For love of the vacuum

Mia loves to vacuum. Loves it. We've discovered that Mia has a keen interest in cleaning. She likes to wipe down surfaces, push around the broom and put things away when she's done playing with them. But the vacuum has a special place in her heart. She particularly loves using it for weightlifting. She also enjoys performing maintenance checks.

The Jacobs on Ice

It's a rare occasion when I can do something better than a one Leigh Jacobs. That's why I was so, so, so excited to go ice skating. You see, Africans don't often go ice skating. I've only been maybe five times in my life, and this was still four times more than Leigh had been. It was a small victory for me. I've been waiting for payback since the first time Leigh and I went to the batting cages when we were very first dating. Leigh hit line-drive after line-drive, while I struck out repeatedly. I'd been playing softball since I was 5 years old. Leigh had been playing softball since that very minute. Jerk. So, really, this ice skating trip saved our marriage.

We went with our friends Ian and Jenny. They're from Michigan, so of course they are super amazing at ice skating and then claim that they're "not that good" before doing synchronized double axles. They were so nice and helpful. They had much better manners than I did. But by the end of the night, Leigh had the hang of it. I was still faster. Take that, husband!

Coloring the dogs green

Mia and the dogs have a great relationship, but sometimes the dogs are a little too big for wee tiny Mia. I equate it to having animals the size of rhinos galloping through the house, knocking you down left and right. Mia takes it in stride, and the dogs put up with her quite well, too. Let me share a series of events that illustrate this relationship perfectly.

Mia: "Skye, I want to pet you!"


Skye: "But I want to sniff you first!"
Mia: "You just knocked me over, jerk! What the heck? I just wanted to pet you."


Mia: "This calls for my green crayon."


Mia: "For knocking me down, I'm coloring your nose green."
Skye: "Whatever. I'll eat that crayon as soon as you fall asleep.

Mia: "Deter, I'm coloring your nose, too, just for good measure."

Mia: "And I'll color your head while I'm at it."

Deter: "Carrie. Seriously? Do something."

Deter: "I give up. This is my life now."

Notice Mia's green crayon.

Take that, LSU

We're raising her right.

Our friend Thabo

So we made good friends with an Oklahoma City Thunder player the other night. And when I say, "we made good friends," I really mean that we saw him at a restaurant.

We saw Thabo Sefolosha. He, his wife and their two daughters were eating at Zorba's in the booth next to us. Mia was in a high chair and so of course was super interested in Thabo's daughter in a high chair. Leigh kept say, "Mia! Go make friends!" haha It was great.

Thabo's older daughter kept peeking over the top and around the side of their booth to look at us. We'd wave and make faces. When he left, he looked at our booth and said hi to us and then saw Mia, leaned down a bit and said hello. It was so cool! While I wanted so badly to get a photo with him, he was with his family. (He could have been the second Thunder player in my photo collection!) But him saying hi to Mia was absolutely awesome.

We went to the Thunder game the other night and saw our new BFF. I knew he was busy, so I didn't bother him. But we're totally friends now. Totally.

A happy Thankseating

We had two great Thanksgivings this year! First we had lunch with some friends of ours who are from far and wide. Here's a picture of everybody looking happy, except for Mia, who we think is forlorn because we couldn't let her have free reign with our friends' entertainment center. From left, it's Carrie (Arkansas), Darla (Connecticut), Justin (D.C. area), Leigh (South Africa), Megan (Colorado) and Andrew (Kansas City). So Mia is the only Oklahomans in this photo. It was so much fun and nice to celebrate the holiday with friends.

For supper, we cooked and hosted Leigh's mom and her friend. So it was some more eating. We realized it was Mia's first Thanksgiving meal. Last year she was breastfed and had no teeth. This year she's eating solids and has about one half of one tooth. So she got to indulge with us. Why don't we have Thanksgiving food all year long? I have no idea.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mia has been busy working on her crafts at school to wish you all a happy, happy, happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Hope for the wee tiny baby

Mia's been about the same size since birth. Though she's healthy, she's a wee tiny child. So we were shocked to find that after wearing these overalls once, she was already too tall. I've heard something like this could happen - children just springing up overnight somehow. Apparently it's true.

No. 1 soccer fan

I snapped these cute pictures of Mia trying to watch Leigh play soccer. She's very interested now in walking around on her own and watching the big kids. She also loves the crowds that come to watch the teams play. She claps when they clap and shouts when they shout. She's already a fan.

The P+D Pub Crawl

We had the BEST TIME last night with our friends at the Second Annual Pump and Dump Pub Crawl. The name wasn't exactly accurate this year, but it was too good to get rid of.

The vuvuzela

Leigh taught Mia how to play the vuvuzela while we over at Jill's the other night.

Harry Potter and friends

Last night Leigh and I nerded it up at the premier of the seventh Harry Potter movie. (I wrote a column about the whole extravaganza.) Mia celebrated the opening of the movie by hanging out at home with my mom. Some day she'll love Harry Potter, but not just yet.


We went with friends Jenny Peterson and Megan Elliot. As if we weren't awesome enough, we had shirts. And let me just say this: people thought they were really cool. I don't know if being the coolest dork in the room means much, but it was still nice that people appreciated them.

The scrunch

Mia has started making this face:

We call it The Scrunch. She scrunches up her face and breathes in and out of her mouth really fast. She sounds like a tiny, adorable ball of fury. She does it when she's mad, frustrated or wants to hear herself breathing really loudly.

Happy birthday, Oklahoma!

Once again, Oklahoma and I celebrated Nov. 16 - our birthdays. (I wrote a column about it.) My boss was nice enough to bring me in a cake today! Delicious.

Another reason to love fall

Dressing a child in clothing with ears is the funniest thing ever. And the fall and winter seasons provide the perfect excuse to put a kid in coats with ears. I snapped these pictures of Mia on her way into daycare. In the bottom one, she was crying because I tried to put her down on the floor. I like that it says sunshine right behind her little ears.

Birthday photos

I took Mia to have her photo take on her birthday and then prompting procrastinated mailing her photos out to anybody. They're probably just going to come with Christmas cards. If I can remember where I put them. Look at this cuteness! She's like in a sitcom or something. She looks like she needs a catchphrase.

Hello, Ryan Mallett

Tonight we went out to the see the Razorbacks demolish UTEP. It was our annual trek to Fayetteville to see the Hogs play. This time was absolutely freezing. We rode to the stadium with our pals Emily and Aaron Schmid. Aaron enjoyed the tailgating. Mainly because he and Leigh were the only ones tailgating.

It's a long story, but some friends from college ended up using our tickets to take their little boys to a Razorback game for the first time. We ended up sitting in my Uncle Kelly's seats because it was too cold for him (or anyone with any smarts, really) to go. It was our first time to sit so close. The wheelchair section is right on the sidelines. I took this picture, which isn't the best, but shows how close we are. Notice the photographer and cheerleader standing right in front of us.

We got to see Ryan Mallett up close. Like really, really close. Turns out, he is a giant. We already knew this, but seeing him from the sidelines was an eye-opener.

When we left the stadium, we saw tons of people leaving with their kids. I'm glad we didn't take Mia. It was way to cold for her - or anyone else - to be outside.

Love for Skye

Finally, this poor dog gets some attention.

Leigh was playing on the floor with Mia when Skye laid down with him. So cute.

Those are cold cheese balls

Earlier this month I had the chance to go to Science Museum Oklahoma for a column. So. Much. Fun. I had the chance to see a couple friends - Emily Rothrock and Alex Mattison. The most fun thing I got to do was hand out cheese balls dipped in liquid nitrogen. It makes the cheese balls super cold (obviously) and water vapor pours out your mouth and nose while you're chewing. Needless to say, kids think it's super great. And so do I.

Speaking of Science Museum Oklahoma, we went to a LOYAL opart there the other night. Of course the party descended into play time. Let me just say, this slide is fun. Leigh got his due when our friends retaliated against his ball throwing. Good aim, Misha and Edwin.

The first Picture Day

Today was Picture Day at Mia's school. She came home with a sticker on the back of her shirt that reminded us to dress her for pictures. So, of course, we did! Mia wore an adorable little white and red plaid dress, her super-cute sparkly shoes and fuzzy little white socks. I have to say - she looked fabulous. I snapped a couple photos of her shoes and my shoes before we left the house.

They had a little wintertime backdrop and a black sleigh surrounded by fluffy fake snow set up in her room. One of her teachers, Miss Kelly, plopped her down and puffed out her dress. Mia was a little nervous about teachers, the photographer, the photo assistant and me all staring at her. She covered her mouth with her hand, but the photo assistant moved her hand back down. Then she just politely grinned and sat still! What? Whose child is this? Surprisingly, a child of Leigh Jacobs sat still.

The photographer called it a wrap and the room applauded. "She's the first kid to sit still at all today!" Miss Kelly said. Apparently the other kids weren't even staying in the frame. Leigh and I agreed she gets this behavior from me.

Have a seat

Leigh's dog, Skye, is a wonderful dog. She's one of the friendliest dogs ever and just wants to be right in your face, giving you love and getting pet. While Deter has settled into the new routine with Mia in the house, Skye is still adjusting. And let's be honest: she's a little jealous. She has two ways of reminding us that she still thinks she's the cutest thing in the house.

1. She stands in front of us and jumps straight up and down. She's like a little pogo stick of desperation.

2. She climbs between us and Mia whenever we're on the floor playing. She can squeeze her brick-shaped body between us even when Mia is less than a foot away.

Leigh snapped this picture that illustrates how much Skye loves attention. Mia is sitting on my lap. Skye is sitting on Mia's lap. Of all the places in the entire house, of course Skye wants to sit on top of Mia.

Terminal A

Mia makes her way to the terminal with her luggage. Target is apparently connected to the airport.

Chomper

OK, I admit it. This photo is terrible. It's insanely blurry. (You try to photograph a toddler while some else holds her mouth open! Yeah right!) But let's just focus on what you would see if it was actually in focus: Mia's first tooth.

Leigh was the lucky one to discover it. Mia likes to gnaw on people's knuckles, but today she gave Leigh an actual bite. A teeny tiny tooth was poking through her gums. It's on the bottom on her left side. We celebrated by giving her apples, Grape Nuts and jawbreakers.