Mali Mish.

February 7th, 2010 by marlene

Mali Mish.

It means ‘little mouse’ in Croatian. And it is also the name of our Airstream.

In case you didn’t know, we are on the road now.

Doing silly things like this.
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And relaxing like this.
lounging.

Probably for a good couple of months. If you want to see what we are up to, you can go to www.malimish.com. We also have it in ‘our links’ over there on the right.

We are trying to blog daily on MaliMish.com (and trying to catch up on this site too! Don’t worry.)

Thanks for reading.

Bye!!

Ava: 155 weeks old…

February 7th, 2010 by marlene

snow bunny.

silly.

Hello there. Our little snow bunny is now 155 weeks old!
ava.

And enjoying the sled again. Finally!
happy sledding.

And pushing imaginary babies on the swings with Nona.
pushing imaginary babies.

And throwing someĀ  mean snowballs. Watch out Nona!
snowball.

On New Year’s Day, all Ava wanted to do was to call Deets on the phone. I think this may have been the first time she really talked to someone and answered with appropriate yes’s and no’s instead of head nods.
talking to deets on phone.

Then it was time to rebuild the melted snowman from our last trip with a new and improved party snowman.
nona, dida, ava, snowman.

Yeah!
laughing.

Ava also spent some time taking a walk on Dada’s shoulders. Good thing Dada didn’t shave his head shorter or else she couldn’t hold on like this.
hitching a ride.

Do you see what I see?
did you hear that?

I can’t believe it!
cheese.

A ladybug in the snow. Hello there!
hi ladybug!

Yeah again!
raise the roof.

We also spent time at the park… where Dida was bragging how he was only wearing a thin track suit because he was tough. But then a dude in a wife-beater tank showed up and Dida said ‘Wow. I thought I was a macho man. I guess not!‘. Hahahaha. Macho man!
macho man!

Then it was time to go back home but not before stopping by San Pedro again. For some BBQ chips?
ava eating chips.

For little toasts?
nona and ava eating toast

Nope. To see cousin Chris who was in town for a few days.
chris, ava, mila, dan

And Ava got to play with Deets’ favorite toy growing up. The Garage. And wanted to be the pink car. Surprise surprise. Yes, Deets had a pink car.
playing garage together

And Ava enjoyed making funny faces in the mirror too.
funny faces.

Then it was time to go to the doctor for her 3 year check-up. She weighed in at 36 pounds (90%), was 37.25 inches long (50%) and her head was 20.4 inches around (98%). And this time she had to pee in a cup for the first time. So I took her into the bathroom, held the cup for her and she totally missed and got it all over my hand. I guess it wasn’t her aiming but my catching abilities. Ava also had to get her finger pricked for a blood test. The results were not good. So she had to get a 2nd finger pricked to see if her test scores were really that bad or if the machine was acting funny. It ended up being just the machine. Thank goodness. But you know what was her biggest concern with her finger pricks?
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She asked me how she was supposed to eat. HAHAHAH. Because she knows that needles equal ice cream and she didn’t want to miss out on not eating any because of these band-aids. HAHAHAH.
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Back at home, Ava has been busy feeding her baby Mariana the bottle…
ava feeding her baby

… and nursing her new baby Ariel.
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She has also been playing doctor with her little sister…
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… and drawing smiling spiders.
first spider

She was super pumped up this week to go to the post office to mail her birthday invitations.
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So if yours came with a crooked stamp, you now know why.
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We also spent some time at the park and it appeared that Ava missed making snow angels.
sand angel

Ava has really been dancing a lot lately. And added some new moves to her repertoire. And when this commercial came on the TV in between her shows, it all made sense to me.
dance moves

Ava likes to show us how tall she is now. Since she thinks she is so big, we took her back to the clubhouse one more time before her big birthday party in order to see if she would go down the slide by herself and not freak out when she was up on the play structure.
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And it was a miracle. She actually enjoyed herself. Just in time too. Phew!
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At home, Yoda loves to beg. She took over begging for food shortly after Rudy left us. If you ever come over and see tiny scratches on this side of the dining room table, you now know why.
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And Yoda is now starting to beg next to Ava too.. who couldn’t be happier to throw food onto the ground.
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Alright. Time to watch this little green frog puke out bubbles. (See Deets. It totally works!) Bye!
frog bubbles

P.S. Things Ava said this week… ‘Oh man’ after I asked her to eat her food. ‘No, ochie Ava’ after she fell and I told her ‘Ochie Mama’.
And she told me that ‘Dogs can’t fly like angels?’ when thinking about Rudy.

Mila: 4 months old!

February 7th, 2010 by marlene

happy mila

Hi there. Our little Mila is now 4 months old!!!!
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And what was she doing at the exact moment she turned 4 months old? Snoozing in my arms at Teta Jadranka’s house.
exactly 4 months old!!!!

This week started off with us saying ‘Happy New Year’ and with Mila laughing up a storm with Dada.
mila had her first laugh with dada the night before on new year's eve!

And lots of standing. Her favorite pastime.
standing mila.

We were still up in Arrowbear enjoying all the snow. Mila got to ride in a bus that Ava was kind enough to drive for us.
bus.

And when she passes out in the baby carrier, she sometimes stays asleep when I pull her out.
passed out.

Look who finally woke up!
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I started to stop swaddle Mila this week. She keeps waking herself up every time her arms twitch.
no swaddle.

But she figured out that if she keeps her hands together, no more annoying arm twitches.
asleep.

And sometimes, she just shoves a few fingers into her mouth instead.
finger sucking

Where we going now, Mama?
huh?

Home?
ready for a walk.

Bye bye cabin! Bye bye snow!
snow.

One the way home from the cabin, we stopped by to see cousin Chris. Mila’s first time meeting him.
chris meeting mila for first time.

And hanging out with her Nona Dinka.
nona dinka and mila.

Mila is starting to really stare and smile at Ava. Mila loves tracking Ava as she walks around the room.
mila loves ava.

Oh and for those of you addicted to baby fat rolls… here you go!
mila's leg rolls.

We took Mila to the doctor’s this week for her 4 month check-up. She weighed 14 pounds 14 ounces (77%), was 26.75 inches long (99%) and her head was 16.75 inches around (87%).
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And she got shots too. Oh my!
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But her big sister there to help make it all better.
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Look who’s back at home! Yeehaw!!
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And laughing…
laughing

… and squealing too!
screams

And getting all kinds of hugs.
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And getting computer lessons too while in the Bjorn. If she turns out to be a computer nerd, we’ll know who to blame (or thank).
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And look at this. This was Mila’s BIG day.
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Today was the day she moved into the BIG GIRL ROOM with Ava.
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Good night, Mila. Sleep tight.
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I was so sad the entire day because I knew I would be losing my little roommate Mila. But it ended up being all okay. Because Ava was super excited to have a new roommate. And that made me so happy. (Carrie? I see the orb too! I wonder who it is this time?)
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Welcome to your new room, little one.
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Bye!
hungry.

Us in a slide.

February 5th, 2010 by marlene

Okay. Here is the deal. Get up off of your chair. Find a tunnel slide. And video yourself going down it. Seriously. Go now. Because the outcome might be as awesome as this. Enjoy!

One for me. One for you.

February 5th, 2010 by marlene

Hi. I’m Mila. And you know why I am so happy?
cute mila.

Yes, partially because it’s almost bath time.
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But mostly because I have discovered these things. HANDS!!!! And they taste so good. But I don’t really need both, do I?
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One for me.
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And one for you.
one for me, one for you.

Who says sharing isn’t fun.
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Looks like someone needs a friend.

February 4th, 2010 by marlene

Oh oh. Dida fell asleep without a sleeping friend.
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I wonder if he wants to borrow my friend.
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I think that would be for the best.
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Much better.
sharing her favorite toy with a napping dida.

Good night Dida. Sleep tight.
dida with prarie doggy.

Who wants to be a princess? Raise your hand.

February 3rd, 2010 by marlene

Hi. I’m Ava and it’s time to transform some lucky people into princesses. Let’s start off with Mila. Stop laughing Mama. The pictures are not centered!
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Look how cute Mila looks now. Mama, stop laughing!! What do you think Mila?
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Ummmm. Ava, two words come to mind.
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Help! Me!
mila with jewerly.

Your turn Dada.
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Crown? Check! Earrings? Check!
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Looking good, Dada. Looking… good.
princess dada.