11 Months Old

Can you believe it? This little squash is just one month from her first birthday! These pictures were taken around her 11 month birthday. We are gearing up for a super fun cupcake-themed birthday party for her on December 4th. I truly can't believe it was only a year ago when we were wondering when she would be born, what she would look like, etc. It seems like she has been a part of our family forever. What in the world did we do with all of the free time we had before we had a baby? And what did we do to entertain ourselves? She keeps us busy and keeps us laughing.

Maya has a few new tricks:

She says, "Mmmmhh" when you give her a bite of food.

She has learned how to clap!

When you ask her what a puppy says, she makes a little barking sound.

Last, but not least, If you click your tongue at her, she clicks back.

There's No Place Like Home

We had a fun time dressing up on Sunday and going to my parents' church activity, "Trunk or Treat". Folks hand out candy from their trunks and truck beds, the church rents some inflatables, they grill hot dogs and try to get kids from the neighborhood to come out. I love the idea. And I love to dress up. At some point during my childhood, mom decided that we weren't going to celebrate Halloween anymore. I understand, and as a parent, at some point I'll probably decide the same thing. But this year, something came over me. I was overwhelmed by glee and excitement about making a costume. I have never dressed up as any of the Wizard of Oz characters, even though I grew up in Kansas, so this year, I dressed up as Dorothy and I dressed matt up as the Scarecrow. I even toyed around with the idea of dressing Maya up as Toto, but regained my sanity and let her be the flower that I had the hand-me-down costume for. To make my (awesome) shoes, I got a cheap pair at the thrift store, sanded them, painted them with acrylic paint (several coats), then put glue on them and doused them in glitter. We didn't manage to get very many pictures, and the ones we have seem to be the result of some strange photography experimentation on the part of my mom (appearing here as Raggedy Anne), but you get the idea. I should sell my outfit on ebay--it turned out sweet!