pulled yourself up by the cupboard into a standing position! Those are two big milestones. Although you still love to scoot I think you have now realized that you can get somewhere faster if you crawl. You now do a hybrid of crawling and scooting. You like to crawl more on the carpet than the hardwood floors.  Well back to tonight. You were a little hard to please...and you attention span was short...so it was hard to keep you happy so I decided to just put you to bed as I thought you were just tired, even though you napped really well at daycare today.

You continue to eat well. For dinner we usually just give you part of what we are having and cut it up and you go to town with it. Of course you make a HUGE mess, so it hard to know how much goes into your tummy versus onto the floor.

Now time to talk about our "sleep issues". So last week I started giving you some oatmeal with milk before you went to bed. The first night you didn't wake up to eat until 4ish, the next night it wasn't until 4:30 and the following two nights you slept through the night. So your dad and I were feeling pretty good about things and proud of ourselves for figuring out how to get you to sleep through the night. But then of course you decided to prove to us that you run the show and have been waking up again!!! The last two nights it was around 2 even-which is early!! And now you won't eat much of the oatmeal that I try to feed you.  These are all good lessons and make us parents realize that just when we have things figured out you CHANGE!. I even made you this homemade mixture of apples, raisins, cinnamon and oatmeal to eat at night. But it was too sweet for you and you want nothing to do with it.  What are were going to do with you- I guess just love you!!!

In other news you got to meet your possible future husband this past weekend-Charlie Dean! And boy is he a cutie!!! You found him pretty interesting. Although you were a little rough with him. He is only 8 weeks old! Your dad and I had a wedding Saturday night (Susan and Claytons) so you spent the night with Auntie Soni and your dad and I spent the night in a hotel. It was the first time you were away from both of us. But you did great with Auntie Soni and dad and I enjoying sleeping through the night and not having to get up early.

Other tidbits....you love to pull your socks off and according to Mary you like to pull Hudson and Brody's socks off too. You little stinker. Your favorite "toy" right now are socks, shoes and laundry. You are so cute. You will pull everything of a laundry basket if I let you. You also like to scoot around with a shoe in EACH hand!!!  You also love opening cupboard doors and pulling open drawers and exploring whatever you find inside.

Well Maya love, you truly are at a fun and amazing stage. It is so fun to watch you grow and develop each day.  As you grow you become more and more independent!!!  I have a feeling you are going to be a confident and feisty young lady when you get older!!!

My little monkey

Hi Maya,
You are currently up in your crib screeching/crying while I write this. It is bed time and we are now entering a stage where you don't always like to go to bed right away and would rather sit up and scream. We are still giving you a pacifier at night but I think the next step is to take that away as you are way tooy dependent on it to fall asleep! Your dad was just watching you from the doorway and you were sitting up (not crying) sucking on your pacifier and then you took it out of your mouth and threw it on the floor and THEN started crying. You have a our number as you know if you cry we will come in and give you your pacifier back...bad habits...we need to break them...but is hard to hear you cry!!! You are still crying as I type this. I think it is important for you to be able to fall asleep on your own....but at the same time as a mom it is hard to resist consoling you and making sure you know everything is okay!

Well on to other things. Tonight you had garbanzo beans and peaches for dinner. You really like the garbanzo beans, which I cut up into smaller pieces. You are starting to cut back on the amount of milk you take during the day, but still take a lot from me during the night, in the morning and before you go to bed. You might soon be down to only 3 feedings a day!

You are still not crawling but definitely moving fast and continuing to get into everything. You do this hybrid crawl/scoot thing that reminds me of how a monkey moves. You also will just throw yourself forward on to things, including me. Even though you are not a big cuddler you definitely like to be near me and crawl on me! Which I don't mind. You are just so darn cute and kissable, sometimes I can't handle it!!! Even though you are crying right now you are overall a very happy baby, you are always smiling and laughing. I love walking into the room and getting a big smile from you. You also have the best giggle!

Grandma Lynne is now watching you twice every week. I am so glad to have her to watch you. It has been very special for both of you. You bring a lot of joy to her life and you love being with your Grandma. She takes you outside a lot and will even bring you to the park to go in the swing (which of course you love). Well you are STILL crying...i should go check on you.....okay I am back. I went up to comfort you and you definitely wanted your pacifier...i broke down and gave it you...but tomorrow is the big night...we are going to stop the pacifier and if that goes well let you cry it out when you get up at night to eat...it is going to be tough but it must be done! We have no plans this weekend, so it now or never.

Last weekend we visited you great grandma Culbert. I will try to upload some pictures.

Love you Mayalove!!

Going backwards

Hi Maya,
Well lots of new things to talk about since my last post!! First of all you are sure testing dad and me. In the last few weeks you have decided some nights to get up twice to eat!!!! And now that you can sit up on your own you want to play when we put you in your crib at night instead of going to sleep! So your dad and I have been very tired. Last week was the worst! You had a low grade fever that we were watching. However when I got you home from Mary's I checked you temp and it was over 101.   You didn't seem sick overall where I could blame it on a cold, so I ended up bringing you into the ER to make sure you didn't have a urinary tract infection. Your dad was out of town and so were Grandma and Grandpa so it was just you and me! We got in and out of there in 2 hours and fortunately your urine test were negative. You ended up developing more of a cold the next day and a tooth starting popping out (which then explained the fever). So you were really cuddly that day (which I didn't mind). But Friday night was AWFUL!!! Your dad was home and I had a swim meet the next two days so your dad wanted me to get some sleep. But you had other ideas.  I ended up feeding you THREE times that night and your dad spent a lot of time laying on the floor by your crib rubbing your back trying to get you to fall asleep. By the next day we were EXHAUSTED (we weren't getting good sleep prior to that night either). But we packed up and you went to your first swim meet!

You have definitely said your first words. Which is either "mama" or "dada". You babble so much that it was hard to tell if you were saying them by accident or knew what you were saying. You probably said dada first, but once again hard to know.

You continue to eat more finger foods. You like black beans, cheese, greek yogurt, peas etc. I even gave you pieces of green olives when we went out for pizza in St. Paul. I love feeding you new things!

You continue to develop a personality and you are feisty! In addition you play rough and like to hear yourself screech! You take after me with the loudness factor. You are also starting to demonstrate some stubbornness. If I take a something away from you that you wanted you will cry!!! And when I lay you on your back to change your diaper or change your clothes you sometimes throw a fit! But overall you are still a really happy baby. You get really excited about things (which I like to think you get from your dad).

Last night you were back to only one night time feeding, which is great compared to how things were going before that, but I would love to get you down to ZERO!! But I don't have the heart to let you cry it out.

You still like your pacifier but we are going to try weaning you off it, starting with no pacifier during the day!

Well I am about to fall asleep!
LOVES!!!

On the move!

Hi Maya,
I have been slacking lately on updating your blog-I have been too busy chasing you around, you little stinker!! It is Friday, so I am off and we are hanging out. You have started to become more affectionate to me and wanting to crawl on me and I must admit I like it...as you are usually fairly independent and just want to play play play and don't have time to snuggle dear old mom!!!

The big news is that Grandma and Grandpa Karimi and Auntie Soni are back from Iran!!! We picked them up at the airport last Sunday and of course they were very excited to see you. You and your pictures were a big hit in Iran. Fortunately due to wonderful technology we were able to facetime twice with Iran so most of them could see you in person. It was pretty special! Your great grandma Karimi has a blown up picture of you in Iran that she talks to on a daily basis. I wish so much she could see you in person, but it would be such a big trip.....one day....Normally I would get lots of presents from Iran from all the family, but this time there were mostly for you!!! You got your first two gold bracelets, a gold lady bug pendant and matching ring! Very precious. You look so cute with your little bracelets on you. The most special gift you got was from you Great Aunt Shireen. She made you a tradiational silk outfit that went with a matching hat. It is difficult to describe in person so I will have to put a picture of it up. It is pretty big on you right now but it will be something you will enjoy and cherish for many years to come. Your Aunt Shireen stayed up almost all night making it for you...You have all this family in Iran that have never met you yet they love you so much! That is the same love they have showed me when I have traveled there. You are so lucky Mayabird to have them in your life, even if they are far away. I hope one day you will be able to meet them....

Right now you are sitting in a cardboard box! You were playing with it so I decided to put you in it and it is definitely keeping you occupied which is allowing me to update your blog, because you continue to BE INTO EVERYTHING.  You aren't crawling yet but can scoot anywhere you want and get into anything you want. And you are one quick kid!!!

The weather has been nicer so you have gotten to spend more time outside which is great. We put your little walker outside and you scoot all around the driveway, garage and sidewalks. It is so fun to watch. When grandma is here she attaches a leash to your walker to "lead" and "guide" you, which is hysterical.

You continue to eat like a champ and I am now trying to feed you three times a day. However despite eating a fair amount during the day you still like to get up in the middle of the night to eat.....I just don't have the energy/strength to try to wean you from this habit.

Well I should take a picture of you in your box before you figure out how to crawl out of it!!

Loves you!

Maya in her new stroller waiting at the airport for Grandma, Grandpa and Auntie Soni!

 

In your new hat from Iran!

 

In the outfit your Auntie Shireen!

More new stuff

Hi Love,
So much to catch up on.  But first of all you are currently up in your crib screaming!!! It is bedtime but one of the new things you have done is learned how to sit up on your own from a lying down position. Your Grandma Helen worked on it a lot with you while she was here and you were really close to doing it before she left, but not quite. But low and behold when I went to feed you at 3:30 am (that is another thing to discuss) you were sitting up in your crib looking at me!!! This morning you showed us your moves while we were eating breakfast. From your tummy you push yourself back with your arms so you are slightly on your knees and then you lean to one side and sit! It is so fun to watch. But now you can do things like you did tonight where suddenly we heard a crash in your room and we rushed upstairs with our hearts pounding.  There you were sitting up in your crib and had reached through the rails and knocked your music box thing over. You little stinker!!! Lesson learned!!!

The common theme lately is that you are INTO EVERYTHING!!! We definitely need to start the baby proofing process.

You and your dad brought your Grandma back to Little Falls this past weekend. We were really sad to say goodbye. The two weeks she was here were so great.  You went on daily walks with her and played a lot. She taught your a lot, like how to clap and wave goodbye!!!  Since Mary is still gone and Grandma and Grandpa Karimi are still Iran you have to go to the Mayo back up day care this week.  I was kind of nervous to bring you this morning, but you ended up having a good day there.

You are continuing to eat more solid foods. I have gave you some cooked carrots and green beans for supper tonight. You can't quite pick them up with your hands as they are slippery, but you love when I feed them to you.  You will keep taking more food when I offer it, but sometimes you don't swallow and have a mouthful of food!

Well you are still fussing up in your crib......I need to figure out how I want to approach things as you start to develop more of a personality and are starting to respond more emotionally to situations...you definitively have a stubborn side to you. You are STILL getting up at night to eat...but you are starting to drink better out of your sippy cup so I might try to give that to you tonight to see if I can get away with out feeding you.

Well I am sure there are a lot of other new things you have been doing but it is hard to remember everything!! But time if definitely flying by and you are changing everyday....I just don't want it to go by too fast.....

Love you!

Hanging out with Grandma Helen before bedtime!!

 

An attempt at your 8 month picture! Hard to get you to sit still, you kept falling off the chair!!!

 

At Applebee's with Grandma Helen and Sister Lillian!

 

 Another attempt at your 8 month picture!!