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Mia’s daycare was having an end-of-summer luau. Even though sunglasses and hula skirts were handed out, the weather wasn’t exactly sunny and tropical. We stayed as long as we could (the hula performance started late) until the wind and time forced us to leave.

I took only a few photos, on August 26, 2011. You can find the rest here.

Mia Bathing

At 10:16 am last year, Mia arrived in our lives. And what a year it has been. Ever since then, time seems to have been moving so fast, often a complete blur. I’m sure every parent has a similar experience.

Wasn’t it just a month ago that it seemed like all she could do was cry, eat, and poop? Wasn’t it just last week that she learned how to crawl? Wasn’t it just this morning she learned how to stand? And it seems just now, at this very moment, she really knows, by the glint in her eye, who mommy and daddy truly are. There is so much to share, but now so little time to write about it.

I took this photo as Mia was bathing this morning, getting ready for her day (or actually the whole weekend). I hope to post more photos later today - when I can find a moment. We’ll see how that works out.

But for now, Happy Birthday, Mia!

Rabbit ears. Eggs. Money.

It’s Mia’s first Easter. It was a quiet Easter, spent at the house with the grandparents. It was quiet by choice, as Mia was recovering from being sick all week. Otherwise, we would have made a trip to spend Easter with family.

We had a lovely lunch - a Honey Baked ham, fried chicken and egg rolls from King Egg Roll, green beans, and Brussels sprouts. Then it was to the living room to watch Mia open her Easter eggs.

She’s a little too young for candy, so money was a good substitute. Yes, she did try to eat the bills. We then headed outside to take a few photos with each grandparent and ourselves. I wanted to take a full group photo, but unfortunately, I ordered the wrong tripod plate for my camera. I’ll need to get a new one.

You can find more Easter photos in the://Easter album.

Photos were taken with both the Canon 7D and the Canon S95 on April 24, 2011.

Mia and Her Bunny Ears

Bunny ears. A gift in Mia’s Easter basket from Grandma and Grandpa. She wore them yesterday and this morning, even though she isn’t feeling 100%. Hopefully, she’ll be hopping around with them on Easter Sunday.

On a different note, Mia woke up at 2 am crying. It’s a bit unusual, but since she’s not feeling totally well, it’s understandable. What was interesting was that Farrah found Mia sitting up in the middle of her crib. We haven’t seen Mia get herself from a lying posting to a sitting position, so this is the first occurrence we know of. Next thing you know - she’ll be climbing out of her crib. Eeek!

This photo was taken on April 20th, 2011 using a Canon S95.

We were able to get a lot done this weekend. We first started at the Mountain View Farmers' Market, it was off to Milk Pail to get other fruits and veggies not found at the market. We finally ended the triple play day at Whole Foods. Mia has been enjoying all the new textures on each type of food she’s tried. She’s been enjoying chicken, carrots, and rice. We need to expand her palette even further, as she’s shying away from the purèed food. In this photo, taken at Whole Foods, Farrah is searching the baby foods trying to find something that would appeal to Mia. What’s Mia doing? Just hanging out on the BABYBJÖRN. This photo was taken on April 10, 2011, using the Canon 7D. This photo was edited in Photoshop CS5 as well as Flare.

Mia loves listening to Dr. Seuss stories on the iPad. She started off with Dr. Seuss’s ABC. In this photo she is making her first pass at Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham, a bit of a long story for her to sit through.

Oh, don’t worry, we don’t let the iPad do all the reading to Mia. Farrah takes time each day to read to Mia from the stack of books we have sitting on our bedside table.

This photo was taken on March 6, 2011, using the Canon S95.

Mia was sitting in her high chair, waiting for her next spoonful of lovely baby food, when I took this photo. Doesn’t this picture make you want to pinch her chubby cheeks?

This photo was taken on March 24, 2011, using a Canon 7D and the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8.

We are trying to encourage Mia to crawl. Part of how we’re doing this is by placing the desired item just outside her reach. In this case, we’re using my iPhone to play Maroon 5’s “Sunday Morning.” Over and over again, Mia kept trying to push herself off the far wall, inching oh-so-close to the iPhone. Unfortunately, she grew tired and didn’t reach her goal. She’ll continue to try until she reaches it. And then we’ll be in serious trouble.

Mia and Her TiVo Remote

Mia discovered our DIRECTV remote while sitting on our bed. She would stare at the remote, running her fingers through the numbers and other buttons, but not press any of them. Then, of course, she would try to stick the remote in her mouth, because that’s what babies do. It’s always difficult to pry the remote from her hands once she has a hold of it,

While doing some cleaning around the house, Farrah found a remote I bought for our TiVo unit - a unit we no longer use. Wow, this would be perfect for Mia! This could be her remote, and we can have our remote back. If she has the TiVo remote by itself, she’ll play with it without end. But if you put both remotes in front of her, she’ll opt for the working DIRECTV remote. My guess is she knows that one works, it does things, whereas the TiVo remote is only there to distract her. Smart girl.

This photo was taken on the morning of March 16, 2011.

It’s amazing how babies can be occupied by their own reflections. Farrah placed Mia in front of the hallway mirror. Mia was able to occupy herself for a good ten minutes. She laughed, clapped her hands, and leaned forward to touch her reflection. his photo was taken on March 5, 2011, using the Canon S95.