Mireya is a toddler!

Mireya has become a great walker! She goes everywhere and rarely falls down now. She is clearly loving her newly found freedom. It's so strange to have this little tiny person walking around the house with us. It is fun, but it is creating new challenges for us as parents. She gets into EVERYTHING. Thankfully she minds me pretty well when I tell her to do something. If she is feeling particularly spunky, then I really have to be on my toes. She tries to open every cupboard and drawer. She pulls anything she can reach off of tables and shelves. She even chases the cats around now. I'm just grateful that she doesn't try to eat the cat food.** I have caught her chewing on furniture though. I know the following photos are blurry, but I can't get Mireya to stop for a photo so...



She is trying to climb things now too. We have a baby gate in the doorway to her nursery, so we can put her in there to play without worrying about her disappearing. I have caught her trying to climb out several times in the last couple of days. She has even been trying to climb out of her playpen in the front room. She tries to climb up on the couch and into bookcases. If she figures it out we are in big trouble.

Mireya still loves music and dancing. We listen to music off and on pretty much everyday. As soon as she hears a beat, she starts to bob up and down. She even dances as she walking around. It is so cute! I wonder if she will always enjoy dancing. If she does, then I hope she gets more grace than I ever had.

She still loves to watch her DVD's. She specifically asks for them every morning. I only let her watch a couple, because I don't want her glued to the screen all day. She has learned quite a bit from them already. She has learned new sign language signs and how to stomp her feet to the song, "If You're Happy and You Know It." She also watched a puppet eat out of a bowl with his mouth and she mimicked that for while, which wasn't so great.

One of the new things she's doing that Jason and I think is so precious is when she gets sleepy and she's ready for a nap, she will find a blanket and sometimes a doll or pacifier and lay down on the floor with them. It's so sweet! Sometimes she'll even get her nap time things and come over to me and want to get in my lap with them. *Big Smile*



I can't wait to start taking her outside when the weather warms up. She's old enough to go to the park to run around and swing. Jason and I even have plans to go to the Aquatic Center here in Cedar and take her swimming. She LOVES her baths, so I think she will really like the pool. (She actually goes into her bathtub several times a day and points at it trying to convince me to put her in again.) This is going to be the best spring and summer. I can hardly wait!



 

** I spoke to soon. While I've been writing this post, Jason's been watching Mireya. He decided to get our dinner started before feeding her, and apparently she didn't want to wait. He caught her with her hand in the cat's water dish. He yelled, I ran out and he started to tell me what had happened. I just wanted to know what she was eating, so I stuck my finger in her mouth and it was full of cat food! Yuck!!! She must have liked it, because she cried when I took it out of her mouth. Ugh. Gross.



 

Hi Dad

Mireya was just walking past me in the office, when she stopped, turned to me and said "Hi Dad." I kid you not! Lane heard it too. It was so awesome to hear. It was the first time I've heard her say that phrase.

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY!

Today, March 5th 2011, was Mireya's 1st Birthday! She will officially be a year old at 11:21 pm tonight. Holy cow! This year has flown by. It's a milestone for Mireya, because that first year is one of the most remarkable. She has gone from a tiny little infant who relied on Mommy and Daddy for everything and who couldn't do anything for herself to a toddler that wanders around the house, knows what she wants, can feed herself, and who is learning new things daily. It's also a milestone for us as parents, because we went through such a difficult pregnancy that most people just don't understand and then we got the typical crash course in parenting that all new parents get. Neither of us miss those first few weeks when we were so exhausted that we literally couldn't see straight and our minds felt numb. It was such an amazing experience, but a hard one too. I don't know who has learned more this last year, us or Mireya.

Anyway, Mireya was such a little sweetheart today. We started the day off right with butterfly shaped, white chocolate chip pancakes. She thought those were yummy. Later, we celebrated her birthday with family and a Care Bear themed party. We invited just a few people, so she wouldn't get too overwhelmed. We probably went a little overboard with the decorations, but we figured why not? Mireya is way too special to just keep it simple. We had lots of balloons (one of which was personalized,) streamers, a happy birthday banner, hanging stars, a Care Bear table cover, Care Bear plates and napkins, a Care Bear centerpiece, Care Bear cupcakes, a small birthday cake and presents. Everything looked so great and Mireya loved the decorations.

The party was partly about everyone just getting together to spend time with Mireya and partly about Mireya getting to pig out on cake and ice cream and play with all of her presents. She got lots of them (we aren't the only ones who spoil her rotten.) She had so much fun with all of them and they will keep her busy for months to come. When we gave her her own cupcake and a few tiny scoops of ice cream, she was so delicate! She actually used a spoon to eat her first cupcake. She definitely loved the buttercream frosting, but she didn't seem to be a big fan of the ice cream. It might be because it's so cold, but regardless, she devoured the cupcakes without much hesitation. She did make a huge mess, but probably less so than she does during her regular meals.

At the end of the day she was exhausted and happy and so were we. It was really nice to have a calm little party for her with family. It's going to be so much fun planning future parties for our little munchkin.

Mireya: Happy Birthday Mookie! We love you more than anything and we are so proud of you! You are growing up so quickly and you are an absolute doll. You are so smart and funny. We love how you dance whenever you hear music and how you are always trying to make us laugh. You are so spunky and even though you are always getting into trouble you always manage to win us over with those sweet little kissy cheeks. We are going to miss having a little cuddly baby around, but we are really looking forward to watching you grow in the next year.

Hugs and Kisses,

Mommy and Daddy

Mireya's First Stroll

Now that Mireya took her first steps, we have been encouraging and working with her to walk more. Today, she took her first stroll around the house. She walked all around the kitchen by herself, with us just guarding her so she doesn't fall and hurt herself on the hard tile. She's catching on so fast! I'm sure she'll be zooming around the house in no time.

[mobileme url="http://gallery.me.com/mireya.ruesch#100298/Mireya-s-20First-20Stroll&bgcolor=black"]

New bedside table for the guest room

Guest post written by Penny Leazer

Whenever I'm thinking about changing up something in our master bedroom, most of the time I'll go to the trouble of doing it in the guest bedroom and see if I like it there. Besides, if I don't like it after trying it out there, I don't have to worry about not liking it in our master bedroom, where I'd have to look at whatever it is all the time.

Right now I'm thinking about getting new bedside tables for our bedroom and want to try it out in the guest room first. I went looking for it online the other day and when I was doing that I came across some comparisons between wireless internet providers and after I looked through all of them I decided to switch over to a new internet provider.

I found the directions to make a decorative bedside table and I can't wait to try to put it together myself. It doesn't seem like it should be too hard and I love doing stuff like that, so I think it won't be too much trouble if I end up hating it.

 

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!?