This hot weather we have been having is so unusual. We have been in the upper 90's to mid 100's for about the last 10 days or so, and normally we are in the low 80's. I just saw the forecast and we should start to see a gradual cool down. They even said that we might get a few showers by this weekend. Yipee!!
Anyways, people keep asking me what Maya is doing to keep busy. Well...the answer is, we are outside in the am and then hang out at home in the afternoon. Here are some of her favorite activities. Get ready, because some of the pictures are pretty funny!
Playing in one of many wading pools around the city. Maya has recently learned that if she runs in the water she can make the water splash.
Maya "borrowed" this watering can from some little boy and loved filling it up and pouring it out. I learned that it doesn't really matter how many toys WE bring to the pool, she always wants someone else's!
After a few days of working with Maya on how to peel a banana; she finally mastered it! Now, at least once a day, she asks for a banana. When she is done peeling and eating the banana; she will say, "Maya peeled banana" with a big smile on her face.
Of course, dancing and singing to It's a Small World is a must. I swear, (which I don't) she asks for the song probably 5 times a day and that is on the conservative side! Sometimes, I need to lie (which I don't) and tell her that the song is tired. The song isn't tired, I'm just tired of hearing it!!
If you know Maya in person, than you know that she absolutely loves books!! If you have never read "I ain't gonna paint no more!" by Karen Beaumont and "Dear Zoo" by Rod Campbell, I recommend that you check them out. They are two of Maya's all-time favorites.
Look who got her toes painted by mommy! Yep, Maya got a pedicure with purple polish. Now she walks around, points to her toes and says, "polish." Daddy says that he now has two beautiful girls.
Maya loves to pretend to swim. It is a mixture of a push up, a forward scoot on the tummy, and a kick all at the same time! When she is doing it, she will say, "Maya swim in water." It is hysterical to see in person.
She also loves to jump! Lately, it seems like she has a spring in her. At home she loves to jump off our bed, couches, chairs, her little tykes table, the rocking chair stool, in her crib, on the floor, etc. When we are outside, she finds it exciting to jump off any bottom step of stairs, curbs, out of the car, etc. For whatever reason; the more I tell her not to do it, the more she seems to do it.
Here we are at a fountain; she found it a thrill to be able to jump off one of these little single platforms
Ready......
Set....
Go! What these pictures don't show, is that I am right next to her. When I asked her what she was doing, she laughed and said, "Maya jump in water" and followed by, "Maya jump more."
I had a few presents to wrap, and Maya decided to help. Pulling tape off the dispenser was her favorite part. When I asked her to smile, she gave me this silly look. Gotta love it!
Putting beads and buttons on pipe cleaners is always a fun activity. It is also a great opportunity for us to practice our colors!
Can't forget about snack time...one of our favorite lines is when she says, "more snacks." Not quite sure if it is the tone in her voice or the way she says it, but it is funny. Graham crackers with a little bit of peanut butter is always a special treat.
When I asked her what she was getting in her kitchen, she said, "make mommy snack." When I asked her what she was going to make, she replied, "um...special treat."
Maya loves when the mail is delivered. Poking her hand through the slot and talking to the mailman is very funny to her. On a side note, whenever we have family or friends come or leave, she likes to say her hello's or goodbye's through the mail slot.
Dinner time...helping daddy spin lettuce dry for our salad.
One early evening, Stewart and I decided to take Maya to a wading pool nearby just to cool off. What we didn't realize was that we would end up having the pool all to ourselves. Nobody was there but us. (Of course, it was still in the upper 90's and the water temperature was like bath water.) Maya didn't seem to mind, she had a wonderful time. We took her shoes off and she kept saying, "throw Maya's shoes in water."
"Here momma, throw Maya's shoes in water."
Daddy has been working with Maya for a few weeks now on how to cut sushi. Today, she asked me, "momma want sushi?"
This was a pretty good conversation (It went something like this):
Maya said, "Momma, get blocks down for Maya."
I said, "Ok Maya, here." I leave the room and moments later, I hear jumping. I come in the room and see her tearing the box.
I said, "What are you doing Maya?"
Maya said, "Ummm, breaking box."
I said, "Maya stop! Is that what we do?"
Maya said, "umm, yeah."
I said, "Really, we do? I don't think so." "Why don't you build a tower with them instead?"
Maya said, "Uh good." A few minutes later, I heard her singing. I walked back into the room and saw her doing this....stacking blocks
WOW! I was so impressed that she could stack the blocks so high by herself.
All kinds of balls are becoming very interesting to Maya. Her newest trick is to throw a ball while running and watch it bounce.
Maya was laughing because she put this little blue car in the play ground structure and it got stuck.
Finding misplaced toys under our furniture is always an adventure. I asked her if there was anything under this chair and when she went to look, she laughed and said, "people under here, Maya can get." Sure enough she pulled out two little people!
After this 4 hour nap, I went upstairs and found her still asleep. It is amazing how fast this hot weather drains you!
The good thing about grocery shopping these days, is that Maya loves to unload the bags.
Who says that a shaker rattle can't be used as a microphone. I caught Maya in the middle of singing "Oh where oh where has my little dog gone."
Check out this action picture of Maya jumping, singing, and shaking two rattles at the same time. When I showed Maya this picture, she said, "Maya funny." I looked at her and said, "your right, Maya is funny!"
I hope you had as much fun reading this, as I did writing it.
Another view
Trying to find the entrance into the play structure.
YIPEE..were in. Can see Maya off in the distance EXPLORING?
These massive tires were a hit!
After numerous tries....she finally accepted help from us to get her across.
Maya walked up the tires with the help of the railings. We had to keep reminding her that if she wasn't careful and watching where she was walking, that she would fall through the middle. With each step, we heard her saying, "be careful."
Even though this slide was short in length, Maya loved the fact she could hold onto the slats on top. We referred to this slide as the "tunnel slide." 
Maya only made it through this first tire, before we heard her say, "too little for Maya." She backed out and started to walk away. A minute later she turned back around, came back to the tires, squatted down and said, "peek-a-boo!" It was really cute.
Maya wanted to play hide and seek. After she climbed up on this pillar, she looked me in the eyes and said "come find Maya!" It was so funny, Stewart and I just chuckled to ourselves.
"Maya go play again." Heading towards the slide.
Maya doing the monkey bars with the help of daddy. 
After lots of convincing from Maya to have daddy let go, (All we kept hearing over and over again was, "let go daddy, Maya do!") daddy decided to let her hang by herself. The hardest part was to figure out when she was going to let go. 
When we asked if she wanted help in getting on, she replied, "no, Maya do."
These steps to the big slide were really funky. With each step that we took, they swayed back and forth. Maya kept saying, "funny steps."
This time, she knew that she wanted help from the start. She stepped up and immediately said, "mommy help Maya." She was so proud of herself when we got to the end, she said, "I did it!"
