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.