Each time she wakes up you go through the checklist: Is she hungry? Does her diaper need changing? Is she cold? None of these seemed to be the case last night. I think it came down to her not wanting to be alone, perhaps a night terror attack. Mia was only comforted by having her back and head rubbed while we stood next to her crib.

I’m sure she’ll have a few rough nights in the future. I imagine a time when she’s older, when she finds the dark corner in her room scary, or an unfamiliar noise outside will startle her awake. She’ll scream or cry, come running into our room and ask if she can sleep in our bed. We’ll say OK, but only for a little while. She’ll fall asleep in between Farrah and I. We’ll pick up her little self and place her back into her own bed. We’ll rub her back and her head, making sure she’s comfortably asleep.

I imagine a time, and I smile. I smile because she’s our little girl who’s coming to mommy and daddy for reassurance that everything is OK. And it is OK, even in the middle of the night.

I smile because she’s our little girl.

Pow!

Wow, Mia has already caught The Batman bug. Fighting crime at such a young age. For now, she’ll do as daddy does and be part of The Batman Family. I see her more in the role of The Huntress – Batman’s daughter in older comic books – rather than Batgirl. But she always has a choice. I have a feeling when she grows up she’ll be more of a Wonder Woman fan, like her cousin Kayla was when she was growing up. Did you hear they’re bringing back Wonder Woman to television? If that turns out to be a hit, I can see Mia in front of the TV watching the show.

Reaching for Mommy

This photo of Mia and mommy is from a previous set of photos. Unfortunately, we’ve been under the weather, off-and-on the last couple of weeks. Taking any good photos has been difficult. Hopefully we’ll have some opportunity this week to take some newer photos.

This photo was originally taken on January 23, 2011.

Fly!

Mia is still learning to crawl. She’s comfortable being on her belly on the floor. She can pivot left or right, and can move ever so slowly backwards. But she hasn’t grasped the skill of forward movement yet.  When that time comes, I’m sure she’ll be taking off, crawling to every conceivable corner of the house.

Mia and Mommy ready to explore the aquarium.

We have wanted to take Mia to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but hadn’t found a good weekend to do it. Fortunately, we had the last weekend of January free of any commitments. We were also very fortunate to obtain two guest passes from my sister’s co worker who has an aquarium membership.

Asking for Directions

Since it was Mia’s first time there we tried to visit all the exhibits that she might find of interest. The first exhibit we saw was the seahorses. I’m not sure if Mia could actually make out the seahorses with her own eyes, but there were large monitors that gave a close up view of how they looked. I’m sure she could make them out from those images.

Where are the seahorses?

We later went into the interactive area. Farrah placed Mia on what seemed like a water bed type pad. She really enjoy it swaying back and forth.

Can I get one of these at home?

The last exhibit we saw was the jellyfish. She seemed truly fascinated by their color and movement. I’ll need to gather the video clips of her looking at the jellyfish.

We’re surrounded!!!

After our trip, we headed north to Santa Cruz to have dinner with the Trabers. Luckily, the weather on the way up to Monterey was cooperative. The drive to Santa Cruz was met with light drizzle. Luckily, there were no incidents to speak of. We spent an hour or so at the house, then headed to Riva’s for a nice seafood dinner.

All in all a good day.

These photos were taken on January 29, 2011.

Currently my favorite commercial, even though I’ve yet to see it on television. I just love the kid’s reaction in the end. I can imagine Mia having a similar reaction.

Everything is a Remix Part 2 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.

Part 2 in the series. This one covers remixes in films, specifically Star Wars and Kill Bill. Watch this video past the credits for the portion on Kill Bill.

The first video, which covers music, was very interesting. You can visit the website to make a donation for the continuation of this project.

The United Kingdom Explained from C. G. P. Grey on Vimeo.

I’ve often wondered what the difference was between Great Britain and the UK. And if you have ten minutes to spare, this informative video can enlighten you on the differences. Good to know there’s a video explaining it.

It’s a question I believe each dad ask themselves, “When do I introduce Star Wars into my kid’s life?”

Well, it all starts with a t-shirt. Farrah bought this shirt at the Gap for 58 cents! Such a bargin. In this photo, with Mia’s face all scrunched up, it looks as if she’s tired of having her photo taken.

Now, as far as the films go, I’m talking about the original Star Wars trilogy, not that highly disappointing last three films. And in any event, you’d introduce the original trilogy first. You would not want to spoil the huge revelation in Empire Strikes Back, would you?

I’ve heard that a good age to start might be three years old. At the least, you can lay down the ground work through storytelling. My friend BossaNova said he started telling his daughther the story of Luke, Leia and Han around that age as well. Who knows, Mia may be able to retell the story similar to this little girl.

This photo was taken on January 20, 2011.

Mia is as playful as ever. Each day, Farrah tries to think of a way to tame all that hair. It’s difficult, but it needs to be done. Otherwise it can look a bit scary. I’ve included two photos in this post so you can get a complete picture. I look at these series of photos and I can’t help but think, wow, future sushi chef.

"Can I have an order of the sake? My wife would like a California Roll as well."

These photos were taken on January 23, 2011.