more your day than patty’s

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Today we continued our celebration of your birthday… We had a VERY busy day!

We started by heading over to Aunti Judi’s and Uncle Jim’s for a photo shoot – A New York Times phonotogrpher took pictures of our friend Laura taking pictures of you. They are doing a story on amateur photographers. The story is expected to appear in the business section of Sunday’s paper… we’ll have to keep an eye out.
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photo shoot1

As a bonus, the St Patrick’s Day parade went right down the street outside Judi & Jim’s new home. We got to watch it from their balcony!! You loved waving to everyone… so much so that you continued to wave to everyone you saw on our drive home! 🙂
st pats day parade
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When you woke up from your nap, your house was full of people here to celebrate your birthday! We had a wonderful time finger painting…
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And eating pizza and ice cream cake…
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Opening presents…
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And laughing!!
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You openend a gift box from your Grandparents Tatro – how fun! We watched your new Elmo video and headed to bed. After a half hour of snuggles, you crashed.

Can you tell from the pictures that you had a wonderful day?!? Like Daddy said, I think this special time with your friends was the best present we could give you!
I love you Peanut Butter!


Happy Day Baby!

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Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday our Miss Maya!
Happy Birthday to you!

You had wonderful phone calls and greetings from so many people who love you to pieces!! As one example, Mark and Bi sang you a wonderful birthday serenade/cheer in Portugese.

What a wonderful day we had together! Let’s see… here are the highlights:

1. Mango for breakfast and present-opening from Grandma & Grandpa and Auntie Amy and family…
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reading birthday
froggie birthday girl
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2. Playtime with your friends at daycare
maya ball
baby in a box

baby in a box

3. I brought in all the fixings to make homemade mini-pizzas as a celebratory lunch. Daddy made the dough last night. Thank you Daddy!
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[We had a practice round for the pizza-making last Sunday – What a great time! Check out our first family homemade pizza:
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4. After a good 2-hour nap, Daddy and I picked you up, and we all went swimming at the YMCA. We had the WHOLE pool to ourselves! We giggled and played and had an awesome time!

5. After quick baths, we went to Friendly’s for your birthday dinner: mac & chees, “franks,” applesauce, corn, pear and milk. And, of course, ice cream!
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friendlys1
Many times today, people asked you hold old you are. You proudly said “TWO!” and held up one finger. At dinner, you practiced holding up two fingers. It was so wonderful to watch you work so hard to learn:
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two 2

6. Then, since we were in the neighborhood, we decided to stop by Barnes & Noble to play with the choo choo train and see if they had the new VeggieTales lullibye CD. They DID! And it was much cheaper than we expected. AAAND it happended to be STORYTIME! You sat in the middle of the stage until it got started… The 20-30 people sitting around the stage looking up and you didn’t seem to bother you. I think you are going to be one fantastic public speaker!
story time

We got to hear two readers read two stories:
Pirates Don’t Change Diapers
by Melinda Long, David Shannon (Illustrator)
pirates dipaers

Bubble Bath Pirates
by Jarrett Krosoczka
pirates bubble bath
And we sang songs!
And we made a treasure map!

7. We came home and read some of your new books, listened to your new nighttime CD, and crashed!

What a WONDERFUL day!


on the eve…

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tonight you are still my sweet little one-year old. Tomorrow you are 2. Strange, huh? Who decided that it should be so exact? so precise? I’m not a big fan of birthdays, by the way… at least I’m not such a fan of the label – “2 year old” or “forty year old” or whatever. It shouldn’t matter as much as it does. You are you… and you are developmentally exactly where you should be. Your birthday does give us license to CELEBRATE YOU – I love that part!!

I just came down from snuggling with you while you were sleeping. Have I told you lately how much I love being your Mom? I truly do.

These are my words of “wisdom” for the tonight – You get to choose who you give power to in your life, Baby Girl… People can’t truly hurt you unless you give them persmission. I certainly encourage you to be in relationships with all kinds of people – and be in them fully. However, that said, be careful to give that “power” only to people you respect and trust. People who share similar vision and values with you. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll still get blindsighted sometimes, and it will hurt, but that is energy that is worth giving…because people we love and respect and admire will still hurt us. We are imperfect souls, and we all make mistakes. I just don’t want you to waste your precious, beautiful and wonderful energy and spirit on being angry at or healing hurts from decisions made by people whose opinion you don’t really respect.

On the eve of your birthday, I get to again reflect on the JOY you have brought in my life. It hasn’t all been easy – balancing everything. But I would not trade my life with you for the WORLD! You inspire me to be a better person; you make me look at my world differently, you bring SO much laughter to my day, you challenge me to grow. Thank you for being so wonderfully you!!

peanut butter

A quick story or two – you love to be naked. Tonight you were running away from me, stark naked, wearing only your Easter bonnet. (I should’ve taken a picture!) I laughed and laughed and you did too. Which reminds me of bedtime two nights ago – we were both BEAT after getting home from Gospel Choir practice late. We had read books and brushed teeth, and we were trying to calm down to fall asleep and we both got the giggles – it was infectious!! I think we laughed outloud for 10 minutes!! Belly laughs. What a PERFECT way to end a day!

I love you Peanut Butter – forever….
*Mommy



wow! it’s been forever!

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I’m sorry Peanut – it’s been FAR too long since I’ve written to you. It certainly isn’t because you havne’t given me a TON to write about! I actually write these notes to you in my head every day – as I’m driving to work, as I’m watching you sleep, as I’m giggling with you on the floor, as I’m sharing a bowl of oatmeal and “bula-beries” with you. : )

maya attitude
maya not sure
We had the most wonderful weekend last weekend… Here is a quick recap:
We had a fun day on Saturday, starting with a hike on what they call a Bird Song trail in a nearby park. You bring bird seed, hold out your hand, and the chickadees eat RIGHT OUT OF YOUR HAND!! I was holding you in one arm and a foot away from you, little chickadees were perched on my other hand eating!! You were so excited she yelled “Chick A Dee!!” We turned to look down the trail we just hiked on and, no lie, there were 4-5 squirrels, 2 bright red beautiful cardinals and a number of little chickadees eating the food we dropped in the snow as we walked. You could hear the woodpeckers doing their thing… It was truly magical!!
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After that we stopped by a building at the head of that trail where they keep injured birds of prey. We met Barf the turkey vulture and learned that he was given his name because turkey vultures’ defense mechanism is to throw up what they’ve eaten, and I guess that smells absolutely horrendous. (Thankfully, Barf wasn’t threatened by us… whew). We met a bald eagle, a screech owl and a number of other very interesting birds!! Very cool!!!
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After nap, we headed over to our friends Jeff & Martha’s house who also have a 2-year old… You were so wonderful with your new friend!! You shared toys, you looked out for her, you picked upa couple of her manerisms… just precious. Uncle Jim and Aunti Judi joined us for dinner and play.

Sunday, I met Jimmiqua (my little sister in the BBBS program) for breakfast, and she joined Daddy and youfor church. Jimmiqua volunteers in the nursery which is both great for her and you. I am working on a big paper deadline of next week… 4 papers due on Monday.

This is what you do when I ask you to smile (you totally crack me up!):
maya smile

Okay – I’m going to get some pictures posted before getting back to my crazy papers. Thank you for being so many of the “HIGHS” of my days! All day, I look forward to when I get to see you next; – you are the most WONDERFUL alarm clock anyone could ever have (“Mama?”); I love sharing breakfasts with you – yogurt, oatmeal, juice, kiwis and bula-berries – while watching “George;” we are dancing queens when fun music comes on, whether its on the tv or in the kitchen – you are the best dancing partner ever; you MELT my heart when I come home after you and you are so excited to see me you can’t contain yourself – your legs kick and kick and you giggle and giggle!
maya personality

You are everything that I pray you will grow up to be: strong, smart, beautiful on the inside and out, daring, fiesty, confident, empathetic, caring, tender.

maya growing up



so cool!

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congrats mommy
When I came home from work on Friday, you greeted me at the door with giggles and kicks and an enthusiastic presentation of this sign. What a GREAT DAY!!

I found out Friday that I was selected as a Knowles Foundation Young Scholars Research Fellow. It basically means that my research proposal was chosen, and this group is going to give me $110,000 to do my work. They will also provide me some great mentorship along the way. I will be released from teaching responsibilities for the 2007-08 school year. I am SO excited, so grateful!

Thanks for the wonderful, enthusiastic celebration, Peanut!! Life is so fun with you!!


blessed are the peacemakers…

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for they shall be called children of God (Matthew 5:9).

Here is a wonderful little story that I will treasure.

Daddy and I had a little spat last night before he left for work. I was therefore much more into you than Daddy as he prepared to leave for work (as was he). He came over to you to say goodbye, and you lovingly greeted him, “Goodbye Daddy!” and looked at me at said “Daddy, work.”

“Yes,” I said. “Daddy’s going to work.”

You sat and processed things for a minute, looking at me and then Daddy.

You offered Daddy an unsolicited kiss by puckering up your little lips in his direction. Surprised, Daddy leaned down to return your little kiss.

Then you promptly and authoritatively stated: “Mommy, Daddy, Kiss.”

So we did. And then we smiled. And then the anger melted.

You are such a special little girl…


i love you to pieces my little Valentine

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Happy Valentine’s Day Peanut!

Check out today’s weather report:

February 14, 2007 8:26 pm — Mother nature’s Valentine’s Day gift to Rochester today was snow and more snow, accompanied by traffic delays, airport lines and a lot of shoveling.

snow house
snow UR
As a result, daycare was cancelled and I got BONUS TIME WITH MY BABY!! How cool is that?!?!

Here is a quick summary of our wonderful day:
First, you and I shopped for balloons to surprise Daddy when he went to work tonight. After we shared some yogurt and other breakfast foods we bundled up for our adventure at the Strong Museum. We had the WHOLE museum ALL TO OURSELVES. I counted 4 other kids in the whole place when we got there. They were having a Valentine’s Day celebration – a big doggie called “Biscuit” (much bigger than Mommy), many different games, special arts and crafts, and the coolest thing ever – the (REAL) post office was there. We decorated a postcard for Daddy and the post office woman put a stamp on it and postmarked it right then and there! This is how the museum described the day’s events:

14 Wednesday—Valentine’s Day Party, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It’s puppy love! Meet Biscuit, the beloved canine from the popular children’s books. Hear Biscuit’s Valentine’s Day and other tales of love at 11 a.m., 12 noon, and 1 p.m. Play special Valentine-themed games; create a Valentine’s Day collage; and have your face painted with hearts, puppies, bunnies, and more. Decorate a postcard for your sweetheart and have it stamped and mailed by the U.S. Post Office.

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You wanted a heart “tatoo” but you couldn’t bring yourself to it… You wanted Mommy to get this one to see what it was like.

You played a game in which you threw small basketballs into a basket and amazed everyone. You have amazing coordination for your age! It was fun to watch you! I think you made 5 baskets out of 6 tries (maybe it was 6 out of 7). Impressive – better than I could’ve done.
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We came home and had lunch. I had to go into work when you went down for your nap. When you woke up, you and your Daddy played with play dough, magnets and your new Valentine’s Day book. I came home and we all went out to play in the snow a bit. You and I giggled and giggled – and we went over to say Hey to our neighbor Susie. After dinner we opened our Valenine’s day box from Grandma and Grandpa Tatro, but we will have to wait until tomorrow to open the box from Grandma and Grandpa Luehmann as Daddy had to run off to work.
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KO la Kok!

This was the wonderful pillow Grandma & Grandpa L sent you – you love it!
Valentine pillow

After dinner, you and I played upstairs and you made me laugh so hard my stomach hurt. What a wonderful day!!

I love you my little Valentine!


today at daycare

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drum
music class
music class2

“Maya had a lot of fun today. She was very tired for nap. She was jumping all around the downstairs muscle room. Maya was very cuddly with her teachers. She is a sweetheart.”

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[I know.]