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.