Guess what Mia did today!

While I was cleaning her playmat off this morning, Miss Mia decided to crawl her way up my back until she was standing....ON HER OWN! I couldn't believe it! It was around 11:20am and she stood unassisted for a few seconds! I was like OH MY GOSH! I think she may have even stood by herself earlier this morning but I'm not completely sure if she did. I am DEFINITELY sure she stood by herself the 2nd time around though! WATCH OUT....here comes Mobile Mia!!

Early bird, Tues March 28th

Well Mia slept okay last night...definitely not ten hours straight through like she usually does. She finally went down at 8:30pm for us only to get back up at 11:30pm. She was crying pretty loud so I went in to get her. I picked her up and she was giving me the milk sign! I fed her maybe 15 mins and she ended up falling asleep on me...poor thing! I put her back down around midnight and heard her stirring at 3am-ish but she fell back to sleep until she woke up at 5:30am. I fed her like usual and put her back down, but Mia must have thought it was time to get up b/c she just cried off and on and wouldn't go back to sleep. I was sooooooooooooooooo tiredddd but had to get up with her. Thankfully she went back to sleep at 8:20 until 9:50am...I needed it and so did Mia. She woke up happy though she is still in some pain from her 2nd tooth. Poor thing is drooling like crazy and she is all congested. Mia however is herself activity wise...she is playing on the floor and crawling like crazy. Anywho, let's hope it's not this way for her top front teeth!!

Mia's teething once again :(

Miss Mia is once again teething (although her 2nd tooth popped up
late last week)...very drooly and developed a nastttty cold tonight.
She was fine all day which is weird but this is the same exact way she
was when she got her first tooth. She is also coughing from all the
nasal drip and scared us when she looked like she was gagging on her
saliva. Luckily, she wasn't but mannn did it scare us. Josh ran out of
her room (he was in there rocking her b/c she wouldn't sleep) and sai,
"quick get the suctioner" while Mia was red in the face. My heart was
racing and I ran to get it in her room. Thankfully she was fine
though she had a TON of saliva in her throat which we got out
(somewhat) with the suctioner. I gave her some formula (b/c she spit up a lot
of what I fed her at 7:15pm) and water
which seemed to help. Poor thing though. I hate seeing her like
this. :( We finally got her down at 8:30pm after getting her up twice
and rocking her from when I put her down at 7:30ish. She is fast asleep thankfully
and hopefully she will sleep well tonight. :)

Mama, Another tooth

Well Mia started actually saying Mama today (I'm sure she doesn't do it intentionally)....FINALLY! She used to say baba and does still say dada, but no mamas until today. Woo Hoo!

When Josh was feeding Mia, he noticed that her bottom left front tooth is popping up too! I didn't notice it until he was feeding her and said something. Oh and when we were changing her for bed, she grabbed my finger too quickly and I poked her gum area of the tooth that is popping up....and she screammmmeedddd! Poor thing! Let's hope this tooth doesn't bother her as much as the first one did! :)

The Carroll Family Update

Well, here is my update on Mia...or should I say novel? Oh well...read it if you'd like!! :)

Miss Mia turned 8 months old on March 14th...I can't believe that! She is still pretty long and very vocal. She loves play time and putting things in her mouth. Mia is still in her infant carrier which goes to 29 inches (thankfully!) and as soon as she reaches the inch requirement (I don't think she'll hit the weight limit of 20lbs first), we'll have to get a convertible carseat. We haven't measured her yet but I'm guessing she is close to 27 inches or so. We'll find out at her doc appt in a few weeks.

Since yesterday, she has decided that she'd like to bite on the spoon and keep it in her mouth when I'm trying to take it out. She'll just bite on it for a few seconds and then eventually lets me have it back. Mia makes the cutest face when doing it too!

Speaking of biting, since March 13th, Mia has had her first tooth come in. It was definitely a cranky time for her with a slight temp, cold/runny nose, congestion, lots of drool and not sleeping very well (that subsided after a few days thankfully). Her tooth then disappeared a week later on the 20th and then decided to pop up shortly after. Josh and I don't see another tooth but we think the bottom left one is on its way up!

Food wise, Mia loves her stage 2 baby foods especially the fruits! We gave her blueberries and bananas, apples and strawberries, guava which she loved eating for the first time today, pears and blueberries, amongst some others. She likes her veggies too except for peas...still does not like those! Nor does she like the oatmeal and pears w/ cinnamon baby food we gave her yesterday. Josh's mom and I were cracking up at the faces she'd give us when I fed her the oatmeal. I got it on video too, of course! Mia will eat one jar of baby food twice a day (one veggies, one fruit) and she'll take some water from her sippy cup to wash it down. She loves her sippy cup and seems to like the water too.

Milk wise, I'm still feeding Mia about every 3 hours and we'll supplement with a couple ounces of formula afterwards. I'll also give her a bottle of formula after I nurse her at night b/c she wants more. She'll take about 4-5 oz of formula after feeding from me and is usually good to go with her head laying on my shoulder after she is finished. Then I sing her "You are my sunshine" and place her in the crib for a good night's rest.

Sleep wise, Mia still sleep 10-11 hours at night w/o getting up. She's been doing that since she was 2 months old or so. We're pretty lucky she sleeps so well for us...except when she got her first tooth two weeks ago! I'm sure I created a post about it below but she woke up about 5x that first night with a major cold and stuffy nose. It was like starting all over. Luckily, it was only that first night but her crankiness from the tooth lasted a bit longer. She's good now though and her little tooth is making its way up (it went down on Sunday and popped back up yesterday). I think the other bottom one is popping up too! Watch out!

Mobile wise, let's just say she's a cruiser....she'll probably start walking soon! She's been crawling now for almost 3 weeks and has been pulling herself up on everything. She's trying to stand on her own and it looks as if she's going to do a somersault when she tries to stand. Josh and I crack up laughing when she's crawling and trying to stand. She'll fall on her butt and get back up to try it again. I guess practice makes perfect...let's just hope perfection isn't right around the corner!

Weight wise, we aren't sure what Mia weighs yet. I'm guessing right around 15 1/2 lbs to 16lbs, b/c she weighed 14 lbs 12 oz a bit over a month ago. She is definitely feeling heavier and her little thighs are getting chunky...gotta love chunky thighs! Mia and I still attend our weekly playgroups and have 5 of them a week! It used to be 3 but now that I joined another mom's group and decided to put a group together with some of my friends from the hospital group, I have two more to add on. It's a lot of fun and Mia and I get to get out of the house which is always nice. I don't know what I'd do w/o these playgroups though. I think they keep me sane! haha!

As far Josh and I go, we are loving parenthood and seeing our little girl grow up. We still can't believe she is 8 months old already! We've definitely enjoy all the time we spend with Mia and look forward to seeing her accomplish many more milestones. :)

Hope you enjoyed my long story! Don't forget to take a peek at our pictures on the right hand side.

Until next time...

Love, Cathy, Josh and Mia

Grandpa and Grandma Carrolls Visit

Well Josh's parents left on Tuesday morning after a 5 day stay. We had a lot of fun while they were here and time seemed to go by too quickly. They just loved playing with Mia and making her giggle. They loved seeing her crawl and stand up, supported of course. Grandma loved getting her up for me in the mornings and seeing her standing in the crib. Grandpa loved making her giggle with the big kitty cat Grandma got Mia....it was too cute seeing her laugh so much! Of course we took tons of pics while they were here including some videos too.

Josh's parents and my brother helped us out a lot while they were here...I wish they didn't have to leave. It was definitely nice to have them visit us...wish they or we were closer though. The bright side is is that we get to see them in three weeks when we fly home for Easter! Woo Hoo! My family can't wait b/c they haven't seen us since Christmas. We can't wait either! Should be fun!! :)

More new stuff!!

Today Mia started giving hugs or being bashful..kind of. When I was holding her this morning, she buried her face in my shirt as if to give me a hug or just being bashful, and then she did it again when she saw Miki. I think she got it from her friend Gracie. I love it though...too cute!

Well Mia's teething cold/runny nose has just about gone away as of yesterday. Her nose is still running but definitely not as bad. Her drooling as seized too thankfully. We also noticed that her tooth is not showing anymore. I noticed it today when our friend Stacey asked about her tooth. She said she didn't see it and that it must have gone back down. I didn't even know that happens?

As of this past Thursday, we decided to take Mia's fish mobile out of her crib b/c she was starting to stand up and pull on them! I'd notice that all four fish would be down from the mobile and didn't know how they got there until I found her taking them down. So no more mobile and soon it may be no more bumper either (when I find her using it as a step, that's probably when I'll remove it).

Mia's crusing around now and a lotttt more mobile than she used to be. Man I thought I was busy before! She's pulling herself up on things and loves to stand and take steps (starting taking steps this past week). Josh and his dad think Mia's going to walk rather quickly. I'm like don't say that! haha! It's fun though seeing her accomplish new things. It's probably going to be fun seeing her take her first step all by herself too. I just hope that that's a ways away from now! :)

Josh's parents are still visiting and will be leaving Tues morning. It's so much fun to see them interact with Mia...she just loves them! They have been such great help...I wish they could stay! :( It's definitely nice to have family around. I hope that we will be closer to them some day soon! :) We'll get to see them again for Easter along with my parents who haven't seen Mia since Christmas. They can not wait! It'll be Mia's first Easter and should be a lot of fun! Can't wait!

Exciting things are happening!

Today, after Mia woke up from her nap at 6:15pm, Josh went in to get her and found her standing in the crib, holding onto the bars!!! I quickly snatched my camera out of its bag and took two shots of her. Way too cute!!

Another new trick Mia did today was clap her hands! She was watching the Baby Einstein video in her saucer while we were cleaning up and she just started clapping. These new things are just too exciting! :)

TEETH are on their way in!

It is confirmed...Mia is getting teeth!! I noticed it today when Josh and I were looking at her bottom gum and saw the white tip portion of her bottom right tooth! I was so excited!! Then I was like, oh I'm still nursing! haha! I had a feeling she was teething just b/c of all the drool she has in her mouth. Her clothes get soaking wet all the time and so I may need to put a bib on her. She just wants to chew, chew, chew!

Anywho, Mia is cranky as ever, she wouldn't nap today until a half hour ago (was up for 5 1/2 hours!), her nose is constantly runny, her fever is gone, and she is still congested. Poor thing! And I thought it was hard in the beginning with her?! I guess they were right about teething...it isn't easy!

More tricks

This past Friday as Mia and I were saying bye to Josh after we met up for lunch, she waved bye with one hand when she saw me and Josh doing it in front of her! We were like no wayyyy...then we did it again and she mocked us! Too cute! She did it again today when we were giving her a bath tonight. We said Hi and waved our hands in the air and she did waved once again! :)

Another new thing Mia has been doing is pushing things away. About a week ago, Mia has been pushing things away with her hands when she doesn't want something. When my brother was here visiting, we gave her a toy or something and she shoved it away as if saying get this out of my face mommy....she's been doing it since. Before you know, she'll be doing that and saying NO at the same time! Yikes!

Cold wise, Mia is all congested still...and so are we! I am worse than Josh...I can't smell or taste anything and my eyes are so itchy. Anywho, getting back to Mia.... she has a tough time breathing through her nose at night and has to breathe through her mouth. Well that was tough tonight b/c she wanted to suck her fingers like she always does and that was hard to do b/c her nose is all stuffed up. Soooo she would not go down for us tonight. I put her down at 7:40 and in the 1 hour and 20 mins it took for her to fall asleep, we had to go in 4 times to get her up. She just wanted to be held and would lay her head on our shoulder. Then when we'd go to put her back down, she'd start crying as soon as we left the room. Then it turned into screaming! The 4th time, I had to give her 4 more oz of formula which she took and was happy with. I rocked her in the glider and in my arms....she was soooo sleepy. I gently placed her in the crib and stayed in the room until she was good to go (maybe 5 mins). She was trying to suck her fingers and breathe through her nose...I felt so bad b/c all I heard was a clogged up nose. She eventually was able to cope with it and I ever so quietly left the room. It worked thankfully! PHEW!

That's all for now.... :) More new things to come I'm sure!

Teething?

Since this past Thursday night, Mia has not been herself. She woke up 5 times Thurs night (highly unlike her) with a cough and very runny nose. She didn't have either during the day which is the weird thing. Then Friday, she ran a temp of 100.7 but the baby tylenol brought it back down within a few hours. Her nose was soooo runny and she had soooo much saliva, she was coughing like crazy...it was ridiculous! Josh and I think it's teeth, but it could just be a cold. If it is a cold, then I'm not sure why she is drooling so much. Maybe it's both!

Mia's naps have not been the same either. She only napped twice yesterday and went to bed around 7:30pm and woke up this morning at 6:30ish w/o getting up...phew! I was happy b/c I was a bit tired from getting up with her 5 times thurs night. However, she only napped one quick nap early this morning and would not take her other two naps. She may have slept 15 mins in the car, but that's about it. Poor thing was soo tired, but she did very well for being up for so long. I put her to sleep around 7:30 again tonight but she woke up crying in her crib, kneeling and holding on to the bars around 8:35pm. I went in, wiped her nose and mouth area b/c it was just nasty wet, rocked her in the glider, and she passed out on me. It was soo cute! She was pretty congested and couldn't really breathe through her nose. Maybe that's why she didn't nap today? I just hope her teeth come soon if they are coming in so she can get back to her normal self. :) I'll keep you posted as usual.

Sippy Cup, Cruiser

Well since around this past Monday, Mia has been actually sipping out of her sippy cup! She is now a pro at it and doesn't cough as much as she used to when she took sips from the cup. Mia seems to like it though and I'm sure she'll like it even more when we put juice in there.

So our little girl is a cruiser now...she just loves crawling and is getting better at it each day. She is still trying to pull herself up every chance she gets whether it is on me or her jumperoo. Each time we go in to get her when she awakes from her nap, she is either sitting in the crib or peeking through the bars trying to stand up. I have a funny feeling she won't be crawling as long as I'd like her to. :)

My brother left late Tuesday night and thankfully his visit didn't impact Mia's naps like it did when my mom came out here for Turkey Day. Mia didn't nap at all until she left! Mia just loves her Uncle Paulie though and had a lot of fun with him. He is now back in PA and we can't wait to see him and our families when we head back there for Mia's first Easter! Should be fun like it always is! :)

More news!

Well today we had to lower Mia's crib mattress to the lowest level b/c she learned to pull herself up to a standing position today!!! Ahhh! :) She pulled herself up on my brother and then again when she grabbed for my arms. Smart girl!! She also learned how to grab the fish down from teh mobile which was clue #2 that we should lower the mattress. Anywho, Josh lowered the it to the lowest setting b/c it would be a pain to keep on having to do it (three are 3 or 4 levels). We still have the bumper in the crib b/c Mia gets her legs caught in the bars..silly girl!

My Brother's Visit

So my brother Paul finally flew out to see us since we moved here 5 1/2 years ago! ;) He and I went to Sierra to do some snowboarding on Sat Mar. 4th and ran into an hour's worth of traffic due to people using the right hand lane to put their chains on. Luckily, we didn't have to use ours. We had a great time boarding in the 1 1/2 feet of new snow they got the day before. It was all powder and just perfect! Paulie did pretty well boarding and so did I after not boarding for two years. We loved it though and had a fun time! We even got to meet some fellow Penn Staters!

Sat night we had a little Hawaiian party with some friends whom Paulie got to meet. Mia got to mee ythem too and did very well staying up until 9:30 ish...she was a bit tired! Admid all the noise, our little princess slept through it all! She is such a good sleeper thankfully! We all had a fun time that night and enjoyed some Pina Coladas and beer. Josh, Paulie and I didn't hit the sack until close to 2am and I had to get up at 5:45 to feed Mia! Oh well.... :)

Paulie leaves tomorrow night, Tuesday and had a good little stay with us. He probably doesn't want to go back to PA, but like they say, all good things must come to an end. I'm sure he'll be back out if Josh and I stay put for another year. We'll see though!

More visitors to come when Josh's parents fly out from Mar. 15-21st! Fun fun!

GUESS WHAT!!!!

While playing with Mia this morning, she decided to sit up from the "on all fours" position! It was sooo cool to see! She only did it once, but I'm sure there's more to come. Mia also decided to suprise me by doing something else...she took little knee steps as she inched her way towards her toys and started crawling! Woo Hoo! I was so excited that I had to get it on video! I just love all these little milestones Mia's accomplishing. Gotta love being a mom! :)