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!)