Maya's newsletter: 1 year

today i am so happy to announce that maya is 1! can you believe that it has been one year?! well i certainly can't. it really doesn't feel like a whole 12 months has passed.

i have so much to report to you about miss maya. this last month it seems like she is getting rid of all her baby fat and is stretching out. luckily her appetite has caught up and she is very much enjoying eating her fill of veggies (as long as there is some kind of fruit in the mix). her latest crazy is yogurt and ice cold formula.

just this week we discovered that maya can stand at the couch and play (with a little help from mama). she doesn't last a very long time but each day that passes i see that she is gaining more tolerance for standing. her sitting skills have also improved. she loves to sit and play on her own. she is so over laying on her back unless she's very tired. =)

just this week i've noticed that maya loves to mimic everything we do. from itsy bitsy spider to coughing if we cough. everyday we try our best to use sign language when we are feeding or playing and i see that it is finally paying off. she is copying our hand gestures now and i think that she is on the verge of starting to sign "more" and "all done" on her own.

last week we had a new speech therapist do a feeding evaluation on maya. this therapist specializes in oral motor development. during the evaluation maya, with minimal prompting, used a straw to drink from a container. now everyday i use her special "honey bear" straw and cup at meal times to help her develop tongue retraction and muscle tone. with these new techniques and exercises we hope that maya will become more aware of her mouth and in turn improve her speech.

as you all know we have recently been told by the state that maya's benefits through arizona early intervention will be discontinued. wednesday there was news that a judge blocked DES from cutting these services. it is still unknown at this point when the services will be reinstated but we hope that this ruling will stick and maya will again receive her help from the state.

i wish to thank all of you for the interest and love you have shown our darling maya. with all of your support we have had a wonderful year. from the moment maya was brought into this world our lives have never been the same. it's been such an amazing journey on many levels. i can honestly say that i would never change a thing about it.