Maya is 10 months old? How did that happen?

A few weeks ago, Maya's babysitter, Jen, showed up with this awesome ball pit set. Maya started laughing before she even got in it.



She had a great time playing with her buddy, Dylan.



And she loved crawling through this tube!



Here's Maya playing on her new riding toy from Aunt Molly:




Here's Maya pretending she's a pirate in jail. We're patching her right eye for 25 minutes a day to strengthen her left eye, which is a bit weak right now. She's doing ok with keeping it on, most of the time. We just use LOTS of distraction!



Now that she can pull herself up, she does it everywhere. Don't mind our half-finished stairs. We'll get new carpeting eventually. This was obviously before I had time to do her hair for the day!



The back of the couch is a favorite play spot now, too!








Trying to decide which pacifier is better. This is a game she plays a lot!



And later that same day:



The other night at dinner she discovered all the food hidden in the pocket of her bib. Score!





And, of course, the exciting video:

Festavital 2008

This past weekend we headed out to the hip town of Northampton, MA for our friends' housewarming party. Marc and Avi recently bought a really cool house so we helped them to celebrate in style.

The festivities were very kid-friendly. We had a great time just hanging out with our friends and Maya had a great time playing with Elijah's toys and taking in all the other babies.






Jenn and Jude were a nice highlight to the day.



Avi and Marc have the most amazing kid's room, which is actually their entire third floor. Maya had a great time playing. Here she is showing Allison a cow.





Here's Maya checking out Jude:



And getting upset for no apparent reason:





Hanging outside.



Trying some guacamole. Sorry, Avi, she wasn't a fan. But mom and dad were. Yum.





Digging for gold!



Caroline caught us reading together.



And before we left Elijah tried to give Maya kisses, but she wasn't having any of that. Sorry, E!



Back at the hotel, Maya caught her second wind, so mom wore her down. She was out like a light.



In the morning, she crawled around exploring the room for a while, then we grabbed breakfast at Panera and headed home. It was a great weekend and we look forward to going back to Northampton soon!



Plastic hotel cups are FUN.

July 4th and Mohonk trip

We had an eventful Fourth of July weekend. On the Fourth we spent some time with Becky's friend and her husband. They don't have kids, but they have a little doggie named Layla. Maya was afraid of Layla at first, but before long, they were buddies and Maya was sharing her carrot sticks with her.




She liked Layla quite a bit.



We hung out outside and grilled a bit.





And Maya played in the grass for a while. We took her to the playground nearby and she swung in a swing for a little while and watched the other kids play. It was a fun day!




Then on the 5th, we went to Mohonk Mountain House in the Catskills. Grandma and Grandpa treated us to a fun and relaxing (and filling!) day.



The weather was actually nicer than we expected. The forecast called for a 50% chance of rain and thunderstorms, but as the day wore on, the clouds burned off and we were treated to comfortable breezes and sunshine.

After lunch, we contemplated climbing up the mountain here but opted for something a little less strenuous.



We decided instead to take a walk around the lake. Maya loves going for walks.





Pointing out the interesting swimming salamanders.



Looking at the trees with Grandma:



After our walk we hit up the gift shop for some goodies and then Maya took a little nap.



We just enjoyed the view.



After she woke up she played with Grandma for a while.



Then we decided to check out the gardens. Maya had a little snack before dinner.



Playing in the grass:



And she crawled around for a while until we realized there was a bee hive under the bench we were sitting on! Mom got stung on the foot before we were able to get away. Yikes! Thankfully the bees left Maya alone.



We were thankful that she didn't fall asleep on the way home since it made bedtime much easier once we did get home. We can't wait for our next trip up to Mohonk!

And here's just a random video of her crawling around at home: