Santa Baby

December is always a month of holiday fun, but it has been especially fun this year with a new addition to our celebration - Santa! We are pleasantly surprised at how much Mia understood of the holiday season - in fact, some of her favorite words are now "Santa," "Star" and "Tree!" We are still not exactly sure how Mia first figured out Santa since we hadn't told her about him, but whenever she spots an image of Santa in a book, on a gift bag or wrapping paper, or on a television commercial, she is sure to blow him kisses (apparently she is trying to ensure that she ends up on the nice list!)

We have also been teaching Mia about Christmas through books, movies and, of course, parties! She attended the Gleason Family Christmas party earlier this month (where she sat on Santa's lap and received an early Christmas present from him), in addition to a Christmas party with her little friends from play group, where she participated in a Secret Santa Swap.

We were also happy to continue the tradition of having our annual "Christmas Sleepover Weekend" with Auntie Theresa and Uncle Joseph - Mia had a blast decorating the tree with them and looking at Christmas lights (every time we passed a house with Christmas lights, she would announce it by exclaiming a big "Wow!" from her car seat.) She also decided to add to the little stocking ornaments on our tree by putting her own tiny sock on the tree when no one was looking - a very cute addition to the existing decorations!  It has been a fantastic month so far and we are looking forward to what the rest of the month will bring - including a visit from Santa on Christmas Eve!

Time for Thanks!

It is very appropriate that we just celebrated a holiday for giving thanks because we have a lot to be thankful for this year - we had a wonderful holiday spending time with family and, of course, sharing some delicious meals together!  Mia was very festive in her adorable turkey dress from Grandma and loved visiting with everyone.  At Auntie Linda's house, Mia preferred cranberry and butternut squash puree over turkey this year, but she enjoyed Nana's homemade raviolis (which was no surprise!) and cherry biscotti cookies.  In Easton, Auntie Theresa had already decorated for Christmas, and Mia loved the tree and lights, which put everyone in the holiday spirit!  Here are some photos - thanks for helping us create some great memories for Mia's second Thanksgiving!

These Shoes Are Made for Walkin'

Now that Mia is officially a toddler, we just had a new milestone - we bought her first pair of "real" shoes!  Mia was very patient while having her feet measured, and has been having fun walking everywhere in her new shoes - she is getting faster every day!

Our Little Pumpkin


Even though she has no idea what candy is (though I am sure she will figure it out soon!), Mia had a great time celebrating Halloween this year! She liked wearing her pumpkin costume, reading her Halloween book and playing with the jack-be-little pumpkins. Even though she is too little for trick or treating, we visited Grandma & Grandpa's house and Maureen & Steve's house (where Mia was delighted to see the puppies) - it was a fun Halloween!

Fall Fun!

Now that it is apple picking season, we have been enjoying the fall and traditional fall activities.  Mia's first apple picking trip was to our local orchard, Honey Pot Hill, where we all had a great time with the Mazzolas apple picking, picnicking and visiting the animals (Mia's favorite part was definitely the animals!).  We also had a lot of fun at Westwood Orchards (our new favorite!) with Auntie Linda, Uncle Ralph and Stephen picking apples and pears and walking around the orchard and country store with pumpkins, cider donuts and apple cider.  Mia had fun at the orchards and she loves homemade applesauce - it has been a great season so far!

Beach Baby!

Since Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on Mia's first full summer and her favorite summer activity - going to the beach!  We are lucky to have a baby-friendly beach within a mile of our home, and we certainly made great use of our beach pass this year - there were weeks when we went every day because Mia loved it so much (plus it was a great excuse for us to go to the beach, too!).  We also had a great time at State Beach on Martha's Vineyard at the beginning of the summer, and spent a lot of time at Green Harbor and Burke's Beach enjoying the sand and water.  Mia loves playing in the sand, and will literally stay in the water until she is ready to fall asleep to the sound of the waves (she actually did fall asleep while floating on a boogie board at Burke's Beach!)  Below are some photos of Mia's beach adventures - Happy Labor Day!