It’s a question I believe each dad asks themselves, “When do I introduce Star Wars into my kid’s life?"

Well, it all starts with a t-shirt. Farrah bought this shirt at the Gap for 58 cents! Such a bargain. In this photo, with Mia’s face, all scrunched up, it looks as if she’s tired of having her photo taken.

Now, as far as the films go, I’m talking about the original Star Wars trilogy, not the last three highly disappointing films. And in any event, you’d introduce the original trilogy first. You would not want to spoil the huge revelation in Empire Strikes Back, would you?

I’ve heard that a good age to start might be three years old. At the least, you can lay down the groundwork through storytelling. My friend BossaNova said he started telling his daughter the story of Luke, Leia, and Han around that age as well. Who knows, Mia may be able to retell the story similar to this little girl.

This photo was taken on January 20, 2011.

Mia is as playful as ever. Each day, Farrah tries to think of a way to tame all that hair. It’s difficult, but it needs to be done. Otherwise, it can look a bit scary. I’ve included two photos in this post so you can get a complete picture. I look at this series of photos and I can’t help but think, wow, future sushi chef.

Looking like a sushi chef.

“Can I have an order of the sake? My wife would like a California Roll as well.”

These photos were taken on January 23, 2011.

This is a short video of Mia in her outfit. You can see how she rubs her gloves - or hands - together.

Mia is all dressed up and ready to go out for a morning stroll. It was slightly cold and overcast outside on the morning of this photo, so Farrah had her all bundled up. Granted it’s not snowy weather here in sunny California. But anything below 55℉ makes you reach for a sweater.

This was Mia’s first experience with gloves as well. She was very fascinated by how they felt on her hands and how it felt interacting with other objects. She also started rubbing them together quickly, as if making sure her hands were still underneath the gloves.

This photo was taken on January 17, 2011, using the Canon s95.

Mia came home from daycare with pigtails!  Well, in the photo you can see only one, but she does have another small pigtail on the other side of her head.  She has an amazing amount of hair, but it’s in that in-between length where something proper to do is difficult.

This photo was taken on January 11, 2011, using the Canon s95 in low light mode.

Time flies.  Time flies very fast.  January 1st not only marked the first day of the new year, but it also marked the sixth month Mia has been in our lives.  Some of the moments seem like a blur now.  Most likely this is due to the lack of sleep.  And the lack of sleep still happens on some nights.  But other moments are crystal clear, like her first smile, as if they happened yesterday.

As you can see from the short video above Mia is now trying to eat rice cereal, her first steps into the realm of solid foods.  She started showing an interest in food three weeks ago.  I’m sure we could have tried this earlier, but hey, everything worked out.  Next thing you know she’ll be asking for a rib-eye steak.  Oh, I can’t wait until she starts throwing food all over the place (note the sarcasm please).

We also notice Mia is more reactive, more interactive, and overall more aware of what is happening around her.  She now laughs, well it’s more of a giggle.  But it seems only mommy can make her consistently giggle.  She’s still as friendly as ever, going to anyone and everyone without much fuss.  She has her days where she doesn’t want to leave mommy or daddy’s arms, but those are few and far between. I’m sure this will change some day.

And Mia loves the outdoors, getting out of the house at the least.  The other day she seemed to be in a mood.  But once we left the house and ran errands, her mood changed from sour to a happy camper in a matter of moments.

She’s a wonder to watch.  I can’t imagine what the next months, and years, will bring.

The video was taken on January 2, 2011, in our dining room.

Christmas Eve was at the house as usual.  But in the early afternoon, we stopped by Grandma and Grandpa’s house to see them, take a few photos, and drop off presents.  I’m working on processing the photos to post to the photos site.

This specific photo was taken on December 24, 2010, in San Jose.

A Christmas card type photo, don’t you think?

Ah, Christmastime.  It’s a time of joy and wonder and sharing good times with family and friends. And you know what? It’s Mia’s first Christmas!

She had a great Christmas Eve. During the day we were able to see Grandma and Grandpa. At night, she stayed up as long as she could, entertaining everyone with her cuteness and antics. Unfortunately, her eyes grew heavy just a little after 8pm. She finally fell asleep.

What do we have planned for Christmas day? More fun at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, than who knows what.   Merry Christmas to everyone!

This photo was taken on November 26, 2010. The photo is part of a session where we tried to capture images to be used for our Christmas cards. You can find the rest of the photos here. If you need the password to the photo gallery, don’t hesitate to email me at feedback [at] janella [dot] com.

Mia and Binky

Binky. Waa Waa. Chup Chup. ‘cifer. Well, it’s that green thing in this photo that Mia puts in her mouth to calm herself. We were at Maggiano’s celebrating Farrah’s birthday when I snapped this photo using the Canon S95.

This photo was taken on December 19th, 2010 at Maggiano’s.

Another video, instead of a photo, today.  This video is from this past Thanksgiving.  There are so many things to be thankful for this year.  This was Mia’s first Thanksgiving.  We spent the first part of the day at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.  We enjoyed a nice breakfast.

Later in the afternoon, we traveled to the Traber’s house with Nana for Thanksgiving dinner. As always, my sister made a great turkey, and there were plenty of other things to eat as well.

This video was taken on Thursday, November 25, 2010.

• I’m happy I no longer host the blog on tumblr.com. Imagine, they’ve been down for 12+ hours. What’s up @tumblr? #fumblr #
• I swear, tumblr was working a few minutes ago. Did it just go down again? #
• Pearl Harbor. The anniversary of my father’s death. A friend’s birthday. These are things I think of every December 7th. #
• Mia - December 8, 2010 http://instagr.am/p/f1ni/ #
• \When was the last time I used a stapler? http://instagr.am/p/f4yo/ #
• Things on my desk - ketchup packets http://instagr.am/p/glZo/ #
• Mia at Starbucks http://instagr.am/p/h3gE/ #
• Today’s to do list, item 1: put up outdoor Christmas light. Check! Onto item 2 after lunch. #

Instead of a photo today, I’m publishing a small video. Mia loves going outside. It doesn’t matter if it’s cold or raining. We bundled her up and gave her to Nana, who walked with her around the front of the house. She even introduced Mia to the lawn Santa Claus. We still need to visit mall Santa Claus this year as well.

This video was taken on December 4, 2010.