Footie PJs and Football

It's my favorite time of the year!  Last night Mia snuggled on the couch with us in her footie pajamas while we watched football as OU beat Cincinnati.  I love all things autumn.  I'm ready for pumpkins, falling leaves, and home-cooked chili.  Now that the weather is cooling off, we're trying to spend more time outside.  However, it's been raining off and on for the last several days, so we haven't been able to get out much.

Mia made us laugh at the grocery store today.  She's always worn out by the time we make it to the checkout line.  Sometimes she can be kind of fussy.  I showed her a Mickey Mouse pez dispenser to try and distract her.  Her eyes lit up!  She ran around the cart, stood on her tiptoes, and slid Mickey onto the conveyor belt.  Then, she clapped her hands, and yelled, "Yay!!"  We bought it for her, but she doesn't get to eat the candy.  No hard candy yet.  I'm always scared she's gonna choke on something.  She loves her Mickey, though.

It Only Looks Dangerous

Okay, so let me preface this picture by saying that Wesley was standing right by Mia.  I just angled the camera so that he was out of the picture.  He could have easily caught her if she needed him in the two seconds it took to snap the picture.  Mia loves books, but she usually vetoes the ones I give her.  She likes telling me "no".  A lot of times I just pick her up and let her choose a book herself.  Of course, I'm always holding onto her for that.

Finger Lickin' Good

On the Sunday before last, Wesley, Mia, and I went to a BBQ shindig here in Oak Cliff with Wesley's friend, Jon, and his daughter, Harper.  Mia and Harper have been around each other a few times before, but this was the first time that Mia has been old enough to really play.  Mia does great with the other kids at school, but I realized that she has never had to share her toys at home before.  No need to worry.  The girls didn't seem to remember each other at first, but before long they were playing and having a good time.  We all walked (well, the girls were in strollers) down to Davis where all of the BBQ was setup.  There were other vendors there as well as a blues band, and the place was totally packed.  Plus, it was H-O-T.  We walked around a little bit, then went to find some BBQ for lunch.  It was only a few hours into the event, but they were sold out of BBQ.  I guess they underestimated how many people would show up.  No big deal, we just walked across the street and ate pizza.  Afterward, we got some ice cream and lemonade.  By this time, the girls looked like they were melting so we went back to the house.  We all met Jon's wife, Holly, and baby Jasper for dinner at a Mexican restaurant that evening.  He's so adorable and such a good baby!  I couldn't believe how quiet he was at dinner.  He was the perfect little gentleman.  Mia spotted the salsa right off the bat and wanted to try some.  I thought she would take one bite, see that it was hot, and not touch the stuff again.  I was wrong.  She liked it!  I was so mystified that I just kept watching her eat it.  After a few minutes, I think it caught up with her.  She started touching her mouth as though it was bothering her, so I took the salsa away.  It turned out that the inside of her mouth wasn't hurting.  Messy eater that she is, there was salsa all around her lips, and that area turned pink.  I was worried at first, but it went away quickly, and she seemed to forget about it as she ate her nachos.  Yeah, not the smartest decision ever by yours truly.  No more salsa for that girl.  She doesn't care anyway.  She'd much rather have black bean dip, so everybody wins!

Mia and Harper had to say "hi" back and forth about seven times when we got to Davis like they hadn't seen each other just five minutes before.

Mia clapping to the blues band

They brought dozens of huge trees in for the event as well as a ton of plants.  It was a really neat look.

 Hmmm...what to have for dinner?

Yummy at first, and then...not so much.

 

Picture Day

Wednesday was picture day at daycare.  Mia was completely adorable in her little ladybug dress.  I'm not sure how the pictures turned out yet because her teacher said she wouldn't smile.  Oh well.  I snapped a couple of pictures before we left the house, but those were also minus smiles.  She's always too busy to stop and pose for me.

Mia has been doing very well with saying "peas" (please) and "chay chu" (thank you).  She is learning when the proper time is to say it.  Some of her other new words are "bla-bla" (blankie), "joo" (juice), "sna" (snack), "cracka" (cracker), and "cookie" (she says that one right).  She says hi and bye-bye to everyone whether she knows them or not.  More words: "bow" (bug), "puppy", "cow", "birrr" (bird), "bee", "duck", "nana" (banana), "wa-wa" (this can mean water, rain, waffle, or pancake!)  I'm sure there are more, but it's hard to keep up.

Her most used word right now is "no".  "Are you done brushing your teeth?" "no."  "Do you want to go to bed?" "no."  It doesn't seem to matter what the question is.  I think she just likes getting to make decisions.

Ready for picture day!

 

Reflections On My Perfect Bubble

At one time or another, we all feel like we have it so rough.  Whether it's money worries or just daily drama, there seems to always be something to stress over.  If these are the worst of our problems, we have it pretty good.  I have an amazing husband, a precious daughter, a great job I enjoy, and a roof over my head.  As per usual for me and my introspective self, I have been revisiting memories of where I was nine years ago on this day.  I do that every year, and it humbles me every time.  I was 18 years old, brand new freshman at OU, and loving the college life.  It was a Tuesday.  I remember this because it was the only weekday I got to sleep in.  I didn't have to be at my Chemistry Lab class until 11:00, so I took my time getting ready.  No tv, no radio...just enjoying the quiet because my roommate had already left for her class.  I left my dorm room and walked down to the elevators where another girl was also waiting.  She started asking me things that made no sense to me like what did I think about what was going on and was I as afraid as she was.  Huh?  I mumbled a polite response and was relieved when the elevator arrived.  Once downstairs, I walked by groups of students talking seriously about something.  I just minded my business and kept walking along.  My lab group  met in the library on Tuesdays for discussion, so I was walking through the South Oval when my confusion was amplified.  Why in the world had someone rolled huge tv's out onto the South Oval with extension cords running all over the place?  I couldn't help my curiosity, so I joined a group at the nearest tv to see what all of the fuss was about.  The devastating scenes on the screen were hard to process.  The only acts of terrorism I'd ever known were domestic ones.  These were foreigners that I didn't understand with methods that were just unreal.  One of the unfortunate side effects of getting older is losing your innocence.  A piece of mine left me that day, but in it's place was an awareness that I still feel.  The world is smaller than I used to imagine it, and there are some things I will just never understand.  I hope that as Mia gets older, she will remember that even when tragedies occur, she will have her family with her.  I don't want her to know confusion, fear, and grief, but when it happens, Wesley and I will be there to love her through it.  We have to remember that there is more out there than what lies inside our perfect little bubble that we call our lives.

Holiday Weekend Happenings

Our Labor Day weekend has been a nice and quiet one.  We stayed around the house most of the weekend.  Yesterday, we ordered pizza and gave Mia a few bites (after she was given a nutritious meal which she ignored).  Now, every time she sees the pizza box she points at it, says "pizza!", and becomes unruly when we don't magically conjure up some more pizza.  Yeah, we're gonna have to get that box out of here.  Other than that, we've been playing a lot.  It was nice for the three of us to be home all day together for two days in a row (Sunday and Monday).  On Friday afternoon, we went to the park.  I think Mia went on three or four walks this weekend.  Wesley mapped the route I took with Mia today and told me that we walked a mile and a half.  Not too bad since I needed to work off that pizza!

There are a couple of Mia stories that have happened in the last few weeks that I think are funny.  The first was when Wesley was putting Mia in her carseat after we got groceries one day.  For some reason, she really did not want to be buckled into her seat.  She got so angry that she yanked her hair bow out of her hair and threw it at her daddy!  It's hard to be stern and tell her not to do something when you're laughing.  Another funny moment came one evening when Wesley was telling Mia goodnight.  He bent down to give her a kiss when she burped in his face!  Then, she giggled which made it even funnier!  Oh, that girl...:)

Mia is getting much better at saying people's names.  She can say the names of most of the kids in her class as well as all of her grandparents (of which she has several!).  She has noticed that Wesley always calls me "honey".  Sometimes she'll point at me and say "Honey! Honey!"  Her vocabulary expands almost daily.  I was trying to keep up with all of the new stuff she's been saying, but it's impossible.  My dad taught Mia to say "Be cool!"  I love that one.  She also has a book that she refers to as her "cow book".  It's about farm animals.  According to Mia, every animal in it is either a horse, cow, bird, or puppy.  We're working on the other animals.  Speaking of horses, I can't ever sit with my legs crossed anymore because Mia climbs on to my leg wanting a ride.  She hops on and says, "Horsey! Yeehaw!"  Can you tell she's a Texan? Hehe!

It's very common to see Mia carrying a baby doll nowadays.  You can tell from all of the toys in the floor that we've been having a great time this weekend!

Mia loves Sesame Street.  She's way into Elmo, Cookie Monster, Bert, and Ernie.  Here she was saying, " Bert, night night!"

Wordless Wednesday

I have heard about "Wordless Wednesday" posts, but have not done it myself.  I realize that putting a comment on here negates the purpose of "wordless", but hey, it's my first one.  Without further adieu (or any more words) a picture of Mia for the evening.

Brusha, Brusha, Brusha

We have been working with Mia on learning to brush her teeth.  She was confused by it but likes the taste of the toothpaste.  I bought her a step stool which she loves.  She has learned that part of her night-time routine after her bath is to brush her teeth.  As soon as I put her pajamas on tonight, she ran to the bathroom and started scooting her stool over to the sink.  Let's hope she continues to enjoy brushing her teeth.