Oh thank heaven for 2007!!

Welcome to the new year! We rang it in style, of course. I read until about 11:43 but had to turn it in, could not keep my eyes open! Wayne was already sacked out, as was Miles long before that. To be fair we did make a yummy dinner and toasted with champagne at 8pm.

It's a good thing we went on to bed, since the Miles alarm rang at 6:37 a.m. We got a little more rest while he played in bed with us and watched some Disney. Unfortunately he has given up the morning nap, so no catching up any time soon for mama. I don't know who is more upset over the eschewing of the morning snooze - me or the dogs!! They participated in that "cat"nap as much as Miles.

.: I scraplifted Raven and did a retrospective layout of Miles. So much fun looking at pictures from last winter! I'm amazed at how different he is. This time last year I could say "stay right there" and he would :) . Now the only time he's still is when he's sound asleep. Busy busy busy guy.

.: Miles got his two lower molars over the last week. Boy, was THAT fun.

.: We figured out what "aTa-aTa-aTa" means: water!!

.: The stitches came out and his finger is as good as new! The Doc was impressed that we kept the stitches in for the full 10 days.

.: In other news, 2006 marked a first for the name "Miles." It is breaking into the Top 100 baby names for the first time ever! It's only at #97, but just you wait, won't be long before a whole battalion of little Miles' are running around. Although that's what Wayne & I were hoping to avoid when we picked the name.

We wish you all the best in the new year!!

Evel Knievel

Alas, the time has come to retire the rockin' motorcycle. Cousin Kate really rubbed off on Miles this weekend!

Laughing all the way

I really need to post only one photo from this weekend. This one. Because this was the expression on Miles's face the entire weekend. (except for those last moments before dinner.) Seriously, the kid had some fun. He still had no concept of the whole Christmas thing; even opening presents was less interesting than starting all of the electronic singing creatures. But his spirit was right on target.

Last Thursday we headed over to Nashville to spend Christmas with Wayne's family. Miles's cousins Evan & Kate were over to play every day. Kate and Miles had BIG fun playing together. They were too funny, running all around, showing each other toys, giggling. We were up waaaay past bedtime most nights, but isn't that what you're supposed to do at YaYa & B's house?

It was go-go-go the whole time. Mimi & Grandpa came up from Memphis for a night to see us and drop off some presents. Uncle Kiley was successful in getting the coveted TMX Elmo, although he staked it out at Target, didn't have to bid online. It was a big hit! Kate wanted to put diapers on him and they all loved grabbing him and watching him roll around. It is pretty funny when he really gets going.

During the weekend we celebrated YaYa's ehemth birthday a week early with pizza and cupcakes. Evan picked out the cutest cupcakes, piled high with frosting Christmas Trees and Snowmen. We burned off that sugar with lots of stair climbing and ring-around-the-rosy. Christmas Eve we attended the 2pm children's service, which Miles and Kate made until almost the end. Then it was home for presents and a yummy dinner. Miles was pooped by this time so he didn't make it to dinner, he was off dreaming of sugarplums and Santa. Oh yeah, Santa!! He did stop at YaYa's but he left a note. Since we were going back to Knoxville on the 25th, he just left Miles's presents there. It's a good thing, we were stuffed to the gills on the drive home!!

Happier days here again

Finger drama is much better, thanks for all the well-wishes. I just had to get another picture up here so that gross finger isn't what everyone sees all weekend!! It's healing nicely and he's been leaving the bandages alone. His bear also had a boo-boo so we bandaged his paw too.

We're getting ready, "wrapping" everything up (punny, I know!) for Christmas weekend. Miles was very good today while I got everything ready. He's at a very sweet stage, likes to come snuggle and read books or just get up in my lap. He's saying a lot more now, repeating sounds we make and making many more animal sounds. He has picked up on coughing and burping and likes to copy that when he hears it. Urp! Some of our favorite new words are ham, cheese (which sounds like Jesus), more, and when he's reaching for something he says ee,ee, which I like to think is a very polite please, please!

Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

Update: grody to the max

Because I know you're dying to see it....

A stitch in time

We have officially begun the "stitch count" for Miles. His Uncle Kiley holds the family record with several bajillion over many injuries. Miles earned his first 3 today. We were walking around the driveway after lunch/pre nap and bam! down he goes. Unfortunately our drive has some gravel and a piece must have sliced his left index finger. He had a pretty good gash and bled all over (see his shirt, above). So we spent 3 hours of this beautiful afternoon down at the Children's ER. It was a very busy day there, we even saw a neighbor in the waiting room.

We hoped the glue option might work, but on a busy toddler's finger there's no way that would hold. So we held him down and agonized through 3 painful stitches. They tried to numb it but it was still a traumatic experience for all. But Miles is such a trooper. We came home and ate all his favorites for dinner. He needed a little help, since his finger was still numb. After a viewing of "Baby MacDonald" he's off to sleep. Poor bear!!

A star is born

Miles's preschool Christmas program was Wednesday evening. "We" were all nerves, and we practiced, practiced, practiced. We showed off our moves for the neighbors and everyone. And all that practice got us to this...



At least we had some swaying at the end, and some well deserved applause. He truly was a star!!

(if clicking play above doesn't work, try this link.)

red spots

Finally the photo of us with Santa at the pancake breakfast arrived. We had a fun time, but Miles had a hard time deciding what to ask Santa for. I'm sure Santa will find the perfect thing... soon, I hope!



This weekend we attended a wild birthday at The Little Gym. Two of his classmates are turning 2 and they had lots of fun running around, jumping and tumbling. Miles's favorite was the big wedge that we rolled down over and over and over again.


The night after the party we noticed that Miles had a rash all over his back and legs. But he had no fever, so we were confused... heat rash? eczema? worse? But today we went to the doctor and found that it was actually a reaction to the vaccine he got about 10 days ago. Only about 5% have this reaction (lucky Miles) but it should clear up by this weekend. Otherwise all is well!

Class Clown: 2023

Say buh-buh to the ba

So the biggest news of the day/weekend is that Miles has given up his pacifier. Yes, you read it right. It wasn't really voluntary, but when he suddenly started carting this blanket around on Sunday. We figured that was a prime opportunity to swap one comfort object for another. We're on night three and completed the second day of naps, even one at school. It was an unceremonius swap, we just ignored the pleas for "ba! ba!" and said nighty-night. A few minutes of fussing ensued, followed by an abrupt silence.
School is really having a very positive impact on him. If you (I) can get past the sobbing that starts when I turn in the entrance and he sees where we're going, he actually ends up having a great day. The sobbing stops as soon as I'm out the door, but he doesn't know that I know that. He's figured out coloring, napping on a mat with a blanket, and sitting at a table for snacks/lunch. He likes that table thing so much that he's started requesting it at home. And by "requesting" I mean refusing to bend his body and sit in his booster while flailing about and screaming. Ah yes, did you know the terrible twos actually starts around 15 months? Learn something new every day!



This weekend also kicked off the holiday eating season. We started Saturday with a pancake breakfast at the church. Miles's future girlfriend Eileen was there with her mom and dad. We had fun visiting with them, or trying to while chasing Miles down. Several of his playgroup buddies were also there so he was off and running with them.

And finally, Sunday was a big birthday in the Erwin house... Apollo turned 42!! Okay that's really 6 in people years. But we all celebrated with cupcakes. We love you, big boy!!

gobble gobble

Has it really been a week since Thanksgiving?!? Time flies when you're running around like mad! Miles had is 15 month checkup this week and weighed in at 26 pounds. Hefty kid to be lugging around. But that's just what's happening. He's hit the stage when he wants to be with mama, unless dada's home then he wants to be with dada. It's so sweet when he crawls up in my lap for extended story time. Was it just a few months ago when I couldn't get him to even look at a book, much less sit and read?
Thanksgiving travel was an event as always. We tried to head out Tuesday night only to be stopped 15 miles down the road. Thankfully we got off on the highway, because we heard on the radio that an accident had completely closed I-40 west! Yay! ince we'd already sat for over an hour and the accident was 8 miles further, we decided to turn around an head back home.

We got up bright and early Wed and sailed to Nashville for a short break, nap (for all three of us!) and lunch before continuing on to Memphis. We started Thanksgiving day with a wonderful lunch at Bebe & Poppop's house and enjoyed the beautiful sunny day. Then we went back to Mimi & Grandpa's house for a later meal with all the family on that side. It included Grandpa's mother, Mary Kay, visiting from Ohio.

Miles had fun chasing the cat. Since the dogs made the journey to Memphis too (!), they even got a shot at Shadrack before we corralled them in the garage. I think this is when Miles perfected his Meow. It was fantastic to see everyone, but always nice to return home. Miles was a trooper and ended up sleeping a lot of the way. It's exhausting entertaining 17 of your nearest and dearest!

Mee-ow!

I'm working on getting a Thanksgiving update together but for now, here's what Miles has been working on in school. Also, his picture collection on Shutterfly is updated, see "More Photos of Miles" link on right. ====>

Wii Wii Wii all the way home

Ah, the lengths that mommies, daddies, even Uncle Kileys will go to get the perfect Christmas gifts for young Miles. Both Mimi and Uncle Kiley have been searching high and low for an Elmo T.M.X. but the only place they are is eBay. Then Kyle had the brilliant idea to get his hands on a Nintendo Wii and leverage that eBay auction for one of the T.M.X. Of course, he's going to wait a week or so to post it as everyone seemed to have the same idea. Oh, are you wondering how he happened to find one of these scarce gaming systems? He picked the random standalone Sears down the street from my dad and hit it an hour before opening. No one else was there. He even called my dad to come too so he has TWO Wiis to auction. What an entrepreneur!

Look what we got today!!! SNOW FLAKES!! It's all dried up now, but as we got home from lunch, Miles was giddy running up and down the walk in the flurry. I don't ever remember having snow this time of year in the last 13 years I've lived here. But apparently in 1952 Knoxville got 18.2 inches in 24 hours this same week. Yikes! Hope that doesn't happen this week, we got family to see.

I've been slimed!!!

We've been layin' low this week, poor Miles got sidelined with his first cold. Although sidelined isn't really the word, since he barely missed a step. I know that since the last post said he started school, the conclusion could be that he picked it up there. But I really think patient zero was a new kid in another playgroup we're in. This week when we e-mailed our regrets to the hostess, 2 others (of 4) were also out with colds. Hmmmmm..... As I said, though, he's still been going strong, leaving a trail of slime in his wake. And there I follow with the tissues and anti-bac wipes, scooping up toys for a hot, sudsy bath.


We got a little antsy after being homebound so we joined Janna & Chrissy up the hill for some yummy quesadillas. And he was less-slimy enough to go back to school on Thursday. He was very glad to see all his little buddies again.

A whole day at school can be tough on a guy. We can't unwind with a walk anymore so we've taken to drum sessions with daddy. Miles plays bass while daddy taps out the rhythym up top. Follow that with his favorite show (thanks Davey!) and it's off to bed.


Check out the cute new jammies!!

Lightning IS ready!

What is that you ask? Why, it's the first brilliant piece from an up-and-coming young artist, Miles! Notice how expressive and stormy the colors are? It was a rainy day when he created it. I've tried to color with him a few times, but he always preferred to taste the colors. But he has started preschool now, and when he saw his new friends coloring away, he went to it!

Ah yes, school days are here. He's started last Thursday and will go 2 days a week for about 6 hours. He waved bye-bye to me when I dropped him off the first day, and really wasn't ready to leave when I came back. And boy, did he talk my ear off that first afternoon! He had a lot to tell me about what they'd done that day. The first effect I've seen of school is that it upped his jabber-quantity. A lot. And even the jabber-quality has improved, as we've both noticed some words that sound more like the real thing and not just "ba" that has 12 different meanings depending on where we are.

And he's back to enjoying his books again! He lost interest for a while when he started walking - I mean, walking IS super awesome! - but now he will snuggle up and read with us or just look at books on his own. There are some new favorites in the bunch too, including any with "choo-choo" on them.


Reason #2783 we like having a kid: We can now justify our collection of great kids' movies. We finally saw Cars last night, and we, uh, Miles definitely needs to have that one!

Boo, everybody!

Miles was really glad he didn't sleep through Halloween this year (like he did for his 1st Halloween). Although he wasn't so sure about the whole costume thing while I dressed him. He gave me the "you're taking off my clothes to put other clothes on?!??!" wiggle the entire time. And forget about the mane, he was having none of that! Oh yeah, that IS the lion suit, not a turkey or potato as some of the neighbor kids thought. Once we got the dogs tucked away, Miles hosted an early evening costume party in the front yard. Every year the people across the street have a party for the kids to trick-or-treat together. So as they gathered, they detoured to our yard to play with Miles.

And he ate. it. up. LOVED it! And the girls did too. They walked around with him and copied the little tail wiggle. Dad brought out the video camera when he got home and they hammed it up. Looks like we'll have a great selection of babysitters here in a few years!!
A little later he was so excited to answer the door when they came by. He just stood there looking up at at least a dozen kids in the door. And ever time the doorbell rang, he'd scurry over to look at the kids standing at the door. We had our biggest year yet, it's a good thing I got an extra bag of treats at the last minute. Miles even did a little trick or treating... we rang the doorbell at a couple of neighbors' houses just to say hi. But we got back home in time for a Very Special Lady(bug) to stop by - his friend Kate! She looked adorable in her costume and was all grins playing with us.
I guess the only ones who didn't have fun last night were the pups. Halloween ranks right up there with New Years and the 4th of July for dog annoyance days!! Hopefully a little candy corn will get us back in their good graces.

Ten Big Ones

Wayne & I celebrated our 10th anniversary this week!! It's pretty cool that we've spent almost a third of our lives together now. Of course this is 10 years dating, our fifth wedding anniversary is in February. We can't pinpoint the exact day of our first date, so we just selected a random day in mid October and figured it was close enough. This picture was my sorority formal, the first picture of "young love".
So to celebrate, last night YaYa and B graciously took babysitting duty and Wayne and I headed out to Fleming's. Can we say yum? It was over the top indulgent and a perfect way to celebrate a decade. We expected it to be one of those Rat Pack places playing Frank & Dean, but it was a nice Dave & Jack serenading us through our wine.


YaYa & B aren't the only visitors young Miles has had lately. No, all three sets of grands have made stops in the 'ville recently! BeeBe & PopPop were here for a visit on their way east last week. And Mimi & Grandpa hijacked a bus to see Miles. They were on a tour and knew the bus would make its way through town, so we conspired to have the bus stop where we could "run into" them! I think the rest of their group was none the wiser - and enjoyed seeing our smiling little boy!

Giggle box

This morning Miles fed his puppies Cheerios ("oooss") and found it hysterical. He might be a bit loopy from less sleep, I think a new molar is why he's been waking from his naps earlier.

our little pun'kin

Yay, so glad fall is in full swing! We've stayed so busy lately - too busy to blog it seems, I apologize. I made some pumpkin bread to commemorate the season and Miles has really enjoyed it. Every meal it's crumbled all over the tray and his shirt and in his hair. Another sign of the season is the footie pajamas!! Miles takes off his socks during the night, and doesn't really stay under the blanket, so we've made the switch to the fleece footies. The first night we put them on he tugged on the toes and looked at us with a "what-are-you-doing-to-me?" look. But he's figured them out now.

Our weekly playgroup ventured out to the zoo this Wednesday. We'd forgotten that the schools were on break this week, so the kids area was too rambunctious for the little ones. But a lot more animals were out - lions, snow leopards, white tigers - and they even had a close encounter with a hungry camel. I think he smelled the Cheerios in the diaper bag.

Just 3 of the 5 in our group made it, one was out of town and Lindsey is having chemo. Some of you may know this already but one of the little girls in our group was diagnosed with a hepatoblastoma - a tumor in her liver. They hope that with a few sessions of chemo it will shrink and they can remove it. But while she's in treatment she can't risk being around germy kids. Please keep her in your prayers!

quick one before the weekend

Just wanted to pass on that I've updated Miles's photo album... the link to the right (more photos of Miles) or here's the link for updated photos.

If you look through October you'll see a few costume dress rehersals. None went all that well. Despite the face in the photo, the lion is most likely the one. Those other full body suits were so hot!!

Have a great weekend!!

date night!!

What fantastic weather we're having!! This is why I love fall. Miles has really enjoyed our outside time, especially heading down to the school playground for some slide time. He's made friends with a couple other regulars, and their dogs too. He also discovered the fun of picking up handfuls of mulch/dirt and piling them on the steps. I think he only tried to eat it 5 times.



We had a big first for the family this weekend also... the first non-family babysitter!!! We wanted to go out for Kurt's birthday dinner so I finally called the girl down the street. Another mom had given me her name and we'd met her on our walks a few times. So she came over and we proceeded to tell her how to put him to bed no less than 4 times. And went over the all important How To Work The TV a couple of times too, although she said she did her English homework.

When we got home she said they played for a while. Then well before when we said he'd go to bed he started putting his head down on the floor. She put him in his crib and he waved bye-bye to her. Little guy was ready for bed!! So she had it pretty easy, but he liked her - the next day we'd say "did you have fun with Ali?" and he replied "Ah!" (yes? Ali? I don't know, but it was happy.) I'm sure we'll be calling her again.

Scary spice

Last year Miles graciously posed in the cutest costume I could get my hands on. When I saw it I had to order it, knowing how much his daddy loves him some hot sauce. Of course on the actual Halloween night he was sound asleep through all of the foot traffic. We kept an eye on the street so the puppies wouldn't raise a ruckus with every ding-dong and trick or treat.

And the week after, I was so smart and found the most adorable cow costume on clearance for him to wear this year. It's a size 1-2 year, so surely it would be perfect for a 14 month old? Ha! Not this 14 month old. Thankfully I tried it on him... well tried to try it on him. The legs barely covered his knees and when I went to zip it up he started fussing. It was a bit short in the rise too!

So I'm back to square one. There are so many cute things out there, but none of them grab me like the red hot chili pepper did. This is cute and so is this (he does love bananas), but is it the one? Maybe we'll dress the entire family up in these. I know, I know, he's only one, but this year he may get to help answer the door! I think he'll get a kick out of that. So what are your suggestions?

three things

In the interest of keeping this short and sweet, here are 3 things that Miles is doing now...
1. The path of "destruction". Not just dumping things out anymore, he leaves a trail of goodies wherever he goes. Here he discovered some of the baby toys I was packing away and decided he wasn't done playing with them yet!
2. He's sleeping so great, a full 12 hours at night and 2 good naps still. When he's ready to sleep he lets us know. This weekend I went in because he was making noise during one of his naps and he waved "bye bye" to me. He wanted to sleep some more! And any time he's going to sleep he stands there waving to us as we leave the room.
3. When he wakes up, he'll just hang out and play. The fun game this week is dropping everything out of the crib. All the little animals (yes those are the Higglytown Heroes on the floor), his blanket and even both socks ("ock" in Miles-speak). When it gets cold, we'll have to put him in the footie pjs so his feet don't freeze!!