Mia ate french bread and cantaloupe for breakfast.  For lunch she ate turkey slices, half of her crescent roll, most of her summer squash, and ate dried mangoes.

Here's a picture of Mia playing with the pop-up toy in the back room.  I basically took this picture because she wasn't about to turn loose of the book in her other hand.  She played with several different toys, but hung on to that book.  :)  Thomas had taken a school bus to Mia (you can see one in the background in the picture), but she wasn't the least bit interested in it.  "Not when I have this book!"

In the big room she is attached to a book that has a clock face on the cover.  (with hands that turn)  That's what she has been packing around this week.

I have a pillow that I use in the chairs in the back room.  (for my back)  Whenever I'm out of the chair Mia will smoke over there and the first thing she does is get the pillow off the chair and climb up!  :)

I told you that Mia has been holding her hands up to the other parents when they are picking up their kids.  In the morning this week she has been holding her hands up to Lexie (Thomas' mom) too.  And she did it again this morning.

Mia ate whole wheat toast and mixed berries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ham, crackers, bean & bacon soup, and kiwi.

Riley has a blanket that she carries (drags) around when she 'needs' it.  Mia saw it laying on the floor and instantly headed for it.  Riley noticed what was happening and basically ran to 'rescue' it before Mia could get there.  It was pretty funny.

I've seen Mia doing a couple of 'firsts' these last two days; things I've not seen her do before.  She smokes for the lunch room whenever I tell her it's time to "go get your bib!"  This time she actually went right to the bib rack instead of to her high chair.  The other first; she was bending over with her hands on the floor looking back at me from between her legs.  So she's looking at the world upside-down.  :)  We've had kids that just love doing that and will do it over and over.

It's fun to watch the kids and see how different they are and it's so obvious in how they play.  The spectrum for "normal" is very wide!  For example one child was doing one activity for 20 minutes.  I told Lauralea that Mia might do 20 different things in one minute.  :)  And these two children are the same age.  I love it!

Mia played with the food toys and was enjoying taking them apart and trying to put them back together too.  Most of them in this toy set come in two halves that use velcro to hold them together.  The set comes with 'knives' to cut them, but we've removed the 'knives' after some inappropriate play.  :)  Mia also was working at putting the legos pieces together.  She has the right idea and it won't be long before she successful with it.

Mia ate whole wheat bagel and dried apricots for breakfast.  For lunch she ate tilapia, whole wheat elbow noodles with peas and cheese, and ate applesauce.

I know I've included several pictures already of Mia reading books, but it is something she does every day.  We have lots of little board books like the one she is looking at.  They are sturdy little things. At least I think they are because they survive here for a long time before needing to be replaced.

And here's a picture of Mia with some of the shakers I was mentioning in yesterday's blog.  (Except in the picture she is chewing on it instead of shaking it.)  You can see more shakers on the floor in front of her too.

During Mia's morning nap Thomas was looking all over for her.  I didn't know what he wanted until he said, "Where'd Mia go?"  :)  Mia was at the gate when Thomas arrived this morning and they were hugging through the gate.  It was pretty cute.

Mia had a good morning and a typical one.  She was climbing on the chairs (I get nervous when I catch her standing up in the rocking chair), head-first in the legos drawer, and reaching into the crib to touch baby Cooper.  She was touching Cooper's legs and looking at me with a look that asked, "Is this allowed?"  :)  Yup, you can touch his legs and arms as long as you are gentle.

Mia ate bran cereal and dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of cheese pizza, ate steamed cauliflower, and tropical fruit.

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange and everyone was busy all morning.  Mia looked at lots of books and discovered some more food toys she liked; well at least she carried them around.  So I'm assuming she liked them.

Mia was sitting on the couch and I was sitting on the floor, but I leaning on the couch writing on a piece of paper.  She leaned over sideways and laid her head right in front of my head and looked up at me and I think I heard her say; "Hey you! Notice me, I'm right here!"  :)  Super cute.

There are several different shakers (or you can call them noise makers) in this toy group; especially in the back room.  Mia was making full use of those!  And the pop-up toys sing songs.  It kind of surprised her when they started singing!

I think I mentioned last week about her laying down when I'm changing someone on the floor.  She did that again today.  I think that's so cute.  I was changing Nora and as soon as I finished Mia lays down on the changing mat.  "Ok, I'm next!"

She also did lots of wandering around watching everyone and climbing on whatever she could find.  She climbed onto the chairs and couch several times.  And more than once I saw her lay flat on her back on the floor and look at the world from that perspective too.  :)

Mia ate malt-o-meal cereal and raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground burger with spaghetti sauce, whole wheat elbow noodles, ate lettuce salad, and mixed fruit.

Frequently Mia will look at one of us to see how we are going to respond to a situation.  For example Lauralea was fixing Mia's hair yesterday and put two cute little ponytails in it.  As soon as Lauralea was done Mia walks up to me with the most cheesy little grin on her face.  "What do you think of this?"  :)

Emily and Mia were the first ones here today and so they played together until some other ones arrived.  Emily was studying the front of Mia's shirt.  Mia looked at her like what are you doing and then all of a sudden she holds out her arms and starts giving Emily big hugs.  It was very cute.

I yawned pretty loud and she had to immediately copy the sound.  Then she looked at me with a silly grin.  "Hey, I can make noises too!"

She was playing with the food toys and was packing around a bowl and a wooden spoon.  For awhile she was making stirring motions with it in the bowl.

She likes to crawl around and over the climber.  She crawled in this little 'hole' and thought she was stuck...so I let her struggle for a minute and kept encouraging her.  She actually made it out quite easily and you could tell she was pretty pleased with herself.  Good job Mia!

Mia ate most of her breakfast: english muffin and mixed berries.  For lunch she ate chicken and crackers, hash browns, and cherries.

We had baby Cooper in an infant seat so I put him in Mia's crib in the back room while we were playing in there.  The kids could still look at him and talk to him, but not touch him.  :)  Here's a picture of Mia checking him out.

The Cline family and Mia were the first ones here this morning and so Kenzie played with Mia for a few minutes.  She said, "She likes me!"  (She acted like it was the first time she'd ever met Mia.)  Then Riley was hugging Mia from behind and Mia started hugging them too.  Kenzie said, "She's giving me loves!"

Lauralea was sitting on the couch fixing Emily's hair and Mia came up to watch.  Actually I think she was more interested in grabbing the ponytail holders.  :)  What she didn't see was baby Noah laying on the floor at Lauralea's feet.  So Mia is standing there with one foot on Noah's lower abdomen and he doesn't seem to mind; in fact he is laughing.  :)  The entertainment never ends.

Kenzie's sweater has these little loops all around the collar.  A perfect place for Mia to get her finger stuck, which she did.  I'm not sure who was more concerned about that; Mia or Kenzie.  :)

This morning Mia graduated to a book in each hand.  Now there's a dilemma; what do I do with this book when I want to look at this one!!??  :)  So she decides to go drop them in the crib where baby Cooper is at.  (In above picture)   "I guess I'll just ditch the books in here!"  :)

Mia ate cheerios and banana for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of toasted cheese sandwich, had sips of tomato soup, and ate apple pieces.

I wanted to mention that Kenzie and Riley's little brother Cooper started at daycare today.  So we never know about the journal schedules.  They may be just a bit later than what they have been.  Mia was super interested in the new baby and was wanting to touch him of course.  Then she was packing a doll around.

Here's a picture of Thomas and Mia in the back room.  They'd been very loving with each other, but by the time I got the camera Mia was long gone.  :)  So we did a 'reenactment' and they totally cooperated and this is just what they'd been doing.

She found a little book in the back room that she liked and she wasn't about to turn loose of it.  She did hand it to me just long enough to hold her arms out for me to pick her up and she wanted me to read it with her.  She was very engaged in the process; pointing at different things and turning pages.

Then she got down and played with the pop-up toys and thumping on the xylophone, but never turning loose of that book.  :)

I've been changing the kid's diapers on the floor (on a changing mat) in the back room.  It saves my back from lifting them onto the changing table.  In the big room they can climb up the steps of the changer.  Anyhow, Mia saw the changing mat on the floor, comes right over, and positions herself perfectly on it.  It was pretty cute.