What's your name?

After MANY months of trying to get Maya to say her name, she finally said it today. It was clear, perfectly pronounced & very matter-of-fact.

Just to be sure it wasn't an accident, we asked her who she was in a dozen different ways and clapped & cheered wildly when she said it correctly. Self-awareness has hit another milestone. Yipee!

Daycare Pt 2

Well, Maya has survived her 2nd week of daycare and is doing GREAT!!! The biting has settled down to only 2x this week, her sleeping has increased to 60-90 minutes a day, she's eating a lot, playing a lot and having a wonderful time. She even runs from me once I say it's time to go so I know she's not traumatized by being there...

The care-takers LOVE her enthusiam during story & play time as she cheers and claps very loudly. They also like her sense of humour (she laughs very heartily at funny things) and her empathy (she comforts other kids when they're crying). She's also an easy child to look after as she's a very clean eater, she tidy's up after herself, is quiet overall and not wild or destructive. They all obviously really enjoy having her there (I've watched them with her when they didn't know I was there)

Personally, I'm loving having her in daycare too. She's learning group social skills that I wouldn't be able to teach her; she has toys & play activities there that we don't have at home; she gets more tired-out so is easier to put to bed. Plus, I get 6 hours free a day to be me, run errands, get stuff done around the house & just enjoy life... (more on that later).

Over-all, this has been a good experience so far...

Volunteering

Many of you know that I'm a volunteer for the group 'Team Vancouver Volunteers'. This is a group of people that wanted to do regular volunteering for different organizations and decided to make it an official group last year. Each month, they set up a volunteering day for a different organization and invite people to join them. The group size has grown from a half-dozen people to several dozen in a few short months. I joined their group in their 2nd month of existance (Sept 09) and, so far, have done:
-Oct > sorting cans for the 'Vancouver Food Bank'
-Nov > sorting & packaging household items for 'Gather & Give'
-Dec > gift wrapping for 'MS Society' & a family sponsorship
-Jan > processing of expired foods for 'Quest Food Exchange'
-Mar > sold daffodils for 'Canadian Cancer Society'

I missed the Feb event which was food preparation at the Salvation Army as it was the day after the Olympics Opening Ceremonies & I was BURNED OUT!

Today, we worked at the 'Union Gospel Mission' in the kitchens preparing food for the homeless. It was a very organized kitchen and I was quite impressed with how they were able to make so much food for so many people in such a short period of time.

TVV is becoming more popular and they are now starting to organize 2 volunteering events a month. I really enjoy helping out and the organizers are so much fun that the whole event even better.

Daycare Trials

Maya survived her first week of daycare in pretty good shape. Each day was a bit longer there and by day 3 she was ready to try a nap there. As with any new experience there's good, bad and ugly. In this case,

The good: she's social, quiet, plays well, attentive to other children when they are hurt/crying, listens to & understands instructions, naps with the other kids

The bad: her naps are only 30 min instead of 2 hours so she's grumpier at home at the end of the day

The ugly: she's become a biter! Sometimes over a toy but sometimes completely unprovoked but she's chomped several kids this week. Yikes!

I hope week 2 is better...

Talk-Talk-Talk

Prior to March, Maya only spoke a few words but had several signs that she used to communicate her needs. This was a simple, but quiet, way of life.

Some time last month the verbal 'switch' in her turned on and she has now become a chatter-box. She's talking non-stop, even if its not understandable. If she's not reciting to us what every item is, she's telling us its colour or shape. If she can't do any of those, she's parroting back what we say or ASKING us what EVERYTHING is. Boy, oh boy. Toddlers ask a lot of questions! Plus, they hear everything so we're now having to spell certain things so she doesn't get cranky...

Life has just gotten a bit more complicated...

Daycare

Today was Maya's 1st day at daycare. Other than waking us up early (3am and 630am), she was ready for her day on time and in a good mood.

Once at the daycare, she jumped right in to the festivities, barely giving me a glance. The only attention she paid me was when she had dirt on her hands and wanted someone to wipe it off. Otherwise, I was persona-non-grata.

We spent 2 hours at the daycare and the staff was so impressed with how she handled it, we are going to speed her transition schedule. Tomorrow, I'll drop her off then leave for 2 hours before coming back to have lunch with her then take her home for a nap. Wednesday or Thursday I'll leave her there to try a nap with the other kids. Hopefully, it'll all go well...

Mo-Co-Co

John got his Ducati insured last week and today was his first day riding it to work. Maya isn't a fan of the noise of motorcycles but every one is called 'da-da' regardless of the make, model or colour.

When John left for work this morning, Maya didn't like seeing him leave but when he got on the bike and rode away, she pointed to him and said:
'Dada on mo-co-co' (Daddy on motorcycle) 3 words!!! Woo Hoo…