momma!

Finally, I am hearing my little girl say "mommy". I LOVE IT! Over the weekend Daddy kept saying she is saying mommy and I was in denial. Yesterday, Daddy was home and I ran upstairs to get something I heard Mia saying "moma" from the bottom of the stairs! Daddy said "I told you!". But then she is calling her movie mommy so, either she associates me with the movie or she is telling me TURN IT ON! hehe, I love it! Now I don't have to hear DADA all the time, hehe.

Here is our little hippie on Sunday and the other day refusing to get dressed stting next to her baby (that she throws out of the baby stroller before she pushes it around the living room).

outdoor fun

We had a great weekend! Mia seemed to enjoy swimming a lot more this week. Grammy and Papo came to visit on Sunday and brought Mia her coupe car...we also set up her water/sand table (only put rice in instead of sand). She loved being outside and cries when we have to go back in! She actually started to use a spoon a bit when she was eating applesauce this weekend. And I love that I can now put her hair into PIGTAILS! I just love having a little girl!

14 months

Mia turned 14 months yesterday! Time is just flying by, it really is! What has she been up to?

• Loves her 'purse' and 'credit cards'...she will carry it around and take out/put in her cards


• She picked out a DVD at the library a few weeks ago, its the "Wheels on the Bus" series, I had never heard of it...well she won't stop watching it! She never watches TV, maybe she'll stop to hear the Sesame Street song but then walks away and plays...this DVD she picked out herself she just loves! So we have been renewing it and letting her watch it a few times a day, thankfully it's only 30 mins!


• Very tempermental lately...if we go to a store, she wants to walk around herself, in her own direction and take things off shelves and walk around with them until she tires of that object then just throws it down...last weekend I was the mom with the screaming baby leaving the store while dad purchased our things....if Mia isn't ready to leave a store, she lets you know it! hehe


• Forming more words, says doggie, duck, bus (haha), if I say Mia let's go downstairs to play, she will go to the gate for the stairs, when I say it's time to go up to take your bath she goes to the stairs...she really follows directions well!


• She loves books (always has since she was born!) She now can find certain things...she has a book called Fuzzy, Fuzzy and when I tell her to find Rough, Rough, she will find the Dog! and she is so proud, she will hand that book to visitors and show then she can find the dog..or the Bumpy bumpy turkey


• Starting to stack blocks and her cups (she can nest them great)...she is also getting good at sorting shapes. When she is frustrated with something she swipes the objects back and forth with her hands until they are scattered around! it's cute


• She can roll a ball/bounce it!

There is probably much more she is starting to do but I just wanted to record a few so I can remember what she was up to at this time! So much fun to watch, she is such a little person (as one of dad's co-workers said!)

Photos: Mia 1 month last Earth Day, Mia 14 months

Easter #2

Today we celebrated Orthodox Easter with mommy's family. We all went to greek town for a yummy dinner in Chicago at Santorini's. Mia had a blast and loved spending time with her uncle, cousins, great aunts and uncles and friends. She is such a little social butterfly, hugging everyone, smiling at her family, it was so cute! Mia truly is a mix of nationalities. From mom's side, she is German, part Greek and a little Mexican. On dad's side she is Italian, Polish, German and Slovak. Quite the little princess! Here she is cracking red eggs with dad and papo for her first Easter - OPA!!!

swimming

Mia started her swimming class today. It was so fun! She was a little apprehensive at first but then started to have fun splashing in the water. She loves the song 'Wheels on the Bus' and when the instructor said "let's play Wheels on the Bus" she smiled and said "bu-ds" what we believe is BUS! She was wiped out after her class and took a nice long nap in her stroller when mom and her walked to the yard sale down the street and our grocery store. We had a fun day outside with this great weather!
Photos: Mia before class, looking at her friend Matthew, splashing, then hanging out with Dad after class

spring has finally sprung!

The weather has been beautiful - finally! We had a fun couple of days. Thursday we went to visit Mommy's good friend Maggie and her little 8 month old and big 4 year old! We had fun at lunch, shopping and playing in their yard (especially hanging out playing with bubbles and jumping in the bounce house). Then on Friday, we headed downtown for a full day. First we went to visit Daddy in his new office and got to meet lots of co-workers and a few of the firm's partners (they all loved Mia and kept saying how beautiful she is, hehe). Then we stole daddy away for lunch at Maxim's. Mia and I then headed over to grammy's office (Mia met the pres of DePaul oh la la) then to a quick trip to the Art Museum (the children's exhibit is being remodeled so we'll have to visit again next month when the new activity rooms open!). Then we walked over to Millenium Park and soaked up some sun! Finally, we met Daddy on the 5:20 train and headed home. It was such a long day for Mia (she only took at 30 min nap on the way there) so she was REALLY ready to get home. It was a nice walk home from the train and so warm out!

Mommy has to get better at taking photos: photo is of Mia ready for the day heading downtown on the Metra.

great grandpa

Mia just loves her great grandparents - I am so happy! Yesterday we drove up north to visit my Grandpa Schmidt. We took him out for breakfast and then to do some shoppping. Mia was all smiles and loved roaming around his house and checking out everything she could get her hands on! Here are a few snaps of Mia and Great Grandpa at breakfast. Doesn't she look like daddy in the close up photo??!!

Easter #1

We had a great visit for a long Easter weekend. We drove out to visit Grandma Victoria and Great Grandma Puroll in Gladwin, MI. Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Gary came to visit too. Mia had so much fun playing at Grandma's house, walking outside in her huge yard and socializing with everyone at the nursing home. She just loved Grandma Puroll and would run into the kitchen with a huge smile on her face to see her cooking up all the yummy meals she made us. Mia especially loved Grandma's homemade bread (toast), applesauce, mashed potatoes AND cabbage rolls - yummy! Mia did great on the 5 hour ride too (snacks, on the hour, one nap each way and tons of books to look at, plus her sippy cups full of milk). The first night Mia decided to wake up at 12:50am and not go back to sleep until 4am (we made the mistake to sleep in the same room as her)! It was a rough night but the next night she slept the entire night (in her own room), so that was good for her (and us!). We are happy to be home and look forward to a nice spring break week.

1st party

Mia attended her first kiddie birthday party on Monday. It was our friend Grace's 3rd birthday (and her twin friends birthday too). It was nice to met some other moms in the neighborhood and Mia loved playing with the big kids. Here she is with the kiddies and the pinata! She loved eating the cupcakes at the party but once we got home she was STARVING and gobbled down meatloaf (with pureed squash and zucchini, sneaky sneaky mommy) and her fruits for dinner.

egg hunt

Saturday was Homewood's Easter Egg Hunt. Mia was a bit small to really enjoy it but she seemed to have fun, especially playing at the park afterwards. She got to meet the Easter Bunny too. We are sick of this winter weather (it was cold, rainy and snowy all day Sunday). We are so ready to get warm weather again. Friday Mia spent the day with grammy at our house playing. We went for a girls lunch and shopping then to the library (Mia's favorite place). Mommy will be home on spring break starting this Thursday, we are super excited!