Late video

No particular reason for this other than we haven't put a video up in awhile. Shame too, given all the cool new tricks she has, but there's plenty of time for more movies.

Monday Morning Mia

Unfortunately, we have no new photos. Our camera seems to be perpetually lost or out of batteries, and we just found our video camera after weeks of looking. We will get new photos soon.

In the meantime, a few Mia updates.

Our little one-year-old is doing fabulously well. Her culinary desires continue to please us to no end. We went to Japanese food on Saturday evening and Mia dined on fish tempura, steamed tofu with sesame sauce, miso soup, and a dessert of chocolate ice cream. We love taking her to restaurants. Somehow being in the high chair at the table with so many people around makes eating so much more fun for Mia. She chats it up with the waitstaff and other restaurant patrons, which makes up for the fact that the floor is usually littered with food when we leave. Mia somehow got the impression that leaving food on the floor is the expected thing to do, as at home Walter will help out.

We are currently in the midst of a language explosion. Mia has had a few words for a little while now, but only when shown the object. For example, if you showed her a dog, she would say "Dog." Today, though, she crawled over to the package of disposable diapers and pointed to the little lion (which looks like a dog) and said, "Dog." Then she turned around, pointed at Walter, and said, "Dog." She also pointed to her pajamas, which have little dogs on them, and said, "Dog."

She also knows that her doll is a baby. Mia got a doll for her birthday, which until a few days ago she wasn't exactly sure what to do with. Now, she goes over to the doll and either points and says, "Baby," pats the doll gently on the head, or sticks her fingers in the doll's eyes. All cute.

She is still toddling a little, but seems to have lost interest in walking for the most part. She can take about eight steps at a time, but generally only wants to do so once or twice before going back to crawling. We got her new shoes which may be impeding her progress. She can't figure out what's on her feet, as these shoes have harder soles than her older shoes.

We're trapped at home under an unexpected three or four inches of snow. Once it slows we'll maybe head out for a stroll through the woods. Just another lovely Monday here.

Monday Morning Mia

Happy Birthday Mia!
Today is Mia's first birthday. She was born at 3:05pm on a cold February day just like today.



It is truly miraculous to be here, one year on, with our amazing daughter. We waited so long for her, and now that she's here we can't even begin to imagine that there was life without her.

Mia is so much more "kid" now than baby. Gone are the chubby arms and legs, replaced by thinner and sturdier limbs for walking, grabbing and climbing. She is taking five or six steps at a time now, and practically running from room to room to find something interesting/dangerous to play with.

Our one time picky eater has become a voracious consumer of all things delicious. Yesterday she had meatballs, kalamata olives, calamari and lemon slices. Her palate definitely leans toward the more savory and tangy. Oddly, when I was pregnant I craved beef and oranges, and those seem to be her favorites.

Even while she is eating more and more each day, we are still nursing. I am proud that we made it to the year mark, although now that we are here I'm not exactly sure how to stop. Nursing is Mia's way of checking in with me, when she's having fun or when she falls and hits her head. She used to take a bottle at night if she needed milk, but now it's all nursing all the time. I think she might just be struggling with walking and other developmental things and once she figures those out she'll go back to sleeping well, but in the meantime the nights are reminiscent of a year ago, waking up every two or three hours to feed her.

As I re-read what I have just written, it feels like an incomplete list. Mia's developmental milestones don't adequately describe her. She's so much more than just the sum of her accomplishments--she's a beautiful and amazing mix of spunkiness and charm and love and kindness and beauty. As I watch her in the moonlight as we nurse, her eyes closed happily, I can't believe we are so lucky to have this joyous being to call our daughter. While I can't wait to watch her continue to grow, I at the same time want to freeze her in this moment, before she's too big to hold in my arms, before she no longer needs me every time she falls down or wants a snack. A friend told me that her mother told her that parenting is really just learning to let go. I don't want to believe this to be true, yet at this point I can see the validity of those words. For now, though, I want to hold on just a little longer.

Happy First Birthday, Mia.

Monday Morning Mia

Of course we haven't gotten around to protecting our blog yet...but we're working on it.
In the meantime, our Monday update.
This weekend was one of Mia's birthday parties. We had a neighborhood celebration with the other babies we've met who are the same age. Between Feb. 2 and March 4 there were 6 babies born, so all 6 families got together with a few other moms and dads we've met to celebrate. In total there were 15 babies at the party. Lots of cake, lots of tears--a good time was had by all. Mia got to eat cake for the first time and seemed to relish every bite.







Next weekend Mia's grandparents and uncle are coming for the next birthday celebration. More cake for all!

We spent yesterday at Home Depot looking at sinks and countertops for the new place. It is astonishing how many options there are. You can choose the material--granite, quartz, laminate, marble--and the edging and the sealing and the sink and the color and the list goes on and on. It's sort of overwhelming. No decisions were made, but we'll chalk the trip up to market research.

On Saturday Ben took Walter over to our new house to explore the yard and surrounding area. They went over to the Arboretum, which is right behind our house. Walter met new friends, including at least two other basset hounds, one of whom lives right down the street from us. Looks like we made a good choice. The Arboretum was full of dogs, whereas the park where we currently walk Walter usually only has a few dogs in the morning. I think Walter will be very happy.

Here's a few more Mia photos for you.

Brave New World

We are in the process of changing our Blogger account to only allow people who log in to read it. We've heard too many creepy stories of people finding photos on other people's websites. We'll be changing over our account soon. If you want to be able to log in, please email Ben at ben.stjs@gmail.com with your address. Thanks!

More Photos

Monday Morning Mia

These days, this is where you will find Mia.
We are reading dozens of books every day. It's kind of fun, in all honesty. Mia will pull all of the books off the shelf and then point to which book she wants to read, or bring it over to me.
Last night, though, Mia wanted to read ALL NIGHT. From 12ish to 3ish, we read every story on the shelf. Again and again and again. I think she may have been teething, but there's really no way to know.
She's happily resting now, as I should be.
We'll happily take all recommendations for good books, though!