Happy Halloween!

Maya is two months today! Her skills currently include:

1. Smiling
2. Getting her hand in her mouth to suck on
3. Recognizing mom and dad's voices
4. Gurgling, cooing and baby 'talking' ( like little alien noises)
5. Being as cute as ever as she becomes increasingly more alert and interacting with the world.

Happy Halloween!

8 weeks and a house warmed

Maya is 8 weeks old and growing like a weed. We estimate that she is about 12lbs and therefore technically out of her 0-3 month clothing. With the weather turning colder I've had to learn how to layer her up and dress her warm enough to go outside. She hates hats but that big ol' baby noggin needs a hat - what can I do. The trick is getting her dressed and then jetting out the door fast enough to prevent her from overheating... (and screaming). Takes some practice and we haven't quite mastered it yet. Poor first child - always the experiment.

Last weekend we were thrilled to introduce friends and family to our new pad and to baby Maya. We had a great time at our housewarming and were happy to have so many out of town guests that made the trip! Not always easy to see good friends who have scattered after grad school so really it's good to have reasons to celebrate and get together.

My goal in the next couple weeks is to find a nanny for Maya since I plan to return to work in February but I'm traveling with her the whole month of December. A rather daunting and overwhelming task for a first time mom. We have a few interviews set up for next week and at least Brian is around and able to help screen candidates. He's been hard at work trying to secure a new position in this rather intimidating economy but it's great to have him around and spend time with baby.

Wednesday we're headed to a Halloween party for kiddies - I had to find something for her to wear her pumpkin halloween costume to and it will be a good opportunity to meet other new parents as well.

Our little jetsetter

Maya has been busy planning trips and getting to know her surroundings. She's official now as she got her social security card and her passport so she's set to go to Uruguay in December (take that Sarah Palin!!). Taking her passport picture a the post office was not easy. The clerk handed the camera over to Brian so she could tend to the growing line while we tried to get a picture with eyes open and not screaming - it was a team effort with Grandma Lynn making faces while Brian steadied the camera and I played with her pacifier and tried to keep her arms down (we had just woken her up to take the picture which she clearly thought was incredibly unfair, so the screaming was very justified).

We also introduced Maya to the Hamptons this past weekend. A welcome change of scenery since we hadn't gone since early August. It was a beautiful sunny warm weekend which was perfect for strolling around and window shopping. The Hamptons' farms are bursting with fall produce, pumpkins everywhere, apple picking, corn mazes and roasted corn on the cob. A lot of fun to see stores get ready for Halloween and families pushing wheel barrels of pumpkins bigger than they could carry. A great time to be out there and clearly we weren't only ones who thought so as the towns were packed. Also on the agenda is a trip to Williams for homecoming weekend and Boston for Thanksgiving. We're going to become pros at nursing and changing diapers in the car.

Maya who will be 7 weeks on Saturday has also started to smile at us which is incredibly adorable. She spends longer periods of time awake now and demands to be entertained. She loves to be held in your lap so she can see you and will make lots of faces and stare and study your gestures. She pushes up with her legs and tries to stand and while she still doesn't have much control of her hands which occasionally whack her in the face she has had a couple of successes getting her hand to her mouth. She clearly wants to be on the move and makes a great effort to hold her head up and push her legs to creep forward. I think we already know this girl is going to keep us on the move.

Here comes autumn

The weather has started to cool in New York City and we're feeling pretty cozy in our new place. We've enjoyed several walks along the water with baby and dogs. Maya is 5 weeks and got good marks at her 1 month checkup last week. She weighs 10lbs (!) and is 21 inches long putting her in the 90th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height. Of course as soon as we stripped her of her diaper to weigh her at the pediatrician's she peed on the table.. oops. But she's doing great and growing lots which is what she needs to do - how could she not when she's hungry all the time! Look at those cheeks!! She did give me a break last night and slept from 10pm - 3am - her longest stretch yet so hopefully she's getting the hang of sleeping at night.

Lauren came to visit this past weekend with baby Nathan - great to see them and see Nathan who was a little peanut, only 4 weeks old when we saw them last, and a great opportunity to take lots of pictures of the kids together and introduce the cousins... well, maybe just introduce Nathan to Maya since she's still pretty oblivious. But he certainly acknowledged her and was reaching for her when we put them on a play mat together - so cute!! We strolled around the neighborhood and even made it out to dinner Saturday night with the kids in their strollers. It will be fun to get the whole gang together for Thanksgiving in Wellesley where the kids and dogs will outnumber the adults.. but it would be much to quiet any other way.