Mama Mia

Mia has really been into dolls recently. We went to visit our friends Krissy and Brad - who just had another baby girl, Ellie, BTW - and Mia loved their daughter's dolls and accessories. She actually threw a fit when she had to let go of a doll so we could go home. This was new to us because she had dolls at home but never played with them like she did at Krissy and Brad's house. I decided it must have been the fun accessories. So, a few days later, I was in the toy store and decided to get her some bottles and a stroller for her dolls. Jack pot! She pushes the stroller around the house and gives her babies milk and juice bottles. She also burps them and puts them night-night. I didn't really think she was a girly-girl until this stage. She's always been into dirt and rocks and things. But, she loves her dolls and is a good little mommy.

Final Myrtle Beach

Ok - final Myrtle Beach posting (since we did go there a month ago and the moment has passed). But, I couldn't leave out all of the fun activities we did with Mia because many of them were firsts for her...first amusement park rides, first acquarium visit, first trip to the Disney store! Here's a re-cap...

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Myrtle Beach closed its famous Pavilion and moved the flagship rides to Broadway at the Beach. So, we took Mia one night to ride her first rides. Her very first ride was the boat that goes back and forth. She didn't quite know what to think and had a very serious face the entire time, but once it was over, she wanted on every ride in the park. Even the swings that go 50 feet in the air! She loved the carousel (rode twice), teacups (although I think she got dizzy because she had a funny look on her face half-way through) and the train.

Here's Mia trying to climb Pooh at the Disney store (have no idea what's going on with the formatting).


We also took Mia to the acquarium. Myrtle Beach has a great one at Broadway. She liked the fish, but was into the moving floor even more :) And, she was not afraid of the touch tanks. In the picture below, she's trying to grab a horseshoe crab. And, then the jellyfish - although they were behind a glass case. Oh - speaking of fish and things...my friend just went to the beach in Emerald Isle, N.C. and saw three sharks, each about 4 feet long, in knee-deep water. Scary! And, Andrew and my mom make fun of me for being a little skiddish about swimming in the ocean...

Last but not least, Mia had her first taste of Mexican food - my family's favorite. What is funny is we learned she likes sour cream and guacamole - and spicy salsa! She now eats these things at least once a week at our house. I didn't get pictures of the sour cream, but I did want to share the picture of Aunt Sarah and Nana, one of my favs from the trip. Looks like I was the DD that night :)

Myrtle Beach Part III: Horsen' Around

I think these pictures are hilarious of us, so I wanted to share. These were taken at Barefoot Landing in North Myrtle. We went and had dinner at one of our favorite spots - the House of Blues. And, then we hit the shops and took Mia to see the baby tigers and monkeys. We found this little photo station along the way.

Myrtle Beach Part 2: Pool Time

The resort where we stay in Myrtle has the most amazing pool area. It has an entire water park just for kids; the water is only about 1.5 feet deep. Mia loved going down the water slides, riding on the lazy river and playing in the water falls. She went completely under a few times - didn't seem to phase her except for the time she sucked in a bunch of water. But even then she just got right back in after coughing violently for a few minutes. She made a grand entrance to the pool each day in her little red car - that always captures people's attention. She also met some friends and borrowed their rafts and beach ball. I think I'm going to enlist her in swimming lessons next year. She's already kicking her feet. Oh, and I'm also going to invent some new swimmer diapers. They do absolutely nothing for containing the pee pee. We had multiple accidents. And, it totally grosses me out because you know everyone's diapers are leaking in the baby pool. Ugghh. I guess the good thing is that it's not #2. But, still!

Myrtle Beach Part 1

A friend of mine recently told me that you don't actually get a vacation again until your child is four. Until then, it's called a "trip." Completely true. My mom, sister, Mia and I took a "trip" to Myrtle Beach last week. And, we were completely exhausted by week's end. Mia wore all of us out. We were at the beach, the pool, the Aquarium, the amusement park...and Mia had a blast. The downside was she ended up getting a double ear infection on the "trip," so when we weren't doing something extremely fun (i.e. - eating dinner in a restaurant or hanging out at the condo), she was Cranky McCranky. We're talking tantrums - major tantrums. Screaming so loud we think the people next door asked to be moved :) But, as long as we were out and about, she had the time of her life. My sister was the photographer on the trip. We have so many good pics, I don't even know which ones to share. Here are a few of Mia at the beach - eating bananas, collecting shells with nana, touching a dead crab (freaked me out!)...I'll post more later.

Bye Bye Bottle

On Monday, we went to the doctor for Mia's 15-month check-up (we're a month late for that appointment). The doctor asked if we were still giving her a bottle. We embarrassingly said "yes, she still gets a bottle at night." (Note: They told us to give up the bottle at 12 months, which we did...for two of the day bottles...completely cold turkey I might add.) After a small lecture from the doctor, we figured it was time. So, Tuesday night (couldn't do it Monday after she'd had three shots - I know, I know), we gave her a sippy cup of milk instead. The amazing thing was she didn't even seem to mind. Wednesday night, I was putting her pajamas on and she kept pointing to the sippy cup saying, "ba ba ba ba." So, I thought, "oh great - she wants the bottle instead of the sippy." But, when I gave her the sippy and said, "here's your milk," she looked at it funny but then drank it. No biggie.

But it is a big deal to me! I'm the reason we didn't give up the nighttime bottle four months ago. I like giving her that bottle before she goes to bed. It's our quiet time - one of the only times during the day she'll snuggle with me. So, Tuesday was a sad day :( And, to make things even sadder for me, here's a picture of Mia with her FIRST bottle. She was four days old. My milk hadn't come in and as a result, she'd lost too much weight and her jaundice levels were way up. So, the nurse popped open a tiny 2-oz. bottle and Mia drank it in 2 seconds flat. That day is so vivid in my mind because I knew she was starving. I was so thankful that she was finally getting some milk.