Mia at One

I still can't believe that I can say I have a one-year-old...wow, Mia's one! She amazes us daily. She is so different from Lily and that makes it so much fun to see how she is learning and experiencing life. I tried to think of three words that describe Mia, and I came up with Adventurous, Curious and Lovable. There are so many more, but those are my current three; I may change them tomorrow! Here's some more info on Mia at this stage of life:

Her one-year check-up with Dr. White went very well on Friday. She weighs 20 pounds, 13 ounces (40th percentile), is 29 inches tall (50th percentile) and has a head circumference of 17.75 inches (50th percentile). Dr. White said her lungs sounded clear, so the RSV is gone which was great news. She also noted that her top teeth appear to be coming in soon. She of course looked in her ears, and noticed the fluid level is still high which is a problem Mia has had for awhile. We are going to go back at the beginning of January to see if the antibiotics given last week for her ear infection helps the fluid level go back down. If not, Dr. White will refer us to an ENT who I assume will talk to us about having tubes put in. One funny little story from our visit is that Mia did really great through the whole visit (she even didn't cry long after her three shots). However, she did not like having Dr. White look in her ears. She started crying while she looked, and by the time I picked her up, she was quite upset. She started waving her little hands back and forth which is the sign we have taught her for "all done" when she's eating. I thought it was cute (and smart of her!) to say she was "all done" with her visit!

Mia is enjoying eating all big people food now; no more baby food for her. She still gets a bottle of formula just before bed time each night, but that will only last a few more days; once this container of formula is gone, that's the end of the bottles for her. We'll see how that transition goes. She has really started to like her whole milk though. She wasn't sure at first, but now she loves it which I am very thankful for. As for food, she will eat just about anything and seems to enjoy trying new things. She really loves peaches, bananas, carrots and Cheerios which are really easy to take around with us. For breakfast, she loves her YoBaby yogurt, and I think she would eat a grilled cheese sandwich at every meal if she could. We went to Steak and Shake for dinner last night, and the girls were going to share a grilled cheese; Mia ate 3/4th of the sandwich while Lily ate about 3 bites (she was enjoying her milkshake way too much to worry about eating). I hope Mia will stay such a good eater.

Her favorite toy is her Glow Worm which stays in her crib with her. As soon as you put her down for her nap or bed time, she grabs hold of Glow's ponytail with the same hand she sucks her thumb with, so Glow is right up by her face. I have watched her on the monitor a few times when she occasionally cries out at night; even while sleeping, you can see her crying and patting around her crib until she grabs hold of Glow. Then she immediately calms down. There have been a few mornings over the last couple of weeks where Mia is crying pretty hard in the morning. When we went in, we realized she had thrown Glow out of her crib, and she was upset that she couldn't reach her. She doesn't have to have Glow during the day to play with her or take with her, but she is very attached to her when in her crib.

Speaking of her crib, she is a great sleeper. She goes to sleep about 7:30 each night and sleeps until 7:30 or 8:00 the next morning; she might cry out for a few seconds (until she finds Glow), but it's been many months since she has actually woken up at night (she started sleeping through the night at 8 weeks). She still takes two naps a day. She sleeps for about an hour around 9:30, and then she goes down at 2 for a couple of hours. This good sleep helps her to be her happy self during the day. Mia laughs and smiles all the time which is such a joy to see. Of course, she also knows that crying will get our attention, and she is usually quick to stick her bottom lip out if she doesn't like what you're doing!

She is really start to enjoy books now which thrills me. She likes reading Sandra Boynton's rhyming books (Moo, Baa, La La La is a favorite) and the Touch and Feel books where they have different textures on the pages. At night, we look through her "100 First Words" book, and she seems fascinated by it; she babbles about the pictures she sees which is fun to hear.

Mia loves music and dancing. She absolutely adores the Cedermont Kids DVD's that we have. I think she likes watching the kids dance around and hearing the upbeat tunes. One of these videos is the only thing she will sit still for. She recognizes the intro to the DVD's, and she gets so excited when one comes on. She will start bouncing up and down, clapping her hands and laughing. Her music toys have always been favorites, so I am interested to see if she will always have a love of music; I wouldn't be surprised at all knowing how much Ryan loves all kinds of music. Singing to her usually calms her down pretty quickly too. Lily loves singing "Wheels on the Bus" to her because it makes Mia smile and clap. Last week, I was home with her one morning while Ryan had taken Lily out. We were reading in the playroom, and Mia stood up to go look out the window. While she looked out, I started singing "Wheels on the Bus." She immediately turned around, and looked at me with a hard stare. Then without moving her body, she strained her head to look around the couch to see if one of the DVD's was on (this song starts out one of them). When she saw the tv wasn't on, she looked back at me with a puzzled look, thought for a moment and then smiled and came back over to my lap.

One of the most interesting things to me about Mia is how differently she seems to be learning things than Lily did. I realize how all kids have different styles, and I don't think one is better than the other. It just means we're going to figure out two different ways of helping our girls along the way. Lily has always been content to look at things in books; she has something that many people say is like a photographic memory. Mia however much prefers to watch you and imitate you. Here are a few recent examples: Dr. White washed her hands once she came into the exam room; Mia watched her for a second and then started rubbing her hands together (Dr. White thought that was great by the way). Bama was cleaning off the little kid-size table by wiping the crumbs into her hand. When she finished, Mia walked over and started scraping her hand across the table too. She tries to "talk" on her cell phone and brush her hair just like she sees us do. I know I have already said this several times, and I'm sure I will say it many more times in the future, but I'm fascinated by watching how different the girls are; it's really interesting to me, and I can't help but wonder how this will play out in their futures.

I can't tell you enough how blessed Ryan and I feel to have our two girls. They both bring us so much joy and happiness. They have only been with us for a few years, but it feels like they have always been a part of us. I cannot imagine having two sweeter or more precious girls, and we thank God daily for these little angels.