Miracle!

Last night Leigh and I went on a date, which involved doing a bunch of random stuff, including going to Target. We moseyed past the children's stuff and I noticed the potty training stuff. Maybe we should buy her a miniature potty? We did. So then she had a choice: sit on a booster seat on the regular toilet or sit on a teeny-tiny potty.

Tonight, she sat on the teeny-tiny potty. Then she peed. Then I nearly tackled her.

It was amazing, people. I never thought I'd care so much about someone else's bathroom habits.

Now we just have to get her to do it again.

That's nice

When we picked Mia up from school, one of the teachers, Miss Kelly, told us a story about Mia using her new words. Mia was jabbering away at Miss Kelly and started pointing out her body parts. She pointed at her eye and said, "Eye!" Miss Kelly got excited and encouraged her to keep going. Mia pointed to her nose and said, "Nose!" Miss Kelly was so excited and asked Mia what else she knew.

Then our child stuck her finger up her nose and announced, "Booger!"

Super.

Forever Family Day

Today was a special day for a very special family. My good friend Michelle got full legal custody of her adopted children, Noah and Izzy. She's a single mom who was kind enough to bring two kids desperately in need of love and attention into her home. After a year, she finally got to officially call them her own. They named it Forever Family Day. I was so honored to be able to attend the adoption ceremony. I might have started crying even before the judge came in the room. It was one of the greatest things I've ever seen. So wonderful. The world is a better place because of Michelle, and those two children will have a shot at a real life. God bless her and those babies.

Snack time chat

We've been trying to implement a new rule from Mia's dietitian: eat everything (even snacks) at the table. This is new for all of us, grown-ups included, and Mia is a little leery of snack time in her high chair. But we used this time-out to talk about all those new words she's using. Kind of. Of course, there was mooing.

Princess Blah Blah Blah

Mia's babysitters, Jaeson and Caele, gave her the best nickname ever: Princess Blah Blah Blah. They dubbed her that a few months ago when she really started jabbering away. It's hilarious and accurate.

Well her blah blah blah has really started turning into words. The other night we had the TV on mute, and she noticed her favorite animal out of the corner of her eye. She spun around, pointed and said, "Cow!" Since when could she say cow?

Today she shared a bunch of other words she's been secretly hoarding. At my grandparents' house, she pointed to and correctly identified bird, cat and Grandpa.

Also this morning, we were disappointed to hear a sentence: "Wake up."

She woke up crazy early, and we tried the oldest trick in the book. We put her in bed between us and tried to go back to sleep. Maybe if we sleep, she'll sleep, too, right? This use to work. Now? Not so much. Immediately after we put her down, she stood up, pointed and demanded, "Wake up."

Were we excited about her using more words?

Those Darn Schmids

We finally got to meet Aubrey! Let me just say ... my friend Emily has such a beautiful daughter. We made it over to Fayetteville this weekend to get a peek at her little girl, who was born right before we went on vacation. It was so exciting to see tiny Aubrey and see Little and Aaron.

We left Mia with my Aunt Connie because she wasn't feeling too well. She and Aubrey can get crazy some other time. Leigh and I waited impatiently for Aubrey to wake up, and we both had the chance to hold her.


And then I held her some more.


And then Clarence the pug got jealous. Sorry, C-Murder.

Born to run

Mia bails out

Around we go

We stopped by the zoo, where Mia had the chance to ride a real carousel for the first time. It took her a few go-arounds before she could wave at daddy when she saw him, not by the time we looped around to the other side.

USA! USA US ... oh.

We had some friends over to watch the Women's World Cup final, which, unfortunately, did not go our way. We still enjoyed eating with friends. Mia celebrated the patriotic experience by wearing a Fourth of July dress, trying to feed Leigh with a spoon and then honking his nose.