How Things Change in Just a Few Short Months

Tuesday, we had dinner at Polly and Emma's house with Kate and Anna and Gretchen and Gavin. Emma's dad has been in Iraq since Thanksgiving, but is coming home on Friday! This was a wonderful evening that moms and babies could get together before Rich's arrival home and then their move to Kansas City in June. To put in perspective how much can change with the babies in just the few short months that Rich has been away, you can see pictures from a get together at Polly and Emma's home two weeks after Rich left for Iraq and our attempt at getting the same shot on Tuesday.

Then...

And Now...

Welcome home, Rich!
Clearly, Anna and Mia will miss Emma when she moves. Thankfully, there is plenty of time to party until then.

Experiencing Spring

This Saturday was a perfect spring day. Mia got to really experience the day by playing in the grass and exploring the flowers.

Special Treat

Today, our family got a special treat that I wanted to share with all of you. Our wedding song was composed by my Uncle Win. He wrote it for us and played it on the piano as our first dance. He and my Aunt Eileen gave us a collection of Uncle Win's notes from writing the song along with the final lyrics in a frame to have in our home. Yet, we had actually only heard the song twice (two days before the wedding and at our wedding). He was finally able to record it for us so I've posted it here for you all to hear. Enjoy!

Update: So, I found out you can't post just music files. I turned it into a movie of still images from our wedding. Mia seemed to enjoy watching the movie. Hope you all don't mind.

9 Month Check-up

Mia successfully completed her 9 month check-up today. The doctor said she is a happy, healthy little girl and is growing and developing right on track.

Mia's stats:
Height: 27 1/3" (40th percentile)
Weight: 15 lbs 14 oz (10th percentile)
Head Circumference: 17" (25th percentile)

Mia's had a bit of a reaction to barley cereal so the poor baby had to get a venous blood draw today to test for an allergy. She was a brave little girl and the staff was very good about making it a quick procedure. We'll know the results in about a week.

Other than that, she's allowed to eat most foods now. Based on her eating habits so far, we may be eaten out of house and home. We'll be trying meat for the first time tonight. Wish us luck!

Happy 9 Months

Mia is 9 months old today!

As you can see below, she rarely sits still long enough for picture taking.

Mia crawls, pulls herself up to standing, and walks while holding your hands. She says Mama and Dada (though not really naming us in particular as the duck is also called dada) among other fun sounds. She can clap her hands and stack rings on a post. She's even getting pretty good at feeding herself diced up fruit (though a bath is always required after those attempts). We're just in awe of how she grows and learns every day.

Easter

Easter was quite the adventure this year. Mia and Dad went hunting for Mia's Easter Basket.
The wrapping on a book Mia received seemed to be more fun than the book itself.
Then it was time to get all dressed up.
But, that can never stop one from playing!
Mia is getting quite the collection of ducks. Grandma and Grandpa sent a HUGE duck that is almost as big as Mia along with several small ducks. We think they are Mia's favorite because their heads fit right into her mouth.
Finally, it was off to Nina and Taid's for Easter dinner.
Mia decided the kitchen table chairs were a great place to test out the new tooth she just got.
Then it was time to play with Raskal's tennis balls. (yuck!)

And of course, the dress had to come off, but we needed to practice our walking to show off for Nina and Taid who had just gotten back from seeing Uncle Allan and Tia Raquel in Spain.

Mia's First Tooth

Mia provided her own surprise Easter morning with her very first tooth popping through.

You can't really see inside her mouth, but it is in there. We all understand now why the last few nights have been rough ones.

Practicing Self Feeding

We thought you might enjoy seeing how Mia is learning to feed herself. In this meal, she had a diced nectarine and some oatmeal.

"I like feeding myself. This spoon is great."

"Look at how I can smear fruit and oatmeal everywhere. Sometimes it even gets in my mouth."

"Hmm, maybe it is time for some more food."

"Ok, there is the bowl. I have the spoon."

"Now I've got the bowl, but the spoon fell."

"Maybe it is easier to just try to lick the oatmeal out of the bowl. The spoon isn't really necessary."

Visiting the Monuments

Aunt Eileen, Uncle Win, Cousin Gaelyn, and Gaelyn's friend Eva, an exchange student from France, came to DC to spend Easter weekend. They arrived Friday afternoon and took Mia on a walking tour of the Mall so Mommy could get some work done. (No daycare on Good Friday.)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

California Trip

March 8th, we took off for our first plane trip as a family. Mia had already been to California twice before, but this time Daddy was joining us!

Instead of the traditional stroller in the airport, we went for the hiking backpack. Mia loved it as you can see below hanging out with our luggage. We stayed with Alex and Erin, who have put us up several times in the past year. It is so much nicer to stay with friends than at a hotel.

Sunday was a beautiful day on Potrero Hill in San Francisco. After brunch, we took a walk to the top of the hill.


Mia had fun playing with all of Mom and Dad's friends. She even tried on James's motorcycle helmet. Safety First!

Dad stayed with Mia during the week while Mom went to work. They had a great time playing including peek-a-boo around the corners of the living room.


Then, we headed down to Santa Barbara to meet Cyanne Blabey (and see her parents, Tom and Kristen). Mia thought Cyanne was pretty cool. Despite her being 3 months younger than Mia, they were about the same size.

Mia showed Cyanne all her cool toys and how to play with them once she can sit up on her own.


Mia also got to see the Blabey's wonderful fruit trees. Dad introduced her to citrus fruit and avocados (one of Mia's favorites).



Saturday the 15th, we went for a lovely hike along the bluffs.


Thank you to the Blabey's for a wonderful (and always too short) visit.

Mia is Online!

Happy Heiny's chose two of Mia's pictures from last Saturday for their website.

On the home page:
Mia is the bottom baby picture. Mia's friend Sienna is the second from the top.

Mia is also on the Care and Sizing Guide page. Sienna is also on the Baby of the Month Contest Entry page.

Mia is actually not the first in the family to be photographed for her red hair. This was also the case for Mia's great grandmother Mary (Gilmore) Wilson, who was one of Kodak's first color photography models. She worked at Kodak as a secretary when they were first developing color photography and was asked to model because her red hair showed up so well on the color film.

Sneak Peak of Photo Shoot

Mia was photographed with her friend Sienna on Saturday for a possible ad for a cloth diaper company Happy Heiny's. Stephanie Zbiden the photographer, was wonderful even when Mia kept crawling off towards the toys instead of sitting for the pictures. Stephanie's blog has an initial picture from the session and will probably have more in the future.

The 100th Post

Rob took this picture Saturday morning after swim class. It is one of our favorites to date. I thought it was perfect to commemorate our 100th blog post.


(Just in case you were wondering, I didn't count. Blogger tells me how many posts we've done when I log in.)

Happy 8 Months, Mia!