escape!

There's no stopping him now! Not only are diaper changes more exciting, so are any times when we need him to stay in one spot. After his bath last night he was so much more interested in his toys than in getting ready to sleep. 

  

Changes in... longitude

Home again... we're slowly recovering from the 7 hour drive home. Miles did fairly well in the car, although I did have to jump in the backseat with him as we wound through the mountains. I'm sure he was just sad to be leaving the beach. The doggies even did well, crammed in the way-back with some of our stuff. We piled our comforter and pillows back there and covered them with a sheet. They had their own feather bed! They relaxed the whole way, and Chelsea yelled at any bikers or trailers of horses we passed. Wayne & I passed the time reading DaVinci Code. Well. I read it to him. We're about halfway through, so might finish before going to see it next week.

A car full of dogs, baby, and baby gear leaves little room for much else. So we traveled Griswold-style! Our friend Hugh joined us for a couple of nights so the boys could golf.
We spent the week playing scrabble & dominos, reading, napping and taking long walks on the beach. Did that sound like a personal ad? Ha! Our favorite "discovery" was Kudzu Bakery. They did make a fine apple crumb cake. But the best purchases were their frozen entrees. Basically a gourmet entree already prepared and frozen, all we had to do was bake. We enjoyed their Chicken Florentine and Crab stuffed Flounder. There was so much to choose from, I wished we'd gone earlier in the week!

So nice to recharge, but hate the return and playing catch-up. There are plenty of pictures. You can see more photos here.

Oh, Miles updates... he's crawling like a champ. He sees something and goes to get it - especially mommy. I used to be able to run something to the kitchen while he played in the den, but now I return and he's halfway to me. Serious child-proofing is in order. He's also babbling some great stuff now. Lots of mamamama and dadadadada. If we can be so bold, he has a few word already. Apollo is "Oh" and the ceiling fan is "Ah". Okay, I'm stretching a bit, but he does consistently make those sounds for those things. The most exciting is the complete gymnastic event that diaper changing has become. Let's just say it's a little harder to keep poop off of me now!!

MIA

So sorry for the long absence. We've just returned from our first FAMILY vacation! We spent a week at Pawley's Island.... mom, dad, Miles and Chelsea & Apollo. Here's a teaser, there will definitely be more soon. Must do laundry, eat and catch up on some Must See TV!!

Can't fight the moonlight

oooweeee, did we have a big weekend. It might take a while, but let me tell you about all the cool new things in Miles's world. We went to visit his cousins Evan & Kate Thursday since daddy had to be out of town for the weekend. I knew he was close to crawling, but when he saw the very mobile cousins, he was raring to go. He hasn't done an across the floor crawl yet, but he's made it a few feet in the normal crawl style. He's also very good at moving backwards and rolling to where he wants to be. So in combinations of roll, scootch and stretch he was a very big boy while playing with them.

We expanded his palate tremendously. He was not content to eat pureed peas while watching those two dine on quiche and pancakes. He didn't get the quiche, but he did enjoy pancakes, lima, green and white beans, carrots, goldfish, graham crackers, banana pieces. But the best "dining" experience happened when Kate fed Miles with her empty bowl & spoon. She stirred the bowl then held the spoon to his mouth and said "AH". And he opened wide! Then she said "Mmmmmm" and did it again! Elizabeth and I were laughing, we barely caught it on film.

Saturday we enjoyed watching Evan's soccer game. I asked Evan what position he played & Coach/Uncle Shay laughed. When the game started I understood. It was a squealing herd of kids chasing the ball. We heard the strategy from the pregame huddle loud and clear: THAT WAY! Mary Grace was the star, scoring about 6 goals. Of course that's not hard when the goalie, faced with said herd, decides he'd rather go talk with his mom.

So we're back home now, tired all around. Early to bed... one down, two to go.


P.S. We saw LeAnn Rimes! She was in her convertible (black mercedes?) leaving her house on Hillsboro Rd.

Raindrops keep fallin'...

I'm so glad we had a few showers today because I planted some seeds along the front yesterday. I picked these because the packet said "super-easy to grow" and "thrives in poor soil"... the perfect plant for me. I've got a few more packets of other flowers but haven't decided where to put those yet. It would help to get rid of the weeds first!! Miles napped through 2 showers but the 3rd came during his cranky late evening mode. It was the perfect distraction until bathtime.

Miles, daddy and I had lunch with Chrissy today. We went to one of our favorite places. Miles tries to grab everything off our plates, but with all the peanuts it will be a few months before he gets a taste. It was fun to catch up on all the craziness I'm missing.

Officially TEETH

Yes, the tooth is now plural as number 2 made its debut on Friday. So now both bottoms are barely peeking above the gums. It will be awhile before we can get any photographic proof, I'm afraid.

So we were back at the mall yesterday since it was rainy all day. I was just cruisin' along, admiring the mother's day ideas and dreaming of all the new stuff I'll need after I wean, when Miles yelled "AH!". Mommy had almost cruised right past the "duck" fountain! This kid knows what he likes. So we wheeled back around to sit and watch the fountains. A lady with some frozen yogurt sat on the wall near us. Miles started telling her that he was fully capable of eating from a spoon and that she should share whatever she had with him. Ha!



Ya Ya was in for the afternoon Wednesday and got to enjoy some Miles time outside. Raven reminded me how fun bubbles are so we let loose with the bubble gun. The first time I tried to use it with Miles he was sitting next to me and he did NOT like the noise. Then we tried it when daddy was holding him. He decided he definitely likes bubbles.





Happy birthday to Poppa! Monday is also Miles's 8 month birthday. He'll be celebrating with B-A-N-A-N-A-S in his jumper, although he does that every night. We really need to video this as he can now do a lutz in this thing. Click on the photo to enlarge and see the banana dripping down his chest. Messy and lovin'it!

THREE HOUR NAP!

Yes, you read that right. He took a three hour nap this morning. It almost threw off our lunch date with daddy. But it did give me time to do this layout for his baby book. Wish I'd started this earlier! I'm having to do the early months from memory. But never fear, there are plenty of photos to remind me what was happening then.

Thank goodness we got some new toys this weekend. The old ones just weren't as entertaining anymore. So we put those aside and will re-introduce them in a few weeks. But for now, it's oink-oink, baa, moo all day long! He has some favorite books so I followed the theme with the farm.


Okay, yes the farm is cool, but check out that curl on Miles's head!!

Finally, I do have some proof of his looming mobility. When we go get him after he's been sleeping, he's usually on his hands and knees. Today he was pushing up while playing. Won't be long now... oh no!!

what a pain in the....

Another string of gorgeous days here in the south. We're loving the park near our house and Miles enjoys chillin' out in the swing. Wednesday we had to walk by 3 times before the crowd left and we could get on. Too bad there's only one baby swing in this park.
While the days are sunny, the nights have been, well, less than ideal. But I'm not talking about the weather! No Miles has started his midnight antics again. Sometimes it's 10 minutes, sometimes an hour, but he's up and at-em'. Last night he was up multiple times. Between that and Chelsea needing to go O-U-T in the middle of the night, we didn't get much sleep. Exhaustion and driving don't mix well, so we backed out of our Easter visit to Wayne's family. Very sad, because Miles really enjoys playing with his cousins. Hopefully we can still get over there soon.

We're thinking the drama is because....da.da.dum.... Miles cut his first tooth! It's his lower left and it's just barely peeking above the gum. We tried to take a picture, unsuccessfully as you can see here. Maybe when it comes in a little more!

Here comes Peter Cottontail...

tech savvy

Miles was sitting in my lap on the sofa when he glanced to the side table. His eyes got wide and he said "Oh!" then "Ah!" "Oh! Ah! Oh! Ah!"... it was as if he'd discovered his very own toy store... and he had. He's decided that his very favorite toys are the many remotes, phones, cameras, keys etc, that he notices on tables, desks and counters around the house. We tried giving him his own phone, but we quickly figured out why the age range says 18 months. The massive volume of teething drool has shorted the sound card so everything it says sounds like the Chipmunks! We also passed on a remote from an old stereo, but I still think he knows it isn't "real."

Since Miles thought the weekend meant you get up earlier, we brought him into bed for his morning feeding. When the TV came on (our alarm clock) we left it on low and Wayne put the remote on his pillow. Miles grabbed it and started playing with it. He flipped over to the VCR, changed the color contrast, muted it then turned up the volume. Then he hit #6-#0. Yes, he changed the channel to his favorie show, Higglytown Heroes. Okay, it's the only show he knows. It's what he watches from the exersaucer at 7:30 when we're getting dressed and Today starts getting too intense.

Unfortunately Wayne & I were cracking up too much to take a photo of that, but here's one from Friday when we went walking at Lakeshore.

Friday fun

They are warning of storms again this weekend. We were amazed that Miles slept right through the hailstorm Sunday evening, and even the thunder & lightning symphony at 3am. Hopefully it will be an overnight storm again so we can still go outside and avoid some seriously muddy dogs. Chelsea does love some oozing fresh mud!


With the on-again blah weather mid-week, we returned to the comfortable climate of the mall walk. We usually park by Parisian - their automatic doors are great with a stroller! They also have a glass elevator. So we start at one end and do the length of the mall, including side legs, twice. About halfway down we'll stop by the "pond" and Miles will watch the "ducks" in the water. Although I really think he's more interested in the fountains than the "quack-quack" noises mommy makes.


He's definitely a water baby. The bathtime antics with the sprayer have evolved from bitter-beer face to this little tongue tasting, to last night's full face in the spray. I held the sprayer out where he usually grabs at the water but he leaned forward, soaking himself up to his eyebrows, gulping in the water over and over again. Then he'd turn to me and giggle before going for it again. It's definitely true that presentation is everything, because he'll have nothing to do with the water I try to give him in a cup or bottle!



When we did have some nicer weather, I tried to take him outside to get an Easter picture. This one is nothing like what I ended up using, so I'll share (and I'll share the final product next weekend). He went for the hyacinths, stripped each flower from its stem and tried to stuff it in his mouth. We didn't stay there for very long!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Stay dry!

let the sun shine

Okay, so my post from Wednesday was a bit misleading. While I've not really bought anything for myself, I've finally been using those gift cards to stock up for spring for Miles. I found some cute things for the warming weather, but here's what I've got my eye on for summer!!

• I think this outfit is pretty cute, and so is this little tiger (you may think it's for the Auburn and Memphis fans in the family, but we know the color is the real draw)
• He's going to need these if we get to the beach this year, but that also means plenty of sunscreen (thanks Jen!)
• Of course he needs this shirt

Yay, spring has finally sprung! Now we get to spend lots more time outside, walking or just sitting on the porch. Miles liked watching daddy mow the yard through the front window. Then we moved to the back to enjoy the warm afternoon. We've been giving Miles frozen bananas to eat in this mesh teether. He loves them but they ooze everywhere, hence the naked baby. Today I tried green beans in it.... he didn't enjoy that as much.

random thoughts.....

Here he is after naptime playing with his new favorite bedtime distraction. Really, who could resist 10 minutes of music with lights, bubble and fishies swimming about? And two fun spinny things?

We've being doing our daily walks at the mall since it has been somewhat cold and windy this week. Amazingly I've been able to resist buying anything except a $6 sweater from Gap and some tea. But I'm not sure how good I'll be when we get some new stores in a few months. Thank goodness it will be warm so we'll be walking outside!

And how about these cuties! Miles (today) and his daddy (from Dec. 1974). I definitely see the resemblance, do you?

water baby

Bath time is just about the best time of the day. Miles loves getting naked for the bath. In fact, getting naked and the bath are our stall tactics to avoid any late evening melt-downs before bed. We've started bathing him in the kitchen sink since he outgrew the little baby tub. Putting him in the real tub is killer on the knees and back! Anyway, he has his little ducky and a couple other small floaties but his favorite "toy" is the sprayer. Months ago he started by staring at it, then he'd swat at the stream, now he's pulling at the nozzle to get it near his face. When we rinse his cheeks and chin he makes this funny "bitter beer" face. Guess we'll need to get one of these sprayers for when he's too big for the sink.


Miles got to meet Kate this weekend. Kate is 6 weeks old and I can't believe I've really forgotten what it was like to hold someone so small. I know Miles weighed eight pounds not that long ago but she seemed so little! Anyway, she's got a head full of black hair like her daddy. In fact, they had a picture of her daddy as a baby and wow! what a resemblance. Miles got to play on the floor with lots of "new" toys. Not wanting to lose his center-of-attention status, he rolled onto his belly and started to push up onto his knees!!!!

He is ready to be mobile and not much will stand in the way of this determined kid. Last night after we put him down, we listened on the monitor as he rolled around. Then all of a sudden this loud rrrrrrrkkkkkkkk sound started and it happened three or four more times. What in the world happened? Oh Miles had just worked his way to the top of the bed where his aquarium is attached and he was spinning the crab. From his belly he had pushed up on one arm so he could reach the spinners with the other. He did start the music on his own too! Unfortunately the aquarium is attached to the short side of the bed, so when he was done he was crammed up against the slats which he didn't like. But he went on to sleep after we straightened him out.

woof woof

7 months old and such a big boy. Miles is starting the phase of turning into a toddler. He's started doing several new "big boy" things and he's so excited about it. The first one mommy & daddy aren't so excited about. He's started waking at night. Sometimes it's at 9pm, sometimes it's at 3am, but pretty much every night he wakes up and it takes about an hour for him to fall back to sleep. None of the old tricks work anymore - bouncing, swaying , rocking, feeding, singing, pacifying - he really just wants to play. Although last night he did finally calm down when I placed him on his belly in bed and rubbed his back for a while. Then I stopped and stood there. Then I veeery slooowly backed out of the door. He did cry out one more time, but that was it until 7am.

The next exciting thing is that he's feeding himself finger food! Well, sort of. He's had his first tast of the veggie puffs - these little cereal-like puffs of sweet potatoes. I place one on his tray and he scoops it up. Sometimes he gets a great pincher and pops it right in his mouth. Other times it's a scoop into his palm and it sticks there until it falls to the floor (and some happy pups waiting beneath). When he does get it in his mouth, he grins so big as he mashes it with his gums. Yummy!

Speaking of his puppys, Miles is a HUGE fan of Apollo & Chelsea. They make him laugh and he just wants to pet them. We're trying to keep him from pinching them, and so far there has been no ear pulling. Miles's cousins call puppies "woof woof" so that's what we've been calling them. And Miles has picked up on that. When he's watching them and I say "woof woof" he'll make a little "fff" sound. Yeah, so his first words will probably not be mama or dada, but woof woof. Oh well.



This is getting long, so I'll save the rest for later. I will share this photo of me with my mom, aunt and grandparents sometime in 1976 (you'd never guess it was the 70s, huh?). I've been working on Miles's baby scrapbook and put in photos of his great grandparents. I'm almost done (see the page below) just missing some photos of his paternal great grands. Hope to find them and finish soon!




(Thanks to Raven for both of my new hobbies... blogging & scrapbooking!)

30 weeks

I just received a newsletter titled "Your 30-week-old." Can it really be 30 weeks? 210 days? Almost 7 months? My how time flies. We can hardly remember life before this kid came screaming into our world. Of course he's still screaming today, but for a different reason. He's soooooo close to getting his first tooth. This morning his gums look so puffy and swollen. I swear I see the white beneath the surface, but I think I've seen that for days, so who knows. I just hope his pain is over soon. At least for these first few teeth. So hopefully some exciting news will be here soon!

Yesterday we took a trip to the grocery for some dinner as well as a distracting trip outside the house. The weather has cooled off again so we can't do our usual late afternoon walk around the neighborhood. He gets to sit in the cart basket now and really likes being able to look around. His Ya Ya got him this really cool cart cover that buckles him in and covers all those grimy handles. So we strolled through the fruits and vegtables and the bakery (yum!) and the butcher's area. He liked the lobsters in the tank, even though they weren't very active.



Then when we got home, daddy thought it would be fun to show Miles the drums! Rather than sit at the kit, he brought one to Miles. We definitely need some plastic sticks as the wooden ones get splintered very quickly. Miles shows great promise in the art of drumming. But we'll probably need to practice with pots and pans for a while before graduating to the real thing.

The little ham

Our son is a comedian. He has been finding all sorts of ways to crack us (and himself) up. On our walks he squeals and laughs at everything he sees. He discovered he can blow raspberries with a mouth full of peas. The devilish grin that follows makes me think he knows the mess he's making. His puppies love it though, they come to clean up the spray. Then of course he giggles when his puppies lick his hands. He knows his cute little grin charms the pants off of just about everyone. And he's figured out all sorts of tricks to do with his pacifier, including fitting it completely in his mouth.

Whirlwind weekend

Miles has just returned from a five day tour of Tennessee. First we went to visit cousins Evan & Kate. Miles had so much fun and is in total admiration of his older cousins. In true slumber-party style, none wanted to go to bed, they wanted to stay up and party! Not that we had much choice, but the moms let them.

After a couple of days there, we moved on to visit more grandparents and attend a wedding. The days of travel started to wear on Miles and his napping schedule got way off. It also didn't help that his, um, digestive system was a little wacked too. A nice dinner of prunes fixed that Friday evening but he still felt like getting up at 3am and not going back to sleep for an hour. So much for all that peaceful sleep.


On Saturday Miles got to meet my friends Stephanie & Justin who were in for the wedding too. We met at world famous Huey's but alas didn't get to have a burger since we were having a later lunch with Miles's Mimi & Grandpa, his great aunt Kathy, great grandma and Uncle Kyle and Kyle's girlfriend Megan.



I don't think the family scared Megan, at least I hope we didn't! Miles sure did his best to charm her. After lunch he was bouncing in the jumper and would spin around and stop to look at her. Then he would take off laughing, bouncing around again. What a flirt!

Hush little baby...

Sunday night goes down in history as Miles's first time to sleep completely through the night!! He went to bed around 6:45 and we didn't hear a peep until just before 7am. Of course we were awake at 4:30, 5, 6:15 thinking is he okay? should we check on him? something's wrong.... but no, a happy boy greeted us when we went to look at 7. The next night we did have a peep at 4:30, but he went right back to sleep when we gave him his pacifier. In addition to his marvelous night sleeping, he took 3 naps today 1:30, :45 and 1:30 long!!! What a peaceful sleeper he is. Spunky, his stuffed puppy, is his buddy. I think Apollo would be his sleeping buddy if he could figure out how to get in the crib!!

It's always more fun to share with everyone

This afternoon Miles paid a visit to Miss Karley. They had fun playing with the Little People Noah's Ark. Miles enjoyed gnawing on one of the giraffes and Karley had fun trying to take it from him. Karley's already a walker, so Miles had to impress with his highly advanced sitting skills, and some rolling on the floor laughing. It worked and they have a date for a walk together on Monday!!