Miles at 9 and 10 Months August 29, 2011

Our baby boy is changing right before our eyes. I really can’t believe how quickly the changes are coming these days. Now that I’m feeling healthier than before I am trying to really enjoy each moment with him since I wasn’t always able to be in the present during previous months. And boy is he keeping me on my toes!

9 Months

Current Interesting Facts About Miles (note, these facts are only interesting if you are his Mommy or Grandma)

• His bottom 2 teeth have come through! This is exciting because Elly didn’t get teeth until almost 12 months, Miles is an advanced teether in our family with them showing up at 10 months.
• He crawls, fast, on his belly which is a crowd pleaser at parties. Apparently it’s not the traditional way to crawl but he seems perfectly content with it. Elly crawled the same way so it must be in the genes.
• He loves trouble: playing with doors, finding cords, pulling things out of outlets, crawling into the dishwasher while reaching for the knives, eating mulch…these are just a few of his favorite past times.
• He pulls up to standing on most things in his path and has started a little cruising. We shared a room with him over the weekend and he stood up almost immediately after being put down to sleep each night. We’re proud of him for meeting this milestone but at 2am it’s no longer cute!
• He claps and dances.  So adorable I can barely stand thinking about it right now.
• He makes all sorts of sounds and maybe attempts words like Mama, Dada, more, balloon and bottle, but really all that could be a figment of our imaginations.
• He loves water and the beach but if you turn your back he will have a mouthful of sand, and shells.
• He’s a great eater and especially loves finger foods, even making an attempt to eat some dog food.
• He continues to be big, weighing in at 23.7  pounds and his clothes are size 12-18 months.
  

  10 months, sharing Elly's 3rd b-day cake

I now relate to all those parents who post things on facebook like ‘so and so won’t stop crawling into the dishwasher’ or ‘so and so just ate dog food’. These are things Elly didn’t do. She listened to the word no from an early age and for the most part didn’t get into things she wasn’t allowed to play with. Not sure if it’s a boy thing or a second child thing or a Miles thing but we have to watch him like a hawk because he seems to be on somewhat of the adventurous side. At the same time though, I’d call him a pretty laid back baby. He doesn’t cry a lot and he certainly smiles a lot. He’s also been a good sleeper since about 7 months. But changing that boys diaper often reminds me of those videos you see of people holding an alligator’s tail with the gator spinning repeatedly. As far as the benign external hydrocephalus goes, he hasn’t had any big spikes in head growth and his development is on track so our pediatrician and pediatric neurologist are perfectly content, as are we! We love our sweet baby Miles and I seriously can’t give him enough snuggles and kisses each day!

Little Beach Trip August 24, 2011

I apologize to my huge audience for being MIA lately. A strawberry party I was planning, a little boy on the move, and being an active participant in life again (!!!!) have made blogging difficult lately. Then once I felt overwhelmed with how behind I was, I just started avoiding the blog (aside from coming on it to obsessively watch Elly’s ballet video). I will start catching you up here:

In July we decided to take a family trip for a couple nights so we chose a beach about an hour away. This trip was kind of a big deal because as Jamie pointed out once we crossed the bridge out of town, it was my first time away from Wilmington in months. Probably not the best thing to say to someone with my type of issues, but I know he meant it in an ‘I’m happy and proud of you’ way. 

I loved the beach and our little beachfront hotel. To Elly’s delight, the hotel had an indoor and outdoor pool. Two pools in one place! She about passed out from sheer joy. I think she really fell in love with the ocean on this trip too because Jamie strapped her floatie on her and took her out to swim and ‘catch’ waves. She literally tried to catch the waves with her hand. Jamie had to resist the urge to body surf each wave that went by, it was a real challenge for a body surfing champ like himself.

We ate dinner both nights picnic style on the hotel grounds with take out from local restaurants and even took advantage of the free breakfast at our hotel. In our pre kids days we never made it in time to the free breakfast and even if we were up, we’d always choose to go out someplace we’d heard was cool instead. Not these days! A make your own waffle station and a juice machine, bring it on!  

no vegan cheese to be found

Elly really wanted to check out the pier. There were a bunch of people fishing and we even saw a guy catch a fish that he showed to Elly. Quote by very southern young gentleman, “He’s fixin’ to become bait in a minute.”  Thankfully she doesn’t know what putt putt is yet so the trip to the pier was as touristy as we got.

Our short family vacay was perfect, even if we all did share a room. It showed me that I am ok outside of my little bubble. I know the more I travel the easier it will become for me, exposure therapy y’all, it works!