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Like many little girls her age, Maya is all about princesses right now. On any given day, if you were to come to our house, you would find her in one of her many beautiful dresses, probably wearing a few pieces of costume jewelry, maybe even a tiara, and either reading princesses, playing with princesses or watching her very favorite princess movie, Beauty and The Beast.
I remember being little and being enamored with the magic and the beauty of the princess world. Seeing that world again through her eyes is truly magical. To see her eyes light up as we read about enchanted places and beautiful princesses. To see the joy on her face when she falls into a make believe world with her princess dolls. To see her mesmerized while she watches the story of Beauty and The Beast unfold on our television screen for the one hundredth time. I couldn’t imagine it getting any better than those moments.
That is, not until we made her every last dream come true by taking her to see Disney on Ice Princess Classics.
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I knew she was going to love the show. But, nothing could have prepared me for just how much she would love it, just how spellbound she would be by it. Being there to see the look on her face when the show started. Seeing the sparkle in her eyes as she watched, completely in awe, without even blinking for 2 hours straight. It was a dream I couldn’t have imagined if I tried, it is a memory I will hold dear to my heart.
Maya I hope you remember this when you’re older. I hope you remember how you felt. I hope you remember how you wanted more than anything to dance out on the ice with those princesses. I’m so glad I was there with you as you got caught up in the magic of it all.
It steals my breathe to think that my sweet baby is almost 3. I’m busy trying to decide what to do for her birthday, how best to celebrate, all the while fighting tears over the fact she is growing up way too fast.
She is definitely a little girl now. The baby and toddler in her have faded making way for this beautiful, smart, energetic little girl.
I think every age a child goes through has its fun parts, its joys. When they are really tiny you get to sit and snuggle with them all the time, you get to watch as they slowly start being awake more and more. As they get a little bigger you get to watch them explore their world and play and react with their environment. As they slowly leave the baby phase you get to watch as they learn to walk, talk and interact with other kids. As they go from toddling around to running you get to see them really open up, really learn about language and develop a sense of independence.
Now that Maya is going on 3 we are into a whole new fun phase. Her grasp of language is impeccable. The things she says now sound like a little mini-adult is saying them. Her sentence structure is wonderful, her vocabulary is huge and she is constantly learning and growing her language skills. It certainly makes parenting so much easier when they can tell you exactly what they want, why they are crying, what they want to play with, etc. She loves to explore and learn new things. She loves to ask questions.
There are so many things I love about Maya at this age. So many funny, and cute, and sweet things she is doing. Things like:
- She is big into princesses right now. Her favorite movie is Beauty and The Beast. Which is funny because when I was a teenager I babysat this little girl who loved that movie and after watching it hundreds of times with her I swore I would never watch it again, and now here I am watching it on a daily basis.
- She loves to play dress up. Give her a crown, or a pair of bunny ears, or a pretty dress, or a boa and you will have made her day.
- She has an incredible imagination and loves to play pretend. Whether it is playing with her toy kitchen and making us all lunch, having a little tea party, playing “mommy” to her babies and toy animals, or playing with her all time favorite my little ponies, she loves to play make-believe.
- She is extremely opinionated, and about the strangest things. Most mornings the first thing out of her mouth is “No ponytail, Mommy.” as I’m busy throwing my bed head hair into a quick ponytail. She loves to boss us around and tell us where to sit, or what to do, or what not to do.
- She loves to go to the park, and would probably go everyday if she could. The other day at dinner we asked her what she wanted to do after dinner, her response “Umm, maybe, playground, maybe?”, with a little head tilt added for good measure. She can turn on the charm when she needs to as well
- She has her moments where she is crazy and rambunctious and all over the place, but most of the time she can be found sitting quietly reading her books, or coloring or playing quietly with her toys.
- She adores, just adores, her kitties. She is, and always has been, super sweet and gentle with them.
- She is a mommy’s girl through and through. I have to admit, I love it. I love that she still needs me, that she still lets me hold her and cuddle her.
I could go on and on and on. There is so much I love about her, so much that amazes me and makes me happy. I want to bottle it all up and savor these moments. I want to pause time and stay here with her, just like this, for a little while longer.
Baby massage is a wonderful way to bond with your baby while helping your baby in many different ways including calming your baby, aiding in digestion, promoting better sleep and aiding in development. Your baby will appreciate the warmth and comfort of your touch and it is a wonderful way to spend some quiet time together, just getting to know each other.
When Maya was an infant I loved giving her baby massages. It really helped to calm her down, particularly if she was fussy due to gas. In the late evening if I massaged her I found she fell asleep more easily and slept for longer stretches.
Baby massages aren’t elaborate, you don’t need massage oils or a special location. Keep your baby clothed to ensure she is warm enough during the massage and find a warm, quiet place to begin the massage. To get started:
- Sit either on the floor or on a bed with your back well supported and your knees raised.
- Place your baby tummy down on your thighs. Figure out the exact positioning that works best for you and your baby, where you are both completely comfortable.
- Using the backs of your fingers lightly stroke your baby’s back from hip up to shoulder, first the right side and then the left side. Do this several times.
- Move on to your baby’s feet. Take one foot in your hands and using your thumbs stroke from toe to heel, repeat with the other foot.
- Turn your baby over. With a few fingers gently stroke your baby’s abdomen from hip to rib cage in a flowing motion.
- Take each of your baby’s legs in your hands and gently stroke the leg from hip to ankle.
- Take your baby’s hands in yours and using your thumbs stroke your baby’s palm in a circular motion
The key to baby massage is to keep it simple, relaxed and quiet. It isn’t about applying pressure or working out kinks like it is with adult massage. Very gently strokes are all that is necessary. Your baby should be calm throughout the massage. If your baby is uncomfortable or overly worked up stop the massage and wait for another time when your baby is more calm.
If you are unsure about doing baby massage there are baby massage classes. Many hospitals offer these classes along with childbirth and breastfeeding classes. Typically the class are done after the baby is born as a mommy and me class so you can learn hands on.
Plans are made to be broken, or so they say. I don’t like when my plans are broken. I like when everything goes according to plan. Which isn’t to say that I don’t like to be surprised by life, I do, it is just that sometimes it is nice when everything works out the way I had planned.
It has been nine months now. Nine months of actively trying to conceive baby #2. We are now into the realm of “if we had gotten pregnant (enter month) we’d be having a baby now.” That sucks, there is no other way to say it, it just sucks. Maya is going to be 3 in a little over a month. She was supposed to have a new sibling right before or shortly after her third birthday, that was our plan. Now, we are looking at her being at least 3 and a half, at least.
Each month that goes by it gets a little harder. Each month the disappointment is a little harder to bare, it hurts a little deeper. My body has disappointed me and I hate to say that because it has done some pretty awesome things for me, namely creating and carrying the perfect almost 3 year old that fills our house with her sweetness. But, right now, it is not helping me out, it is not doing what it was designed to do, it is not getting pregnant. So, as much as I hate to say it, I’m angry at my body, angry at myself.
Today I’m heading to the doctor. We’ll talk all about what is going on. We’ll talk about the fact I have been off the pill for 11 months now and actively trying to get pregnant for 9 months and yet still nothing. We’ll talk about the things that may be behind this inability to get pregnant; my ovarian cyst, my endometriosis, my one non-functioning fallopian tube and hopefully we’ll talk about a solution, a way to make my body work. I don’t expect this appointment to end with a magical solution, but I do hope it is the beginning of find some answers.
I expected baby #2 to come along just like baby #1 did, perfectly according to plan. The best laid plans don’t always work out.
The Magic House – St. Louis Children’s Museum
This past weekend we hit up an incredible children’s museum here in St. Louis, The Magic House. I’d been wanting to take Maya for a while but had put it off because I’d been worried that she was too young to enjoy most of the exhibits. It was AMAZING. I had heard many wonderful things about The Magic House so I knew we were going to have a great time, but it turned out to be even better than I expected. There is so much to do, every nook and cranny is filled with fun activities for kids of all ages. Maya was in heaven.
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Between the room dedicated to bubbles, the children’s sized community complete with a market, library, bank, pizza shop and hospital, the large musical instruments and the little attic filled with toys and clothes from the early 1900s, it is hard to say what Maya’s favorite part of the day was. There is so much to do, so many different activities to try, that we found ourselves bouncing from one thing to the next faster than we could blink. Maya hopped from spot to spot not wanting to miss out on one little thing.
The Magic House is definitely one of those places you can visit over and over again and not get bored. There is so much to do and see you need multiple visits just to feel like you’ve made a dent in what they have to offer. The cost of admission is very reasonable at $8.75 per person. Plus, there is something for everyone, including the very little ones. There is an area designed just for babies 6 months to 24 months where everything is safe for little ones and on there level.
We will definitely be making many more trips back to The Magic House. If you live in the St. Louis area or are here visiting don’t miss out on The Magic House, it is definitely worth the trip. You’ll leave wanting to go back for more, just like we did.
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*I was not commissioned to write this post or compensated for to write it.