Thanksgiving Post...Well Past the Fact

Yes, it's December 30th. Thanksgiving was over a month ago and we already had Christmas, but I thought I would throw a few posts out there. And, yes, this is actually Matthew doing a posting. I vow to increase my posts in 2010 and it starts with the end of 2009 postings.

We spent Thanksgiving at my parents' house this year and Myla couldn't wait for the real turkey. Here she is chewing on a felt turkey that was on the refrigerator.

Myla got to spend some good time with her Uncle Andrew. No telling what these two are talking about over breakfast one morning.

Uncle Andrew pushes Myla around in her shopping cart.

One of the things that Myla enjoys most these days is sitting. Kind of hard to explain unless you actually see it for yourself, but she loves finding things to sit on. Especially things that aren't really meant to sit on - like boxes, cans, and small rocking chairs that are meant for decoration as seen in this picture.

For this year's Christmas present for my parents, we got some family pictures taken of all the kids and grand kids. Much thanks to my Aunt Maria for helping out as the photographer. It can be difficult to get a good picture of six adults when you're trying to do it outside. It's nearly impossible when you include three girls that are two or younger. Here are some of the shots in between the group photos.

Here are the three granddaughters.

One last shot of Myla enjoying the Christmas lights at Grandpa and Grandma's house.

Empty China Cabinet = Fun!

Here's Myla in one of the new play spots she found while we were preparing for our move last month.

Pretty

Halloween Wrap-up Part II

Appropriately, Myla's favorite part of the visit to Zoo Boo was seeing the monkeys. I absolutely love these pictures.

Halloween Wrap-up Part I

Looking through our photo files, I found these Halloween pics that didn't make it into our Halloween slide show. They're from our outing to "Zoo Boo," the trick-or-treating event at our local zoo.


This lion was way scarier than any ghost!

Thanks for coming to visit, Uncle Tim!

Hair Model

Here are a few pictures I took right after the haircut. So grown-up!

And does she or does she not look like Victoria Beckham with her sophisticated bob and oversized sunglasses? (Answer: does).

First Real Haircut at the hands of a Master!

Back in October, Uncle Tim came to visit us for the weekend. We had a great time, and also put Tim to work giving Myla her first real haircut. I was apprehensive, since at the time she would barely even let me comb her hair (she's since gotten better).

Here's the before shot. Notice the big smile. Unfortunately you can't see the rag-a-muffin hair.


"Wait a minute . . . what's going on here?"


By the end Myla was not a happy camper.


But not to worry, Myla harbored no hard feelings for Tim after she saw how great her new haircut looked. Fab-u-lous!

Check back tomorrow for several more photos showing off her great new 'do!

18 Month Checkup

We just had Myla's 18 month checkup, and everything looks good! Her ear infections are clearing up, and the two shots she got today will be the last until she starts kindergarten (which will never happen, right?).

M.J. now weighs 22 lb, 6 oz (25th percentile) and is 33 inches tall (85th percentile). I have read that a good predictor of adult height is to double height at age two. If she doesn't grow another inch in the next six months, this means she'll be 5'6" and taller than me. And if she grows a couple more inches, we're looking at 5'10" and that beach volleyball career starts to become a real possibility! :)

17 Month Photos

Here are the pictures from the 17-month photo shoot. She was pretty cooperative this time. :)

I couldn't decide between these two!

All fall down!

Check out the Zumbiels' blog for lots of recent updates on Myla's cousins and this awesome photo of Myla and Anna playing Ring Around the Rosie!

Words

Add the following to the list of words Myla says: uh-oh, "ucky," shoe (always in triplicate, "shoeshoeshoe"), hot and hop (sound the same), hat, pizza, and paci. Nana and Pop also swear that she says "excuse me," but I remain skeptical.

There are many others that we think we've heard or that I'm not remembering right now . . . we're definitely in the phase where Myla's starting to put the pieces of speech and language together.

On the other hand, the list of words she understands seems limitless. She picks up new ones as they arise really quickly. As an example, she already understands lots of Christmas words, like Santa, snowman, and Christmas tree.

More posts coming this week, check back often!