Mia Faith - 11 to 12 months

6/10/2011  -  7/10/2011

Wow, I can't believe I'm ONE!  I'm officially a 1 year old!!! No longer a baby---a TODDLER.  This is great!!!

I'm officially walking!!!  Nothing can hold me back now!  My big sister Lila is so proud of me.  Whenever I stand up she runs to mommy and says: "mamame, look! Mia is walking!"  I think she'll be sorry soon because I can be a big pain in the neck.  If I could bother her and mess up her toys while crawling, imagine the mess I can do now that I'm walking!

I can be extremely dramatic. When I want something and get a "no" I put my head over my arm and cry. When Lila takes something away from me, I put my hands over my face and cry.

I'm having loads of fun now.  I love playing "I'm going to catch you", especially when I'm doing something mischivous.  Mommy looks at me and I just take off "running away" and I love it when she chases me.  I also love playing hide-and-seek.  I especially like hiding under the covers in Lila's bed.  I'm not a great "hider" yet because I keep giggling non-stop. (giggles)  When I get really excited I scream... really, I let out these very sharp screams.  Mommy calls me Mariah Carey!

Here are some other facts about me:
I eat like crazy.  Sometimes daddy gets worried that I'm eating too much but I just can't help myself. 
I'm very funny!  I can dance Lila's piece from her ballet recital and I make the funniest faces especially when I'm caught doing something wrong. 
I'm somewhat organized.  I love putting things away, even if it means putting it in the wrong place. 
I'm terrified of talking dolls...can't stand them, no matter how cute you try to convince me they are.
I am extremely sweet!  I love giving mommy, daddy and Lila kisses and leaning my head against their faces.

My vocabulary is as follows:

• MAMA: obviously, this is my "mamae"
• DADA: this is for "daddy"
• IA-IA: this is for "Lila"
• DEDE: I say this when I want something to drink
• NENE: this is for "nenem" which is "baby" in Portuguese
• FOFO: this is for "vovo" (my nana)
• NANA: this means banana
• PAPA: this means food
• A-O: this is for "hello"
• AIII: I say this in a very dramatic way when I get hurt
• HA: this is for hi
• BA: this is for bye
• NA: this is for "no" (and I shake my head while saying it)
• MM: this is for "um" which means "one" in Portuguese. I say it when I'm asked how old I'll be soon and I hold one finger up, too!
• DODO: this means "tudo" which is "everything" in Portuguese. My dad says "daddy loves you..." and I say "dodo!!!"

So, this first year has been awesome and I know my second year will be even more fun!  I can feel it!!! :-)

STATS:
weight: 19.14 lbs
height:  29.75 inches

Milestones:
walking: 7/1/2011

Mia Faith - 10 to 11 months

5/10/2011  -  6/10/2011

Hi everyone!  What a fun month this has been!  I've been doing lots of new things, saying new words and even took a couple of steps but haven't done more than that -- yet!

I'm dancing a lot, and clapping a lot... I actually clap whenever Lila finishes singing a song.  I feel she likes the audience. :-)  I can also say "hi" while waving.  I also say "hello" while holding a pretend phone to my ear and I also say "bye" while waving.  I actually do that every time I have to go to sleep: wave and say "bye" to everyone.  I'm just polite like that.

I'm extremely funny...even more so lately.  What can I say? I'm an entertainer!  Not to toot my own horn but I'm looking prettier every day, especially now that my middle top teeth started to grow.  I kind of looked like a bat before.  Let me explain:  I got my 2 center bottom teeth first.  Then, instead of the normal 2 center top teeth, I got the ones beside those so I had that big gap in the front and a weirdly-funny "vampire" look.  Not anymore though.  (sigh of relief!)

I can give my mommy a hard time too.  I'm extremely emotional all the time!  Whenever I get mad, I bang my head on the floor... Also, if I'm trying to go somewhere I shouldn't go (like under the dining table so I can play with the plugs) and if you stand in front of me blocking my way, I will try to bite your leg.  Just warning you.

So to sum up, I'm in that love-hate phase...but I feel I'm more "love" than "hate"!  I make up for my mischievousness by caressing mommy's face and giving her big, sloppy, wet kisses and very cuddly hugs.  Yeah, I'm pretty irresistible!  Take a look!

STATS:
weight: 19.1 lbs
height: 29.25 inches

MILESTONES:
taking one or two steps: 5/30/2011

Lila goes to school!

Lila's first school experience:

Since we are moving, we started looking for schools for Lila.  We found one that interested us and scheduled a tour.  It was impossible to imagine her attending school because we couldn't even get her to get dressed to tour the school that morning without a meltdown.  When we got to the school she started crying, got all clingy and wanted to be held all the time.  After about 15 minutes the school director offered some goldfish and water, so Lila sat down to enjoy her treat.  Just then, the kids who were attending the first day of summer camp started coming in from the playground and everyone sat down and started doing crafts.  Lila just got up from her little chair and asked to join the kids.  She sat with them, started coloring and chatting, as if they were all her best friends. :-)

Seeing that she was enjoying it and in an attempt to get her used to the school teachers and students, we registered her for camp.  When morning came, she was excited to get ready for her very first day of "school" and I asked her to grab her backpack.  She said "mamae, here you go. I have to take the grapes out."  Little did I know, the grapes that were supposed to be her after dinner snack ended up inside her backpack.  I was glad she told me though. Imagine the impression the teachers would have of me if I sent her with a backpack filled with rotting grapes.

She was so perky and happy to be going to school.  I took her inside and she just said "you sit right here (pointing to a bench outside the classroom)".  So I snuck out and after 3 hours went back to pick her up.  She was FINE.  The teachers said she cried a little bit asking for me but quickly calmed down.  I was skeptical that she wouldn't want to attend the next day but instead, she kept rushing me saying we were going to be late.  That day she didn't even look back.  Just went in and waved bye.  Every day when I went to pick her up she would proudly open her backpack and show me all the work she had done that day.  She would only talk about school all day long and loved every minute of it.  My big girl...I'm so proud of her.  And so that's how it was for the rest of summer camp and 'til this day she says she misses it.  Hard to explain she'll be back in a few months.  Little did I know this experience taught her confidence and now she enjoys staying in Bible class at church.  Thank GOD!

Lila's school art!

Ready for school!