First Steps!

Mireya took her first steps last night! She has been walking around while holding onto our hands for ages. She had even gotten to the point of holding tight to just one finger. Until yesterday, she just couldn't quite seem to find the courage to venture off on her own. It's obvious that she is still afraid of falling, but at least she's finally trying.

I am so excited and scared to death. I know she is going to love being able to go get the things she wants instead of relying on us. I'm scared of her falling on the tile, which we have a lot of. Plus, I suddenly realized how many things we still have to baby proof! Jason and I just kept putting it off, thinking that she isn't walking yet, so we have time. Well, time has definitely run out!

We tried to catch it all on film, but of course by the time the shock wore off she didn't really want to do it anymore. Here's what we were able to get:

Mireya's First Steps

[mobileme url="http://gallery.me.com/mireya.ruesch#100298/First%20Steps&bgcolor=black"]

Mireya's 1st Valentine's Day

Today was Mireya's 1st Valentine's Day! She is absolutely a little spit fire! We wanted to get photos of her in her Valentine's outfits and it took a lot of work. She wanted to run around, not pose for a photo shoot. Luckily we got some great photos anyway. The first few are an example of our initial attempt in her "My 1st Valentine's Day" onesie. The little cutie pants wouldn't hold still at all!! The second set is her in her Valentine's Day dress. Isn't she the most beautiful baby you've ever seen!?

 

What We Did This Morning

Mireya LOVES books. She reads her board books all the time. Now that she is nearly walking, she loves to go over to her bookcase, pull them all out and look at them. I think she gets half the fun from actually pulling them out of the bookcase and making a big mess. All she wanted to do this morning was exactly that. I also keep a lot of her toys in her bookcase and those were the first to go...



Then she moved on to her changing table...



The swath of destruction and chaos...

Hey Mama, Look What I've Got!

Mireya has discovered her tongue! She sticks it out all the time. It cracks us up. At first, we were worried about it, because she seemed to only do it when she was eating. Apparently she is just being her sassy little self! I'm usually not fast enough to get a picture, but I did manage to get a few.

Here's the video of her showing off her tongue:

[mobileme url="http://gallery.me.com/mireya.ruesch#100291/Look%20What%20I%27ve%20Got&bgcolor=black"]

Look What I've Got!

Baby Sign Language

We have been trying to teach Mireya sign language. We are hoping that it will help with some of the frustration that we are starting to see from her when she can't communicate what she wants. We decided to start with "milk" for a bottle and "more." Within two days, she was signing "milk." At first she was using it both when she wanted a bottle and when she was waving. By now though, she only really uses it when she wants a bottle or some other kind of drink. As of two days ago, she can sign "more" as well. She doesn't quite have the hand movement down. She has one hand correct and the other is very close, but it is still very clear what she means. I can't believe how quickly she is picking this up! We have shown her a few other signs: cat, mommy, daddy, eat, please, and thank you, but for now I think we will focus on "eat" and "finished." Sometimes it's hard to tell if she is just being a pill when she won't finish her bottle or if she is full and it would be nice to know when she wants to eat.

What's so funny?

Mireya is sooooo cute! Have I said that before? :) Yesterday, I woke up to her giggling by herself in her crib. That is definitely the best way I can think of to start the day. What a sweetie pie! Off and on throughout the whole day she giggled. I haven't got a clue what was so funny, but I was just glad that she was happy even though she is still sick with a cold.

Mireya has also learned to dance. I quite often dance around the house with her and sometimes I just dance really goofy in front of her to make her smile. She has never just started dancing on her own though. As of yesterday, she is a dancing machine! She bobs up and down and wiggles all over and it is so adorable! She thinks it's hilarious and laughs like crazy when she does it. I will post a video of it soon.

Mireya is 10 Months Old!

I can't believe it! Mireya is getting closer and closer to being a year old. I really don't know where the time went. She turned 10 months old yesterday. She is really healthy and she's learning everything really quickly. She can clap, wave, give you a high five, show you where her hair is, her nose, and her ears, she can also do the sign language sign for a bottle (It's actually the sign for milk, but it means that she wants a bottle.) If you ask her where the cat is, she will look around and point at one of our kitties. She is learning to brush her hair too. I'm waiting for the day when she starts to walk. She has been trying all the time lately, but she isn't quite there yet.

Mireya wants to know what everything is. She stretches out her hand to everything and waits for you to tell her what it is. It's going to be so exciting when she starts to say the names of things with me. I know that she knows the word for many different things around the house, but she can't say them yet.

Mookie, when you read this when you're older, I just want you to know how amazing you are and how much I love you. You have given me more joy than I ever though possible. Every day you make me smile and laugh so hard that my cheeks hurt. You are growing and changing so quickly and lately it takes me by surprise every time I look at you and see how independent you're becoming. You are such a cute baby and I hope you have those sweet, little, chubby cheeks for a long time. I love you Baby Girl. Mommy