Tearfully Thankful

I know that a lot of you are fully aware of just how badly my heart ached every day that I could not have a baby. That pain was the sharpest during the holidays. Can you imagine, then, the lump in my throat as I think about celebrating Christmas with my little miracle girl? I am overwhelmed with emotion at the thought. At Thanksgiving dinner, my mom said, "Do we even need to ask what we're thankful for this year?" No, Mom, we don't.

Mira was lucky enough to celebrate her first Thanksgiving twice. She thoroughly enjoyed the mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, and homemade bread. The jury is still out on the Turkey as she fed most of hers to Ruby. The photo is of Mira enjoying said feast. I'm not sure how much of the food on her face you can see, but you can surely see her two teeth. She is becoming increasingly independent, wanting to feed herself as much as possible. This means that her meals have become quite the productions. She'll allow me to give her a couple of bites but then "claps" the spoon out of my hand, signaling that it's her turn. I'm struggling to find foods that I can give her without fearing that she'll choke. Any suggestions?

Mira is learning new things each day now. It's amazing to watch. She's still not crawling, but she's beginning to "creep" more and more. She'll reach as far as she can to get something, but when she can't quite get it, she'll push off with her knee or foot. She's also starting to get up on her hands and knees once in a while. I'm ridiculously excited about this and hope that crawling is soon to follow. She continues to clap quite a bit and has even begun playing "peek-a-boo" and "so big". She doesn't always respond to our questions ("How big is Mira?"), but she randomly throws up her arms and looks at us, waiting for the chant of "soooo big". It's just absurd how much we enjoy it. Unfortunately, Mira also seems to be going through a bit of separation anxiety. When she sees me leave the room, she usually cries until I return or until Daddy adequately distracts her. My heart broke this week when she pushed away from me and reached for Dina (her day care provider) when I went to pick her up. I know, I know. We want her to love being at Dina's, but come on. That one hurt.