Baby Lewis and the News: November

Maya continues to amaze us every day with her growth, learning, and motor skills. She got her first tooth at about 10.5 months on the middle-bottom, right, and the following week got her second tooth just to the left. Maya is babbling more and more and we are hearing new sounds and sound combinations every day. We just love listening to Maya over the monitor as she "practices" during crib-talking before she goes to bed and when she wakes up in the morning. Her voice is just so sweet. Although Maya has imitated many words (or so we think!), her first consistent word is "nana" for banana (11 months old) spoken to label her current favorite fruit.

Maya began pulling herself up to her knees at about 11.5 months, which has led to a whole new world of exploration. She now enjoys kneeling at her bookshelf and taking off all of the books, and kneeling over her toy bin and taking toys out; if only she could clean up after herself! Maya is beginning to engage independently with cause and effect toys and loves pushing buttons to make lights and music turn on.

Maya has been quite the social butterfly. She smiles when she sees her friends at daycare and will initiate play with them. Maya has begun handing toys to others during play, and if you're lucky, she may even let you play with them! We visited with Mia who was born 5 weeks after Maya; they hadn't seen each other for awhile so it was a very nice reunion. It is amazing how big both girls have grown and so delightful to watch them interact with one another. Maya (and Mommy and Daddy) got to meet her new friend Fin when he visited from Chicago with his parents Jon and Jen. It was quite remarkable to see the difference that 9 months makes. We can't wait to watch the kids grow up together!

We celebrated Maya's first Thanksgiving at Aunt Rosie and Uncle Sherwin's house with the Lewis family. Maya enjoyed her turkey dinner but loved gnawing on a steamed broccoli stalk throughout dinner. She watched her 8 second cousins with awe as they sang, danced, and ran around the house. Maya participated in the yearly talent show by helping Mommy sing a "Gobble Gobble goes the bird" song; later her cousins joined her in "If You're Happy and you Know it..." which was fun for all. We can't wait to see what she'll do for next year's talent show!

Maya and George striking a pose