Sunday, November 11, 2012
Holiday Pictures
Since Mia's first Christmas is approaching, we thought it would be fun to have the girls picture taken together. We made a 10:20am appointment at a local JCPenney. However, we weren't seen until 11:30. The girls did great while we were waiting, but Mia was in breakdown mode by the time we were in the studio. We did get cute shots of Emma and Mia individually, but the poses of them together did not go well. Mia did not want to sit still and wanted no part of pictures. Most of the pictures we did get, Mia looks like "Sad Baby" 2 seconds away from bawling. We did get 1 decent pose of them together. We're not thrilled, but it will be a story that will be told in the future!
7 months (+some)
Mia turned 7 months on 27 October! At this writing, she's 7.5 months.
In her 7th month, she experienced her first Hurricane, her 2nd power outage, and her first Halloween! She had her 2nd horrible diaper rash and her first bad virus complete with high (>104 degree) fever.
She is growing up before our eyes. She continues to adore her big sister and watches everything Emma does. They continue to play off each other and have giggle fests. It brightens our day to hear them laughing together! Today, Emma had fun pushing her monster truck and letting Mia crawl after it.
Mia goes through spurts of being vocal and being quiet. Some days are quieter than others and other days, she talks and grunts and yells. She still says dada and mama indiscriminately but it's music to my ears when she babbles mama. :) We can tell that Mia does understand language. She probably knows who Mom and Dad are, but definitely knows Emma. We'll ask where Emma is and she will look around for her immediately. We can tell her 'No,' and she will stop what she is doing and look at us expectantly. We ask if she's hungry and she replies with grunts or crawls to us quickly and throws herself into our laps. She might understand the word bath because she seems to perk up at it. She is a little water baby and loves bathtime!
This past week, Mia had a virus for about 3 days. She spiked a high fever at 10pm on Monday night. On Tuesday, I took her to the doctor who assured us that her ears, throat and chest were clear and since her fever was responding to medication, she just had to ride it out. The doctor said it might be roseola, but Mia never developed the rash after the 3 day fever. Mia was a trooper during it all. She played hard and continued to eat like a champ. Unless you held her to feel her body radiating heat, you almost wouldn't have noticed she was ill. She slept a bit more than normal and although I wished she wasn't sick, I did enjoy snuggle time with her the days we were home together.
Mia is getting stronger and stronger. She can pull herself up on almost anything. She is attempting to figure out how to stand by herself and how to get to standing by pushing herself up off the floor. She is incredibly frustrated that she can't climb the steps.
When we put Mia in bed, we cover her with a small blanket. She reaches down, grabs it, pulls it up and rolls on her side. It's adorable!
On Thursday this past week, Kurt and the girls were in the basement when I came home after work. Emma ran up to see me; Mia protested loudly when she heard my voice but couldn't climb the steps herself.
Today, I was laid down on the floor to play with Mia. When she saw me, she smiled, crawled to me, put her hands on my cheeks, then leaned forward to give me a baby kiss (i.e. open mouthed complete with tongue.) Kinda gross but too cute!
Mia loves her food. She eats oatmeal twice a day and either a fruit or veggie once a day (plus sometimes a bit extra at dinner). We've given her cheerios several times but she's not a fan once they are in her mouth. She does enjoy playing with them though! Just today, she figured out how to pick up her sippy cup and get water into her own mouth. Prior to today, she would gladly drink it if someone else held it. Today, she had a piece of crusty bread at Panera, and LOVED it! She also had some real banana bites and banana mush. She liked both and really liked trying to feed herself with the spoon. We also gave her a Gerber Arrowroot biscuit and she loved it! She kept giving us big smiles the entire time she had it in her little hand and all over her face!
Mia still doesn't sleep through the night. She started making progress before she got sick and was only waking up one time, around 2 and then again around 530, but since she was sick, she's back to every 2 or so hours. Earlier this week, she was inconsolable during the night and Kurt ended up feeding her oatmeal a couple times. So in addition to being sick, she might be growing. She might also be teething because, a couple times she refused to nurse, but would gladly drink a cold bottle interspersing sips with gnawing on the nipple.
We've had a rough few days, but Mia is a trooper and continues to be a joy to all of us! It's fun to watch her develop before our eyes!
In her 7th month, she experienced her first Hurricane, her 2nd power outage, and her first Halloween! She had her 2nd horrible diaper rash and her first bad virus complete with high (>104 degree) fever.
She is growing up before our eyes. She continues to adore her big sister and watches everything Emma does. They continue to play off each other and have giggle fests. It brightens our day to hear them laughing together! Today, Emma had fun pushing her monster truck and letting Mia crawl after it.
Mia goes through spurts of being vocal and being quiet. Some days are quieter than others and other days, she talks and grunts and yells. She still says dada and mama indiscriminately but it's music to my ears when she babbles mama. :) We can tell that Mia does understand language. She probably knows who Mom and Dad are, but definitely knows Emma. We'll ask where Emma is and she will look around for her immediately. We can tell her 'No,' and she will stop what she is doing and look at us expectantly. We ask if she's hungry and she replies with grunts or crawls to us quickly and throws herself into our laps. She might understand the word bath because she seems to perk up at it. She is a little water baby and loves bathtime!
This past week, Mia had a virus for about 3 days. She spiked a high fever at 10pm on Monday night. On Tuesday, I took her to the doctor who assured us that her ears, throat and chest were clear and since her fever was responding to medication, she just had to ride it out. The doctor said it might be roseola, but Mia never developed the rash after the 3 day fever. Mia was a trooper during it all. She played hard and continued to eat like a champ. Unless you held her to feel her body radiating heat, you almost wouldn't have noticed she was ill. She slept a bit more than normal and although I wished she wasn't sick, I did enjoy snuggle time with her the days we were home together.
Mia is getting stronger and stronger. She can pull herself up on almost anything. She is attempting to figure out how to stand by herself and how to get to standing by pushing herself up off the floor. She is incredibly frustrated that she can't climb the steps.
When we put Mia in bed, we cover her with a small blanket. She reaches down, grabs it, pulls it up and rolls on her side. It's adorable!
On Thursday this past week, Kurt and the girls were in the basement when I came home after work. Emma ran up to see me; Mia protested loudly when she heard my voice but couldn't climb the steps herself.
Today, I was laid down on the floor to play with Mia. When she saw me, she smiled, crawled to me, put her hands on my cheeks, then leaned forward to give me a baby kiss (i.e. open mouthed complete with tongue.) Kinda gross but too cute!
Mia loves her food. She eats oatmeal twice a day and either a fruit or veggie once a day (plus sometimes a bit extra at dinner). We've given her cheerios several times but she's not a fan once they are in her mouth. She does enjoy playing with them though! Just today, she figured out how to pick up her sippy cup and get water into her own mouth. Prior to today, she would gladly drink it if someone else held it. Today, she had a piece of crusty bread at Panera, and LOVED it! She also had some real banana bites and banana mush. She liked both and really liked trying to feed herself with the spoon. We also gave her a Gerber Arrowroot biscuit and she loved it! She kept giving us big smiles the entire time she had it in her little hand and all over her face!
Mia still doesn't sleep through the night. She started making progress before she got sick and was only waking up one time, around 2 and then again around 530, but since she was sick, she's back to every 2 or so hours. Earlier this week, she was inconsolable during the night and Kurt ended up feeding her oatmeal a couple times. So in addition to being sick, she might be growing. She might also be teething because, a couple times she refused to nurse, but would gladly drink a cold bottle interspersing sips with gnawing on the nipple.
We've had a rough few days, but Mia is a trooper and continues to be a joy to all of us! It's fun to watch her develop before our eyes!
Birthday Parties Galore!
We went to 2 birthday parties on Sunday (3 November).
The morning party was for Emma's friend, Kate who turned 3. It was a small party with 5 little girls and Mia. The girls all got butterfly wings to wear, ate butterfly pancakes and got to decorate their own cupcakes. The cupcakes were a big hit and it was cute to watch themdump decorate them with sprinkles. Mia had a good time watching the big girls run around with their wings.
The evening party was for Emma's friend, Emily, who turned 4. It was at Roly Pollies, a kiddo gym. Emma had a BLAST playing with Emily and her friends and exploring the gym. Without hesitation, she walked across a balance beam, climbed on curvy ladders, swung on a rope into a foam block pit, slid on a zip line, bounced on a trampoline, played in a bounce house, and most impressively, was the only kid to scale a 8 foot climbing wall. When she reached the top of the wall, she started moving horizontally! Mia had fun crawling over some small equipment, jumping on the trampoline, and watching the kids play.
Ever since we left the party, Emma has been telling us that when she turns 4, she wants her party at the 'yoga gym' which is what we called it before we arrived.
The morning party was for Emma's friend, Kate who turned 3. It was a small party with 5 little girls and Mia. The girls all got butterfly wings to wear, ate butterfly pancakes and got to decorate their own cupcakes. The cupcakes were a big hit and it was cute to watch them
The evening party was for Emma's friend, Emily, who turned 4. It was at Roly Pollies, a kiddo gym. Emma had a BLAST playing with Emily and her friends and exploring the gym. Without hesitation, she walked across a balance beam, climbed on curvy ladders, swung on a rope into a foam block pit, slid on a zip line, bounced on a trampoline, played in a bounce house, and most impressively, was the only kid to scale a 8 foot climbing wall. When she reached the top of the wall, she started moving horizontally! Mia had fun crawling over some small equipment, jumping on the trampoline, and watching the kids play.
Ever since we left the party, Emma has been telling us that when she turns 4, she wants her party at the 'yoga gym' which is what we called it before we arrived.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Happy Halloween!
Following the storm, we weren't sure what would happen with Halloween. Luckily our area was spared major flooding or damage and so Halloween went on!
Emma was very excited for Halloween. We've been counting down to it all month. She decided in early September that she wanted to be a princess. Since we already have princess dress up clothes, we were set, even if her mind changed from Cinderella. Early in October, she decided she wanted to be a fairy princess. We already have wings for dress up! Easiest Halloween EVER! :)
For Mia's first Halloween, she was a skeleton whose bones glowed in the dark! So adorable!
Our friends, Kyle and Mary came over for dinner and then manned our house so that all 4 of us could go trick or treating. We ended up being out for about 30 minutes (it was cold and Emma wasn't wearing a jacket, it started sprinkling, and Emma's basket was full) before we came back inside. Emma was adorable! She was very excited to go out and knew to say "Trick or Treat!" and to follow it up with "Thank you!" At first, she wanted Kurt to go with her to the doors. After a couple doors, she said, "It's OK Daddy, I'll go by myself." And later, "You wait here, I'll go all by myself." Mia had fun being out in her stroller and seeing all the activity.
When we came inside, Kurt showed Emma how to sort out her loot. As soon as they were finished, she offered both of us some. Such a sweet girl!
Kurt then went out on our steps with Kyle and Mary and Emma had fun being in and out handing out candy with them for quite a while.
The previous weekend, Kurt and I went to a friend's Halloween party. I dressed as "The Cloud," and Kurt dressed as "Fifty Shades of Grey."
Pictures coming soon!
Emma was very excited for Halloween. We've been counting down to it all month. She decided in early September that she wanted to be a princess. Since we already have princess dress up clothes, we were set, even if her mind changed from Cinderella. Early in October, she decided she wanted to be a fairy princess. We already have wings for dress up! Easiest Halloween EVER! :)
For Mia's first Halloween, she was a skeleton whose bones glowed in the dark! So adorable!
Our friends, Kyle and Mary came over for dinner and then manned our house so that all 4 of us could go trick or treating. We ended up being out for about 30 minutes (it was cold and Emma wasn't wearing a jacket, it started sprinkling, and Emma's basket was full) before we came back inside. Emma was adorable! She was very excited to go out and knew to say "Trick or Treat!" and to follow it up with "Thank you!" At first, she wanted Kurt to go with her to the doors. After a couple doors, she said, "It's OK Daddy, I'll go by myself." And later, "You wait here, I'll go all by myself." Mia had fun being out in her stroller and seeing all the activity.
When we came inside, Kurt showed Emma how to sort out her loot. As soon as they were finished, she offered both of us some. Such a sweet girl!
Kurt then went out on our steps with Kyle and Mary and Emma had fun being in and out handing out candy with them for quite a while.
The previous weekend, Kurt and I went to a friend's Halloween party. I dressed as "The Cloud," and Kurt dressed as "Fifty Shades of Grey."
Pictures coming soon!
Hurricane Sandy
Hurricane Sandy, the largest hurricane on record, blew into the area on Monday 29 October into Tuesday. It was Mia's first hurricane and Emma's second (She and Kurt weathered Hurricane Irene in August 2011). The weekend leading up to it, we did some prep work and Emma noticed. She noticed extra junk food and treats that we brought into the house as well as the flashlights we put out on Sunday afternoon.
We had this exchange on Sunday afternoon:
Emma: Mom, what are those flashlights for?
Me: For when the power goes out.
Emma: Can I have it?
Me: No we have to save our power because it might be out for a long time.
Emma: Like 6 minutes?
Me: Probably longer than 6 minutes.
Emma: How about 7?
On Monday, we carpooled to daycare and work and planned to leave at noon since the storm was predicted to really pick up around 2pm. In the morning, it wasn't too bad, really just a soaking rain. We got awesome parking at work because many people followed the Governor's orders and stayed home and off the roads. We left shortly before noon and the wind had really picked up and the rain seemed to have gotten colder and was not falling straight down any longer. After grabbing lunch, we got the girls and got home a little after 1pm. We had a good afternoon playing and hanging out.
Kurt and Emma were having fun playing video games on the Xbox when, unfortunately, it crashed. Although Kurt was disappointed, I told him it was positive, that it meant we wouldn't lose power. :) The wind continued to pick up and the rain continued to fall. We had the television on all day and they predicted the worst of the storm would end around 10pm. We got the girls to bed and settled down to relax for the night. Literally minutes after I looked at the clock and thought to myself, 'Just a bit longer and we're in the clear,' the lights flickered once and then went out completely. We both agreed that we were lucky. Prior to the storm, we assumed the power was going to go out early in the afternoon. Around 330am, Mia woke up and after feeding her, I brought her to bed because the house was starting to get cold. Then at 5am, Emma woke up and was scared because her room was pitch black. By this point, the wind had died down and we were back to just a soaking rain. I had been hopeful that we would all sleep in since it was so dark and the rain was soothing. Unfortunately, Emma woke up Mia and after several tries of one waking up the other, we lite a candle and let them play in our bedroom while we stayed in bed for a while. After eating breakfast, I went back to bed since she was very crotchety and Kurt and the girls played. After I got up, Kurt and Mia napped and Emma and I went in search of coffee and survey damage. There were some tree limbs down and a few small trees, but overall, we didn't see too much damage. Many of the trees still had leaves on them.
Around 10, friends in our development came over and the kids had a ton of fun playing. For lunch we all went to Chik Fil A so the kids could continue to burn off some energy. While there, friends sent us a message that they got power back. We were cautiously happy since they are in a neighboring subdivision. Around 2pm, we walked back in our house and saw LED lights and felt warm air! All in all, we were only without power for 17 hours. Not too bad. We were also lucky that we didn't have any property damage.
Over this past weekend, we saw that a nor'easter is moving up the coast. Emma was very worried that we would lose power again. After I explained that it's not likely this time, I also told her we might get snow. This seemed to erase all worry and filled her with excitement!
We had this exchange on Sunday afternoon:
Emma: Mom, what are those flashlights for?
Me: For when the power goes out.
Emma: Can I have it?
Me: No we have to save our power because it might be out for a long time.
Emma: Like 6 minutes?
Me: Probably longer than 6 minutes.
Emma: How about 7?
On Monday, we carpooled to daycare and work and planned to leave at noon since the storm was predicted to really pick up around 2pm. In the morning, it wasn't too bad, really just a soaking rain. We got awesome parking at work because many people followed the Governor's orders and stayed home and off the roads. We left shortly before noon and the wind had really picked up and the rain seemed to have gotten colder and was not falling straight down any longer. After grabbing lunch, we got the girls and got home a little after 1pm. We had a good afternoon playing and hanging out.
Kurt and Emma were having fun playing video games on the Xbox when, unfortunately, it crashed. Although Kurt was disappointed, I told him it was positive, that it meant we wouldn't lose power. :) The wind continued to pick up and the rain continued to fall. We had the television on all day and they predicted the worst of the storm would end around 10pm. We got the girls to bed and settled down to relax for the night. Literally minutes after I looked at the clock and thought to myself, 'Just a bit longer and we're in the clear,' the lights flickered once and then went out completely. We both agreed that we were lucky. Prior to the storm, we assumed the power was going to go out early in the afternoon. Around 330am, Mia woke up and after feeding her, I brought her to bed because the house was starting to get cold. Then at 5am, Emma woke up and was scared because her room was pitch black. By this point, the wind had died down and we were back to just a soaking rain. I had been hopeful that we would all sleep in since it was so dark and the rain was soothing. Unfortunately, Emma woke up Mia and after several tries of one waking up the other, we lite a candle and let them play in our bedroom while we stayed in bed for a while. After eating breakfast, I went back to bed since she was very crotchety and Kurt and the girls played. After I got up, Kurt and Mia napped and Emma and I went in search of coffee and survey damage. There were some tree limbs down and a few small trees, but overall, we didn't see too much damage. Many of the trees still had leaves on them.
Around 10, friends in our development came over and the kids had a ton of fun playing. For lunch we all went to Chik Fil A so the kids could continue to burn off some energy. While there, friends sent us a message that they got power back. We were cautiously happy since they are in a neighboring subdivision. Around 2pm, we walked back in our house and saw LED lights and felt warm air! All in all, we were only without power for 17 hours. Not too bad. We were also lucky that we didn't have any property damage.
Over this past weekend, we saw that a nor'easter is moving up the coast. Emma was very worried that we would lose power again. After I explained that it's not likely this time, I also told her we might get snow. This seemed to erase all worry and filled her with excitement!
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Pop Rocks and Pumpkins
...but not together.
Yesterday, we helped Cameron celebrate his 4th birthday. His party was Rock and Roll themed. His parents were very excited to introduce the kids to 'their very first pop rock experience.' Emma was a big fan and said it was like the candy was dancing in her mouth. :)
Insert photo/video here.
Today, we met a few friends at Baugher's in western Maryland. It was a gorgeous day, bright sun and right around 60 degrees. The kids had a great time in an inflatable pumpkin. I think Emma went in 3 times. We took a hayride to the pumpkin patch where the kids had fun sliding down a piece of tubing from atop a huge round hay bail. They also had fun looking and playing with the pumpkins. Kurt was happy to find his perfect pumpkin for the year. After returning to the market area, we had lunch complete with hot dogs/pitt beef, fresh cut fries, cider, and an apple fritter! The kids played on a small swing set and then went into the petting zoo. Emma got to hold a kitten, see peacocks, feed sheet, goats, and a donkey, and pet an llama (or maybe alpaca). We returned to the market to stock up on fresh apple butter, maple fudge, apples, and rootbeer (for the ride home). Both girls were great all day. Emma was a fantastic listener and Mia was content to be in the Bjorn and look around and nap periodically. We wish all fall weekends were as great as this one!
Stay tuned for pictures.
Yesterday, we helped Cameron celebrate his 4th birthday. His party was Rock and Roll themed. His parents were very excited to introduce the kids to 'their very first pop rock experience.' Emma was a big fan and said it was like the candy was dancing in her mouth. :)
Insert photo/video here.
Today, we met a few friends at Baugher's in western Maryland. It was a gorgeous day, bright sun and right around 60 degrees. The kids had a great time in an inflatable pumpkin. I think Emma went in 3 times. We took a hayride to the pumpkin patch where the kids had fun sliding down a piece of tubing from atop a huge round hay bail. They also had fun looking and playing with the pumpkins. Kurt was happy to find his perfect pumpkin for the year. After returning to the market area, we had lunch complete with hot dogs/pitt beef, fresh cut fries, cider, and an apple fritter! The kids played on a small swing set and then went into the petting zoo. Emma got to hold a kitten, see peacocks, feed sheet, goats, and a donkey, and pet an llama (or maybe alpaca). We returned to the market to stock up on fresh apple butter, maple fudge, apples, and rootbeer (for the ride home). Both girls were great all day. Emma was a fantastic listener and Mia was content to be in the Bjorn and look around and nap periodically. We wish all fall weekends were as great as this one!
Stay tuned for pictures.
Zoo!
Last weekend, we met Nadine, Paul, and Claire at the DC Zoo. We had great weather and a great day! Emma and Claire had a great time walking around the zoo together and Mia enjoyed the view from her stroller. The grown-ups enjoyed visiting as much as was possible while chasing after two 3 year olds. :) It's great that the zoo is so nice and that it's a nice mid-point for our families to meet at periodically!
We look forward to the next time, when Kim, Chris, Cameron, and Mason can join us!
Pictures to come! Stay tuned!
We look forward to the next time, when Kim, Chris, Cameron, and Mason can join us!
Pictures to come! Stay tuned!
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