This is another overdue post. Grandma Sheila and PapaNui came for a visit the weekend before last, and here are a few pics from then.

Love her in these little cotton sundresses!

She spies Grandma Sheila outside. She's standing on her tip-toes and saying, "Hi! Hi!"

Going for a little walk at the Boardwalk with G'ma & PapaNui

Walking up high like a big girl.

Being a Daddy's girl.

She loves to look at the fountain - again with the tip-toes!

Trying to convince G'ma Sheila to let her walk over that rock and get closer to the water. I don't think she's buying it.

This is the face she makes at the end of the word "home" - she really drags it out and ends it with a pucker. She says this as soon as we turn into our neighborhood.

Not a ton of pics, but we really enjoyed the visit. Mira is crazy about her G'ma Sheila and PapaNui. She always goes through a little withdrawal after they're gone!

Deodorant

She's watching us!

Kissing Fish

Kenny and I did a little painting project. We each had the same set of photos to work from and the same color palette. We didn't show each other until we were done - this is what we came up with! (I think you can click on the photos to see them bigger/more detailed.)

My Fish

His Fish

Kissing Fish!!!!!

After the reveal, Kenny did change his background to match mine more closely than his original background. I told him he should have left it alone - it matched the style of his fish better. I think they turned out so cute! Now, where to hang them....

Miscellaneous

This girl LOVES hummus!!

I just thought she looked like such a big kid the way she was leaning against the coffee table and reading her Animal Baby magazine - like she was some teenager loitering outside the comic book store.

I HATE pigtails! Don't make me wear pigtails! They're UGLY! (No, I didn't put them in tight or torture her in any way - let's all just remember that our dear Mirabelle is quite the drama queen! They were so adorable for those 12 seconds I managed to have them in!)

What? Me? No, I wasn't speeding officer! That must have been some other cutie in a pink Cadillac Escalade.

Now that we've had our joyride, let's get to work!

SWING!!!

Mira loves to swing. Our local park is wonderful, but it doesn't have a swingset. Swingsets (and even the kits that you build yourself) are very expensive, are too large, and have more stuff than we really want in our backyard.

Solution: build a small, simple swingset for the backyard. In the two hours it takes Mira to nap.

Cut the wood.

Bolt the pieces together.

One side done.

Completely assembled!

One happy little girl!

Now we know the project was worth it! And we feel like engineering geniuses!

This is the life!

Time to get off...happy little girl is now sad little girl.

Doesn't want to go inside. LOVES her new swing!

Back for more after a fresh coat of paint!

Easter Weekend

This post is just a little overdue....ENJOY!

We had a great Easter weekend in Fairfield.

Got her Easter dress on to go see the Easter Bunny.

Had to take a few pics at home, too - such a pretty girl!

I just love this face - she's smelling the flower.

Our tulips bloomed in time for Easter - they're so beautiful! (Which grew more - the tulips or Mira??) It's been so fun watching them grow; we will definitely plant some more this Fall!

Our bunny friend must like what the birds drop from the feeder hanging above - he visits Mira's window often.

Hello, are you the Easter Bunny??

Mira's basket of goodies - a bunny, bubbles, suckers, stickers, a cheeping chick, sidewalk chalk, etc.

Checking out the loot with the cousins.

Kisses for Pappy.

Mira and Pappy

Our new Easter tradition - matching toes!! Look how much her little chunky feet have grown! One day, *sniff sniff* her feet won't fit *sniff sniff* on top of mine to take the pic like this,*sniff sniff*...and she'll want neon green or black polish...*sigh*.........if she'll even agree to have matching toes!!! *SNIFF SNIFF SNIFF*

Fell asleep during the 2 minute drive to the EGGstravaganza - almost missed the egg hunt! Isn't she precious!!??

Woke up just in time (still a little groggy)! "Where am I, and why am I holding this basket??"

Watching the others scurry around and pick up eggs. Hope she wakes up completely before all the eggs are gone!

After a friendly chap put some eggs in her basket for her, she decided she'd give it a go.

Look at all these people going crazy over plastic eggs....

Picking up two at a time - that's my girl! We're all about efficiency!

Mira and Aunt Coco

With a basket full of eggs to turn in for a prize and afterwards with her new bunny! She loved carrying her basket - what a big girl! She was so proud of her little bunny, too!

My beautiful nieces, Olivia & Avi

Balloons...of course, she wants to take the balloons. (Ugh!)

She LOVES bounce houses! Avi "helped" her bounce.

Driving Avi's Barbie Jeep - she really pushed the gas pedal and steered all by herself!

We're going on a walk.

Some of us RAN! She was just giddy about being out in the open and being able to run loose!

Stopped for a pony ride on the drive home. She's saying "CHEESE"! Notice she's holding the reins like a pro - too cute!

Potty!!!

We got Mira a potty a while ago, and she has enjoyed sitting on it often. Recently, we made sitting on the potty a part of her bathtime routine. She sits on it while we read a story (or two or three - her choice) right before getting into the tub. At first, we did it with clothes on, then after that was no big deal (she was loving it!), we tried letting her sit with just a diaper, and still that was no big deal, so we decided to try it bare-bummed. She seemed to be torn at this point - she liked sitting on her potty and reading books, but it didn't seem like she was comfortable. So, back to the store we went and found a potty that is more comfy for her tiny tushy (Baby Bjorn)!

Now, she LOVES sitting on her potty even with no diaper, so we have been doing that often the past couple of days.

And, today, we got potty success! This afternoon, while I read her two potty books, she sat on her potty and went pee pee AND poo poo in the potty!!!!!!! Then tonight, during her regular bathtime routine, she went pee pee in the potty again! YAY!!!!!

The first time, I noticed she was pushing, trying to go poo, so I whisked her away to her potty. When I got her diaper off, there was already some inside, so I figured I had missed my chance, but decided to let her sit on her potty anyway. She sat happily and then pushed out the rest! I'm so excited about this, because, typically, kids have a tough time transitioning from pushing while standing/squating/leaning/running - whatever their M.O. is - to pushing while sitting. She had no problem at all! We cheered for her and then I went on to finish her book, and before the end, she went pee pee! More cheering!!!!

We're going to keep up the laid back approach and see how it goes. We're really not trying to rush things, she just showed an interest and that it sort of "clicked" for her, so we went with it. We never make her sit on her potty if she doesn't want to! We don't even "bribe" her into sitting on the potty - sometimes she choses to sit in my lap and hear the potty stories rather than on the potty. Although she does that less often now that she has her new comfy potty!

I think we have a while before things get serious, because I don't think she ever keeps a diaper dry for even an hour!! I guess that's okay, since she's not even 17 months old yet.

Well, it was an exciting "first," so I wanted to put in on the record books!