Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year, as we do every year. This year, it seemed a little different. More magical. I saw Christmas through the eyes of a two-year-old child, and it really showed me the excitement that Christmas can bring to a young life. Mira really got into the spirit this year, helping me create window crafts, counting down the days on her Advent calendar, moving the snowman as each day progressed, "helping" me wrap presents. She even found a toy in her Christmas stocking which I had filled a couple of weeks early. When I told her that Santa had so many houses to stop at and that he sometimes needs to come early, she accepted the story and didn't touch the stocking again. It paid off. She got a few Dora toys and some hair accessories, which she insisted on wearing all at once! It's been a wonderful month and I'm sad to see the season end. Here are a few photos of our Christmas. She had a great time at all the houses we went to. I think seeing Santa two times (!) was her favorite.
Love, Michelle

Congratulations, Justin and Mandy!

I want to offer a warm welcome to Mandy for joining our family this past weekend! We are so proud to have her in the family and for Justin to have chosen such a wonderful woman. It was such a fabulous wedding and everyone had a really great time. There were lots of happy tears and dancing at the wedding and reception. Mira got to live out her "lifelong" dream of being a princess for a day when she was a flowergirl with Chesney and Abby. She still talks about getting to walk down the aisle. Here are a few pictures of the big day.

'Tis the season

We've been having a nice relaxing December so far. All the excitement of the month is this weekend with the wedding, and next weekend with Christmas. We are really looking forward to seeing everyone again. Mira has been so helpful with "helping" me wrap the presents . . . so I topped her with a bow! This weekend is the time she gets to dress like a princess in Justin and Mandy's wedding. From the princess dress to the new shoes, she's very excited to walk down the aisle. Not sure she knows what an aisle is, but she talks about walking down it all the time. I think she's ready. See most of you this weekend!
Michelle

Bedtime Prayer

Mira and I have a prayer that we say at bedtime:

God bless all those that I love.
God bless all those that love me.
God bless all those that love those that I love.
And all those that love those that love me.

May you all have prayers that comfort you.

We love December

Here is a photo of Mira that almost made the Christmas card. She had a lot of fun taking the pictures, the lure of Santa coming always on her mind. She can hardly wait for Christmas to come . . . in fact, she didn't quite get there. She did open a present under the tree. Just a small one that was actually for Aunt Kelly! (Sorry, Kelly!) Fear not, Mira helped me rewrap it and we had a little conversation about how all the presents weren't for her, but that Santa was surely going to bring her some nice gifts to celebrate her patience this month. Imagine how long a month feels to a child! I do admire Mira's honesty, though. I came home from work and Chris asked Mira if she had something to tell me. She sheepishly admitted she opened a present from under the tree. I told her I really appreciated her honesty and that it was very nice that she told me, then she helped me rewrap it so she could see how much work is involved in wrapping a present. I think she understands now.

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday season. May you be safe while Christmas shopping! (So glad I'm done!)
Love, Michelle

Feed a giraffe? Sure!

Chris, Mira, and I are in Miami this week for a little vacation. Chris has a work trip, and Mira and I often tag along to his November Miami trip. The hotels are great, the food is great, and it's a nice time of year to get away. Mira was great on the plane and watched a couple Dora DVDs to pass the time. Today we went to the Miami Zoo and showed Mira the worlds animals. We saw giraffes, elephants, camels, zebra, lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!), as well as many birds and reptiles. They had this awesome exhibit called "The Scoop on Poop!" We learned ALOT more about dung than we ever thought possible, but it was interesting. See the photos of Mira and Chris below "on the toilet." Notice they didn't get me on it for a photo op! Mira had the chance to feed a giraffe some lettuce. That was her day's highlight! Tomorrow is a nice slow relaxing beach/pool day, then Chris has a couple of days of work ahead of him. Monday is a free day, maybe an aquarium, or maybe more beach time. We'll be home Tuesday night. Love to you all!
Michelle

Patty cake, patty cake, bake your man!

Mira is only 2 weeks away from being officially 2 1/2 years old. I love this age! It's my favorite so far (I keep saying that about every age). She's just so bright and outgoing. It's fun to see her interact socially with people. I've taught her how to make friends, so when we go to the park and she sees a child she doesn't know, she'll go over to them and say, "Hi. I'm Mira. What's your name?" Often times the child is shy and won't answer. But she keeps trying. If we go to Target, she says hi to everyone, then gets offended if they don't say hi back. She'll say, "Mommy, she didn't say hi to me!" It's hard to explain that some people are shy or maybe just didn't hear her. She keeps on trying until they say hi back. Persistent should be her middle name!

Mira is really getting into songs lately. Her favorite is the Barney theme song, which I used to hate, but she's so cute singing it, I have a new perspective! And "Patty Cake" is another that she loves to sing, although the words "Patty cake, patty cake, bake your man" make me laugh every time! She also tried soup for the first time. I was impressed with how well she handled a spoon with something as runny as soup!


She's started to do chores a little bit and loves the few silver coins we give her for helping a little extra. She is in charge of helping Mommy and Daddy put her toys away before bed, and she needs to put her clothes in the laundry basket after her bath and when we change her outfit. She also helps put the dishes away. She's up to tupperware and spoons so far. Mira looks really proud of herself when she helps around the house. I think it gives her a nice sense of accomplishment, as well as responsibility.


And here's a fun one of Mira on the potty chair. She's taken to bringing her Barbie wish list toy book in the bathroom with her while she waits. Too cute!


Tomorrow we tackle the task of putting up the Christmas tree. Mira's really excited about it and helped me make snowmen (complete with cotton balls) and snowflakes for the front windows. We put up the wreath last night on the front door and Mira keeps wanting to go outside and look at it. The spirit of the holidays are in the air!

We hope you are all well. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and we'll see you all at Christmas. Chris, Mira, and I are heading to Miami for a week on Wednesday. Pray for safe travels.
Love, MIchelle

Happy Halloween!

This year, Mira went as a cat for Halloween. She really enjoyed dressing up and going out trick or treating. We live in a great neighborhood where we know many of the neighbors, so we were able to see lots of our friends and get lots of treats for Mira. She really got into the "trick or treat" part of the evening. After we got home, she loved answering the door and handing out candy to the trick or treaters. At first she gave them handfuls, but then I told her we needed to give one piece to each kid because we were running out. We did end up dipping into Mira's candy, but she had way more than any two year old will ever need. I'm happy to have the candy out of the house! Hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween night.

Children's Museum fun

My friend and I took her son and Mira to the Chldren's Museum in St. Paul last weekend. Mira had an absolute blast! It was really a neat place, with different themed rooms that kids could explore. Mira's favorite was the water room. She played at 4 different stations and learned things about water and bubbles. They had a light room, a Spanish room, a mirror room, an ant room (had ant tunnels in it), a play room, and many others. I liked the play room best . . . the kids couldn't escape and there were ramps and tunnels for them to run around in. I just got to sit on the floor and relax while she played for awhile in there. It was a tiring day for both of us, and well worth the admission fee ($7.95 each). Curious George will have an exhibit there in May, so we'll likely go back for that. Well worth our time if you are looking for something different to do with the kids. I'd recommend a weekday, though. It was packed when we were there.

Lookin' good, Mira Cook!

While I was checking e-mail, Mira took the opportunity to get into my makeup drawer and beautify herself with my lipstick. I caught her and this is what she said:

"I got lipstick on. I did it all by myself. I'm a mess. I need to wash my face."

That's for sure! How can you be mad at a face like that? And she didn't even get any on her white shirt!

Mira is 28 months!

I can't believe how fast the time flies. Mira and I were able to spend some great quality time with Kelly, Chesney, and Logan last week at Mom and Dad's house. It was fun to catch up and see the kids playing together. My little girl is such a little girl, complete with loving to wear crowns and brush my hair! I love the brush my hair part, but need to teach her to be a little more gentle. Dora and Little Einstein rank among her favorites and she loves to take songs and change the words a little to suit her lifestyle. She is going to make a wonderful big sister and will be so helpful to us. We just need to think about moving her to a "big girl" bed around March, maybe before if she figures out how to escape. She might have a couple jealousy issues when the baby arrives. Whenever I held Logan this past week, Mira would try to get between us and she would tell him, "That's MY mommy!" I guess she doesn't understand that parental ownership is non-transferrable.

With Halloween coming, she's seeing all the decorations outside in the neighbors' yards. My favorite was when she pointed to a scarecrow at her daycare provider's house and told me, "That's a scary crow!" Funny the things they hear. Here are a couple of pictures of Mira recently. Hope you are all well.

Love, Michelle

Joy of Money

Mira recently discovered her piggy bank and what it's for. She loves finding money on the counters and running it right up to her piggy bank for safe keeping. It's not safe for us to leave coins lying around the house anymore! At least she's saving her money now. We'll see what happens when she realizes she can actually BUY things with it. For now, she probably thinks the only way to buy things is with a plastic card. Life is so different now from when we were kids, huh?

Just a little fishy

Mira recently had a small bout of bronchitis and had to use a nebulizer to clear her lungs. She cried a little the first two times, but by the third time, she was an old pro and was holding the "Fishy mask" herself. Such a brave girl! We're happy to say it seems to have cleared up.

And I added a couple other photos of Mira at her cutest! Hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day weekend.
Love, Michelle

Growing so fast!

Mira turned 27 months a couple of days ago. She still amazes me every single day. Her vocabulary is very accelerated and her full sentences really help me to know what she needs. She's starting imaginary play and often has conversations with herself, calling herself "Mira." She'll say something like, "Mira, do you want to go to Target?" and then she'll say, "No, thank you. I don't want to go to Target." Can we say "imaginary friend"? Mine was named Tessa when I was younger. But, I digress. Mira's starting role playing and likes to feed her dolls bottles and rock them. And she's taking on puzzles with a vigor! Auntie Kelly bought her one for Christmas and Mira needs no help with it. (Photo above is very puzzle she does on her own.) Very impressive! After she completes the puzzle, I have to sing the Dora the Explorer "We did it!" song. Then she dumps out the puzzle, completes it, and makes me sing again! The sense of accomplishment and pride she feels during these moments is truly priceless. I just love this age!

Love,
Michelle

Paging Dr. Cook!

I bought Mira a doctor kit recently, and she really likes examing her dolls. She looks so cute when she's in all her doctor gear. She pretends she's Dr. Barnhard, her pediatrician. I love seeing how she pretends now and sees that there is a world you can imagine. It's a big step in her mental capacity. I never cease to be amazed by her!

The other two photos are from Buffalo Bill Days.

You're scratching WHAT?

I just walked into my bedroom where Mira was lying on the bed watching The Doodlebops and just threw out a casual, "Hey, MIra. What are you doing?" She looked at me and said, "I'm scratching my tushie."

Sure enough, she was scratching her tushie. I didn't expect THAT when I asked her what she was doing! Gotta love kids and their honesty!
Michelle

Buffalo Bill Days

It was Buffalo Bill Days in Lanesboro this weekend. Chris, Mira, and I went to Mom and Dad's for the weekend. It was a really fun weekend. We grilled out at the house, played some beanbag game, had a bonfire after dark, walked around town and in the park, and went to the parade on Sunday. Chris and I even managed to sneak in a nice run on the trail and a dinner out —alone. Very relaxing.

Mira enjoyed the petting zoo in the park and the playground equipment. We had a little birthday party for Abby as well. Hope you all had a nice weekend!
Love, Michelle