A Day at the Park

Last Monday Bill and I decided we'd better take advantage of the short break in the miserably humid weather and get outdoors with Miles for a day.  We packed up the stroller and some water and drove down to Olin-Turville Park in Madison.  We spent the afternoon just hanging out, playing on the playground, and sitting in some shade watching the boats on the water.  Miles was loving every second of it (as he usually does while we're outside) and it was a really nice day.  Bonus:  I got a couple of pictures that I really love!  :)



Swinging with Momma
(And, no, that's not all drool on his shirt!  He was practicing with his sippy cup.)



Snuggles with Daddy



Miles taking it all in



I <3 this one!



This one KILLS me!  I LOVE it!  :)
I was sitting behind him saying "Miles, look at Momma" and this is what I got.  Ha!



Momma and baby feet



Aaaaand, we're done!



Standing!

Gosh, it seems like Miles is literally adding another trick to his repetoire every day!

We figured we had a little while before he became really efficient at crawling to get things really baby-proofed, but we were wrong!!  He was pretty slow at the whole crawling business for about 3-4 days, but now it's like he moves at warp speed.  NOTHING is safe from him!  Garbage can, books, Momma's purse, clean laundry, cords of all kinds, books, remotes, every type of electronic gadget, kitties.  Basically everything except those things which are meant for him.  :)

Note the rapturous expression on Miles' face.  Then, note the slightly-less-than-rapturous expression on Greta's. :)

He also uses his crawling to throw himself upon my feet and beg for mercy (or just to nurse).  It is kind of funny and pathetic and cute all at the same time.  :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF51OIpsghE

Then, no sooner did we adjust to the crawling business, then he started trying to pull himself up on things.  Again (we're not that bright, apparently...) we figured we had a little while to prepare before he became really good at it.  Yup, you guessed it.  Wrong again!  Now the books on the second shelf that were secure a week ago are no longer, anything on the couches (including the kitties!!) is fair game, the computer sitting on the side table almost ended up on his head a couple of days ago...  You get the picture.

Yes, we are definitely busier these days, but it really is amazing to watch him learn and grow and develop.  It's the times like this, where he is literally changing every single day, that I am especially thankful for the opportunity to be at home with him.  Sure, every now and then I miss having an adult, professional conversation, but I would not trade this time, these oh-so-short moments, for anything.  I am definitely lucky.  :)

Some random pictures:

Fun Day in the Dells!

Today we decided we were tired of being held hostage by the heat so, after Miles woke up from his nap and ate some (high iron!) lunch, we packed up and headed to the Dells.  We stopped by the Original Ducks where Bill used to work and he talked to some of the people that he used to work with for a little while.  We also got to enjoy a complementary duck ride, which Miles seemed to enjoy and allowed Bill to do some reminiscing.  We were SO glad we ventured out today!  By the time we got to the Dells, it had clouded over a bit and the humidity had gone down a bit and it was pretty darn nice outside!

Family Pic - Miles is uninterested 

 Family pic - Bill is super interested, Miles is still uninterested

My boys.  :) 

Snugglebug

After the Duck tour, we went to a restaurant with a waterfront deck for supper and enjoyed some more of the beautiful weather.  I can't remember the name of the place to save my life, but Bill had chicken wing and I had a grilled chicken wrap and they were both really tasty.  After we were done eating, Miles and I posed for a picture:

Oh, just a quick public service announcement.  Wal-Mart pretty much sucks in general, but the Lake Delton Wal-Mart in the evening is a completely miserable experience.  Bill decided we had wandered into the armpit of society.  :)  Yikes.  I do NOT recommend going there if you can avoid it...

And finally, a video of Miles taking out some aggression on his toast.  Enjoy!  :)

Evidence. And 9 Month Appt. Update.

Well, I finally managed to get a video of Miles crawling!  It's not very far, but I was just impressed that he finally cooperated.  Every time I've tried to motivate him to crawl he hasn't been interested, and everytime he's decided to crawl on his own the camera has been out of reach. 

Miles crawling!!

This week has been pretty darn uneventful here, mostly due to the miserable heat.  We've spent a lot of time hibernating inside.

We did have Miles' 9 month doctor visit on Monday with our new doctor.  We just did not click with the first doctor we tried after Miles was born.  I fully admit that I am pretty "hippy" about a lot of things and the first doctor was very traditional and we just did not see eye to eye on several issues.  I think it is really important to have a doctor that is on the same page as we are because it ultimately leads to better care for Miles.  So, I had heard great things about our new doctor from several different sources and I was not disappointed!  She is a general practictioner, but also has training in Integrative Medicine and is a Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant (a rare find in a MD!).  We had a great visit, she really took the time to answer our questions, and personally called us back with follow-up information.  Bill and I both got a really good feeling and decided the switch was a smart move. 

When Miles started getting his teeth I had noticed that I thought his upper lip frenulum was a little short, but it was hard to tell because he still didn't have any teeth on top.  We decided to ask the doctor about it because we were wondering (if it was short) if it could cause speech problems eventually.  Well, she checked it out and said that yes, it was definitely tighter than normal and that speech problems weren't necessarily a risk, but dental issues later on could be.  So, we have been referred to a pediatric ENT and have a consult scheduled for Aug. 31 to determine if it will require surgery or not.

Just in case you're wondering, here is a picture of the upper lip frenulum:


We also discovered at Miles' appointment that he is pretty severely anemic.  The doctor said that his hemoglobin level was the lowest one she has ever encountered in a baby this age, so that's not so good.  We weren't entirely surprised because we knew that Miles was at pretty high risk for developing anemia because he was born early, had his cord clamped prematurely, and had borderline low birth weight.  Babies get the majority of their iron stores in the last trimester of pregnancy and Miles missed out on about half of that time.  In addition, when the cord is clamped immediately after delivery, the baby misses out on all that blood (sometimes up to 50%! of baby's blood volume) that was still being pumped from the placenta, including the red blood cells and oxygen that it was carrying.  Miles was also right on the borderline of the "low birth weight" cut-off that is considered a risk factor for developing anemia.  Anyway, long story short is that we have ordered an herbal iron supplement (one of the many reasons I love our new doc - she recommended an herbal supplement first!) and have begun feeding Miles all sorts of high iron/high Vitamin C (Vit. C helps the iron to be absorbed) meals.  Some favorites have been a fortified cereal/breastmilk/steamed apricot concoction, an egg yolk/breastmilk/spinach omelette and kale chips with some avocado and muskmelon on the side.

Wow, that got long!  If you made it this far, here's some more cute baby pictures:

Crawling!!

Today was a BIG day for Miles!  He has been trying soooo hard to crawl for about the last 2-3 weeks, getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth, usually ending by smashing his face into the floor.  Well, today he finally did it!  Wouldn't it be sweet to say that he was motivated to crawl by wanting to get to his momma?  Why, yes, yes it would be sweet to say that, but Momma is chopped liver when Greta is around.  Yup, Miles took off crawling today trying desperately to get to stupid Greta.  Greta's not actually all that stupid, though, as she was long gone by the time the poor little guy got to where he was going.  He repeated his new trick a couple of more times throughout the day, but hasn't decided to upgrade to using crawling as his primary mode of transportation just yet...

(Yes, I'm working on getting a video.  I'm a sucky mom and I couldn't find the camera battery charger and the battery was dead.  So.  No video.  BUT, I found it!  So, video tomorrow, hopefully.)

In other Miles news, he is working on two more teeth, a top and a bottom.  Also, he does not appear to care for green beans so much, but he is a BIG fan of shortcake and fresh whipped cream.  He was not a very happy camper when I cut him off after he inhaled half of a shortcake and a tablespoon of whipped cream in record time.  Finally, we will be going to his 9 month check-up tomorrow.  I'm interested to see how much he's grown!

My dad and Grandpa Al came down today to finish up a few jobs around here, build some shelves in the basement, and take a bunch of tools home.  We now have trim around our kitchen peninsula and in our master bathroom, and the basement shelves look awesome (and all my school bins have already found a nice home on them...)! 

Today was also a big day for me.  I successfully cooked my first whole chicken.  Yes, I know, sad that it took me 'til 29 years of age to cook a whole chicken, but there you have it.  I made beer can chicken, roasted vegetables, zucchini chips, some of my newly canned green beans, and homemade strawberry shortcake for lunch today since we had visitors.  All three of them told me it was good, so I guess I can call it successful.  :)

9 Months!

Gosh, it's been a long time since I've updated the blog!

Miles,

Today you are 9 months old.  I am in denial that you will be 1 YEAR old in just 3 months! 

You are so much fun now!  You have such a happy personality and love to smile at (almost) everyone you meet.  You only get upset when you are hungry or overtired, and I guess I can't blame you for that because I do, too!

You are really eating food with more purpose now.  You love bananas, cottage cheese, yogurt, toast with cream cheese, asparagus, pears, noodles, and just about anything else we give you.  Oh, except raspberries - you're not such a fan of those. 

You are trying SO hard to crawl.  You get up on all fours and rock back and forth, but you can't quite figure out how to get your hands moving so you usually end up going head-first into the floor.  As soon as you work out what to do with those hands, though, we are in trouble!  :)

You have figured out how to sit yourself back up after you've been laying on the floor, which is really helpful to us.  Since you learned how to sit up, we spent a lot of time sitting you back up after you tipped over reaching too far for a toy (or power cords or our shoes or some other treasure that is SO much more interesting than one of your actual toys...).

You've started to really look to us to gauge what your reaction should be to things.  A few days ago, Daddy was doing something really silly looking and you looked up at me, then after you saw that I was laughing, you decided you could laugh, too.  You often will bury your head in our shoulders when someone new talks to you, then peek up at them, then me before burying your head again.

You have two more teeth!  Well, ok, more like one and a half.  Your left top front tooth and the one just to the left of it are almost all the way through.  Now it really is dangerous to stick a finger in your mouth!  I must say that we have become believers in your baltic amber necklace.  After 5 teeth, we have not had to give you any sort of pain reliever and have not noticed any significant mood changes or other disruptions to your routine.  So, I tend to believe it must be doing some good... :)

You will have your 9 month check-up next week, but if I had to guess, I would say that you haven't gained a ton of weight (maybe 2ish pounds) since your 6 month check-up, but I think you've been busy stretching up.  It seems like we've been retiring more and more clothes because they no longer fit length-wise.  We'll see...

Sleeping at night is still definitely NOT your strong point, but you do redeem yourself by taking great naps during the day.  I guess if I had to choose one or the other, I wouldn't change it because I am able to get a lot done while you're napping!  But, that doesn't mean I wouldn't take BOTH - that would be juuuuust fine with us!

You love water - shower, baby pool, bath, big pool, boating.  Doesn't matter.  You are a big fan of it all!

You are growing so fast - I feel like you learn something new every single day.  Sometimes I wish I could push the pause button and keep you this little for just a little while longer.  It does make it a bit easier because it seems like the next thing you do is always just as cute and fun and exciting as whatever I was being nostalgic over, though. 

Waking up to your sleepy, stretchy snuggles is the favorite part of my day.  You make us both so happy and we are so lucky to get to be your Momma and Daddy.  Happy 9 months, Bubbaroo.  We love you!

Happy Mother's Day to me!

I waited patiently for a whole week and my Mother's Day present finally arrived!  My very own, brand-new Vatanai Chartres 4.5 m woven wrap!! 

I found my first wrap on Craigslist in January and got hooked on wrapping, but that one was a more inexpensive wrap and made of gauze so it really dug into my shoulders.  I had been wanting a higher quality wrap for a long time, but was having a hard time justifying spending the money on it.  When Bill said I could trade in my Mother's Day massage and pedicure for a wrap instead, I jumped online and ordered before he changed his mind!  :-)

Now that I've got this one, I've already decided that I want another, shorter woven to do some other types of carries that don't require as much fabric.  Bill just rolls his eyes, mutters about me being crazy under his breath, and says I'd better sell the gauze one before I even think about buying another.  Alright by me!

It is just SO handy to be able to throw Miles up on my back and get things done, especially when he's being a bit of a cling-on like recently.  He's happy because he's up high enough where he can see over my shoulder and I'm happy because he's not fussing at me and he's on my back and out of my way, as opposed to being in a front carrier where I have to work around him.  Of course, you can also do front carries and hip carries with a wrap, too.  I LOVE it!  :)

*     *     *     *     *

Abbie and Josie were very kind and hosted us for a playdate today.  Miles and Josie are only 3 days apart and they are just so cute together!  Plus, it is awesome to have a grown-up mommy friend to talk to during the day!  :-)  Abbie set the kiddos up with some colored yogurt painting and they had a blast!  They also definitely had a bath when they were done!

*Josie was totally loving eating the yogurt as much as painting with it!* 

*Miles wasn't entirely sure about it.*

*Um, my feet are a little messy, Momma.*



After the yogurt fun, they were so funny because Miles kept rolling onto his back and then rolling back to his tummy and every time he would pop his head back up, Josie would just crack up!

Miles and Josie Cuteness!

*     *     *     *     *

Miles had some broccoli for supper tonight and he thoroughly enjoyed it.  Can you tell?  :-)

*     *     *     *     *

On the docket this weekend?  Finishing unpacking once and for all.  Bill is about to have a nervous breakdown because everything is not put away yet.  He did a lot of work in the garage last night and this morning so now we can fit a car in there!  He also got up early this morning and cleaned and vacuumed both cars, then when he got home today he cleaned and swept the laundry/storage room in the basement.  He is on a mission and I think it is in my best interest to go along on the mission, too...  So if you need me this weekend, I will be sorting through the small mountain of boxes that we have yet to unpack.  Wish me luck!

8 Months

Miles, you are 2/3 of a year old today!!  Another 31 days have flown by and they have been busy - for you and for us.  Let's see...what have you been busy with? 

~ You can sit up on your own now, though you do still tip over sometimes when you reach too far for a toy or other interesting object. 

~  You seem to be getting disgusted with rolling to your desired destination, but haven't quite figured out how else to get there.  Quite frankly, Daddy and I are in no big hurry for you to figure out crawling because we still have quite a lot of babyproofing to do at the new house!

~  You have three new teeth!  Three of the four middle ones on the bottom.  The bottom left tooth came in first, and the two to the right of it came in at the same time.  You were a little cranky and clingy, but again, I'm not sure if it was because of teeth or because of all the commotion from the move or both.  You look like such a big guy now when you laugh or smile (or scream!) at us with your three little white teeth peeking out!

~ You have started taking some pretty fantastic naps during the day!  Usually about a 2 hour nap in the morning and a 1-2 hour nap in the afternoon, if we're home. 

~ You LOVE to be outside!  You're not picky about what you do when you are out there.  You're happy to be swimming, walking/strolling, swinging, going to campfires, or just chilling out on the deck w/ mom and dad.

~ You started eating solid food this month, too.  You mostly just gnaw on things and wave them around and splat them on your tray, but you really like to taste new foods and join in mealtimes with us.  So far you like broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, apples, applesauce, bananas, oatmeal, cream of wheat, raspberries, and watermelon.  Actually, you LOVE watermelon!

~ Even though you are a very open-minded eater, you still love to nurse.  Sometimes I think you would just hang out there all day if I'd let you.  If you're with Daddy and I walk in the room and it's been a little while since you've nursed, you've started to do a funny little "eh eh eh" fussing while stretching out to get to me.

*Being 8 months old takes a lot out of a guy!*

We love you, BubbaBoy!  Happy 8 months!