More Boom Boom Pow, please

It's no secret that Mila has been hooked on pop music for quite some time now. If she catches only a few notes of a Katy Perry or Black Eyed Peas song, she immediately grins with excitement and starts to dance. Below is a great video of her "freestyle" dancing at it's finest... to her most requested song, Boom Boom Pow.

Mila age two.

Some of my favorite things

In the past few weeks, I feel like Mila has really grown up (again!). She’s just always changing and becoming less of a baby and more of a big girl.

Here are just a few of the things we love right now:

·         When we tell Mila “Thank you!” she responds with “Much!”

·       We get a lot of compliments on her manners, she’s very thankful. Now, if she’d just step it up on her pleases!

·        She loves change things for the better… for instance, she’ll turn on/off lights and shrug her shoulders and ask, “There, better?” And if she notices your plate is empty, she always asks, “More?” and tries to get you a second helping.

·         She refers to her milk as “milkey” and her blanket is “sissy”

·         If she sees the camera, she automatically smiles and says “CHEEEEEESE”

·         Stickers… and Band-aids. Loves, loves, loves them.

·         Dancing is her favorite thing to do. Anything with a beat gets her going and she’ll just start jumping and twirling! When the music ends, she asks for more “boom-boom”

·         She’s hooked on the Leap Frog Letter Factory and can practically recite the video as it plays. It goes through all the letters and the sounds they make, while throwing in fun sayings like “Okey dokey artichokey”… to which she giggles and loves repeating.

·       The movie “Monsters, Inc.” left quite an impression on her, she thinks she loves scary movies now. She’s always requesting things to be scary. Her dad and Grandma Lori love scary movies, so I see them having a scare-fest slumber party someday (way, way into the future)!

·       Tickle-tickle-tickle really gets her going. She gets all sorts of different laughs and cackles going when you start tickling her and grabbing her chubby little thighs (ok,  chubby is used in the smallest sense possible… she’s still pretty little, but there’s enough to grab and make her squeal!)

·       Her “yeah” has turned into a “yee-up” or a “yea-es”… depending on how much excitement is answering you with.

·        And anything electronics related are still her thing. She can navigate our phones and find apps and games better than some adults. If you ever call me and hear music in the background, there’s a good chance you’re on speaker phone and she’s playing Angry Birds while we talk!

Ho-ho-ho… I don’t think so

This was the first year we made the real attempt to visit Santa. Jens heard great things about Santa’s Wonderland at Bass Pro Shop, so we lined up an evening with a few of Mila’s friends, and went out to see Santa. Starting on Friday, we started asking her, “What does Santa say?” and followed with coaching her to respond with a “ho-ho-ho”.  With every “ho,” she added her own little jump or jerked her body forward, it’s pretty dramatic (and hilarious to watch!).

It was finally Saturday afternoon and we made our way out to Bass Pro Shop. We got there about 4:20 and the earliest pass available to get in line for Santa’s wonderland is 5:30. So the wait was on… with toddlers, this will go quickly, right?! We watched the fish in the large aquarium for awhile and then walked around the store and looked at all the stuffed deer, bears, wolves and all sorts of other animals. We still had time to burn and the kids were getting antsy.

The dads went up and stalked the end of the line, just waiting for them to call the 5:30 passes. Finally, they called our time and we were in line to see the big guy in red. We made our way up to the Wonderland and watched the train set, looked at the stuffed reindeer, and admired all the good kids sitting on Santa’s lap getting their photos taken.

Once it was finally our time to jump in line with the dads, I had a sense that things might not really go well as we’d like. I felt Mila cling tighter and tighter to me with every step we took. When it was her turn to sit on Santa’s lap, a look of fear and panic immediately took over and it was clear that she was not sitting with Santa to share a jolly ho-ho-ho.

In the end, I held Mila and we got a nice little family photo with Santa. It wasn’t really what we had in mind, but we made the best of it. Lea felt even worse about Santa than Mila did. I can’t wait for them to post their picture. Here’s a link to their blog site, check back soon, Steve says they’ll be posting it… it’s worth the wait!

And, with more attempt to see Santa while in Lake View, we’re certain that a live Santa just isn’t what she’s looking for. She didn’t think twice about taking the bag of treats he was offering, but he wasn’t going to a high-five for it! The stuffed and cartoon Santa Claus will be just fine for awhile!

Two times the fun

Yes, our little Mila is two! We had a wonderful time celebrating her birthday again this year.  Her birthday fell on a Monday and it really kicked of a full week of celebrating.

Jens and I took off of work to spend share in special day. While we were out and about, we went to the Teddy Bear Connection in the mall, where she picked out her new friend, Puppy. The store was filled with all sorts of unstuffed animals, and she chose to bring this special pup to life. There’s even a little star tucked inside with the stuffing that Mila picked from the Wishing Well. After Puppy was filled with stuffing, she picked out some pink silky pajamas and sat down at the table to read her some books and have a little tea party. It was really cute! We finished off her birthday with her first movie theater experience and then homemade pizza with Aunt Jessie. By the end of the day, she was one tired little girl.

Mila also had a few birthday celebrations during the week at daycare. She’s got a birthday buddy, Claire, who is exactly two years older. Claire spoils everyone with cinnamon rolls for her birthday every year, and she has requested that Mila’s dad makes the lemon and blueberry cupcakes. I guess that will be our new tradition too!

We finished up the week with family celebrations. Grandma and grandpa Hruska and great grandma Edith came into town on Friday. It was Grandpa's 55th birthday on Saturday, so we had to celebrate a little extra with him. On Sunday, the rest of the family came for the party, including the other birthday girl of the weekend, great-great grandma Fran, who turned 97! It was a great weekend all around and Mila got some wonderful gifts and entertained us all.

October, how beautiful!

Fall is here, and it's been beautiful! We've already had a trip to a pumpkin patch, an orchard and have taken some time enjoy the fall colors (and weather). We really can't ask for more.

This time of year also means we're quickly approaching another birthday... the "terrible two's" as they're called. She may not be two yet, but we've had a taste of it's all about. Now, I have to say, the meltdowns are things I could really do without, but she's also doing some incredible things. She loves to count, sing (some of) the ABC's, color/draw (on everything), and play, play, play. She's also obsessed with opening drawers (empty, refill, repeat), opening doors (attempting to escape), using chairs and stools to reach lights (to turn them on, off, on, off, on, off...) and doing everything herself. Oh, and the word mine. To take something that's "hers" probably triggers more meltdowns than anything else!


But back to fun stuff... our first trip to the pumpkin patch this season. While we were hoping for a more lively trip, she just didn't really wake up from the nap on the way down there. She was pretty serious about picking out pumpkins with dad. She really wasn't too impressed with the goats or the miniature horses, but she enjoyed pushing the wheelbarrow and even accepted a ride after awhile.

Next up was the apple orchard. This round, she was much more fun. Grandma Lori joined us for this trip, so it was even better! If you haven't experienced this place, you're missing out. It is huge! She rode a toy tractor (with the help of dad), got her face painted (for the first time), watched a science show, played in a pool of corn, saw an old school house and rang the bell, "raced" a duck using an old water pump, saw lots of farm animals, and went down a huge slide with dad... phew, time for a nap after all of that!

On a closing note, a little update on Grandma Sally:
We held a benefit breakfast, silent auction, and bake sale a few weeks ago to help with her ongoing medical expenses, and we were blown away by the community support. It was incredible. Thanks to all who participated and to those who have thought of and supported our family through this last year. My mom got her first prosthetic on 9/26 and she's been going to rehabilitation sessions a few times a week to re-learn how to walk. Today, she was able to walk 125 feet, using her prosthetic and a walker. She gets very exhausted and she's not able to put her trust into using the prosthetic alone, but she'll get there with time.

Grandma's Party

 

We celebrated Grandma Edith's birthday in July. Doesn't she make 80 look great?!

Quite a bit of time went into planning the party and it all turned out just perfect. The weather was great, the shelter was nice and nearly all of the family was able to get back and spend the day with Gram.

In addition to the family party, I put an ad in the paper for a card shower. By the time of the party, she had nearly 40 cards and I imagine there were more trickling in the following week.

Mila did pretty well during the quick trip home, but she was cutting teeth and had a few rough moments. She did alright with the crowd, but she sure gave Gram a hard time. She definitely does better when there are fewer people around.



Grandpa Dave & Grandma Sally
Todd, Jess, Me, Mila, Jens

Grandpa Dave with Mila. He stole her heart by letting her play with his cell phone.
She's still a sucker for technology!

Cousins meeting for the first time. Briley Jo is the newest addition and
Mila fell in love with her photo before she even met her in person!

Grandma with her grandkids and their spouses.



Great grandma and crew.



Banana cupcakes, made by Jens.

Lemon cupcakes, also made by Jens.



Gift table and decorations.



July is gone!

July went by incredibly fast... so now here we are, August 1st and I'm finally attempting a recap. Here goes!

Fourth of July weekend:
We spent most of the weekend playing with the Wilson family. We met up on Friday night at the Adel winery for some "refreshments" and entertainment. Ironically, the band playing was named Hot Tamale and the Red Hots. I say ironically because it describes the weather that weekend! July has been a steam bath and this day topped 100. By the time the band started at 7pm, it was actually tolerable and we couldn't have asked for a better night. There were shade canopies and a nice wind picked up to keep us cool. Admittedly, the wineritas helped cool off the adults and the buckets of ice chilled the wine and kiddos (as well as entertaining them).

Saturday morning kicked off the swing-set build on the Wilsons new lot. They are building a new house in Adel and wanted to have the new swing-set ready for the kids before the house is finished. Realizing it was a large project, Jens offered to help out. So, while the guys were building, the girls were playing… err, watching the kids. It turned out to be a gorgeous day, so we decided to make our way to the pool. Camden, Kade, and Mila all LOVED their time at the pool. I learned quickly that Mila is a brave one. She loves to jump right in the water, so you’ve got to keep a close eye on her.

Here’s a fun little picture of the three kiddos during one of the pool breaks:

Next up, Okoboji:

Before the trip up North, Mila spent a few days with Grandma Lori and her cousin Caitlin in Lake View. I can't even tell how spoiled she was by the time we got there! Meanwhile, Jens and I spoiled ourselves: dinner and movie, dinner date with Jess & Todd, movie night in... It was crazy, full movies and dinner without interruption.

Don’t worry, we only had a few days and we snapped right back into parent mode. Well, sort of. We took Caitlin along to Okoboji, so it we were easing back into it! Mila and Caitlin got along great and it was nice to have a helper with us.

We also had a few guest join us for a few days. Cherri and Camden left Kade and dad behind and joined the fun. Among other things, we went mini-golfing at Treasure Village, spent a little time at Barefoot bar, went swimming at the Bridges Bay Resort, and played a Arnold’s Park.

It was a wonderful trip away and relished every minute of it.

See this face? OMG, she couldn't get enough of the carousel. Her jaw was dropped and her hand was waving the entire time!

So that gets us through the first half of the month... but it's well past my bedtime and I think this is a great stopping point. I'll try and update further over the weekend. I've got a ton of family pictures to go through from Grandma Edith's 80th birthday party and then some fun pictures from the balloon festival, so you'll have to check back later!