Monday Morning Mia

It's 7:30 am and Mia is still asleep. Seems the only problem with her sleep over the last year has been her room. After a rough start that involved Mia waking up at 8, 9, 10 and 11 on Wednesday night in our new house, she has settled in nicely to her new digs. I suppose it could be that the street is virtually silent and we took out her very bright clock radio. For the last three nights she has slept at least 10 straight hours. Last night after an exhausting and incredibly fun brunch with our babysitting coop and a long afternoon of shopping and upacking Mia slept from 6:45 until, well, still sleeping. She got up at 6 and nursed but went right back down. It's beautiful and I know she'll be much happier for it.

The sleep also could have to do with the fact that Mia is now full-on walking. For the past 10 days or so walking has become her main mode of transport, whereas before it was just a fun thing to do. She's become quite adept with turning, picking things up, avoiding the dog and turning corners. I would guess that while she was struggling to become a walker her sleep patterns became all screwy. Her mind can finally rest now that she has resolved this major milestone.

When I watch Mia now, I no longer see a baby. She is the true definition of toddler. She has a very silly personality and loves to make people laugh. Poor Walter is really taking the brunt of her antics--over the last few days I have seen her try to climb onto him at least three times. He loves it, even if he puts on a little show of annoyance now and again. They are getting along much better than we could have hoped.

As I mentioned before, we went to a brunch yesterday with our coop friends. Twelve parents, six babies, one dog, and an amazing spread of vegetarian breakfast treats. The kids were all running around the house while the parents drank hot coffee and sipped mimosas. The kids all know the adults so well that more often than not I found myself with someone else's kid in my lap. When I envisioned having a child, I dreamed of a scenario just like this one. We've been very lucky to meet some truly wonderful families, people I don't know that we ever would have come across otherwise. It's a diverse group, and one of the great privileges of living where we do in Boston is that Mia gets to meet so many people who are both so similar to and so different from herself. It's one of the reasons I don't ever really want to leave this area--so many places lack such diversity, and I'd hate for Mia to miss out on learning so much.

Pictures will follow soon, once we get fully situated. Happy April!