Happy 8 Months, Mia!

Bring Your Daughter to Work Day

Thursday and then again Friday ended up being, "Bring Your Daughter to Work Day."  Wednesday afternoon and evening, Mia's tummy wasn't feeling so well so she stayed home from day care to hang out with Mommy.  Then Friday, we had an ice storm so all the area schools were closed along with our day care. 

With the progression to crawling and the lack of baby-proofing in the office, we discovered very quickly that Mia could not be left to play on the floor.  (Those power strips are just too enticing.)  This led to the Pack n' Play being brought out.  Mia was very good about playing in the pack n' play, given that she wasn't in there too long.  She was also very good about taking her naps at very convenient times so Mommy could actually attend her conference calls as scheduled.  Mia especially liked the feeling and noises one could make with the mesh on the side of the play yard.  The airplane she is playing with is a lot of fun to run up and down the sides.

Testing Out the Hiking Pack

In preparation for the warm weather to come, we bought a hiking back pack for Mia to ride in.  President's Day came with beautiful weather here; highs reached the 70s.  We decided to take the pack for a test run in our neighborhood.  It was great.  Mia loved the view and the pack was very comfortable for Mom.  We picked this pack because of the recommendations that it worked well for going between smaller and bigger people (aka Mom and Dad).  From the pictures below, you can see that Mia felt totally relaxed by the end of the walk.

Crawling Video Part 1

We've been a bit slow about posting the video because we wanted to do a comparison to show you how good she got in a very short period of time (basically Saturday to Monday), but we didn't get to doing the video on Monday so you'll have to just wait for the comparison video. Here's the Saturday video. (In case you missed it, we first saw her crawl the evening of Friday the 15th.)

We Have Crawling

It's official. Mia is crawling. We even have it on video, but it will be a little bit before we have time to post it.

Mia's Post-Swimming Hair-Do

We thought everyone would enjoy these pictures as much as we enjoyed Mia's hair-do this morning. (Click on the picture to have it blow up and see the true extent of Mia's mohawk.)

Happy Valentine's Day

In Celebration of Chinese New Year

In celebration of the Chinese New Year (yes, I know it was last week; I'm just a little slow), I thought I would provide you Mia's Chinese Zodiac. We'll see if it holds true...

Mia was born in the year of the Golden Pig. (Animal sign is the Pig and element sign is Fire.) According to Chinese Folklore, this is an event that occurs once in every 600 years and will ensure that a baby born on this year will experience a prosperous and wealthy life. Last year was a Fire Pig Year, which occurs once every 60 years. But because it's the 10th Fire Pig Year in a 600-year cycle, that makes it golden.

Pigs are very tolerant, kind and courteous with inner strength. They can be naive and too impulsive at times. "Its better to give than to receive" would probably be the Pig's motto. Pigs are more comfortable giving of their own time or attention than they are to ask others for it. They do not find asking for help an easy task and would rather carry the burden themselves. Pigs will do anything they can to maintain a sense of peace amongst family or friends. This can lead to a tendency to be taken advantage of, but Pigs basically forgive and forget everything. They are compassionate souls who simply want to keep the peace.

Sitting

In this video, you can watch Mia play with her stacking rings; she loves how they sound as they hit the floor. She easily goes from sitting to tummy and back to sitting. Crawling probably isn't too far off.

Mia Learns How to Cook

Mia helped prepare the Sausage and Chickpea Stew for the neighbor's Valentine's Day Potluck Party.

Growing Up

As seeing pictures of a friend's newborn baby reminded me, time is definitely flying and babies change so fast. Mia's quickly moving along in her ability to do and get what she wants.

She loves bath time. Her favorite activity is reading (or eating) her Dr Seuss bath book. We really have to wash her hair now, especially because of the amount of cereal that gets stuck in it; it is growing so fast (and is still very red).
She has finally figured out that she needs to hold onto something in order to stand. She's getting pretty good standing on her own.

Though sometimes she gets a little greedy and tries to stand without holding on.

But our biggest recent milestone is that Mia figured out how to sit up on her own today. She was playing on the floor, rolling around on her tummy. I turned around to check on her and she was sitting up trying to pull out a magazine from the bookshelf.

(Thank goodness we secured the bookshelf to the wall a few weeks ago!)

Superbowl Sunday

We spent the Superbowl at the Keating's house in Bethesda.  

Mia got to be "Grandma's Little Latke" when she borrowed Adleigh's highchair to eat dinner.

Then, it was off to the TV room for a little play time with Adleigh.  
Adleigh is 2 months older than Mia and has mastered crawling.  This meant she could go get the toys that got away and sometimes even bring one back to Mia to play with.

A Guest of a Different Sort

I thought about naming this blog, "When Nina and Taid are Away, the Doggie Comes to Play." Yet, Raskal seems to be uninterested in playing with Mia so the title didn't seem to fit.

Rob's parents are away at a conference for 5 days so their dog, Raskal, has come to stay with us. We've taken care of Raskal before, but this is the first time we've done it with Mia. Raskal and Mia have gotten to know each other during Mia's many visits to Nina and Taid's house, but they haven't become fast friends yet. Both are pretty unsure of the other.

For example, this morning, Mia got up a little before 7am. Mia and I fed the fish and I set Mia down to play, while I was intending to get the paper. Raskal shows up, somehow knowing my intentions, to do his doggly duties and be the one to bring the paper in. (I think he can't stand the thought of missing a treat opportunity.) Immediately upon receiving his treat, he heads back upstairs to his bed on the floor of our bedroom and joins Rob in sleeping. He doesn't seem to care at all that I've already put his breakfast out on the floor.


We have to commend Raskal on how well behaved he is. Mia's toys are easily accessible and he is very good about only playing with his toys. He can easily jump our fence, but seems to be restraining himself very well. We have warned our neighbors in case he slips out.

We'll see how the week plays out. I think the warmer weather (highs in the 50's) will help to ensure he gets all of his walks in and remains a happy puppy. Wish us luck!