Geography Lesson

We took Mia to the library on Friday night to get a library card. Actually, all three of us got library cards, since Jeff and I hadn't bothered to get one since we moved here. While I handled the paperwork, Jeff took Mia to the children's section. For some reason, the paperwork took a really long time, even though I'd printed out the application forms before we left home and completed them in the car. I think Mia must have been getting a bit bored, because Jeff spied a globe and let her spin it a few times before putting it to legitimate use.
We had fun pointing out China and telling Mia, "See, this is where you were born!"
Mia might have checked out the pictured book, but her dinnertime was fast-approaching, so we high-tailed it out of there.

By the way, since Mia was issued a card in her name, I asked the clerk if she would be allowed to check out books when accompanied by her nanny. Since Sarah is not a county resident, she can't get her own card here. The clerk told me that no, Sarah shouldn't be allowed to use Mia's card because, "Then you will be responsible for all the materials the nanny checks out. " She said it with a straight face, so I pointed out (with a smile!) that if I trusted my nanny with my only child I could probably trust her with a library card. The librarian gave me such a disapproving look that I quickly followed up with a conciliatory tone, "Oh, of course I understand you have to have policies about these things." I was glad Mia was nowhere to be seen, or she'd be a marked woman.
(Note to Sarah: Let everyone assume you are the Mom and there should be no problem.)

Meet the Flintstones

I've always thought these toy cars looked like the one Fred flintstone drove home from his factory job. Mia has several riding toys (all bought for $2 or less at yard sales, I might add), but not one of these. Someone left their car unattended at the pool club, and Mia decided to take it for a spin. We didn't try to stop her, as it is the normal practice at our pool to play with whatever toys are laying around. (Another normal practice at our pool is to leave your toys laying around for hours, if not days, on end.) Mia loved opening and closing the door. She has a thing for opening and closing doors these days.

First Father's Day

We spent a little family time at the pool celebrating our first Father's Day together. The day would have been perfect except for the photo op. It would be nice to have a photo in which Mia wasn't trying to escape from her father's lap. She really is a daddy's girl!

That brings us to photo 2, which I'll call, "Honey, is Mia allowed to play with toy guns?" We hadn't really discussed this yet, so I wasn't exactly sure how to respond when Mia picked up a squirt gun some child had left behind. Somehow, it is hard for me to imagine that any harm can come from prohibiting the use of neon-colored space-invader style squirt guns, which no police officer could mistake for a real gun. At least until they start making real guns in neon-colored space-invader style.

Happy Father's Day, Jeff!

(P.S. Jeff is of the view that making toy guns off limits just makes them more attractive. He cites the case of a childhood pal whose mother strictly prohibited guns. The guy ended up going to West Point.)

Terrified or Terrorizing

10 minutes before Sarah leaves. Can I publish my first entry in more than a week before the hourglass runs out of sand? (8 minutes)
A number of people have told me "terrible two" is a misnomer, it actually starts way before that. Mia is going through a phase where she is really scared by a lot more things - the door chime, Sam barking, a parent leaving the room for 10 seconds. (I guess she can't be expected to know it will only be 10 seconds, can she?) Every upset gets loud crying, big tears, and a red face. Reassuring her doesn't seem to help much, instead we have to distract her long enough for her to forget she was crying. (6 minutes)
On the flip side, Mia is doing a great job of terrorizing living beings. Her transgressions are often accompanied by a sidewise glance (See what I can do?) and a sinister giggle. We're trying to get her to stop throwing things. She has progressed from throwing food and eating utensils to books and toys. Really annoying. This morning she threw a wooden shoe tree (Jeff's = big) just as the dog was passing by. Ouch. We try to practice "positive discipline", but I think we've got a few things to learn. (3 minutes)
And then there are her bold new daredevil acts. The newest one is climbing the stairs on the outside of the handrail. Leave her for 90 seconds to use the powder room and she can get 6 steps high. At one level, we're impressed at how quickly her gross motor skills are developing, but we have to put on the stern face and say, "Feet on the floor". (That is positive discipline talk for "Get down before I do something I'll regret!) (Time's up!)

Talking

Mia is talking a bit more every week. Her most frequently used words are more, bye, wet, hot, and up. Still in the "word approximation" category: ball (we only rarely hear the L), dog, and many many others. Her most-used baby signs are more, eat, drink, please, thank you, her own version of "help", and yes. She says no (by firmly shaking her head) a lot, but we've learned that no doesn't necessarily mean no to her. (Proof: She shook her head when we asked her if she wanted fruit, which she never ever turns down.)
Mia occasionally surprises us by saying a new and fairly complicated word perfectly, but then we never hear it again. Example: We've been saying "bottoms up" to her when we are putting on a clean diaper, and Jeff tells me that tonight she said "bottoms up" as he changed her.
Mia has recently taken an interest in butterflies, and she is trying really hard to pronounce the word. It sounds more like buh buh DUH.

Did I mention that Mia is now 34 inches tall and 28.5 pounds?

A Birthday Party

Mia had a full schedule of activities this week. She went to "camp" again on Monday and Wednesday. Sarah took her to the pool on Thursday, and Jeff and I took her again tonight.
Today, Sarah and I took Mia to a birthday party for a lovely little girl in her Families with Children from China (FCC) playgroup. The party was at a park, and Mia was way more interested in playing on the swings than in eating cupcakes.
At one point, the other kids (all older than Mia) took pieces of cardboard and slid down a small but steep grassy hill. Growing up in Minnesota, we'd used cardboard for makeshift snow sleds, but I would never have thought of doing the same on grass. It was hysterical. Mia watched it all from the safety of the nearby swings. I thought about joining the group and sliding with Mia on my lap, but then I remembered I was wearing a dress.
The party was just my idea of what a little girl's birthday party should be: A craft project, a wading pool where the kids could fish with those little magnetic fishing rods, squirt guns, and a pinata. (We kept Mia out of the fray on the pinata, but I scooped up a toy whistle for her. We're trying to teach her to blow.) None of this renting ponies or going to the Ice Capades or clowns or the traveling reptile show, but every bit as fun. (I guarantee there will never be a clown at my child's birthday party.)
Another mildly interesting thing happened at the party. When we arrived, the party was well underway in one of those covered pavilions with picnic tables. The pavilion was mostly empty except for the partygoers. The food and gifts were on one table, the Chinese girls and their moms were sitting at a second table doing a craft project, then some other families with Caucasian children were sitting at a third table right next to them. I first went to the "Chinese" table said Hi to the moms, all of whom I'd met at previous FCC events. Then I went over to the other table to say hello to the other moms. I said "Hi, my name is Donna" to the nearest mom (let's call her "Jill") and shook her hand. Jill returned the handshake rather unenthusiastically while giving me a very strange look, as did her tablemates. Then she hesitatingly said, "Are you here with THAT group?" nodding toward the other FCC families. About that time, the FCC moms saw what was going on and they had a big laugh. The birthday girl's mother came over and rescued me, laughing and saying, "She's just really friendly!" (Which is true, of course. And I have to say that Jill seemed way more embarassed than was warranted under the circumstances.)

Almost forgot about our trip to the pediatric dentist on Tuesday. That deserves an entry all its own.

Little Women

Mia is a good mommy. She loves pushing her baby around the house in her pint-sized stroller.

More Fun than a Sandbox

For some time now, Mia has been having fun with the single-serve instant oatmeal packets. Here is how it works: She goes into the pantry and takes the box off its low shelf. (There simply aren't enough high shelves to go around.) She takes all the little bags of oatmeal out of the box, plays with them for awhile, and puts them back in. At some point, I tell her, "Let's put the oatmeal away." We return the box to the pantry and the game ends. Harmless fun, given she is unable to open the little bags.

Until now.

First Week of Summer

Mia had a fun-filled first week of summer. She went to "camp" for the first time on Monday and Wednesday. She played in her new sprinkler, though it took some coaxing. We went to the pool a few times. She used lots of sunscreen. She spent hours getting pushed/pulled up and down the driveway in her toy car and wagon by her Mom and Dad.

And then there were the injuries:
Two mosquito bites that Mia reacted quite strongly to. (They are red, hard, raised bumps that aren't going away any too quickly.)

One mysterious little red bump on her leg that we can't figure out.
One slightly skinned cheek. (Lost her balance in the kiddie pool.)
Two skinned elbows.
Four skinned knees. (Yup. Both knees, twice.)

What to do? For one thing, we're dressing her in capri-length pants rather than shorts, at least until the skinned knees heal. We'll be saying, "Walk, don't run!" more often. And I think we've concluded that two adults are required anytime Mia goes to the swimming pool. She likes running around on the pool deck, which is hazardous to little knees.

Drinking Habits

At Mia's 15-month checkup three months ago, the pediatrician strongly advised that we needed to wean Mia from the sippy cups onto a regular cup. I told the Dr. that before I would give Mia a regular cup, I needed to break her of the habit of throwing her cups. (We didn't tell her that Mia was still drinking her evening milk out of a baby bottle. No need to court unnecessary controversy.) Last week at the 18-month checkup, the Dr. repeated her advice, explaining that Mia could end up with a speech impediment if she keeps drinking from a sippy cup. She also said, "It is a skill she needs to learn." I guess you can't argue with that. Sure, a lot of people drink out of those sports bottles that bear a strong resemblance to a sippy cup, but that would be unseemly at a business lunch, wouldn't it? When I brought up the throwing issue (which is worse, not better, than it was 3 months ago), she said "Mia is not too young for time outs."

We compromised by agreeing that for now Mia could use those training cups that have a straw, while learning to use a regular cup. I have a feeling there will be a test at Mia's 21-month checkup. (Ka-ching, it's off to Babies 'R Us to buy yet more training cups.)

This is where Sarah's great wisdom comes in. She knows Mia likes strawberry smoothies so much that there is little chance of her flinging the cup and its contents. So, she makes a smoothie most days and gives it to Mia in a big girl cup. Brilliant. And better than a time out any day.

Camping In

Not only does Mia get to go to "camp" on Mondays and Wednesdays, she and Sarah also camp at home in Mia's tent playhouse. Last night when I got home from work, they were both in the tent playing with blocks. According to Sarah, "Any activity is more fun when you do it in a tent!"

Mia is becoming a very affectionate little girl :) Here she is giving Sarah a big kiss before Sarah went home for the night. We are so fortunate to have Sarah in our lives. Those two gals are a match made in heaven.

Groovy Girl

We are making another attempt at finding sunglasses that Mia will keep on. I have a sneaking suspicion that part of the problem is that Mia's nose doesn't stick out enough. While in China, we learned that the Chinese people sometimes refer to Westerners as "Big Noses." Hard to argue with that.

Mia seems to like these new sunglasses, and the strap helps keep them in place. Sarah reports that she kept them on during the drive to camp (a fancy word for preschool's summer session) and back home again. I love this photo of Mia checking out her new look.