Little Ziggy

For those of you who grew up in Ohio, you may remember a cartoon called Ziggy. Ziggy was a single white male with no apparent job or hobbies, a couple of pets, and a lifetime of frustrations. He was short and bald, but kind of cute despite the flaws. One day I was trying to think of who Mia reminded me of when she was sitting around with just her diaper on. She often has facial expressions that look like her Grandpa Al, Nick's dad, but that wasn't it. Then it hit me... She looks like Ziggy! Now I call her Ziggy all the time.

Who Needs Toys?

So after Mia's first feeding this morning, I had her in my lap facing me, but she would not look at me, regardless of what I did. I could have been doing cartwheels for all she cared. Her gaze was decidedly fixed on something on the table next to the glider. I started picking up the different shiny or colorful objects that might have captured her attention and discovered that she was enamored with the water bottle I always keep handy. It had a little bit of water left to swish around, but wasn't heavy and she could lift it easily. All of a sudden, this water bottle became the object of her affection and the sole occupier of her attention. (See evidence below) Amazingly, Mia played with that Dasani bottle for a solid half hour. (I was bored after 2 minutes, but her attention span was impressive.) This age is great.

Her new best friend...

Christmas shopping is going to be a breeze for this girl.

Annapolis Crab Fest

With crab season on the Chesapeake Bay comes the inexplicable desire to go to a lot of effort cracking, pulling, and prying for a small reward - a little bit of freshly steamed Maryland Blue Crab meat. And the best place to do that is Cantler's, a well-known restaurant in Annapolis. The Seldens gathered from our various corners on the east coast to enjoy the experience together. The day started with a little bit of a drive for everyone and then a long wait for a table. It's a pretty popular place & when you sit down to eat crab, it's a time commitment. We spent our time waiting checking out the menu...

My brother, Brian & I enjoyed the wafting scent of seafood near the water. (Brian doesn't like crab, or seafood really, so he wasn't necessarily there for the food. The smell didn't really help.)

With a good hour to look at the menu, guess who still wasn't sure what she wanted to order when the server came around...? That's right, I was a little indecisive.

Mia just likes being outside & being held, so she didn't mind the wait.

Mike and Mary

Mike was dressed and ready to go straight to a DC United game on the way back from Annapolis. LA was in town & Beckham was playing. He almost got me to go to the game with him with the comment, "Come on, Anne, Beckham takes his shirt off at the end!" It was pouring rain when we dropped him off at the stadium, but his spirits weren't dampened! Mike's a true fan. We promise to really go to a game with you one of these days.

Lacey & Mia

The crabs came in these big cardboard boxes. These guys were sorting them and putting them into plastic bins. The crabs were all pinching each other, so they would have to pry them apart. It was cool to watch, especially for the kids, but I think it would have been more entertaining if they weren't wearing any gloves.

Once sorted, the good crabs were then put into tanks to await their fate.

The rejects

Ali and Parker spent a little time in the water searching for treasures and fish.

...and Parker found... something...?

Just kidding, if you look closely, you can see the little brown bag attached to his belt loop. That's where he keeps his treasure & THAT is what he was going for. I think he found a shell he wanted to add to his booty. : )

We finally got seated & got ready for our crab. Parker was really ready to "smash some crab". He had a little monopoly on the mallets, which, incidentally, you don't use unless you want to look like a tourist.

I'm a little embarassed to admit it, but none of us really knew what we were doing. It had been a while for Mike and I & no one else had ever really cracked crab for themselves. I thought I had a good handle on things from my refresher course courtesy of YouTube, but I know I probably left way too much meat in the crab & I didn't get it done as quickly as I would have liked. I don't think it helps that I don't like getting my hands really dirty.

Even so, we had a great time at Cantler's and followed it up with a trip to the Ice Cream Factory in downtown Annapolis. Even with the rain and traffic we encountered on the way out, we had a great day. We even came away with souvenirs... I found Old Bay seasoning everywhere (under nails, on my pants, on my shirt, in my hair, on Mia) the rest of the day until I could get home to shower and change clothes. Old Bay is so good, I just wanted to save it for later.

No Place Like Home... (Omaha)

Well Nick clicked the heals of his little ruby slippers & we were back in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska this past weekend! A second cousin of his was getting married in the small town of North Bend, NE and we thought it was a good excuse for us to take a trip to visit family. The weekend was busy and packed full of events, but we had a great time & it went way too fast.

Mia flew on an airplane for the first time & did a great job. The only dirty looks we received were as we were boarding the plane with an infant, not in mid-flight or as we were getting off. I think everyone (including us) was pleasantly surprised with her behavior!

When we arrived at Grandma & Grandpa Inzerello's house Thursday evening, one of the first things we did was to check out our lockers. Nick's dad has a golf-themed room in the basement where everyone in the family (and some non-family members) have their own golf locker. Even I have one - now I just have to learn how to play golf. This is Mia's newly engraved locker. I think she displaced Jack Nicklaus, but Grandpa didn't mind.

Inside Mia's locker were some sunglasses, a "Golf Baby" bib and a onesie that says "Grandpa's future golf buddy". Nick and I both had hats and golf balls and tennis balls, respectively, in our lockers. (Thanks, Al!) Mia wasn't too sure about those sunglasses, but she hasn't figured out how to get them off yet, so the poor thing just sat there looking really confused the whole time they were on.

On Friday night, the whole extended family came over for a BBQ & Mia was the star of the show. Everyone was anxious to meet "Baby Mia", but none more than the younger cousins. Brynne loved taking pictures of her with her very own digital camera... She is quite the budding photographer.

All of the excitement and attention eventually caught up with her and Mia passed out and took a really long nap with Grandpa Al (they both slept in the lazy boy for about 2 hours). Auntie Erin eventually took over holding her while she slept...

In general, Mia spent her weekend being pampered and adored...

Grandma gave her lotion massages after every bath...

Grandma & Grandpa Inzerello were mesmerized by their favorite (first & only) granddaughter...

Mia went shopping with the girls while the boys golfed. She tried on a hat we may have to go back and get when her head can fill it out...

THE WEDDING

At the reception, Nick immediately joined the kids' table for a little coloring before dinner.

Nick's mom and her two sisters were asked to be the ice cream scoopers for the sundae bar. So they decided to scoop in style and got jackets with their names embroidered on them & "Triple Dippers" printed on the back. They had to scoop ice cream for 500 people and although they were still smiling at the end, they weren't quite as energetic as when they started. I am sure they were all sore the next day.

Erin & Anne getting ready to hit the dance floor. Erin can dance a mean Cotton-eyed Joe...

Nick and Brynne cuttin' a rug...

Here is where Mia spent a lot of time the day of the wedding. This is where all the diaper changing took place & she actually really liked being in the trunk of Grandma's car!

MIA'S FIRST SWIM!

So even though we are not supposed to have Mia in the sun or wearing sunscreen for the first 6 months of her life, we took her for a quick little dip in the pool with the fam one evening in Omaha. This was the first time she wore her swimsuit & the top was already a bit short on her. I think I bought it when I was still pregnant & didn't yet realize we wouldn't be at the pool every day this summer. The water was a little chilly - I'm still surprised I got in the water - but Mia didn't cry, didn't contract any diseases from the pool water, and didn't break out in any rashes from the sun or sunscreen, so we consider it a success! Mia also loves bath time, so we are hopeful that this was the start of a lifetime love of the water.

We had a great time in Omaha & were sad when it was time to leave!

3 Months Old!

Mia Jane at 13 weeks

Today Mia is 13 weeks old, or three months old tomorrow, if you go by the calendar date. Since I just started blogging yesterday, I feel like I need to do a post that will capture the road that got us to this point in our family life. No blog post would ever be able to capture the essence of new parenthood...the sleepless nights, the blowout poopy diapers, the obsession with the camera & video camera, the endless laundry, the cuddles, the glances between spouses that seem to say, "Can you believe this is our life now?" in both a good way and sometimes in a truly disbelieving way... We have been so blessed and have been brought so much joy through this little 7 pound, 8 ounce miracle.

So here the journey begins with the joys of pregnancy...

6 months pregnant...

This is when pregnancy is kind of fun. You are not too huge and uncomfortable, but people can see you are pregnant, so they are really nice to you.

When you get a pillow monogrammed, you know there is no going back on the name...

And nearing the end...

My dear friend, Michelle & I

And then the end was quickly upon us! Dr. Bannon was kind enough to induce me the day of my last check-up because of the water retention in my feet and legs. I looked like I had elephantitis! I was in so much pain at that point & the lacrosse season was essentially over (I did miss the banquet that night while I was in labor), but I felt like it was ok to have Mia sooner rather than later. Sooner ended up being the case... she came really fast!

So we brought Mia home to her little nursery & started figuring out what it really means to be parents. She grew quickly & finally started filling out some of her clothes. It was amazing to actually see her grow out of something for the first time. A little bittersweet. You are so anxious for them to reach the next milestone, and yet you start realizing that you kind of want to keep them as tiny newborns forever too. It suddenly hits you that it is all going way too quickly. It was a sad day at about 2 months when I realized that I probably should no longer refer to her as "my newborn".

Here is Mia in this outfit at 3 weeks old.

Here she is wearing the same outfit at 7 weeks old. High waters & belly exposure with any movement at all.

Thanks for making my vision of the letters for the wall a reality, Grandpa Inzerello!

Now to quickly recap the highlights from the last 3 months:

HIGHLIGHTS FROM MAY

Bringing Mia home from the hospital

The next few pictures were taken at about a week old. My friend, Michelle, came over with her nice camera, we turned the heat up to 80 degrees, stripped Mia down, & started shooting. Here are a couple of my favorites.

Meeting Grandma Sue for the first time.

Thanks for all the help and all the cooking you did for us, Mom!

Auntie Erin staking her claim... Back off... She's a professional.

No, really. She's a pediatric nurse. It's very comforting to know we have our very own nursing hotline 24-7!

Grandma and Grandpa Inzerello's introduction to Mia.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM JUNE

We spent much of the month of June in Ohio, where Nick had work for 3 1/2 weeks. Rather than be a single mom after only 4 weeks of parenthood, Mia and I went with him and stayed up in Hudson with my parents. Nick was helping to coach the Junior National Team at the Junior World Championships & had to stay in the dorms with the team. He was only 45 minutes away, so we still got to see a decent amount of him. Grandpa Wally & Grandma Sue loved spending so much time with Mia, even though it was in the middle of their move to a new house. Thanks for hosting us for so long!

Mia learned how to smile at people...not just when she had gas.

Nick's first Father's Day

Hanging out with Grandpa Wally

Mia enjoying her little lamb chair. When we first got this set up for Mia, Nick took one look at the ears on it & asked, "What's this supposed to be, a buffalo?"
Mia's first football game. She watched her dad help coach the Junior National team in their opening game against France at Fawcett Stadium at the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM JULY

The first week of July was also spent in Ohio, while Team USA cleaned house & earned the gold medal. In three games, only Canada was able to score on them, and they were held to just a single field goal. Eight teams from around the world competed in American football (yes, there are a surprising number of countries who play American football). New Zealand, France, Germany, Canada, Mexico, Sweden, and Japan all earned spots in the World Championship games.

Congratulating the Coach after winning in the gold medal game against Team Canada.

Go Team USA! Mia in her red, white, and blue.

The closing ceremonies...It was like a mini-Olympics.

Soon after we returned home, Uncle Brian got to meet his niece for the first time. We are excited because Brian has now moved the the DC area to work for PWC, so we'll get to see a lot more of him!

I couldn't resist. Her little bottom is too cute.

And one more naked photo...

After we returned home from Ohio, Mia started rolling over from front to back at just 9 weeks. All indications are that she is going to be a great athlete... Mom and Dad are very pleased. : )