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This photo of Mia and mommy is from a previous set of pictures. Unfortunately, we’ve been under the weather, off-and-on the last couple of weeks. Taking any good pictures has been difficult. Hopefully, we’ll have some opportunity this week to take some newer photos.

This photo was originally taken on January 23, 2011.

Mia is still learning to crawl. She’s comfortable being on her belly on the floor. She can pivot left or right and can move ever so slowly backward. But she hasn’t grasped the skill of forward movement yet.  When that time comes, I’m sure she’ll be taking off, crawling to every conceivable corner of the house.

We have wanted to take Mia to the Monterey Bay Aquarium but hadn’t found a good weekend to do it. Fortunately, we had the last weekend of January free of any commitments. We were also very fortunate to obtain two guest passes from my sister’s co-worker who has an aquarium membership.

Asking for directions.

Since it was Mia’s first time there we tried to visit all the exhibits that she might find of interest. The first exhibit we saw was the seahorses. I’m not sure if Mia could actually make out the seahorses with her own eyes, but there were large monitors that gave a close-up view of how they looked. I’m sure she could make them out from those images.

Looking glass.

We later went into the interactive area. Farrah placed Mia on what seemed like a water bed-type pad. She really enjoys it swaying back and forth.

Bounce house like.

After our trip, we headed north to Santa Cruz to have dinner with the Trabers. Luckily, the weather on the way up to Monterey was cooperative. The drive to Santa Cruz was met with light drizzle. Luckily, there were no incidents to speak of. We spent an hour or so at the house, then headed to Riva’s for a nice seafood dinner.

All in all a good day.

Mia and the Jellyfish.

These photos were taken on January 29, 2011.

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.

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.

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.

This photo was taken by the good people at our daycare.  Mia looks so comfortable, doesn’t she? Even though we miss these tiny moments because Mia is at daycare and not with us, we know she is making friends, learning, and having fun.  By the way, today is Mia’s fifth month birthday!

This photo was taken on November 3, 2010.

There are obvious reasons to be thankful, especially this year. As always, I’m thankful for my family who supports me in whatever I choose to do. I’m thankful for the friends who are always there for me. I’m thankful for my health - even though there have been a couple of rough patches this year. I’m thankful for being gainfully employed - though this may change next year. I’m thankful for having a wife who puts up with me. And I’m thankful for our healthy little baby girl.

This photo was taken with Mia’s Grandma on Thanksgiving morning. 2010.

The plan in the morning was for Mia to wear this lovely outfit to daycare. (Aren’t those tights cute?) Of course, it didn’t turn out to be the case. After taking a few photos, Mia promptly made the dress part “unwearable” for the day.

Mia is getting stronger. She grips items with her hands, making some of them difficult to take away. She can’t stand on her own - those are mommy’s hands holding her up - but she can stand propped like that for a while. Next thing you know she’ll be running around the house.

This photo was taken on the morning of November 23, 2010.

Mia and Roseola

I believe it started on Sunday. A slight redness developed on her cheeks. By Tuesday, it spread ever so slightly to her arms. Today we saw a doctor who diagnosed it as roseola.  It’s nothing serious.  It seems to look worse than it is.  Either way, Mia is staying home with me today.

Mia had her second set of immunizations on Friday.  The occurrence of roseola after the shots appears to be coincidental, as the vaccines she was given wouldn’t normally produce a rash.  She had a rough night last night - waking every two hours wanting attention and food.  But today, at least for now, she’s in good spirits.  If the rash gets better tomorrow, she’ll be able to go back to daycare.

This photo was taken on the night of November 16, 2010.  It was taken after Mia took her bath.  You can see a bit of the rash on her cheeks.