All posts about our firstborn, Mio Elise Allen.
Dan wanted to fly a kite with Mio, so we recently purchased a delta kite that is great for beginners to fly. Mio was really excited to see a kite in flight for the first time, so we flew it in the backyard on Friday evening. There wasn’t enough wind to really pick the kite up very high, but it was still a really fun experience for Mio!
Below are some videos I took of Dan and Mio’s attempts to fly the kite…
We’ll have to try again another day when we have more wind! 🙂
Mio received a birdhouse kit from her friends as one of her birthday presents, and so we decided to put it together this week! She first built it by assembling the pieces with Daddy, and then painted it with me on Thursday.
Thanks for the great gift, Kosei, Avonlea, and Smith family! 🙂
I’m so behind on blog updates! Mio and Mirei both went in for their wellness exams last week for 3 years old and 3 months old, respectively. They both checked out as healthy and growing within the normal range, but I wanted to post up their growth stats before too much time passed!
Here are the latest measurements in Mio’s growth…
Mio weighed exactly 33 lbs, putting her in the 70th growth percentile based on weight-for-age.
For height, she measured 36.75 inches long, putting her at 23rd percentile for height-for-age. (I’ve been noticing that she’s definitely on the shorter side among her peers. Maybe she has her Mama’s height…)
Mio’s head size was just short of 20 inches at 19.75 inches, which is in the 87th growth percentile based on head circumference-for-age.
During Mio’s appointment, the nurse and doctor asked her a bunch of questions, pointing to things in the room and asking her to identify them (to check on her vocabulary), and asked her to perform some physical tasks such as balancing on one leg and jumping up and down. She was able to complete everything with flying colors!
I know I keep saying this, but Mio is so sweet and fun right now. She can entertain herself for long periods of time playing blocks and working on puzzles, shows such creativity in the things that she builds, and I find her singing to herself a lot lately, too. I’m in awe of all things she’s now able to do! She is also becoming much more interactive and playful with her peers and talks about her friends a lot.
A new video of her singing the Japanese tulip song:
Mio’s preschool had a Donuts with Daddy Day on Monday morning, where the kids could enjoy eating donuts with Daddy and a little bit of playtime together for about 20 minutes at the beginning of class. According to Dan, Mio gobbled up the donut holes and went straight to the blocks to play. Her teacher calls her “my little architect” because Mio loves blocks so much.
I read an article a while back about parenting, and there was a particular passage in it that has stuck with me even months after reading it. It said, “My children are not truly mine. They don’t belong to me; they’ve simply been entrusted to me. They are a gift life gave to me, but one that I must one day give back to life. They must grow up and go away and that is as it should be.” As much as I know this to be true, I always feel a deep pain in my chest and a big lump in my throat every time I recall the quote. Though it may be years away, it’s hard to imagine someday not seeing my little girls every day, especially Mio (at this time) since I’ve already spent three years making so many memories with her. When I feel that pain, I often find myself picking up the camera and just endlessly snapping away, so that I can document and capture every little expression of hers… so that I can look back on it years later when this time is long gone and my memory fails to recall them clearly. Parenting is such a daunting and challenging task sometimes and I constantly find myself wondering about what the future holds, but I want to more fully appreciate and savor the present.
Anyway, here are some photos from one of such afternoons that I found myself continuously clicking the shutter while watching Mio play. She is at such a sweet and fun age right now.
While you may not be mine to keep, I will love you always.