look, a giraffe!

so friday we almost got out of daycare without injury. and then ms. mary opened the door and wacked mia in the head. oh well...today mia learned to sit on her butt and spin in a circle with her feet. it is time for a sit and spin, people.

saturday we headed to san francisco to attend the boo at the zoo with our friends and man...it was FUN! mia was a giraffe (of course) and josie was both a ladybug and a ninja (very versitile, that one).



there was screaming and giggling and hippos! and we almost made it out of the zoo without incident until an aver tired mia ran after a peacock (or a duck, all feathered friends are ducks) and fell flat on her face. there was screaming. and blood. she wouldn't stop crying for anythign until mama uttered the magic word..."duck?" the crying stopped instantly and we moved on to find the peacock. i'm sorry...duck.



sunday we went to the dios de los muertos festival in oakland with the josie and her parents - it was awesome fun. we found that if we stopped at a french bakery and a ordered "beignet" without sugar we would end up with a sopapilla and hooray!!! because we know that mama misses her new mexican food.

this weekend mia mastered "thank you". she's been copying it for some time now but this weekend she started saying it appropriately and all on her own. she's a genius.

step off, dad!

last night mama was being treated to a shoulder rub while sitting on the living room floor. when mia saw what was going down she sped over, jumped on mama's lap and started beating dad's hands away while screaming at him. we tried to calm her down and tell her that it was ok - that mama liked to have her shoulders rubbed but she wasn't having it. apparently mamas are for kids only! step off, dad!

cuddlebug.

mia has discovered the joy that is charlie. everyday for 10 months now we've come home from daycare and acted so excited to see charlie, hoping that one day she would see how cool he is and love him like crazy. today it happened. when we came home she flew out of my arms to kiss his nose and pet him (ever so gently). hooray!

the poor dog, she won't leave him alone now. he has toes! and ears! and a tail! none of which will he let anyone but mia touch. good dog, charlie.

mia has also discovered the joy that is mama! finally! there are KISSES! and HUGS! last night she just wanted to CUDDLE. the mind reels. we were beginning to think it might never happen. seriously. she's just so busy busy busy and never has time to hug and kiss on us. and when she's tired? she just wants to be put down so she can fall asleep. even as an infant she didn't want to be cuddled. and so mama's a sucker and sat and rocked her and kissed her head until she was nearly asleep. there is no greater joy. yet.

party, party, party!

holy cow, what a busy weekend little ms. mia had!

friday
she's learning how cute she can be and that it can keep her out of her crib at bedtime. she has just recently let us hold her for "no reason" (not transporting her, not feeding her, etc.) and will sometimes even dole out a hug or two! well friday night she was being beyond silly and had mama pick her up for one last hug and walk around the room. just when she was about to give in and go back in her crib she got very close to mama's face and stuck a finger up each of mama's nostrils. and then giggled wildly. goodnight, mia.

saturday
saturday mia woke up to her grandparents in the house. daddy's parents had come to town and snuck in while she was sleeping - what a treat!



she was an angel at the lunch afterwards and charmed the guests. people were amazed at how friendly she was - willing to go with anyone on a new adventure. yes, mia would be easy to kidnap...sigh...

that night mama and mia went to a birthday party for mia's friend, robin. he turned 1 last week! and oh my what a party it was. the party was supposed to start at 5 but didn't really get going until about 6. mia had been up all day with only a one hour nap under her belt and she goes to sleep every night at 6:30. well not tonight! robin's parents are from india and he is their only son. this party was no joke. at 8 mama tried to take the yawning baby home and was told that "no, you cannot leave. robin is tired too and tomorrow is a holiday. she'll be fine. it's robin's birthday. you have to stay!" ugh. so daddy was called came to the party (yay!) we tried again at 9 (just as dinner was being served). no go. and yes, mia was still awake. we all had a great time dancing and eating and carrying on.

we finally left at 11:30.

sunday
mia slept in for all of 30 minutes after her big party night...she's is SO into her sleep schedule! she was actually really good all day, too. she napped and we went to the park - she was in a great mood for having so little sleep the night before.

and then we tried to put her to bed.

there was SCREAMING for 2 hours. and then she woke up screaming in the night twice. poor little one. poor parents.

monday
mia again slept in for 30 minutes today (thank you, honey!) and spent the day home with mama. her sleeping is still screwy from the weekend and she woke up in a terror from her nap and once already since she has been asleep tonight (though she went down without a peep). hopefully this is the last of it. it's like a terrible baby hangover.

she's been working so hard on her speech this weekend. right now everything is "nana". you can tell by the inflection what she means, but it's still all "nana". if you say something really slowly and over pronunciate she will then try to copy you...you can see the tongue moving and her mouth taking on new shapes and then, ever so slowly, out comes "naaaaa naaaa". too funny. today, however, she mastered S and SH. woo hoo!

shopping! and coughing!

the daycare called and said mia should go home because whenever she would lie down she woud start in with the coughing and eventually it made her throw up. and since they can't give her meds at school she wasn't going to get any better there. bummer.

of course when mama showed up mia was surrounded by teachers, giggling. not coughing. and she had acquired a new bruise in her 5 hour stay at daycare. oh, mia.

we went home and tried to nap but she was having none of it. so shopping we went! you see, with the holidays coming up and the fact that we're going back to albuquerque (yes, that's right, you heard it here first, we'll be in NM for christmas!) and the fact that mia is going to have photos taken with a friend of hers it was time to get the kid a dress. and won't she look cute in this? yes, yes she will.

of course as soon as she went to sleep the coughing started up again and she was up twice with mama. poor little bean. she never gets sick and it's just heartbreaking to hear her cry when all she wants to do is sleep.

all sorts of cool stuff!

mama's cousin jenny sent mia the cutest outfit ever and it came with pink suede boots (all the babies need them!). mia hasn't worn anything but soft soled leather shoes so we weren't sure that a) we could jam her little feet in there or b) that she would like walking in them. success! she not only got in them but clomped around all night long! loves them! we took her outside to get some pictures for jenny and when she heard the neighbors' kids outside she took off down the street towards the noise. can't be left out of the fun!

she also got a goodie package from her great aunt leslie and uncle allen last night - this girl is too blessed, i tell ya. dolls and books and shirts and shoes - it was a good day!

mia is now officially a full-time toddler at her school. no more bouncing back and forth between the infants and the toddlers. the toddler teacher (ms. bonnie) asked if we were ok with her being in the class with the bigger kids (mia's wee, you know) and assured us that she was tougher than some of the boys in the class so we really didn't need to worry. gee, wonder where she got that...

oooh...butterflies!

mia's been much more attentive with reading books the past couple weeks and her new favorite is one she got for her birthday from her friend, noah. it's called "good night, sweet butterflies" and is one of the few books that she will sit still for, turning the pages and giggling at all the bright colors. thanks, noah!

oh yeah, and she spends a lot of time walking backwards. you know, just to test it out. "whoa, look at me, i'm walking backwards!" and then bam, right into the wall. hee hee.

the great napping toddler

mia's been transitioning into the toddler room over the past week (much to the dismay of the infant teachers who swear she's "too little". we think they just don't want to lose mia. who would?). when mama came to get her today she was asleep in the toddler room. on a mat! it was the first day mia was going to be sleeping in the toddler room and the teachers were all very nervous (she hasn't napped well in the infant room. distractions, you know.). well they had nothing to worry about. she laid right down with the rest of the kids and went to sleep. she woke up before the others and laid quietly on her mat until mama came to get her. go mia!!

she did, of course, manage to come home with a large bruise on her face after she fell and knocked it into the table outside...sigh...but what can you do? she's rough and tumble.

the weekend

whoa - so much excitement!

saturday
while dad was at work mia and mama went shopping (well what else are you going to do while dad is at work?!) and then to the park. good times all around. mia loves to go to the store and wander around so we made sure to go really early so that there wouldn't be anyone there. she tore all over old navy and ended up getting the perfect hat. it's really too bad it was so freakin' hot here! while on the swings mia spotted two dogs across the park, demanded to be taken out of the swing and marched across the park. she toggled between the german shephard and the black lab "which do i choose?!" she loved on both, said goodbye. very cute (duh).

when dad got back from work we decided that we both needed a beer. so off we went to the fox and goose. it was early and there were only a couple other people in the bar. but a couple is enough for mia to make friends with...and off she went...she has this funny monkey greeting that she does now. she will walk up to the person she wants to pay attention to her, put her hands up over her head and smack her belly with them. smiling all the while. where she picked this up is a mystery - but it's quite effective.

we're bad parents for not taking the camera when we took the baby to the bar...

sunday
sunday we went to the pumpkin patch where mia picked out the perfect pumpkin to take home. then it was home and back to the park.



more dog action at the park where she was gushed on by two old people for being so gentle with their wee old dogs. look, mia can be gentle when she wants to!

it's never enough

because we're obviously not online enough, and you can't hear enough about mia's life we give you The Blog. deal with it.

mia has started a great stage where everything is new and exciting and she's able to interact with the world around her. she's a toddler now (can you believe it?!) and things change daily. and so to keep those of you who don't have the joy of being with her everyday up to date we'll be recording her daily adventures here.

enjoy.