Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween!

I though it would be fun to share some pictures of Mia and me (and Sophie!) dressed up for Halloween. Mia is dressed as Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street, and I'm dressed as a well-fed cat. (And I guess that makes Sophie the fish!)









I took Mia to her first Halloween party last night, and she ran around a friend's backyard with about two dozen other goblins. This morning, we both got dressed up for our family workout at Stroller Strides, and in a couple of hours we're going to check out the city's festivities. When Jeff gets home from work, we're going to take Mia out on her first Trick or Treating adventure. We'll also have to post some pics of Jeff's costume later, too. ;o) Enjoy!

34 Weeks - New OB

I saw my OB again yesterday, and I can't believe it's already been 3 weeks since I was there last. It's kind of freaking me out how fast his pregnancy is going. Sophie is due in about 6 weeks! Crazy. The appointment was routine, and the main thing I learned was not about me or the baby but the fact that my two OBs have added a 3rd to their practice. All three of them are now on call and in rotation. I won't meet the new doctor until my next appointment in two weeks. With both pregnancies, I've been switching back & forth between the two docs for every appointment so that I would be comfortable with both since you never know who will be on call when the baby comes. (With Mia, I was in labor so long I ended up seeing both docs during delivery, too...) So I made sure to schedule my next appointment with the new doc just in case she ends up, oh I don't know, delivering my baby 4 weeks later. Kind of a nutty variable to throw in the mix in the home stretch. At this point I'm trying to work on the assumption that if I like both of the docs I've been working with (which I do), then I'm sure I'll like the new doc they've decided to add to their practice.

Mia's Bitty Baby

This one is for Grandma. :o) Mia received a Bitty Baby for her birthday, along w/ two sets of matching PJs: one for Mia and one for the Baby. Mia prefers to have the baby naked (what 2-year-old doesn't?), so I thought I'd share this rare photo of the two finally dressed to match. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Patch!

I took Mia to visit the pumpkin patch and corn maze at the Underwood Family Farm in Moorpark on Friday, and we had a blast. For a while she sat on a humongous pumpkin while holding a tiny pumpkin, and kept telling me that the little one was "Mia's pumpkin" and the humongous one was "Dada's pumpkin". I thought it was pretty cute that she wanted him to have a pumpkin even though he wasn't there with us. :o) I think the funniest part of the whole trip was our trek through the corn maze. Mia totally didn't get why the path would just end every time we hit a dead end, and she turned around with her hands up at her shoulder and uttered, "What happen??" In fact, when she and I were showing Jeff the pictures of our trip later in the evening, she was evening more agitated and kept pointing at the screen when there was a picture of ad dead end to ask Daddy, "What happen??" :o) Enjoy!

Progress on the Potty-Training Front

I'm sure that I'm jinxing myself just by typing this, but we are starting to make some slow, steady progress with the potty training: Mia has peed on the potty at least once each day for 6 straight days! And today was an amazing (and successful) adventure with a trip to a public toilet!! The biggest sacrifice I've had to make in all this is the countless hours I've endured the Elmo's Potty Time DVD in the last month, but I can't say enough good stuff about that (frickin') DVD. The first time she watched it, she marched straight to the potty as it ended and peed. Twice in ten minutes. And she told me all about how Elmo peed and pooped the whole time. (Sigh.) She's also learned about the importance of washing her hands, and she's particularly concerned with getting the backs of her hands clean, too. So I'm resurrecting dim hopes that she may be potty trained by the time Sophie arrives...if only to regress upon her arrival. ;o)

7 Months

I can't believe it, but I'll be 7 months along tomorrow. I had another visit w/ my OB yesterday, and things are still looking good. BP and weight gain are still good, my glucose screen was normal, and Sophie's growth is measuring well. In fact, I'm so normal, he had me schedule my next appt for 3 weeks out instead of two.

While I was there, I got clearance to fly up through the first week of November so Jeff and I can try to get away for a "babymoon" weekend at some point. I am amazed at how claustrophobic it feels to be grounded from travel during that last month. I won't be able to fly at all, and I won't be able to travel by any means more than an hour from my hospital. I think with Mia, since I had still been traveling for work rather recently, I was excited to have someone tell me I couldn't fly anymore. (No more cross-country flights to New Jersey where I can pick up a train to NY, where I'll be for 36 hours before heading back the same way?? Sign me up!) But now, even though I've only flown a few times at all in the entire last three years, it feels like I'm grounded. However, it also means we're getting very close to Sophie's arrival, which is exciting. :o)

I talked with my OB about two other issues during yesterday's visit that I was very happy about. First, I got a referral to a chiropractor in the area who works with pregnant women. I don't know how I never thought about seeing a chiropractor in my first pregnancy or until now this time around, but I'm so excited about getting an appt and seeing if this woman can bring any relief to my hips, back, and especially my aching pelvic bone. I'll definitely update on that one!

And I also talked to my doctor about being able to to drink water and Gatorade during labor at the hospital, and I got his blessing. (Yeah!) When I was in labor with Mia, Jeff had brought a huge variety of food and beverages home for me to graze from, and for the first 20 hours I did a lot of grazing. But once I got to the hospital, I was restricted to ice chips... So I still had 13.5 hours to go and a lot of work to do (still had to dilate from 2cm to 10cm) and I got no food. I don't remember wanting to eat any actual food, but it would have been great to be able to drink water or to get some calories from something like Gatorade. It's nice to know that I won't have to deal with that particular issue this go around. (And let's hope for a shorter labor to boot!!)

"Z Goes Home"

Mia and I picked up a few new books from the library today, and this one caught my eye because I thought it would be fun to work on some letters together. Each page of the book has a giant illustration of a letter looking like a word that also starts with that letter. (I.e., the first page is an "A" drawn to look like an alien.) One the very first page, the letter "Z" climbs down from a sign at the zoo and walks past all of the letters illustrated in the book on its way home. On the last page, it walks into its living room and announces that it's home, and its family (several other letters) is sitting around the living room like one might expect to find any family when arriving home.

So when we got to that page, I pointed to the letter "O" sitting on the sofa and asked Mia if she knew what letter it was. And she responded as if that were the most obvious thing in the world: "O." I was sure this was a fluke. Maybe she meant, "oh..." So I pointed to the "W", and then the "E", and the "I" and asked her about each one. And she got each one right!! This kid continues to amaze me everyday.

Nap - Day 2...

So... Mia apparently got out of bed one last time after I checked on her today:



It only took a couple of minutes to get her to stay in bed today, so I thought we were all set. Then at one point I heard soft noises coming from her room, and when I peeked in, I saw that she had smuggled PlayDoh into bed! So I took that and put her back down. She seemed settled again, and when I peeked back later, this is what I found. Hey, at least she's sleeping! ;o) (And I love that she and the Sleep Sheep are sleeping in the same position!)

Mia's 2nd Birthday Party

So here they finally are -- the photos from Mia's 2nd birthday party:



There are a ton of pictures in this slideshow, so you can click on the show itself to see all the thumbnails and pick & choose which you'd like to see. You can also see a larger version of the slideshow here.

Obviously, Mia had a great time at her party, and we really enjoyed having all of her friends over for the afternoon. The kids & parents alike devoured pizza, PB&J, snacks, and cake. The kids took over our house inside & out! :o) Indoors they played with balls & toys and colored in Elmo coloring pages. Outdoors, they played on the slide, crawled through tents & tunnels, and rode the bouncy horse. After all this excitement, Mia opened her presents and then went down for a four-hour nap! :o)

Heather made the super-amazing cake, and my friend Amber took the photos. (If you're looking for a photographer in the LA area for events or portraits, check Amber out here.)

Sophie's Last Pre-Birth Photo

I had my 6-month check up today, and I'm happy to report that Sophie and I are doing well. We are both gaining weight appropriately, and my glucose test last week was normal. My doctor commented during the ultrasound that Sophie has a "beautiful heart", a "big tummy", and that she's about 4 pounds already. (That's apparently totally right on schedule, but to me it seems early to be that big already.) I also go back for my next appointment in two weeks instead of four, and I really can't believe that. It seemed like it took forever to get to that point with Mia, but here we are!

Oh, and I asked the doctor to check that Sophie is in fact still a girl, and she apparently is. ;o)

Napping in the Big Girl Bed

So last night in the big girl bed went really, really well. Mia stayed asleep and in bed all night long. I put a baby gate up just outside her door just in case she tried to wander the house during the night, but she didn't wake up until 7am. :-D

As I predicted, getting her down for a nap in the bed was a tiny bit trickier, but I have to say that I *heart* Jo Frost. I've been a Super Nanny addict for a while now, and I decided to try out her techniques for putting kids to bed. I did Mia's regular nap time routine, including singing her a couple of songs. The first time she hopped out of bed (which was immediately), I just placed her back and said, "It's bed time, Mia." The next time (also immediately) I placed her back and said only, "Good night." Then I spent the next 10 minutes putting her back into bed while saying nothing and avoiding eye contact. Each time, I walked out of the room and peaked through the door to watch. After 10-12 minutes she gave up on getting out of bed and rolled around for a little while in bed. And within 20 minutes of starting the whole process, she was asleep!! Now I'm crossing my fingers that we can keep this up!

Big Girl Bed!

It looks like this is shaping up to be a big day all around. After our first trip to the soccer field, we wrapped up our day w/ Mia's first night in the big girl bed! Jeff and I tucked her in, gave her a stuffed sheep, and sang her a couple of bed time songs. She seemed like she was going to jump right out of bed at first, but it's been a half hour, and we haven't heard any noise from her room. The night is young, though, so I may update this later... ;o) At any rate, I'm more nervous about putting her down for a nap tomorrow while it's still light out...

Mia's 1st Day of Soccer

I signed Mia up for a "Mommy/Daddy and Me" soccer class through our rec center, and we went for our first day today. Besides the fact that we were entirely too close to Mia's nap time, she seemed to have a good time. The coach set up a circle of 8 differently colored flags, and the kids practiced "little kicks" by dribbling their ball over to each color. The hardest part was keeping them from using their hands to just pick up the ball and run it over. The last few minutes were "goal time," and each kid got to kick in a goal. It was pretty fun!

Mia's 1st Paintings

Mia received an art kit for her birthday, and she really enjoyed producing her first few paintings yesterday afternoon. Here are her very first water color and finger paintings. Enjoy!

Done with School for about 6 Months!

I just submitted my final paper for the summer quarter via email, and I'm done with school until the spring 2009 quarter starts up. I had originally planned to enroll for fall and only take off the winter quarter until two things dawned on me. Since Sophie's due date is 12/14, she could come any time between Thanksgiving and New Year's and still be considered "on time". I decided I could live w/o that variable hanging over my head while trying to study for finals and write term papers next quarter. Probably more importantly, I asked myself why on earth I'd want to have a 100% packed scheduled leading right up to Sophie's due date, even if we assume she came safely after the quarter's end. I already know first hand that having a newborn = getting no sleep. I decided not to go into that already run down from school. So now I'm excited that I get to focus the next few months on the end of my pregnancy, preparing the house for Sophie's arrival, preparing Mia for Sophie's arrival, and wrapping up things with the business before I take my leave.

Jeff and I bought furniture, bedding, and decorations for Mia's big-girl room, and I'm looking forward to starting the project of getting it all assembled next week. We'd like to have her room (including the big-girl bed!) all ready to go so that we can starting setting up all of the nursery furniture in Sophie's new room. And I'd really like have that done well before Sophie actually gets here so that Mia doesn't feel like the baby is kicking her out of the crib. My hope is that by the time she sees Sophie in the crib, she's long forgotten she ever used to sleep there!

Mia Speaks Out

Mia has been interested in the phone for a while now, but she's recently starting imitating the way I hold the phone w/ my shoulder and say "uh huh" when I'm walking around and talking. Yesterday she made several phone calls, but she called Papa nonstop for several minutes. Oh, and please don't feel like you need to watch the whole video. I'll never know! ;-)

Third Trimester!

I've officially entered the 3rd trimester! Jeff & I can't wait to meet Sophie and to see what our family of four is going to look like. We've *finally* gotten Mia a set of big-girl furniture, so we can start moving the crib & the rest of the nursery furniture into Sophie's room. (Hey, Mom! It looks like Sophie might escape the sock drawer after all.) I remember how strange it was to walk by Mia's room before she was born, and now I'm imagining what it will be like to have two kids' rooms at the end of our hall. Since we moved in back in January, Sophie's room has been mostly empty and is just serving as an extra storage room. It's going to be weird actually getting that room ready for her arrival. :o) Can't wait!

Clumsy, clumsy toddler.

I don't know what is going on with Mia this week, but she is suddenly the clumsiest person I know. In the last 48 hours, she has taken 5 really good falls that have lead to tears, scrapes, and even blood.

Twice she got overly eager and face planted off a play structure at the park. (After the second of these falls, she got so much sand in between her front teeth that it was the first time in my life that I thought while looking at an injured person, "Wow, that's going to need some floss...")

Twice she ate it while running. The first time she scraped up two elbows and one knee on the sidewalk, and the second time she tumbled (again) face first into the sand.

In the midst of her own falling spree (and the resulting cranky mood), another child accidentally pinched her inner thigh in a buckle while "helping" her get into a swing. The resulting raspberry required two ice packs (one shaped like a kitty head and the other like Spiderman's head) to calm her down.

The grand finale was this morning when she tripped over her own feet and landed face first (yet again) into one of the legs of our dining room table. The result was Mia's very first bloody nose... She was so upset after that one that she settled for a plain old bag of ice and a paper towel, since we don't (yet) own kid-friendly ice packs.

I'm seriously hoping she's just going through a growth spurt or something and is just having trouble figuring out where the ends of her legs are now! Otherwise the neighbors are going to be sending CPS our way...

Dancing Queen

These are some awesome shots of Mia partying hard at her auntie's wedding over the weekend. Much love to Kassel for sharing these with us!!

From Heather's Wedding

Mia seriously danced until about 10:30pm when we finally dragged her back to the hotel!

From Heather's Wedding

Sneaking a peak at the corsages before heading off to the ceremony.

From Heather's Wedding

Mom trying to get Mia's hair pinned back after Mia broke her headband before we even left the hotel...

From Heather's Wedding

Perhaps we should have known she was going to take this party very seriously?

From Heather's Wedding

And...she's done! ;-)