Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Mia is getting bigger, and that means that her toys are getting a bit boring for her. Also, when we went to several play dates the past couple of weeks, I got a lot of great ideas on things that she would like...and other kids would like when they came over to our place. Now, I know it seems like we are shopping maniacs, but really we aren't. We bought everything here for half the price that it was selling for...so we are always looking for a discount on things that we want/need.

Anyway, just to give others an idea of things that we like right now.

New playmats for the floor. We rearranged our apartment a bit, and this meant that we wanted to put something over the hard floors to make it more comfortable. So, we found these and pieced them all together to give us some more cushion.
...and this is what happened. These playmats double as puzzles so Mia is constantly ripping them apart. I'm not complaining though because it keeps her busy for quite a while.

A slightly better picture of the mats before Mia took them all apart.

A Leap Frog toy where you touch the picture and it says the word or makes a sound (we have a similar Japanese toy, so I decided to get her an English one too), a felt taco/burrito set which she loves playing with, and a little caterpillar made up of gears. Two Melissa & Doug toys.

A Pocoyo track with little racing car, some Sesame Street coloring/sticker books, and animal magnets from Melissa & Doug. We were debating weather or not to get this Pocoyo toy, but we saw that it was Bandai...and figured it may be something different for her to play with. We do not regret getting this toy at all as she loves chasing the little car around the apartment (though it goes really slowly...and Mia sometimes yells at it...she may have anger issues...haha)

We are constantly throwing out moldy bath toys....our bathroom is a mold trap. So, we got this cute camping bath toy as well as a bunch of new squirt toys. We will save the squirting toys for when her other ones are unusable...basically back ups. We also got this stupidly expensive penguin toy...which does nothing...all because this is the only toy that Mia picked out. She calls all penguins Ping, and when we tried to put the toy back on the shelf she kept saying Ping! Ping! So, yeah we went ahead and got it...and she insisted on carrying it around for the rest of the night. We also picked up these Minnie ears for our trip. I'm sure much cheaper than at the parks.

We also bit the bullet and got this new Samsonite suitcase. I did a bit of research on the best suitcases and this one popped up on a few lists. I was so happy to find it at TJ Maxx for a lot cheaper than what it usually sells for...granted Ten wasn't too excited about the color...but I like it and it was the only one they had.



 In other non-shopping related news, Mia had her 15 month checkup today and she is the picture of health. The doctor said that she is absolutely perfect on the growth chart, and she is still in like the 90th percentile for her age. We also had to get two shots today which wasn't too bad. She only cried for a few seconds and then the doctor handed Mia a Minnie Mouse sticker, so they were like best friends after that.

When we got home Mia insisted on wearing her sunglasses. So, she sat on the couch munching a Popsicle watching a bit of TV while I worked on dinner. I should have gotten a picture of that, but you can get the idea from this.
Thanks grandma for the Minnie shades!
 I also got two really great things in the mail today. I know that this is super exciting for you to read about, but you know loyalty points? I actually saved up enough through Huggies to get this book/bear gift set. I submitted my points like a week ago and was super surprised to get it in the mail today. Mia wasn't too impressed with this book when we checked it out once from the library (a bit too old for her), so I'm tucking it away for Christmas.

Also, I got this in the mail from Dunkin Donuts. I get a free drink for my birthday. I honestly don't like Dunkin Donuts...way too sugary for my taste...but free is free folks...so I will be stopping by here this weekend.

Elevator Shafts and Play Dates

Last week was truly a long week. I have never been looking forward to a trip so much. I can't wait to not have appointments, not have to cook, not have to clean, all of that fun stuff.

Our Monday went very smoothly. We woke up and I got breakfast and lunch ready (lunch for Ten since I  make his almost every day), and then me and Mia did some crafty things before she took a morning nap. She woke up and we headed to her 1.5 hour class, where she actually got through the whole thing without wanting to leave early. I was sure that this meant that we were bound to have a good week.

Tuesday...something hit me....exhaustion. I was like super tired. I mean there is always a level of exhaustion that I work around every day (like most people), but today I was just too tired. Mia decided that she would take two naps and one was during a play gym time that I had booked, so lucky me we didn't have to go out. You know I don't think we did much of anything on Tuesday because I was just so tired.  Also, Ten was nice enough to call and tell me that I should take a nap while he picked up dinner. He went to Manhattan Diner a few blocks away and picked up some food.

Meatball sub w/ fries for me.

Cheeseburger with two pickles and two sides of coleslaw for Ten.

Ten decided not to order fries with his burger (b/c they were like an extra $3...crazy) which ended up being a good idea since I had way too many fries for just myself. Ten and Mia helped me eat them.

On Wednesday, I was determined to do better than the day before. We all headed to the elevator at like 7:00 a.m. to say good bye to Ten. We walk him down to the lobby every day. Mia was playing with the apartment keys...and that is when it happened...in slow motion she dropped the keys right down the elevator shaft. Yay. We went downstairs and Ten left for work. Luckily the doorman let us back into the apartment. Needless to say, spare keys will have to be made this weekend. Later in the afternoon, I took Mia to a play date at a little boy's house that we met though one of our classes. She basically ignored the little boy and chased his dogs and cats around the whole time. She also ripped a wall mirror off the wall and broke it. No one was hurt luckily and the mom said she didn't mind since it was an old mirror anyway (which I believe)..Everyone had a great time, so that is all that matters.

Thursday we had another nice play date and then on Friday we met two moms and two babies at the museum for another play date. Friday's play date was unsuccessful to say the least. They are the type of moms that do every single thing together....like everything, so I totally felt like the third wheel. If I asked one of them what they did over the weekend...it was "we" did this and "we" did that....so super hard to have a conversation. I keep telling myself that I won't meet these moms again, but every few weeks I find myself back with them....what is wrong with me? I guess I kind of feel obligated since they are Japanese and I try to get involved in that community her in NYC as well.

Anyway, so I was tired to put it lightly. Ten asked me what our plans were for Saturday....and I said...NOTHING. So, we just all enjoyed a day at home doing a whole lot of watching TV to be honest. Those days are a necessity sometimes.

Mia hanging out in her ball pit...easy day

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Mia at 15 Months

It has been almost three months since I wrote about Mia specifically. I was doing an update every month and then stopped at one year, but I thought it would be nice to share what she has been doing recently.

First of all...she is a little rule breaker. If you tell her not to put a crayon in her mouth, she will just give you a sly smile...look you right in the eye...and then commence to chewing on it right in front of you.

She has been told countless times not to stand on the computer, but here she is acting like she is surprised that she isn't allowed up there.
 Mia is also quite the talker these days. She is saying dada and daddy constantly since that is her favorite person in the world! She also says "hi" sometimes. She is really into animal noises right now...cows say MOW, ducks say KAK KAK, and lions make a low rumbling noise. 

She uses lots of gestures also. She signs for milk, smiles big when someone says cheese, shakes her head no and yes, and points to herself for mine.

We have heard a few random words come out of her mouth as well. We think she has said...okay, baby, and itai.  She also understands the Japanese for eyes, teeth, nose, no, and a lot more. 

Honestly, I can't easily describe her personality in just a few words. She is sometimes easy going and sometimes as wild as can be. She is very social though. She tries to kiss and hug other babies and is always waving to everyone she meets. She can be both independent and dependent depending on the situation. I can say that she is a pretty easy going little girl over all though...but she does have her moments.
Mia is sometimes not a fan of riding in her stroller.


Let's see, she also loves to play sports of all kinds. She adores her swimming and gymnastics lessons, and she loves playing soccer with Ten almost every day after work. Nothing makes her happier than jumping on a trampoline, running around a field, or splashing about in water.


So, there we are. We have had such a fun 15 months together, and we can't wait to see what kind of little person she develops into within the next few months.



Monday, July 8, 2013

July 4th, Tanabata, Shopping Trips, and More

Okay, fair warning I'm about to give. This post is going to be a bit long and maybe a tad too detailed for some, but sometimes I like to write these types of posts because it just kind of helps me to organize my thoughts somewhat.

So, where to begin. I will start with the Fourth of July. I was pretty sure that I would not be seeing fireworks this year. I mean sitting in the heat for hours on end just didn't sound like my idea of a good time....though thousands of people in NYC may disagree with me since a lot of people do it. However, I completely lucked out and got to see fireworks twice. On the 3rd, I started to hear a booming noise and assumed it was thunder. When it kept on and on though I suspected that it just may be fireworks, so I ran up to our rooftop deck and somewhere on the NJ side of the river they were having a nice display. Same goes for the 4th. Macy's said that there would be limited visibility where we live, but it was still good enough from our apartment. Ten and Mia missed out both times since they were in bed....but I was glad I got to see some my first 4th back in the States.

What did we do to celebrate though? We finger painted flags, listened to some patriotic music, and I made the infamous flag cake which turned out great (gotta love Trader Joe's). We also (George Foreman) grilled some hamburgers. We kept it pretty simple but maybe next year we will do a picnic or something.

Skipping to this weekend. We were pretty busy in a good way. On Saturday morning we were up by 6:00 a.m. so we headed out to play at the soccer field. We had a good time running around and kicking the ball, but it was so terribly hot by 7:30...or I guess I should say humid. We didn't want to just go sit at home though so we headed to the Metro Diner for breakfast. Ten suggested it and I had been wanting to check it out. I didn't have my phone with me so no pics. Ten ordered the biggest chicken quesadilla that I have ever seen. I had the Mykonos Omelet with toast and home fries. It was a huge amount of food, but Ten finished off both plates! He can put it away. After breakfast, we decided to go to the play room in our building since it was just way too hot to play outside. We met a nice dad and toddler and spent some time playing with them.

Fast forward to Sunday, we headed to swim lessons and did our usual thing followed by a trip to TJ Maxx to pick up a few things that we needed. We ran in and grabbed a new roasting pan, grater, a coverup for me, two pairs of capris for me, and a pair of swim trunks for Ten. All much needed. We also did a few things for Tanabata. I had more planned, but I kind of dropped the ball on both holidays. We ate somen, listed to the Tanabata song, and a few other small things. Nothing big but we did at least acknowledge the holidays.

Let's see in other random bits of news....we just received a large Amazon order of things for Mia. These I do surprisingly have pictures of....


DK flashcards. These are great because the pictures are all textured, and they are so big. We love these, and I definitely recommend them.

Odwalla Chocolate Bars. We all love these, and they will make great snacks for Disney.

I hate how Blogger keeps flipping my pictures. We got Mia a shape sorting elephant, a Rody horse, and a fishing rod with three little fish. All pretty good toys.
Mia adores Rody. We noticed how much she loved him at class, but she only gets to play with him a few minutes a week....so we got her one. She may be a tad spoiled.

Elmo book set of four and Little People books...all great for vocabulary building.

Teach My Baby kit. This sounded like a good product, so we went ahead and decided to try it.

Everything that you get with it. In reality, great concept but the actual cards/books are kind of cheaply made. Mia seems to like it for sure, but I'm not sure I would have bought this for what it sells for. We will still try to get our money's worth though.

Some new cups as well as snack holders. Very cute and work great!


Hmm...let's see other tidbits. I've decided not to buy a planner for next year. I've debated and debated which one is most suitable for me. I need something to write down to do lists, appointment times, a shopping list, weekly menu, and money tracking. Basically, nothing is going to work...so I've decided to go ahead and do away with my paper planner for next year. Instead I've downloaded a bunch of apps that I think will help me like Cozi Calendar, Mint, Color Notes, and a few other things...so far...so good. I'm hoping that this will save a small chunk of money and be most practical. After all, my planner right now is so big that I can't even carry it around with me.

Also, did you know that I have a certificate in Sports Nutrition...yep it's true. I have one more year or so before I need to submit my renewal application with my Continuing Education Units....Not sure if I want to use the money to renew it though....it's not like I'm doing a whole lot with it at the moment. Ten says it may be something worth keeping up to date with though. Decisions to be made.

Well those are just the odds and ends of what has been going on here lately. What do we have planned for this week? Two play dates at friends' homes, a play date at the AMNH, a music lesson, and a day at the play gym...not including a few other soft commitments that I've made....may not have time for anything else though.

Anyway, like I said...long detailed post....but this is just what we have been up to.

Monday, July 1, 2013

July Randoms

I cannot believe that it is already July 1st. This summer is going to be over before we know it. So, rather than an update about our weekend....I'm going to do one of my favorite types of posts....the old bullet point.

  • We decided to renew the lease on our apartment which means that we are in some serious need of organization. With that being said, I have been setting aside 15 minutes a day (at a minimum) to decluttering. This has been working very well. In 15 minutes I can get a little or a lot done depending on the project...but I am at least getting things done.
  • Ten read an article the other day about parents and cell phone usage. It talked about how we aren't sure of what kind of developmental impact it will have on kids when parents aren't talking to them and have their eyes/ears glued to their phones instead. I wish I could find the article again to link it here. However, take a look around the playground next time and see how many parents are pushing their kids on swings while playing with their phones....very sad. So, Ten and I made a rule that we wouldn't use our phones while Mia was awake....and then we changed that rule to we just wouldn't use them in general except for a once a day check. I  LOVE this change....the less you use the phone....the less interesting it becomes.
  • We are in the process of figuring out where we would like Mia to go to preschool. I think a Japanese preschool would be best. We want her to have a strong foundation in the language....but will this make it difficult when she starts an American elementary school? I kind of don't think so....but this is what we are thinking about right now.
  • Seriously...I love all seasons. Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring....all great.
  • We do a lot of activities during the week with Mia besides play dates and classes...activities when we are hear just hanging out inside. I found this program, and it is great. The Letter of the Week has given me so many little ideas to incorporate into our day without taking up a lot of time. Right now, when we do art projects we listen to classical music. We play games that help Mia learn how to pick up her toys. We sing nursery rhymes while getting dressed....little things here and there....and you know what....it is really helping. Mia can now recognize music by Bach. Love it....takes a bit more planning but makes the day more interesting....for both of us actually.
Anyway, I think that I will end it here....just a few things we are doing right now.
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