Like most 2.5 year olds, Maya has developed an ornery streak. She’s defiant and stubborn and likes pointing it out when we deviate even one iota from what she knows to be the one correct way. She often doesn’t listen well and can try the patience of even the calmest person (which I’m not).

Maya – ~2.5 years old

Except often she does listen well. One day, she’ll just randomly pick up her toys when asked. Or before she wants a new toy, she’ll put the old one away without being asked. It’s amazing. Also, she balances her defiance with sweetness (and there’s part of me admires her defiance even as it’s driving me crazy). She’s so smart and has a silly sense of humor. I think having a little brother in the house is already paying dividends for her. At least with other babies, she’s very nice about bringing them toys and playing with them.

Maya – ~2.5 years old

Maya is really blossoming at her music class. She’s definitely a shy kid. If the crowd is too big, she folds in on herself. Her eyes sort of glaze over and while she allows you to shuffle her from one activity to the next, she shows very little self-motivation. In her music class lately, she’s been playing the instruments by herself, following along with some of the movements and gestures that accompany the songs, and has been more assertive about what she wants to do.

At home, the change is even more profound. She has a box of musical instruments – little drums and shakers and xylophones and whistles – that she’s becoming more proficient at using. But beyond that, for the past couple weeks she’s been singing most of her songs. We no longer get to sing to her at bedtime. Now we sit there and urge her along while she sings the songs.

One of the parents in the music class had really cute pants on her kid. We found out where they got them and in looking around that particular Etsy shop, we found some of the cutest kimono dresses. Maya has two of them now: the one in these photos and a red one with skulls on it that will show up in this year’s mother’s day photos once we get around to posting them.

Maya is still on her anti-photo streak. She doesn’t stand still for Sean at all anymore and even actively runs away from him when he has a camera in hand. It’s too bad really; she’s a lovely little subject to photograph.