Maura

The Holmes Family

Maura's Page

Current News

September 2005 - So, what's new with our not-quite-two and a half year old?

Well, since finally getting up the courage to walk on her own, she really has come so far in not that much time. Other parents have mentioned to me what amazing progress Maura has made, especially since summer began. Which is always lovely to hear.

Fine motor skill wise, she is getting there. She can now feed herself really well with a fork and if you have a fork and she doesn't, she'll try to grab yours. Of course, sometimes, she will spear the food, then pluck it off the fork to shove in her mouth, but hey, it's progress. She also loves to play on the piano and the computer keyboard - to the point that she actually emailed me once! The text of that message was "///////>>>>" or something along those lines. Maura also has a new love of puzzles and not just taking out pieces but putting them back in. I found a puzzle where all the pieces are the same size and shape to make things a little easier on her (we have other harder ones I can annoy her with, but this one she can enjoy.)

Gross motor skill wise, she's almost caught up I think. I could be wrong, but her progress has been amazing. She loves to walk and tries to run, but ends up tripping and falling but getting back up. She climbs like a champ - I found her with her feet on the back of the couch and hands in the windowsill one day as she was trying to climb into the window. We've also found her standing on the kitchen table and at the top of the stairs. She loves to sit at the top of the stairs, just to scare me I think. She can walk up stairs but we're still working on going down them. She also loves to plant her little bottom on anything that's the right height. Little chairs, curbs, steps, even the edge of a laundry basket. I did get her little furniture so she can sit in it when she wants to.

Now that her motor skills are caught up, we're working on speech. We think there might actually be some progress. Of course, she has learned to say "No". But we've also gotten her to say juice and I think down. She is beginning to use sign language too. She can sign "more" and I think "eat" - "eat" she needs some prompting, but she has "more" down pat. I know this because one day she was going "Mamamamama" and I said "Maura Maura Maura" and she signed "more".

Maura's funniest new thing is her obsession with phones. One day, she was playing with my old wallet and a commercial with a woman talking on the phone came on. She held the wallet up to her ear and started jabbering. I ran and got a toy phone and handed it to her and since then she's somewhat obsessed with phones. She grabbed my cell phone in Target and managed to turn it on and call her father. Of course today, as she went walking across the room jabbering on an old cell phone, Josh said "Oh my God, she's me!" I had to laugh because Josh is ALWAYS walking around the house talking on his cell phone.

Maura has also taken up brushing her own hair - with a comb and a brush - and wanting to sweep the floor. Of course her with the big broom is somewhat lethal, so we need to find out where the older kids hid the kid-sized broom. But it is nice to see her doing these things - it does show that she is catching up.

The Many Hairstyles of Maura

Crazy Morning Hair, The Pigtails, and The Pebbles

We are obnoxiously pleased to announce that at 22 months and 3 weeks of age, Maura has finally decided to start walking. You can see a clip of it here - just give it a few minutes to load.

Current stats -

2 years - 26 lbs, 36 inches tall

18 months - 23 lbs, 32 inches tall

14 months - 19 lbs, 31 inches tall

6 months old - 15 lbs 8 ounces, 27 inches long

3 1/2 months old - 13 lbs, 24 3/4 inches long

Birth - 8 lbs, 7 ounces, 21 inches long

Pictures

See pictures from my 1st birthday here...