Well, we managed to keep a baby alive for a whole year. Go us!

Maya – ONE YEAR OLD!

Maya is one year old today. We made it through sleepless nights, DOC band wearing, a few bouts of sickness, and airline travel with an infant (twice). Through work-life balance issues and endless breast milk pumping. Through baby vomit and baby blood. And now our kid is a healthy, happy one year old.

Even through all that, I still can’t figure out where the time has gone. I had no idea how much pure joy there was in parenthood. I’ve heard countless new parents gush, even those not known to be overly expressive, but there’s really no understanding it till you’re in their shoes. The sleepless nights, the shitty diapers, the anxiety over which decisions are “right” … all completely worth it.

Of course, Maya can’t walk or talk yet. Maybe all that will change ;-)

Making Grammy nervous

We had planned to start her at daycare this week. After taking her there to visit last week, we realized that we just weren’t ready for her to be out of the house and away from us all day. Anna agreed to continue being Maya’s nanny for a while longer. We agreed with each other to reassess in another six months. We still feel like it’s important to get her around other little kids, but there’s time for that later. In the mean time, we’re really enjoying having her around.

Grandpa builds the towers, Maya knocks ’em down

We had her party this past Saturday. Both sets of grandparents made it down and her Aunt Darci and cousin AP visited as well. A decent number of our friends showed up too. I think there were maybe 15-20 people in the house all told, setting a new record for number of guests we’ve entertained at one time. I baked cookies and birthday cake. Sean and Harry and Helen picked up our barbecue, sides, and pie order from Micklethwait Craft Meats (a wholly satisfactory choice by the way). Dad and Carol made sure the dishes were washed and Maya stayed out of trouble. There was a cooler full of drinks and a pile of presents.

Face full of barbecue

Because of all the commotion with family being in town, Maya was resistant to napping; she wanted to be part of the action. She finally settled down about a half hour before her party was to start. We decided a happy baby was better than a punctual baby, so she slept through the first half hour of her party. Already, she’s learning how to be fashionably late.

Cake!

Little girl loves her some barbecue. Lolli and Pop were feeding her, and it sounds like she attacked her plate of food. I expect she was already plenty full by the time we brought in her cake. Just like her Daddy though, she found room for dessert and took out a substantial chunk of birthday cake.

Opening presents

A quick bath helped knock off the icing and seemed to perk Maya up a bit. She found the energy to let Aunt Darci and AP help her open her presents. Everyone was very generous and Maya had quite the haul of clothing and toys.

Hellooooooo Pop

Sunday was a quiet day, spent examining presents and spending time with Grammy and Grandpa and Lolli and Pop before they all started the arduous drive back home. By the end of their visit, Maya had even warmed up enough to dole out kisses to everyone.

Relaxing with Lolli

We are deeming the birthday weekend a success. The party seemed to go well, and despite all the hustle and bustle, we still got to spend a decent amount of time with our parents. And probably more importantly Maya got some time with her grandparents.