Around here lately: "Uh oh!" and "'Ananas"

Hi friends.  Sorry for the radio silence, but toddlers are tiring.  Our little guy is on the move from the moment he wakes up and we are loving this age!

Miles started walking more than he crawled at about 13.5 months and is currently OBSESSED with books.  Obviously, this thrills me, since one of my big fears is that he'll grow up hating to read.  We watch him toddle into his room and come back with a book (usually one of his four favorites) that we will proceed to read over and over.  His shelves look like a wreck most of the time, but I don't care, and always want him to feel like he can read whenever he wants.

Little guy is also thrilled by how quickly he can move!  He still falls occasionally, but has generally mastered standing without pulling up and turning around.  He is already trying to run, and I find myself missing my chubby little infant and tearing up when I notice how much he's grown up lately.

Another big development is speech - finally!  Just when I was starting to worry a little bit, Miles started repeating things we say and now proclaims "UH ohhhh" when something falls (or there's a loud clap of thunder) and asks us for "anana?" when he sees the bananas on the bar.  He points to pictures of Dada and Mama on the wall, and clearly comprehends lots of instructions and questions.  If I had to guess, I'd say that he probably understands about 15 words (nouns) right now and is starting to vocalize them and use his sign language more.  He signs "please", "more", and "all done" but still rarely waves.  He also knows where to go for a diaper, and where he takes a bath, and that the front door leads out to the driveway where we walk around.

I think my favorite part of the toddler age are the hugs and kisses.  He just makes my heart melt when he walks over and gives me a very loud "mwa" on the cheek and hugs my neck or my legs.  He will also kiss his stuffed puppy dog, and blow kisses to other people.

It has also become evident that Miles is finally old enough to really enjoy activities like going to the aquarium and not just hang out in the stroller.  This kid was yelling and pointing and happily splashing in the water and now I can't wait to introduce him to more local sights like the zoo, and watch him navigate the park like a big boy.  Miles is also really fond of certain toys, and loves to bang with his toy hammer and push his cars down the ramp.  He is starting to latch on to a stuffed dog of mine (now his) likes wearing his Cardinals cap or Rangers batting helmet.  We also blew up his new wading pool and, as expected, he looooves it (to the point where he cries when he sees it in the garage and we say that we're not swimming today).

This month we also took a quick trip to Houston to visit Nick's family and attend his mom's retirement reception.  Miles was the co-star, and happily added his own (loud) points to the Principal's speech and then explored the library and tried to pull all the books off the shelves.

I'll post more pictures from the big camera soon, but wanted to document all of these fun new changes before I forget!

A trip to the Bluebonnets... and the Dentist

The last week has been pretty busy for Miles - we drove all the way out to Wylie on Saturday so we could take the quintessential Texas bluebonnet pictures with his friends John and Drew.

It all started off fine, but we were late leaving our house because Miles was napping, so he didn't get to get out of the car once we arrived because everyone was leaving to go to the flowers.  This was obviously the end of the world, and someone threw such a crying fit that he threw up.  Thankfully, I had many outfit options for him but the cleanup was rough.

However, I learned that we should have paid the extra $100 for the Chicco NextFit with the cover that zips off, and that my kid looks uber serious in 98% of all photos.  These are the best out of dozens where he looks like he does not like flowers at all.

Then, on Monday, Miles had his first dental appointment.  His pediatrician recommends that kids get an exam after they turn one, so we went to see Dr. Carla before school.  She said Miles has way more teeth than most kids his age (he has four on the front top and bottom, plus four 12 month molars) and also a pretty pronounced overbite.  Hopefully he doesn't need as much orthodontic work as I did!

1 year old!

Miles turned one on March 18th, and it's been quite an eventful few weeks!  Our little guy is all over the place - even more so than before.  His personality continues to develop, and it is clear that our boy likes to make people laugh, is happy to sit and figure out how things work, and can be very stubborn (I know this is shocking news to everyone)!

Favorite things: Playing with doors, throwing his food, unstacking blocks, pushing his cars around, splashing at his water table, pushing his pre-walker toys, holding out things for Maggie to take from his hand (apparently hilarious)

Favorite new foods: Waffles, fruit snacks/strips, venison sausage, french fries (oops), grapes

New tricks: Climbing, going without the paci (save for the rare instances when he's fighting a nap), drinking whole milk from sippy cups and straws, yelling what we are 90% sure is "I did it" when achieves something like putting toys in a box or setting a car down a ramp

We had a great time at Miles' birthday party at our house - I am always pleasantly surprised at how many sweet friends and family members are quick to come celebrate with us (all the way out here in Irving).  Miles was given so many generous gifts, and really enjoyed the cake!

Here are entirely too many pictures of the occasion:

This year has gone by so fast, and I can't believe how different life has become in 365 days.  Here's hoping the next year brings us as much joy, and more sleep!

11 months old... written two days before turning 1!

Miles will be one on Wednesday.  That seems so hard to believe, and this year has gone by faster than I ever imagined.  So before it's too late, here is an overview of Miles' life this past month.

Favorite Things: Playing with cabinets until we ruined everything, pushing his walker, playing with cars, the copycat game (shakes his head and makes noises to mimic us), petting Maggie, watching Maggie pop bubbles, rearranging our chairs.

Favorite Foods: Peas, tamales, ravioli, fig newtons, puffs, fruit puree pouches, clementines, whatever we are eating.

Milestones: Outgrew most 12 month clothes, no more infant carseat, getting molars, had an awful ear infection that would not go away without lots of medicine, started using more sign language ("more" and "please") and shaking his head no, starting to go without pacifier at night.

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11 months has been such a fun age.  We love Miles' silly personality so much!  He often does things that he clearly thinks are hilarious, and his giggles and cackles are infectious.  He is usually a happy kid and content to run errands with us and play with toys, but we do get the occasional body flailing tantrum when he's not allowed to do something important like lay in the dog bed (yes, still a goal), play in the toilet, or chew on our furniture.

Like the rest of the kids in Dallas, he enjoyed a couple of snow days and wasn't too impressed by all the white stuff.  He was more concerned with why he was wearing so many clothes.

 Hat and beard courtesy of Aunt Carly

Miles is also very expressive.  He has started making this fake, exaggerated, angry face when he wants something and isn't getting it.  It's quite lovely... 

And other times, he's just silly...

Or skeptical of chipotle black bean patties (now he's a fan)...

This Saturday we'll be celebrating with a party, so I hope to post an update next week!

10 months old!

Miles turned 10 months old on January 18th, and the tardiness of this post is indicative of how busy life is with a fast-crawling, cruising, into-everything baby.  Miles definitely keeps us on our toes, and continues to be an active, happy kid.

 Pictures of a baby laying on a quilt are no longer possible.

At 10 months, his goals include:  opening and closing all the doors in our house, laying in the dog beds, eating pieces of leaves that get tracked inside, getting his hands on the laptop cords, chewing on our tabletops, and playing in the dog's water.  It's very upsetting to him that most of these activities are not allowed. 

 Mean Mama never lets him eat leaves.

Miles continues to be very mobile - he crawls really fast, pulls up on everything (even our legs and Maggie) and has accidentally stood on his own for a few seconds.  Right now he's getting better at cruising around the furniture, and loves pushing his dinosaur walker or my stepstool (pictured above).  I'm not in a rush for him to walk and wreak more havoc on our house, but I'm proud of him, and think he'll figure it out soon.

Unfortunately, the past two weeks have been pretty rough since Miles got sick and ran fever for the first time.  He had an ear infection in his right ear, and after removing an astonishing amount of impacted wax, started a course of amoxicillin.  Things went downhill from there, as it turns out he is allergic to it (and likely penicillin) and developed tummy issues and a crazy red rash.  Now he's on a new medicine and the ear is healed, but he spent 3 days at home this week due to some sort of virus that caused him to run fever from 99 - 103.8 degrees.  Thankfully, he seems to be over it and has been fever free since yesterday afternoon, but we were sad to miss his buddy John's birthday party.

Feeling better on Jan 30th

Things have gotten a bit difficult on the food front lately, since Miles had to be on a pretty starchy diet while on the antibiotics and a lot of our staple foods are off limits until his tummy is back to normal.  He's very moody at mealtime, and has started throwing food and wants to feed himself but gets frustrated when it doesn't go well.  He still prefers to try what we're eating (except bread - I think the texture confuses him) and drink from his straw cup. 

Penne pasta with ground turkey sauce was a hit (pre-illness)

This month also brought work trips for both me and Nick, so it's been a bit more hectic than usual.  I am always grateful that Nick and I are equal partners in childcare, but I really appreciate him when he's away and I'm trying to make food, bathe Miles, feed myself, and play during the evening.  Thankfully, Miles' best friend Maggie is here to help out... and eat the food he rejects.  (Now she has to go outside or to her bed during dinner because we don't want this to be a trend)

 Thanks for my awesome hat, Aunt Carly!

A recent achievement/challenge for Miles has been learning to put himself to sleep.  Bedtime had gone from an easy ten minutes, to a thirty minute affair full of whining.  We have finally started routinely putting Miles in his crib awake and now he's pretty good about going to sleep on his own after a few minutes of flopping around his bed.  He still goes to bed a little later than most babies (8:30) but sleeps all night until 7:30 most mornings and sometimes even later if we let him.  It isn't typical, but it works for us, and gives us time together in the evenings after work so we're happy.  Unfortunately, he remains a crappy daycare napper, and sometimes comes home having only slept for 45 minutes all day.  Hopefully he outgrows this phase soon.

Another fun change is that Miles really plays with his toys now instead of just watching us with them or exploring the textures.  He figured out how to send balls down his corkscrew slide toy (a favorite) and likes to spin the beads and other movable pieces on his Zany Zoo cube.  He also crawls around pushing his little cars, and throws balls so he can chase them (basically playing fetch with himself).

We're looking forward to Miles' first birthday, and will be having his party on Saturday the 21st at our house.  Save the date! 

9 months old! + A Very Merry Christmas

Miles Dillon is 9 months (and 2 weeks) old, and those are the best pictures I could get because this kid is all over the place!  Our little photo shoot mostly looked like this:

Mobility is pretty much his biggest achievement lately, and Miles takes great joy in quickly crawling around the house babbling to us and the dog, stopping to pull up on all furniture and against doors or walls.  His primary goal is to join Maggie in the dog bed, and overturn the water bowl, but his mean parents never let him have any fun at all.

 Taken on my way to ruin his fun.  We discourage this for Maggie's sake... and because she sheds like it's her job.

Other interests include: closing doors, trying to eat leaves that get tracked in from outside, feeding himself bite-sized pieces of whatever we are eating, petting Maggie, throwing his cup on the floor, removing his socks, clapping his hands, playing with musical toys or anything with pieces that move.

Miles had his 9 month check-up on December 18th, and weighed in at just over 22 pounds (74%) and 28.5 inches long (58%).  His pediatrician is pleased with all of his new skills, which are right on track for his age, and said to keep feeding him table food and start moving away from purees. 

We're glad to have found a doctor who is against "kid food" are looking forward to teaching Miles to love a variety of flavors - except the nuts and shellfish that he can't have until he's older.  Even though there's a new one published every time you turn around, I'm enjoying books and articles detailing how the French teach their children to accept foods that Americans assume they will not like.  Here's hoping we can raise an adventurous eater!

Biscuits and sausage gravy are delicious.

December also brought our annual Christmas road trip, and lots of time with our families.  We exchanged gifts among the three of us on Christmas Eve before we left for Houston, and Miles loves his new activity cube.  He plays with it every day and especially likes closing all the little doors and spinning the beads.  Nick got some shirts, some records, an Xbox game, and grapefruit vodka.  I was happy to get some clothes, and some art prints that I plan to hang in our long-neglected master bedroom.  We decided not to shower Miles with gifts this year, not because he isn't the best baby ever, but because he'll be turning 1 in just 3 months (sob!) and simply does not need lots of new stuff.  Santa brought him a couple of cool books to Grandma and Grandpa's house, and I think everyone else liked the Dog book as much as he does! (Highly recommend it for kids his age and a little older)

 

Wednesday evening, we went to church with the rest of the Dillons and then enjoyed gifts and a big lunch on Christmas Day.  Miles got lots of cool stuff, and had lots of fun crawling around and standing for his audience.

Reading A Charlie Brown Christmas with Grandpa is our new family tradition

On Friday, we drove to Bryan to spend time with the Fergusons and then went to my aunt and uncle's house in Magnolia for our next family gathering.  Miles got so many fun gifts (again) and loves watching all the dogs and older kids running around.

Someone loves sitting with his great-grandma, Nandy

I was not drunk - I would normally crop that face out but the rest of the picture is good so I'm taking one for the team.

On Saturday, we headed back to Dallas and went to my Aunt Monica's house for Christmas with the Moutons.  We were pretty tired and didn't take many pictures, but Miles had more fun with my aunts, uncle and cousins and received even more fun toys and books!

This blurry picture is the only evidence, but we had a good time in Rockwall!

By the time New Year's Eve rolled around, we were all pretty tired and just enjoyed some time at home for the weekend (still in progress).  We can't wait to see everyone again soon, but are hoping for some visitors in Dallas!