Christmas present is past...

The time between Mia's second birthday and her third Christmas flew by so rapidly and with such busy-ness, I almost let December pass undocumented. A quick run down of the events since my last post is in order:

November 20: Mia turned two. She will proudly tell you herself all about her age.

This photo is a jump-ahead, but I thought it would be a good way to introduce the birthday series. Icing, anyone?

Three of the four "babies" who invaded my mother-in-law's house for the birthday celebration are in this photo: from rear to front we've got baby Reagan (my eldest niece's youngest child. For reasons of which no one is quite certain, her site has a photo of her big sister on it), Kennedy (my cousin/oldest friend's eldest daughter. The link is to her baby sister's site, in which she is featured prominantly) and the birthday girl.

Here's Mia staring down the candles on her cake; she knows that blowing them all out is 50% mental.

Mia can eat cake like no one else! Note the determination in her eyes.

Eating cake at that sustained velocity quickly exhausted Mia. There were fragments of cake everywhere! It was like someone used a chainsaw to slice the cake. Amazing!

Since I bravely handled cake duty, it was mommy's turn to supervise The Opening of the Presents. Newly wiped clean of cake particles (mostly), Mia got into it.

Plied with sugar and drunk with present-opening glee, Mia looks a bit dazed. We are dangerously close to baby-melt-down time....

"Christmas Morn" is a wonderful time...

Demonstrating her "old soul," Mia displays the Christmas morning angst it takes most people decades to develop. Actually, she seemed to have a good time Christmas morning. I just thought that this photo was funny because the room looks empty, aside from Mia in the floor, and because of her facial expression. Did Stacy take this photo as a commentary on the relative emptiness of our collective modern American, commercial Christmas experience? Nah! Mia just hadn't awakened fully when the shot was snapped.

Now, despite the fact that our little family has two large Labradors whom we ignore and neglect, and who subsequently tear up the backyard of our new house (it looks something like what I imagine the trenches of WWI looked like back there, but we are proudly now mole-free), and disregarding the number of times--at three in the morning, above the barking and howling--that my bride has said something like "We are getting rid of those dogs in the morning!", Stacy surprised Mia and I with the above-pictured baby lab on the morning before Christmas. That makes the dog population equal the human population at our house, and this one will be as big and rowdy as the other two soon.

After getting over the lifestyle change having another baby inside our house will mean, as well as my displeasure with my wife's impetuousness, I have really taken to Abby. She rides in my lap and comes to work with me (not being potty-trained means she can't stay home alone for eight hours each day). In the week we have had her, she has become my buddy.

Mia wrestles her new puppy-friend on Christmas morning (or "Christmas Morn," as Stacy put it this year!). Abby LOVES Mia; Mia is a little nonplussed about having competition for cutest in the house.

"Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays"? Can we crap up good things any more in this country?

At the risk of offending by not using one religious tradition's lingo, our family sincerely hopes that you all had and have very happy holidays. May you and your loved ones find peace and blessings, whatever your concept of God might be, and whatever your language.

The wild gander leads his flock through the cool night,Ya-honk! he says, and sounds it down to me like an invitation: The pert may suppose it meaningless, but I listen closer, I find its purpose and place up there toward the November sky.

--Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, 1855, I Celebrate Myself, Line 238

This coming weekend, Mia will officially be 2 years old. For two years she has grown and breathed and learned, each day changing my life a little more. Who could have known how amazing she would make things?!

Last year, her aunt Suzy came up with the idea of taking photos of Mia (then nearly one) in a pumpkin patch at a Methodist church near my parents' house in East Tyler. We agreed that Punkin Patch Photos (note the cute way I write "Punkin" for the less endearing "Pumpkin") would be great, and birthday party invitation history was made.

Here's a photos of her scarfing down pumkin-shaped/colored cake last year. This baby likes her cake!

Below is a photo of her in the patch last year, for comparison's sake.

This year, we decided an interesting sociological experiment would be to create a tradition of photographing Mia in that same pile of gourds each year to chronicle her growth and the hideous "pumpkin patch sprawl" that is taking over our fair city. Below are some of the best of our efforts (and by "our" I mean Suzy's, of course...)

Is this little girl growing up, or what?!

The best part is that Mia is super-good-natured. "Terrible 2" is beginning to show its head, but over all, she handles everything we throw at her with sweet grace.

I guess this means that birthday photos will be in the next post. I do have some great pictures from a weekend campout that Stacy and I went on with Sherry (a girl Stacy works with) and her husband Stacey (I was surrounded by Stacies!)--they'll show up soon enough.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIA!

"Reasons to Survive November"

See how pensive Mia looks in the mornings!

Even in Texas, Autumn is a special time of year. The fresh smell in the air and the cooler tempatures sort of give people extra energy, and even as early as October, our thoughts begin to turn toward hot cocoa in front of a fireplace, and to the snow-frosted Christmas that inevitably arrives in our imaginations (though rarely does it really snow here).

Yesterday, Stacy, Suzy and I took Mia back to the pumpkin patch where we photographed her last year for her one-year birthday invitations. Suzy took tons of photos because Mia has already learned to ham it up for the camera, and she was really cute and cooperative. I will add sample photos soon.

Last Sunday evening, we went to Nacogdoches to have dinner with Brooks and Camille. Mia went to feed the ducks, but ate about as much bread as she fed, in typical Mia fashion! It was good to be back in Nacogdoches, even if we don't have a house there anymore. It was great to call that town home for a few years--there isn't tons to do there, but that just means you rely more on good friends to make special times.

Why waste yummy bread on ducks?

Left: Mia shows off her "Elvis" lip curl.

Mia is such a grown up! She is talking almost non-stop and sings and plays by herself a lot. She is doing well in therapy (both physical and occupational), though she still has a long way to go. Every day during the week (except for some Wednesdays), Stacy brings Mia to me at work, so Mia an dI get to eat breakfast and watch "Dora the Explorer" together before I take her to therapy or to daycare. Even though it is often rushed, that is precious time. She is a great friend, and cuddling and feeding her is a great way to get the day rolling.

Mia really looks up to her cousin, Kennedy. Kennedy is almost a year older than Mia, and she is smart and lots of fun. She will likely teach Mia how to walk, if we give her time--there's no telling what kind of trouble those two will cause, someday! Chad and I deserve whatever we got in that department....

Right: Kennedy demonstrates the art of writing to Mia.

By the way, today's post title comes from a poem by Tony Hoagland by the same name.

Fun Times at the Fair

Mia visited the East Texas State Fair last Sunday evening. Before then, I didn't realize East Texas was a state, but now I know. Anyway, she ate a whole corn dog (a treat which first appeared at the State Fair of Texas in 1942) and drank lemonade before riding two rides.

Left is a photo showing how she looked after eating that corn dog; she is blitzed! How would you feel after eating a treat that was 63 years old?

She rode a horse on the carousel and squealed the entire time, and then she rode on a circus train. I think she used most of her energy watching the people, though, especially the other kids. She really wants to run and play with them!

Above, we are on the carousel. Mia is naturally happy, but she literally squeeled on this ride.

Check out the pi-zissed look on Mia's face after being forced to get off of her horse. She is not a baby with whom one should trifle! I am making zombie-face in the attempt to mimic her.

Here are Stacy and Mia on the circus train ride. Mia was confused because I stood in a curve to get this photo, and by the time she heard my voice, they had passed.

The rhythmic "clank-clank" of the track, combined with the sounds and smells of other children partying like only children can, made Mia a bit...well...dazed...

So, we finally decided that enough was enough (and Mia was too small for any other rides), so we went to the house. Judging from the photo above, Mia had a great time at the fair. She sang and danced in her car seat on the way home, and nothing could disguise the drunken quality that this picture captures.

Technically, since you have net my baby and my wife, it is time for me to introduce myself; however, my cousin (who is my oldest friend) and his wife just had a baby Saturday, so I thought I would drop in a quick post with a link to her new baby page so you could all meet her. Be sure to look at her other photos and sign her guest book while you are there.

Here's her site: http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/t/taylorreed

And here's a photo of me loving on her yesterday:

We'll get back to me soon enough.

Meet Stacy...

also known as "Mommy" around our house, Stacy is a Speech and Language Pathologist who works for ETMC in Rehab. She works mostly with adults with brain injuries, including stroke patients. When I met Stacy, I thought that Speech Therapists taught little kids how to speak better--and some therapists do that, so I am not completely off base--but I didn't realize how much an SLP really does.

I was impressed with how quickly Stacy got through college and grad school (she got through both in 3.5 years, if my math is correct); I was soon more impressed when I found out that Stacy gets to teach people how to swallow and speak after they survive strokes, which is a very emotionally difficult time for most adult patients of hers.

Work aside, Stacy sings like an angel with a local church praise band on Sundays, but the best thing about her (to me, anyway) is that she is an amazing mommy to Mia and she puts up with me. Either would be a full-time job, but she usually handles both with a certain amount of grace. She is usually a no-crap kind of gal, so she keeps me in line, but she is also silly and fun a lot of the time.

Stacy took good care of Mia right from the start.

Stacy and I re-met at Christmas Eve service at church back in 2002. I saw her from the balcony and wondered who the new girl was; to my surprise, when she turned around she was Stacy, whom I had met back in 1998 while I was working for Marvin UMC and she was an intern in the music department. We swapped email addresses and the next thing I knew she was driving from Dallas to Nacgodoches to visit. We were off to a great beginning! Little did we know all that we would go through together.

Flash forward to today; Stacy and I have been married two years, yesterday, and every day we learn more about one another. Year one was a time of adjustment for us both--on top of the usual rigours of marriage, Mia came early. Year two has been a comparative paradise!

Here we are at the movies where we saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

I highly reccommend everyone try to make it to year two before calling it quits....

Meet Mia Emmeline

Welcome to Baby Mia's new blog space. True, she is too young use the computer for much, and her little fingers are not yet nimble enough to handle the keyboard, but this is her new blog--I am just updating it for her until she is ready to take over.

She won't likely address current news topics, like Iraq or the poor missing girl in Aruba; nah, this site will probably be just a "lookee-at-what-Mia-is-up-to" site, bo-ring to all but her most die-hard fans. To me, Mia is infinately interesting and amazing. She has done more to change my life (just by existing) than most anyone else. I swear, everyday is better because I know I will get to cuddle her sometime in it.

Mia on the day after she was born: can you say "tiny and bruised"?

If you have ever visited her old babies online webpage, you know her back story. If not, here it is: Mia's baby page.

Since that time, the teensy baby has grown until she is about 30 pounds (that's 13.64 kilos to our European friends). She has been called "juicy" by our next-door neighbors, and "healthy" by random people in public (a veiled way of commenting on her new large size--she's a BABY, you freaks! She is not a member of a gym!). To me, she is beautiful, all the way; it is nothing short of a miracle that she is as happy and healthy and cute as she is today.

Mia just discovered Dairy Queen's Soft-serve ice cream.

Mia sings, plays, somehow manages to scoot all over the floor (she does not crawl or walk yet, due to weakness on the right side of her body. Don't worry; she will get there soon enough!). She smiles at me, kicks her legs, and says "da-dee, da-dee, da-dee" when she is really happy to see me, and she has given me a new reason to do everything, especially to smile.

All the crap that "baby people" say about children--you know, the stuff that makes you want to kick them in the head and tell them that their children are not special--somehow became true for me when Mia arrived. All the corny pop love songs on the radio (that I usually tune away from) suddenly became poems about my daughter. We actually took "Emmeline" from the title of a Ben Folds song of the same name (different spelling) because it fit how I felt while she was inside her mommy (don't let me walk away from Emeline for stupid reasons...).

So, I am that sad schmuck that you pity in the grocery store...the one with the ball cap (though he's too old for it) and the large package of diapers under his arm. He whistles some dumb tune and smiles at the checkout girl and at you--you wonder if her is retarded or something. He certainly doesn't go out to meet exotic friends for drinks and all-night raves, nor does he keep up with the latest indy music. You think that he has sold out, and he has, but he sure did get a good price. :o)

I can't believe this happy little person is mine to love.