It’s the week before we head to Texas for Thanksgiving. I’m going to San Antonio for work on the 19th and Sarah, Keana, Maia, and Uncle Peter are joining me a few days later. Then we’re all driving to Fredericksburg to visit Grandma Linda and Grandpa Sam. Boy are they in for a surprise. I think it’s been almost seven months since they’ve seen the girls—more than half of Maia’s life so far!
Maia is getting more and more verbal and she vocabularic arsenal consists of hi, hello (pronounced “heh-roh”), dada, mama, and more. She blows kisses by putting her hand to her mouth and blowing into it, and can of course wave (and if you’re lucky you get the two-hand wave). She is her father’s daughter being very particular, and very clear about what she wants and doesn’t want. She’ll shake her head with an emphatic “no” when you offer her things, and when she’s done playing with something she throws it to the side like a pirate casting off an empty beer flagon. It’s really hilarious. Besides, it’s safer to throw things to the side so you don’t trip over them as you move along to the next thing, right? Maia also loves climbing. She’ll climb all around on the couch, often taking a moment to bounce up and down while stabilizing on the back of the couch. She loves to throw her head back with complete abandon when she knows you’re there to catch her (and you better be), or when she’s on a bed. Climbing on Keana’s little chairs is also a favorite while we get Keana ready for bed. She sits backward on them like the Fonz and bucks back and forth like she’s riding a bull. Maia is one crazy little action baby. Speaking of action, she loves to walk and almost run while holding on to our hands. She’ll be walking any day now and none of us can wait. Keana especially seems ready for her little sister to be more mobile to chase around and have fun with in that way. They certainly love playing games with each other. Maia’s even learned to hold something out so Keana can reach it, then pull it back quickly and laugh and run when Keana fails to reach it. Something I think she might have learned from Keana. It’s so much fun to see them interact and play with each other. It is tough not to be overbearing when they struggle, but Keana really does bring so much joy to little Maia, and vice versa.
On the food front, Maia doesn’t eat a whole lot of regular food, though she has sampled just about everything we eat, with the exception of cow milk, honey, and spicy stuff. Tonight she grabbed an onion off my pizza and said, “Mmmm!” then proceeded to spit it on the ground. So she’s not afraid to try new things!
Little Miss Thang (a.k.a. Keana) is progressing amazingly as well. She is incredibly tall, mischievous, bright, and funny. Her comprehension of life is really incredible at times. Last night I was I having a hard time with being patient, and as I was reading her bedtime story I told her I was having a hard time and that I was sorry. Keana replied, “That’s okay Papa. Just do your best.” A not-even-four-year-old with amazing insight. We absolutely love her energy and humor, and though we struggle with it at times, her bright little light is such a great asset to our quadripod.
Keana’s really starting to develop her physical being as well, gaining speed while running, height while jumping, and trying out things she was afraid to do before. She loves throwing and catching, though she often turns catching into a comedy routine of errors. Her slapstick humor is really quite funny. Keana also loves to kick the ball and Tia Iana thinks we might have a soccer player in the making. To give you an idea of her evolving personality, here’s some of her latest and greatest quotes:
8/13/08: Keana had a song stuck in her head while driving around and it was really bothering her, so Sarah put on the local jazz station. Keana started shaking her head around and said, “Oh yeah, this is workin’ my head out.”
9/1/08: “Helloha means ‘hi’ in Spanish!”
10/6/08 (While I was cooking her a quesadilla): “Mama, are you going to last forever? I don’t want anyone to die because we’re having too much fun!”
10/11/08: “I’m so busy I smell cake!” (while eating dinner)
10/15/08 (Keana’s first poem): “The tree I love with all my might, I close my eyes and it turns to light.”
10/22/08: After coming home from an outing and being very tired, “I just want some yummy, delicious quiet time.”
So, as you can see, we got a lot going on here at Team Hokama ,and in about a week, the whole fam damnly flies to Texas for Thanksgiving adventures and Maia’s first birthday! You’ll get it all right here, so don’t touch that dial.