My little cherub princess.
Look how big she is! When did this happen?
Surprised her clippie stayed in... she always pulls them out.
Doesn't need to hold Mommy's hand anymore.
Just want to pinch those cheeks.
Cutie patootie.
Brown-eyed queen of the playground.
Pumpkin Head showed up on our porch that night. Scary stuff, I tell you.
Our goofy James and the Giant Peach-ish pumpkin.
Daddy and his little ballerina walking down to the neighbor's house.
Some of them went all out with the decorations.
Mr. Pumpkin, would you like a lollipop?
What's in there?
Mia hanging with her buddy Ella during the playgroup Halloween party. It was a little too chilly out that day for her ballerina costume. I met a couple of the playgroup moms and their little girls out for lunch at Estellas on S. Dale Mabry. Well now that Mia is walking she thinks she is way too cool for high chairs or any sort of restraining device (strollers, car seats). So it wasn't long before I was feeding her from my lap, and she was elbow-deep in guacamole and rice. And from there she wanted to have 2 feet on the ground - you get the picture. The other 2 little girls were behaving the same, growing more and more impatient with us silly moms trying to sit and enjoy a lunch.
Anyway the restaurant was practically empty, so while waiting for our checks, we decided to let them have their way and play around the table, which quickly turned into wanting to roam to other people's tables, bang on chairs, etc. Oh boy. We were all quite the site I'm sure, chasing our crazy kids down while trying to sign receipts and grab our leftovers and diaper bags. I swear one of these days I'm just going to cave in and get a leash.
Mia added 3 new words to her vocabulary today, out of nowhere: gum, keys and light. Amazing how they just pull this stuff out of nowhere.
Got the camera back in order. But I have a pile of laundry growling at me on the bed, so I'll probably get the rest of the photos up tomorrow.Okay so my camera isn't letting me import pictures at this time. I'm working on it. And when I update the blog there's going to be a whole lot of photos to catch everyone up on.
Mia is walking, basically running everywhere now. She's so cute. Everyday I love her a little more, which seems almost impossible, like I may burst at the seams with complete adoration for her. And tomorrow will be even more so.
Some new tricks she has is spitting all of her food out. Yes my good little eater has transformed into a veggie-hating sweet tooth. No matter how I try and disguise food, she knows. And out it goes. So if anyone has any pointers, let me know.
The next President of the United States - Barack Hussein Obama.I can't believe my little girl is a walking, talking 15-month old now. Took her to her well check appointment today - she got 2 vaccinations (did not like those one bit) and found out she is 32-1/4"L (94%) and 21.3lbs (25%). She is a bean pole. Doc says she is proportionate height and weight wise, so this is okay. Looks like her body type may lean more to being long and lean.
Mia is a little shy around unfamiliar people and tends to cling onto either Pete or I for dear life in these circumstances. And she's pretty slow to warm up to scenarios that are out of her element. We're thinking partly because she spends the majority of her time all day with me, in our little routine she's comfortable with, and partly because we may just have a bit of an introvert here. Doctor says this is normal and putting her in preschool part-time in another year would be a good solution to this stranger/separation anxiety. Anyway, should be an interesting photo op with Santa next month. Yikes.
Her new favorite word is DUCKIE. Everything is duckie or doggy. Another new thing is when you ask her what sound a cat (DUCKIE!!!) makes, she meows. It's pretty darn cute. And of course we have the word balloon, more like BRROOOON. We can't get out of Publix without a friggin balloon these days. Luckily they are free over in produce. Also she is starting to say OUT! OUT! when she wants to go outside, which is a whole 'nother thing...
Mia is obsessed with going outside. Obsessed. After breakfast every morning we take Chili down to Rivercrest Park. She points out the sky, the trees and the cars. And she looooves the breeze blowing her hair all around. Usually we are in the buggy and toward the end I let her out to get on the swings and toddle around the playground, back to the car. Well she doesn't like to get back in the car. No sir. Tempers flare. This goes for being in the backyard too. She does not like to go back inside, in fact I'm convinced she'd walk around out there all day and night if it were up to her, after all she's just getting the swing of this walking thing anyway and being inside is boring. She knows perfectly well how to walk on her own. BUT she prefers to hang onto one of our fingers and lead us around where she wants to go.
When we are inside her favorite things to do are read books (especially the ones where she can identify objects like shoes, dogs, cats, frogs, bananas, etc). She loves to reorganize things, whether it be the pile of laundry in the basket, her bookshelf, etc. And opening and closing cabinets is super fun. Throwing dog food around is even more fun. She definitely gets into things she's not supposed to, testing her boundaries as toddlers do. I'm getting pretty good at redirecting her attention and showing her what's appropriate. Still, I can see the terrible two's setting in, and it scares the crap out of Pete and I. We were just saying today that we have the next year or two cut out for us with this one. She definitely lets us know when she doesn't get her way. At this point she is too small to try and reason with, so we're just trying the distraction approach and keeping our fingers crossed that she moves on.
Anyway I think I'm starting to babble now and not make much sense, it's been a long day and I have Election Eve coverage on, which is making my head spin. Hope everyone is doing well. Glad the holidays are closing in and we'll get to spend more time with a lot of you. I'll be posting Halloween pics in the next day or two, so keep on visiting.
Fall Festival in Hyde Park with my little ballerina.
Walking proudly with her Daddy.
Pumpkin Princess. She looks a little different than last year, ha?
My sweet baby girl.
Mia's buddy Ella is afraid of pumpkins.
And apparently Mia didn't care for them too much either. 
Chili wishes she didn't need a leash. But so far her track record and new hip warrant one.
Different day, same buggy. Funny how she was afraid of this little car at first, but can't get enough of it now.
Chili provides good comedic entertainment.
A) How did my child get so big and -
Playing at International Mall today. Notice the shorter bangs - I snipped them yesterday while she was "reading" a book. I'm leaving the mullet in the back though because it's starting to curl a bit. Such a sweetie, this little person of mine.
Things have been busy. CRAZY busy. Between caring for Chili post-surgery, chasing Mia and rearranging everything into our new garage, I've completely neglected the blog. Sorry. I'm going to post some pics of the last few weeks and catch everyone up with all of my adventures in Mialand. And pics of the garage are coming soon.
Here is Miss Thang at the Aquarium Explore-a-Shore outdoor splash park, or as I like to call it, the Germarium. This place is like a big petri dish, but whatever. Mia loves it. Nothing like splashing around on a hot, humid afternoon, without a care in the world...
What do you mean it's time to go???
Yes, Chili pays attention during story time too.
No more Mr. Quackers! Somebody outgrew him and is in the big girl tub now. She has lots of fun with her foam letters. Her favorite is to see how many she can get to stick to the top of her head.
Look Ma, I've got a lot of stuff to get around to today... baby needs her bottle, my shapes have to be sorted and many buttons on many toys have to be pressed over and over and over again.
And I've got to read this whole book before nap time.
Give me that camera!!!
Mia kicks off the new season in Uncle Corey's birthday present - her very own Bucs cheerleading uniform.
How cute is she????
Tell me Garcia didn't just throw an interception.
Typical Bucs shenanigans!!!
Sweating her butt off at her friend Ella's birthday party in Philippe Park.
My little - yet long - baby girl.
I love her hair in this one.
Baby Rage
Keri and Jamie got her this tent for her birthday, which we unfolded weeks ago when we thought we needed to "hunker down" for some hurricane heading this way. She loves hanging out in there, as do Chili and Mookie.
