Mia @ 12 months

Mia had her 1 year doctor's appt today and she weighed in at 19lbs, 1oz, and measured 28 inches long.  She's maintaining her weight and height and growing, but the biggest increase was in her head circumference.  She's in the 90th percentile there!  So, something's working right.

I was able to answer "yes" to all of the developmental milestones, which always makes a new mom feel good, but I was a little disappointed in her doctor's answers to my questions about milk/dairy allergies.  He recommended soy milk as the next best bet. In some cases, I'm sure that'd be fine, but I'd rather Mia have that in moderation than regularly. I guess I will have to continue my search to find a suitable alternative for Mia, or continue to seek out information to reduce her allergic reactions.  In the meantime, I didn't think I'd make it past this point, but it's been 12 months, and I'm still pumping.  Let's hear it for all-natural milk. *Woot woot*  We'll see where this goes!

The family on Mia's actual birthday

PS: More birthday pictures to come.

Mia's Birthday Eve

Last year on a Sunday I went to a birth center with Greg. I left with Greg and a lil' Mia. This is the Sunday that that happened, but Mia's actual birthday is tomorrow, the 26th.

So, on the eve of her first birthday, I'll post a little treat showcasing this past year in photos, and a song I've been waiting to use for such an occasion for YEARS: "I love NYE" by Badly Drawn Boy, from the About A Boy soundtrack. Love it!  Pictures from the actual birthday party will follow in a future post. For now, I leave you with...Mia's First Year.
(Tip: Pause the audio player below before you watch the video.)

Mia's First Year from Megan Ciampa on Vimeo.

So much!

This is like finals week in the life of a mother of an almost 1 yr old. So much boiling down to the "exam," I mean, birthday party, this weekend! It's like crazy/stressed out/fun.  One minute you're bouncing off the walls because there's a lot to celebrate: We did it! We made it through the year! and the next minute you're thinking: I still have so much to do, how will I ever pull this off?! And everyone's gonna be here so I better get my game together.  Very reminiscent of graduation times at FC and USF.  Packing up your room, studying for exams, saying goodbye to friends, and anticipating the arrival of your family to witness the passing of another graduate.  You knew if you passed out after it was all over, you did your job right.  This time, it's watching us graduate from being complete "noobs" (short for "newbies," lingo for "novices") to now being the parents of an almost toddler. My goals for the remainder of the week are to let myself delegate and to accomplish one big thing per day. Hopefully then by this weekend, things will be smooth-sailing.

Speaking of parents, my dad is one of those people unfortunately stuck in foggy Londontown because of the volcanic ash hovering over Europe. How crazy is that?? I remembered he was traveling to London last Sunday for business, but when I heard about the volcano last Friday morning I did not think this might affect him. He was supposed to return on Friday. Then he heard maybe today (Tuesday). Now, he's probably not going to leave until Sunday, the 25th! Crazy. I know some people would probably celebrate extra time in Europe or London, but I think when you don't have any choice or would like to be somewhere else, it's probably not as much fun. 

So I sent him this picture. Yesterday Mia accompanied me, as she usually does, to grocery shop. We made it in record time through Publix, probably because I dawdled for so long in Nutrition S'mart, that I really didn't have time to leisurely stroll through Publix like I normally do. I bought my list of groceries in less than 30 mins flat!  The best!

She enjoyed her trip so much more once she figured out how to turn around and stare at other customers.  One thing is for sure: She looooves checking other people out! We're going to have to teach her not to gawk. "Mia, don't stare."

Mia's First Swim

My out-of-town friend invited me over to her friend's pool (did you catch that? the person who invited me doesn't even live here!) yesterday to hang out with her and about 27 bajillion little girls aged 3-5.  Actually it was 6.  But anyway, it was my first chance to introduce Mia to a swimming pool.  She was very tentative at first but once we got warmed up in the pool she took a liking to it!  Or at least, tolerated it.

 posing for pictures

 Mia laughing at me as I get pelted by water

I'm thinking we're going to need another pool day soon.

Thanks to Noemie for snapping the pics.  

mia's wish list

Allow me to be awfully tacky for a few minutes and post a list of things Mia might like or could use upon the occasion of her first birthday.  This is only by request and not because I truly aim to be so ego-centric!  I promise I will reward you with new pictures of the munchkin.  And believe it or not, she really needs new clothes. But mostly? All your lovin'.

• pajamas 12-18m, or 18-24m
• clothes 12-18m, or 18-24m
• summery clothes (tops, shorts, carpris, skirts) 12-18m
• shoes (size 3 or 4) - she is in the cruiser/walker shoes at the moment
• toys 
• Baby Signing Time DVD set
• books
• Each Little Dewdrop CD
• Sing Praises CD
• One Voice Kids CD
• quiet toys or books to play with in church
• BumGenius one-size cloth diapers
• anything California Baby
• anything eco-friendly or green; we're trendy like that ;)

And please, be a dear and R.S.V.P. por favor! ;)


And now, your reward:

  

helping with the cloth diaper laundry*:

I'm done!

*It appears Mia had a "case of the Mondays" during the laundry sorting because she was a bit grumpy. Here's hoping a morning nap will cure that.

"oh, hey"

It's only been 3 days since my last post but so much has gone on it feels like it's been an ETERNITY!
So much so that I want to reintroduce myself.



Oh hey, yeah, my name is Megan, and this is, uh, my kid, Mia.  Yeah, she's almost 1.  Yep, babies are a lot of fun. Oh yeah. When they don't sleep...I'm telling ya man (I mean, you're a woman), it's killa.  Uh-huh.  Oh, yeah...well actually I stay at home with her. Yep. Yeah it's pretty good, it works for now, you know what I mean?  Yeah.  It's cool.  I was a guidance counselor.  Yeah, pretty crazy with the middle schoolers!!  But they were cute.  Yeah, schools these days. One word: scary!  (Just kidding.)  Well yeah, it was nice meetin' ya.  Yeah...probably no more naps for today.  Yep, uh huh!  K, bye!


Okay, so now you got a peek into my brain about how usual conversations go with new people these days, often starting with Mia as the ice breaker.

But anyhoo, I got to hit up the store (and I snuck into Starbucks too) by myself today, so no random conversations with strangers.  Just the chance to actually walk around at my own leisure, and I got to tell ya, it was pretty nice.  Meanwhile, Mia was sleeping soundly in her little crib while Nana monitored.  I do enjoy cavorting around with Mia, but any mom will tell ya it's nice to get a break every now and then, today included.

More pictures of Mia coming up, to be sure.  For now, I'm out. Like a light.

/Word.

A weekend in the life of Mia - Easter Style

Busy busy.  That was us this weekend, and it don't stop just because the week started; it's lingered on through today!

But here's what our weekend looked like.  A chilled Friday night at Luke & Al's before the madness (and seasonal allergies?) started:

 

getting a lift from Sawyer (note the cool onesie c/o Rose B. McGee)

  

getting acquainted with Kona

Saturday's Easter Egg Hunt:

  

easter egg hunting

 

action shot of Braden scouting

 

mandatory family picture

 

mia's impression of the easter bunny

Sunday's Easter Dinner @ a friend's house:

 

meeting "Big Ash"

 

cheesing (actually, trying to avoid the flash)

opening easter baskets @ home

 

enjoying the easter chick

 

seriously questioning another easter celebration

 

the end!

This is not an April Fool's Joke!

Remember that smokin' hot blog entry I wrote about cloth diapers?  The Cloth Diaper Whisperer is doing a major giveaway today on 9 one-size diapers.  Insane in the membrane.  So far I've tweeted 3 times to give myself at least 3 entries, and I've commented 3-4 times on the blog.  Now I'm just trying to remember 9 friends whom I've told about cloth diapers to and WHEN.  I feel like I do that all the time!

Anyway, the reason this giveaway is so rad is that the diapers they are giving away are great and some of my favorite (i.e., BumGenius!).  Here's the stash:

• 3-bumGenius One Size 3.0 diapers
• 1-Flip One Size Stay Dry System
• 1-Flip One Size Organic System
• 1-FuzziBunz One Size Diaper
• 1-Gro Baby One Size Shell Set
• 1-Econobum One Size Diaper
• 1-Rump-a-rooz One Size Diaper

I have to confess, I haven't tried Gro Baby, Econobum or Rump-a-rooz, but one of the things that is great about cloth diapers is that if one doesn't work for you, it may for someone else, and you can easily swap, sell or trade your diapers online or "in the real world," if you're still into that sort of thing ;)

Also, I think one-size diapers are great because they grow with your baby.  Initially, we started with Fuzzibunz small-size diapers, but Mia's growing out of them now and so we need more diapers to replace those and the mediums do not fit her just right yet.  So, with one-size, you just adjust the snaps or velcro and they still fit snug and tight and no need to replace!

You should check it out.

PS: Mia is napping without a fight this morning.  *Sigh*  What a relief...we'll just see how the afternoon goes now.