Last Sunday, we went to a garden party hosted by Dan’s British coworker Liz, celebrating Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee — the 60th anniversary of her being the Queen. We’d never been to this kind of celebration before so we didn’t know what to expect, but it was a really lovely garden party with such beautiful details…
The food was superb, and everything about the party had the designer’s touch! We had a wonderful time. 🙂
This post is almost a month overdue, but Mio had a playdate with her friend Anna back in early May, when we were visiting Virginia. We always love catching up with Pat, Theo, and their adorable Anna! Anna had also just turned one year old, and she taught Mio how to do a “high five,” as you can see in this video from my phone.
Now Mio does it all the time when we say “high five.” Super cute! Kids really do pick up things faster from watching other kids, rather than from watching their parents. 🙂 Thanks Anna for teaching Mio to high five! 😀
Here are some more pictures from the playdate, most of which I stole from Pat and Theo!
Thanks for having us over — we love you guys! 😀
Trying to be a ghost or trying to wear Mama’s skirt? You decide…
As a child, I remember getting my height recorded every year on a growth chart, and I always thought that it would be a fun tradition to continue with my future kids, too!
I searched high and low for the perfect growth chart, but being very picky when it comes to these types of things, it took me a long time to find one I liked. Most of the commercial ones I found either looked too cluttered or baby-ish (I wanted the growth chart to be something we could keep hanging until Mio stops growing, so 15-20 years from now), and the ones I actually liked were pretty expensive and I wasn’t about to shell out $80+ on a growth chart. I wanted something made of a sturdy canvas, so that it would be durable but could be rolled up for compact storage if/when we move someday. I turned my sights to Etsy, and while I couldn’t really find the perfect growth chart, I found one that was simple, cute, easy on the eyes, and affordable. If I had a sewing machine and was better with that kind of thing, I would have wanted to make one myself, but I just don’t have the time between chasing a toddler around and all the freelance projects I’ve got going on right now. (I’m actually pretty busy with a lot of work coming in these days, which is very exciting!)
So this handmade growth chart arrived a while ago and I’ve been nagging Dan to nail it up on the wall… and we finally got it up yesterday! It was a bit of a challenge to accurately measure and mark the growth chart with a squirming toddler, but we had fun with it! 😀
Mio just turned 14 months old on Saturday, so I wanted to also write an update and all the awesome things she’s doing these days.
Stats: You now weigh approximately 23 lbs, and according to our measuring skills (which may not be very accurate), you are around 29 inches tall! In the past month, you’ve gotten four of your molars in, resulting in a total of 12 teeth!
Things You’re Doing Now: You’re very vocal these days and we find you “talking” a lot — having conversations with yourself while playing, to us, to random strangers walking by… we wish we could understand what you’re saying, but it’s just really sweet to hear your voice! In the past couple weeks, you have been saying “uh oh” whenever you’re doing something that you know is wrong (climbing things, knocking books out of the bookshelf, opening things you’re not supposed to open, going places you’re not supposed to go, etc.). It’s hard to get mad at you when you say your “uh oh”s because it’s so darn cute, but we wish you wouldn’t do those things if you know you’re going to get in trouble for them! haha* You’re mastering the signs for a lot of animals these days, such as “dog,” “bear,” and “monkey.” You’ve also picked up on how to sign “baby,” “yummy,” and “shoes.” You completely weaned yourself from nursing while we were in Virginia and are drinking a lot of milk these days. You want to eat everything we eat, and you surprised me last month when you bit into the corncob I was eating — surprisingly, you ate most of it without leaving many kernels behind! You’re starting to get a little picky with your vegetables sometimes, but you always have a healthy appetite and eat almost everything we give you. You’re starting to be able to run now, and it’s hard to keep up with you when you move so fast! Lately, you are really interested in books — it used to be so hard to hold your attention for more than ten seconds while reading to you, but now you are fascinated by them and like to turn the pages, and sign certain animals as you see them in the book. You especially like the interactive books that feature audio sounds, flaps, or pop-ups and I often find you sitting on the floor, “reading” books books to yourself. We’re so thankful that you are growing into such a sweet, bright, and active little girl!
It was warm today, so we took Mio to the community pool — it was her first time at a real pool (as opposed to a baby pool), so it was very exciting for her! She seemed to be stunned at first by all the other kids at the pool and how much water there was, but she quickly ran towards the pool and tried to hop in.
As parents bringing our kid to the pool for the first time, we quickly discovered that…
1. inflatable flotation devices are not allowed at the pool, and…
2. …neither are cameras.
We had no idea! We brought a floatie for Mio and an underwater casing for my point-and-shoot camera along, all for naught. 🙁 I guess flotation devices can be obstructive to other swimmers, and then cameras are probably forbidden because parents are concerned about strangers snapping photos of their kids. I still managed to discretely sneak a few snaps from the camera on my phone… it was our daughter’s first time at the pool, so I wanted to have some photos to remember it by! 🙂
We later went to the slightly deeper end (but still around 4 feet), while holding her, and let her “swim” on her stomach as we guided her through the water. She was giggling a lot and having so much fun! Every time we’d glide her across, she’d make a sound like “buuuu-n” (like the Japanese sound for an airplane flying) — it was pretty stinkin’ adorable.
She soon wanted to hop back into the water, so we went back in for a while. We were all sad when they eventually closed the pool for the day.
Afterwards, Dan and I were starving so we drove over to Oakland to get some delicious tacos from our favorite taco truck! They were just what we were craving, and definitely hit the spot.
It was a delicious way to end a fun day! We’ll have to take Mio on more outings to the pool and to the beach this summer, as she just loves the water! She’s definitely a California girl….