Mio is 26 weeks as of last weekend! Here are some recent photos and video of what she’s been up to.
Mio has been blowing raspberries a lot lately. It seems like she often does it when she’s either bored or frustrated, as is the case in the video below.
We are usually a house divided when it comes to Apple, but differences aside, Dan and I were both greatly saddened today to hear about the passing of Steve Jobs.
Steve Jobs was one of the greatest innovators of our time, and a true visionary. After I heard the tragic news, I reflected back on my first encounters with a computer in elementary school, a Macintosh Classic… as well as the first computer our father bought for my brother and I to use — also a Mac Classic. And then I stared at the glistening 27″ iMac I get to use at work, and now at my own trusty 17″ MacBook Pro that I use at home, that I use regularly to type up blogs like this one. I have witnessed this incredible evolution of computers and the Macintosh operating system in my lifetime, and it amazes me that Steve Jobs really took it from fruition to the enormous success that the Mac OS is today. And on top of that, he is also the creative genius behind the iPhone and the iPod, all products that I love and use every day. (And of course the iPad, which I have been lusting after for quite some time now.) He even founded Pixar — a fact I only recently discovered — which has of course churned out some of my favorite animated films.
Steve Jobs and his innovations have made such an impact on people’s lives, and mine is definitely not an exception. I learned the skills of my trade throughout college on a Mac, and have never looked back since — all my design work and coding is all done on Macs. He was a revolutionary that really paved the way designers and artists work in the creative field. He has done so much for our industry in his lifetime, and because of him, the world has been forever changed for the better. His legacy will live on for generations to come.
There are many profound words that Steve Jobs has shared in the past, but I think the following quote from his 2005 Commencement speech at Stanford University is one that I can particularly appreciate today:
‎”No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
– Steve Jobs
Rest in Peace, Steve Jobs. Thank you for thinking different and being a source of inspiration to so many. You will be missed.
Happy half birthday, Mio! You are six months old today. We can’t believe it’s already been half a year since you came into this world and changed our lives forever. Time is really flying fast these days, and it may be partially due to the fact that you are growing so fast!
(I’ll be taking photos of Mio sitting in my white desk chair and wearing her monthly onesie every month until she’s one year old.)
Previous Photos:
One Month Old • Two Months Old • Three Months Old • Four Months Old • Five Months Old
Stats: You weigh 18 lbs 8 oz now! You’ve outgrown your infant car seat and have graduated to the toddler convertible car seat and big girl stroller. Both Mama and Daddy have been experiencing some pain in the wrists and arms because you’re getting so heavy to hold these days! You still have some baby pattern baldness from your hair falling out over the past few months and I swear you have less hair than when you were born, but it seems like it may be slowly making a comeback these days.
Things You’re Doing Now: You are so much more active and aware of your surroundings these days, and you have definitely gotten more vocal in the past month. You continue to sleep through the night and usually sleep from around 10pm to 7:30-8:00am. Your tummy has been your sleeping position of choice for a while now and it still makes your worrywart Mama really nervous, but no matter how many times I try to “fix” your position, you always end up rolling onto your tummy, so I have given up on it and now let you be. You do flips and move around a lot in your sleep, and it always surprises me how you make your way from one side of the crib into another (or into one of the corners) by morning. In the morning, you always wake up in a good mood, and we awake to the soft babbling of your adorable voice coming from your nursery. When we come over to your crib, you flash us a huge smile when you make eye contact with us — it’s probably my favorite part of the day, and your smile gives me so much energy for the rest of the day. (Better than breakfast!)Â You are really into grabbing your toes with your little hands and pulling them up while you are on your back, and you are obsessed with blowing raspberries! It’s pretty darn cute, although it takes some getting used to to be constantly sprayed by the projectile spit that accompanies them. You have started to scoot around on your tummy, and everyone says you’ll be crawling any day now! Your ability to interact with us and your surroundings seems to now change almost daily, and you have developed all kinds of grunts and squeals with which to express yourself. My personal favorite out of your recent developments is how much you laugh out loud these days — it’s so rewarding, and assures me that we must be doing something right. 🙂
Mio has been eating rice cereal for a week now, and although it seemed for a couple days that she regressed in her eating skills, we tried making the cereal less runny and she has slowly been getting the hang of eating it. Since it’s been seven days, we introduced something new today — carrots! We were finally able to try the Beaba Babycook that our thoughtful friends Debbie, Mimi, Michelle, and Stephanie had pitched in together to give to us as a gift back in December.
Here are some photos of the Babycook in action!
The Babycook was super easy to use, was very efficient, and kept mess and cleanup to a minimum. We’ve only used it once and we already love it. Babyfood-making couldn’t be easier with this amazing appliance, and we’re excited about all the other healthy, organic foods we’ll be able to feed Mio with its help! Thank you so much again to our awesome friends for getting it for us!
Mio made a bit of a mess on her face and bib in the process, but she ate it all up! What a good girl! We’re going to make sure you eat lots of veggies! 😀
As we mentioned a couple weeks ago, Mio is quickly outgrowing her infant car seat and accompanying Snap n’ Go, and although we got her a new stroller, we still needed to find a larger car seat for her. Since we found her outgrowing the infant car seat before six months had even passed, we really wanted to invest in a car seat that would last us a few years so that we would not constantly have to upgrade to more car seats as Mio grows since they can be pretty darn expensive!
I didn’t do nearly as much research as I did for the stroller, as there are comparatively fewer options when it comes to convertible toddler car seats. While I at first considered either of the very popular Britax Boulevard or Britax Marathon, I found myself drawn to one that I’d seen at Buy Buy Baby when we had gone to take a look at the Quinny Zapp Xtra — the Maxi-Cosi Pria 70. Maxi-Cosi is a brand under the same umbrella company (Dorel Juvenile Group) as Quinny, so their products boast the same sophisticated design and great quality that attracted us to the Zapp Xtra.
The great thing about this convertible car seat is that it can fit smaller babies in it with its TinyFit system, starting from only 4 lbs to 22 lbs.
Later, you can easily remove the TinyFit system for the car seat to fit a larger toddler, rear-facing from 18 to 40 lbs. When your toddler is ready, you can turn the seat around and it will comfortably fit children up to 70 lbs forward-facing.
Additionally, those nifty parts that have the <air> symbols are Air Protect advanced side impact protection, which is being integrated into more and more car seats these days. Air Protect is a new technology meant to soften the blow to a baby’s head in a side-impact crash — it’s essentially a constantly deployed airbag, or a super soft pillow capable of absorbing the a large impact and effectively extending the amount of time a child’s head has to stop in an impact situation. While I hope we never get into a car accident with Mio in the car, it’s nice to have that assurance and peace of mind that she’ll be in a seat with the best protective technology on the market (especially when you’re like me and not the best driver on the road).
More great features: the straps are very easy to adjust, and the clips are sturdy yet easy easy for adults to unfasten. Height is adjustable with the sliding headrest, and the seat is thickly padded for extra comfort and snug fit. The fabric on the Pria 70 is very smooth and almost slick, making it easy to quickly wipe away sweat and any spills, and won’t overheat your child in hot weather. I also read that Maxi-Cosi’s seats generally rate cleaner on the toxic chemicals list than other companies’ convertible car seats. It even has a cup holder! The Maxi-Cosi Pria 70 is still a very new convertible car seat on the market, as it only just became available in August, but it seems like car seat experts agree that it is a revolutionary seat in terms of fit, versatility, and safety.
