Nine Months Old

• I was in Texas last week for a conference. While I had a wonderful time, it was nice to get home to Mike and Mia. Mike picked me up at the airport. Brent and Carol had Mia, and I nearly ran into their house when we arrived to get her. I missed seeing her pretty little smile and feeling her arms wrapped around my neck. 
  
• Last Thursday night I went to a meeting at St. Aloysius parish. Mike and I decided to go ahead and join the church and will have Mia baptized Catholic. We aren't certain that's the path we will eventually take with her religious upbringing or education, but we want her to have the option just in case. The next baptismal meeting is in January, so we will probably have her baptized sometime shortly after the first of the year.
• I spent a lot of time just hanging out with Mia over the weekend. It was wonderful!!! I've blocked off the kitchen and living room so she's free to crawl around with minimal supervision. I got on the floor with her and we played for hours. We celebrate all her accomplishments by clapping and saying "yay", so Mia now claps and says "aaaaayyy" at just about everything!
• She now waves anytime we say "hi" and she often waves when people come in and out of the room. While I was feeding her lunch, she was watching the dogs out on the deck. Each time Grace came up to the door Mia waved to her. Of course Mia waves as she sees us wave, with the fingers pointing at her face. So she really waves to herself!
• Mia pulled up a lot more over the weekend. She's most confident when she pulls up on me so several times she pulled up on my pants legs, or my arms if I was on the floor. 
• Cara was in town over the weekend so Mia and I went to visit her at Mom's. Dad and Sue stopped by to drop her off and Mia lit up when she saw her. Mia absolutely loves Cara and is beside herself with happiness when she's around her cousin. Mom and Bruce had a "baby party" and the girls got lots of attention from their great aunts, great grandma and Granny's friends. 
• I had two moments this week where my heart lumped in my throat. The first happened when we were at Mom's. Mia is such a social little baby and she has many people who love her and give her attention. She's happy with just about anyone and isn't very discriminating with her affection. But at Mom's, in a room full of people, when she started getting sleepy and was ready to settle down, she crawled over to me and buried her face in my legs. For the first time I truly realized I'm someone special to her. I'm who she goes to for comfort. In the midst of all those people, I experienced a life-changing moment, where I truly felt like Mia's Mommy. It was such an amazing affirmation. I know that sounds weird, since I've been her mommy for nine months now. But that look on her face as she sought me out, needing the one person who can truly comfort her - well, that's the same need I have for my mom, the one person who can truly comfort me when I need her. I know how deep and true that bond is. It was such an incredible moment to realize I am able to provide that love and comfort to my own baby, as my mom has always been able to provide to me. 
• Mia is eating like a little piggy these days. We've continued to introduce more and more solids into her diet, but she just can't get enough. The other morning she ate a 12 oz bottle for breakfast! So we're now doing breakfast selections at daycare, her regular bottle, baby food and cereal for lunch, adding a small snack following her afternoon nap, and continuing with a veggie/meat combo and a fruit for dinner. Plus her regular bottles every four hours. We'll see if that satisfies her!
• Ever since the time change, Mia has been waking up an hour early, at 6 instead of 7. We've tried just about every technique I've heard of to get her back to 7, but 6:30 is as far as we've gotten. We've tried putting her to bed earlier at night, to get her into longer sleep rhythms, we've tried feeding her more in the evening, we've tried keeping her up later at night, eliminating her evening catnap, but nothing has worked so far. We're still working on it. Keep your fingers crossed for us. We NEED that extra half hour!!!
• We had Mia's 9 month photos taken tonight. The place was a friggin zoo! When we arrived Mia was asleep in the car. They told Mike they were running a half hour behind so we let her sleep for about 15 minutes and went in. I had only put on minimal makeup this morning because I knew I'd need to freshen it up before the pictures. It has been raining all day so I brought stuff to redo my hair. Well, the moment we walked in the door they were ready for us. With about 10 families crammed in the place, there was no opportunity to even look at a mirror. So off we went to get our pictures made, with a baby who just woke up and a mommy with flat, wet hair and no makeup! They did not turn out great, needless to say. They took very few pictures because Mia really just wouldn't smile. I'll attach the few good ones, and also a couple "out takes"!
• While we were getting Mia's pictures made I had my other heartwarming moment of the week. The photographer kept wanting Mia to stand while holding onto things (chairs, boxes, etc.), but those things kept sliding. Mia doesn't yet have the balance to stabilize herself, so when those things moved she got scared. She kept looking to me with fear in her eyes, so I'd go over to her and hold onto her to try to reassure her. Well, after several tries of the standing poses, we gave up and the photographer put her on a stool. She positioned me on a stool behind her, to hold onto her waist as she sat there. At that point Mia was just worn out. She didn't feel secure on the stool and she finally turned to me and threw her arms around my neck. When the photographer came over to her Mia buried her face in my neck and clung to me. Once again, I was her comfort and once again, I was reminded that I am actually Mia's Mommy. It was wonderful and I just grabbed her and held her to me. I'm so honored to be blessed with this child and I can't believe God deemed me worthy of such an incredible gift. I'm so overwhelmed with love.

Our week

Mia and I were very sick last weekend and the first of this week. We both went to the urgent care center on Friday night and Granny Judy met us there. Granny took Mia home with her and kept her the whole weekend. Mia had a double ear infection. I stayed in bed the entire weekend with a sinus infection. Mia started feeling better almost immediately but I’m still battling congestion and a cough. I’m heading to Texas for a conference on Sunday and the thing I’m most looking forward to is sleeping through the night three nights in a row!

While at Granny and Grampy’s, Mia continued to make progress with her waving. Granny and Grampy worked with her and she now repeats “Hi Dada” while waving. Not consistently, but occasionally. She’s crawling all over the place and now pays attention when I point to objects while reading her stories. She’s also gotten another tooth, her upper right front tooth, so that’s been bothering her this week.

Mia is really thriving in her new room at daycare. I’m so happy we made the switch. Her new teachers love her as much as her first teachers did, and it’s so reassuring to know she’s in such loving care. Mike and I continue to be completely enamored with her as well. The other night I looked at him with tears in my eyes and told him I just can’t believe she’s ours. I feel so blessed to have such a sweet, happy baby. She’s pure joy and entertainment for us. When that child is awake, we’re playing games, on the floor rolling around, singing, clapping, waving…anything we can to get a response from her. What did we ever do before she came along?

Crawling...forward!

Miss Mia is finally crawling! She started last night. She was on the living room floor playing with her toys and I went into the kitchen to make her veggies and cereal. When I came back out she was on the other side of the room, on her back. I stood there watching her and the next thing I knew, she rolled over, got onto all fours, stuck her right foot out to the side, and used that to propel her forward! So she’s kind of hobbling along, “walking” with the right foot, but crawling with her left foot and hands. It’s funny to see! Her little arms are very shaky from holding herself up so long, but I know she’ll be tearing into things in no time. Of course she went right for the cabinet holding the cleaning supplies so I need to do a thorough examination of the house from floor-level.

Mia's Eighth Month

Almost back to normal

It’s been a very hectic couple of weeks. Mia’s ear infection really affected her sleep. A few nights she was inconsolable, then after the ear started feeling better she got a head cold from her allergies. For 12 nights straight, Mike and I had minimal sleep. One night I got up with her at 2:00 a.m. and never went back to sleep (that was a fun day at work), another night Mike stayed up with her until 4:00 a.m., then we switched. We’ve been like walking zombies. During all this we went to Gatlinburg for a weekend with Missy, SP and Cara. We had a great time during the day, but the nights were pretty miserable. Mia was very congested and it was hard to get comfortable sleeping with her in a bunk bed. The great news is that last night provided us some relief. She only woke up twice and immediately fell back to sleep. I’m hopeful we’re going to get her back into her routine and Mike and I will be able to get a full night’s sleep at least once this week!

In other wonderful news, Mia is in a new room at daycare with great teachers. I dropped her off yesterday and today, and I’m extremely comfortable with these women. They seem very devoted and caring, they offer lots of information about what Mia’s up to, and they also offer practical advice for a new mom. I’m so thrilled! She seems very happy in there and I have a good feeling that she will thrive in their care.

Mia has started a few new tricks these past few days. Now that she’s starting to feel better, it seems like she’s ready to get back in the swing of making baby progress.

• Although we always place her to sleep on her back, we very frequently find her sitting up in her crib playing with her toys now.
• She scoots herself around so much in her bed that she gets her legs caught through the crib rails. I had to buy a mesh bumper so she wouldn’t do that all night.
• The other day she started pulling up on her crib rails so we had to lower her mattress and remove her mobile.
• She stands at the ottoman to play with her toys, and on Sunday I realized she wasn’t holding on, but just standing there for a few seconds on her own. It wasn’t long before she fell on her bottom, but it was an accomplishment nonetheless!
• She’s now making clicking noises with her tongue. We actually enjoy doing it together. It’s our mother-daughter musical act.
• She mimics me when I clap my hands and say “yay”. Of course her “yay” is more like “eeehhhhhh”, but I get her point.
• She did a brief wave to me on Sunday, although she wouldn’t repeat it on demand. She’s not caught on to the “obey your father and your mother” commandment just yet!
• She’s still primarily crawling backward, although since Sunday she’s been moving herself forward one “step” before collapsing and rolling onto her back.

I really think things are starting to align for her. She’s feeling better, she’s in a new room at daycare and she got to hang out with Cara over the weekend and see how these crawling and waving things are supposed to work. It’s nice to see her back to her bouncy little self!

Mia’s social calendar is very full this week. She’s spending the evening with Granny and Grampy Hollkamp tonight, going to a Halloween party with Nana and Papa Wilson and Cara tomorrow night, a Halloween party at MODA on Thursday night, and visiting with Mamaw and Papaw Robbins at her Trunk or Treat party at daycare on Friday. There’s no question this little social butterfly is our daughter!

Daycare update

Mia will be moved to her new room at daycare on Monday. We’re relieved!

Daycare

We had another issue at daycare. Yesterday Carol went to pick her up and Mia was sitting in the floor in just a diaper, crying. I spoke to Tina, the director, about it today and told her Mike and I do not get good vibes from the teachers in her room. I told her there seems to be a huge breakdown in communication and that the late afternoon teacher can never answer any of my questions about why Mia is not wearing the outfit I put her in (did she get sick, have an accident, get food on her, etc.), where her paci is, where her car seat is, where her diaper bag is, what she did today, etc. She’s also crying a lot more when we get there, which I first attributed to a schedule change, then to her ear infection. I told Tina that Mia is a happy baby and it causes me anxiety when I continually find my little girl crying with caregivers that don't seem to know what's going on around them. Tina said they have had problems with the teachers in Mia’s room and she’s been trying to work with them but hasn’t been making progress. Tina actually asked if I’d like to have her moved. I thought her bringing it up was a big red flag that my answer should be yes. I spoke with my co-worker whose children were in the other crawler room and she said she loved those teachers. One of them still babysits for her at home on evenings and weekends. She said when her kids would be sent to Mia’s room in late afternoon (sometimes they combine the rooms late in the day once some go home), she would leave work early to go get them because she didn’t get good vibes from Mia’s teachers either. She said that if Tina offered to move Mia, move her. Tina said it may be a few weeks before they have an opening, but Mike and I have decided to do that. Hopefully it will ease some of the anxiety we’ve felt with her in that room.