Our Little Secret

The week before Christmas, someone at work asked Jeff what we were giving Mia. He thought for a minute before saying, "I don't know." That night, he related the incident and concluded, "That didn't reflect well on me as a father, did it? They must think I am uninvolved in this decision, letting you do all the shopping." I assured him he shouldn't worry - maybe they just thought he was one of those guys who doesn't start Christmas shopping until December 24 :)
To tell the truth, I hadn't been planning to put anything under the tree.

1. We'd replaced our TV a month ago and Jeff and I agreed it was our family Christmas gift to each other. (OK, Mia wasn't consulted on that, but she's been watching it.)
2. We were flying to MN, and I had enough to pack with carrying gifts for our relatives. (In past years, I just ordered everything online and shipped them ahead of us, but this year's gifts didn't lend themselves to that.)
3. There wasn't a natural time to have an alternate Christmas Day. We put up our Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving knowing that we'd have to take it down by December 20 because our kitchen remodel was starting while we were away. (Un-decorating the tree is bad enough - Who wants to have to dust all their ornaments before they can pack them away?)
4. I knew Mia would get lots of gifts from the relatives, so moreo would only overwhelm her.
5. I'd purchased a few toys for her several months ago thinking she'd grow into them about now, but they are a bit old for her yet.
6. She doesn't understand Christmas yet, anyway.

While I think my rationale was perfectly sound, I did buy 2 teensy (and very practical I might add) little things for Mia in the last couple days before Christmas, only to be 100% sure I wouldn't feel like a bad mother later.
It all turned out fine, by the way. She got 8 or 10 really cool toys and books from our relatives. We let her play with some of them in MN, added a couple more since we've been home, and one or two have been held in reserve for another day. And that Kettrike that has been sitting idle since we bought in November? She has suddenly taken an interest in it.

But, Is She An Obama Girl?

Jeff took Mia out for a bit tonight so I could complete some chores. When they came home, Jeff announced, "Mia has a new word for you!"
Jeff: Mia, tell Mommy your new word.
Mia (grinning): Nope
Jeff: Come on, tell Mommy your new word.
Mia (grinning bigger): Nope
Jeff: Mia, can you say Barack Obama?
Mia (obviously enjoying this): Nope
Jeff: Well, she said it in the van.
Me: I'm sure it was really cute. Mia, can you say Barack Obama?
Mia: Bock O-Momma

By the way, while Jeff and I thought Mia learned lots of new words during Christmas vacation, Sarah is of the view that Mia doesn't have more words, she is just saying a lot of words more clearly. Either way, it is progress.

The Name Game

Over Thanksgiving, Mia had taken to calling her paternal grandparents’ “Boppa.” (We referred to them as Grandma and Grandpa. Mia is not able to pronounce G yet.) She invented her own ASL sign, which was the sign for father except her thumb was on the side of her head instead of her forehead. It took us a while to realize that “Boppa” was not gender-specific, meaning either Grandma or Grandma.
We wondered what Mia would do when confronted with the question of what to call Donna’s parents. Again, we referred to them as Grandma and Grandpa. She called them both “Boppa,” though at times I thought I heard a slight variation, with grandma called “Bappa” and Grandpa called “Boppa.” We encouraged her to try “Nana” and “Papa”. Mia wasn’t having any of that, but after 5 days she suddenly called my mom “Gammy” just once. We were all delighted, but then when she said it again, it came out “Dammy.” I think my mom was just happy to be called something other than Boppa.
We noticed Mia made a lot of progress with her language during our visit. New people, places, things, and routines mean she hears new words, which she tries to emulate. She perfected (Aunts) Paula and Lisa, and later (cousin) Emily and (Uncle) Scott. She can approximate “baby Jesus” fairly well. She also has been saying a lot more 3-word phrases, many of them referring to herself in the 3rd person, like, “All done, Mia.” (Fans of Project Runway will remember a designer by the name of Suede who did the same. It is way cuter coming from her.)
And this last part I can't explain. A couple of days ago, Mia started using the sign for "Don't Like" while saying "Don't bite" and grinning devilishly.

Cousins

Here is Mia with her cousins and their 3 dogs on Christmas Eve. Mia wasn't in the best of moods. We had to remove her from the fray for a while after this photo was taken. After about a half hour of alone time with her mom and dad, she returned to the party refreshed and ready to open gifts.

The second photo is her cousins on Christmas Day. Mia (not pictured) was sitting with the adults; maybe next year she can join the cousins at the children's table. Christmas crackers (and the paper "crowns" that reside within them) are a big tradition when we go to Paula and Mark's house, as Mark is Australian.

The Return Trip

Our week-long trip home to Minnesota had its moments. In general, Mia was quite a trooper, accepting the disruptions in her schedule without too much complaint. We stayed at her maternal grandparents’ house, making the half-hour drive to Jeff’s parents’ house several times. She’d come down with a cold the morning we left for MN, and it dogged her all week.
Toward the end of the week, the weather warmed up enough that we could take Mia outside. We had a hand-me-down snowsuit from cousin Connor. We weren’t able to borrow boots that fit, so Mia wore her sneakers. That didn’t take her too far in 4-6 inches of snow.
I have to admit I feel I was relieved to be on the airplane, heading home. Daily, Mia indicated she wanted to go home. Can’t say I blame her. The relatives’ houses are far from childproof, so she heard the words “No” and “stop” an awful lot. (I know she missed Sarah as well. Every couple of days, she'd say, "Sawah, Sawah, Sawah.") The day of our departure, she woke up at 3:45 a.m., announcing to Jeff, “All done sleeping.” Fortunately, after we fed her eggs and cereal, she began to look drowsy again, and I escorted her back to her bedroom.
The return flight was largely uneventful. Mia protested having to wear the special FAA-approved child harness, but she napped most of the way home and watched a DVD for the rest of the way. When we got to our home city, the temp was about 40 degrees warmer than MN. As we waited for our baggage, it actually felt hot. Mia got pretty cranky and insisted on taking off her shoes and socks. Since she was in her stroller, I allowed it. We got some pretty funny looks as we wheeled her through the chilly parking garage. When we got to our van, she was all smiles. "Home, eat." It is the simple things in life.

Pig Tails

Mia is a bit overdue for a haircut. Sarah took advantage of this as well as Mia's newfound interest in hair elastics, and put her in pigtails. It is as if she is a different child! I am not sure why Mia's tongue is blue in the photo at right. Perhaps a popsicle was involved in the transaction.

In Her Shoes, Part II

Didn't I say she usually gets her shoes on the correct feet?

Oral Hygiene

From the beginning, we struggled to brush Mia's teeth. She'd chew the toothpaste off the toothbrush, but would not actually brush her teeth, nor let us do it. When we took her to the pediatric dentist, he characterized her as "orally defensive." He showed us how to brush an orally defensive child's teeth, which involves sitting on the floor with the child's head between your legs, her arms pinned down under your thighs. Not pleasant. especially when Mia realized she could kick me in the face with her feet, which aren't pinned down. Enter Parent 2 to hold down the feet while trying to distract Mia with signing or rhymes.
At her 2-year checkup, the pediatrician asked how often we brush Mia's teeth. I had to admit "once a day." (Could you imagine going through that ordeal more than once a day?) She suggested we increase it to 2 times a day or try an electric toothbrush. I didn't think Mia would go for the electric toothbrush, but it was worth a try. She wouldn't use my Sonicare, so we tried one of those kiddie battery-operated toothbrushes. The one we purchased makes a rather loud buzzing sound, which even I find a little offputting. For the first few days, Mia didn't like it, but we kept trying. All of a sudden, one morning Mia started giggling as we brushed her teeth. I think she has decided it tickles. Now, several times a day she signals she is ready to brush her teeth by using her index finger as an imaginary toothbrush. Not only that, when we are in the bathroom together in the morning, she demands "fwoss" and tries to get into the secured drawer containing my dental floss. So, I give her a length of floss and she flosses. She really likes watching herself in the mirror.

In Her Shoes

Mia is really into shoes these days. Her preschool teachers shared the attached photo. Apparently Mia has a weakness for pink high-heeled mules of the princess persuasion.

If she has a favorite everyday pair, that would have to be the pink crocs with the fleece lining. These function as her slippers. Until we got these, she wouldn't wear slippers in the house, and her little tootsies got really really cold. So one day we went to the Stride-Rite store in the hopes that we'd find a pair of slippers she liked better than their inexpensive Target cousins. She rejected all the darling polar fleece slippers, even the ones with flashing lights. On a previous visit, the clerk had encouraged us to try the crocs but at the same time she'd said, "Once kids try these on, they won't wear anything else." That was not a selling point as far as I was concerned. I had visions of my child never wearing cute shoes again, so I'd resisted. On our second trip, I decided to give it a shot, and she loves them. Most of the time she even puts them on the correct feet.

Scenes from Thanksgiving

Mia's paternal grandparents visited us, and boy did Mia eat up all the attention! She demonstrated her sign language skills for Grandma and her vacuuming skills for Grandpa. She loves our Bissell electric sweeper, so every now again we let her do a little cleanup for us.

Talk Around the Clock

Mia has been talking up a storm. Ever since the visit from her paternal grandparents over Thanksgiving, she has been a lot more vocal. Even her teachers commented on it this week. I don't know what exactly triggered this - I've been wondering whether having 4 sets of ears listening to her instead of 2 somehow inspired her to talk more. She is putting together lots of 2-word phrases and also her pronounciations are improving. I just love hearing her say "pink slippers." It is still rare to hear her say a K sound, so it comes out "peent sippahs."
She is also going through a phrase where sometimes she just starts giggling for no apparent reason. It is really infectious, so it makes us giggle and that leads to more giggles from Mia, and so on.
We're not making a lot of progress on the potty training. She doesn't mind sitting, but she holds it in until we put the diaper back on. One day before Thanksgiving, Sarah tried pull-ups. That didn't have any effect. On Monday, Sarah decided to try putting on some thick underpants with a vinyl outer cover. Since Mia doesn't seem to like being wet, it was worth a try. Sarah reports that soon after, she saw Mia walking kind of funny. You guessed it. We decided to leave Mia in diapers a bit longer. Today on their weekly trip to the library, Sarah found an Elmo potty training video. We'll let you know how that turns out.

Long Time No Post

Between a big work deadline and getting a new computer, I've been away from the blog for a while. We're doing fine. Mia's language skills are growing by leaps and bounds. Lots of two-word sentences. She has progressed from adjective/noun combinations ("big hat") to noun/verb combos ("See toes"). Sometimes, it feels like a real conversation! Mia received some more Signing Time videos for her birthday and loves showing off her new signs and teaching them to us. Some of them are really challenging. Jeff and Mia were watching the Signing Time episode about farm animals today, and Jeff called to me in the kitchen, "I don't think we'll be saying goat too much."
We continue to enjoy lots of reading time. Mia once made me read her the board book version of "Go, Dog, Go!" eight times in one sitting. Tonight I had to read the long version 3 times.
Sarah has been teaching Mia her letters, and Mia recognizes quite a few. She recognizes more letters than she can pronounce. K and G and J sounds still elude her most of the time.
The other reason I haven't been posting as much is because I decided I need more hours of sleep every night. I have a bad habit of sitting down at 11 p.m. to write what should be a 5-minute blog entry, and 45 minutes later I'm still writing, selecting the perfect photo, editing the text... and before I know it, it is 11:44 p.m. and I still haven't hit "publish."

24-Month Checkup

Mia continues to impress us with her growth. She is now 35 inches tall, 32.3 lbs. She is at the 95th percentile for both height and weight and 90 to 95th percentile for head circumference. She doesn't like doctors and she especially doesn't like immunizations. Fortunately, Sarah was there to provide a welcome distraction by reading "Go Dog, Go!" (Mia's current favorite book).

And by the way, Mia now says "Sarah." Talk about cheers and applause the first time we heard her say it. She says it in a funny voice, whispering it as if she thinks it is the secret password. At some level, it probably is.

Mia Turns 2 Today!

Our darling girl is 2. She is growing up so fast. Somedays when she gets dressed for preschool, I see a glimpse of the young woman she will become.

We played one game over and over again yesterday. Mia sat on our bed and motioned me to pile the pillows up on her. Once she was covered up, I'd call out, "Where is Mia? Is she in the bathroom?"

Mia (muffled): "No!"

Me (going out in the hallway): "Is she in the hallway?"

Mia (muffled): "No!"

Me: "Is she under the bed?"

Mia (muffled): "No!"

This would go on and on, until eventually...

Me: "I've lost Mia! Where is she?"

Silence

Me: "Oh, no! I've lost Mia!"

Silence

Finally, Mia pops out from under the pillows and squeals, thrilled that she has eluded me. I tickle her. She laughs and squeals some more. Pure silliness.

Mia is now saying lots of 2-word sentences, which is an important milestone. It is really fun to see her express herself in words. She uses lots of ASL signs and really tries to say the words, too. Yesterday, she started saying the dog's name correctly. Words starting with an "S" have been difficult for her, which means she would say Nam or Lam for Sam. Now that she can say "Sam", can "Sarah" be far behind?

Dear Mia -

Your Daddy and I are very proud of the progress you have made in the last year. You are growing and blossoming before our eyes. We love spending time with you, talking and playing. We love your hugs and kisses. Thank you for being our precious daughter.

Love,

Mom

The Aftermath

Mia's playroom after the party. We both needed a nap afterwards. Daddy did the cleanup while we slept.

Mia's Birthday Party

We had a birthday party for Mia on Saturday. Three of her friends (and their moms) joined us for play time, design-your-own pizza, veggies, fruit, and cupcakes. Jeff had assembled an indoor playground in our exercise room. There were slides, balls of all sizes, mats, and a sit-and-spin. It was really cute. Dog tattoos were optional. For party favors, every child received an apron on which I'd stenciled their name and a dog. It was a lot of fun. My only regret is that we didn't get more pictures, but we had our hands full!

Happy Halloween

Years ago, my sister Lisa gave me a pumpkin-carving pattern for a witch riding on a broomstick. Over the years, I've tended to use patterns because if I'm left on my own, my jack-o-lanterns are truly boring. You know, the triangles for eyes and nose accompanied by a gap-toothed grin. During the years we lived in NY, our friends Shela and Ray had an annual pumpkin-carving party where freestyle or patterned carvings were equally welcome. Imagine 15-20 people sitting on the floor, carving in unison. (B.Y.O.K.) Shela sent us an email last week telling us the party has now grown to 75 people. They really know how to put on a party.

After a 2-year layoff, I got the patterns out the other night. Jeff was out of town and the little one was sound asleep. I like how this one turned out, but it made me wonder: If you use one of those fancy patterns to carve out a cat sitting on a tree branch, is it still a jack-o-lantern?

It's the Great Puppy, Charlie Brown!

Mia's preschool Halloween party was this morning. I brought her to school and stayed for a bit before heading off to work. It was amazing to see how nicely Mia behaved in a more structured environment. I was impressed. She was awfully quiet, didn't talk at all. Sarah stayed with Mia all morning, ensuring she didn't fall off the pony (yes, they had pony rides!), taking pictures, and being Mia's all-around best friend.

Sarah reports that Mia wasn't scared of the pony at all. She loved it! She happened to be the first child to ride the pony, and apparently the pony had gotten hungry on the long trip because it kept stopping to eat. Mia got a nice long ride and cried when she had to dismount. Maybe she will take after her horse-loving cousins Claire and Emily.

Pumpkin Pi

Remember last week how I posted those blurry photos of Mia romping at the local pumpkin patch? Over the weekend, Jeff found another pumpkin patch where we wouldn't be recognized. This one was set up really nicely. It was on a soccer field next to a church. Decidedly un-farmlike. On the other hand, they clearly understand their target market, because they had set up little photo-ready vignettes with hay bales, multi-colored pumpkins, split rail fencing and scarecrows. As we posed Mia for the shot, I discovered my camera battery was dead. Darn.
In the end the trip was worth it because they'd also set up a moonwalk/bounce castle. No one else was in it, so Jeff and Mia tried it out. Mia quickly tired of it, but as she and Jeff exited, I realized I have never once in my life bounced in a moonwalk. They had just come into fashion when I was a child and as I recall you paid a significant amount of money for the privilege of bouncing around. At least that is the reason my Mom gave when she said we couldn't go in the moonwalk - maybe she was more worried that we'd break our necks.
Anyway, I hopped in and had it all to myself. Totally fun.

Fun Day at the Petting Zoo

Sarah surprised me at work today with a lovely email. So, I thought it might be fun to feature Sarah as guest author. In her own words...

Hey Donna,
What a day we have had. We started off at the Berry Farm. There we pet farm animals and took a hay ride through the pumpkin patch! Mia loved the farm animals. It was hard to get her to leave. I think her favorite was the Sheep (of course). As you can see in one of the pictures she wanted to give it a kiss. I had to to warn her to be careful as there were signs that say WATCH OUT WE BITE. We walked through the pumpkin patch that barely had any pumpkins left, but Mia still had a blast.
Our next stop was Chik-Fil-A for lunch. As soon as we walked in Mia wanted to go to the play area. I reassured her we could play after lunch. We sat and ate and Mia was all smiles. She constantly waved to the customers walking in. After our tummies were full I took Mia to the play room and from there we climbed and laughed.
Our fun day continues with pumpkin carving after nap. Please enjoy the pictures.
Sarah

Much Ado About Sam

Today we depart from writing about Mia (and/or myself as Reflective Older Mother of a Toddler) to tell you about a little incident that happened to Sam last week. Sam is our 14-year-old toy poodle. She used to be black, but is graying as the years sneak up on her.
Sam has been a little under the weather lately. I’ve been hoping it’s nothing serious, maybe she’s been sneaking a few table scraps. Because of that, I’ve been putting off getting her hair cut (too traumatizing), but last Friday I decided it was time for a trip to the groomer. Sarah and Mia dropped her off in the morning on their way to the library. About noon, the groomer called to say Sam was ready to go home. We were just starting lunch, so we didn’t go to pick her up for about 40 minutes. When we got there, one of the young women groomers (hereafter called Groomer 1) looked up from the incredibly hairy shih tzu she was grooming to ask which dog we were picking up. Groomer 1 then went into the back room to get Sam. After several minutes, she returned to the grooming area sans dog and conferred with Groomer 2. They spoke in low tones which I couldn’t overhear, but I could see that they were a little flustered. Then both women disappeared into the back room. A few minutes later, they came back. Still flustered, still no dog. They conferred with the owner, then all three went into the back room. A couple minutes later, the owner came to the counter. She was visibly upset. I began to worry. Was Sam unconscious? Had she died back there?

Owner: I’m so sorry, this has never happened before.
Me: (eyes widen)
Owner: We sent Sam home with someone else. A little old man.
Me (laughing largely out of relief that my unspoken fear wasn't realized): Obviously, a little old man with bad eyesight.
Owner (grabs phone and starts looking for a phone number): I’m so so sorry. I’ll take care of this personally. The little old man doesn’t live too far away. (Dials phone, no answer.)
Me: We have to leave, someone is supposed to be at my house in a few minutes. Before I go, can I look at the dog that is left?
Owner (dubiously): OK.
Groomer 2: (puzzled look)
Owner: Go get the other dog. She wants to see it.
Groomer 2 (dubiously): OK

Groomer 2 goes to the back room and returns with Sam, who has orange and black bows in her hair.

Me: That is my dog. You didn’t make a mistake.
Groomer 2: No, it’s not your dog.
Me: Yes it is. That’s Sam.
Groomer 2: Ma'am, we didn’t put bows in Sam’s hair.
Me: (I avoid asking, “Why didn’t you give her any bows?”) No, that’s Sam. Here, let me look at her teeth. (Looks at teeth.) OK, unless you cleaned my dog’s teeth today, that is not my dog.
Groomer 2: I know.
Owner: We’ll find Sam, I promise you. I’m sooo soooo sorry. This has never happened before.
Me: That’s OK, obviously they must look a lot alike. (To myself: Oh, it’s worth it just to be able to tell this story.)

P.S. Sam was recovered about an hour later, and seems none the worse for the wear.

Toes

Mia loves playing with her feet.


Exhibit A: One of the first photos we ever took of Mia, back in the hotel in Nanchang. We'd been warned that in the orphanage they are so bundled up that they rarely get to see their toes. We were told we should expect Mia to exhibit an unusually strong fascination with her own extremities.


Exhibit B: One year later, Mia likes standing on her worktable while one of her adults traces the outline of her feet.

Birthday Party Preparations

I've been getting ready for Mia's birthday party, which is in 2 weeks. The theme is Dogs. Just dogs, not "licensed character dogs" like Blue of Blue's Clues or Scooby Doo or even Clifford the Big Red Dog. Mia is too young to have real friends yet, but last week, I sent e-mail invitations to a few of our friends who have toddlers. (e-mail invitations. Remember the days when I used to make handmade cards? Let's just say this is yet another area where I've lowered my standards.) This weekend I've been making the party favors. (Making the party favors. Perhaps there is hope for me after all.) It all started when I had this great idea that we'd have the party at our house. Instead of renting some inflatable moon castle or a petting zoo, we would feature a craft activity. Most people give out little goodie bags for party favors, wouldn't it be cool if the guests decorated T-shirts with fabric paint? (2-year-olds with fabric paint. I know, it sounds ridiculous now that I've put it in writing.) Pretty quickly I concluded that was a bit ambitious for 2-year-olds. Instead, we're going to have some physical play time in Mia's backyard (playroom if raining) followed by lunch. I've been making the party favors myself. Last night, I showed Jeff the prototype. It wasn't quite perfect, but Jeff assured me that is part of the charm. He even took a picture of me working on the party favors, saying it will make Mia happy to see the effort I put into her 2nd birthday party. Now, that's my idea of a supportive husband!
Oh, and the cake. After discovering that the local bakeries can't make a cake with a plain old dog on it, only licensed character cakes with features like mandatory blue frosting (eeeuuw), I went on the web and got a pattern for making a dog cake. For about a day, I decided that was a super idea, then I realized it would take 3-4 hours and would look quite amateurish because while I am a competent baker I am an untested cake decorator. I think I'll save that pattern for another day. Like when Mia is old enough to appreciate it and/or at least help me. It's off to the grocery store to put in an order for a sheet cake that has "Happy Birthday, Mia" written on it.
I'm beginning to see why people opt for the "write a check to the kid-friendly entertainment restaurant" theme party.

More Scenes from the Pumpkin Patch

It was a lovely sunny afternoon. Eventually Mia slowed down enough for me to get a few photos. They had lots more itty bitty pumpkins than I remembered. Mia found them irresistable. She always likes things that are just her size. We never did get that family photo I'd hoped for, or even just a photo of Mia and I. Back in the minivan, I lamented that since I'm always taking the pictures, I'm never in them. Jeff assured me we can go find another pumpkin patch this weekend. Perhaps he thinks we've worn out our welcome at this one :)

Pumpkin Patch 2008

I loved last year's photo at the pumpkin patch so much that it is still on display in my office. I've been thinking I should replace it with a more current photo, and what better than another trip to the pumpkin patch? Mia and Jeff were wearing red shirts, so I put my red shirt on before we left, thinking we'd get a lovely family photo as well. What a difference a year makes. Last year, Mia wasn't walking yet, so we could sit her down in the pumpkin patch and snap, snap, snap until we got just the photo we were looking for. This year she was running around non-stop. They have lots of toddler-sized pumpkins at this particular pumpkin patch. Mia spied a wheelbarrow nearby and proceeded to pick up tiny pumpkins one by one and load them in the wheelbarrow. It was somewhat cute until the pre-teen boy working there got the idea that we were going to buy them all. We unloaded the wheelbarrow, put the baby pumpkins back in their places, and moved on to another part of the pumpkin patch where the pumpkins were too large for Mia to carry. I thought it would make a better photo, anyway. Except Mia doesn't pose for photos. (I've probably already told you that a hundred times, but what is 101 among friends?) As usual, it was impossible getting her to stay in one place long enough to focus the camera, and when she did, she wouldn't look up. Eventually we gave up, bought one of the overpriced baby pumpkins as payment for the photo op, and headed back to the van. While Jeff strapped Mia in her car seat, I reviewed my photos. If photos are meant to capture memories, this one is destined to be my favorite. (But stay tuned for more scenes from the pumpkin patch.)

Grass

Mia is really enjoying her ASL skills. In the car, at the dinner table, wherever we are, she may spontaneously break into signing (that's signing, not singing). Sometimes she is signing what she sees (cars, dogs), other times she just seems to be practicing. Or showing off. We especially love it when she signs for us while speaking the associated word. Which brings us to today's photo. Mia looked so lovely in the pink dress she wore to church today, I brought the camera so we could take a picture in the church courtyard. As soon as we let go of her hand, she ran around the courtyard and church steps in an impromptu game of "catch me if you can." Jeff eventually caught up to her and stood her in a grassy spot for the photo. Which prompted her to point to the ground and then make the ASL sign for "grass." (You cup your hand under your chin as if you are lying in the grass.) Not exactly the shot I was looking for, but a moment worth capturing.

P.S. She is talking more too. New favorite word: Mine.

New Outfit

I love Mia in this outfit, a cute little denim jumper with coordinating top.

Loving Arms

I recently overheard a mother of a 7-year-old tell the mother of an infant, "When you are a parent, the days are long but the years are short." There is a lot of truth in that, though now that Mia is more active (and interactive), the days go pretty fast.
I have really been enjoying the affectionate stage Mia is in. When I am rocking her before naptime or bedtime, she holds on tight. That is so different from the early days. At first, when we held her, she really didn't hold on. Within a couple of months she learned to hold on with her arms, and it was months later that she first clung to us using her legs. That was a big sign of progress!
When we met the staff members from the orphanage, it was clear they were loving people who cared deeply about Mia. I'm sure the caregivers gave her as much affection as they could under the circumstances. With that foundation, Mia spent her first year in our family learning how to be loved and to give love in the way that only parents and child can.

Oh, my darling Mia -
Thank you for letting our love in.

For you see, each day I love you more.
Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow.
~Rosemonde Gerard

Blog Envy

I have been admiring recent upgrades in several of the blogs I follow. Custom graphics, pleasing color schemes. They have me wondering, "How did they do that?" Now that I'm learning digital scrapbooking, I think I could beef up my own blog image if I put my mind to it. Nothing as fancy as my friends' blogs, but something more than the plain-vanilla blogspot template. Then I remember that Mia's paternal grandparents print out every page, and someday I may just do the same. Can you imagine the tab for ink? And anyway, I like lots of white space in my life, so why not in my blog? I guess I'll keep focusing my energy on the words.

So, to my blogging pals with the lovely lovely sites (you know who you are) -
Thank you for making my world more colorful, not just with your graphics but with your vivid pictures of life with your daughters.

P.S. I suffer from scrapbook envy, too. My favorite scrapbooking author is Cathy Zielske of "Clean and Simple" scrapbooks fame. Oh, to be able to capture moments with one-tenth the eloquence she does in her scrapbooks.

Puppy Practice

After I wrote about our Halloween plans, I thought I'd better try out Mia's Halloween costume.

Day 1: Mia fusses as we put the costume on. The whimpers continue as I tell her, "You look so cute, you're a dog!!! Let's go look in the mirror!" while escorting her to the full-length mirror in the master bath. Mia whimpers some more and stamps her feet in protest as we look in the mirror and I try to sell the costume. "Look, you have a tail, too!" Wag, wag, I flop the attached tail around. I try to get Mia to put the puppy head on. She twists her head away, so I put it on myself to show her how cute it is. Then I attempt to get Mia to wear it, and the protests increase. Mia whimpers, "Off, off." I remove costume. Sarah witnesses it all.

Day 2: I come home from work and Sarah shows me this photo. If this were a competition, I'd retreat with my tail between my legs right now.

P.S. Notice the treat bag in the shape of a puppy's head. Mia is into carrying purses and bags right now, so that is her favorite part of the entire costume.

Made in the Shade(s)

Now that summer is over, Mia has been enjoying wearing her sunglasses. Only indoors, of course. We can never get her to wear them in the sun. I can't believe how fast she is growing up. Sometimes when I look at her, I see a teenager in training. Until I notice she has her sheep in tow. Still plenty of wonder years left.

Campaign Promises

Those of you who watched the Vice Presidential debate last week may remember the moderator's question that went something like, "Tell us about a time when you changed your position on an issue." With one year and three weeks of parenthood under my belt, I have been reflecting on the positions I took about how we would raise our daughter during the 2+ year wait for Mia to join our family. For example, I asked Jeff to make a pact that we would never give our child a new car, whether we could afford it or not. You see, I think Jeff and I have been well served by our Midwestern values which say you only appreciate the value of things you really have to work for. I want my child to have the sense of accomplishment that comes from working hard and earning the things she wants.
One plank of my parenting platform had to do with toys. Before we had Mia, I insisted we wouldn't buy her too many toys. I thought a kid could have plenty of fun with pots and pans, old tupperware, and wooden spoons. For extra fun, save those giant cardboard boxes your washer and dryer arrived in. Cut a few windows in the side, give the kid some crayons, and they've got a custom-designed playhouse. I even saved an old sheet with just a couple of holes in it, thinking it would be great for making an indoor tent.
As I look around our playroom, I have to admit that while I never officially (or even consciously) changed my position on toys, an impartial observer could only conclude I have flip-flopped. In a big way. In my defense, many of these toys were either:
(a) hand-me-downs from cousins,
(b) gifts, or
(c) recommended by Sarah or friends and family for their developmental value and/or enduring appeal to child and parent alike.

Over the course of a week, most of these toys actually get used, in 10-15 minute increments. A lot of them get used nearly every day. (After all, there are 96 15-minute increments in a day.) And in my defense, I've minimized the expense by purchasing a good portion of them at the children's consignment sales that are huge around here. (Thank goodness some things don't change when you become a parent: I'm still my old thrifty self. You should see me when those boxes of hand-me-downs arrive. I'm as giddy as Christmas morning.)
OK, I admit it. I have totally changed my position on the toy thing. But there are a few parenting promises I still insist I will never break. Read my lips: NO NEW CARS!!

Big Appetite

Sarah reports Mia loves Subway sandwiches. Usually they dine in. According to Sarah, Mia sits nicely in the booth while Sarah orders the food. Supposedly the staff thinks she is really cute. Apparently Mia behaves better when Sarah takes her to a restaurant then when we do.

The Scream

Sarah frequently uses our camera to document interesting moments in Mia's day. Sometimes when I download the photos, I have no idea what is going on in the photo. I can't tell whether this was a happy scream or an angry scream. In the photo just before this one, she is smiling, but then Mia's moods are as mercurial as any other toddler. Anyway, this photo reminds me a little bit of Edvard Munch's "Scream" painting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scream

Ross

Mia has spent more time with her cousins Ross and Claire than the others. Given all of her cousins live over 1000 miles away, that is still not a lot of contact. Imagine our surprise when Mia recognized Ross in a photo of Ross and Claire that is probably 7 or 8 years old. Ross was just a toddler at the time. Said photo resides on the bookshelves in our living room. Mia took the photo off the shelf (she must be getting taller – we’re finding lots of new things are suddenly within reach). She then put the photo on the floor, sat down, and proceeded to point and say, “Ross, Ross, Ross.” We suspect she would have said “Claire, Claire, Claire”, too, except Mia can’t make K sounds yet.
That brings us to her other male person of interest (aside from Daddy, of course). Mia loves the Signing Time sign language videos, and she has a vocabulary of over 50 signs. The videos feature a boy and girl, Alex and Leah. Mia has been saying “Alex” a lot. The other night, she was watching a video with her father and when Alex came on, she pointed excitedly and said “Alex” over and over again. Daddy took the opportunity to put in a friendly taunt, “Mia’s got a boyfriend.” Fortunately, Mia has no idea what a boyfriend is yet. Otherwise I’m quite sure she would have said “Eeuw,” which is one of her favorite words lately.

Halloween Contingency Planning

I've had several people (including Mia's father) ask me what Mia will be for Halloween. Last year, she went to our subdivision's Halloween party as a hot ladybug. You see, the costume was a lovely fake fur number handed down from her cousin. Just add a black turtleneck and black leggings and you are good to go. The only problem with this was that up North (where the ladybug costume came from) the temperature is often in the 40's on Halloween night. (Fun fact: in 1991, the great Halloween blizzard dropped 28 inches of snow on our hometown, making it one of the top 5 weather events of the 20th century there. Right up there with the Dust Bowl of the 1930's.) Anyway, I believe it was about 80 degrees here last year, so as soon as I'd proudly paraded my new daughter in front of the neighbors, the fur had to fly.
This year, Mia is going to be a dog. A white dog with brown spots to be exact. I found this very cute costume on clearance last year. My hope is that the temperature will be a bit cooler than last year. The National Weather Service says the typical high temp on Oct 31 is 68 degrees.

WARM WEATHER CONTINGENCY PLAN:
If it is too hot for the dog suit, we will pull out the still-too-big purple leotard I found at a consignment sale, pair it with the still-too-long lavender tutu my sister sent and whatever shoes look the least stupid, and Mia will go to the party as a rather poorly dressed ballerina. (Darn, I should have picked up that pair of used ballet shoes at the consignment sale when I had the chance.) Or, maybe we'll add a wand and pretend she is a fairy. No ballet shoes required for that.

DOG COSTUME REJECTION CONTINGENCY PLAN:
Mia can be a bit fussy about what she wears, so there is no guarantee she'll wear the dog costume even if we have a successful dry run. See WARM WEATHER CONTINGENCY PLAN.

Happiness Moment: For most of my adult life, I wished I had a child to celebrate Halloween with. Now I do.

Thank You For Sharing

Mia's preschool class has an interesting practice. It is called "shared snack." Each child brings a snack each day and the teachers divvy them all up so each child gets a little bit of every other child's snack. (No applesauce or yogurt, please.) I am a little uncomfortable about this, but I go with it so as not to have Mia known as the girl with the Mom-Zilla. Why don't I like it?

1. Because I like to have more control over what my child eats. (After week 1, the teachers sent an email reminding families, "No candy, please!" I found that a bit alarming.)
2. Sarah pointed out that the food gets handled a lot. We think we can trust the teachers, but we don't know if the other parents wash their hands before grabbing a handful of goldfish crackers to put in the ziploc bag. (Eeeuw)
3. Another potential problem is portion control. Sarah reports that Mia doesn't eat a very good lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If every family is a bit generous knowing that the snack is shared with 9 other children, the portions could get a bit large.

Something might have to change here, since by the second week of school Mia was getting rather irregular. I gently inquired via email what exactly Mia has been eating and got the following response from her teacher.

"About our snacks, we have a wide variety of foods. Often a couple different crackers - goldfish, cheese-its, ritz, saltines, etc; a type of cookie; a couple types of fruits - apples, bananas, grapes and raisins are all popular; sometimes cheese or gummies. Nothing too odd."

I wasn't too thrilled to hear about cookies and gummies, but after careful reflection, I will stifle myself. I'm sure there will be plenty of better opportunities to be a Mom-Zilla. In the meantime, we've added prunes to Mia's diet.

Shape-of-the-Month Club

At Mia's preschool, the shapes-of-the-month are circles and ovals. Yesterday, Mia was supposed to bring something oval for show and tell. (I honestly think Mia is a bit young to understand the concept of show and tell, though she does understand ovals and can even say "oval.") I had not noticed this event on the school calendar, but fortunately Sarah is a bit more on the ball about these things. (I promise I'll improve, Mia!) Sarah looked around for something interesting and hit on..... a potato. I thought that was rather creative. I'm not sure I would have seen the potato and said, "Oh, an oval!"
Anyway, Sarah put the potato in Mia's school bag along with a note indicating that was for show and tell. The teachers later reported they initially reached in the bag, pulled out the potato, and thought it was a rather unusual snack. I guess they eventually found the note, because the potato did return home at the end of the day.

Mia's Artwork

See that purple shape in the middle of the picture? Sarah tells us it is supposed to be a circle, and the fact that Mia closes off her circles is a sign of development. Who knew? (If this blog were a newspaper, today would be a slow news day.)

One Year Ago Today....

Mia joined our family. It was a hot, humid afternoon in Nanchang, the capital city of Mia's birth province. Our travel group had flown from Beijing to Nanchang just that morning. Eight families ready to adopt ten baby girls, ages 6 months to 17 months. We traveled to the Civil Affairs office and after Veronica made sure all the babies were there, she called out each babies' name. The family then stepped forward to receive their child. When they called "Ji Lu Xing" the assistant director for Mia's orphanage presented our daugher to us. Jeff captured the moment. That is our Chinese guide, Veronica, in the background. An angel in a green T-shirt, as we would soon learn.

Peekaboo Pantry

Mia loves playing peekaboo. Usually that means she covers her face with both hands and we say, "Where is Mia? I can't find her. Where did she go?" until she pops out from behind her hands and "startles" us. Now she is doing a new game where she actually physically hides someplace and then jumps out. Kind of like Hide and Go Seek, but without the Go Seek part. Last week, Mia hid in the pantry with her pink poodle, periodically popping out to startle Sarah. According to Sarah, she did it over and over and over, giggling the whole time.

Let's Go Swimming

One of the things we really like about living here is that the swimming pool stays open until mid-September. Mia has made a lot of progress since her first dip in a swimming pool last May. For months she clung to us like some invisible velcro, but in the last few weeks she has gotten comfortable wearing her inflatable swim wings. She likes treading water independently, about arms length away from Mom or Dad.

Dirty

Mia is trying out lots of new words. A current favorite is "dirty." She sees a piece of lint on the floor, a scrap of paper next to the shredder, dead leaves on the sidewalk... Then she points and adamantly says "dirty." She frequently announces that her hands are dirty and aims herself toward the powder room to wash them. She can't reach the faucets herself yet, so we have to give her an assist. Last night she saw some cracker bits on the kitchen floor and went into the pantry for the broom. I'm sure it is just a phase, not signs of early onset OCD. Or maybe she is the cleanest toddler in the state.
Jeff taught her that some times "ick" is a better word than "dirty," and should be accompanied by a wrinkled nose.

No Photos, Please [CENSORED]

Since at least one reader considered this post to contain inappropriate subject matter, I have chosen to delete it. It was probably one of those, "You had to be there" stories, anyway.

Camping Out

Soon after we brought Mia home and settled her in her crib, I began asking, "At what age do babies outgrow their cribs?" I asked the ladies at the baby furniture store and sought the opinions of the authors of our multiple baby books. I was surprised that the answer I received over and over was:

WHEN SHE CAN CLIMB OUT OF HER CRIB.

I don't know about you, but as far as I'm concerned, that seems a little late. At least one book author (a highly regarded pediatrician, mind you) addressed my main concern by saying:

PUT SOME PILLOWS AND BLANKETS AROUND THE CRIB TO SOFTEN THE FALL.

Over the past few weeks, Mia had been worrying me just a little bit by hiking one leg up on the side of the crib as if it were a ballerina bar. Still, I was 99% sure she wouldn't be able to climb over the side. That changed last weekend after Jeff reported she'd almost made her big escape. She could put one leg over the edge and almooooost get her center of gravity over the rail. We could tell she was only days away from climbing over the side and suffering a near-certain head injury. We discussed putting rails on the twin bed in her room, and taking the crib rails off to convert her crib to a toddler bed, but we didn't like the idea of her wandering around in her room at night while we slept, climbing on her bookshelves and other attractive nuisances. We just can't make her room safe enough for that. We thought their must be a better option, so we did what we always do:

LOOK ON THE INTERNET

And there it was, the Crib Tent II. Highly recommended by parents of crib-climbers. Keeps the baby in and animals out. (Not that we were worried about animals.) Jeff called a well-known national big box baby store chain nearby and confirmed they had the item in stock. Since Mia doesn't like to be confined, but she does like the nylon play tent in her playroom, we decided the best strategy was to talk it up and make it sound fun:

LOOK MIA YOU GOT A TENT FOR YOUR BEDROOM!!!

This has more or less worked. Mia goes in the tent fairly willingly, though I usually wait until she is asleep before zipping up the side.

Ballerina Girl

Auntie Paula gave Mia this lovely lavender tutu a while back. It has been in the closet waiting for the day Mia showed some interest in putting it on. I finally got tired of waiting. After finding a lovely purple leotard at a church consignment sale, I decided the time had come to dress Mia up like a little ballerina. She twirled around a few times, then plopped herself down to read a book.

The skirt and leotard are big enough to last a year or two, so we'll have plenty more opportunities for ballerina photos.

Preschool Orientation

Mia started back at preschool on Tuesday. She has moved up to the Lucky Ducks class this year. Seven girls, two boys. Mia is the youngest by quite a bit, which I think will be good for her language and social skill development.
Last week, they had an Open House and Orientation so we could show Mia her classroom and meet her teachers. Mia brought all of her people, including Mom, Dad, and Sarah. It was quite an entourage, which seemed appropriate given Mia's virtual celebrity status at our house.
Mia jumped right in and started playing with the dolls.

Hats On

Mia has been saying the word "hat" a lot. She loves to put things on her head and say "hat." Doll strollers, cereal bowls, anything and everything. Except hats.

Snuggly Bear

Mia is going through a snuggly phase. In the morning, she makes us take her 3 stuffed animals and 2 blankets out of her crib. Then she tries to carry everything at once to Mommy and Daddy's room. She kisses her dolls and stuffed animals more often. She gives us kisses, too, on occasion. Recently, she has been making Daddy kiss Mommy. Picture Mia and I sitting on the bed in the morning. Before Jeff leaves for work, he bends over the bed to say good-bye to Mia and give her a kiss. Before he can stand up, Mia puts her hand on the top of his head and pushes it down toward me, as if to say, "Now kiss Mommy." Sometimes she makes him do it 2 or 3 times. Then she claps her hands and giggles.

Feeding Time

It rained off and on all day yesterday. Sarah reported that Mia liked watching the rain come down. Sarah captured this moment of Mia tenderly feeding her sheep.

Auto-Correcting

Mia has been vocalizing lots more lately. She walks around the house saying stuff like "yabba dabba babba" very seriously. When we're in the car, she often carries on a lengthy conversation with herself in her own private language. If Jeff and I are talking, she will occasionally pick up on something we say and parrot it. Jeff has concluded he has to stop saying, "Geez" when another motorist does something stupid/dangerous/illegal. I have to stop saying something else.
Sarah checked out some Signing Time videos from the library. They are excellent; way better than the other baby sign language video we'd been using. (No, you will not see an click-through ad for the videos here. Leave that to the shamelessly commercial blogs.) There is only one problem. You guessed it, Mia now knows more signs than we do. A couple of times last week I had the distinct impression that Mia was attempting to communicate with me using some sign I don't know. I concluded we're going to have to watch those videos as a family. Over the weekend I added Play, Come, Wait, Read, Clean, Water, and Bath to my signing vocabulary. I fear this is not nearly enough to keep up with my darling. Perhaps I should get home 5 minutes earlier at night to get a private tutorial from Sarah.
Mia is using more spoken words, too. This afternoon, she said "oval" perfectly. I'm pretty sure she said "all down" after she knocked over the tower of blocks we'd just built. If only I'd written them down, I'd have more words to report to you.

And if you can stand any more excitement, Mia is showing some signs that she can start potty training soon. When I change her diaper, I now have to put some pants on her quick before she takes the diaper off. When Jeff went in to her bedroom this morning to check on her, he discovered that she'd removed her diaper during the night. This afternoon he and Mia came upstairs to tell me that Mia had accurately reported that she'd just pooped. When I responded with, "OK, I'll change her" he looked at me, ever so slightly offended, and said, "I already did!" Sarah has concluded it is time to get some books about going potty. They've got a children's book about everything now. If you doubt me (and why would you?), just go on Amazon.com. There are at least 20 books on the subject. The reader reviews prove that this is very serious stuff, this potty training. Some of my favorite lines:

"In a very realistic, child-appealing text, it describes how a gender-neutral toddler struggles to learn how to use the potty." (Gender-neutral? Eeeeeuuuw!)

Another reader took exception to that same book:
"...the book focuses on failure a lot more than success. The baby keeps trying to go on the potty and things just don't work out for him. He finally does in the end, but I get the sense that it makes the process seem a little scary."

And squeamish people should skip over this one:
"The poop is not graphically drawn but very tasteful."

Oh, how did our mothers do it before the great literary achievement of Everyone Poops?

Mini Minivan

Mia liked her Cozy Coupe so much, we decided to leave it in her playroom. We bought another version, used, on Craigslist. This one stays out on the driveway. Mia thinks it is really cool, especially since both doors open. It reminds me of those old VW buses from the 60's. The wood panels on the door really make it. Mia loves sitting in her minivan (she gets in and out over and over and over) or pushing it from behind or being pushed. When she is being pushed, she puts her feet up on either side of the steering wheel. She hasn't figured out that she can propel herself with her own feet, Fred Flintstone style.

The Biggest Smile Ever

Sarah just emailed some photos she'd taken of Mia, some recent and a few from Sarah's first week on the job, back in November. Now I know why people say, "They grow up so fast."

Some things haven't changed. Mia still has the same happy disposition she displayed in her referral photos. The photo below has always been Jeff's favorite of the 4 pictures we received in our referral. It is a little blurry, but it really was a window into her personality.

New and Improved

Mia keeps adding new words and skills. On Friday, Sarah surprised us with a report that Mia now recognizes 10 different and 10 colors. Sarah had brought a set of flashcards on Monday, and they practiced all week. We lay out the 10 shape cards and say, "Mia, where is the crescent?" and she points to the crescent card. She can also say some of the shape names. My favorite is hearing her say "heart" in a soft, tentative little voice. (Yes, I would have to say my heart melts.) As for the color cards, she can not only pick out the colors (with 100% accuracy for Sarah, 80-90% for her parents), but she says yellow, red, blue (OK, it usually sounds more like "boo"), and purple ("purr pah").
On Saturday, while Mom caught up on some work, Daddy took Mia to the zoo. He said she was very social, waving to people. She made a point of visiting a Chinese family who was sitting in the cafe. When they got home, I asked Mia, "Did you go to the zoo?" to which she nodded very seriously and said "roar" in a tiny little voice. It's funny, she always uses her tiny voice when she says "roar." It is as if the word is too scary to say loudly.
We rounded out our weekend with daily trips to the swimming pool. Mia is getting much more courageous in the water. Tonight, we tried out her water wings (those little inflatable arm things) again. She'd rejected them a month ago, so we've been using a bouyant vest instead. Tonight I forgot the vest, then I remembered those inflatables were still lurking at the bottom of the beach bag. At first she didn't want to let us put them on her arms, but within a few minutes she was rejoicing that she could let go of us and float on her own.
We've probably told you Mia likes to watch the divers. Last night I decided to see how she'd react if I dove in. (To call it diving is generous, actually.) As I'd hoped, she was ecstatic when she saw me on the diving board, and when I came up for air she was already saying "More."

The Thrill of the Chase

Being chased by a friendly adult is one of Mia's very favorite things. Here she is, running away from Sarah, giggling all the way down the driveway.

Scenes from China - The Bird's Nest

The day before we met Mia, we toured Beijing. We saw Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City (which is right next door), and the Great Wall. On the way back to our hotel, our guide asked the bus to stop so we could take a picture of National Stadium (aka the Bird's Nest) under construction.