mila grace | 5 years old

Today I'm talking about Miss Mila Grace. My sweet, thoughtful, spunky, and oh-so-wonderful five-year-old. 

Mila is in kindergarten. Having a kindergartener for the second year in a row is helping me to see that some of the emotions and struggles just come with the grade. Being away from home on a daily basis has been a tough transition for my girls. Mila has some days where she gets up in the morning, gets ready for school happily, and heads off for a new day with a smile on her face. These mornings are fun and joyful . . . and few and far between. Most mornings Mila - who has LOVED to sleep ever since she was born - either wants to sleep longer or just plain refuses to get dressed. She'll either climb back in bed or lie down on the floor and not move. Or cry that she is NOT going to school. Or all of the above. Once she's at school, she's great. She works hard and stays focused and usually comes home happy and telling about what a good day she had. But getting her there can be hard.

Like I said, at school Mila really focuses. She likes to get things done, mostly because she wants to listen to what her teacher asks her to do. Sadly, she tells me pretty regularly that kindergarten is boring because she has to do too many worksheets. I know they do a variety of other things, but they do also have a lot of worksheets and do at least a few routine things every day.

But one routine Mila loves is coming home and holding Ever first thing. She is always the first to ask to hold her - every morning as soon as the baby wakes up and the minute she walks in the door after being gone anywhere. She ADORES her baby sister. And she's also really sweet with her. I only have to tell Mila one time how something needs to be done for Ever (like make sure not to carry her around or sit behind her so she has support and doesn't fall over) and Mila will make sure to be careful and follow my instructions every time. She's very conscientious about taking care of Ever. She's also so willing to help out by running to get anything I may need - as long as it is something for the baby.

She has really started being silly lately, which I attribute in part to her cousin, Tave. She loves hearing his jokes and telling them. She has started tickling people and thinks it's so fun try tickling anyone - even people she just barely met. Which is so opposite to her shy, reserved personality; she usually is very quiet around new people and will only whisper answers to questions or whisper things she needs to me if we are in front of people she doesn't know very well. And yet she will run up and tickle them like they've known each other forever. Funny girl. She thinks that everyone loves being tickled as much as she does, because Travis plays a Tickle Monster game with her that she LOVES. I try to tell her that most people don't like being tickled, but she doesn't seem to believe me.

She looks up to her big sister SO MUCH. After getting home from school she is always impatient for Kapria to get home so they can play. They play so well together and on a good day when they are both being kind and loving, they end up playing for hours. But if one of them is tired, play time is usually cut short by arguments and each of them hurting the other's feelings.On days like that we usually have some individual quiet time or watch a show to cool down.

I've started doing Mom&Mila time - 15 minutes a day that the two of us do an activity together of Mila's choosing. Mila LOVES this time and requests it every day. Her favorite activities for us to do together are talking about our day while I push her on the tree swing and dancing to music in the living room (right now her favorite songs are "This Girl Is On Fire" by Alicia Keys and "Just The Way You Are" by Bruno Mars. I've enjoyed this time just as much as her because I love hearing what she's thinking about that day. This has really helped the two of us get closer and so I'm trying to make sure it happens regularly for all my girls.

The girls took a gymnastics class together, and at the time they both would tell me they didn't want to go. So when the semester was over, we decided to try a different sport. But since then, Mila has been practicing gymnastics at home almost every day. She is determined to perfect her cartwheel and to figure out handstands. She also recently started doing the monkey bars at school and wants to practice on them at the park all the time.She has turned into such a climber! Which is perfect, really, because the sport we all decided they would do together is rock climbing. Travis is their coach, and he takes them to The Quarry for a couple hours every Wednesday (his day off). Both girls love it, and Mila is such a talented climber! When she was about 3, she was really nervous to get on the rock. But she sure loves it now. It's so fun to see the girls enjoying a sport with Trav. It makes me so happy and I know Trav feels the same. (More on this in a later post.)

Mila really pays attention to the things that go on around her. And when I least expect it, she'll have an insight into something that she gained from a totally different experience or conversation. She regularly reminds us to read the scriptures, and during our reading she will share such astute comments about faith and Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. She's really listening and she really loves the Savior. It is such a beautiful thing to see her faith in God and our Savior grow. I love the gospel discussions we have each night as we read stories from the Old and New Testament and the Book of Mormon. (The same can be said of Kapria.)

I could go on and on about all the amazing qualities Mila has. She is kind and thoughtful and forgiving and patient and understanding. She is quick to cry about things that upset her, but also quick to get over them and be happy again. Some days she can throw a good tantrum - I'm learning this is normal for kindergarten. And when she does, it's a pretty big deal meltdown. She will usually end up cooling off on her bed and will sulk there for awhile. But once you get her laughing again, she moves on and is happy as can be.

I'm continually amazed by this loving, beautiful girl. I'm so grateful she's mine.

all tucked into bed

Mila took a nap today. Now that she doesn't take regular naps (sadly), if she does take one, come bedtime she is wide awake. She walked out of her room around 9pm, just as Trav and I were sitting down to watch a show. Normally I would carry her back to bed, tuck her in, and remind her that to earn TV in the morning she must stay in bed all night.

But this week has been hard. I've been working every day because it's the week of our annual company conference. (My normal work schedule is M-W-F, so I usually have T-Th all day home with the girls.) When Mila climbed onto the couch and sat next to me, I realized how much I've missed seeing her. So I pulled her on my lap and she snuggled with us while we watched Parenthood.

When the episode ended, I carried her to bed and tucked her in. She wrapped her arms around my neck and said:

"I got some Mommy snuggle time and some Daddy snuggle time. I'm glad because I love you and Daddy more than anyone else. Because you're awesome. And your glasses are cool."

I sure love my Mila Bean.

dear santa

(Mila decided later that she wanted to ask for a LaLaLoopsy girl instead of a Santa costume.)

last day of gymnastics

Kapria and Mila loved their gymnastics classes in California. We went in one last time for an open gym day. Kapria was able to say goodbye to one of her coaches. Mila's coach was out of town and wouldn't be back before we moved, so we were sad that we didn't get to say an official goodbye.

We packed a lot of fun in an hour. The girls love jumping on the trampoline and jumping in the foam pit.

One day when Trav was in class with Mila, she started doing flips into the foam pit. It's good to have him there, because he encourages them to do things that I'm too scared to have them try. And of course both girls had to practice their flips on the last day.
 

Kapria:

Mila:

mila's birthday!

 

Mila loves donuts more than cake, so that's what she chose as her special treat for the party. We also served some of her other favorite snacks, including fruit and goldfish. She wanted a mermaid theme, so we decorated as an undersea theme with green (her favorite color) and turquoise.

We made little mermaids out of clothespins. I glued the hair on ahead of time, and cut out the foam fins. Then the kids were able to choose the color they wanted to paint their mermaid. Some of the boys cut their mermaid's hair to make a merboy. They turned out so cute!

Mila is our sweet, caring, thoughtful girl. She is always aware of what others need. If she sees you are upset, she'll run up to give you a tight hug. If she and Kapria are having a hard time sharing, she will usually be the one to say, "It's okay, you can play with it, Kap." 

She loves to pretend play, especially with Kapria, though doesn't like being told who to be or what to dress up as. She wants to choose for herself. She'd rather put together her own clothing ensemble rather than wear dress up clothes. 

Mila loves snuggling with us and reading stories together. She also loves play doh and can spend an entire afternoon playing with play doh and creating things. She loves going to the park, but hates being too far away from us. Her favorite thing at the park is the swings. 

She loves talking about nicknames and having us list all of hers. "I'm your Mila Bean," she'll say. 

She asks us to sing the same songs at bedtime every night: Come Thou Fount, Tarzan song, the Nephi song. She loves to laugh and will get the giggles right before bedtime.

There are so many wonderful things about Mila. She is one of our favorite people!

We love you, Mila Grace! 

We're so grateful you are a part of our family.

art: mila

Mila loves art. Painting, coloring, drawing, watercolors. Making art is her favorite activity. And I absolutely love watching her create. She's so happy and excited about it, and seeing how much joy it brings her makes me so happy too. Here are some of her fingerpainting creations. I love them.

favorite k&m moments: feb 2012

a visit from spiderman

favorite k&m moments: jan 2012

gymnastics

Since Kapria was no longer going to preschool, we knew we wanted to get her into some kind of activity that would help build her confidence. One of my good friends has her daughter in gymnastics and suggested that we check it out.

I signed up Kapria for a tryout class for four year olds and Mila in a parent participation class for toddlers. Since the classes were at the same time, I dropped off Kapria in hers, then went with Mila to a different room for hers.

And they both loved it! So here we are on our second day of gymnastics, with lots more of these days to come.

gymnastics 01.31.12

baby chat

Mila talks nonstop now, and I love hearing what she has to say. She also loves playing with her babies. So here you go, a conversation about her baby.

first disney day of the new year

Our Disney passes expired in December, and I couldn't decide if we should spend the money to renew or not. Trav is so busy with school that he can't go much at all, since the cheap tickets only work on the weekdays. So he didn't want to get a pass. That left me and Kapria. But the more I thought about it, I realized that this is a great way to spend time with my girls. We may never live so close to Disneyland again, and we'll never have only one child to pay for. Not only that, but I got a free Disney gift card that covered the price of Kapria's ticket. So that left only mine to pay for. We decided that would be my Christmas, and I'm so glad it worked out.

Our first day back was so much fun. It's crazy how much Mila has changed in the month since we last went. She does better waiting in line, plays more with Kapria, and isn't as scared of the rides.

The first ride the girls insisted on seeing was Captain EO. Since seeing it in December with Trav, they have become obsessed with Michael Jackson and his music. We listen to it every day. So that's the first ride we went to. But with being even a month older, Mila IS more aware of things that truly are dark and scary, and this time she was so scared of the spider lady that she hid her face in my shoulder and wouldn't watch. I made sure she saw the end, where the spider lady is turned into a beautiful queen by Captain EO. And even though it was scary, she still says it's her favorite ride.

We were super excited to meet Iridessa for the first time - the girls have been hoping to see her for months, so they were pretty thrilled. In the past Mila has been too scared to talk to any of the characters, but this time she wouldn't stop talking. She told Iridessa all about Captain EO and the spider lady. Ha ha ha.

We get spoiled with short lines, so if there's ever a long line, we choose not to go on the ride. So the short lines for the day were the carousel, teacups, astro blaster, astro orbiter, and visiting the fairies and Rapunzel. All in all, a great day with my two favorite little people.

trying new things

We went to a birthday party for our friend Paiton, who turned three. The girls loved it! There was a huge blow-up slide, and Kapria spent nearly the entire two hours climbing up the stairs and sliding down it. Mila loved the slide as long as I slid down with her. But her absolute favorite part was the zip line. I couldn't believe how much she loved it and how well she held on! She spent most of her time in there, taking turns with the other kids. She was the smallest one to do it and never fell off. She would hit the bouncy end wall and slide backwards, and still be holding on until I came and helped her off. Kapria finally took a break from the slide to come see what Mila was up to. And she loved the zip line too. Looks like we have an idea for some good family adventures.

in which mila reads a book

superheroes

we're having cereal for dinner: a conversation with mila

My favorite part of this video is hearing how Mila says her own name. I don't call it out when I'm talking to her, but can you tell when she says it?

And "favorite" - that's a word I love to hear her say. I just wanted to get on video how much she's talking. I love hearing what she has to say!

And yes, sometimes cereal and a movie are the only logical options to the end of a long day.

sweet mila

May 2011 - Mila is 21 months old. I can't believe she's nearly two! She recently started role playing. Every day now she finds her baby and takes care of her - feeding her, rocking her, putting her to sleep (she even closes the blinds and curtains so the room is dark). She brings her over to me to hug and love on when the baby cries.


Mila's so thoughtful of others, too. She's concerned about Kapria and always pays attention to what her sister needs. If anyone in the family gets hurt, she runs over to kiss you. If someone's upset, she gives you a hug. Most times if the kids are fighting over a toy, she'll give it to the person who wants it rather than keep it for herself.

She loves listening to music, especially Tarzan (still) and SteveSongs. Now she asks every night for me to sing her a Tarzan song at bedtime.

She's warming up to animals now and loves to pet Oso, my parents' dog. Except one day he accidentally backed up into her and knocked her over, so her newfound love for him waivered for a few hours and she'd run away.

She loves coloring. At this age, Kapria didn't really care about it, and she still is only interested in it for a few minutes before she wanders to something else. But Mila could color for an entire hour before getting bored.

She got a new tooth - her lower right incisor (finally)!

She loves talking. She's started adding "uh" on the end of words and sentences: "sippy cupp-uh," "kiss-uh," "two-uh," "help-uh." You get the idea.

Favorite things to say:
"I want a minty"
"Kappy!"
"I wanta color."
"I need helpa!"
"My baby."

We love our Mila Bean!

everyone needs a mermaid tail

at this very moment

Kapria and Mila have so much fun playing together and taking care of each other.

gloss