the best Christmas ever

 Although Miles was technically present for Christmas last year, this was his first opportunity to participate. He didn't waste any time -- he figured out right away that the plan of the day was to tear paper, as much and as fast as possible. Miles ripped into everyone's presents with little disregard for the contents, he was all about the process, and loved every minute.

Adelaide, for her part, had her best Christmas yet. This year she was old enough to understand the countdown, and we all know the anticipation is the best part. She loved the "how many days until Christmas" discussion. Correspondingly, this year she also understood that we celebrate for a reason, and she talked a lot about Jesus' birthday party, in her own way ("when I'm dead, March 2 will still be my birthday").  Most adorably, on Christmas morning, with every single present she opened, she said, "Oh, this is exactly what I've always wanted" with sheer excitement. I am certain all Christmases will not run as smoothly or be filled with as much happiness as this one, so I hope I remember this one down the line!

The day after Christmas was her first day skiing (apart from the trail-side stuff she tried last season). It was a blast. She rode the little kiddy carpet 3 times with me, then "I'll go by myself this time," and within a few hours she was ready for the chair lift. Completely fearless and thrilled to be out in the cold, she laughed at the wind blowing in her face and shrieked with delight when she got to go "really fast." Tonight she put together a puzzle with a photo of a little skier and said, "this person looks like a really good skier ... so it's probably me." I couldn't imagine a more successful first mountain experience! We can't wait until Miles can join us too!

The Cat's Meow!

Miles celebrated his first birthday last week. As wonderful as he was at this time last year, as wrinkly new baby, it's been really fun to watch him grown and learn for the last year. During Adelaide's first year, I think I changed as much as she did. This time around, Joe and I are all settled into this parenting thing, so we got to just watch in amazement as that squishy blob turned into an adorable little person.


And in that year, Miles has developed his own personality. Who knows what the next year (or 5 or 50!) will bring, but Miles at 12 months is a very sweet, gentle guy. He's a little shy, and very content. He loves to snuggle, and he's quick to smile. He approaches new things cautiously, and watches carefully. When he feels comfortable, Miles is an avid explorer and is very interested in how things work (one of his favorite games is to throw things into the bathtub, or off a table, proudly announcing “down!” then pick them up and start again, “down!”. Unlike his sister, he doesn't care much about music, but he makes lots of sounds (my favorite: ROAR!). He doesn't like loud or busy things, but he absolutely loves his sister, although he's starting to realize that he'll have to stick up for himself – when she takes something he wants, he scrinches up his nose and yells! (Fortunately for all of us, she loves him too and takes particular care of him; she's learned that she has to coax things away from him by trading for something else to get his interest. Solid life lessons at such young ages!) Oh, yes, and he loves any "tat" (cat)!


The Miler has also established that he belongs in our family: he's always happy outdoors, no matter the weather, loves splashing in the pool or bathtub, and (after a few months of uncertainty) he has now figured out that he loves to eat!  Mr. Miler, my sweet little guy, we can't wait to see what you'll learn next and who you'll become during your next 12 months.

first Halloween

Despite his grouchy face, Miles' first Halloween was a great success -- he wore his jack-o-lantern PJs and braved the rain to see a bunch of zoo animals (as well as the cherry-picker putting up lights, which was far more exciting than any animals).

Adelaide had her version of a first Halloween as well - she went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood (well, to about 10 houses) with the older neighbor girls. AND she got to try her first lolly-pop! The lolly-pop was a huge success ... that took her 2 days to finish, in 2-lick increments.

a weekend of welcoming

After a summer of diligent chicken-tending: feeding, watering, spreading hay, Farmer Ada found the first egg waiting for her when she came home from school last Thursday.  You can't imagine the delight inspired by that tiny brown egg.  Now we've gotten 4 (almost one per day), and we hope that whichever of our three silly chickens has mastered this important skill will soon teach the other 2 to keep pace! We are looking forward to a winter full of delicious scrambles.

Miles had visitors from Wisconsin and Seattle this weekend for his baptism. Miles must have somehow understood that Father Pat was someone to be trusted, because he took to him right away. Although Miles is nothing but smiles for us, he doesn't often put on a show for a stranger. During the first night of Father Pat's visit, Miles sat across the table and smiled and laughed, even offered up his toast! Perhaps he felt honored that a holy person traveled such a distance for him.

moveable alphabet

Adelaide's writing and drawing ability has sky-rocketed this past week.  Last week it was just a series of scribbles, but now she draws recognizable pictures (little people - or pumpkins - with arms, legs, faces).

More impressive, she's been using the etch-a-sketch (thank you Uncle Danny!) to practice writing words. In this photo, she's written "mom" (when she writes "m" she says: "three down, one across" which explains why they look more like cross-hatching then letters) and "ada" without any help!

 Last week Miles started at Cedar Montessori, in the "infant" room. His transition hasn't been too bad -- they say that he really likes music and he likes to snuggle. We've noticed that he takes advantage of his smallness to squeeze into little spaces -- like next to the musical instruments in our (converted) fireplace.

waves and words

This week Miles has been developing his social skills:

He can wave!  A huge-arm, full-body, glad-to-see-you, hello-wave (no goodbye wave yet). You can't help but smile at that enthusiasm :)

And he learned his second word: "up!" spoken somewhat stilted but very assertively with full Miler excitement.

in = out

Miles hit his 9 month milestone last week. We've now been independent people for as long as we shared space. And being 9 months has brought him a new level of independence. He loves to play with his sister and even entertains himself pretty well. He has recently discovered the bookshelf and loves to stand there pulling all the books down. He "reads" to himself and yells at the books when he can't get the pages to turn as expected. When he tires of his games, he calls "mamama" and chases me around, pulling at my legs and smiling up at me. Without a doubt, this little boy loves me. Between his periods of new independence, he is all the more affectionate, cuddly and loving, chases me and snuggles me. Here begins the process of separation, allowing him to grow up and do his thing and loving to hold onto him. Nine months in, and he's undoubtedly the world's cutest, most content baby. I am so excited watch him develop into an animated little boy.

there are two certainties in life ...

Grandma and Papap recently had to put down their beloved dog, J.D. (sniffle!). Adelaide has thus come to learn about death. For the past several weeks, "dying" has been her favorite topic of conversation, which I know means she's trying hard to figure it out.  Her processing has been quite hilarious recently. For instance:
- Watching a slug: "We are just like slugs." "Really?" "Yes, we and slugs are both living things, and we both will die."
- Reading The Hungry Catepillar: "He is eating so many unhealthy things." "What about the cheese?" "Cheese is protein, and protein is healthy because it makes us grow bigger, and then we can die."
- Joe gets a haircut: "Will your hair get longer again?" "Yes." "And my hair will grow?" "Yes." "Then we will get haircuts again?" "Yes." "And then we will die."
She learned so much from J.D. in life (like the meaning of gently, and why we don't steal food from dogs), I imagine he's smiling down from doggie-heaven somewhere, happy that he's taught her something at the end of his life as well.

little campers

Miles' first camping trip: he loves the camp fire and sleeping in a tent as much as the rest of us!
He must have been inspired by the tastes of nature (eating dirt and sand?) as he choose the occasion to sprout out his first two teeth!!

athletic weekend

Miles was well-represented at athletic events this weekend.
On Saturday, he proudly showed off the marathon "finisher" medal, posing with Joe and "Papop" ...

Sunday morning, he sneaked into "T1" for a quick pre-triathlon breakfast before I got into a wetsuit ...

He must have been inspired as he was practicing this favorite move all weekend ... "down-dog" yoga pose?  or is he getting ready to race off the start blocks?






Based on his now-refined crawling ability, we are guessing it won't be long until he's climbing high ... chasing sister Adelaide.

memorable trips

 Miles is becoming ever more curious and so much fun. Here he's showing off his 'sit upright' skills during his recent Boston trip (where he made lots of friends in the emergency medicine crowd by getting bounced out of a bar!)

and Ms. Adelaide (still loving her big-sister role) went on her first roller-skating adventure (who knew 3-yr-olds could skate?).

She also has her first tiny freckles appearing just beneath her eyes. I admit to being biased, but they sure are cute!!

a second opinion

Miles has been busy!  Time goes faster with the second one. (sniffle!)  He has now fully mastered his hands and loves all the great things they do (like bring things to his mouth) and don't do (like fit in his mouth).  Hands are pretty exciting.


 He has also started to eat "real" food.  (Although the food's not that real, and he doesn't really eat it.)  I think this photo captures his unfaltering regard for sweet potatoes. 


His mobility improves by the day: he rolls constantly, scoots backwards and in circles both ways, and no longer stays put when I put him down.  His kitchen counter days are now over!

And he has figured out that he has his own opinion.  Just within the last few weeks, the Miler has realized that: 1. there are things that he wants, and 2. it is frustrating to not get what you want. This strikes me as a huge and exciting development as it's his first step towards self-expression. So far, he has a wonderful little personality and smiles more than anyone I've met. For the most part, if he's awake (and doesn't have sweet potatoes in his mouth), then he's smiling. Not a bad guy to be around.

little mister mover

You can't believe it (or at least I can't): Miles moves!!  If you put him on his mat, on his belly, he turns around (a full 180-degrees) and scoots off the mat!!  Unbelievable.  He can only spin to the right, and I am not completely sure that it's intentional, but he does seem to "chase" things that he likes (i.e. me!!).  I think he is going to be a mover, for better or for worse!  Thank goodness he's so adorable!

Happy 3rd Day

Adelaide turned 3, surrounded by her best buddies, all wearing PJs and eating pancakes.  She had a wonderful time, and we learned a few things (wink!!). After the initial friend-welcoming drama, she was all smiles, and now we know (note: must prepare little girl for her friends' intrusion into her orderly world ... before it happens!)  She has only good memories of her fun-filled day, so that's what counts.  Hurray for three wonderful years!!!

February trade

After 12 very short weeks of FMLA, I am now back to work, full time.  Can't say that I love it, but we have all survived the first week without tears.  Now Joe is home for his "paternity" time: warming bottles, washing diapers, cooking dinner, and being generally awesome.  Miles and Adelaide seem perfectly content with the switch.  Myself on the other hand ... I am a little fussy-brained.  Such a transition from the immediately obvious state of being very pregnant, which invaded every interaction when I had a belly to work around, to being a new mom, which is completely invisible to all the people I see.  I want to wear a printed T-shirt: "I have a tiny baby at home" so that it's as clear as my huge belly was.  But no luck, I am now just myself again, and Miles is now fully his own person, no longer part of me and my daily activities.  Miles and I have survived another step towards independence from each other. And I fee far less ready to leave him than he seems to be ready to leave me! Unfortunately, seems that now is a little too late to decide that I want to be a stay-at-home mom, unless I can find a benefactor somewhere to handle all these loans ... any volunteers??

transitions

With the start of the new year, Adelaide moved up to "the big kid school" (aka Primary House). This is both exciting, as she has new older friends and lots to learn, as well as tragic as she no longer sees Cree (her former nanny, then teacher).

Missing Cree has been the toughest part of changing classrooms, for Ada and all of us. Fortunately, she's now a close family friend, so we haven't lost her entirely!


Miles, for his part, has achieved the first step towards mobility. This past weekend, we went on a little family trip. And the day before his 2-month birthday, Miles rolled over! (Without Adelaide's help.) Granted it was on a squishy hotel bed, but for a little guy that doesn't get much tummy time (as he gets attacked by big sister "love" whenever I put him down), I'm impressed! Watch out world, Miles is growing fast and ready to move.

Miles Smiles

For the first few weeks, we were a little worried about Miles and his apparent lack of interactiveness. Now he is making up for it. Started "social smiling" at 6 weeks, right on target! (thou I think I had an early one at 5 weeks). Now he smiles and smiles all day -- we still have to earn it, but his huge grins come with increasing frequency. Such a treat!!

Adelaide has spent the past few months being a great imitator. She carries her "Baby Audrey" everywhere we go, and treats Baby Audrey just like Baby Miles. Audrey eats from Adelaide's "nibble" (her word), and gets her diaper changed sometimes several times an hour. We were finally able to convince Ada that the doll's dirty diapers don't have to go through the real laundry. In fact, Baby Audrey has been changed so many times in the past 2 months that the cloth between her legs is wearing out! Her poor little butt is almost threadbare, and we're starting to wonder if she'll need a patch soon!