Cannibalism?

I hate to admit it, but Mira's first Halloween was fairly uneventful. People kept asking me if I was going to take her trick-or-treating, but somehow I just didn't think she'd enjoy it. And quite frankly, the idea of toting my 20 pound pumpkin around in the cold didn't sound all that appealing to me. Auntie Sandy brought Mira her own little pumpkin full of goodies though. Mira particularly enjoys the collapsible pumpkin. She rolls over it, swishes it with her fists, and eats and eats and eats it!
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Apparently Mira also enjoyed her first Halloween party at day care, and she even came home with her very first craft project -- little hand print ghosts with googly eyes. I can already tell that my fridge will be covered with artwork someday. I'm such a sucker for that stuff. She wore her Packers cheerleader outfit as her costume during the day and the pumpkin above at home. Incidentally, if a Mira-pumpkin attempts to eat a glowing plastic pumpkin, is that cannibalism? Sorry, it's been a long day.
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What else is new in Miraland? We went through a couple of interesting days and one long night, but Mira officially got her first tooth! You still can't see the whole tooth (how long does that take anyway?), but you can see the tip of it, and you can definitely feel it when she uses your finger as a teether! We think we can see at least one more on its way. For some reason I get all excited about the fact that she's getting teeth. I guess it's good to celebrate the little things in life, right? Mira has been sitting independently for some time now. I don't remember exactly when that started (and feel horribly guilty about it), but she's entirely over it. Sometimes when I try to set her down, she arches her back as if to say, "No, I'll stand, thank you very much." She's a strong little thing; I literally cannot bend her when she does this. She'd almost always rather stand, actually -- especially when it comes time to get into the carseat. Creeping, crawling, and essentially anything involving the knees has yet to begin. I keep trying to rock her on her hands and knees, but she's having none of it.

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This morning, I declared Mira gifted and talented. I have been using the sign (language) for milk every time I give Mira a bottle for a long time. After I changed her this morning, she started getting really fussy. I used the sign for milk and asked her if she wanted milk. She immediately stopped fussing and started opening and moving her mouth like she was sucking a bottle. She knew what I meant! I know this is small potatoes, but I was thrilled. A while later, Ryan was sitting on the couch with Mira. He would say "Yaaaah" and help Mira clap her hands. Eventually, he stopped helping her and continued to cheer. Each time he'd say "Yaaaah", she'd clap her hands. Okay, she'd try to clap her hands. It was very cute.