Mira is 26 months!

I just realized that Mira is now 26 months old . . . and what a great age it is! She's been asserting her independance lately, telling us "no" and "I want to do it myself!" It takes a little longer to get out the door, but it's so fun to see her face light up when she gets her shoes on by herself. She's fully potty trained now (has been for a couple of months) and will often emerge from the bathroom without any pants on. She doesn't even bother to tell me she has to go anymore, she just takes care of it by herself. Of course, I still need to wipe her, but it's nice that she takes care of the potty duties herself. Her opening line to anyone at the store is, "I pee-pee in the potty chair and poo-poo in the potty chair. Mommy gives me M&Ms!" People pretend they are interested and proud, which is nice.

This age is full of chatter and I love talking to her, finding out what she did that day. It's interesting the things she pulls from her day to tell me about. Mira's taking a dance class (creative movement, they call it) and is really enjoying it. She needs to work on listening better to the teacher, but is getting good experience in a classroom setting.

I have to say, I've always thought that each age is the best one, and as she gets older, I now think 2 years old is the best age. She still likes to cuddle, but can do things for herself and can communicate with me. She finds things funny and considered her mom and dad to be pretty cool yet. I can't wait to see what this year brings us! Here are some random shots of Mira.

Love, Michelle

Just kickin' back

It's been a while since I've posted, so I took a couple pictures of Mira over the weekend. Nothing too exciting, but I wanted to get something up there for you all. Here's Mira dancing around the living room to her favorite Dora the Explorer CD, and another of her enjoying a Starbucks treat. Hope you are all having a great summer! Mira and I go to the beach twice a week and have a really good time. Today she even started dunking her head underwater! Looking forward to getting her into swimming lessons next summer.

Mira is 26 months now and just a doll. She always has something to say and is very polite, saying please and thank you without prompting. She's a huge greeter at the store and will say, "Hi, Everybody" when we get places, then yell, "Bye, Everybody!" when we leave. A little charmer!
Love, MIchelle

Mommy's stupid!

I have a bad habit of saying, "Oh, I'm stupid," when I do something dumb or make a mistake. So the other day, I made a wrong turn when driving or something and said, "Oh, I'm stupid." Mira was in the backseat. When we got home, Mira was walking around the house and she said to me, "Mommy, you're stupid!"

Oops. I need to remember that little ears have big mouths and good memories.

She also has done the "Mommy, you suck!" when I've said, "I suck." Ahh. The joy of children!

Pool party!

Mira and I were invited to a pool party at my friend's house. She was so excited to go, so we bought an inflatable toy for her to tool around in. It was a gorgeous day and Mira and I really enjoyed ourselves. I'll have to talk Chris into getting us a pool.

Love your hat, Mira!

We caught Mira in a cute moment today trying on Chris's hats. She's fond of going into his closet and pulling out his baseball caps. She seems to be growing in leaps and bounds now and is no longer a baby. I have a little girl on my hands . . . and I love it! Conversations with her are so fun for you never know what she will say. Her opening line to anyone in any store is: "I pee pee in the potty chair!" It's a good opening line for a toddler. For an adult? Not so much. Hope you are all well and enjoying the summer. I can't believe it's July!
Love, Michelle

4th of July!

We had a really nice time this weekend, spending time at Chris's dad's cabin. Mira had an especially fun time in the lake. Here are a few photos of her time on the beach.

You've got mail!

Mira's first letter arrived in the mail today. Chesney colored a rainbow and told Kelly she wanted to mail it to Mira. What a nice surprise! Mira really enjoyed opening her mail and "reading" it! Thanks to my thoughtful sister and niece for brightening my little girl's day!

Love,
Michelle

Do father's have fur?

Chris, Mira, and I were laying in our bed on a recent weekend. Mira was watching TV while Chris and I were sleeping in a little longer. Chris wasn't wearing a shirt and Mira crawled over to him and put her hand on his chest. I said, "Mira, what are you doing?" Mira said, "I'm touching daddy's fur!"

Reminds me of a story Aunt Margene told about someone (who shall be nameless) once asking her, "Why do mutha's have fur?"

Calling Grandpa and Grandma

Mira loves to play on the phone now and pretend to call people. One of her favorite couples to call is Grandpa and Grandma! She'll have pretend conversations with them. It's really cute to see her reaching out to them in this way. I guess I'll have to actually get them on the other end of the line to make that connection complete!

Day at the lake

I took Mira to a man-made lake in Maple Grove last week. She had a really good time playing in the sand and splashing around. We'll definitely go there more often this summer!

Happy Father's Day!

Mira had a wonderful Father's Day with her daddy. She colored a card herself and bought her daddy a mini-fridge for the basement. We all went to Chris's dad's house on Lake Charlotte in Buffalo for the day. Mira had a great time on the beach and went into the lake a little. She also took a pontoon ride with us. It was perfect weather and a really relaxing day.

It's my bath time!

Mira just loves the water lately! Her baths are more "interactive" now with her dumping water on her head. She's really taken to the swimming pool in our community center. She'll go down the slide and walk around and splash. It's so fun watching her swim. I think next year we'll swimming lessons. My little guppy!

Summer rain

We had a nice rain tonight, and Mira took full advantage! It's fun to see the rain through a child's eyes—just overjoyed at the prospect of getting wet, not worrying that her clothes are soaked. I let her have some fun in it. Her enthusiasum is contagious! We're having a good summer so far. Lots of park time and eating dinner on the deck. The pace is slow and the corn on the cob is sweet. This is a summer to enjoy! We hope you are all doing the same.

Love,
Michelle, Chris, and Mira

Finally . . . something pretty to look at

Chris and I finally got around to landscaping this past weekend. It's amazing what a few hours and a lot of hard work can do! We rocked around the entire house and added some bushes and a duck! We'll add more next year to the back, but consider it done so far this year. Now we can relax and enjoy our yard for the rest of the summer!

My little girl is grown up

Every once in a while I'll be spending time with Mira and I'll realize how quickly she's grown. I love the stage she's in now, talking and all independant, but sometimes miss the days when she really loved to snuggle and when I would rock her to sleep. We still read books before bedtime, but she doesn't get sleepy and want to cuddle in my arms as often. But then the day comes and we do fun things together, like go to the park or the library. She'll talk and talk about what she did that day. Those are really fun times as well. She's not a baby anymore, but I love the toddler phase even better.

Oh, that's embarrassing!

Mira and I went to Target tonight to get some popcicles. Our air conditioning isn't working so we thought it would be something nice to cool us down at home. We had just checked out when Mira told me she had to go potty. I wanted to get home before the popcicles started to melt, so I said, "You have a pull-up on, so you can just go in your pants." A few seconds later, I noticed a puddle of water forming underneath the cart. I lifted up Mira's dress and saw that she had underpants on! Whoops! So there was a big puddle of urine on the floor. How embarrassing! I apologized to the cashier who had to make a "clean-up in Aisle 6" request. She was good natured about it, but I was so embarrassed! Lesson learned: Lift up Mira's dress and check for pull-ups before telling her it's okay to pee in Target!

Mommy's little helper

Mira helped me plant some orange lilies along the sidewalk last week. She really enjoyed the gardening! So now she helps me by watering them as well as the bushes in the front. My baby has a green thumb!



All of the lilies had bloomed by yesterday. They look gorgeous! Really brighten up the sidewalk.

Our very own Liberace!

Mira got a keyboard for her birthday and loves to play it every day! She'll drag it outside and set it up on her little picnic table on the deck. Here are pictures of Mira playing her keyboard (even Liberace had to start somewhere!) and of Mira and Chris relaxing on the deck.

Happy Birthday, Little Girl!

We had Mira's 2nd birthday party tonight. She really had a good time spending the day with her family. And the presents. Oh, the presents! She had a blast opening them all.


Here is a photo of Mira trying to blow out her candles with her mouth already full of cake! She didn't get too far.


And here is Mira opening her presents. She was lost in a sea of tissue paper! (Thanks to Mandy for wrapping the gift in this fun shot.)


Later, Mira was playing with her toys and told me "My dog is stuck in my hair." I guess she was right! We had a few tangles from cakey hair!

I just can't believe my little baby is almost 2. She's been the best part of my and Chris's lives, full of love, making us laugh every single day. It amazes me how quickly they grow and learn. Mira is speaking in full sentences now and is potty trained, so I feel like I have a little adult living in the house. Her favorite recording artist is Raffi, and she can't get enough of Dora and Little Einstein. I think Elmo has been officially replaced. I love her!

Mother's Day!

Here's a photo of me and Mira on Mother's Day next to the flowers she gave me. So pretty! I taught Mira to say, "Happy Mother's Day!" and "Mommy is the Queen." How true!


And her is Mira with her dad and Grandma Diane on Mother's Day. She loves grandma so much!