Mio’s preschool had a Halloween parade and performance for parents and siblings to come see last Wednesday. All the kids wore their Halloween costumes, and Mio decided to dress up as Minnie Mouse, to mix things up a bit and she declared that her sushi costume was strictly “just for trick-or-treating.” Here are some video and photos I took!
Some video of the performances and the kids exiting afterwards:
Mio had such a great time going to Trunk-or-Treat around town last year, so we definitely wanted to take her and Mirei again this year. Mio has been looking forward to Halloween for a while now, and had been carrying her pumpkin bucket around practicing shouting “trick-or-treat!” I’m pretty certain that Halloween is her favorite time of year. 😉 We went to both Vienna Baptist Church and Emmanuel Lutheran Church again this year. Here are some photos of all the trick-or-treating fun!
Mio had such a great time at Trunk-or-Treat, and she’s been admiring her candy loot in the days since! She likes to dump all of it out on the floor, carefully examine, comment, and count each one, and then put it all back and select a couple to eat every day. She’s surprisingly been pretty good about not trying to eat all of them at once, and has been exercising admirable restraint for a 3-year-old in listening to us when we tell her she can only have one or two treats a day. And the best part of it is that she’s willing to share, much to our delight! 😉
We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for this announcement: Mirei has officially started walking! While she’s been doing some little mini-steps for the past week or so, she took her first “real” steps on Sunday evening to walk to Daddy, and I was able to pull my phone out in time to capture some of it!
I love her beaming smiles of accomplishment! Reminds me of when Mio took her first steps, because she was cheesing so much then, too. Hooray, Mirei!!! We are so proud of you, sweetheart!
(Excuse the awful mess in the room. You can blame it all on the little toddling one that you see there in the video, as she loves to pull out her diapers and clothes and scatter them everywhere. 😛 )
Last Saturday, we were invited to a pumpkin carving party with the Lee family! There were lots of Halloween-themed treats and games for the little kids, and our whole family had a great time taking part in the festivities with friends. Stephanie and Chwan were wonderful hosts and really threw an awesome Halloween party full of fun for all ages!
Mirei is now nine months old! Which means she’s now spent just as much time out here as she did in the womb. (I can attest that the months outside have flown by much faster than those on the inside.) We’re continually stunned by how fast she’s grown and is continuing to grow, both physically and in her capabilities — I feel like she’s not really a baby anymore! We cherish this stage, as she’s becoming and more independent with each passing day.
(I’ll be taking photos of Mirei 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 • Six Months Old • Seven Months Old • Eight Months Old
Stats: Your 9 month appointment is not scheduled until a little over a week from now, so we don’t have exact measurements but you must weigh over 22, possibly 23 lbs! You just get heavier and heavier and neither Daddy nor I can hold you for more than a couple minutes at a time! While you only had your two bottom teeth for a few months, a couple of your top teeth are finally starting to emerge from the gums. Your hair seems a little longer and thicker now, growing off of the scalp now, and it looks like you may have the same curly textured baby hair as your sister! You are so bottom-heavy (for the lack of a better word) and have such a chubby butt and thighs that you’re already in size 5 diapers! (Unbelievable!) You’re now wearing mostly 18-month and some 24-month size clothing — while the sleeves and pantlegs are a little long on you, we’ve needed to size up to accommodate your girth. 😛 We suspect that you’ll start slimming down soon with all the walking you’ll do in the coming months!
Things You’re Doing Now: You stand for long periods of time without support now, and have been taking two or three little micro-steps here and there, shifting your feet along the floor without holding onto anything, signaling that you are oh-so-close to walking! Your separation anxiety is really starting to kick in, as you start whimpering and crying as soon as you see me exiting the room for even a moment. You love to crawl or cruise right up to me, stand up, and hang onto/pull at my legs. You’re starting to be very vocal, and you started saying “Dadadadada” and “Mamamamama” around the same time (on the same day, I believe!). It seems like you know what they mean, as you use them respectively to Daddy and I. You like to hit your fists together at times to show excitement or joy, and nothing makes you happier than when big sister graces you with some attention. At the same time, you seem to be developing a tough skin and can stand up for yourself — when Mio pushes you away, you’ll push back, or if she takes away a toy, you’ll try to pull it back away from her.