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Since she could voice her opinion Maya has not been an easy to photograph child. If she knows you want to take her picture she will not turn her head to the camera no matter how much begging, bribing and pleading you do. Having her picture taken must be on her terms.
For the longest time, if she was willing to look at the camera and smile, this is the pose you would get. I have about a thousand pictures of her with this same head/upper body tilt. It was just her thing for the longest time. If you asked her to smile and say cheese her whole upper body would immediately tilt to the side and she would flash a silly smile.
Lately there has been a bit of a shift when it comes to taking pictures of Maya. She still will steadfastly refuse to have her picture taken if she knows you want to take her picture and she just isn’t in the mood. However, if it is her idea, or she is in a rare mood where she is willing to let you snap her picture, she is all about posing in different, silly, funny, cute poses. Each picture has to be different. She often practices her pose before she’ll let you take her picture. And, she always wants to see the picture right away to determine if the outcome is what she expected. So, now I have a growing number of pictures showing the many faces of Maya, and boy are they cute.
![4-19-11 A very silly pose [640x480]](http://www.letstalkbabies.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/4-19-11-A-very-silly-pose-640x480.JPG "4-19-11 A very silly pose [640x480]")
![4-23-11 A silly pose by Maya [640x480]](http://www.letstalkbabies.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/4-23-11-A-silly-pose-by-Maya-640x480.JPG "4-23-11 A silly pose by Maya [640x480]")
![049 [640x480]](http://www.letstalkbabies.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/049-640x480.JPG "049 [640x480]")
![3-9-11 Maya posing by the cool colored water display [640x480]](http://www.letstalkbabies.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/3-9-11-Maya-posing-by-the-cool-colored-water-display-640x480.JPG "3-9-11 Maya posing by the cool colored water display [640x480]")
I think we may have the makings of a little model on our hands.
Of course, all our pictures where would prefer she stand nicely and just smile also must contain a different “special” pose as well. Oh well, at least she’ll look at the camera more often now instead of turning her back on us and showing her stubborn side. Beggars can’t be choosers.
So far Maya is having a wonderful time here in Australia. She is keeping busy. She has loved all our little adventures so far and has a bunch of her toys with her to keep her occupied when we are just hanging out in the apartment. Jetlag hit her pretty hard the first few days but she seems to have recovered nicely from that. But, as much fun as she is having and as much as she likes it here, she seems to be a little bit homesick 
The very first day we got here she told me she was going to pretend that the kitty neck pillow we got her for the plane was Lily (one of our cats) since the real Lily wasn’t in Australia with us. Then, over the last few days, several times, she has talked about how much she misses the kitties and how she really wants to give them a both a big hug. Yesterday, when we were hanging out on the balcony after her nap she told me one of the screws in the glass door was a magic button that would turn our Australia house into our green house (our house in St. Louis) and then she could go inside and find Lily and Laura. She searched every where and then asked why she couldn’t find them. Broke my heart. Luckily, our house sitter emailed a couple of photos of the kitties the other day, that made Maya really happy.
Not only does she talk a lot about how much she misses our house and her kitties and the toys she left at home but she also talks a lot about her little friend, Claire, and how much she misses her. Everyday she uses her toy phone to call Claire and tell her all about what we are doing. Yesterday she called Claire’s mom, Heather, and told her that they should ride on an airplane and come stay at our Australia house (I love that she calls it that!). We usually have a play date once a week with Heather and Claire so it is a big deal for her to go so long without seeing and playing with her friends.
Luckily, her little bout of homesickness hasn’t resulted in any crying, but it is heartbreaking to know how much she misses her kitties and her friends. I’m sure she is just adjusting to all the changes and the difference in her environment, but it is still hard. Hopefully by keeping her busy with lots of fun activities here and continuing to talk to her about what she is feeling the homesickness won’t get too bad.
There is nothing quite like living through the imagination of a child. Seeing the world through eyes that are not yet tainted with limitations. Seeing a world where anything, truly anything, is possible.
Maya is full on into imagination mode. And, I”m loving it. The games and adventures she creates for herself everyday are priceless. Sometimes I find myself standing quietly in the dining room trying not to let her know I’m there just so I can peak through the doorway into the family room and just watch her imagination run wild. Sometimes I sit down next to her and become part of the little world she has created. The world outside seems like a brighter, nicer, more joyful place in those moments.
Some days she uses her imagination to create stories. She’ll either pick up one of her books and create a story to go along with the pictures or she’ll even pick up one of my novels, study the cover and then “read” through the pages and pages of no pictures creating a story as she goes along. Some days it is endless parties, tea parties, birthday parties, any kind of party you can imagine. She’ll take her my little ponies, her princesses, her stuffed sesame street guys and arrange them all and then serve them tea or have them dance. Some days she’ll pretend she is camping. Some days she’ll be all about families and she’ll create little families that have fun and take care of each other. She always tells me who is who. Yesterday Eeyore was the daddy, her big Minnie Mouse was the mommy and her little Minnie Mouse was the Maya!
Every day is different when you use your imagination. Each morning when Maya wakes up and comes into the family room she enters a different imaginary world. I love watching as the world unfolds and the days adventures begin.
3 year olds may be little people but they sure do have big imaginations.
This past weekend was absolutely gorgeous here in St. Louis. I dare say it was perfect! The sun was shining, the temperatures rose into the 60s (which means the snow is melting very fast!) and all we wanted to do was be outside.
Yesterday morning Maya really wanted to go to the park. We haven’t been in FOREVER thanks to this craptastic winter we’ve been having. We didn’t have any other plans, so, off we went.
Lorne bought Maya a kite last week and since there was just enough wind for kite flying we decided to bring it along and give it a try. This was Maya’s first kite flying experience. She loved it.
She waited patiently while Lorne put the kite together and got it ready to fly for her. Note the sunglasses she is sporting. As we were walking across the field she said it was too bright and she wanted her sunglasses. When I told her I didn’t have them with me her response was “Oh, well I’ll wear yours then.”
![008 [640x480]](http://www.letstalkbabies.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/008-640x4801.JPG "008 [640x480]")
![007 [640x480]](http://www.letstalkbabies.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/007-640x480.JPG "007 [640x480]")
![011 [640x480]](http://www.letstalkbabies.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/011-640x4801.JPG "011 [640x480]")
The look on her face when the kite first took flight was adorable. She was so excited!
![012 [640x480]](http://www.letstalkbabies.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/012-640x480.JPG "012 [640x480]")
![014 [640x480]](http://www.letstalkbabies.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/014-640x4801.JPG "014 [640x480]")
Once the kite was safely in the air Lorne handed the controls over to Maya and she flew a kite for the very first time all by herself. She did a fantastic job too, the kite didn’t crash once!
![020 [640x480]](http://www.letstalkbabies.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/020-640x480.JPG "020 [640x480]")
![016 [640x480]](http://www.letstalkbabies.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/016-640x480.JPG "016 [640x480]")
![026 [640x480]](http://www.letstalkbabies.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/026-640x480.JPG "026 [640x480]")
It was the perfect way to spend a beautiful, sunny Sunday morning.
This week has been horrible, as far as weather goes. Between the ice and snow and frigid temperatures it has us begging for a break from this winter weather and wishing for a glimpse of spring. I feel like this winter has been going on forever. I’m just so ready for warmer temperatures, buds on the trees, green grass and the first signs of growth in the garden. Come on spring, we’re waiting for you.
We were one of the many areas affected by that large winter weather system that hit the entire middle section of the country before heading east. Luckily, we didn’t end up with as much snow as originally projected but thanks to the full day of ice accumulation the city was pretty much shut down for a couple of days. Lorne worked from home since it wasn’t safe to travel on the roads so the 3 of us spent 2 days huddled at home staying warm and watching as the weather changed from bad to worse.
![013 [640x480]](http://www.letstalkbabies.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/013-640x480.JPG "013 [640x480]")
As Tuesday wore on everything around us became completely covered in ice. Tree limbs started to bend under the pressure. Inside I watched and hoped that the ice would turn to snow before a tree fell on something causing us to lose power or worse one of the very large trees in our backyard submitted to the weight of the ice and fell on our house.
![014 [640x480]](http://www.letstalkbabies.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/014-640x480.JPG "014 [640x480]")
Maya was bummed when she found out we weren’t going to be able to leave the house at all. To cheer her up I told her since we were staying inside all day she could pick whatever she wanted to wear. Her choice was no surprise to me. She choose a tutu, a t-shirt and flowers for her hair 
Someone is wishing for spring just has much as the rest of us!
![009 [640x480]](http://www.letstalkbabies.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/009-640x480.JPG "009 [640x480]")
![008 [640x480]](http://www.letstalkbabies.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/008-640x480.JPG "008 [640x480]")
Today it is beautifully sunny outside, not a cloud in the sky. However, it is FREEZING!! So excuse me while I stare out the wind at the beautiful sun and dream of spring while pretending I don’t see all the snow on the ground.
![006 [640x480]](http://www.letstalkbabies.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/006-640x480.JPG "006 [640x480]")
Come on spring we’re anxiously (very anxiously) waiting for you.