Maliya's 3rd International Trip AND a tea party with Cameron Rose!

Maliya had a fun tea party with Cameron Rose, Elmo, and Julie before we left for Grand Cayman. Maliya got a nice tea set from my parents for Christmas and Cameron and Maliya had such a great time playing together, mixing things, and banging bowls around. We had a great day together complete with a trip to The National Museum for Women in the Arts, salad for lunch, and a tea party. Pictures are below- of course, Maliya and Cameron are still best friends!

We also made a great trip to Grand Cayman for a conference that Neal attended. Maliya had a ridiculously good time- she loved the beach, the resort, walking around the hotel, the elevator, and all of the babies that were also on vacation. She made a friend named Ginger and called her Ni-ner- she actually recognized Ginger and would yell out Ni-ner, Ni-ner. It was very cute- Maliya was also amazing on the flight- she is such a sweet baby.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

We had a great holiday season with Maliya- she really enjoyed all of the decorations, the tree, and gifts of course. We tried introducing Maliya to Santa for the first time- you will see from the pictures that things did not go so well. We think she will really enjoy the holidays more next year as she becomes a big girl!

For the Love of Elno (Elmo)

Maliya discovered the love of her life (Elmo) over the summer when Neal took her to a birthday party with an Elmo theme. Since July, Elno has been a huge part of her life- she loves the Elno Song, screams ELNO! when she seems him on her diapers, thinks every cartoon character is Elmo, and even dressed as Elno on Halloween. Maliya assumes that the best way to watch Elmo is on the computer so anytime she seems Neal or I typing or writing an email, she walks over and goes Elno, Elno? She is relentless and won't stop until you show her a video of her beloved Elmo- here are some pictures of Maliya and her favorite person-

Someone has a best friend: Cameron Rose Donahue

Maliya and Cameron have always had a special bond. They are only 2 weeks apart and literally have developed at the same pace. They both crawled late, walked late, and talked super early. The best part about Cameron is that she plays the same as Maliya does and the two of them have actually started playing together which is so cute to see! Maliya loves organizing and sorting things- Cameron does as well. They interact using their own language but seem to understand each other really well. Cameron's mom is Julie Donahue- Julie and I met a few years ago at a job that we both hated and quickly got back in touch once we realized we were both expecting girls at the same time- we literally went through our pregnancy together. We have nicknamed the girls Oceaie (Cameron has eyes the color of the ocean) and Nosey (Maliya flares her nose constantly)- and are hoping that Oceaie and Nosey are lifelong friends. Here are a few pics of the girls- you can actually see them playing together.

Maliya Words- Round 2!

Maliya has added some new words to her vocabulary-

1) Mama- which she says too me!
2) Car- pronounced cahhhhh
3) Tuck- for Truck
4) Elno- for Elmo (who she loves and who deserves another whole post)
5) Aji- she calls Neal's mom Aji but she can't say the J- so it sounds like Aahhhhzi
6) Sooes- for Shoes
7) She also sings a silly song that goes "Wah Wah Wah Wah Ga!" and another silly song goes "Tickle Tickle Tika"
8) All done, All done- or All gone, All gone

She speaks a ton already!

Burke Pumpkin Playground!

We have really enjoyed the month of October in Virginia this year. It has seriously been beautiful and the fall colors have been really great to see. My friend Julie told me about a pumpkin patch/playground for kids called Burke Pumpkin Playground. My friend Fuong and Maliya's friend Sophia came and met us there. We had a great time- there were huge slides, a merry go round, a petting zoo, horse rides, face painting, and other fun activities for kids. We had a great time- the chilly weather got us in the Halloween sprit. Both Maliya and Sophia cried as we were leaving. Here are some pictures of our day!

Its hard being a mom and mom's guilt

This post is a tad different from my usual ones. I have had a great time being Maliya's mom but recently I have realized that having become a mom is a huge challenge for someone who is a total control freak. I also feel guilty when things don't go as planned or feel like I am not doing enough and that I should be doing more as it relates to raising Maliya. This has been a challenge because anyone who knows me quickly gets the fact that I am a complete perfectionist and I don't think things are worth doing if they are not perfect. Because of that, I think I put a lot of pressure on myself to make sure Maliya looks perfect, eats perfect, behaves well, is getting stimulated enough, etc. All of these "I shoulds" have finally caught up with me and I think I need to take a bit of time to figure out who I am again- I have devoted every waking second to this little girl over the past 14 months and I think some time for myself is good. Also, when we have a second child- I am not sure this drive for perfection will due anybody good. Yikes- time out for mom!

MD