Santa Beware

Today's picture is of Mira "helping" me decorate our Christmas tree. I love it for a couple of reasons. First, I hope that it will always remind me of her first Christmas and the stage she was at during the holidays. Second, I love that she's holding (okay, sucking on) an ornament I got in 1976. I think my dad even painted that one. I think I've mentioned it before, but I am just crazy about the idea of passing things on to Mira -- not necessarily physical things but things like the value of family and traditions. Mira has quickly found a favorite Christmas decoration. It's a giant snowflake make out of jingle bells that cousin Patti gave us. It hangs in the window next to our front door, and whenever we walk past it, Mira reaches out for it. When we get to it, she shakes it and smiles to beat the band. Each time, I tell her that she's saying hello to Patti. I know that Patti would love how much Mira loves those snowflake bells!

This morning marked a huge milestone for our little girl. She FINALLY crawled! I'm probably a little premature in announcing this as her movements are far from graceful, and she would still rather roll nine times out of ten. We have seen her crawl now though, and I'm ecstatic. What, you may ask, was it that finally inspired her to take those first tentative steps? What was it that she wanted so desperately?It was Ruby's nasty dog bone -- the one she keeps putting in her mouth. Someday we'll tell her that she and Ruby shared toys, and she'll gag.

Mira's favorite new trick is drinking from a glass. She appears very impressed with herself as she flashes a gigantic smile and often laughs after each little sip. What she hasn't figured out is that she should move her upper lip and leave the lower one on the glass. Inevitably, she moves her lower lip from the glass, and the water that was in her mouth ends up on my shirt. I can't help but laugh, so she thinks it's great.

Ryan continues his "speech therapy" with Mira, trying to change "baba" into "dada" . . . to no avail. I told him we could just start calling him "baba" and call it an endearing nickname. At some point, Mira snuck two more teeth into her mouth. I had no idea. They've just cut through, so I don't feel entirely horrible for not noticing. They're a lot harder to see as they're her top two front teeth.

Last night Mira and I baked cookies together for the first time. Okay, I baked cookies while Mira watched and fussed from her high chair. She did, however, enjoy sampling the cookies. I suppose I shouldn't have introduced sweets this soon, but it's too late for that.