She did it tonight!

I sat Maya in her crib and told her it was night-night time, and a few minutes later, she started to cry. No big surprise there; bedtimes have been more tricky for the past couple months — if she’s not REALLY out, forget it!

What *was* a big surprise was walking into my room to find her standing up at the edge of the crib. She looked so completely relieved to see me.

Mom!!! I’m stuck!!! How do I get down from here?

Everyday, something new. Am I *really* ready for this?

I mentioned that Maya’s trying to pull up, right? She was playing in her crib (alone time for her is a morning routine of ours), and I heard a wail from the other room. Here’s what I walked in to.

She’d gotten herself onto her feet, and was standing, but bent over, and had no idea what to do from there. I couldn’t help myself…I laughed. Loudly. Oh, then I grabbed the camera, laughing all the while.

Everything is so desperate to a baby.

…you’re the one.

The tasty one, that is.

Maya’s been desperately trying to pull herself up the past couple days. She didn’t quite make it, but when I gave her help, she stayed up for a long time.

How she can stand up on those tiny feet is beyond me!

Look, ma! Maya’s clearly pleased with herself, but it took nearly a full minute to get her attention to get a photo. Why’s that?

Something much more interesting is across from the crib on the bed. For a dog who mostly just lays around, Katie sure is fascinating, inspiring laughs and giggles.

All of my past experiences and anger aside, I find that I continue to return to Christianity. Let me clarify that this is NOT returning to religion…I’m still having an awful time finding a church purely because of my dislike of rules for rules’ sake. There are lots of churches out there…most housing lots of religious folks who don’t act Christian at ALL.

This guy gets it:

Perhaps if I was willing honk with my heart, honk with my faith, and honk with my life in the same manner Jesus did we wouldn’t need bumperstickers.

a new life emerging: Honk if you love Jesus.

Things are a bit messy today while I give Maya’s Meanderings a makeover.

(added) So, I think I’m done for now, anyway…What do you guys think?

Maya’s eight-month birthday was Monday, and I’m amazed at how old she is already!

Things to remember:

Linked to this quiz on a blog whose owner commented on my blog (not sure how she stumbled on me, tho)…loved the quiz; now I think I should probably figure out what the heck “Cooking to Hook Up” is!

Read the description. It sounds eerily on target…well, as on target as “all over the map” can be, anyway.

Moderation in all things, excess in nothing.
— Epicurus

Imagine that the Girl Next Door moved to the big city. Think of Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally. She’s America’s sweetheart with an urban sensibility. She’s a post-Christian spiritualist, a pre-Monica Clintonite, and a dues-paying member of at least one social-change organization like NOW, Planned Parenthood, or the Sierra Club. You won’t find her at an Earth First or PETA meeting, though. Those are the Granola Girl’s stomping grounds. Progressive Girls want the world to be a better place, but they live out their politics in a moderate, left-of-center way.

If you are going to date a Progressive Girl, the one sin you can commit is to be a chameleon. Molding your opinions to fit hers will lose her respect. One very positive thing you can do is offer her new experiences — the Progressive Girl is fearless about trying new things. Whether it’s pluralism, skydiving, Asian peanut sauce, or this book, the Progressive Girl is always looking for new ideas.

She Might Be a Progressive Girl if:

1. She drives: a small SUV but really wishes it got better mileage; once she can get a good hybrid, she will.
2. She can talk for more than ten minutes about: just about anything.
3. She begins her sentences with: “Susan Sarandon says…”
4. She’d never: pass up the chance for a new experience.
5. She owns any of the following: a water filter, a tabletop fountain, an acre of rain forest, a mutt from the pound.

Clay often ends up in blog photos, purely because he likes to hang out with Maya. (That couldn’t possibly have anything to do with his propensity for licking up spitup, could it?)

Katie found Maya to be a bit disturbing in the beginning. She’s a rescue dog, and I speculate that perhaps she lost her first home from the addition of a baby…she seemed terrified that I’d kick her out. As time has gone on, she likes Maya well enough now. This is especially true when she drops anything edible, so that love should only increase with time!

It’s happened — the first of the babies on my mommy group has walked. Yikes! Henderson will be 9 months old on the 1st of June.

It would be easy to get intimidated by all of this. While Henderson is the BBE, Maya is developing at a pace that’s so…average. As it stands, she SITS.

When she falls over, she doesn’t push herself back up; she fusses for me to come help her back up. She’s not crawling yet, nor is she pulling up on furniture. She’s not cruising, although she does love to stand up.

What I must remember is that while she’s not at the head of this pack, she’s making progress in a perfectly normal way, in her own time. A few weeks ago, she sat up for the first time, and had to struggle to keep upright at all. Now, she confidently reaches out for toys, and even leans way forward/sideways to get what she wants…as long as it’s still mostly within reach.

Reminder to self: pay attention to Maya’s own development as the miracle it is. Don’t get distracted by those with the babies moving so quickly!