Air travel with the Snapper

Daryl and I are back from our trip to Cozumel with Tom & Dee (too relaxed, will write about it later). Mia's also home from her vacation with her Guelita in the Valley. While traveling via plane with a toddler can make you feel dizzy, I do believe we all came through it very well. I was prepared with my bag 'o tricks!

Juice, milk, bunny, tiger, yellow bear, 4 books she'd never seen, a blankie (for warmth, to play hide-n-seek behind...and for cleaning up spills), wipies, diapers, snacks that she hadn't had in a while, extra clothes, monkey stickers..hey, what ever works!.... We used them all, and even improvised with a barf bag...makes a great puppet! :) We also dripped water on Mia's head, don't ask..it worked. Mia loved running up and down the concourse between flights. She waved at everyone, and was pretty much the welcoming ambassador for Southwest Airlines.

We saved the milk for take off and landing to help Mia's ears equalize. It worked until the descent into Harlingen. Mia just wasn't thirsty anymore. She stuck her fingers in her ears, shook her head back and forth while softly chanting 'no, no, no' like it was her little mantra. But then she saw her Guelita and all was good!

Mia, ready to travel with her mama's wallet

What? A HAPPY baby on a plane?!?!?!

Ready to get on the plane...literally!

well, it sure took her mind off of what was bugging her

Whatever works :)

playdates galore

It's only 2:15pm, and we've already been to TWO playdates! I'd like to thank Melissa & Gwen and Lora & Liam...and all the other mamas & babies that were involved in wearing our little rascal out :)

No better way to start the morning than by having some play time with Mia's sweet Auntie M and her favorite cousin Gwen (ok, Gwen is her only cousin, but if there were oodles more, Gwen would still be the favorite). It was a group playdate, so mama Esther and her little Noa got to play, too. Mia thinks that Gwen has the most fabulous toys and books. Amongst her favorites is the Baby Einstein book with all the mirrors and all the toys that gave Mia the opportunity to turn into marvelous hats.
Auntie M enthusiastically played with a duck puppet...quacks and all...for the girls. Noa laughed so hard, she literally ROTFL! Melissa was also keenly aware how important hats are to Mia, and happily wore a groovy orange hat (bowl) for Mia's enjoyment. I always love sitting back, watching the little ones play and chat with other moms. It's such a welcome break from the busy life of raising a toddler.

After the Merry Melissa playdate, we dashed over to Lora & Liam's for an semi-impromptu playdate. Lora's mother is in town, and Lora wanted her to meet some of Liams pals...and their mamas :) The Gymboree bubbles were unleashed on the frenzied crowd of toddlers. Lora actually resembled the Pied Piper...with toddlers, not rats, silly! I hadn't seen Lora, Heather, Keitha, Hayley, Gabrielle and Eva in what seemed like months. I really do have a delightful circle of friends, and it's lovely when we get to see each other. Mia was so comfy. She'd get lost in playing for a while, then look up, search for me, point and say 'Mama'. Like she has dibs on me or something...which she does. The cutest thing was when Samuel and Liam both wanted the ball popper, and proceeded to squabble over it, amidst the fuss Kanai stept between them and took off with the ball popper before the boys knew what hit 'em. Priceless.

let's catch up, shall we?

Last week, Mia caught a little bug , but was only down for about a day and a half. Then, she passed it over to me. Friday was hard (hard enough to miss a playdate with my girls), but then Saturday was a lot better! So, we think it's just a 36 hour then it's over thang.

I had some time to myself Sat morning. We were going to go look at houses, but decided against it at the last moment. I think my honey wanted to be lazy and play with Mia. Ok by me, so I ran a few errands. I think I did too much too soon after not feeling well, so I took a nap when Mia did. After that and a late lunch, we all headed out to the sprinkler park in Leander. It's obviously our fav. So close to home, and practically deserted in the late afternoon/early evenings. Mia gets more comfy and has a better time every time we go. She was actually interested in an area that has suspended buckets that fill with water then tip over when full, water crashing to the ground. I made the mistake of putting her under one the time before last and it knocked her down and made her cry. Bad mama! But this time, with her strong Daddy, she seemed very interested in it, but not so that she wanted to stand under it...just explore by it. Then we walked over to the playscape and played for a while. It really is a nice park.

We were supposed to help Suzy celebrate her birthday Saturday night, but her poor sinuses were being accosted by big bad mold spores and had her laid out in bed for almost 3 days! Sunday afternoon, was a little better for her, so we popped by with a homemade birthday cake and a couple of cards. Mia picked hers out all by herself. She saw the one with the duck and made a bee line towards it. She added a little bit of her art for her Suzy :)

I think I'm going to have to count how many times I start off with 'we were supposed to...' Having a kid sure does make your plans not as concrete as they used to be. Well, we were supposed to hop over to the library to return books and submit Mia's summer reading log....but she needed a nap. After her nap, we set out on our bikes (Mia in her maxin' in her trailer) for a beer run :) We did hit a great neighborhood park where Mia swung with her Daddy and went down a very big slide!

Mia is going to hang out with her Nana (Daryl's Mom) on Wednesday so I can get some packing and last minute errands done. So, today was spent reading books, playing with blocks, looking at and playing in the rain, and all sorts of fun stuff. Just good Mama and Mia time. We're going to be away from her for 6 days pretty soon, and I want every minute to count.

Oh, I almost forgot. Mia spent some time stacking and sorting my nail polish this afternoon. I can just sit and watch her for hours.

see my fancy heart umbrella?

(she's actually pointing to a raindrop)

ready to bust outta the sprinkler park

NOT wanting to give Suzy her duck card

Happy Birthday Suzy!!!!!

Mia's so strong, she 'kicked' Daddy who doubled over in 'pain'. Mia LOVED it!

Hey!! I'm at the PARRRRRRRK!!!!

Stacking Mama's polish


Daddy Stylin Mia's do

hangin in the living room

All about the colorful polish

she knows a few things

My mom asked today if Mia knew any new words. Here's an updated list:

Words she says when she sees it without being prompted (please keep in mind that Mia is a little shy and doesn't really do this a lot around other people w/o being prompted):
dog, Niles, Mama, Dada, Nana, Pa Pa, Ita, Max, juice, milk, night night, light, book, ball, car, papa (food), snack, grapes, duck, pig, wheel (for pinwheel), side (for outside...this is a very popular word), peas, monkey, pop (for lollipop..in one of her books), berry (strawberry), berry berry (blueberry), bear, star, heart, bug (for Nana & Pa Pa's pug named Bug, and for ladybug), water, slide, bubbles, Buba, Joe, baby, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, belly, bee, shoe, shock, bath, cheese (this one surprised me today), nana (for banana not to be confused with Nana), bunny (graduated from bun), hi (very popular when we're out and about, walking into a room or just wanting some attention, bye bye, boots, mouse, bird...I know I'm leaving many more out, but I'm sleepy.

If I ask, 'Mia, what's this?':
paper, rock, rain,

Other words she says (prompted. Mia's been mimicking a lot lately):
out, up, pees (please), no no no, purple, play,

animal sounds:
moooo, baaa, bawk bawk, hoo hoo, roar (different tones for bear, lion or tiger), neigh, ruff, meow (went from mow to full fledged meow),

She also knows that Nana says woohooo! and Pa Pa says 'yes' :)

On a physical note:
Mia LOVES to kick balls, spin in circles, dance, walk up & down stairs or steps all by herself, but holding on the railing, help get dressed, comb her hair, put toys away, stack toys, carries her little baby doll around like a real baby (she's been keeping an eye on Lisa and her new baby), pushes herself around on her little car, she can also pet very gently now. There are several cats on our various walking routes that can vouch for her ;)

this is what happens when

I'm down when I'm supposed to be up. I'm up blogging at 12:30am! I was under the weather a little today (I hope my friends Sarah and Lori will be as understanding as I know they are & take a raincheck for the missed playdate at Casa de Gleinser), but at least Mia's feeling much better. She still has her little rash, but is unfazed by it. Her hair is growing into her eyes...barely, but it is. So, up in a pony tail it went. It looks more like a palm tree than a pony tail, but it's up there :) It rained pretty hard out here this afternoon. We took advantage of it by entertaining Mia with it. She sat on her Daddy's (we were so glad he came home early today) lap for a while, then went to touch it all.

There's a raindrop right over there!

(check out the poor Snapper's red little cheek)

poor Snapper

We had a great time Tuesday at the sprinkler park with Sarah & Isabel and Lori & Livie. Lori was a little late. The Mama got lost out in the backroads of Williamson County...when WILL they update the toll roads on Google, yahoo maps, mapquest....? Mia and I didn't stay very long, she wanted an early nap for some reason. Oh, that reason was made clear when Mia woke up from her nap with a 103 degree fever! I was vigilant about her fluid intake, and the only solid or semi-solid thing she could keep down was yogurt. She sleep pretty much the afternoon away, and went to bed early that night. The poor Snapper threw up in the middle of the night, so while I was caring for her, her sweet Daddy made her bed all fresh. A few light spots formed, but never spread. Rashes are so common with viral fevers. She hasn't had any fever in the last 24 hours, so that's a good thing. We're still keeping a very careful watch on her ears and throat. Her eating has improved, but her stamina...not really.

We just took a walk to the park. I'm glad I pushed the stroller along side Mia just in case she tired. She did. After she found an amazingly wonderful walking stick, she walked about 1/2 a block (a total of one block) and wanted in the stroller. She didn't even want to play at the PARK!!!!! So, I just brought her home, and put her down for her afternoon nap.

Here's a pic of the oh so short walk. Mia in her cute new T-shirt from her Nana and holding her walking stick :)

it's 8pm

and the Snapper is sleeping. Why, you ask? Well, let me tell you a little about a playdate that we hosted this morning.

It was a beautiful morning for a sprinkler, pool fun playdate. We filled up the pools, turned on the sprinkler and let them go at it. Mia hung out with Colton, Jason, Lindsay, Kylie and Mackenzie! Their ages ranged from 2 months all the way to 5 years! They all wore themselves out, so we had many happy Mamas for it, too.

baby Lindsay

Mia & Colton