Let Them Eat Cake

So I realize I haven't been the best blogger lately, and I'm not sure who is even reading this anymore, but we've had lots of big events in the Taylor household recently.
First, on Sunday we dedicated Mia to God in our 10:30 service. We were very excited to have "Uncle" Ben be the one to perform the ceremony, and we were even more honored to have our parents stand up with us. Although I think the seriousness of the occasion often gets glossed over in the excitement of the ceremony, Travis and I tried very hard to approach the event with humble prayer and fear before God. When you really think about it, we are taking an oath before and to God that we will do everything in our power to raise Mia to come to know Him as her Savior. It's an awesome responsibility but not one I want to take lightly.

Proud Mama and Daddy

Uncle Ben & Mia

Then on Monday, Mia turned one! I'm sure she had absolutely no clue what was going on, other than we sang "Happy Birthday" about a dozen times (all of which she danced to) and she got her very first taste of cake. She *loved* it and there wasn't even any icing on it!

First Bites...

Our silly girl.

"I love to share my food with Mommy!"

We also started Mommy and baby swim lessons on Monday, and she is quite the little fish. She shows no fear, kicking her legs and splashing up a storm! I'm hoping Travis can come with us sometime soon to take pictures; she looks so cute in her little flamingo bathing suit.

Tuesday we went to see the doctor for our 12 month check up. Our little chunk monkey weighed in at 21 lbs. 13 oz. and measured 28.5 inches long. We were also cleared for whole milk (yay for no more expensive formula!) and got to turn around our car seat. I still can not believe she's become such a big girl...

In her new big girl chair from Grandma!

The Fourth Stooge?

A couple of days ago Mia starting making a funny "Na na na" babble, but for some reason, it almost sounds like the same noise the Three Stooges make. It's become quite endearing to me, and I finally captured it on video tonight at dinner.
She does scream quite loudly at the beginning...you might want to turn down your volume at first :) That's the other noise she's perfected: the ear-piercing scream.

We Have Lift Off!

Mia took her very first steps alone last week, and things have been progressing ever since. She was pretty wobbly at first and really wanted you to hold out your fingers to help her (for self-confidence, mostly), but I've noticed she's gotten much more daring as the days go on. She will willingly let go to get to something she wants, and we've even gone as far at 10 or 12 feet before a tumble. I've been dying to get this on video, but it's hard to hold a camera, watch her, and get her to walk to me at the same time. Tonight I had the brilliant idea of setting the camera on the coffee table; you get a great view of Mia, but mostly miss my head. Oh well. It's the baby everyone's interested in anyway ;)
Oh, and a disclaimer: please don't feel too sorry for our dog. I realize I might seem a bit heartless in the video. Although he's definitely not the center of attention anymore and often hears a lot of "Go lay downs" from us, he's certainly not neglected or abused. In fact, I think he's sleeping on my bed at the moment.