One!

As usual, I'm a little behind on chronicling the happenings around here, but this milestone needs marking. Somebody special celebrated her first birthday at the beginning of March.

From such a tiny bundle...                             to this delightful lively girl, in just one year.

Maya on her Birth Day

Maya on her First Birthday

The day before Maya’s birthday was a brilliantly sunny one – a day of deep blue sky and crisp shadows on sparkling snow. These kinds of days are particular to late February and March here, after the lake freezes and stops feeding the constant cloud cover that makes most of the winter quite gray. I loaded Maya into the backpack and we went for a deep-snow ski. It was a perfect chance to reflect on the events of exactly one year ago. That day was similarly bright and sunny, and I had taken an afternoon walk on the trails at the Commons. I felt strong as I powered up the hills with my pregnant belly, two weeks from my due date. I couldn’t have imagined that labor would begin an hour later, and that by the next morning I’d be holding my newborn baby in my arms and seeing her face for the first time.

So many memories came flooding back during that stretch of time around her birthday – the anticipation of my final stretch of pregnancy, all the things I wanted to have ready, the surprise of the early and fast labor. Maya as a tiny newborn bundle, wrapped in her soft yellow blanket and white hat, with her long feet and expressive hands, her head as soft as a peach, her smooth skin, bright eyes, and beautiful face.

 

And now: a whole year gone by! At one year old, Maya is so many things. She is eager to experience life; her eyes still sparkle but now they take in everything around her. She has a ready grin that she flashes often, for us, for friends, and for strangers that she makes into friends immediately. “Hiiiii!” is one of her favorite words, and she says hi to me throughout the day, hi to Bella and Maisie, hi to the chickens, hi to Papa when he gets home, hi to her toys, and hi to people we see when we are out and about.

She is an enthusiastic eater, quick to try whatever we offer and quick to offer plentiful “Yums” and “Mmmms” as she eats. She loves to read books, take walks, and point out birdies everywhere we go. She’s a busy little bee, not walking yet but crawling fast and pulling herself up to reach whatever she can. She’s sturdy; when she’s done standing, she sits right down on her bottom and does a fancy little pirouette, scooting around to face whatever direction she's going next. She’s a little tornado, getting out all her books, and all her blocks, and the dog toys out of the basket, and the games out of the cupboard, and the containers out of the kitchen drawer – all while I’m trying to clean up some other mess!

Whenever our bare bellies are accessible, she loves to blow raspberries. She’s better at it than either me or Nick, even though we showed her first. She studies the spot, puts her mouth down in one swift motion, blows a long, loud raspberry, and then looks up at us and says “Ha!” We laugh so hard.

"Maya, how old are you?"

She was doing a lot of pointing right before her birthday, so we started to say, “Maya, how old are you?” She caught right on and now she puts up her finger on cue, especially if we hold out a single finger to meet hers. We make an exploding “kapow” sound as they touch. She loves to play that game over and over again.

We had a celebratory family dinner on the day she turned one. There was red lentil dal with coconut milk (a family favorite) followed by blueberry-banana birthday cake. It was a big hit.

And a few gifts to open, with helpful cousins to make sure the job got done.

The following weekend, we had a party with the baby brigade and their families. Six babies from the 2014 vintage in attendance (and one big brother), plus three others who sent wishes from afar, all within our group of local friends. Whatever was in the water last year, it was powerful stuff!

A fiesta of fruit, with mango ones, papaya stars, and banana flowers.

Blueberry birthday pie.

Happy, happy birthday, you amazing child overflowing with life and potential. Your Papa and I love you so much. Already I can't quite remember the time before you were part of our world.

A new era begins!

More photos from Maya's birthday celebration, and Maya's birthday month, here.