Endless joy

Mia is officially a toddler. She is 21 months old and talking up a storm. She is smart. She has a sense of humor. She is sweet. She is beautiful. She is loved more than she could ever imagine. However, she does have some idea of how much. When I ask her, “do you know how much your mommy loves you?” She replies, without hesitation, “A lot!”

January arrived with a renewed sense of peace in our home and 2011 started out as a good year. Mia celebrated New Year's Eve with the traditional festivities with Dave and Courtney. She was happy to give Dave her dinosaur puppet book and was thrilled with his gift to her--her very own cell phone. She calls him on it constantly and had a great time ringing in 2011 with such good friends. She can’t wait for the baby in Courtney’s tummy to pop out!

We put away the Christmas ornaments, said goodbye to the Christmas angel that lives in Kelly's yard. We took down the lights and put away all the new toys. Mia transitioned back to school without much ado and we got back into our usual routine.

Mia is still going to bed around 7:00. We've stopped doing an evening bath because she usually showers with me in the morning. Her skin was getting a bit dry with all the water exposure, so we decided to change up the bedtime routine a bit. Her current daily routine is as follows

· Wake up around 5:00 and come into "the big bed." She yells "MAMA'S BED" around 4:45 and I usually give her 15 minutes to change her mind and go back to sleep in her crib. She NEVER chooses that option, so I bring her into bed with me. Usually, she'll snuggle in and fall back to sleep for another hour. Sometimes, unfortunately, she decides she's had enough of this sleeping business and is ready to start her day. She say’s “light on,” and “a boot” and paws at my face until I finally do her bidding.

· We get up and jump in the shower. Mia sits happily on the floor of the shower and colors with her soap crayons or plays with her tub animals. She particularly likes her little honu. One thing that has started in the last couple of weeks is that Mia insists on picking up all her crayons and toys before leaving the shower. "Clean up, clean up," she sings as she puts her things away.

· Then, we dry off and Mia sits on the bathroom counter while I do my hair and put on some make-up. Mia brushes her teeth with her electric toothbrush and organizes the Q-tips. She also likes to comb her own hair and keeps me company by naming all the objects on the counter. She is generally happy in the morning and, as long as she's NOT on the floor, she likes to just hang out while I get ready.

· Then, we get dressed. Fortunately, Mia doesn't have very strong opinions about what she wears yet. She's back to liking dresses (she wouldn't wear one for a while there) and she likes to talk about her "outfit." She knows the difference between jeans and sweatpants, shirts and sweaters. She HATES jeans and socks that are too tight and loves her little down vest that I got her when she was 6 months old. Somehow, it still fits and I think she'll cram herself into it until it won't zip anymore. She also loves her little blue wool hat I made for her.

· Once we're all dressed, we head downstairs for breakfast. Lately, Mia's been enjoying waffles, pears, cereal with milk, peanut butter toast, raisins, oatmeal and occasionally eggs (although some days, she won't touch them). She points out Mama's "hot coffee" and narrates everything Reggie and I do " Mama...paper. Reggie...sit. Mama...toast. Reggie...bad dog. Mama...breakfast. Reggie...Mia's breakfast. etc..." We always scan the paper for pictures of animals. We usually find at least one or two.

· After breakfast, we brush teeth (electric toothbrush is loads of fun), bundle up and head to school. As we drive by Mt. Carmel, Mia says, "old school...friends." When we arrive at Next Generation, she says, "new school...buddies." When we walk into school, her friends Isaac and Ethan always yell, "Mia's here!" Drop off is never stressful. I sit with Mia for about 5 or 10 minutes, read some books to her and her little buddies and leave without a fuss. It's so nice to know that Mia is happy at her school. They constantly tell me how impressed they are with her language development. The other day, her teacher Samantha told me Mia was the "teacher's assistant" because she was helping teach all the other kids how to talk.

· In the car, Mia sings “ABCD” and “The Wheels on the Bus” all the way to school. She loves to point out the gas station, busses that pass and always comments on the weather—especially if it’s raining (“raining, pouring…brrrrrrr”).

· After school, I race to pick up Mia. Daddy picks her up on Tuesdays and takes her for playtime at his house. The other days, I greet her at school and she comes running into my arms. It is quite a thrill to have someone be so excited to see me. We head home and talk about our days. Sometimes we stop at the grocery store or a park, if it’s not raining and freezing, but usually we just head home and dive into our books.

· Dinner is usually something I heat up that was made over the weekend.

Mia's Auntie Anna picks her up on Mondays still and brings her home to play for about an hour until I get home from my meeting. We all eat dinner together and play until Anna heads home around 5:30. Mia LOVES her Auntie Anna and always looks forward to their playtime.

Friday is Gramma’s day. Mia absolutely quivers with glee knowing that Gramma is coming over to play. Usually, they head to the library song circle around 10:00, then to Baja Fresh for “tatos and beetos.” She still eats a ton of mango salsa and everyone there knows her. Often, Bop will stop by for a visit on his way to Salem or, if he’s working in Portland for the day, Gramma and Mia will make a trip to Bop’s house to see him. After their day, Daddy comes to pick up Mia and takes her for dinner at the “Pizza Store” (Pizzicato) where they eat meatballs, ronis, and pear salad. David, the guy at the pizza store knows Mia and has a meatball ready for her while the pizza is being made.

Mia can read books for hours. She loves hunting for the Gold Bug, Dingo Dog and Officer Flossie in Cars and Trucks and Things that Go with Bop. In fact, she can point out the Gold Bug on every single page faster than anyone who reads with her. Dave Jarecki was reading with her recently and kept asking, “How does she do that?” She is becoming interested in Potty books, although is not too interested in using the potty. She loves rhyming books and is able to complete the sentences in Go, Dog Go, Front Back, Down by the Station, and A Baby Body Book, and dozens more. She loves Hop on Pop, Old Farmer Brown, Maple Hill Farms and, of course, Oh, What a Busy Day.

One of my favorite parts about raising Mia is watching and listening to her language development. She has blossomed into a skilled conversationalist and seems to learn dozens of new words every week. At 21 months, she can recite the entire alphabet, count to 10 (not always in proper order), point out important landmarks on our usual car routes, comment on feelings, recognize opposites, remind her parents of things they said they were going to do, recognize her name in writing, name all the body parts, all the food she eats (and doesn’t eat), tell us where something hurts, name all the important people in her life, give commands to Reggie and Jake, ask for what she wants, say please, thank you, excuse me, make jokes and on and on and on. It is fascinating to me to see how far she has come in such a short period of time. She’s even able to say a few Spanish words (carro, perro, taza, gato). For “carro,” she says, “ca-d-d-d-o.”

Mia often refers to me as “Mama Amy” and knows everyone else’s “real” names too. She associates Huck with Missy, Bibi with Auntie April, Greg with Annalise and she’s named her baby doll “Ella,” after Ella Rosenswig. Recently, when we asked her, “Who is Chad’s dog?” She replied, “Missy!” Not to worry…when we asked her, “Who is Missy’s dog?” She promptly replied, “Chad!”

January went by rather quickly. Unfortunately, Mia had a runny nose and lots of congestion for most of January and February. It seemed like every time she started to feel better, five minutes later, she was sick again. It’s almost safe to say that she’s been fighting a cold since October. Now that we’re in March, she is finally feeling great and doesn’t have a runny nose. What a relief it is. She’s had several rounds of antibiotics and she looks forward to her acidophilus “treat” (she can actually say “acidophilus” now) each night. Speaking of supplements, Mia also takes a squirt of vitamins with fluoride each day and chews a little ball of fish oil. Which brings me to a sad tale that has a happy ending, thank god!

One day, Mia was eating her breakfast and asked for her “fish oil treat.” I gave it to her and immediately got back to the dishes. A minute or two later, I picked her up out of her chair and we started to get ready to brush our teeth and leave for school. We both noticed that the fish oil had spilled on her favorite blankie. Not a lot. Just enough. It absolutely fouled her special blankie and no amount of hot water washing was able to remove the smell. Fortunately, Mia had a second favorite blankie that hs been a perfect substitute. I did offer her the original blankie after washing it several times and she promptly handed it back to me. I guess she can be persuaded to embrace change under the right circumstances.

Mia had her first haircut at 21 months. The baby mullet had to go. I was all set to take her to a baby haircut salon ($20/cut) and, at the last minute, I decided to do it myself. I’m not a hair person, but I must admit, it came out better than expected. Her teachers at school were raving about her new do.

Mia is not 2 yet, but I’ve gotten a small taste of what a tantrum looks like. When Mia is frustrated or mad, she throws up her arms, looks at me like I’m digging a knife into her heart and begins to stomp her feet. She slowly stomps backward as if she’s going to hurl herself at whatever danger lurks behind her. I know that she is just unable to “organize her feelings” as Gramma says, so I simply get down to her level, hold her closely and tell her, “You must be feeling very upset, Mia.” Sometimes I hold her tightly and her entire body relaxes. The tantrums are very short-lived and usually happen when she’s tired or hungry. To be honest, it’s difficult not to smile when they’re happening because she’s so dang cute and so easily appeased. I learned the hard way that she DOES NOT want me to smile when she’s frustrated.

Mia is quite the naturalist. She can identify a daffodil, a dogwood flower, a hollyhock and a tulip. Her Auntie Lart would be proud of her skills as a Bird Nerd as well. She loves to spot hummingbirds ("hummers"), crows, bluebirds, flickers and cardinals (in the books, of course). She knows what sound a chickadee makes and loves to point out Canada geese around town. She frequently requests the "nocunars" in order to spot her favorite feathered friends.

Mia loves planes. And helicopters. And anything that flies and hangs out in the sky. Oftentimes, we'll be eating breakfast at 6:30 a.m. and she'll shout out, "PLANE!!" Without fail, she hears it before I do.

Here are a few more things Mia says and does these days:

· She blows kisses to the star in Kelly’s yard every night

· She says, “Yes,” instead of “Yeah.”

· In the car, she points out and names her old school, new school, tato store, gas station, daddy’s house, big park, little park, Fred Meyer, coffee store, grocery store, bus, school bus, MAX train, moon, raining/pouring, choo choo train, tram, bicycle, mail, etc…These are things she names without any prompting from me.

· She crawls into a familiar lap and sweetly says, “hi.”

· She says “Excuse me” after she sneezes or toots or when she wants to pass by and you’re in her way.

· She reminds me of all the people who brush their teeth (Gavin, Coen, Abie, Solly, Auntie Missy, Huck, Auntie Anna, Audrey, Henry, Gramma, Bop, Mama).

· She still loves peek-a-boo.

· She points out which way to go in the car (“this way…that way”).

· She loves to play with Q-tips and loves to organize her rubber bands and clips.

· She pushes baby Ella in her little stroller around the circuit of the house.

· She stomps in puddles.

· She hollers out for “WATER” in the middle of the night.

· She loves hats and looks great in them.

· She requests what she wants for breakfast (usually toast with peanut butter, fruit, waffles, cereal with milk—Crispix is her favorite, or oatmeal).

· She helps with the cooking and cleaning.

· She loves going to the Children’s Museum, the Zoo, the Indoor Play Park, the regular park.

· She LOVES to ride the escalator. Sometimes, we’ll head downtown and see how many escalators we can find. Turns out, they are everywhere!

· She paints. And she’s good.

· She colors.

· She puts things in shopping bags and walks around the house.

· She LOVES “Nakey Baby Time” which takes place nightly about 20 minutes before bedtime (which is still around 7:00).

· She will not touch a green bean. Still.

· She loves juicy fruit (pineapple, melon, mangoes, berries are some of her faves).

This list is obviously incomplete. Mia is quite the dynamic little person and to remember all the special things she does is nearly impossible. But, at the very least, it’s a small window into her life in these times.

Mia and Jake have a special relationship. Mia is head over heels for Jake. She rubs her face in his fur. She cries if he runs from her. She squeals with glee if she sneaks a peek of him outside. She likes to smother him and read with him and talk about him. She likes to watch him eat and wave bye-bye as he runs out the door. He is the most patient, sweetest cat I have every known. We are lucky to have him.

Mia and Reggie also have a special relationship. Sometimes, I think Reggie things she’s a puppy. We spend a lot of time on “Reggie’s couch” reading together. Mia becomes upset if she’s invited Reggie onto his bed to read and he chooses not to. One major benchmark that Mia has achieved this month is that she is doing her first actual chore. Each morning and night, Mia scoops Reggie’s food from the bag into his bowl. She knows how much to give him and knows that he’s supposed to wait until she’s all done to go ahead and eat. When she says, “go ahead, Reggie” he dives in. She is proud to be helping and I’m proud that she feels that way.

In late February, we took a trip to Black Butte with the Jepsens. Baby Oliver was there (two months) and so were Gavin and Coen. It was a lovely trip and Mia was thrilled to have so much time with her Grandparents and buddies. She was sick for much of the trip, however. In fact, she was sick for most of the winter. She is prone to ear infections and, after this last round of antibiotics, she experienced her first week without a runny nose in five months. We are happy to kiss this flu season goodbye and keep our fingers crossed about avoiding having to install tubes in her ears.

Mia is still routine-oriented. She likes to be told what is going to happen and she likes to rehash what she’s done. She is still somewhat reserved with new people and can be painfully shy if she’s sleepy or grumpy. For the most part, she is an observer and is very thoughtful when she decides to engage. Her laugh is contagious and her tummy is irresistible (especially when it’s “HUGE,” after mealtime).

I love Mia more everyday and am so thankful that I get to be a part of her life.