Words

Mia now has a few "words" in her repertoire. She has said "papa" a few times, which makes Papa very happy. She sometimes says "buh buh" which I think means "bye bye" and "muh" when she is eating (maybe she means "more"?). She says "tha tha da da da tha tha tha" when she is just chatting and she also says "mama" but only when she is very very upset. Here is our little girl eating a biscuit. Mostly she likes to smear the biscuit pieces over her face and bib.

Long Lost Burtons

We are finally back in blogland, having apparently been stranded on a desert isle without WiFi since Christmas. We have already been through quite a lot of stuff this new year, including, but not limited to: two (!) Christmases, Mia's two colds, Mommy's rediscovery of her old Singer, Mia zooming around the apartment on all fours and sometimes on two legs but holding onto stuff (in both cases always headed in the general direction of danger), and Papa's infatuation with his new sweatpants. He is wearing them in this picture but you can't see them.


Mia and Mommy have also started a few new classes this winter, including music, gym class and swimming! Mia seems to like the water but only when she forgets how cold the pool is. She has, however, been practicing her kicks with vigour in the bathtub every night. Just as strong as when she was in Mommy's belly!


In other news, 2008 is going to be a busy year for the Burtons. We already have trips planned to Disneyworld, to Charlottesville and to Los Angeles - and that's only March!

7 Months, Scooting and Santa

Mia is now 7 months old. Just two days ago, she crawled around a tiny little bit all by herself. Luckily, both Papa and Mommy were around to witness her milestone! Here are Papa and Mia celebrating this huge achievement.


You can watch it too...


Today we had brunch with Leela and her parents Uncle Dani and Auntie Sumi in Brooklyn. Mia was very excited to visit another borough. Here are Papa and Mia and Uncle Dani and Leela.
Leela is two months older than Mia and she is quite a talker and almost a walker! She was so sweet to share her toys with Mia for the afternoon, especially her new red wagon!
As you can see, Mia also likes to eat other people's books.

On Friday, Papa took Mia and Mommy to the children's holiday party at his office.
Mia enjoyed the giant gingerbread house and toy soldiers but was suspicious of Santa's big old fake beard. You can't get anything past her!

Disco Baby

We just went to Baby Loves Disco this afternoon, where we shook our tailfeathers and had a great time! Papa was skeptical, but when we got there he had the most fun of all dancing with his little Mia. (Mommy really enjoyed carrying the diaper bag. ) Aunt Noga was also there with Big D and his Auntie Anita. It seems like everyone except Big D had a hard time keeping their eyes open during the camera flashes!

Here are Mia and Papa dancing to Abba. Their moves were so fly!


Here are Auntie Anita with Big D and Papa with Mia. Mia loves those egg shakers. She loves to eat them.


And here are Mia and Mommy and some big red balloons.

Yummy Solids

Mia has started eating solids! She only eats a tiny bit at a time, though, and we are slowly working up to two whole tablespoons of food in one sitting. Mostly she enjoys chewing the spoon.

So far, she likes carrots and peas and she really really REALLY digs apples and acorn squash. She does not enjoy rice cereal. Soon, we are going to try: butternut squash, pears, banana, chicken and oatmeal.

Thanksgiving... so late

Just wanted to post a fun movie we made over Thanksgiving. Here is Mia eating her carrots. She eats solids now!



We had a lovely holiday in Mathews, Virginia. We even met cousin Liam for the first time. Here are the kids meeting and playing - there was only a tiny bit of hairpulling!


Thank you Butler and Diana and Joseph for hosting Thanksgiving this year!

Half a Year; Half a House

Mia is now half years old, or, as most people would say, six months old. She has grown so much these past few months! She sits by herself, she reaches out to be picked up, she flips over both ways (but prefers to flip from tummy to back) and she even has thought about maybe trying to attempt to crawl. She can get up on all fours and budge around a little. When she tries to go forward she usually ends up going backwards. (I guess she is learning life's little lessons early!) She talks up a storm and loves to use her loud voice, which is ironic considering her parents are very quiet and reserved and so well mannered. (At least her Papa is.)

In other news, we drove up to our house in Chatham today to gather our winter clothes and also to check on the progress of our construction project. Benjamin made a few little movies which show the outside and inside of the house. It looks like a tornado hit the house but actually quite a lot of progress has been made. Here is part one which shows the exterior.


Here is part two which shows the interior.