7 months old!

dear miles,
today you are 7 months old. yesterday i bought you your first pair of blue jeans to celebrate the occasion...they are super cute! but when i came home today and saw you wearing them i was super sad...they make you look so grown up! my little baby is starting to look like a little boy. i can't believe we are on the downhill march to your first birthday. i can still remember the first time i held you like it just happened yesterday.

eat
you are still nursing 4-7 times each day. you are eating stage 2 foods now, usually 1/2 jar to 1 whole jar in the mid-morning. i think i'm going to start feeding you 2 times a day now that you are 7 months old. your favorites are bananas, applesauce, and sweet potatoes. yesterday at the store i bought some mum mum rice cakes. i handed one to you and you knew exactly what to do with it! it dissolves in your mouth pretty much and it keeps you occupied in your high chair for a good 30min....at least it did until brady stole it right off your tray today and ate it...oops! you are beginning to enjoy drinking water from your cups...you have one sippy cup and one cup with a straw. you can pick them up and drink from them. it's super cute!

sleep
besides one week this month when you were on amoxicilin and you DID NOT NAP AT ALL, you are a pretty good sleeper. you sleep about 10-12hrs at night (though you wake up every 4hrs to eat still :( ) and take several naps during the day. you fall asleep pretty easily for naps if i lay you in your crib when you appear tired, but at night time you sometimes have a hard time settling down unless i give you a bath and read you a few books first. as long as we do those 2 things, you go right to sleep once i lay you down. if you are not tired when we lay you down, you roll right over to your back and chatter to yourself. you also do this when you wake up for the most part, it is so adorable! and definitely beats crying!!!

skills
1. rolling over...though we don't see you do much rolling from back to front. you usually just contort your body instead to reach whatever you are grasping for
2. drinking from a straw.
3. sitting with support. you are getting better every day. the other day you sat up with a straight back for 30seconds. but you are usually more interested in eating your toes or going after some toy.
4. grabbing EVERYTHING. you are in a stage that you want to take everything and put it in your mouth. as soon as something comes close to you, both your hands stretch out and you start trying to grab it. nothing is safe!
5. scooching. you have mastered the art of wiggling around in circles/turning yourself to reach slightly out of reach toys.
6. feed yourself a cracker.
7. babble. you are quite the talker!
8. laugh and giggle. you are the happiest baby i've ever seen. you love to laugh and give out big smiles...except when we are out in public. you then become very stoic, taking in all that is going on around you.

favorites
1. you still love baths
2. you are starting to enjoy playing with interesting "toys"...a spatula, playstation controller, wrapped granola bars...you love the crinkle!
3. you love your puppies
4. your daddy. you always have a huge smile ready whenever you see him. plus, you love to touch his beard.
5. drinking water from straws at restaurants
6. your jumper
7. sitting in the bumbo watching people
8. listening to music
9. being tickled...i love your giggles!
10. lips!!! you are very interested in lips right now. you stare at them, move your own lips...and sometimes try to grab them!

what we did
i was in basketball season so you came to school several times and met all the girls. you spent time with your daddy while i was at games and tournaments. we got to spend time with your mommom and auntie jen while your daddy was travelling for business. we celebrated thanksgiving in college station. we went christmas shopping. and most of all, we just enjoyed being with you! you are the coolest!

10 things i only do because i'm a mom

1. wake up before noon on saturdays. 7am to be precise.
2. sing the national anthem opera style in an attempt to keep a 2ft tall person entertained while he is sitting in his bouncer watching me cook dinner
3. take 30min to get ready to leave the house to run 1 errand
4. avoid places without a drivethrough - subway, chipotle, 7-11 ( i miss you slurpees!), other convenience stores, etc
5. come into contact with someone else's nasty bodily fluids...vomit, snot, poo - you name it.
6. work part-time.
7. wake up at midnite and 3am to give someone a snack...every nite for the past 7 months.
8. get annoyed at people who park in the "customer with child" reserved parking spots when, in fact, they do not have a child accompanying them
9. read the same book 5x in a row...in 5 minutes
10. sneak in and watch someone sleep because they are the most adorable little dude in the world!

sleepless in austin

i'm not sure why it happened, but yesterday miles decided he no longer needs very much sleep. my sweet boy who took 4-5 naps per day and wakes up every 3-4hrs to eat at night but is excused because he sleeps up to 12hrs at night, falling asleep right after his snacks are over...this sweet boy has hardly slept in 2 days. yesterday i came home from volunteering at church and was surprised to learn miles had been awake the entire time i was gone, but didn't think much of it...i figured he would take a really long afternoon nap. not so much. it's not that he wasn't tired- eye rubbing, yawning, laying his head down...but as soon as i put him in his crib he would flip over and have a party. i tried all afternoon to get him to nap to no avail. finally at 6pm he fell asleep until 9pm. i fed him and tried to put him back in bed as he had fallen asleep exhausted i'm sure...and he laid in his crib talking to himself (not fussing, not playing with toys - just talking) until 11pm when he finally went to sleep again until 7am (with one snack at 3.30am).

i figured he would catch up on his sleep today. again, not so much. he only slept 30min all morning for his babysitter and was still awake at 2pm!! at this point he took a whopping 30min nap. he did take a hour nap later this afternoon and has just now fallen asleep after his bath and stories around 8.30pm. he partied in his crib for about 20min and is now finally asleep for what i hope is a really really really long time. because that's what i want to do...sleep!!!!

first thanksgiving and more

oops! i have really slacked off this month in posting. a lot has happened the past 3 weeks, most notably thanksgiving. we went to my aunt & uncle's house as usual and played our backyard football game and ross and i attended the aggie game while my mom (and some helpers!) watched miles. miles was very interested to see everyone, so excited he hardly slept the whole time we were there. i was fading in and out of sleep after a 1am feeding only to realize it was 2.30am and miles was still having a party in his pack n play with his stuffed bear. he and i both took a four hour nap when we got home on friday and he continued to catch up on his sleep on saturday once we were back at our house and things were less exciting/interesting!

miles has also been struggling with a cold for the past 2 weeks which has been quite frustrating. he is currently taking antibiotics for a possible sinus infection so hopefully it will kick in during the next few days and we can all return to a happier, more restful state.

he is getting closer and closer to sitting. the other day he sat up with a straight back for 15 seconds unassisted. usually though he just folds himself in half to eat a toy or his toes, it is too funny, he is very flexible! he has much more interesting things to do than sit up. when we go out i always put him in a highchair or cart and he is happy to do so for a few minutes, but then wants to get out after about 5 min. last night we went out to dinner and after his stint in the high chair, he sat with me and was quite content to crinkle a package of crackers and drink sips of water from the end of a straw.

i will try to do a better job of keeping you updated during the upcoming weeks!

1/2 birthday - 6 months old

dear miles,
i cannot believe that my sweet little boy is 1/2 year old today. i am excited we have all made it this far. it is amazing how much you have changed in the past 6 months. you have packed on almost 12 pounds and grown 8 inches! at your 6month checkup this past wednesday you weighed 17lbs 7oz and were 27in long with a head circumference of 17.5 inches. your weight is 80th percentile (a far cry from the 3rd percentile you started in!!) and your length and head are 90th percentile...this means you are a big baby! you are also the sweetest baby i have ever known, giving out lots of smiles and rarely crying.

eat
you are still breastfeeding but this month we also started you on some solid foods! we started with rice cereal which you thought was ok, then moved to sweet potatoes which you grew to enjoy, and then bananas which have been your absolute favorite so far. next came green beans which you do not seem to care for just yet. you usually eat around 3am, 6am, and then drink a bottle while i am at work, then eat several times throughout the afternoon/evening. i usually try to give you solid foods around 7pm so we can just drop you right in the bath afterwards.

sleep
you generally go to sleep for the night sometime between 7.30-8.30pm. you are still waking up one or two times at night around midnite and/or 4am, and waking up for the day around 7-8am. i am annoyed by the time change because this used to be 8-9am, which is preferable to 7am! the doctor says you are ok for a couple more weeks but then we will need to start working on getting you to sleep through the night with no snacking. when you are ready to go to sleep we just lay you in your bed, you scrunch up and fall asleep. sometimes you talk to yourself for awhile. we play your noise machine on rainfall and sometimes turn on your boats or seahorse so you can listen to the music as you fall asleep. if you are not wanting to go to sleep just yet, you roll over to your back and giggle. if i roll you back, you just keep flipping over until i give up or you get so tired you decide it will be ok to go to sleep. you still take 1-2 morning naps and 2-3 afternoon naps as well, usually about 1hr each, with an hour play time in between.

9 things about you this month
1. you have started using your hands to grab things. you love to touch faces, especially when daddy has a beard. you also love to hold your toys, but you are so uncoordinated...sometimes you start crying out of frustration
2. you love to suck on your fingers. occasionally your thumb, but usually your middle and ring finger together are your fingers of choice. sometimes all 4 fingers make it in there. if you get upset you will usually soothe yourself by popping those 2 fingers in your mouth and looking around.
3. you looove your jumper. you go crazy jumping around in that thing.
4. you are so intrigued by your puppies and cat...anytime they are in the room walking around, your head swivels around watching them intently wherever they are going.
5. you like for me to read books to you. you enjoy looking at the pictures and listening to my voice. your favorite book right now is called "thats not my puppy" and it's a touch and feel book. whenever i pick it up your hand immediately pop up and your fingers start feeling the hairy dog on the cover. if i set the book down, you will crane your neck down to continue staring at the bright red cover.
6. you are really into squealing or screeching or some terrible noise that you have learned you can make. we are hoping this is a fad that will fade soon. sometimes you make it when you are upset but often you make it just to make it.
7. some of your favorite things are still your faves...the boat mobile and baths topping the list.
8. this month you went to a volleyball game and to gattiland with my team, watched your daddy play tennis, went to a pumpkin patch with your aunties, went hiking at turkey creek, went to college station to see family, dressed up as a ghostie for halloween, got your first cold, found a new doctor, and almost got to see pete sampras play tennis but instead got completely soaked in a rainstorm.
9. you are kind of shy. at home you laugh, giggle, smile, and tell us what is on your mind. but when we are around other people you mostly just stare intently at them with your big blue eyes and poker face.

From sweetberry 1

solid food

miles is not quite 6 months old but he seems to be very hungry, can sit and hold his head up well, and is obsessed with people eating food. seriously, if he's crying i can just start eating something and he will stop and stare. most recently, i was sitting in the recliner with miles, my laptop, and a sandwich. he was just chillaxin with me and all the sudden as i brought the sandwich up towards my mouth, two tiny hands reached up and grabbed the sandwich and tried to bring it towards a tiny mouth!

considering all this plus the rumor that solid food can help babies with reflux to sleep longer periods of time, i was anxious to let miles try out some solid food. on monday oct 26 when ross got home from work we decided to let miles try out some rice cereal. he seemed fairly interested and very willing to open his mouth and swallow. on tuesday he also seemed interested. on wednesday he got a cold and so i held off giving him any. on thursday i gave him room temperature rice cereal and he totally freaked out! he absolutely hated it and would not eat it or even close his mouth. i haven't given him any since because of his cold, i felt like he had enough going on his body that i didn't want him to have to worry about the cereal. now he's starting to feel better though and i have my eye on the sweet potatoes i bought for him! i will be sure to warm them up though.

here is how miles felt for the first bites of rice cereal....



and here is how miles feels about room temperature rice cereal!!

a very aunt-y weekend

aunt bekkie had planned to come visit us this weekend and at the last minute auntie jen decided to tag along and we had ourselves one super fun weekend! the girls arrived friday evening and we went to the neighborhood park. bekah and i went for a short run while jen walked with miles and then let him swing for a little bit. we came home and enjoyed some chili i had made before hanging out for the rest of the evening.

saturday morning we were up and at them early because we had an adventure to sweetberry farms in marble falls. the weather was awesome and we took pictures with the pumpkins before tackling the texas maze.






we almost gave up several times but eventually found all the signs for the 11 texas lakes that were featured this year.

miles slept the whole time in his stroller!

we earned a free drink at the end for completing the maze.

we took the tractor/hay ride back over to the other side of the farm and were shocked to see how many people had appeared while we were in the maze. we definitely beat the crowd and were happy about that! we stopped at chili's in marble falls for lunch before heading back home. after church, we made dinner and played a fascinating game of uno. :)

sunday morning we were up early again, this time for a trip to turkey creek...a nature trail we had gone to last weekend where the dogs can be off their leashes. the aunties watched miles while i volunteered at church and then they went back to school right after lunch.

we had a blast this weekend and miles enjoyed cuddling with his aunties. we are so glad they came to visit!

we have a jumper!

miles has grown to love his jumper. when we first got it, he would sit around in it and occasionally bounce some. now, he has quite the party! see for yourself...the video is pretty cute!

swinging at the park

friday afternoon the weather was beautiful so i took miles to one of our neighborhood parks. i wanted to see if he was big enough to swing! this is what he did when i first put him in ...


but then i fixed him and he sat there for about 12 minutes.
i couldn't tell if he liked it or not. the sun was really bright so he kept his eyes closed mostly. but if i stopped the swing he would fuss until i pushed the swing again, so i think he found it interesting at least. can't wait to try again!

tickle me miles

ticklish! this always makes me laugh, and it wears him out. right after i took this video, i laid him in his crib and he took a long nap. :)

5 months old!

dear miles,
today you are 5 months old. it is unreal how fast you are growing up; yet i also can barely remember what my life was like before you showed up! i can't believe how much i have grown to love someone who has only been around for 5 months. :) you are absolutely adorable and here is what you have been up to the past few weeks.

eat
you are still drinking breastmilk, though we did buy a highchair, rice cereal, and spoons in hopes of starting you on food after your appointment with the GI doctor. you are very interested in our food! you will stopy crying just to stare at anyone eating something, or pretending to eat something for that matter. you also do an awesome job of chewing up and swallowing your medicine in solutab form so i know you will do great once we get started. that is if you like how it tastes! you have been refusing to drink formula. you drink your 4oz bottle each morning no problem, but if we put formula in that bottle you know right away and start screaming! mr. picky.

i think you are still eating about 7-8 times every 24hours. you eat 2x at night, 1x in the morning (from a bottle), and 4 or 5 times throughought the afternoon/evening. you are easily distracted. i used to catch up on my phone calls while you were eating, but now if i say one word you stop eating and stare at me.

sleep
you still sleep quite a lot! i think you get this from me. you often have difficulty falling asleep. this i think you get from your dad! i try to give you a bath, a massage, and a snack starting around 8ish pm and this sets you up with bedtime around 9-9.30pm. you have been waking up fairly consistently for a snack at 1am and 5am but go right back to sleep while/after eating. you wake up for the day usually around 8 or 9am (of course last nite you didn't do this...you slept from 9pm-7.30am only waking up at 2.30am so we might be headed towards a new schedule soon). you generally take one nap in the morning, though sometimes you are a sleepyhead and sleep the majority of the morning. you almost always begin a nap at 1pm. most afternoons you sleep for an hour and then play for an hour and repeat until bedtime. though sometimes you sleep for several hours during your 1pm nap, which is nice for both of us.

you take your naps and sleep in your crib on your tummy. sometimes you fall asleep while i'm rocking you but we usually try to lay you in your crib. you protest some but usually can put yourself to sleep within 5-10minutes. if you are having a particular difficult time falling asleep we will offer your pacifer and turn on your musical seahorse.

what we did

we got into a pretty steady routine this month since i'm at work and coaching volleyball. you have met the 7th and 8th grade girl athletes that i work with and they absolutely adored you. you stared at them. your auntie jen and mommom both came for 24hr visits to help take care of you. you went to small group and the nursery at church. you and i made a quick overnite trip to college station to see my family when they were there for a football game. we went shopping and on some walks. you spent most mornings with your babysitter and enjoyed hanging out with me in the afternoons, and cuddling with your dad and me on the weekends.

skills
you are rapidly adding skills to your repertoire. it's fun to see you interact with us more.

1. smile! you have the cutest smiles and you are very generous with them.
2. laugh. you laugh a lot and it always makes me laugh. you are very ticklish and i can usually get you belly laughing pretty good, almost to tears with a good tickle. if my hair brushes across your face, you find this to be quite hilarious as well.
3. observe what's going on around you. you still love your sailboat mobile. you listen to conversations, turning and staring at whoever is talking. you are fascinated by your puppies and cat.
4. roll over. you roll from tummy to back frequently and occasionally from back to front.
5. throw a tantrum. this threw me by surprise the first time it happened but somehow you have learned to scream. it's a very angry, almost scary sounding shriek that you give when you are NOT pleased. its almost funny that you are capable of being so ticked off.
6. listen to books. you just now, as in the last day or 2, are interested in books. i have loved reading to you so far and look forward to reading many more books with you.
7. watch tv. you are very interested in tv and i enjoy cuddling with you on the weekends, letting you climb on me and watching football together.
8. kick in the bath. you still are a HUGE fan of baths. i think bath time is your favorite time of day.
9. put toys in your mouth. you still don't use your hands a whole lot, but you will occasionally grab a toy and try to put it in your mouth. you are not very coordinated just yet and that makes you frustrated. your favorite toy right now is an orange teething star. your butterfly rattle is a close second.
10. jump! you are starting to jump more in your jumper. we put the batteries in so it plays music and lights up. you seem to really enjoy this, more and more each day as you grow.
11. sit while propped up. you are showing more interest in sitting up these days. you are not too coordinated at doing so by yourself, but love sitting with assistance.
12. give kisses! this is my absolute favorite! if we give you several kisses on the cheek with loud muuwaaa's then you will often open your mouth and plant a very slobbery kiss on our cheek and smile. love it! and love you! i love being your mom more than i ever imagined i would and can't wait to see what's in store for us this month.

a day in the life of baby miles

today baby miles and i have the entire day to spend with each other, and there is nothing we HAVE to do. so we are going to hang out and enjoy each other and also try to get a lot of things done around the house...we will see how it goes! i thought you might enjoy seeing what a day in miles' life is like right now at about 4 1/2 months. i am updating this post in real time as i go thru the day. some of the pictures are videos, so be sure to click on them!

last nite miles fell asleep in my arms around 9pm while we were all watching the office after i got home from coaching. i put him in his crib and came to feed him at 1am and 5am. he fell right back asleep so i put him in his crib each time and then we both slept until a glorious 9.30am. he does this frequently but i usely head out after the 5am feeding so i miss out on this wonderful event. i think it must be genetic. and so our day begins.

9.30am- miles has produced more than his diaper can handle since 5am. i take off his clothes and clean him up. he is happpy to see me.

9.32am - miles eats a leisurely breakfast while grinning and talking to me.

9.45am - miles plays on his blanket with some toys while i eat breakfast.


9.55am - miles suddenly becomes very upset. i pick him up and he had a huge burp. he is kind of fussy so we sit in the rocking chair and play
and talk a little

10.15am - miles is working on a dirty diaper.

10.18am - i decide now would be a great time to give miles the bath he missed last nite.

10.35am - i dry miles off and get him dressed. he talks to me the entire time

10.37am - miles really wants a snack. everyone knows swimming makes you hungry so i let him have one. he is getting sleepy; his eyes are closed while he is eating

10.45am - miles is very sleepy. i rock him for a few minutes. he smells so good! i love the baby smell.

10.55am - i put miles in his crib, even though i just want to sit and hold him

10.56am - i feed the dogs breakfast, then fold and put away 2 loads of laundry, put in more laundry, pick up the den, vacuum the floor and couch, dust and clean the coffee tables

12.19pm - i hear miles talking so i know he's awake. he is on his side and then rolls to his back.

12.24pm - miles eats his lunch while i browse the internet

12.27pm - miles was more interested in me than his lunch so i change his diaper instead.

12.32pm - miles plays in his jumper while i heat up some lunch for me

12.44pm - miles has tummy time on his blanket while i'm eating lunch

12.50pm - miles gets upset so tummy time ends. he is very interested in finishing his lunch

12.55pm - miles is fussy. i rock him and sing to him.

1.05pm - miles is very still so i lay him in his crib to fall asleep

1.10pm - miles is having trouble falling asleep so i turn on his musical seahorse and give him his pacifier

1.24pm - turns out miles wasn't sleepy, just gassy. once he worked that out, he rolled to his back and is laying in his crib happily talking to himself.


1.29pm - i turn on his sailboat mobile in his crib and he is moving his head around in a circle watching the boats. he loves his boats!

1.34pm - miles and i go into my room for a change of scenery. we hang out on the bed so he can climb on me and watch the fan.


1.51pm - miles is fussy so i offer him a snack

1.53pm - i change miles' 3rd poopy diaper of the day


1.56pm - miles practices sitting up

2.04pm - miles is fussy which generally means sleepy so i take him to his room and put him in his crib.


2.05pm - miles is not pleased. i give him his pacifier and turn on the musical seahorse. i wonder if he's teething because he is chewing vigorously on his pacifier rather than sucking on it. i pat his back for a few minutes until he is calm enough to fall asleep.

2.10pm - miles is asleep. i decide to hang up the load of laundry and throw another load in

2.45pm - i hear noises on the baby monitor. miles is awake, has rolled onto his back and is talking to himself in his crib.


2.55pm - miles and i head to the heb. i decide to just carry him. he was no problem, just snuggled the whole time. turns out i underestimated the difficulty of pushing the cart with one hand. won't be doing that again.

3.37pm- miles watches his sailboat mobile while i unload groceries

3.39pm - miles watches me put away groceries in the kitchen while sitting in his bouncy chair

3.50pm - miles and i both have a quick snack in his nursery

3.55pm - miles and i sit in the rocking chair and i make him laugh by making faces and funny noises

4.00pm - miles plays in his jumper


4.08pm - miles gets tired of the jumper so we go to the den and he plays on his floor mat

4.15pm - miles is fussy so we go to his room to change his diaper

4.20pm - miles is still not happy so i rock him and sing to him.

4.30pm - miles is asleep so i lay him in his crib. i spend a few minutes reading my Bible and a few pages in a book about infant sleep. then i hang up the clothes that were in the dryer.

5.02pm - miles is crying but his eyes are still closed. i give him his pacifier and pat his back. again he is chewing it and still crying. i try rocking him but he still seems upset

5.08pm - miles eats some dinner. this seemes to be exactly what he wanted

5.15pm - miles is finished eating but seems uncomfortable. so we just snuggle in the rocking chair for a few minutes

5.25pm - miles perks up a bit so he plays on his floormat in the den while i put away clothes and put a load of baby laundry in the washer before i play with miles for awhile

5.45pm - miles sits in his bouncy seat in the kitchen while i put dinner in the oven, clean the dining and breakfast tables and take out the kitchen trash. ross called and chatted for a few minutes. i had forgotten he was going to a movie tonite with some friends from work, so it's just miles and me for the evening as well.

6.12pm - miles has had about as much of his bouncy seat as he can handle. i've been keeping him entertained by talking to him, making loud noises, and singing. but enough is enough. we go to his nursery to hang out for awhile.

6.18pm - miles plays in his crib while i feed the dogs and check on dinner

6.25pm - miles and i hang out in my room. i eat dinner and we watch tv and the fan and play.


6.58pm - miles and i go for a walk. the weather is pleasant but mosquitos are out in force and miles is not really in the mood so we stick with a short stroll through the neighborhood including a stop at the mailbox.

7.17pm - i change miles' diaper and give him his medicine

7.22pm - miles wants to eat. he seems sleepy. he has his eyes closed while eating

7.28pm - miles is finished eating and has fallen asleep

7.33pm - i put miles in his crib. it's possible he's down for the nite, but i'm not making too many plans. sometimes when he goes to bed kind of early like this he will wake up again around 8pm before going to bed for real around 9 or 10pm. i decide to pay the bills and eat some ice cream

8.10pm - miles is awake and not happy. when i pick him up, he burps. i'm going to see if he will sit with me while i finish paying bills.

8.24pm - finished! we play together on the couch...miles is fussy so i cuddle him and sing to him

8.38pm - miles seems sleepy but is very uncomfortable. he is squirming around and kicking his legs so i put him in his crib to try to fall asleep.

8.42pm - miles in not comfy. he has his eyes closed but is screaming and kicking around everywhere. i give him his pacifier and this soothes him so he is able to fall asleep in his crib.

and there ya have it. a full 24hr cycle of baby miles' life. a pretty typical day for him except normally he spends the mornings with his babysitter and i generally will join him for one of his afternoon naps. 6 diaper changes (3 poopy!), lots of eating (more times than his normal...he wasn't eating well today so i was trying to give him lots of opportunities...i was wondering if the short eating spells and fussiness are possibly teething related) and lots of playing.

now it is "me" time. i will probably take care of the last load of laundry and then download pictures off the camera while i wait for ross to get home.

i was so glad to spend a full day with my little man and hope you feel like you did too! :)

miles playing with his toys

miles' babysitter is home sick for the next couple days, so i am staying home with him. this is what we did this morning :) (sorry for my loud breathing!)

i've got a feelin...

the latest thing i've noticed miles doing is being very interested in feeling things with his fingers. if he's sitting in his car seat, he will move each finger up and down, feeling his car seat harness. when he is laying down trying to fall asleep he will kind of scrape the sheets with his fingers. and he loves to feel the different textures of the shirt of whoever is holding him. so cute!

he rolled from back to front again today 2x, with his auntie jen as an eyewitness. she was here to watch him all day yesterday while i was at a meeting/volleyball game and then she also watched him this morning while i was at work. i think they were cuddle buddies in the rainy cool weather. the three of us went to lunch today before she left town and all the ladies there were going crazy over how cute he was. he seemed super happy all day yesterday which means his auntie jen must have done a great job!

4 month well-check-up

miles went to his 4month well-check on friday with dr. g. he was at his new clinic and it was quite terrible...we were there for 2hrs before we got to see the doctor! but the good news is miles is doing awesome. he weighed 14lbs 14oz. he was 25 in long. and his head circumference was 16.5 inches. the doctor thought everything looked good...miles laughed and laughed while he looked in his mouth, put the stethoscope on his chest, and felt his tummy. miles put on quite the giggle and wiggle show. the doctor says miles should start reaching for and grabbing toys anytime now and that we should give him plenty of opportunities to do this. he gave us a referral to a GI doctor to look into the continuing reflux issues.

miles is starting to pay more attention to what's going on around him. he acts very interested in conversations and will generally turn to look at whoever is talking. sometimes he gets upset if i leave the room and then gets excited and happy as soon as i return.

on saturday i had a volleyball tournament so miles and ross hung out for their longest stretch yet...from 7.30am until 5.30pm!! miles slept in until after 10am and then ross was able to bring him to see me so i could feed him a couple times during the day. other than that, they just hung out and ross even managed to do some housework for me at the same time! also ross left miles on his back watching his mobile, and returned to find him on his tummy sleeping. this is the first time he rolled from back to front. he has yet to repeat this but i'm sure we'll catch him in the act any day now. i have another volleyball tournament this weekend so i hope it goes just as well.

after my tournament, miles and i made a quick overnite trip to college station. he was passed around many loving relatives and had 2 small cousins who just loved to play with him! miles was so tired when we came back sunday nite from all that attention! he and i took a nap together from 6-8pm, then he had a quick snack and then slept until i woke him at 5am monday morning!

it's been 132 days but as of today i have officially lost all the baby weight! now i am off to work on my own weight! actually, i was eating a piece of pie and now miles just woke up...but it's the thought of the gym that counts, right?

4 months old :)

dear baby miles,
it's true what they say...time flies when you are having fun! and we are certainly having fun together, this is a very fun age for you to be. you can follow us with your eyes and seem interested in what we are saying. you also smile ALL the time and laugh and laugh while watching the fan and kicking your legs.

i'm not sure exactly how much you weigh...your 4month doctor appt is on friday so i'll be sure to give an update on height and weight. a couple weeks ago you were 14lbs so i'm sure you're still packing on the pounds!

this month has brought some changes...i went back to teaching part time and so you spend the mornings with your babysitter here at the house. i think things are going well for everyone. but i absolutely love coming home to hang out with you in the afternoons...i wouldn't trade it for the world!

eat & sleep
ahh finally we are in a groove as far as your eating goes. it's just now not uncomfortable for me and some other issues have worked themselves out, and i'm glad we've stuck with it! you are too. you get up with me around 5am to eat an early breakfast, then you have a bottle from your dad or the babysitter, and then generally wait to eat again until i'm home around noon. other than that you eat every 3-4 hours now. unfortunately your spit up issues remain.

you go to sleep sometime between 7-9pm, occasionally sleeping all the way until 5am, but usually needing a snack somewhere in there. you are pretty good about sleeping in until 8 or 9am, and usually take 3-4 naps throughout the day. such a sleepyhead!

skills
1. rolling from tummy to back! you are doing this allll the time now! you wake up and roll right over. or roll right over and wake up. it's still exciting for us to see.
2. suck on your fists. you traded in the thumb in favor of sucking on BOTH fists. you do this alot, it is too funny!
3. blow spit bubbles. you drool everywhere. and you make bubbles with it. such a boy!
4. the army scoot/crawl. one nite when we were visiting your grandpa in corpus we woke up to you banging your head against the wall. we couldn't believe it, but you are becoming mobile. if i set you in one end of the crib, you can quite quickly make your way to the other end...booty up in the air wiggling around to help you out. too funny! i can't believe you will be crawling around everywhere soon.
5. kick your toys. you are beginning to enjoy your jumper and your floor mat quite a bit. but rather than hit the toys with your hand, your curl your body all the way up into a little ball and kick the toys vigorously over and over.
6. water aerobics. you love your bath and can splash water all the way out of your tub and the main tub onto me! you go crazy! anytime you are fussy in the evening, i stick you right in the bath and you are happy as can be.
7. watch tv. that's right, it has begun. you enjoy watching tv. this month you watched a lot of tennis with your daddy. this past weekend it was rainy and you and i laid around and watched lots of football.
8. coo and babble. you are talking more and more! it makes me laugh.
9. laugh. i heart the way you laugh. you make yourself laugh. you laugh at me. you laugh at your puppies and the fan. it makes me so happy to see you so happy.

adventures this month
this month you stayed with your babysitter in the mornings, hung out with your daddy, made a road trip to corpus christi to see your grandpa, hung out with your mom mom and nana, went to home depot, saw the ocean for the first time, shopped at academy, watched the rain, and loved living life! and we loved living it with you. can't wait to see what's in store next month.

bath time....or water aerobics, not sure!

this is actually also a pretty good visual of what it felt like to be pregnant with miles.

1st week of school

school is in session
well school has officially been in session for 1 week now. last monday was our final teach prep day. ross stayed home with miles in the morning and then i came home and picked miles up and took him to work with me. it was so fun! he just hung out in his sling while i took care of a few things...it made me want to take him every day! tuesday morning was the first day of school. ross stayed home with miles until i got home around 11.30am. that night was miles' first time to stay with someone who was not a member of our family! i had an athletic parents meeting so our friends dave and julie came over and did us a huge favor by hanging out with miles until ross could make it home from work.

miles' schedule
on wednesday morning, miles had his first day with his babysitter! so far everything is going pretty well. here's how things have been working so far:

miles gets a bath (unless he falls asleep too early) and goes to bed sometime between 6-9pm.

between 10.30-11pm i wake miles up and feed him and give him his medicine right before i go to bed. he sometimes stays up for 30min or so before going back to sleep and other times he just pretty much stays asleep. then i put him in his bed...in his very own crib in his very own room! i turn on his lamp or night light and he falls asleep.

he wakes up sometime between 4-5am. if he's not awake by 5am i go ahead and wake him up so i can feed him before i go in to work. after i feed him, he and i play and hang out together. this is one of my favorite times of the day even though i am so sleepy! he is super happy in the mornings though and i love getting to see his smiles. at 6am i put him in his crib and he goes back to sleep.

i leave for work at 6.30am and ross takes over. so far miles has been great and is sleeping at least until 8am when our babysitter arrives...i was hoping things would work out this way! so far, so good. ross heads to work when the babysitter arrives at 8am.

side note: i never knew so many things could happen before 8am. just saying.

miles is still settling into a schedule with his babysitter. he wakes up anytime from 8 to 10. he eats one bottle while i'm gone and usually takes 1-2 naps. he is always ready to wake up and eat when i get home around 11.30-11.45am!

after he eats lunch, he usually wants to take a 1-2 hr nap in the afternoon. then he will wake up and play for awhile before taking another nap. then he's awake for a bit, then we start it all over again!

how things are going
its really hard for me to leave in the mornings, but i could not be happier with our babysitter setup. miles gets one on one attention at our house and i only am gone for about 5 hrs, and it will be even less once volleyball and basketball seasons are over in february. i am still adjusting to getting up early and figuring out how to manage my time in the afternoons and evenings, but i know i will settle in soon enough. miles seems to be handling everything ok, though a few days he has been slightly cranky and he is always quite happy to see me when i return.

rough weekend
on friday miles didn't seem to be feeling well at all. he'd been spitting up even more than usual and he was just not quite right. i will spare you all the symptoms/details. we tried to get him in to our doctor who moved his private practice to a clinic, but we're told he was booked for 2wks and that since miles had been sleeping so much (he was sleeping insane amounts!) we should just take him to the ER at dell childrens hospital. so miles and i spent friday from 2pm-8pm and then were told to go back for a re-check on sunday and were there from 8am-2pm. basically they did a lot of testing and decided he might have had a cold and stomach bug or he might have just been suffering from more severe reflux. they ruled out a LOT of things that miles did NOT have, which was all good news, but certainly this made for a very long weekend. after a super cranky day yesterday, he seems to be back to more of his normal self.


sleep!
i couldn't be as happy as i wanted to about it since i was concerned he wasn't feeling good, BUT miles is starting to sleep in his crib and for longer periods of time. i'm about ready to take down the pack n play that is set up in our room because he is sleeping so well. on thursday night he slept from 8pm-5am without waking up at all. his new record was set on saturday night when he slept from 9.30pm-7.11am in his crib. i nearly had a heart attack when i woke up and realized what time it was! i went (read: Ran!) into his room and he was just hanging out in there sucking on his fist. in fact a lot of the times when he wakes up from naps instead of crying he just lays in there and plays. when he gets bored he starts yelling out to me until i go get him. as long as i don't delay too long, he doesn't even start crying! i love sleep! and i love this kid! can't get over him :)

btw, he weighed 14lbs at the hospital this weekend!

caught in the act!

yesterday morning i finally caught miles rolling over on video! enjoy...

100 days!

miles is 100 days old today, so happy 100th day of life mr. miles! i have enjoyed each of the past 100 days because i have spent every single one of them with my precious little man. i can't believe how much he has grown! he used to have skinny legs and now they are quite chunky!

then:


now:

more inservice

my mom returned on sunday afternoon to help us with my 2nd week of inservice. and following right behind her...nana! these two fabulous ladies pampered miles while ross and i were at work. i was still able to take extended lunches each day so i could come home and feed miles and also eat lunch out with my friends on a couple of the days. we made it all week with zero bottles of formula! this was a very trying and tiring week and i'm so glad we had such awesome babysitters!

we got to celebrate my mom's birthday at pappadeaux...miles slept the whole time! we also watched movies and went shopping and played games and a lot of just hanging out. miles got a jumper! he's a bit too short for it so we let him jump on top of some computer programming books. he was fascinated by it while ross was putting it together and seems to enjoy it so far. i think he will absolutely love it as he grows a bit older. he's quite the jumper/kicker/wiggler!




bekah came and took over on friday, a definite lifesaver! lucky for her she got to take part in a photo shoot...we went with a photographer friend to a nearby greenbelt and he took pictures of miles. can't wait til they are processed!! also am so glad that next week i start my part time schedule.

3 months old :)

dear miles,
today you are 3 months old! you are growing up so fast already, it's hard to believe!

eat
you still love to eat. i'm not exactly sure how much you weigh but one week ago you were 24inches long and 12lb 2 oz. you are starting to go longer stretches without eating. you last 2-4 hours during the day. i started back to work this week so you've been drinking more bottles that i pumped for you. you are fine if its just one or two bottles, but on the third bottle feeding in a row you become quite cranky! we survived this week with only 2 formula bottles, so i think that's not too shabby. you still spit up allll the time and in large volumes. however, your prevacid prescription helps you not be as uncomfortable, which is nice for everyone involved.

sleep

within the past 2 weeks you have started sleeping a 5-6hr stretch at night. once, you slept 7hrs! on most nights you are only waking up once while i am still sleeping, and i can certainly handle that! you still sleep on your tummy and you still do a good job of putting yourself to sleep. you have decided you like to suck your thumb/fist rather than the pacifier now that you are more coordinated to do that. sometimes if you are really tired we use the pacifier because you get frustrated when you can't find your hands. you still take several naps in your crib during the day between every feeding. at night you've been sleeping in your pack n play in our room mostly so i can keep an eye on you! i guess i should move you to your room soon...

skills
you are building up quite the repertoire of skills! you can:
1. roll from your tummy to your back
2. turn towards sounds
3. track people and objects with your eyes
4. smile
5. coo and chuckle
6. hold your head up
7. suck your thumb


things you love
1. bath time. you love to kick and splash. and just chill in the warm water.
2. diaper changing time. you love to watch your sailboat mobile and smile at whoever is changing your diaper
3. sitting up/standing. you like to practice sitting and standing when someone is holding you
4. the morning! weird, i know. when you wake up in the morning, i feed you and then you lay on your back and look at the fan, kick, coo, laugh, and otherwise entertain yourself until you get sleepy again. i then just turn you over onto your tummy, you suck your thumb and then fall back to sleep for a few hours! it is so cute and one of my absolute favorite times of day because you are so smiley!

things you did
we had a very busy/eventful 3rd month of your life! the month started off with a trip to the hospital ER and a quick visit from your grandpa. after a few weeks on your medicine, you became a much happier boy again and we were all so glad for you. your daddy was traveling for work near the end of the month so we got to take a trip up to big papi's and grandma's house. while we were there we took a quick road trip so you could meet your aunt bree (and her dad! hiii val!!) who was here from london. after that we took your first airplane ride up to portland, oregon to visit friends for a few days. when we came back i had to start back to work, but your grandma and 3 of your aunts all came to take care of you and you had an absolute blast with them. phew! that's quite a month for such a little guy!

you are the sweetest little baby. most of the time you are awake you are handing out tons of smiles to whoever is looking. i love holding you and "talking" with you. when you sleep your long stretch at night i sometimes miss you and i'm so glad when you wake up so i can hold and cuddle you! i can't wait to see all the things you are going to do this month!