Festival & Family Time

Daryl, Mia and I hit The Old Pecan Street Festival yesterday. No stroller needed! We brought along Mia's legs and Dada's shoulders... the rest of them came, too :) She had the best time running around looking at all the dogs. I liked the crafts, Dada liked the music and beer, Mia liked the dogs...oh and her first raspa! Cherry, and she LOVED it. It was cold, and startled her a bit, but she dug right in once she tasted the sweetness. Mia also had a little bit of a Brown Cow yogurt sample and a smidge of a fajita taco. While I hit a couple of booths, she and her Dada checked out a sidewalk magic show. We wanted, ok 'I' wanted to get Mia's face painted, but the face painting lady didn't look very patient, the Henna lady said Mia probably wouldn't sit still long enough, but she did say to come back in a couple of years. Then we saw the airbrush tattoo spot! Mia sat very still on my lap while getting a Bevo tattoo on her arm. I don't think she knew what was happening, but she just went with it. I'm sorry to say that even though Mia was representin', the Longhorns still lost :( Oh, Mia also scored a balloon, that flew away almost immediately, Mardi Gras beads and a green rubber frog (note to self: remove frog from Mia's pant pocket before wash) from the Greensheet people. I guess THAT'S why toddlers have pockets...for frogs! Mia did very well. She walked about 90% and rode on Dada's shoulders for the rest. We had fun, but we were ready to head over to see her Nana, Paw Paws and Memaw!

After a nice 2 hr nap in the guest room, Mia was up...a little groggy froggy, but up and ready to play. Nana had set up a craft area for the girls. They decorated their own punkins with paint and little foam animal stickers. Mia dug painting the punkin, but LOVED hanging out with a horse on her nose. Gwen, who also went to the festival with her parents, is a toddler!!! Compared to Mia, she has long thin legs, but don't let that fool you. She's a walker and can do squats with those oh so powerful legs of hers. Joe got a fabulous new phone that he downloaded some Music Together songs on, so Gwen was able to demonstrate her dancing skills. Joe also enchanted Gwen with the big yellow bird marionette. Gwen was delighted :)

Nana & Paw Paw made some delicious brisket, potato salad, beans, salad and rolls that everyone devoured. Mia wasn't very hungry so she decided on coloring..on her paper and the floor and the glass door.... They're wonderful washable markers, so it was ok. The girls played well together, but when Mia was approached by Gwen, Mia let her know not to come any closer by giving her a very small, gentle push. Melissa was very sweet and let me know that she was ok with it. I guess that one was hard for me, because she's starting to push other kids that vary between soft touches to 'I'm gonna push you far away from me, and I don't care if you fall on your butt' and she's even started hitting Niles. I know the girl needs her space, but I feel that any touch that isn't affectionate isn't acceptable. Especially when Mia really can't tell the difference between how hard she's pushing. Suzy has a 'no touching' rule with Livie that works extremely well. When waiting to go down the slide, she won't push another kid along. If she needs more space, she'll just step aside and find a little more room for herself. Since Daryl and I have seen this technique modeled, and seen how well Livie works things out for herself, this is something we are working on with Mia. Finding a parenting style that works for your family is hard work and hopefully not a lot of trial and error.

There's talk of getting the Here for the Beer pool league team back together. I'd be more than happy to watch Mia once a week, so her Dada can go have some guy time. He's been so sweet watching her while I have my Mama/Girls nights out, and those do me a world of good. He deserves it :)

Oh, I almost forgot about the neato mosquito new Elmo car Nana and Paw Paw got for the girls. It has all these buttons and things that make things happen. Mia digs the horn. Paw Paw even gave Mia a spin around the pool table. Speaking of the pool table, Paw Paw used it and the pool balls to give Mia a lesson in colors. p.s. fav color no longer purple. now everything is blue. Paw Paw let Mia hang out with Radosh the snake...out of the cage. Mia was great with it until Paw Paw put him on the floor. She ended up petting him and everything, but was very wary of his head. You have to check out the video :)

Mia gets a birds' eye view of the festival

Mia getting her Bevo tat
yogurt, no. doggie, yes
Snapper taking a break
watching the game with her Paw Paw
the bird & her Daddy thrill Gwen
arts & crafts with Nana
Gwen gets in on it, too
checking out the nake (Mia doesn't feel the need to add a 's')

Fun with the family

'gentle' is a good word

Our dear friends Suzy and Livie invited us over to the Brushy Creek Community Center this morning. One Friday a month, they have special events for the neighborhood kids. Today they had a petting zoo! There were two pens. In the first one there were oodles of bunnies, chicks and one duckling. In the second pen, were the goats, sheep, piglets, chickens, ducks and geese! We started off in the first pen, and we all went crazy over the soft and sweet bunnies. Livie only liked white bunnies. Mia had to be eye level with any animal she came across, and always said 'hi'. She was so gentle and tender with all the animals. She really is a joy to watch. Livie was awesome with the bunnies. She held them just right, well, until she did the 'bunny toss' :) I don't think she much cared for anything but those white little bunnies. We all had the best time! The animals were so clean and well behaved. Mia was able to hand feed pigs, goats, sheep even a duck and goose. They gently pecked out of her hand. Now a friendly ducks and geese (when it comes to food) are something I've never seen. Now I'm thinking of getting a petting zoo for Mia's birthday...wait, that's in January...too, long of a wait. Maybe for Daryl's birthday :)

After the animal escapade, we hung out on the centers' patio and had a snack. The garden back there is so beautiful with a koi pond, meandering trails, butterfly/hummingbird attracting plants, and a little windmill. We're going to have to go back when we have more time. When the girls were finished with their snack, we went back to their house. Mia and Livie played in Livie's new sandbox, while Suzy and I chatted away. The girls get along so well. We really get to sit back and relax. The sunblock and sand mixture was a little too sticky and scratchy, so Mia took a bath in Livie's tub before we got back into the car. Ahhhhhhhhhh fresh :)
Once home Mia had a nice nap, and I was able to get some work done. Speaking of work, today was my first payday!!!! It was only one weeks worth, but it was a check none the less!!! Mia, wearing her mama's socks, greeted her dada home w a big hug and kiss. We piled in the car and had a very tasty dinner at La Margarita. Mia was so well behaved. There were plenty of other kids for her to watch, and the quesadilla kept her quite busy and quiet. After such a full day, Mia hit her bed...hard! We have a big day planned for tomorrow. I'm off to relax with my honey.

I know I post a lot of pictures, but they are ALL so sweet to me. I actually do leave out quite a few.

I'm sooooo not ready to have the sex talk yet! Here's a little footage of our fun with the animals

Cabin Fever

So bored Since we were sick this week, we've pretty much been quarantined to the house. Mia's a toddler who's always on the go, and all of a sudden, she's stuck in the house? How's a babygirl supposed to get her exercise? The stairs! We've been up and down the stairs, she's jumped and rolled around, walked backwards a lot, and played with an empty paper towel roll. Oh, Mia has been very interested in the whole 'potty' thing, so she's been my shadow for a while. What she started doing lately is when we're all done and ready to leave the bathroom, she stays behind...in the dark, and shuts the door. So there she is. After a couple of moments, she politely knocks on the door..from the inside. She's too cute!

We're pretty much on the mend in regards to our colds, but are just dealing with the lingering runny noses and coughs. Our friends Lori and Livie dared to face our germs and asked us to meet them at the WB duck park this morning. It was a short visit..Lori had an appt, and Mia and I are just re-building our stamina. It was a great day to be out! The ducks were cute, and so were the girls. We ran across a gentleman walking his 22 month old pup, Jerry. The girls loved Jerry, and Jerry loved them right back!

Mia loves Jerry
Jerry loves Livie
Lori & her bug

Elbow

Mia has ceased saying Melmo for Elmo. He is now to be called Elbow

The whole family is now sharing a yucky cold. We all have watery eyes, had stuffy noses, but now they're runny, coughs from the post-nasal drip, and are just a little run down..but the worst I think is how Mia has to deal with a stuffy/runny nose. Daryl and I can blow our noses, Mia just gets her nose wiped and suctioned. Not fun, but she's a trooper while she sits and lets us do it. Suzy turned us on to this awesome stuff that I've put in our baths. It has menthol and eucalyptus, so it just makes everything drain. I think Mia and I have taken at least 8 baths together in the last 2 days. The hardest part is not being able to be social. We've gone to HEB and Walmart to walk around, get more medicine, and buy more toys. We are beyond bored staying at home. So Mia now has a set of MegaBloks and more fake food to play with. She really dug the MegaBloks at the library and at her friend Blake's place. We haven't had fever in 48 hours, but I just want to be on the safe side and stay away from friends and classes this week. Mia's been watching a lot of Little Bear, Thomas, the Teletubbies and Eebee. She just doesn't have much energy for anything else. Oh, we have gone out back and played in the pool a couple of times. Being outside seems to clear our noses up a little, but fatigues us a bit.

No pics of the snot machines, but here are some I took of Mia while we were at the local duck park last week.

Mia turned 20 months old last week!

She's sooooooo close to being a two-year old!!! Take a stroll down memory lane with these pictures of our Snapper a year ago.