Mia is 1!!!

Happy Birthday, Mia! First of all, Friday was her 12 month check-up (because we were a day early, she will be getting her vaccinations this Tuesday). Everything looked fine, she is 19 lb 9 oz, 27 1/2 inches long and growing just fine. We met Dr. Townsend for the first time and really liked him. He detected an innocent murmur but said it was nothing to worry about. So all in all a good visit and we are happy Mia is growing great! He was impressed with her with her walking. He gave us the OK to make the full switch to milk...so Mia is finally off of formula! She is enjoying her organic milk in cup and doing great...she doesn't even seem to miss her bottles!

Saturday was her big celebration and it was such a great day. Thank you to all of our family and friends for traveling near and far to be with Mia on her day. It meant so much and everyone of you made the day special!

Everyone showed up between 1 and 2. We had a yummy lunch catered from Fresh Starts and then opened up Mia's gifts. She received so many great toys, books clothes and a big girl chair and rocking horse! Mom and dad bought Mia a piggy bank from Tiffany's. We watched a special video mommy made of Mia's first year. We then let Mia smash up her smash cake. It was so cute, she first started to carefully take off the frosting and then after I used a spoon to smash it a bit, she went to town! She loved it and ate most of it (until Uncle Brian finally took it away). We then gave her a bath and she played with cousin Christopher and her friend Ella until she stayed up way past her bedtime. Ella also decided to START CRAWLING while the girls were playing with Christopher. So it was a great day for everyone. Mia had so much fun, when she woke up she was looking all around for her guests!

We wish Mia a happy birthday and healthy year ahead full of lots of laughs!

The winner of the "Guess how much Mia weighs" contest was.....UNCLE BRIAN! He guessed 19 lbs 8 oz - only 1 oz off! Way to go Uncle Brian!!!!

healed

It's amazing how quickly babies heal. Mia's scratch from last weeks fiasco is nearly gone! Makes me feel better since her big day is this Saturday - her first birthday! We are getting excited and ready for her big celebration. Here are some photos of her healing in process!

valentine's day and updates

Some firsts this week...including a first Valentine's day!

• Mia had her first injury this week. Mommy was trying to catch an escaping Bosco from the front door, one thing led to another and poor Mia hit her nose on the brick! It was a terrible day (luckily our neighbor recovered Bosco and brought him home safely) but I felt horrible for Mia! She was ok, just has a big scratch in between her eyes - just in time for her birthday! It's scary how in one second things can happen.
  
• Mia is cutting two more top teeth this week. No fever, just lots of drool. So that makes 6 teeth so far!
• During bath time, she is doing a great job with stacking up her stacking cups and she hands mommy her floating turtles when I tell her to start cleaning up for bed. She is so smart!
• Tantrums during diaper changes are starting to happen. Tantrums when we take something away from her that she really wants is also a new thing this week. By tantrums I mean she arches her back, throws back her head and cries. She is usually fine once we distract her with a new object. The diaper thing is a bit more challenging...she was bottom naked for about 15 minutes this afternoon, which of course made us laugh at how cute she is!
  
• Mia had her first sleepover at Grammy and Papo's this weekend in the city. Mom and Dad spent Saturday downtown for the night. It was hard to leave Mia overnight and of course we would text/call my mom through the night. But it was very good for Mom and Dad to have some alone time and we both really loved sleeping in on Sunday morning (7am if you call that sleeping in...it felt great!) We also made a special trip to Tiffany's for one of Mia's birthday gifts....
• Mia had a little Valentine's Day party at Diane's on Friday. She received some special treats and some balloons that she just loves! She also received a few goodies from mommy, daddy...and a huge beagle stuffed toy from grammy and papo (along with a few souvenirs from their trip to DC)
• This week we will be preparing for Mia's first birthday party which is this coming Saturday. This year has flown by and it's been amazing to see our little girl grow up so fast!
• Mia now is walking more than she is crawling...unless she really wants to get somewhere fast, she will drop to her knees and crawl fast (or if she is trying to escape us)!
  

thaw out

Today the high was near 60 degrees! Almost all of the snow has melted and even though everything outside is damp, it was WONDERFUL to get outside and get some much needed fresh air. Grandpa came early this morning for a weekend visit. Mia was so happy to see him and went right to him. We headed downtown for the day. We spent at few hours at the Art Institute. Mia had fun playing in the children's room and made a few friends. One little boy, who was a smart 6 year old, even read her a story...but he wasn't happy each time Mia knocked down his tower of blocks! We then went for lunch at Pisano's on Madison then walked around the Frozen Fun exhibit in Millenium park but because of the warm weather, most of the ice sculptures and mazes were melting! We took a nice walk with the beagles once we got home then played for a bit before Mia went to bed. It was a great day and we so enjoyed our visit with Grandpa on this great spring like day!

growing up

I can't believe how fast my baby is growing up. Tonight I started to get sad that Mia truly is turning into a toddler...don't get me wrong, I love this new phase she is entering but I miss my little baby I used to nurse, cuddle and hold. Now she just wants to go...and go she is doing! Today Corey and I noticed her jumping ahead in her walking in comparison to just a few Sundays ago was when she took her first steps. Now here are are a few Sundays ahead and she really is starting to walk! It's so exciting but again at the same time, sad! My baby is growing up! Gosh what will I be like when she is off to college...

We had a great weekend. Last night grammy and papo came out for dinner at the brewery. it was fun. Here is a clip of Mia walking today for us!

new shoes

Mommy bought Mia her first pair of Pedipeds! Mia loved them so much that she actually would not let go of them before bedtime tonight. She stayed up a bit late to wait for daddy to come home so she was very overtired when she went to bed. As I was putting her down in her crib, she would NOT let go of those shoes! So she went to bed with them in both hands clinging to them tightly. When I went to check on her a little later, she had let go of one...and I snuck them both out of her crib. hehe What a silly girl.

Here are her leopard Pedipeds! She also has a polka dot pair for when she is a bit older. We were trying them on tonight so they totally don't match her outfit...but from what I hear when she is older she will probably dress herself like this!

visiting Ella

This weekend we drove out to Ohio see baby Ella (uncle Dave and aunt Brenda, too). Mia and Ella seemed to remember each other. They both have grown so much since the last time they saw each other in October. Ella is sitting up, smiling, laughing, talking and so adorable. We had so much fun spending time playing with her, especially Mia. Mia loved playing in Ella's playroom and taking off ALL the books from her bookshelf. We arrived late afternoon so we hung out then had a nice dinner out. The girls both did amazing and were so well behaved in the restaurant. We were saying how at this stage the 3 months difference in their age is huge...but in a few months it will seem like they aren't even 3 months apart. We are so blessed to have such beautiful, photographic girls!

photos: before we left, Mia wanted to take the dogs for a walk; Mia sleeping on the way out; Aunt Brenda, Ella, Mia and mom; the girls playing; the girls hugging good-bye; Mia 'hanging-out' after her long car ride home! Notice her pants are off - hehe