Who are you sleeping with?

I believe we are going to have a problem with our little Mira. She likes to hoard things. She is unlike her brother who likes to collect things like dice and rocks and other sorts. He at least puts all his collections in containers and keeps those containers in his room. Mira, on the other hand, collects friends. For awhile I would have to bring with me, not only my daughter, but all her doll 'friends'. She would have to lug them along to school.

Just before bedtime I took a snapshot of her bed all setup for the night. She MUST sleep with all these friends in their very specific spot. If they are not in their spot, she gets annoyed and immediately puts them in their proper place. If someone is missing, we cannot even get into the bed until he/she/it is found and put in their place. If there is someone in her bed that doesn't belong, they are quickly thrown out and onto the floor. But it's not only that she moves and removes these friends. She will point and say with a stern voice that they were misplaced and make sure whoever set it up, doesn't make that mistake again. Oy!

So this is the setup:

This all started with these two friends. Monkey always had to be in the right corner and Elmo had to be in the left. No IF's, AND's, or BUT's!

Then a few weeks ago we went to a diner nearby and she got her Pink Teddy Bear. She carried her around until a week later when Jory insisted we go back to get him a Teddy Bear (which has since been lost) and Mira got her own Blue Teddy Bear.

For awhile they slept in Mommy's room. But on Halloween Aunt Jill brought Mira the Orange Candy Bear and now the Teddy Bears must sleep in Orange Candy Bear's lap, right next to Elmo.

We had this small beanie cat for awhile. Last year she was nice enough to ask Ms. Rita at her school if she could hold it, and well, the cat never made it back to Ms. Rita. It's a good thing that Ms. Rita is smitten by Mira's cuteness, or we would have had a pretty big fight on our hands. Thank you!

Then this dog and Ms. Rita's cat used to be placed outside her door just before books/bed time, but they did eventually make it into her special lair of her bed.

Suddenly at a trip to Toys R Us she promised she would replace all her friends that she had to sleep with AND take everywhere with this very soft Webkins Jr. Cat. Soon did I realize that I was scammed and she was just added to the gang. So I guess she figured an appropriate place for her is holding Ms. Rita's cat on top of her by the pink monkey.

Just the other day she picked up this cute Bulldog at CVS and just couldn't put it down. This was his first night joining the crowd, but I soon learned that he didn't make the cut and sleeps on the floor with the other bed rejects.

Now just imagine in the mornings when I come and get her out of her crib, she hands me every one of these friends (and makes me pick up the bulldog off the floor). I have to carry her and them in my bed for her morning show. It's quite an ordeal.

Caught on Video

Tonight as Mira was having a late evening snack of healthy Froot Loops, she started to play with her food and babble to herself. As we started to pay more attention we realized she was actually saying something understandable to an English speaking person.

Mira says the alphabet from Randi Shapiro on Vimeo.

Happy Valentine's Day

Nothing like a little heart shaped lollipop to start off a birthday party day!

3 am body parts check

The other night started out very quiet and calm. The kids went to sleep with not much of a fight and Ryan and I were able to watch American Idol off the Tivo undisturbed. We were looking forward to a full night of peaceful sleep. I hear whining coming from Mira's room. Then crying and after that was screaming. This is when I mutter words of dislike to my offspring and she just screams my name. "MOMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYY!" I look at my clock, 3 a.m. "Ugh!" is all I could say.

I crawl out of my very warm and comfy bed with a very big, fat cat sleeping soundly above my head. She keeps screaming until I open her door and then suddenly silence. She looks at me and smiles, says a few unrecognizable words and then I pick her up to sit in the rocking chair. This time she did NOT want to sit with me.

As soon as I turned towards the chair she pointed with a fierce determination to the door and yelled "Da-yee!" So, she wanted her daddy and I was in no mood to argue with her. I brought her to our bed and plopped her on my beloved. She was wide awake and I think the two of us were hoping the other would watch her while we slept. She would have none of that! She likes to lay on her mommy. She requested her favorite friend Elmo a few times but the answer was NO. Then she decided that she was going to inspect her parents. Maybe she was trying to make sure we were the same ones she had before going to bed. She squeezed Daddy's nose. Yup! Still there. She touched her own and then came over to mommy. Nose: Check! Then she went onto the other parts she knows. Ears: Check, check and check! We all had those, too. Eyes, mouth, teeth and whatever else she could find. By then we were a bit baffled and even more exhausted.

When she was done checking the parent figures out, she insisted on getting out of the bed. So I put her down on the floor to see where she would go. I was figuring she was going to lead me to her room to read her a gazillion books or to the kitchen for another cup or a snack. I was even thinking for a brief moment that she may try to go to the den to see if Elmo was possibly available there. Nope. She bolted straight for big brothers room. I have never seen her walk so fast to get somewhere. I could have been so tired that it seemed faster than it really was but she was, once again, determined.

Oh no! We do not bother Jory when he sleeps. She was not happy that Jory's door was shut and not to be opened. It did take a gazillion books before she stopped checking all my parts once again and back to sleep.

Disrobed

Today is a pretty busy day for me. I have a ton of calls and appointments to make as well as cleaning up breakfast and some major laundry projects need to be done or no one will have clothes to wear by the middle of the week. After I got home from dropping Jory off at his first day back to school after a long vacation and running some errands, I decided to put Mira in front of a Sesame Street so I can get things done. Of course she is happy as a pig in poop, so I know she is fine.

After a few phone calls and unloading and loading the dishwasher I get a visit from the little princess. She is happy and chatty and of course asking me for a cup and a cookie. You would think nothing of it. I turn around and I see this:


Then when she turned around to find me, I asked her, "What happened to your clothes?" and this is what she does:

There is never a dull moment here. Now I am beginning to wonder what Elmo is teaching her.

The grass is always greener...

A couple of weeks ago we had a few days, maybe weeks, where eating was a battle with Mira. She would refuse to eat everything and anything that was on her plate unless it was a potato chip or something chocolate. (Yes, I think it's a little too early for PMS indulgences). So in my frustration, I decided that if she wasn't going to eat dinner, I wasn't going to try. After potatoes and chicken pieces went flying across the room, I took her out of the highchair and told her to go play. She went right over to her Daddy, who just a few minutes before we sat down for dinner walked in from work. Its so nice to see that she wanted to be with him. She insisted on sitting on his lap. We knew this from her persistent grunting and squealing. She finally got what she wanted, Daddy's lap. It turns out that it wasn't HER dinner she wanted.

Daddy's Dinner from Randi Shapiro on Vimeo.

DON'T play doctor with her

Mira has this funny habit of putting her finger in her ears. For the past 16 months I would constantly think that she had ear infections. I would trek her in and then get laughed at because her ears are absolutely perfect and clear. One doctor even jokes with me that she is trying to drive me crazy, already. I think she is right!

As Mira learns how to walk better and better each day she likes to do things with her hands. You saw a couple of days ago how she likes to carry evening purses on her arms. Sometimes she will walk around with a half eaten apple, dirty laundry (or clean; whatever she can get her hands on), cups, books...whatever. The past day or two she keeps sticking her finger in her ear while she is walking (and playing, but walking is what she likes to do most). Then she will try to put things in her ear like pretzel rods, toys, another persons finger. The list goes on.

After a long day, we were sitting on the couch relaxing and watching Yo Gabba Gabba. She turns towards me and yanks on my ear. She wants to see it. Ok, ill play along. She attempts to stick her finger in my ear. I turn my head and say NO! I continue to watch the show and she grabs my nose and pushes my head so she can see my ear again. I say NO! again and turn away. This time she uses all her might so she can see my ear and I, again, said NO! She gave up for a moment and found a toy 'shooter' from one of Jory's action figures. It has a 2 or 3 inch sword or spikey thing. She attempt to try it out in her ear and I looked at her and said NO! She put it down right away. The then turns my head with everything she had, and a few nails to make sure it happened, and tried to put the darned thing in my ear. That was it! Sword thing is gone and I will never let her be the doctor when we play.

It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's superkids!

The other day was Halloween and of course, we did the yearly march of ringing doorbells and getting candy! The best part is dressing up. Jory and Mira were both Super kids. Jory was a handsome Superman. Mira was a very adorable Superbaby as her big brother would say. Although she can walk, it was definitely not on her agenda. Especially since she was up since 2:30am the night before with only an hour or so nap. At over 12 hours later, all she wanted was Mom-mie!Ryan came home early to man the house and do the important job of giving out candy. I took the Superkids out to fill Jory's pumpkin bucket with as much candy as possible. We went with our neighbors that we go with every year. It was lots of fun except for when I had to remind him that we get what we are given and we cannot ask for candy, especially M&M's. It gets embarassing when your son is asking everyone for them and all they have is Kit-Kats. Deal with it, kid! its candy!  








Halloween March from Randi Shapiro on Vimeo.

Walking update

Mira is starting out real slow. She doesn't seem to have the confidence to walk all the time, but I am sure she will get there soon enough. It takes her awhile to warm up to do it but once she does, there is no stopping her. She loves to walk like it was a brand new toy. When we are at home, she found these 2 beaded evening purses I had and loves to put them on her arms and walk around. She looks like she is ready to go shopping, especially when she decides to carry around her carnival doll. The black and white friend will be sure to tell her if her butt looks big in those new jeans.


Practicing walking from Randi Shapiro on Vimeo.

Finally at 16 months and 3 days old...

Mira's First Steps from Randi Shapiro on Vimeo.

Its been months that she will only walk while holding onto some ones finger. She is not fond of any of the toy walkers. Suddenly, today she decided to show us she really can do it!

When you think you are alone

I am never alone when I take a shower these days. I am always rushing and squeezing them in between soccer practice and music class. Usually I put Mira on the floor outside the shower and put a gazillion toys out for her to play with. You would think that in the 5 minutes it takes me to take a shower, she would be well occupied. She always seems to get bored enough that the toilet paper is the only thing that she wants to play with. The other day, I was rushing my shower and trying to play with her as she opens and closes the shower door with a few face squishes against the glass.  Can you say multitasking? I am rinsing my hair and then I hear her. Her voice sounded a little louder than usual and she was super happy. I turn to shut the door and see what she was up to. I was thinking for that split second that she took the whole roll of toilet paper and put it on her head. Nope. She was sitting right there in my shower, putting her hands out as if she was feeling the rain. I was quite stunned at the sight of my freshly dressed baby soaking wet in the shower. I have to say that stripping an already wet baby is no picnic. She had a blast in there while I got out and dried off. I have a feeling I will be sharing my daytime showers with her more often.

Put on your poncho

Mira loves to drink out of straw cups. Why not? It's how her big brother drinks. But beware, she has a new trick! 

Straw drinking from Randi Shapiro on Vimeo.

Getting Picky

I am sitting here at lunchtime trying to feed Mira a healthy lunch. I gave her a half of a mini bagel with butter on each of the sides. She did ok with them. She started off by eating it from the bagel and then started to pick little pieces with her fingers and putting them in her mouth. I gave her 2 raspberries and I don't think she liked that. She just stuck her thumb in them and mushed them all over the high chair tray. Then I went safe and gave her cut up grapes and some honeydew which she did well with. I started to make myself a sandwich and attempted to give her a slice of munster cheese. I even rolled it up so she can hold it as she bites into it. Nope. I actually didn't know that cheese can be made into so many pieces and they stick to the floor (and your foot) once you accidentally step on it. Yuck. Last, but not least, I gave her a strawberry for the first time today. She inspected it as if something was going to pop out of it. Then she tried to get all the seeds off of it. She touched it to her mouth and gave me a grimace. OK, so it was a little sour. I gave her another one and cut it up this time. Those all went on the floor, too. Just know that strawberries stain old wallpaper. At this point, I gave up. I think she got enough and I am sure I'll give her a snack of goldfish or grahm crackers later. I forget that I was baking cookies and I get them out of the oven. They cool off as I am eating my sandwich and trying to get Mira to drink milk. I figured, why not? Whats the harm in a mini cookie? So I give her one. She grabbed it out of my hand and recognized it. She ate it before I could sit down. She starts to point and squeal like the cookies were being stolen out her very hands. She doesn't let up until I give her another. Yup, thats what she wanted. She scarfed that one down and now I am trying to hide the rest of the batch. She certainly knows what she wants!

Mira's 1st Year Video

Its official, Mira is ONE!

This past weekend we had her first birthday party. Mira is officially one now that she had dug into a birthday cake and opened presents. A year ago I couldn't even imagine that I would be planning a party for her. Now, I can't even fathom her turning 2, or 16, or 21 OH MY!
Here are a few pics from the special day. 

The birthday girl:




This was her cake. It was so georgeous and perfect, I started to cry when I picked it up.



Our little piggie couldn't even wait till after the candles were blown out (or lit) before she started to pick everything off of it and eating them. (notice her hand is on the cake here)

"Look Mama, I'm almost done! Gimme more!"


"There has got to be more here somewhere!"


"That's MY toy Daddy! Give it back!"


And here is big brother Jory recruiting his 2 girlfriends to help him catch butterflies.


Stay tuned. Mira's 1st year video will be posted soon!

Happy Birthday baby girl!

Well, here it is. Today our baby girl is now, officially, ONE full year old! She is no longer in the class of 'baby' and is now considered a 'toddler' even though she isn't toddling yet. This year had to have been the quickest, most tiring and most rewarding year I have ever had. I always thought it was tough being a parent to one child. To have 2 in the mix, makes it that much harder. Different ages require different demands. It got easier as the year went by, but in turn, the year went so quickly. 

Mira was born a tiny little baby with scrawny legs and arms. Itty bitty fingers and toes. It didn't take her very long to beef up and turn into the biggest mush I would ever know. She has rolls after rolls on those beautiful thighs. She is very huggable and I always call her my juicy.

She has the most gorgeous eyes that no matter where we are or what we are doing, someone tells me how stunning they are and how beautiful my baby girl is. Her smile is still filled with only two bottom teeth. The others are coming and I thought they would appear by her birthday, but they have proven me wrong.

Mira has a great personality and is a very big people person. She smiles at almost everyone however, she is starting to show signs of stranger anxiety. She loves to play games like peek-a-boo and 'Where is Mira?' When her big brother does anything that she finds exciting, she will clap. If she hears someone else clap, she will clap. If she wants your attention, she will blow you lots of raspberries. If you ask her to put her hands on her head, she will. She likes to blow kisses and when I have hair dangling in front of my face she will try to blow them away. When she is tired and hungry she will climb up on her Mama and snuggle and suck her thumb.

Mira has brought so much to our family and we could never ask for anything more. She is a sister to the most loving brother. Jory loves to make her laugh whether he makes silly faces and/or noises or rubbing his nose into her belly. He gets silly and tries to place things on her that shouldn't be there like a matchbox car or his t-shirts. When I give them a bath together he always likes to help me wash her.

To me, Mira has helped fill a space in my heart that has been there for a few years. She is my mothers namesake. There will be moments where I will be sitting with her playing and I just feel my mom watching us and give out a big sigh. Although mom will never be able to meet this wonderful gift, she will be there with us always. On occasion when I feel like I really would like my mom there, I'll just pick up my baby girl and give her a great big squeeze and I know mom feels it too.

Ryan has met another that has made him even more complete. After stressful days he finds calm playing with her. She always has a way to make him smile and keep him amazed. She giggles at his kisses when he says goodbye in the morning before he leaves for work. Sometimes I think his beard tickles, but I know she loves the kisses.

One year has passed and she has grown so much. I can never imagine my life without her, just like I could never imagine it without Jory. I wonder what I will be writing about her next year on this very same day. It seems so far away, but I know it will be here in no time.


Please check back for Mira's First Year Video.

A day at the Zoo

Yesterday we went to the zoo with friends of Ryans and we really had a great time. It was a bit hot and sticky, but when you have so many cool animals to see, it doesn't phase you. I think Jory's favorite part was the Butterfly Pavilion. Lately he has been almost obsessed with catch caterpillars and butterflies that this was right up his alley. Of course the 'zoo' we have at home doesn't compare to a whole roomful of hundreds of beautiful butterflies. 






Jory really liked going to the badger holes (or whatever animal it was) and looking out of the ground.

and here he is watching a male peacock with his open tail feathers. Jory wanted to feed him so badly but the bird just didnt like what Jory had to offer.

A photo story

Today we went to Aunt Amy and Uncle Mitch's for Cousin Kate's Masters Graduation Party. We all had lots of fun hanging out and relaxing by the pool. We got Jory a safety vest and he was super excited that he could swim without someone holding him at all times. He was more excited about all the worms and caterpillars he found, and of course, brought home with him. Here he is showing me he beautiful new friends.Mira had her first dip in a pool and wasn't too thrilled. But her experience of the day was a chocolate chip cookie! Yum Yum!!"Oh, man, this is so good! What is it?""A COOOOOOKIE!!!!!!!!!""Hey! Where did my cookie go? It was right here!""That was so good. I need a nap now."

Just over 11 months, seriously?

Our little baby Mira is now in her last month before she turns ONE! I don't know if I am ok with this. I think I am going to need a lot of help getting through this one.  I just can't believe this is happening. First, Jory is no longer considered a toddler and then now Mira is no longer considered an infant. She is going to be a toddler soon. This is when I just wish I can freeze time and just snuggle them tight and tell them to never grow up. Mira is turning into quite a character as her personality develops. She still loves music and no matter how tired she is for her music class, she will always bop about and try to sing with the teacher. She is banging things together to make noise and is quite surprised at the sounds she can make with different objects.  Mira started to crawl on her knees instead of doing an inchworm type of crawl. I was getting a little worried because the inchworm will do a job on her legs when the weather is nice and she is wearing shorts. While surfing the floor, she picks up everything in her path and attempts to take it with her. She will crawl around with the most random things in her hands and get very upset if she cannot hold one or drops one on the way. I believe I see the beginnings of a pac-rat here. We discovered that she can make a kissing noise while sucking her cheeks into her gummy mouth and she looks like a fish while doing it. It's just too adorable. She has a whole new bag of tricks. She still waves bye bye, claps and hands up but now she plays peek-a-boo. She likes to see what will balance on her head. She even does a great job of placing a small object into a bigger object. This is not so wonderful when I am rushing in the morning and I find toys in my shoes. She points to everything and she has a slew of sounds that continuously makes us wonder what she is trying to say.  She likes to pull up on things but is not really cruising the furniture just yet. I don't think we will see a walker so soon however, she does try to attempt to climb the stairs. She has only accomplished one stair, but thats enough to make me nervous. 

 Mira has 4 teeth that are pushing and annoying her gums. In turn, she has been waking up at all odd hours of the night making momma a bit cranky. Maybe by her first birthday we will see more than those 2 bottom chompers. Her favorite food this month is watermelon and she cannot get enough of it. Yum yum! 


She still adores her brother and is now getting to the point of annoying him quite often. She likes to grab his matchbox cars while he is zooming them around. He gets so angry that he yells at her and tells me to take her upstairs. She still seeks his attention while we are in the car and when she does catch him, they laugh hysterically. I just love it!

Peas, oh the peas!

The other day just after I got Jory ready for school and on the bus by the bright and early time of 8 am I went to do my power food shop. I zipped through the supermarket and as quickly, tried to unpack the bags when I got home. As I am trying to put away all the miscelaneous items into random parts of the kitchen, Mira is crawling around exploring anything and everything I bought. She finds the frozen food bag and to her delight, she discovered a massive bag of frozen peas. Peas are one of the major staples of her day. She loves them. No wait, I may be so bold to say that she might even live for them. I am watching her explore this bag and at first, she tries to pick the peas off the picture on the bag. Very confused, she keeps trying to pick one up. 'Why can't I grab one?', she is probably asking herself. Frustrated, she realizes the little green balls are inside this baggie thing. She starts to whap at it with her hand. Maybe she was trying to hit it open like a pinata.  After many attempts at hitting the bag and not getting to the prize she decides to rip it open with her teeth. She starts to rip at the corner of the bag. With only bottom teeth she doesn't understand that this is going to be a lot harder than it seems. She gets very frustrated and starts to whine with every tug and pull on the frozen pea bag. I decide that maybe I should just give them to her. I place her in her chair and whip out the leftovers of her dinner. I don't even bother to warm it up. If she really wants to eat, then she will eat it cold. I dump a half a bowl of a corn, peas and carrot mix on her tray and she dives right in. She acted like I have never fed her before and that there will be no food tomorrow. When I was done unpacking the groceries I look over to see how she was doing and she ate all the peas. Yup, she left a plateful of yellow and orange and picked out EVERY SINGLE PEA!