Meeting Another Cousin

Mia does have more second cousins than most small children can handle, but today was a special treat as Mia got to meet cousin John Stephens (from Nina's side of the family). This was her first chance to meet anyone from this group of family members and she had a great time with John. We hope it isn't too long before Mia gets to meet Uncle Rick, Aunt Mary, and Cousin Christa.

Girlfriends

Mia and Anna have been friends since they were just a few weeks old. Now they are big toddlers who can play together and even relax together.

We had a lovely dinner at Anna's parents' home and the girls had a great time playing together. Sadly, Anna will be moving to the Boston area soon. Mia will be the only one left of their little trio in the area, though this will give us one more reason to visit Boston.

P.S. If you're wondering about Mia's pet tree frog, try feeding it by clicking inside the green background to release a fly.

Happy Babies All Around!

We have two wonderful updates to make. Tuesday was a very exciting day.

First, baby cousin Ellie (Aunt Kate and Uncle Matt's daughter, born June 7th) had a successful surgery on Tuesday to repair a hole in her heart. She is doing well and the nurses have already found out how feisty she is. She refuses to nap anytime she hears her mom and dad's voices. Think good thoughts for a speedy recovery.

Second, we welcomed into the world yesterday baby Sarah and congratulate her parents, Cousins Elizabeth and Christian. The whole family is doing well. Mia is thrilled to have another baby girl cousin around, though it will be a bit before they get to play together.

Forts

Mia and Adleigh got a chance to spend some time together after their dads helped Erin Moodie and her parents pack up the U-Haul trailer. (Erin has a 1 yr stint teaching in Ohio State's classics department.) Mia particularly liked Adleigh's idea of making the sideboard into their own little fort.
She was also particularly interested in the dog "purse" Adleigh had brought along.

A lot has changed since they met almost 1 year ago when Adleigh still lived in the Bay Area and came to help take care of Mia in San Francisco.

Watching a Tree Grow

One year ago, Rob planted an American Elm in our front yard. The plan is to take a picture of Mia with the tree every year to show how big the two of them grow. In the year 1 picture, Mia's just trying to hold her head up. You can easily see how this has changed below.

Here is Year 2:

Communication Explosion

Mia has had a communication explosion recently. She is learning words lightning fast and picking up signs almost as quickly. She really loves using words and signs because she completely gets that we know what she is trying to say so much better when she uses them.

We were recently asked how many words Mia can say now. We had no idea, but spent a few days adding them up. The total is a little over 20 spoken English words and 8 signs. She also does a bunch of sounds; vroom-vroom, blub-blub, etc. The lists are below. Some we don't always understand and I'm sure there are ones she's trying to say that we have yet to get, but this seems to be pretty comprehensive for today.

Spoken Words:
Baby, Ball, Uh Oh, Turtle, Up, Down, Mama, Dada, Dog, No, Yeah, Cheese, Fish, Nina (the name she uses for Rob's mom), Milk, Bottle (for any type of bottle, especially water bottles, or sippy cup), Shoes, Book, More, School, Truck, Bye-bye, Hat

Signs:
More, Hat, Milk, Eat, Bath, Bye, Come, Baby

Note: We've done some back-dated posts. Sorry for the delay. Make sure to scan back to early August to see any updates.

Backyard Pool Time

It has been a little too hot most days to use Mia's pool at our house (or we've headed over to the big pool that Mom and Dad can use). Today was a perfect day for Mia to have some fun in her pool. Her favorite thing seems to be getting in and out instead of just playing in the pool.

A trip to the zoo

Since Mom and Dad took Friday off to make Labor Day weekend, a very long weekend and dad wanted to do some house projects that weren't great for having Mia at home, Mia and Mom went to the zoo. The problem was that the rain that was supposed to pass by lunch time, hung out right on top of us until we were leaving. Thankfully, our friends Pam and Genevieve were as crazy as we were and kept us company in the downpours.

Mia has a great time and wasn't phased by the rain at all. It did limit the picture taking so we only have this one from inside Amazonia. Mia loved that there were no cages or walls. You just walked through the jungle surrounded by the animals.

Welcome Kiera Elizabeth

We want to welcome Kiera Elizabeth into the world and congratulate our friends Christine and Alex. All are doing well and we can't wait to meet Keira.

Impromptu Playdate

Our neighbor Abby stopped by for a little play date this evening. Abby is 13 mo older than Mia, but they still have a great time hanging out.

Birthday Fun

We celebrated Mom's 30th birthday with a "hike" around Teddy Roosevelt Island. If you're not familiar, it is a little island in the Potomac River between Roslyn and Georgetown. We had a great time and even walked into Georgetown after for a milkshake.

Pittsburgh

We spent this weekend in Pittsburgh for the wedding of Rob's old roommate Matt Maserati. Since the wedding wasn't until 6pm, we were able to spend the day with our friends Tom and Cara. Tom took us on a wonderful walking tour of Pittsburgh from their lovely home (in which they were kind enough to put us up in for the weekend) over to Pitt and Carnegie Melon's campuses. Mia even got a tour of Pitt's Cathedral of Learning and enjoyed seeing the wonderful views.



A big thanks to Tom and Cara for, in addition to being wonderful hosts, also being our babysitters for the night. Mia was able to go to bed at a reasonable hour while we attending a wonderful wedding at Heinz Chapel and reception at the Soldier's and Sailor's Memorial.

How to Scar Your Child For Life

I'm an avid reader of The Poop, the San Francisco Chronicle's baby blog. The blogs are hysterical and they do some crazy contests. (Mia made the Halloween costume blog.)

This recent posting about "My Little Fashion Twin" is one of the best. Growing up, my sister and I had a few occasions of matching outfits, but my parents were pretty decent to us. Rob was enough younger than his siblings to have been spared the matching outfits in the pictures I have seen. I just hope as a parent, I don't cave to the matching outfits. I guess a white shirt and khaki bottoms for a picture are OK, but you have to see the gingham Laura Ingalls sisters.

Hope you enjoy...

the milk memos

A few weeks ago, a friend told me about this book, "the milk memos, how real moms learned to mix business with babies - and how you can, too". (Thanks, Kathy!) I finally checked on Amazon and found it is currently at the bargain price of $4.99.

I've had many conversations with my working mom friends and I've been lucky enough to have friends in all types of situations (part-time, full-time, went to work after baby and then left, started working after 6-9 mo at home, started working after 12 wks like me, even working with baby at home). The stories that these women tell are priceless as I don't know how I would have survived so long without them. (I mean who else can make you feel better by telling the story of how they pumped in a court house room storage closet with their feet holding the door shut because it didn't have a lock. That's serious dedication.)

Back to the book...
I picked up the book and in just flipping through it, started laughing out loud. It really hit home for me. I know I've had the advantage of pumping in my own house most of my pumping career, but I've also pumped in airplane bathrooms, taken refrigerated breast milk through Heathrow customs, and had to explain a breast pump to airport security numerous times. I highly recommend it for any mom that's working outside the home or contemplating it. Considering the great price, I think I might be adding it to a few baby shower baskets.

Out for a Walk

Mia had a great time hanging out outside today. These pictures show how much of a toddler she really is now.

Dance Party

We often have dance parties, especially while dinner is being made. Here's Mia getting her groove on to Vaco. The spinning is a recent addition to Mia's repertoire and she's been known to walk backwards, too. Moonwalk next, anyone?

Sorry the background music isn't that loud and the videography isn't that great. This is from our regular camera, not our video camera.

A Quick Visit with Grandpa

Mia got a special treat when we went out to the Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport to see Grandpa during his layover. As some of you may know, Grandpa has been working in Scotland for the past 8 months and this is the first time since Christmas he has been able to spend time with Mia. Mia had a wonderful time looking at all the planes and seemed to like the space shuttle engine the best.

Our New Favorite Food Accessory

The Snack Trap has finally made it into our home. This may be one of our favorite inventions as it actually keeps the food inside the cup so Mia only takes out a few Cheerios or puffs at a time. Mia thinks it is great since it is easier to take snacks in the stroller or carry them around the kitchen. Mom and Dad also get to avoid stepping on the Cheerios and creating a nice powder ground into the floor. I think we're all in love.

Water Baby

Mia had her first dip in the Atlantic Ocean this weekend. She adored it. She thought the waves were so much fun and had no problem with the cold ocean water.


Playing on the beach was just OK. Your Cheerios get full of sand and it was definitely hot.

Mom also makes me wear this big hat all the time, which can make it difficult to find your way around if it falls in your face.
All in all, a wonderful time and Mia can't wait to go back.

Spanish Class

Mia has been having a great time getting to spend her weekends and some evenings with Uncle Allan and Tia Raquel.
Raquel has been wonderful about speaking to Mia mostly in Spanish (unless Mom needs to follow along) and Mia is looking forward to making it to Spain, maybe this fall, to see where her new cousin will live. She's got to look out for Baby W G and test drive the nursery before he arrives this winter.