Our Little Sunshine

Good-bye baby years! We have entered the toddler years with our sweet Mia and we are excited to see what this year brings for her! She is my little koala, as Ben calls her. She is still tiny and can attach herself to me like no other. She is sweet and lovable and is really coming into her own. She is becoming more independent, if I can make her sisters leave her alone. ;) She likes to eat and can down a cup of milk in no time. She loves to watch and play with her sisters. They will giggle and giggle. Quinn wakes her up each morning and they play in the crib while I drink my coffee. This next year they are going to become two peas in a pod. Ellie loves to take care of Mia and carry her around and Mia loves for Ellie to carry her around. She is constantly exploring and is trying to do more and more physically. She is in no rush to walk, which apparently is a hereditary trait on Ben's side, so the doctor is unconcerned. We have little goals to meet and as long as we do extra help will not be needed to overcome any development concerns. She is such a little light in our family and a true joy to be a Mom to!

For her first birthday we went with a "My Little Sunshine" theme. We are lucky to have a spring, summer and fall birthday, so I can do lots of fun and different things for the girls. We had a cookout and helped her eat her first cupcake, as she is still working on putting things in her mouth, and opened a few gifts. Being the third girl and having parents who don't want a lot of stuff everywhere, means fewer gifts. She plays with the older girls' stuff anyways and could care less about the baby toys we already have. We had a grandparent party for her the Sunday night before her birthday and on her birthday took her to Cherry Berry for dessert (she has a big sweet tooth), she opened gifts from us and finished off her day with the Birthday Book from Dad. We had a great time celebrating Mia!

 Decorations and Food!

 Made the last birthday banner for our family!

 Month by Month Pics!

 Mia and Sissy

 My Girl!

 Fun with Balloons!

 The Grill Master

 The Birthday Girl and Gran (Geep travels for work and even though we made sure to plan the party on the weekend, his travel schedule didn't work out this time.)

 Quinny Roo

 The Cupcake

 Not a fan at first!

 So Mia does not like to put things in her mouth. She picks them up, examines them and then chucks them aside. In many ways it is great because she never eats things like little toys or cat food, but when it comes to food it is a challenge. It is the big skill we are working on now that Ellie is in school. She happily puts her milk cup in her mouth, just not other items. No concerns, just a skill that she is challenged by at the moment. The doctor is more concerned with the fact that I have to feed her still and how it burdens me.

 Little extra help from PopPop!

 Opening grandparent presents!

 And this is the last time she saw this gift! :) Her sisters have taken it and played with it at this point! We share everything here!

 Nana giving her the good stuff at Cherry Berry!

 Opening Mommy, Daddy and Sister presents!

 Traditional Birthday Book time! The top picture is the ideal and the bottom picture is what really happens during the story! Ha!