Where Does The Time Go? 15 Months

It's hard to believe that it's been three months since I last posted.  Feels like just yesterday she had her first birthday, but I blinked and now she's 15 months of pure love and joy.  Mia had a well check at the doctor last week and weighed in at 23 pounds, 5 ounces and 31.5 inches long.  She is a great little eater, and loves water and milk. She is off bottles, so we are officially a bottle free household! Feels so good. :)

Mia is talking up a storm, and starting to string words together into phrases. She says many words, such as banana, more, water, all done, thank you, bubbles, outside.  Her favorite things to say are Hannah, Emma, Dada, Jersey, Mama. She loves running into Emma and Hannah's room and calling their names in the morning to wake them up. The first thing Hannah always does is gives Mia one of her beloved blankets.  One of the many selfless acts her sweet big sisters do for her.

Her little personality really shines, and it is so much fun watching it develop more and more each day. She is such a little ham, like big sis Hannah, and loves making people laugh.  Whenever I get my phone out to take a picture she says "cheese" and grins all on her own.  She is at that age where she wants to do whatever big sisters are doing and is pretty strong willed when she doesn't get her way. We are starting to see those adorable baby temper tantrums, and sometimes you just can't help but smile because she is so darn cute.


Mia mastered walking right at 13 months, and is now working on running. She loves the run away game! The girls and I chase her around and tickle her.... the giggles are priceless.

Over the past couple of months we have taken vacations to Juneau and San Diego to see our families, and Mia and the girls had a blast playing with grandparents and cousins, visiting beaches and the glacier, going to the fair and Sea World.

I can't say enough how blessed we feel to be Mia's mommy and daddy. Emma and Hannah absolutely adore her and would do anything for her (they don't even cry if she pulls their hair or pinches them - yes, we are in that phase too ;)  She completes our family in the most wonderful way. <3

Happy 1st Birthday, Little Miss Mia!

It is hard to believe that our baby girl is officially ONE year old! The past year has flown by, and we are having the best time watching Mia grow. Emma and Hannah especially love watching her reach new milestones and play with them more.  Their patience with her amazes me, and Mia just adores them.  Every morning she crawls down the hall to their bedroom to wake them up...it's the cutest thing ever.

Mia had her 12 month well check at the doctor this morning, and is doing great! She weighs 21.5 pounds and is 29.5 inches long.  The doctor was quite impressed with all the words she knows.  She says "bye-bye, mama, dada, ba-ba, boo, mema (Emma), dat (that)." 

Our hungry girl continues to be an amazing eater.  There hasn't been anything she won't eat so far! She loves bananas, spaghetti, mac and cheese, quesadillas, and more.  Her birthday cake was a hit too (the girls helped show her how to go for the frosting first...haha). Mia is officially off formula and drinking whole milk...yay! 

Sweet Mia's little sense of humor has really come out. She loves to tease, play peek-a-boo, and make her cute little scrunch face to make your laugh.  She stays busy with her library and Gymboree classes, and loves cruising around on the patio with Emma and Hannah.  She is not walking yet, but gets around quickly by cruising the furniture and crawling.  She uses anything and everything (chairs, etc.) as walkers and pushes them around the house.  For the past month she has been letting go to stand by herself, but when she realizes she's not supported she drops to her knees.  Maybe over the next month we will see her take her first steps. ;)  

We hope all is well with our family and friends. xo

Our Little Sunshine is 11 Months

We have officially started the countdown to the big first birthday now that Mia is 11 months old.  She is 21 pounds, and is growing longer and leaner by the day with all the crawling she is doing.  Mia has six teeth and is working on getting more in.

In the sleep department, we are all happy to say little Miss Mia continues to do amazingly well! She sleeps all night, every night and takes two good naps every day.

Now that she's such a big girl, Mia eats all of the foods we do and is loving the variety.  Mac and cheese and peas is her favorite meal.  She loves to snack on pouches, graham crackers, goldfish and teething biscuits.

Some of Mia's favorites are Itsy Bitsy Spider, Gymboree and library classes, cruising in her walker on the patio with Emma and Hannah, swinging at the park, making her scrunch face and being silly, playing anything and everything her big sisters do, and looking at pictures of family around the house and asking "dat?"

Over the past month, Mia's big accomplishments have been pulling herself up and standing wherever possible, cruising along furniture, standing by herself (5 seconds is her record!), giving high fives, clapping, waving and saying "bye-bye," and holding her own bottle consistently.

This month will be an exciting one...Mia's first spring training baseball game and first Easter! It's crazy to think that next time I update this blog we will have a one-year-old on our hands. We are just so blessed.

Mia has Reached the Double Digits~10 Months

Another month has flown by, and Mia is 10 months old! She now weighs 20 pounds, 10 ounces and is 28.5 inches long. Sweet baby girl has four teeth now (two on top, two on the bottom), and is working on more. Still lots of drool and chewing on anything she can get her hands on.

Great news to report this month: Mia is finally sleeping through the night consistently! This makes for a well-rested baby and momma. ;)  She is taking two naps these days and having lots of fun play time in between.  She loves to play school and babies with her big sisters.  You can just tell she feels like such big stuff when she's playing with them.  Emma and Hannah just adore her and their patience with her amazes me, considering she chews on their toys and knocks over their magna tiles on a regular basis.

Mia is eating lots of big girl food these days.  She loves mac and cheese, peanut butter and jelly toast, pot roast, grilled cheese....there is really not much she won't eat!  Her favorite snacks are pouches, puffs and teething biscuits.

Over the past month, Mia has gotten very quick with her crawling, and can disappear from one room into the next in the blink of an eye.  She loves standing at her play table, walking along furniture, and pushing her walker.  It won't be long before she takes off walking....I think she really wants to keep up with Emma and Hannah!

Mia is doing more babbling these days, and her laughs are contagious.  She does the cutest little scrunch face sometimes when she smiles and she knows she's being funny.  She's got a great sense of humor already.  Over the past few weeks she has started signing and saying "more" and "all done" when she eats.  She is also pointing and saying "what dat?" Her favorite thing to look at around the house are pictures of Emma and Hannah.  We look at their school pictures on the shelf daily and her sweet little face just lights up!

Hope everyone has a happy Valentine's Day!

9 Months and Mobile!

Little Mia had a big month.... she started crawling about a week before she turned nine months (on New Year's Day)! She is all over the place now, and is loving exploring her world with a whole new level of freedom.  It is fun to watch her curiosity as she discovers new things.  Mia is also pulling herself up onto anything in sight, but is still a bit wobbly, so we have to be close by to spot her.

I took her to the doctor today for a well visit and she is 20 pounds, 4 ounces and is 28.5 inches long. Growing right on track! She got her first ear infection this month, the result of a cold that she, Emma and Hannah kept passing around.  Poor Mia!

Mia loves giving kisses (she makes the cutest little fish face), clapping, waving and babbling.  She says "ma-ma, da, ba, pa."  Story time is one of her favorites and her favorite book is Peek-a-Baby.  Her sisters love to read to her and always include her in all of their games and activities, including dress up.  Mia loves to be one of the big girls!

This month Mia started Gymboree and loves it! She adores other babies her size and loves the slides, bubbles, songs and parachute time.  It's a fun bonding activity for Mia and Mommy while big sisters are busy at school.

We hope every one's new year is off to a good start! Love and hugs from the whole John family.