Happy Birthday Maya!

We crossed the finish line and made it through our first year of parenthood! Maya turned one on Sunday and we celebrated with family and friends in a backyard bbq in East Hampton. Grandma Lynn and Grandpa Gib made the trip down from Wellesley to join the festivities, several family friends and co-workers joined us as well and Martin and a friend worked the grill. The year went by very fast of course and it was nice to reminisce on where we were a year ago after receiving our 8 pounder. It was nice to relive the day through memories and although we were exhausted by the end of it, very glad that we made the effort to celebrate her birthday, it was fun for all of us. She got a lot of gifts perfect for a soon to be toddler on the move - things to push and drag, and some musical toys with lots of lights and movements which she easily became fascinated by. She also got baby tricycle which she'll grow into to and some baby einstein DVD which she will surely enjoy. Overall a successful event and the weather even cooperated after threatening rain all weekend.

I had a very fun time making Maya's cake - a 3D caterpillar resting on some leaves with a few flowers. Labor intensive but I loved the way it turned out and was the perfect item for a garden party. I don't think we'll do another real birthday party for a few years but somehow the first one seemed like an important milestone. On to toddler hood! Maya is becoming more independent every day and close to take her first steps unassisted. She has a solid stand - now just needs to get her sea legs straight so she doesn't topple over like a drunken sailor!

Sprinklers!!

Surf City USA

Ahhhhhh Southern California. Why would anyone want to live anywhere else? The weather is perfect, the ocean is beautiful, there are flowers everywhere and the people are friendly and courteous (I've had it with the NYers this summer!!). We had a great 4 day escape to Laguna Beach where we attended cousin Anne-Marie's wedding on the beach. Really gorgeous and fun event. and got to see the Serafini's for the first time since our wedding in 2006. Maya got to hang out a whole lot more with cousins Noah, Anna and Nathan who rented the house with us. It was a very fun couple of days albeit a bit short and we wished we could have stayed longer. We got much luckier with flights this time - no delays and an empty seat for Maya to take advantage of. Doesn't get better than that.

Jet Bound

Airplane travel is like the forgotten level of hell that was left out of Dante’s infierno by mistake. What a nightmare it is getting through airport security with a baby (they tested every single liquid in my carry on – jars of baby food, sippy cup, bottle of milk etc…), then hanging out in the terminal because your flight is delayed, then hanging out on the plane on the tarmac because there is too much airplane traffic – and all this before you even go anywhere!! We got home at 10pm on Sunday. Maya was a little delirious and took 3 naps on Monday!

We flew to Chicago this weekend for Brian’s cousin Kristin’s wedding which was a lovely event. They had a sweet touching ceremony on the porch of an old estate in Oak Park outside Chicago and fun casual dinner inside this beautiful home, once a private home, now a historic building.

A really fun part of the trip was staying with Brian’s sister Lauren and her family who also live in Oak Park and Maya got to hang out with her cousins who she hasn’t seen since Thanksgiving. She was fascinated by them, and Noah and Anna always loving kissed and hugged her. Nathan only 5 months her senior had a little competition for his toys but overall they played well together too. We’re getting together again in a little over a week when we all fly to California for wedding #2. Cousin Anne-Marie on the other side of the family is getting married, and we’ve rented a house with the Breits in Laguna Beach. We’re spending the early part of next week in East Hampton before we leave Thursday (again, not looking forward to the airplane trip) – the first vacation time since I came back to work in February. Really looking forward to some chill time on the beach.