Little Changing Girl!

Here's what Mila has been up to these past couple of weeks:

• rather than bouncing up and down when she hears music she is now swaying side to side and has a bit of some shoulder action going on. Once the music comes on she can't help but dance and will dance-walk wherever she is going.
• we went to Kansas this past week and I was SCAVENGING for apps to entertain her on the plane as a last resort. I came across some blog that recommended Peekaboo Barn and let me tell you, it's a hit!  It has different animals making animal noises and at the end they all go to sleep. After watching it just a couple times Mila will now go "woof woof" when the dog comes on! It's absolutely adorable!  And the other day we said "Roscoe" and she said "woof woof" so she knows that ROSCOE is a DOG. She's a genius, I tell you!
• after no incidents in the first 12 months of her life, Mila has pooped in the bathtub three times in the last month. And all three of those have occurred when Robert was at work, leaving me to fend for myself.

one day she will kill me for this...

• Mila understands simple "commands" (is that what they're called if you're not referring to a dog??) such as, "go sit in your chair," "come give it to mommy/daddy," and "bring daddy a beer" (just kidding about that last one. or am I :) )
• while in Kansas she learned how to play peek-a-boo and will ever so cutely cover her face up and peer out with one eye as if you can't see her spying on you.  She also mastered the backwards crawl off the couch and going backwards down stairs after she climbs up. She is also waving hello and goodbye and will start doing it if she hears those words.
• if you are ever so lucky you may have witnessed one of her fits, where she sits down wherever she is and screams her head off. If you ignore her, after about 15 seconds she will get up and walk away like nothing happened.
• the only thing Mila loves more than reading books is bringing you a book and walking away to get you another one right when you start reading the first one to her.  Sometimes you can spy on her, though, and catching her "reading" to herself.

• she has also developed this fake chuckle that she will sometimes do; and she will also start cracking up if everyone around her is laughing.

Halloween is around the corner and, because I know you're waiting with bated breath, Mila is going to be a ladybug!  Until then, we are definitely taking advantage of Halloween jammies and all kinds of spooky decor (of which, Mila LOVES the color-changing ghost).

Our trip to Kansas was fantastic. The weather was perfect and it reminded me that my favorite time of year is Fall in the Midwest. Be still my heart.  

We even took Mila up to Lawrence to check out her future Alma Mater, KU, and Allen Fieldhouse. Right now I am currently trying to teach her to wave the wheat.

Huntington Beach in October is also one of the greatest times of the year and we celebrated by attending Surf City Nights, a farmer's market on Main Street (where Mila had her first taste of a donut) and bringing Mila to her first beach bonfire.  

Finally, Mila's been enjoying the park, the beach, celebrating the Canadian Thanksgiving and carrying this doll around everywhere snuggling it and patting it on the back; there was a tough Raiders loss to the Chiefs that saddened the entire family and it's finally cool enough to bust out the winter coats.

Coming up in the next couple of weeks we have Mila's first trip to the pumpkin patch and a trip up to Granite Bay for Johnny's 1st birthday. 

To see all the other pictures from this month, click here.

Mila's 1st Birthday Party

I started planning Mila's party month's ago and decided early on the theme was going to be pink ombre after I saw this cake.  Coincidentally, a few weeks after deciding on this theme one of my all time favorite bloggers did the same theme for her daughter's birthday!  There's no better way to plan a party than piggy backing off someone that's already done it!  I did waver for a second, thinking I could do some really cool things with a zoo theme or The Hungry Caterpillar but then I thought, I only have like two birthdays to choose what I want and then Mila will choose!  Bring on the PINK!

Like many people I headed over to Pinterest and Etsy and started a mad search for anything pink ombre. Luckily there was a never ending supply of ideas and the party planning went very smooth.  Before I had Mila I read about an app called Photo365 where you take a picture every single day and save it in this app.  I started doing that the day Mila was born and continued through her first birthday. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with all of the pictures and then I decided to somehow incorporate them into Mila's birthday party. I was so happy with the way everything turned out.

I bought the cutest dress for Mila to wear at the party (hanging in the upper left of the picture above) and, even though I ordered a 12mo size, it was still HUGE on her so she couldn't wear it at the party :( Luckily she has an over abundance of pink in her wardrobe so I was able to find an acceptable replacement.

red is as close as Robert gets to pink

I saw this idea on Pinterest where you tie balloons around a golf tee and then they look like they're floating.  It turned out great!

Unfortunately Mila was very tired during her party so she had her cake a little after the beginning of the party and then slept for two hours so she missed the whole thing!

Mila had such an amazing first birthday.  There were many visitors and all kinds of "firsts," and SO. MUCH. SUGAR.

watching Sid the Science Kid (her fav!) with Nana

first taste of frozen yogurt (which I will convince her is actually ice cream) 

she loved it!

at the beach with Auntie Shawna and Johnny

cruisin on her new ride from Auntie Court and Uncle Gar

magnets from Auntie Shanti

a hilarious onesie from Auntie Whit

And this is not the only love Mila got!  So many people sent pictures and videos celebrating Mila's big day.

birthday message from Kira

Robert's Aunt (Mila's doppelganger) and Uncle in Chicago who were unable to make it to California for the party still celebrated on their own!

And here is an amazing video from Aunt Sissy's 3rd grade class:

We are so thankful to everyone that celebrated the day, both here and around the country. It's still blows my mind how fast the first year went and I am hoping that time will slow down now (a girl can dream right?).

Here are the calendars from Photo365 up close and personal.  This is seriously a huge recommendation for anyone that is pregnant. At times it was a little annoying to have to take a picture every single day (although most days I already had a picture taken when the reminder went off, imagine that!), but I am so glad to have it to look back on.  Plus there are so many pictures that I can look at and know what happened on that date (Mila's first doctor appointment, the Sandy Hook shootings, the first time she met _________ (fill in the blank), the Super Bowl, etc). I know I will treasure these even more in the future.

Mila's 1 Year Doctor Visit

Mila had her one year check up yesterday and is right on track.  She weighed in at 20.13lbs (Robert guessed 25lbs and I guessed 23lbs), was 29in long and had ahead circumference of 17.5in.  The doctor said that she was within the normal range on all percentiles, so that was great.

We saw a new pediatrician, Dr. Brouwer, this time and I absolutely loved her. She was so great, sweet and attentive to Mila; everything that I had been picturing in a pediatrician.  We discussed my penchant for almond milk and she made me feel so much better by saying that dairy doesn't have that much nutritional value anyways so almond milk is fine (Robert heard it too!) for Mila.

We discussed Mila's eating habits and her talking.  The doctor said that the fact that she is blabbering to herself, although not saying any words, is great.  She said we should be watching over the next couple months and see if she starts associating words with objects, even if they aren't the right words; to count, she just has to call only one object a certain word every day (i.e. calling the dog "da" but only calling the dog that, nothing else).  She also said to test her with things like telling her to "bring me your shoes" and there's a good chance that she will understand that and will be able to complete the task. I thought that was amazing because I never thought Mila was that advanced yet; she's already a little person!

Mila also had to have 5 shots today, poor baby!  We did all of her vaccinations (Pnuemococcal, MMR, Chicken Pox, Hepatitis A) and her flu shot. Robert and I also need to get a flu shot, which I am normally against since I have never gotten one, but the doctor said that we are doing it for Mila now, not ourselves, and who can argue with that?  Other than running a slight fever today, Mila had no other issues with the shots.

Mila has to go back at 15mo and then again at 18mo for one more shot and then no other shots for three years.

And the real reason you read this blog, more pictures!

eating ice from the cooler

vamos a comer?

Happy October!

Where every day of the month is acceptable for Halloween clothes!