Happy 11 Months!

Happy 11 Months! Only 1 more month to go until Mia's first birthday! See how much she has changed and grown in the last month. (Boy, it has been a busy one.)

Mia has gotten very good at feeding herself. Most meals are exclusively finger food now.



Mia loves her ducks so much that she can say "Duck" and "Quack". She has at least a dozen, but probably more, in various shapes and sizes. We spend a lot of time "quacking" in the bath tub.


Mia can both stand up on her own and walk. She loves her hair brush and knows how to brush her own hair, though sometimes the bristles end up face out instead of actually doing the brushing.



Since the weather seems to be saying it is summer, Nina and Taid's pool is open. Mia is understanding the full implications of that red hair and very fair skin. She seems to be doing well putting up with the sunblock though takes every opportunity to take off her hat when she can.

A Day with Nina

As Mom is in England, Dad is at work, and daycare was closed for the day, Mia got to spend the day with Nina (Rob's mom). Mia sent Mom and Dad a letter (courtesy of typing from Nina).

Dear Mommy and Daddy,

Nina and I are having lots of fun today! I have had breakfast and lunch and two great naps. I think Raskal is pretty OK too, but I am not ready to have my picture taken with him yet. However, his empty food dish makes a lovely drum! Nina and I thought you might like to see how I am practicing my walking. Nina's camera is very slow so I had to walk a long way so that she could get a picture. What fun!

Love,

Mia

I'm practicing my walking!

This is really fun!

Having a good laugh about the day!

First Steps

Today, Mia took her first steps. She must have really wanted the remote control I had in my hands. After all, it was the broken one that we gave to her so she'd give up stealing our Tivo remote. Sadly, we didn't have the video camera running, but I'm sure we'll have a post or two of her taking some tentative steps soon.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers, whether through the birth of a child or just your actions, words, and guidance.

Games

Mia's become pretty good at playing a few games.

"Peek-A-Boo"

"How big is Mia?"

"So big!"

We're just trying to convince her that 6am is not Mom and Dad's favorite time to play these games. Any tips?

Group Birthday Party

This weekend, Mia was part of a group 1st birthday party with all of the little babies we became friends with during last summer's mom's group. We chose the beginning of May as it is the start of birthday season for this group, which runs mid-May through mid-July.

Mia and Noah chow down.

We attempt to get all the babies standing around the table together for a group shot.

It looks like Mia and Noah were having a serious discussion.

Then it was time for cake.

Followed by a bit of piano playing.

And quality time with some friends.

Though, we found Mia can be a bit rough at times.
We swear she was just using him to stand up. We're just not sure how Connor felt about it.

Mia's on the Move

Mia is really getting to enjoy her new freedoms of movement. She's gaining a lot of coordination, which is allowing her to have even more fun.

I Can Stand All By Myself

Today, I pulled myself up on my toy bin and was standing, hanging on to the bin, to pull out some of my favorite toys. Then, I really wanted to clap. So I started clapping. Mom was very surprised when I was standing all by myself clapping. After a little bit, I sat down, pulled myself up again, and did it all over just to show Mom that I knew what I was doing. I'm still not sure why she got so excited that she had to call Dad right away. I just wanted to clap.

Time for bed now. I'll catch you all later. Hope you're having a nice enough day to have something to clap about, too.

Happy 10 Months!

Mia is 10 months old today. She spends her days crawling around, cruising the coffee table (specifically to find magazines that she can reach), clapping and dancing to music, reading books, and singing songs.

I think this picture below shows so much of her personality. She is always ready to laugh, tumble and use anyone around as a human jungle gym.

But, we think her true love is music. She will dance and sing and clap to any kind of music around.

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.