Christmas Cookies

If my hands hadn't been full of cookie dough, I would have taken a photo of our Christmas cookie factory on Sunday. One of my favorite Christmas-time activities has always been baking cookies. Growing up, my Mom made dozens and dozens of cookies and candies, in a huge variety. Sugar cookies, spritz, date-filled cookies, refrigerator cookies, date rice krispy balls rolled in coconut, Mexican wedding cakes (aka Russian teacakes), baby potica, fudge, divinity, English toffee, ginger snaps, and peanut brittle. As an adult, my mom and sisters and I had a cookie exchange every year, and the church we belonged to had a "cookie walk" every December. It was like a cookie exchange except members donated cookies and then paid for the privilege of filling up a small bakery box with cookies. I learned after the first year that if you didn't hustle to get in line after the worship service, you were likely to end up with a box of chocolate chip cookies that had obviously been made from store-bought cookie dough. After spending hours rolling dozens and dozens of Russian teacakes in powdered sugar, that was a bit of a disappointment. I had to console myself by saying it was all for a good cause, and I was better off diet-wise because I brought the choc. chip cookies to the office for the 20-somethings to devour.
Mia loves to help me bake, so on Sunday I made dough for sugar cookies and spritz cookies. After chilling the dough, the real fun began. I rolled the dough and let Mia cut out a few sugar cookies, until I realized that was going to be quite difficult for her. I took over the cutting and Mia was happy to man the decorating station, sprinkling lots of colored sugars. We have Christmas trees of every color, but to be honest most of them are pink. If Jeff hadn't encouraged her to try some different colors, it would have been a pink Christmas here. Pink trees, pink reindeer, pink angels, pink stars...
The spritz cookies didn't work. I'd never made them myself, but I knew it was pretty easy. Just like the Salad Shooter, I thought. I was working with an old cookie press that I picked up at a garage sale or something. The handle was so hard to turn that I had to have Jeff do it. The dough squished out in all the wrong places, so we made a total of 3 wreaths and 2 candy canes before abandoning the effort.
Despite the failed spritz cookies, I felt a great sense of satisfaction. As the three of us made our cookies, I realized this was one of those moments that you dream of, when you decide start a family.

Lost and Found

When Mia started sleeping in her big-girl bed, Jeff and I worried that she'd get up during the night and wander around. We took to latching the toddler gates at the top of the stairs so that she couldn't take a wrong turn and tumble downward. To our relief, this has not been an issue. Mia is such a sound sleeper that most of the time we have to wake her up to get ready for school. Her afternoon nap can sometimes run from 3 pm to 6 pm. On those occasions when Mia wakes up on her own, she usually calls for Mom or Dad rather than getting out of bed.
But, the times they are a changin'. In the past several weeks, Mia has surprised us by taking a short nap and getting up on her own. Imagine me sitting in my office, working, when I hear the sound of little feet running down the hallway. Mia bursts into my office saying with glee, "I found you!!!" She then stamps her feet and laughs as if she'd just prevailed in a game of hide and seek. The other day during her scheduled naptime she ran down to the kitchen and startled the housekeeper by yelling, "I found you!!!" While I'd rather she continued those lovely long naps, it is pretty adorable to be greeted by my gleeful little diaper-clad gal.

Santa Baby

Last year, Mia didn't really understand Christmas, and we didn't try very hard to explain either the religious or secular significance. We didn't even try to get a photo on Santa's lap, as we were pretty sure that would have been traumatizing. Now that Mia understands more, this year's preparations are more fun - most of the time.
Soon after becoming parents, Jeff and I wondered what we'd tell Mia about Santa. I personally cannot remember a time that I believed in Santa, so it's no great shakes to me. My first memory of Santa is when my older brother showed me a picture (in the Encylopedia Brittanica, no less) of Santa flying through the air in a sleigh. As he explained to me that Santa visited every house on Christmas eve, I distinctly remember telling him that wasn't possible. I could see that there was no way he could fit a toy for every child on that sleigh, I knew sleighs didn't fly, and I knew he couldn't possibly make it around the world in one night. Always my rational self.
Back to our parenting discussion. If I recall correctly, Jeff was more concerned about the psychological aspects of telling one's child a big lie year after year. We have friends who tell their 5-year-old, "Santa is real just like Spiderman is real." They don't want to lie to him, but they also don't want him to dispell the fantasy for other children. I think we settled on the idea that the preschool would have lots of talk about Santa, so probably it made sense to go along with whatever they say for a while.
Which brings us to Christmas season 2009. As we expected, Mia came home from preschool one day talking about Santa. I asked her what Santa does and she said, "He comes down the chimney." I went along with it without embellishing. (Come to think of it, Mia hasn't asked for Santa to bring her anything yet. We don't let her watch children's TV, so it helps that she isn't exposed to all the toy advertising.) Later, I heard her singing, "I love Santa."
On Saturday, there was an Advent workshop at the church. They touted Santa would be making an appearance, and there would be crafts and snacks. I hadn't planned to take Mia, but then all morning Saturday she was singing about Santa. We happened to be driving past the church as the workshop was starting, so I made the decision to participate.
We were the second or third family to arrive. The event was in a big room with craft tables. Santa was sitting in a rocking chair at the far end of the room. Unfortunately, Mia took one look at him and started screaming in fear. (Deja vu - it was a lot like that Halloween party I told you about.) I tried to tell her it was just a nice man in a costume, like Halloween. (There were no other children within earshot, so I don't think I was spoiling it for anyone.) This went on for a while, despite my best efforts to comfort her. Finally, I was able to distract Mia long enough to get her to make a candy cane by stringing red and white beads on a pipe cleaner. That was going OK until Santa (who didn't have a lot to do at that point) decided to swoop in close to show her he wasn't scary. That started her crying again. Santa retreated to the food table. He was 30 or 40 feet away from us, but that wasn't good enough for Mia, who kept asking me to make him go back in his chair. As the room filled up with families who had clearly dressed up for a photo op with Santa, he returned to his rocker and became easier to ignore.
One of the event volunteers came to me and said, "That's why we do this. When you take your kids to the mall you've got one shot to get the photo and if they are crying, too bad." I see their point, but somehow I don't think Mia will be sitting on Santa's lap anytime soon. Until Mia asks to see Santa, I can get along without the classic Santa's lap photo in my album.

Trimming the Tree

Last night we decorated our Christmas tree. As always, Jeff and I enjoyed sharing the significance of many of the ornaments. It is a good thing we do that, because otherwise one or the other of us is bound to wrinkle our nose and say, "Honey, couldn't we leave that one off the tree this year?" just as the other is recalling fond memories of the Grandmother from whom said ornament had been passed down. Honestly, if we considered the decorations Jeff brought into the marriage vs. Donna's, Jeff would win hands down. (Forgive me for saying that this is in sharp contrast to most categories of our material possessions.) Jeff's mother gave him an ornament every year, and still does. Most of the ornaments I'd accumulated were rustic folk-art kinds of things from Pier 1 Imports, and they were purged a year or two ago. I've acquired some nice ornaments since we've been married. I'm most fond of the four cloissone ornaments, even more after we visited a cloissone factory when we were in Beijing. (I regret I didn't buy more while in China.)
This year was particularly meaningful because Mia was able to join in. The tree is a bit bottom-heavy, but we don't mind. It was fun to see which ornaments caught her fancy among all that bling. On the classic side, she exclaimed over a simple crystal heart. On the modern side, she took a fancy to a miniature electric guitar I gave Jeff some time ago. She posed for a photo before running to her playroom to get her very own Wiggles electric guitar.

Giving Thanks

We had a lovely Thanksgiving Day at our house, just Mia, Jeff, and I. We feel truly blessed in so many ways. Mia is starting to understand the meaning of holidays, but not quite. On Tuesday, she said, "Mom, I want Thanksgiving!" as if she were demanding a lollipop or strawberries.
Yesterday Jeff and I got a babysitter so that we could have some time alone together. We did a little bit of shopping and stumbled on a great sale on some of the old classic games from our childhood. We picked up Don't Spill The Beans and Don't Break The Ice. (Unbelievably, one of Mia's parents is able to sing both verses of the 1960's jingle for Don't Break the Ice. You know, the one that goes... Tap hard once, tap hard twice, there goes another block of ice! And parent 2 thought it was so catchy, s/he learned it as well. Jeff wondered aloud if the jingle-composer is collecting a royalty every time we sing it.) We were looking for something to do last night, so we broke out both games and played them with Mia. I have to say that it seems counter-intuitive to a 3-year-old that the object of Don't Spill the Beans is to get rid of your beans. Mia wants to get as many beans as possible, and what kid wouldn't? Mr. Milton Bradley would have been proud to see us enjoying our first "family game night." And of course, we were teaching our gal sportsmanship as well.
Today I went out for a bit and when I came home, Jeff and Mia were raking leaves. Mia was an energetic helper.

What She Said

I continue to be amazed at what Mia pieces together in her mind. Lately, she has been asking us to read her 3 books about adoption. "I Love You Like Crazy Cakes" is about a woman who adopts from China. It has a scene showing a big room with lots of cribs. "Over the Moon" is about a couple that adopts from an unnamed far-away country. We also spend quite a bit of time looking at Mia's own lifebook. Last weekend, I saw Mia astride the back cushion of the loveseat in her playroom. (They told me loose cushions were a bad idea when you have kids, but I didn't listen...) Our dialogue went something like this:
Me: Mia, what are you doing up there?
Mia: I'm sailing across the sea.
Me: Sailing across the sea? Where are you going?
Mia: I'm going to China.
Me: What are you going to do when you get there?
Mia: I'm going to see the babies.

Mia is picking up lots of new words and phrases that I'd guess you could call slang. Last night, she was telling us about something that happened at school, but she was so excited and giggly, we couldn't tell what she was saying. Something about something being dirty or falling on the floor and getting dirty. Mia couldn't stop laughing long enough for us to make out what the story was. She kept repeating it, but all we could make out was the last few words, "It was nasty!" She apparently had decided that, "It was nasty!" is a very funny thing to say. Given that Jeff and I got caught up in the laughter, I guess she was right.

Her Favorite Dress

Mia loves to wear dresses every day. It doesn't matter whether she is going to school or church or swimming lessons - she insists on wearing a dress. I figure this is one place I can safely let her exert her will, so most days she wears a dress. This is actually quite budget-friendly, given I have a marked tendency to buy too many dresses at her school's consignment sales. (My internal dialogue goes something like: "Ohhhh, this is sooooo cute. And I bet it was only worn once. And look, it's only $4." Ka-ching.)
So, we start off our mornings by letting Mia pick an outfit from the closet. Sometimes, I try to push a particular garment, but this is nearly always met by a resounding, "No, I don't want that one." (You'd think I'd learn, but as we've established many times in these pages, I can be a bit dense.) A couple of weeks ago, Mia discovered this gorgeous jumper in her closet. (Maybe I do learn. I never tried to push it on her, I let her discover it for herself.) It instantly became her favorite. I think she'd wear it every day if she could. It is somewhat impractical for school days, since it is nearly floor-length. Also, Mia refuses to wear tights, so I'm concerned about what might be showing out there on the monkey bars. I've asked the teachers whether it gets in the way on the playground, but they said Mia manages just fine.
I have to say, if Mia had to pick only one dress from her closet, this might just be my favorite. So, I let her wear it a couple of times a week. I think every teacher in the school has noticed a pattern as when I walk her to her classroom we often hear, "Mia, you're wearing your favorite dress today!"
On the particular day I took this photo, I thought we'd agreed on another outfit until Mia marched into the bathroom wearing The Jumper. Fortunately, she agreed not only to put on the blouse underneath it, but pose for a photo. My lucky day. My beautiful girl in her beautiful dress, captured forever.

Thanksgiving Show

Today Mia had her annual "Thanksgiving feast" at preschool. The teachers cook a traditional turkey dinner for all the students and their parents. This is followed by a little show. Mia's class was scheduled to sing several "finger-play" songs. Last year, Mia was a bit young for this. She wasn't quite able to get with the program, but her much-older classmates put on an enthusiastic show. I was looking forward to this year's program, knowing our girl is now really into that kind of thing. Every morning on the way to school she sings and acts out "Sing a Song of Sixpence," giggling hysterically after the part about the bird snipping of the maid's nose. She then goes into a lecture about the bird getting a time out, etc.
Unfortunately, I had a meeting today and couldn't make it. I felt really terrible. Until I was laid off, I didn't make it to every event. After all, there are a lot of them. Now that I've had the chance to participate in more of these things, I know what I was missing. Jeff was able to go in my stead, taking the camcorder so I wouldn't miss our little actress's triumph. After my meeting, I called Jeff to hear how it went.
Me: Sorry to bother you at work honey, but I'm curious how it went.
Jeff: Mia loved having me there for lunch.
Me: I knew she would. She talked about it the whole drive to school, saying Mom couldn't go because she had a meeting, but Daddy was coming. How were their songs?
Jeff: I filmed it all, but they didn't do anything.
Me: What do you mean?
Jeff: The teachers sang, but the kids didn't do anything. Not just our kid, none of them.
Me: Really? But they've been practice their singing and hand motions for weeks. The teachers even said Mia and Evan started practicing spontaneously last week out on the playground.
Jeff: Well, if that is the measure of success, this didn't go so well. But I got it all on film.

Now I'm 3

I'm a little late in writing about Mia's birthday party, but thought you might enjoy a couple of pics. The theme was a princess party. As each girl entered, she went to the "fitting room" where she hung up her gown and was fitted for her paper crown. They then went to the downstairs playroom for some active play. Mia loved being able to bounce in her bouncy castle with her friends - usually it's just Mom or Dad. Playtime over, they dressed in their princess gowns and enjoyed a lunch of chicken quesadillas, crudites, and fruit. The other parents noted the girls were unusually hearty eaters. Jeff reports that at one point they almost had a competition to see who could eat the most celery sticks.
I should comment on Mia's choice of gown. The night before the party, I'd hung out all 5-6 of her dress-up gowns, mostly pre-owned Halloween costumes plus a couple of pre-owned ballet recital outfits. I thought Mia would want to wear the blue gown again, but the hot pink ballet outfit caught her eye. And why wouldn't it? It had a sequined top, spaghetti straps, silky rosettes, and layers and layers of tulle. I'd purchased it at the consignment sale at Mia's school for a song and had been hiding it in the back of her closet because it was way too big for her. Once Mia saw it, her love affair with the blue princess gown was history. I told her she could try it on and she didn't want to take it off.
After the party, Mia hugged her BFF good-bye and watched her little princess friends and their moms depart, balloons and treat bags in hand.

It's Awesome

For months, we've known Mia is capable of using the potty - she just doesn't want to, most of the time. This week, my desire to get Mia out of pull-ups became stronger than my fear of accidents. I bought her some very thick cotton training underpants and hoped for the best. I promised the forbidden fruit, yogurt melts, as a reward if she stayed dry all day. (I should note that yogurt melts are usually reserved for high-stakes situations like airplane rides because she loves them and they are ridiculously expensive to serve on a regular basis.) Diapers are still permitted during naps and overnight, of course. Sunday went well. Mia wore the underpants all day, stayed dry, and got yogurt melts that night. On Monday, I decided to put her in pull-ups for preschool. We are required to put 2 diapers/pull-ups in their backpack every day, and when I saw she'd stayed dry at school, I got bolder on Tuesday. With the lead teacher's support ("We know you can do it, Mia!"), I put her in training pants. The assistant teacher, who is the designated diaper-changer, wasn't quite so anxious to try it out, but she agreed. They warned me that after one accident, Mia would have to wear pull-ups again.
I'm happy to report that Mia stayed dry at school all week. We haven't been quite as lucky at home, with one accident most days. Mia's teacher has encouraged me to involve Mia in the clean-up, saying "accidents" should be physically unpleasant for the perpetrator. On Thursday night, Jeff and I took Mia to the mall. I needed to make a purchase, and Jeff thought Mia would enjoy playing on the indoor playground. Jeff noted some apprehension about leaving the diaper bag in the minivan. Despite his repeated queries, "Mia, do you have to go potty?" I got a cellphone call from Jeff saying she'd wet her pants. Her legs were soaked, as were her socks. (Jeff said, "We kept moving so a puddle didn't collect." I'm pretty sure he was joking.) With no diaper bag, that left Mia walking stiff-legged back to the parking lot. She was clearly uncomfortable, which seemed appropriate in our view.
We are seeing definite signs of progress. This morning, Mia announced she had to go potty. She went in the powder room and returned saying, "Mom, I pooped." She had even wiped herself well. As I went to inspect, Mia pointed to the toilet and said in an earnest tone, "Look, Mom, it's awesome."
What's really awesome is the money I'm saving on pull-ups.

Halloween Day

Halloween Day was slightly eventful at our house. We weren't planning on trick-or-treating, just going to our subdivision's annual Halloween party. It rained most of the day, so the party was moved into the garage of some very kind (and extremely neat, now that I'm thinking about it) neighbors. We arrived fairly early, took a couple of photos of Princess Mia on a lovely garden bench, and held our gal as she pretended to be shy. The face painter arrived. Mia wasn't so sure she wanted her face painted, but I took advantage and had her give me some whiskers and a cute little black nose to complete my Minnie Mouse look. Just as Mia was warming up, a neighbor walked up the driveway wearing one of the scariest Halloween masks I've ever seen. (Did I mention this is supposed to be a children's party?) The mask was supposed to be an insane asylum inmate, with scary bug-eyes, a sinister grin, and rivulets of blood all over the face. To make it worse, said offender announced his presence with an intrusive "blehhhhhh." I saw the guy coming and tried to distract Mia, but this individual wanted to be noticed by all, and he was. Mia let out a blood-curdling scream and grabbed Jeff around the neck, burying her face in his chest.
The offender took his mask off, looking slightly sheepish. As we tried to comfort Mia, he came forward in an ill-conceived attempt to show her he really wasn't scary. I waved him off, knowing there would be no convincing her that he was just a regular, harmless guy. (Days later, she still refers to him as "the clown". There you go. My sister and I think clowns are creepy, now Mia does too. A chip off the old block.) After some serious attempts at consoling her, Mia calmed down some, but she still professed to be scared, repeatedly saying, "I want to go home. I want to go home."
Finally, we cheered her up by telling her we were leaving. We said we'd take her to Starbuck's so she could show Miss Tammy her costume. (If I haven't mentioned her before, Miss Tammy is a barista who always makes a big fuss over Mia, giving her crayons and coloring books. I'd promised to bring Mia by to show off her costume.) That was a big hit. Starbuck's was pretty empty, so the staff made a big fuss over her princess attire.
The rest of our Halloween evening was uneventful. The length and slope of our driveway makes us a geographically undesirable trick-or-treat destination, so Jeff and Mia spent the rest of the evening carving our jack-o-lantern. (To be clear, Jeff did the carving while Mia told him what shapes she wanted for the eyes, nose, and mouth.) I roasted the pumpkin seeds and made pumpkin soup (from canned pumpkin - Martha Stewart I am not).

Before we take our leave from Halloween 2009, I should share a couple other tidbits with you:
Before we left the Halloween party, the hosts insisted on taking a family photo. Mia still wouldn't stop crying, so eventually I gave them the go-ahead to capture the scene as it was. Would it be cruel to feature the story on a scrapbook page?

Another neighbor still hasn't taken down the large ghost and ghoul decorations that are hanging from their trees. Mia has had a love-hate relationship with them for the past 2 weeks, alternately saying she wanted to see them, then saying she was scared of them. This morning on the way to school, Mia broke into a chant:
HALL o WEEN is Over, TAKE 'em DOWN.
It sounded like a high school cheer, especially when Mia repeated it over and over through the 4 mile drive to school.

I Got Boots

Mia has been quite determined to select her clothing and dress herself each day. That always means a dress and (at my insistence) matching leggings. (Tights are out, as far as Mia is concerned.) Then she picks out shoes and socks. If they don't match, I don't object. Some days the results are better than others. On this particular day, she pulled her socks up over her leggings, announcing, "I got boots." When we got to school, she proudly displayed her "boots" to her teachers.

Princess on the Playground

Mia had fun at her preschool Halloween carnival. The day was slightly chilly, so we put a camisole under our princess's gown and she was fine. Thankfully, there was no talk of being a witch. Mom (me, that is) helped setup the games and stayed for the festivities. The school director distributed a schedule that broke the morning into 20-minute intervals, rotating children through the different activities. Mia got a butterfly painted on her face and rode the pony, "a really big pony" as Mia accurately observed. They played little games like "find the spider in the confetti and win a prize." Since I'd helped with setup, I'd make sure there were non-candy prize options for each game, and I succeeded in limiting Mia's take to 3 pieces of candy and 4 trinkets.
One of the games took me back to the elementary school carnivals of my childhood. The kids picked up fishing poles outfitted with clothes pins where the hook should be. They cast their line over the top of a curtain, and when they felt a tug they pulled their "fish" (i.e., candy) out of the "water." With 2-year-olds, the teachers had to keep reminding the kids to pull their fish out of the water. As much as the world has changed in the last 4 decades, you can still wow a little girl by letting her fish for prizes.
They had a great professional storyteller who told some Halloween-related stories (featuring pumpkins, black cats, and scarecrows rather than ghosts and goblins). I personally felt the stories were a slightly too complicated for 2-3 year-olds, but she made up for it by getting the kids engaged in copying her hand motions (rapping on the door, tears streaming down the cheeks, etc.).
After she was done with the stories, the storyteller (a grandmotherly type dressed as a scarecrow), sang a song of her own invention. It went something like, "If you're dressed as Woody, stand up. If you're dressed as Woody, sit down." She made sure every child had the chance to model their costume for the crowd. Mia had her turn early in the song, when the storyteller had princesses stand up and sit down. That didn't stop Mia and her partner-in-crime, Sophie, from standing up and sitting down at seemingly random intervals during the 5 minutes it took to cover every costume. They were sitting too far from my reach (or the teachers' reach, for that matter) for me to get their attention. I guess I don't blame them - by that time they'd been sitting still for a good 20 minutes.
After the pony rides, carnival games, cookie-decorating, storytelling, and pizza lunch were over, Mia meandered over to her favorite place, the swings. I sat down next to Mia's teacher, who reminded me that Mia learned to swing at a younger age than any kid she'd ever taught. As if I needed another reason to be proud of my little gal!

P.S. That night Mia got on the phone with a friend of ours. When asked what she'd been for Halloween, Mia replied, "A pirate."

Alter Ego

We got Mia's blue princess costume back from the seamstress today, just in the nick of time for tomorrow's Halloween carnival at preschool. This morning, Mia surprised me by announcing out of the blue, "I'm gonna be a witch. A scary, scary witch. And I'm gonna fly away."
I'm not sure who has been talking to her about witches - it sure wasn't her parents. I gently reminded her that she has been planning to be a princess, praying she didn't kick up a fuss. She didn't, so I thought about it no more until I picked her up at school. Her teacher bid her good-bye, saying she was looking forward to seeing her witch costume tomorrow. I must have been rolling my eyes, because the teacher said, "Isn't she going to be a witch?" I assured her that the blue princess costume was ready to go.
Teacher: "Meeeeaaaaa, you told us you were going to be a witch."
Mia grinned slyly as if pleased she'd fooled her teacher. I can't wait to see how things go when it is time to put the blue princess gown on tomorrow morning. Wish me luck!

Halloween Preparations

We are getting ready for the big (big if you're a preschooler, that is) Halloween Carnival at preschool. This is probably the most fun day of the school year for the children. The kids don't have to perform their rehearsed programs as they do on the other big holidays, it is just plain fun. The 6 or so classes rotate through a series of activities according to a schedule. Having observed this event last year, I have to say the school's director has developed a foolproof formula for fun. There is an award-winning storyteller in the big gathering room, pony rides, face-painting (while they wait their turn for the pony), and various little games of skill like fishing the duck out of the inflatable swimming pool. Everyone's a winner, every time.
Parents are encouraged to bring goodies, help with setup, and enjoy the festivities with their child. Last year I stayed for only an hour, but this year I'm going to play hookey from my job search/consulting activities and stay for the entire event.
I let Mia choose a costume from her array of dress-up gear. Her dress-up bin contains mostly gently-used princess costumes bought at the school's consignment sale, plus some leotards, tutus, and other girly-girl stuff she has received as gifts. Of course she wants to be a princess and of course she wants to wear the blue princess gown, which is the only garment that needs mending. (A couple of days ago I finally gave up the fantasy that I'll be able to mend the torn and fraying puffy sleeves and asked a seamstress friend to bail me out.
I know I've said this before, but once again I am realizing that one of the joys of being a parent is getting to relive my own childhood. Halloween was different back then - we wore costumes to school during the day (no carnival) and traipsed miles (or so it seemed) through the neighboring subdivisions collecting as much candy as possible. I remember that it was stressful deciding what I would "be" for Halloween. One year I was so visibly depressed that my Mom took me to the fabric store and let me pick out a pattern and fabric for a Little House on the Prairie cotton print dress and bonnet. Given my Mom had four kids and a part-time job, I have to say that was a supreme act of love. Oh, what I would give to be able to show that outfit to Mia!

P.S. Oh, Mia, I hope that someday you enjoy reading these little snippets about your life, and your Mom's life before that.

You Don't Say!

I am constantly amazed by how quickly Mia is expanding her worldview and language skills. Almost daily, she says something that has me doing a double-take. Recent examples:

We were creating Halloween pictures with some sticky foam Halloween shapes. Mia had put a haunted house, trees, and bats on her page when I volunteered, "Here is a pumpkin for you, Mia." Her reply: "Mom, that is not a pumpkin, it is a jack-o-lantern."

Then there was the day I brought Mia home from preschool. She had one of those Scholastic handouts they periodically distribute. As I helped her exit the minivan, she said earnestly, "Mom, I have to do my homework."

Mia has been enjoying the book, "Over the Moon: An Adoption Tale" before bedtime. Before we start the story, she wants to look at the flyleaf, which has a scene of brightly colored row-houses. She says, "I want to count the houses" and proceeds to do just that. Then we can get on to the story. (But not before reading the title and author.) The other night she announced, "I want to count the houses in Spanish" and she did. She counted to 10 in Spanish, beaming with pride.

Since I taught her none of the above concepts, I have to conclude they are doing a great job at preschool.

Mia At Age 2.9

She loves pizza, Swiss and cheddar cheese, and strawberries. Goldfish crackers and dried apple slices are in. She adores "the spicy Triscuits", namely the Rosemary and Olive Oil variety. Smoothies are out, "Dad juice" (a little bit of Fresca added to her watered-down V8 Fusion) is in. Chocolate milk is in. Vegetables are hit or miss - she rejected roasted red peppers on Saturday then devoured raw and roasted orange peppers on Monday. Any food is more attractive if it is on Mom or Dad's plate instead of her own. The mention of McDonald's makes her whisper "french fries" in a tone that could only be described as reverent.
She insists on wearing dresses most days and prefers going bare-legged rather than wearing tights or leggings. She doesn't like dressing in layers. If we put a jacket on her on a cool day, she must remove it before we can buckle her in to her car seat. She rarely seems to get cold.
She loves making funny faces. She has perfected wrinkling her nose as if in disgust, then laughs when I match her. She just learned how to stick out her tongue and practices this skill frequently, despite any consequences we have inflicted to date.
She sees a time out as a chance to practice getting Mom and Dad's attention by jumping out of her chair, running to us, and giggling. (We try not to take the bait.) If we are so dumb as to ask, "Do you want a time out?" when she is misbehaving, there is a 50/50 chance she'll say "Yes".
She recently discovered Mother Goose rhymes and demands them several times a day. Favorites include Humpty Dumpty and Sing a Song of Sixpence. She is fascinated with the scene where the blackbird snips off the maid's nose, and loves re-enacting it. She thinks Jack (in Jack & Jill) looks like a girl. Her other current favorite books are Curious George Goes To The Aquarium (still) and Over The Moon: An Adoption Tale (new).
She has an impressive (in my view) vocabulary with words like camisole and veterinarian and Jarlsberg, but she generally has trouble pronouncing K and R sounds. She can do it when she concentrates.
She has started taking ballet at school. At home, she sings and dances a lot. I recently concluded she can carry a tune. (I'd been wondering.)
She is perfectly capable of using the toilet but still wants to wear diapers. This morning when my back was turned she put on a fresh Pull-Up for the express purpose of pooping in it. Oh, and she likes to wear panties over her Pull-Ups. (My mistake - should have kept the panties hidden.)
She frequently asks to go to Starbuck's, which in her mind is the place you get chocolate milk. We go there a couple of times a week and she is always disappointed if her favorite server (aka "the lady") isn't there. She loves Kroger because they give out free balloons. She prefers Home Depot over Lowe's because HD offers father/child workshops on the first Saturday of the month, and Lowe's has a scary automated monster on display for Halloween.
Her favorite toys are her Color Wonder markers and blocks. Bristle blocks, wooden blocks, cardboard bricks. She refers to every structure she builds as a "castle."
We don't let her watch TV very often, to the point that when we do turn on a cartoon in mid-show, she insists that we "start over" as if it is a DVD.
She has rediscovered her love of ASL and amuses herself in the back of the van by practicing her signs. We are thrilled to have a respite from constantly listening to the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom CD in the car. She sometimes makes up a new sign and innocently asks, "Mom, what is this sign?" When I say, "Mia, you made that one up" she laughs, apparently delighted that I got the joke.
She has a lot of empathy and if she hears another child crying it rivets her attention. She has recently demonstrated a propensity for pointing to people in stores and saying things like, "He's big." (Not so bad if a tall person overhears her, but embarassing if the individual is overweight.)
She loves her Dad and her Mom and has become really very snuggly.

Am I Going To Have To Separate You Two?

Since school started Mia has been misbehaving a lot, just to see how we react. She makes sure we're watching before she throws food on the floor or sticks her tongue out. After a couple of weeks of that, we decided to lay down the law and enforce it with time outs. I had been attributing the misbehavior to the back-to-school transition. To be honest, I was guessing it was a product of being around lots of little boys. The ratio in her classroom is 5 boys to 2 girls on most days. The other girl is a cute little blondie named Sophie, and they stick together like glue. I even saw them holding hands on the way out to the playground. Soooo cute!
Imagine my surprise when Miss Diane took me aside last week to tell me they were making a change. Apparently my Mia who was an angel for Miss Diane last year has been acting up, and Sophie is the instigator. According to Miss Diane, Sophie defies the teachers' direction and then Mia follows suit! Miss Diane explained that they are purposely keeping the two girls apart, not letting them sit together or play together. They want Mia to start thinking for herself. The girl I know has no trouble thinking for herself, so I find it puzzling that she becomes a lemming after I drop her off at the schoolhouse door. Peer pressure already?
When I reported this to Jeff, he asked "Should we talk to her?" I was of the view that Mia wouldn't benefit from a lecture hours after the behavior - instead the teachers should give her feedback at the point of transgression.
A couple of days later, Jeff reported that as he drove Mia to school she announced that "Miss Diane yelled yesterday. She was mad." She explained that Sophie told all the kids to take their shoes off while playing on the playground, and they all did. That allowed Jeff to give her the standard, "Mia, just because the other kids do something doesn't mean you should do it!"
Somehow I didn't think we'd need to deliver that message at such a tender age.

Ducks on Parade

During the preschool orientation, Moms (or technically I should say "parents", though I didn't see any Dad's names there) were asked to sign up for various tasks like helping out at the Halloween party. Since I'm trying to focus on my job search during the day, I signed up to decorate a bulletin board. I figured I could do all of the work except for the actual installation late at night or on weekends. When I asked the teacher, "What does decorating a bulletin board entail?" she simply said, "Anything you want."

Arguably Interesting Facts:
Mia's class is called the Lucky Ducks.
The duck in the corner is saying, "Ladies & gentleman, start your engines!"
Mia's class has six boys and three girls. (More on that later.)
Eight of the nine children are blonde.

Bow-Mania

Mia has an assortment of hairbows that I've picked up here and there. I love hairbows, but I haven't made them a regular part of her attire. On days when I put a bow in her hair, more often than not the bow disappears somewhere between the time I drop her off for preschool and when I pick her up. Since school started a couple of weeks ago, Mia has been expressing a desire to wear a bow. She also tells me, "Bella has big bows." Mia wants not just any bow, she says she wants, "the big white one." Since "the big white one" is too dirty to wear (I've been hiding it with the intent to use it as a pattern for a replacement), I am unable to comply.
The babysitter has been witnessing this and the other day, she brought a big bag of super-sized bows with her. She explained they were given to her as gifts for her infant, but she doesn't plan to use them. Mia was delighted and insisted on wearing as many as she could fit on her head.
To complete the outfit, she tried on the pink suede Ugg-style boots someone gave us. If my Mom was here, I'm sure she'd say, "That's quite a getup."

The Odd Couple

I have never big a particularly prolific photographer, but I am trying to get better about it for Mia's benefit. For inspiration, I have been reading a couple of books about scrapbooking. One author reminds us that we tend to capture the birthday parties and big events, but we forget to photograph the little, everyday moments. She has a point. Back in the olden days when I was a child and all cameras used film, I remember the time my Mom sent a roll of film to the drugstore for developing, only to discover that nearly every picture on the roll captured one of her 4 children blowing out the candles on their birthday cake. You'd think nothing else ever happened at our house.
Which brings us to today's photo, one of those little everyday moments. When I went to make our bed, I discovered that Mia had been driving her Barbie Jeep around on the bedspread. I think Barbie and the Loving Family Man make quite an odd couple. When I pointed this out to Jeff, he suggested maybe she is the Amazon Barbie.

Diving, Mia-Style

For weeks, Mia has been telling us she wanted to jump off the diving board like the big kids. We told her she had to learn how to swim (strokes, breathing) first. (What I really wanted to say was, "In your dreams!" There was no way I was going to let her jump into 12-ft deep water.) The rule at our pool is quite reasonable - children of any age can jump off the low diving board as long as they can then swim to the side unassisted. Mia isn't quite up to that yet. Then last Thursday I told the babysitter she could take Mia to the pool. When they came home, K. asked, "Do you let Mia jump off the diving board?"
Apparently, Mia had expressed a desire to jump off the diving board, and since there was literally no one else there, the lifeguard allowed K. to tread water in the deep end so she could retrieve Mia after she jumped. According to K., Mia was fearless, jumping again and again until K. was so tired they had to stop.
I could hardly believe this story, but on Friday night Jeff and I took Mia to the pool. With some apprehension (and lifeguard approval again), Jeff waited in the deep end while Mia jumped off the diving board and I manned the camcorder. Another club member, Becky, took an interest and helped Mia get out of the pool each time. Unfortunately, this was the best still shot I got. Mia jumped off the diving board 8 or 9 times on Friday, then the same on Saturday. On Sunday and Monday, she started to show some trepidation, so she only jumped a couple of times. Besides that, the pool is only open for 2 more weekends (and the water is getting pretty cold), so Mia's diving season may well be over. We don't mind that at all. She's got plenty of years ahead of her.
Becky, whose 10-year-old daughter is on the diving team, told us Mia should join the diving team next year, in the "Under 5" division. We'll see.
P.S. The 3 meter board is strictly off limits to children under 8. Thank goodness.

Castle

Mia really loves these bristle blocks, and Jeff and I do, too. Mia likes her castles tall, which means we have to design them together (child and adult) to ensure structural integrity. I particularly like this one that Mia and Jeff built. Jeff reports that the ducks were all Mia's idea.

Time Out for the Potato Heads

Mia is quite a disciplinarian. She lined up all of her Mr./Ms./Baby Potato Heads last week and gave them a talking-to. She informed us they were in Time Out. When asked why they were all in time out, she said, "They weren't listening." I asked, "What did you want them to do?", but that failed to extract a more specific description of their infractions. They've now been in the same position for an entire week. Periodically I repeat my question, "Why are the Potato Heads still in time out?" hoping for more details. Still waiting.

Vital Statistics

We saw Mia's pediatrician today for something minor. What interested me is her height and weight statistics - 39.5 inches and 36 lbs. That puts her at the 95th percentile for height and 93rd percentile for weight. She was previously in the 97th percentile, I think. She is significantly taller than most of the children her age at camp. I wonder how early you can predict how tall a child will be as an adult.

We're Open Again!

After several months of being "invitation only", I've decided to re-open the blog. We want to make it easier for you to stay in touch, so this eliminates the need for you to sign in. We still want to limit readership to our friends and family - people we know directly. Therefore, we ask:
Please don't share the blog address with anyone. If a mutual acquaintance asks you for the address, please have them send me an email and I'll give them the address.
Please do not link to our blog on your blog.
No comments that have last names, our home city, or other identifying information.

Sorry if I'm seeming too controlling. We received a comment from a total stranger a few months ago that made me uncomfortable and indicated where we live.

Fashion Statement

I woke up Sunday morning to find Jeff and Mia having breakfast. Jeff explained that Mia had dressed herself. Our gal is developing her own sense of style. Fortunately for her Mother, who didn't really want to take her out of the house in that getup, she spilled on her clothes and had to change.

Mystery Solved

On Saturday, I had written about Mia's preschool class assignment. In Spring, she'd been told she'd advance to Busy Bees in the Fall, but last week we got a postcard saying she would be a Lucky Duck again. I ran into another preschool Mom this morning and mentioned this. She said the Director was in this week, why not call her? The Director explained that they'd reshuffled the classes based on enrollment. Busy Bees ended up being younger 2-year-olds (not young 3's as previously planned) and Lucky Ducks is older 2-year-olds. The Director tells me all the children in Mia's class will be 3 by Christmas. Mia loved being in Miss Diane's class last year, so I'm sure she will have a great year again. They'll have a different assistant teacher, who previously taught 4-year-olds. Our girl is a Lucky Duck, indeed!

Academic Progress

Mia just received a post card from the woman who was her preschool teacher last year. It said that when preschool starts in 3 weeks, Mia will be in the same class she was in last year. There was no explanation for her parents' benefit - just a reminder about the orientation in 2 weeks. I don't quite know what to make of this. Here are the facts:

• Mia adores the teacher, Miss Diane.
• Mia's 3rd birthday is in November.
• Last year, she was the youngest in her class by a full 6 months. Some children were as much as 11 months older. She is as tall or taller than the other children and generally held her own, but in some situations -- like the singing and dancing performance at the May graduation program -- the difference in age really showed.
• This school isn't rigid about age-grading children. The classes have animal names (like Elegant Elephants and Zippy Zebras) rather than age names ("the 3-year-old class") Also, depending on enrollment, they adjust the number of classes for these loosely-defined age groups from one year to the next.

Here is what is nagging at me. Before school let out, Miss Diane told us Mia would be moving into another classroom in the Fall where she'd be the oldest child in the group. Apparently they were planning two classes for 3-year-olds, one for older and one for younger children. Diane said it would be good for Mia to be the oldest in her class for a change, so she would have opportunities to be a leader rather than always a follower. I thought that was wise. Why am I now questioning this change?
I can ask the question at orientation in 2 weeks. In the meantime, I have to admit I'm wondering whether Mia did something during summer camp (Miss Diane wasn't there, by the way) that led them to question her readiness for promotion. Is it because she wasn't (at that point) showing much interest in toilet training? She doesn't seem to talk much in school - do they realize what her verbal skills are?
And what will be the consequences of holding her back? (There. I said it. My baby is being "held back"!) Will it slow her progress toward reading?
Jeff and I agree that this is a good school and Miss Diane is fantastic, so my head tells me they can be trusted to make the right decision. My heart still wonders. So, I have 2 weeks to craft a tactful way to say: What's the deal here?

The World According to Mia - Act 3

Mia's habit of referring to her parents by their first names continues, despite our efforts to discourage it.

Scene 1:
Me: Mia, you have two ponytails today. Did Daddy put them in for you this morning?
Mia: Jeff did.
Me: That is Daddy to you.

Scene 2:
Mia is in the babysitter's car. They pull into our driveway.
Mia: This is Donna and Jeff's house. It's not my house.

The World According to Mia - Act 2

Scene 1:
Babysitter: Mia, did you poop in your diaper?
Mia: Don't sniff it. It's gross.

Scene 2:
Mia has become fascinated with the fact that Jeff and I have names other than Mom and Dad. She demonstrated this new knowledge one day when the babysitter brought her baby girl, L, with her.
Mia (with authority): Donna is my Mom and you are L's Mom.

Scene 3:
I picked up Mia at camp and was informed that Mia's poopy diaper had overflowed and some had landed on the floor. (Confirming my suspicions that the supervision is rather lax there.) As we drove home in the minivan...
Mia: Somebody pooped on the floor.
Me: Who did that?
Mia: I don't know.
Me: Was it you? (Yes, I knew better than to ask, but I couldn't help myself.)
Mia: NOOOOO

Scene 4:
Mia (to me): You the guy.
Me: What?
Mia: You the guy.
Me: I am the guy?
Mia: Yes.

The World According to Mia - First in a Series

Mia has been becoming quite the conversationalist. Some of the things she says show that she is really thinking about how the world works. I've started keeping a notebook to capture some of these gems.

Conversation starter: Picture of a face with tears coming down the cheeks.

Jeff: Why is he crying?
Mia: His balloon broke.
Jeff: What should he do?
Mia: He go to Kroger. Get Dad juice (i.e., Fresca) and strawberries and blueberries. And new balloon.
Jeff: Then what happened?
Mia: He not crying. He OK.

The Lifebook

In case you were wondering why Donna had written so few blog entries in the last half of July, the answer is: The Lifebook.
I'd started planning and journaling for Mia's lifebook almost a year ago. I have a great guidebook written by Kay Graap that discusses the topics you should cover. Graap recommends that parents create two books, one for the preschool years and another more comprehensive book for when they are older. The latter will cover topics like the one-child policy. I've been accumulating various Asian papers and embellishments and during business trips (back when I had business trips!) I would work on the text for the toddler version - a book that will serve Mia for the next 2-3 years. A couple of weeks ago, I decided it was time to finally get started on creating the book. I've been telling Mia the story of when she was born in China almost every night, and it is high time I gave her the illustrated version.
Up until this point, I'd created all of about 10 scrapbook pages in my entire life. I have tons of supplies from the years when I used to make handmade greeting cards. (In case you are wondering, the card-making has dwindled to the point where I'm lucky if I made my own Christmas cards.) It has taken a lot of time to select the photos and design the pages, but I'm making progress. I've now completed 13 of 25 pages, and hope to complete 3-5 more over the weekend. I'm really enjoying finding my own style. This project could easily take another month. I can't wait to share it with Mia.

The Reader

Mia's new favorite book is One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. I got it about a week ago and she already can finish lots of the sentences. That girl should join the Dr. Seuss fan club. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is getting a lot of play as well. Mia makes us read it often and has most of it memorized. Our copy of the book came with a CD, and for the past week we've been playing it in the minivan. (A welcome reprieve from Laurie Berkner.) Mia has been requesting Curious George quite a bit: Curious George Feeds The Animals, Curious George Rides, and Curious George At The Aquarium.
K. reports that today when she took Mia upstairs for her nap, Mia picked several of her dolls and stuffed animals off the bed, arranged them on the rocker and said firmly, "You're going to take a nap in my chair." She then proceeded to get a book and "read" them a story. After the story was over, she said sternly, "Now you close your eyes and go to sleep." Did I mention she has entered a bossy stage? We're insisting that she not give her parents orders, but she can boss her animals around as much as she wants to.

Diving to Heaven

Mia's response to Sam's departure appears age-appropriate and empathic.
At the suggestion of the vet- a lovely woman who'd lost her dog when her daughter was Mia's age- we'd warned Mia last week that we were taking Sam to the doggie doctor and she might not be able to come home. We explained that Sam was old and very, very sick. Mia understood this - Sam's illness had been obvious even to Mia. She repeatedly told me that the doctor was going to make Sam better. (Yeah, try holding it together when your daughter tells you that.)
After Sam passed, we explained to Mia that Sam had died, her body didn't work any more and we wouldn't be able to see her again. Mia listened, looked at me and repeated, "Sam died. Mommy sad." then returned to what she'd been doing.
Yesterday, when Mia got up from her nap, she immediately brought up the subject.
Mia: "Sam dived."
Me: "Yes, honey, Sam died."
Mia: "Did she go in the swimming pool?"

My Girls

Having grown up in a household without small children, Sam never got too comfortable with Mia. She would never sit on Mia's lap -which I have to admit is smart if you are a dog with leg bones about the size of a chicken's. She did allow Mia to walk her on the leash. I was able to get them together a couple of days ago for a photo shoot.

My Other Angel

Today is a sad day for me. We lost our little Sammy, my toy poodle of 15 years. Sam was one of the world's greatest dogs. She was a 6 lb. bundle of love. She liked being carried around and I liked it that she was just the right size to fit under my arm. My sisters called me Mrs. Pynchon and other people referred to Sam as my Furball. People think of toy poodles as being nervous and nippy, but Sam had a lovely, calm disposition interwoven with the high energy of a puppy. Until recently, it was difficult to think of her as an older dog.
Jeff and I used to joke that Sam had more friends in the neighborhood than we did. Everywhere we lived, she had a big fan club - vet staff, groomers, dog walkers, and boarding kennels. When she was just a few months old, I boarded her at a vet clinic. When I went to pick her up, the attendant went to the back, then came back out looking harried, saying "I can't find her." The receptionist told her to look some more. Since this was the first time I'd ever boarded Sam, I was concerned that Sam was lost, and a bit puzzled as to how they could have misplaced her. The attendant finally came out with Sam, saying, "I'm sorry, one of the assistants has been carrying her around with her all day."
The last few months have been difficult for Sam, so we knew it would soon be time to say good-bye. Even so, I find myself in a state of disbelief that she is really gone. Throughout the day, I found myself looking for her in her usual hangouts - the couch in my office, the front porch, the sunny spot under the skylights in the playroom. I am now realizing it will take some time to unlearn my 15-year-old routines of letting her out and filling her food dish.
I am trying to find comfort in knowing that Sam had a long, wonderful life with the best care and companionship we could provide. For the last few months, I've been working at home on my job search, and Sam sat on the couch next to me almost every day. We celebrated her 15th birthday on Sunday with a miniature cupcake, complete with pink frosting (color chosen by Mia). I was with her at the end, and I trust it felt no different to her than than settling in for a nap.
Rest in peace, my little lovebug.

Fiscal Relief

I once read that the average child goes through $1500 worth of diapers. I'm not sure who came up with that figure, but I'm pretty sure we surpassed it long ago. And don't forget that we weren't buying diapers for her until she was 10 months old. Go figure.
I am happy to report that Mia is finally using the toilet several times a day! The tipping point seemed to come a few weeks ago, after we babysat for two girls who are ages 3 and 4. While they were at our house, they went to the powder room so frequently that I wondered if there was something interesting in there that I had failed to notice before. After their vist, Mia suddenly started showing more interest in using the bathroom, though she rarely actually made a deposit. Her parents noticed this and starting putting her on the potty a lot figuring she'd go eventually. (Despite Mia's interest in using the toilet, she often protests. Remember we're talking about a 2-year-old, and 2-year-olds ambivalent about a lot of things).
Admittedly, there are a few bugs in our process. The main issue is our incentive compensation system. For months, we've promised her a lollipop if she used the toilet. While I have to say that was not a particularly effective incentive at the beginning, we feel we have to make good on the promise we've been making for months - "Use the toilet, get a lollipop." Now that she's going all the time I'm a bit worried about the amount of sugar she is getting. I've been fairly successful at reducing the reward to a couple of M&M's, but sometimes she insists on the lolly. I usually give in - I don't want to give Mia any justification to go backwards.
I just re-read this post and concluded it is TMI (Too Much Information). I could edit this, but it's getting late, so I'll just wrap it up.
We're using so many fewer diapers, I think we're going to see a big difference in this month's Visa statement.

Swimming Progress Report

Mia just finished her latest series of 8 lessons. She is still going on Monday and Wednesday nights, and has made terrific progress. She now jumps from the edge of the pool and swims underwater more than 20 feet. She still doesn't like to put her face in the water while swimming at the surface, but she does it. She really doesn't like to float on her back. I suspect that is because floating on her back requires her to be still, and Mia is never ever still. That child doesn't stop moving all day long. Even when we're reading a book, she tends to move around, shifting positions or just plain fidgeting.
In between swimming lessons, we're able to get Mia to practice all of her skills except she will not float on her back. We'll have to work on that. Her instructor says that as soon as she can float on her back independently (meaning he doesn't have to hold her legs still), she can move up to the next level, which is normally for 4-year-olds and up. Then she will start to learn the freestyle stroke and elementary backstroke.
I'm biased, but I think Mia is a hard worker, very motivated, and quite athletic. I'd better start working out more, or she will be able to outrun me by the time she is 5.

I Did It My Way

Lately it seems that Mia expends a lot of energy finding her own ways to do things. We just never know what is coming next. At our house, Mia eats most of her meals at the kitchen island. If the three of us are together, we eat at the kitchen table. Eating in the dining room is a rare event.
The other day, I put Mia's plate at the end of the kitchen island while I fixed my own plate. When I turned around, Mia had disappeared. I caught a glimpse of her running into the dining room, plate in hand, with a self-satisfied grin on her face. She then proceeded to seat herself at the head of the table and chow down.

And I Quote...

Mia has been saying some interesting things lately. Below are a few phrases that cracked me up. I fear some of these may not translate well to the blogosphere, but I'll try to give you the context. I apologize in advance if you find yourself saying, "I guess you had to be there..."

On unwrapping her Dum Dum lollipop, given as a reward for going potty:
"Oh, me! Oh, my! I do not like coconut one bit."

On arriving at the preschool parking lot:
"Lots and lots of minivans!"

While riding in the minivan:
"Mom, I have questions. " (Note: When I ask her what her question is, she doesn't have one. She just likes to say that.)

At apparently random times:
"We really have to think about it."

After her mother raises her voice (Imagine this being said by a 2-year-old in an accusatory tone):
"Mom louded!"

Fast Friends

Mia's babysitter brought her 7-month-old daughter with her yesterday. When Mia got up from her nap, she was delighted to see "Baby L." there. Mia loves babies, but especially this one. She shared her Lambie with her and later, when she saw L. with her mother's car keys in her mouth, she took them away for safety. She can't stop talking about "Baby L." Judging from the second photo, it looks like the admiration is mutual. C. and I thought this scene was just precious.

Rock Star

Mia has been showing more interest in singing and dancing. As we ride in the minivan, she often entertains us with songs of her own invention. This makes her mother happy. It is really fun to hear her cute little voice singing about whatever is on her mind. In addition, this means she has stopped insisting that we play the Laurie Berkner "Buzz Buzz" CD every single time we get in the van. (Nothing against Laurie Berkner. It is a great CD with lots of catchy tunes, but after 9 months, I am tired of it.)
I recently dug up a "Wiggles" electric guitar that I purchased for Mia at a rummage sale 2 - 3 years ago. Up until now, she has been putting the guitar down on its back and pushing the buttons that play the songs. Jeff and I have been periodically demonstrating how to hold the guitar properly, but she wasn't interested. She just wanted to push the button that plays the song that goes, "Fruit Salad, Yummy Yummy" over and over.
Then all of a sudden one morning she picked up the guitar and started playing and dancing and jumping around the kitchen. I love this photo of her, airborne, pony tail flying.

Play Date

On Friday night, we had a picnic playdate with Mia's China playgroup. The food was no great shakes (thanks to her mother who put very little effort into it), but the company was excellent. Mia had a blast, from being chauffered in a Barbie Jeep to hanging out in the hammock with the "big girls." She even enticed me to spend some time jumping on the biggest, best trampoline I've ever seen in someone's backyard.
As for me, I enjoyed spending some time catching up with the other moms while keeping an eye out to ensure our daredevil didn't over-extend herself on the play equipment.

All Tuckered Out

Mia accompanied me shopping on a really hot day. It was a bit grueling, so I brought a lollipop as an incentive for good in-store behavior. I gave Mia her lollipop to enjoy on the ride home. I thought it was really cute that she fell asleep but didn't give up her grip on the lolly.

Art or Architecture?

As I was getting ready to take Mia to school one morning, she found some plastic hangers in the bedroom. By the time I was done brushing my teeth, Mia had arranged the hangers in a row and put pieces of cereal in the corners. She was protesting that Sam was trying to eat them. Sam skedaddled before I could snap the picture.

I Can Dress Myself

Mia has taken an interest in choosing what she wears each day. On a recent day, she picked out the lovely toile print dress at left. I suggested, "Honey, you're going to camp today. Don't you think you should wear shorts?"
She left the room and returned a few minutes later with a pair of khaki shorts, which she preceded to put on under the dress. Not what I had in mind, but what's the harm?
I then gave her the white ruffled socks. She again left the room and came back a few minutes later, socks pulled up to her knees. "Boots!" she announced with a grin. I had to agree they did look kind of like an odd sort of go-go boot.
After breakfast, I suggested she put on her shoes. I shouldn't have been surprised that she picked the hot pink crocs. This combo had to be saved on film. (No, she did not wear the crocs to camp. Fortunately, they don't allow crocs because they trap sand and bark on the playground, creating a nuisance for the teachers.)

Triker Chick

Mia has been learning how to pedal her trike. It has a tall handlebar in back so the parent can help push, and a canopy for shade on hot days. Dad is just out of frame, giving a push. I think that had something to do with Mia's big grin.

Big Girl Bed

We've been letting Mia sleep in the Big Girl Bed for a week now. I'd wanted to wait until she was toilet-trained, but she's grown so much that it was getting quite difficult to lift her in and out of the crib.
She thinks the Big Girl Bed is really cool. We've had some challenges in keeping her in bed, mostly at nap time. She likes to arrange her stuffed animals on the bed and sing to them. We don't mind, as long as she doesn't get up. Jeff and I have talked about disassembling and removing the crib, but not just yet. If we did that, we couldn't say, "If you get up again, you'll have to take your nap in your crib."

Dueling Mouthpieces

A few days ago, we babysat for another family in our babysitting coop. They brought their 2-year-old daughter to our house. I hadn't spent any time with A. before, so was a bit surprised to see that she uses a pacifier. I guess we were lucky on that front - Mia had apparently never been given a pacifier in the orphanage, so we didn't have to break her of the habit. Mia must have been envious of A.'s pacifier, because she dug out the pink plastic "lip whistle" that her speech therapist gave her last year and put it in her mouth. It is really goofy; it makes this whizzing sound when you blow into it.

4th of July

We had a simple but fun 4th of July. We started our day at the pool, where Mia practiced swimming underwater and using her paddleboard. After nap and dinner, we decided to finish off the fireworks left over from the package we bought at Target a year ago. Since the drought is over, I had substantially less anxiety about lighting fireworks in the backyard than I did last year. We had a lot of sparklers, which Mia was quite interested in. We decided to let her hold one, with Jeff's hand over hers for safety.

Blueberry Hill

Mia's China adoptee play group has a play date every week. We don't get to many of them - they are held on weekday mornings when Mia is usually at preschool or camp. This week we joined the group for a trip to a blueberry farm, followed by a picnic. Like many of these events, this one was 30 miles away. The drive took us through a rural-turning-suburban-sprawl area. The roads were narrow with lots of twists and turns. I had printed directions from Mapquest, and I had my Garmin GPS system as well. As usual, Mapquest and Garmin didn't agree, so I decided to go with Mapquest. (As it turned out, the Garmin was right this time.)
Oh, and did I mentioned that we were supposed to meet the group when the blueberry patch opened at 8 a.m. sharp? That meant I had to get up before 6 a.m., Mia at 6:30. Mia had been up until 11:15 the night before (her idea, not mine), which made the wake-up call particularly difficult. To tell the truth, I had little hope of waking Mia up, so I packed up her clothes, sunscreen, bug spray, etc. and strapped her in her car seat in her pajamas, with a Nutri-Grain bar and sippy cup of milk for breakfast.
We left the house at 7 a.m., and by 8 a.m. I was getting pretty frustrated by the obvious inaccuracy of the Mapquest directions. The Garmin was proposing that we circle back to an area we'd already passed, and I was pretty sure that wasn't right, either. Mia (who incidentally didn't sleep as I'd predicted) was loudly protesting that she wanted to get out of the car, and I felt the same. As I thought to myself, "I'm never again going on one of these junkets out here in the hinterlands," I decided to pump up my enthusiasm. "Mia, we're going to pick blueberries. Doesn't that sound like fun?"
To which Mia replied with delight, "Costco!!!!"
That is when I realized how little exposure Mia has to farms and vegetable gardens and berry patches. In my childhood, we lived within 4-5 miles of cornfields, grew tomatoes and radishes in the backyard, and picked wild berries when we visited my grandparents in northern Wisconsin. I vividly remember the times my grandparents took us with them to buy milk at a nearby dairy farm. (So vividly that I still practically gag when I recall the odor. My grandparents finally stopped taking me there, because I honestly couldn't help gagging and that embarrassed them in front of their dairy-farmer neighbors. When I discussed this once with my brother-in-law who is from a farming town in Minnesota, he said his parents always told him to think of that horrific odor as "The smell of money." That didn't help him, either.) Poor Mia, the only food she sees in the ground is the pots of basil, rosemary, and mint I grow on the deck.
With renewed determination, I stopped at a gas station, the first one I'd seen in 10 miles. The cashier helped me find the berry patch. (Garmin was right, I had to circle back.) By the time we arrived at 8:30, there was a long line of SUV's parked on the roadside, and the easy-to-reach branches of the blueberry bushes were already pretty bare. That meant we had to reach above shoulder height to get any berries. There were a few left on the very lowest branches, but Mia didn't have much interest in picking. She loved eating berries straight out of my pail, almost as fast as I could pick them. With my little blueberry-monster at my side, it took me about 45 minutes to accumulate 1 quart of blueberries. As we checked out and paid our $2.50 for the quart, the owner assured me we didn't have to pay for what she'd eaten. (I'm sure he would have been shocked to know how many blueberries the little blueberry-monster had consumed.) Mia tugged at my arm, wanting to go through the rusty barbed-wire fence to explore the owner's private vegetable garden. I felt satisfied that I am teaching my child that produce comes from farms, not from the walk-in cooler at Costco.

I Wanna Be Like Mom

One of the downsides of being an older mother is that I have to use reading glasses when I clip Mia's nails. I think they're a hassle - I'm still largely in denial that I need reading glasses. (I swear everyone is using ridiculously small font sizes.) Mia, on the other hand, thinks my reading glasses are way cool.