Maya at 12 months: A Portrait

Now that Maya is a year old, it seems like a good time to recap her likes and dislikes and all her new found abilities.

Our smiley little girl

At 12 months, Maya CAN:

• Do 21 signs (monkey, mouse, cat/home, maman, daddy, more, food, water, all done, bath, car, hot, bye bye, milk, fish, hat, walk, kiss, Noah/brother, up, and sleep - she has also done the flower, diaper, please, and cold signs a few times but not yet enough to be counted). Unlike Noah who liked to perform his "tricks," Maya uses her signs when she wants something or to communicate  or converse but will generally not sign on cue except maybe for monkey, hat and kiss;
• String three signs together to ask for something (she has asked for "mama more food", and "mama more kiss") - she regularly strings two signs together ("eat cat" for feed Lhasa, "more kisses", "more food", "maman kiss");
• Understand a few additional signs: book, music, ball, banana and elephant;
• Understand the spoken words both in English and in French for all the signs she knows as well as many other words (for example "poubelle", "attention", "Lhasa"....);
• Say a few words in context (Mama, Dada, and we have heard "cat" and "lait" but she does not say them every time);
• Chew things well with her six teeth (only two of which are fully out, two of which are partially out and two of which are barely out) - she never seems to choke on anything and spits it out if it feels too big;
• Be in a room on her own without us fearing too much for her life (she seems to stay away from the most dangerous things);
• Listen to and follow simple directions (for example, "Maya touche ton nez", or "Maya va chercher le ballon" or "Maya va trouver Lhasa"); 
• Listen (and, surprisingly) heed us when we tell her not to do something (for example, if I tell her "Maya ne touche pas la poubelle" as she is walking towards the garbage can clearly wanting to touch it she almost always will listen, turn to me and then walk away, another example: the other day, she was approaching Noah's desk and I told her "Maya ne touche pas le bureau de Noah", she turned away and burst into tears because she really wanted to but understood that she was not supposed to);
• Understand and when she feels like it, point to her "nez, bouche, et oreilles";
• Point to things she wants to know more about or is curious about or wants (this is not new - it has been a few months now that she started pointed but I am not sure I noted it anywhere so I am including it here);
• Light up when she smiles which she does a lot but also fill a room with loud piercing shrieks when unhappy or just because;
• Feed herself anything that is not puree (I often put her food in her bib - especially when we are out - she happily forages for every last piece in there);
• Walk well and fast (she still refuses to crawl);
• Almost do a forward somersault on her own - she puts her head down curled up in position and starts pushing her weight forward;
• Hum a recognizable tune (her one recognizable tune is the first bit of jingle bells for some reason);
• Hold her breath when going underwater (I say A, B, C and blow on her face and she closes her eyes and mouth and underwater she goes and then back up) - although Maya lets us know when she is unhappy with a situation - she has never cried in the pool even when we first started and she did not quite know how to do it yet);

Playing with leaves, water and buckets

At 12 months, Maya DISLIKES

• Not getting her way - she gets shrieky if one takes away a "toy" (a leaf, a piece of paper, a roll of scotch tape, electric cables) from her or if Daddy picks her up when she wants Maman;
• Not being in Maman's arms when she wants to be - Maya can be very independent and play on her own for quite a while and roam happily around the house on her own BUT when she wants to be in Maman's arms she really wants to be in Maman's arms and nobody else's (except maybe Noah);
• Being tired - she gets very grumpy and sensitive when she needs to sleep;
• Changing her diaper - she tolerates it most of the time but is not very happy about it - especially when taken away from the action;
• Being kept on someone's lap (even Maman's) when she wants to go explore (she likes being held when we are walking around but rarely when we are sitting down unless we are reading a book);
• Car rides - she just does not like being confined to her car seat but has gotten easier to distract and now understands if we say/sign "we are taking the car (car sign) to go see Lhasa (cat sign)";
• Being stuck under a table or in a play tunnel when she cannot walk out and has to crawl out;
• Not being involved in big kid - grown up activities;
• Being fed (eg purees) when she wants to feed herself (eg finger food);
• Having her teething biscuit taken away from her when, for example, we have to go somewhere  or bundle her for the arctic cold (note that eating the teething biscuit is a 45mn affair);
• Not being allowed to grab things from Noah's desk; and
• Not being allowed to pick up all the little pieces of paper that Noah has carefully cut and strewn all over the floor. 

Maya eyeing the forbidden desk

At 12 months, Maya LIKES

• Receiving kisses and more kisses and more kisses preferably from more than one person at a time;
• Her big brother - her face lights up when he comes home or when he comes over to play with her;
• Monkeys - since I took her to the zoo she has been obsessed with monkeys - we have some pictures and drawings that have monkeys in her room and Noah's and she signs monkey monkey to go see them and then "eat eat, monkey monkey" so she can feed the monkey imaginary food - I took her to the zoo again recently and she kept asking to see "monkeys" and "more monkeys" and "feed the monkeys" (she loved watching the keepers feed the monkeys and got very excited);
• Balls of all sorts;
• Garbage cans (though she never actually gets to touch them she likes to walk towards them and then turn to me waiting for me to tell her not to touch it);
• Pointing to things and having us name them (nose, ears, eyes but also Maya, Daddy, Maman and objects around us "bottle", "stroller", "leaf", "flower"). Sometimes she will point at different parts of herself because she wants to play;
• Hanging around in front of the kitchen and watching Eleonor cook;
• Flowers - Maya really likes looking at flowers and smelling them and having me make the flower sign (scrunch up nose and breathe in through the nose);
• Her rabbit and pony doudous - she has a pony and rabbit in her crib and two other smaller rabbits attached to her carseat stroller and her normal stroller and loves stroking them to fall asleep;
• "Sing" - when the music is on or when we are singing - she will "sing" with us - usually "aaaaa";
• Her thumb - Maya still sucks the magic thumb that calms her and puts her to sleep (though she usually does not sleep with it in her mouth);
• Doing and being involved in whatever her brother is doing;
• Music and dancing - music and sounds have always been very important for Maya - when she was a newborn, she slept very well but needed her "womb sounds" to sleep, then she graduated to Mozart and Guantanamera but to this day if I put on Guantanamera when we are out and it is nap time, she calms down and goes straight to sleep - she also likes dancing to the music and shaking her rattles along with the music;
• Playing in the sand;
• Lhasa - feeding Lhasa at night (she asks "eat Lhasa" if I forget to feed Lhasa before putting her to bed) and running after Lhasa and trying to play with her, finding her in the apartment;
• Adult food (she loved the injera and Ethiopian food we made for Ethiopian night, she loves satay and kaya toast and chana masala and dahls and pretty much anything in our plates though her tolerance for very spicy foods is still limited);
• Picking up leaves on the floor - the smaller and dryer the better. She either carries them around with her for a while or she puts them in her "basket" (little water toy bin);
• Splashing around in the pool;
• Taking a bath with her brother;
• Tiny bits of paper she can hold in her hand, swap hands so she can suck her thumb and re-swap hands (she generally does not put them in her mouth anymore but with all the hand switching it is hard to keep track!);
• Hanging upside down from her legs and somersaults in the air and on the ground both forwards and backwards;
• Playing peek-a-boo;
• Riding on our shoulders... for about 5 minutes;
• Bopping around the apartment, doing her funny walks, dancing, looping around the living room;
• Being thrown in the air (and caught); and
• People - she is generally very sociable - for example in her music and movement group she always goes up to the various moms and the teacher (she immediately picked up on who the "teacher" was and went straight to her the first time) and smiles at them and tries to show them her toys.

Sucking her thumb

Our determined little girl

Overall, Maya is a very sweet and smiley girl who likes to make people smile with her funny expressions and walks. She is curious about the world and enjoys communicating with us (via signs or otherwise). She is independent (for a one year old). At the same time she also loves attention and kisses. She is very determined and knows what she wants and will easily become upset (read shriek) when her plans are foiled. She will also easily return to the smiley sweet Maya when redirected.   

Eleven months old: A Typical Day in the Life of Maya

In one week, our little Maya will be one... but, for now, she is 11 months old so we thought we would do a "day in the life of Maya post" for our baby Maya (even though she has been walking for months now, I have not switched to the word "toddler" yet. She seems too small and too young but maybe at age 1?). The pictures were taken over the course of a few days as each day of the week she has different activities or playdates.

Maya wakes up around 7:20-7:45. She will often hang out for a bit in her crib before wanting to get out.

Maya in her crib playing with rabbit and pony (her crib doudous)

She is usually pretty smiley when she wakes up and is happy to see me

If she wakes up closer to 7:20, I get her and dress her immediately so that she can come down with me to take Noah to his bus. Otherwise, Seth or Eleonor get her when I am downstairs with Noah (his bus is at 7:45). When I get back, she is usually up and playing still in her PJs.

A PJed Maya in her room...

and in the living room.

She then has her milk (breastmilk is still her only source of milk these days though she has recently tried cow milk and formula) and changes out of her PJs.

She escaped before I could change her...

We then read a few books (she is getting more into books these days - this morning, I read her five (short) books in a row and she was engaged and interested) and/or play on the carpet with some toys or just wander around the house finding interesting things.

Maya in one of her favorite spots - at the entrance of the kitchen where Eleonor generally is

 (she used to walk down the step but now stays in the living room)

After raiding Noah's bed.... (she has taken to snagging his sleeping T-shirts in the morning...)

Holding on to her precious T-shirt and Daddy!

she can suck her thumb while thumbing through a book...

and leafing through a map - here with her favorite map - of Switzerland 

(she has been very gentle with it and although she carried it around and looked at it, 

it still is not torn surprisingly enough)

After reading and playing and when Daddy is up, we often go down to breakfast for some Kaya toast.

By the Chinese new year decorations in front of the nearby Plaza

We made it to T-box

We still bring cereal and fruit for Maya's breakfast (by now it is about 9:15-9:30AM).

but these days she wants to try our food too... 

Yuuuuum - Kaya toast

After breakfast, she generally does an activity. If we don't have any other plans that day, I take her to the playground in our condo...

Here with Eleonor at the playground clapping to the music

and on the slide

On Monday mornings she has "music and movement" at 10am which she enjoys a lot (it involves singing and dancing and shaking).

Maya playing with her twin, mirror Maya, in the music and movement room

The girls ready for the dance!

and learning not to go touch those very tempting sockets (she is pretty good about

listening when told not to touch something - except when it is Noah's desk 

with all of his papers and pens)

Shake, shake, shake...

And more shaking...

Hmmm that orange one looks really neat

Yup - sounds MUCH better!

And playing with scarves

She found a monkey! (her favorite animal since going to the zoo - 

she is constantly signing monkey, monkey and wants me to show 

her the monkeys on the postcards in her and Noah's rooms)

Wednesday mornings she has a playdate with our little neighbor.

The kids playing with Maya's walker

Every other Thursday morning, I am planning on bringing her to the zoo but I have not yet started doing so so it is not yet part of her typical day!

After the morning activity, I feed her some milk again (or after her nap if she had a late breakfast and an earlyish nap) and she goes to nap, generally between 10:45 and 11. She usually naps between 1 and 2 hours (she is not very consistent with the nap length these days). When she wakes up, she eats her lunch (usually a vegetable like carrot with ginger or spinach or red pepper and a starchier vegetable like sweet potato or quinoa or lentils. Eleonor prepares all her food in advance and freezes cubes or small tupperwares to be defrosted and eaten later. These days though, she is increasingly also eating some of what we are having). She usually eats well and happily.

On Wednesdays and Fridays, Noah gets home around 1:10pm. Her face lights up when she sees him.

Some big hugs for a big brother

Tuesday afternoons, Maya goes to the toddler atelier near Noah's school.

Almost happy in the car on the way over (she still is not a big fan of cars

 but definitely much better)

Maya at the atelier (we generally arrive there between 2:15 and 2:30PM) - 

she loves that green hanging basket with the balls

At the atelier, discovering all kinds of new things (they have baskets of musical instruments, baskets with objects of different textures, baskets with balls...)

Maya on her way back from the music basket

On Wednesday afternoon, there are no planned playdates or activities and Maya, Noah and I play around the house or downstairs.

Friday, Noah has a swim lesson at 2:30PM and I take Maya for a swim during his lesson. She has recently gotten good at holding her breath when going underwater.

Around 3:30 or 4:00 she has some milk and a snack and sleeps for an hour (if we are out she naps in the stroller otherwise in her bed). On Tuesdays, for example, after the atelier, she naps in her stroller and we pick Noah up around 4:15 from his art class (which is next door from both the atelier and a little cafe).

On Mondays and Thursdays, Noah arrives home around 4:05. On Monday, one of Noah's friends from the condo comes over to play around 4:30. Maya tries hard to play with them and does not like to be excluded no matter what the game is. On Thursday afternoons, the kids have a playdate with Jeannette, Matthi and Lucie one week at our place, one week at their place also around 4:30.

On Fridays, around 5pm, the kids have a playdate with Daniel and Gabriel at one of the parks or playgyms of Singapore.

If we are home by then, Maya takes her bath around 6:30-6:45, she in the little tub and Noah in the adjacent shower.... but Noah had a better idea the other day.

Maya started out very smiley - Noah was working on it

Noah found something to smile about 

Noah finally laughing - Maya now ready for the next thing!

After her bath, Maya puts on (well I put on) her "home clothes" and we listen to music/play/dance/prance and swirl.

Funny girl in her home clothes

Maya has dinner around 7:15-20 with the rest of us. She is usually a good eater and will try most of everything. These days, she is increasingly eating the same food we are eating, albeit cut up into small pieces or mushed.

After dinner, Maya and I feed Lhasa (Maya loves feeding Lhasa and signs "cat" and "food" over and over). She then takes her vitamins and reads good night moon with daddy and bonne nuit with me. I give her milk and then off to bed she goes (around 8:45). She almost never wakes up during the night, luckily.

Good night Maya - see you in the morning.

Maya at 10 months

Maya is 10 months old! 

Maya traipsing around West Coast Park

Time flies. For the stats, Maya is 7.5kg and 68.5cm at 10 months! Small but strong (or "petite mais costaud" as the French would say). That puts her at about the 15th percentile for height and weight (according to the WHO breastfed babies chart). 

For this post, I will repeat the likes and dislikes that Maya still likes/dislikes since we last posted a "Maya at" post when she was 8 months old (see Maya at 8 months) but not the "Maya can" she could do at 8 months. 

At 10 months Maya LIKES:

• Her big brother - her face lights up when she sees him;
• Eating what we are eating regardless of how spicy or strange our food is;
• Her musical tables;
• Walking, walking, walking and more walking;
• Climbing or trying to climb up and down stairs on two feet;
• Making piles (of books or toys) and using them to climb on top of furniture or out of her pen;
• Making silly faces, fake coughing and laughing with us;
• Lhasa the cat - she likes chasing Lhasa and feeding Lhasa every night often signing "cat" and the "food";
• Duplos - she can often be seen walking around playgrounds or below our apartment holding a duplo, dropping it, picking it up, kicking it and going after it;
• Playing hide-and-seek - she gets so excited when she sees Noah  or Maman "hiding" she tries to runs (which sometimes leads to tripping);
• Guantanamera sung by Joan Baez - we used to use this piece for all her naps - we still do at times but not systematically;
• Her milk and snuggling up to maman while drinking;
• Tummy tickles and raspberries;
• Somersaults whether in the air or on the ground, backwards or forwards - she lunges forward tucking her head in to let us know she wants to do a somersault;
• Food - although she is pretty tiny, she surprised us when we started solids - she eats everything we have given her so far, cauliflower, broccoli, garlicky lentils, celery, chickpeas, red peppers, dragon fruit, sour mango, spicy thai green curry... she will SHRIEK if the food is finished but she is still hungry and then wildly sign "food" "food";
• Maman - although Maya is happy with Daddy and a select group of people, she is still very much into her Maman;
• Music - she loves listening to music and jumps about and "dances" to the beat - she also loves to make music either by banging things together or tapping a beat on the table or "singing" (it really sounds like she is humming the beginning of jingle bells);
• Pictures - she likes looking at pictures of the family - especially Noah but also her grandparents and aunts and uncles;
• Sucking her thumb - although she does suck her thumb less than before it is still a big source of comfort;
• Her doudous (loveys in English I think), she has a rabbit and a horse that live in bed and that she likes to hold when falling asleep and a smaller rabbit attached to her stroller that she also holds when sleeping in the stroller (if these are not present though she will happily use a burp cloth);
• Putting things on her head or having us put things on our heads as "hats" and making the hat sign;
• Balls - Maya loves throwing, kicking, holding balls of all sorts (little light plastic balls, plush balls, o-balls....);
• Playing with her brother's toys and stuff; and
• Attention - Maya's face lights up when people in the street look and smile at her.

At 10 months, Maya CAN:

• Walk pretty stably (she still has some trouble with obstacles like a book on the floor or shoe or toy and although she can walk pretty well, she still can't really crawl!);
• Walk down a little step without losing her balance most of the time;
• Stand up (from lying down/sitting position) on her own (she was able to do this 2 days after her 10th month birthday);
• Lean over and pick up objects on the floor without losing her balance;
• Walk up and down hills without holding our hand;
• Magically make a leaf appear in her mouth, from no where (this talent seems to involve palming a leaf when you aren't looking, demonstrating that the leaf has vanished, and then mysteriously revealing it in her mouth at a later time);
• Find the one dangerous thing in her environment, e.g., pulling a small piece of paper out of a big pile of toys, which she then proceeds to try to eat, or ignoring all the stuffed animals for the toy scissors left on the table;
• Seemingly methodically tackle one challenge after another (she decides somehow that it is time to learn now to walk up and down a hill on her own and does it repeatedly till she makes it up and down - she gets flustered along the way but sticks to it; she also did that with little steps and standing up on her own and standing up on her own on a hill (she figured out that when facing down she falls so she would face sideways);
• Do 16 signs (bye bye, cat, eat, more, water, up, hot, milk, maman, dada, yes, bravo, bath, book, walk and hat) though she does not always use them - preferring sometimes to signal her desires in other ways (for example, shrieking or stroking my breast when she wants her milk) but she is generally very good at communicating what it is she wants;
• Make "mamama", "dadadadada", "lalalalala" sounds (most of the time she is not trying to actually say Maman or Dada to mean us though there have been a few instances where she might have used them appropriately). 
• Make a "eh" sound possibly for "lait" (milk) - she has done this a few times when I have said you want your "lait" and she says "ait (or eh)";
• Shriek at an ear piercing decibel level when frustrated, bored, upset or happy (we had mentioned this in her 8 months post hoping it would be a short-lived phase... well the phase has still not ended though I think it is maybe slightly better);
• Play in her bed alone after waking up;
• Feed herself rice and small pieces of food;
• Eat cut up pieces of mushy food without gagging or chocking;
• Fall asleep easily for naps and bedtime; 
• Sleep despite loud noises and much activity; and
• Sleep through the night every night.

At 10 months Maya DISLIKES:

• Being tired;
• Not being able to do something she would like to do (like figure out how a toy works or how to open something or climb onto something);
• Not having the amount of food she would like (mostly that means not having our food) or food when she would like it;
• When we take a "toy" away from her (pieces of paper, leaves, electric wires...);
• Being in a car;
• Sleeping for long periods when out and about (e.g., in a stroller or carrier); short naps are just fine, though;
• When she wants to do something on how own and does not get to (like walking down a steep hill without holding my hand or climbing down steps or eating);
• When we don't pay enough attention to her; and
• When maman is not at least 85% focused on her

Overall, Maya remains an adorable and very determined little girl with a powerful voice, a great smile, and a budding sense of humor. 

Maya at 8 Months

A week or so ago, Maya turned 8 months old. 

Our smiley little girl 

Curious about the world around her

Sweet 

and adorable

 but already sure of what she wants and determined to get it... 

and what she wants right now above 

all else is to be able to walk on her own... 

At 8 months Maya LIKES:

• Her big brother - her face lights up when she sees him;
• Walking, walking, walking and more walking (while holding one or two hands);
• Guantanamera sung by Joan Baez - she falls asleep to it every nap - we call it the magic music because she just goes down without a peep with her music on (if you try another piece - she shrieks);
• Somersaults whether in the air or on the ground, backwards or forwards - she lunges forward tucking her head in to let us know she wants to do a somersault;
• Food - although she is pretty tiny, she surprised us when we started solids - she eats everything we have given her so far, cauliflower, broccoli, garlicky lentils, celery, chickpeas, red peppers, dragon fruit, sour mango... she will SHRIEK if the food is finished but she is still hungry and then wildly hit herself in the face (her version of the food sign);
• Maman - Maya is a mommy's girl. It has started changing but she still wants maman a lot...
• Music - she loves listening to music and jumps about and "dances" to the beat;
• Pictures - she likes looking at pictures of the family - especially Noah but also her grandparents and aunts and uncles;
• Sucking her thumb - it soothes her, puts her to sleep, calms her down, helps her swallow bigger pieces of food - the magic miracle thumb!;
• Her doudous (loveys in English I think), she has a rabbit and a horse that live in bed and that she likes to hold when falling asleep and a smaller rabbit attached to her stroller that she also holds when sleeping in the stroller (if these are not present though she will happily use a burp cloth);
• Balls - Maya loves throwing, kicking, holding balls of all sorts (little light plastic balls, plush balls, o-balls....);
• Playing with her brother's toys and stuff; and
• Attention - Maya's face lights up when people in the street look and smile at her.

At 8 months Maya DISLIKES:

• Not being able to walk when she wants to;
• Not being able to do something she would like to do (like figure out how a toy works or how to open something or reach a toy);
• Not having the amount of food she would like or food when she would like it;
• When we take a "toy" away from her (pieces of paper, electric wires...);
• Being in a car;
• When we don't pay enough attention to her; and
• When maman is not at least 85% focused on her.

At 8 months Maya CAN:

• Do 8 signs (wave bye bye, cat, eat, more, water, up, milk, all done);
• Possibly do an additional 2 (diaper, nodding for yes) - the jury is still out;
• Stand without holding on to anything for 5 full seconds (her record);
• Do a step or two to stable herself when standing on her own;
• Stand well holding one hand;
• Walk well holding two hands;
• Pull herself up (though she usually wants to pull herself up holding onto me) and stand holding onto furniture;
• Walk but still a bit wobbly holding one hand;
• Smoothly pass objects from one hand to another;
• Pick up little pieces of food off the table (like grains of rice) but she still has trouble putting them in her mouth as they remain in her fist while she sucks her thumb. We tried explaining that her thumb was not a straw but she is still figuring that out;
• Shriek at an ear piercing decibel level when frustrated, bored or upset with you (and she does it quite a bit these days - hopefully this phase will be over soon??);
• Play in bed alone after waking up;
• Sleep easily wherever - her stroller, her bed, our arms, the floor - when tired she just goes to sleep - no fuss - she just goes to sleep; and
• Give kisses (though she generally just puts her mouth up to your cheek and does not make the smacking noise).

Overall, Maya is a very sweet determined little girl - she knows what she wants and is generally very good at finding a way of letting us know what that is. She is also very cuddly, loves kisses and hugs and asks for "more" kisses all the time.