Mini Me

First off, have to share this picture of Miles's souvenir from Italy. For those of you keeping track, I've added our two days in Tuscany to the blog. Only 3 days in Rome left!








Last Friday our parent educator, Jackie, came to play with Miles. She's part of this fantastic program from Knox County called Birth to Kindergarten. Once a month she visits us, brings a book and teaches me some activities I can do with Miles to maximize whatever developmental stage he's hitting then. So now at 18 months the focus is on imagination and pretend play. I hadn't realized, but he has already been doing some pretend play. Other ideas were letting him help with dusting, sweeping, picking up toys, reading to his bears. The aspect of pretend he's really picking up on is copying mama and daddy. He loves wearing my sunglasses now and see him carrying wipes? At least he hasn't started going through diapers on his bears like cousin Kate!


And this morning I showed him how to step into daddy's shoes. He can't get around in them yet, but he had some laughs looking in the mirror.

We went to his eighteen month checkup this morning and he's weighing in just a hair under 30 pounds and 32.5 inches tall. It wasn't a pleasant exam since Miles remembers the visit last month. Thank goodness we don't have to check back until he turns 2!

No means no

A little sample of Miles's favorite word right now. All the time.

"Do you want dinner?" "Noooo."
"Wanna go read a story?" "NOE" (long O sound)
"Bath time!" "NOOOOOOOO!"

But it sounds so sweet when he says it!

Can we bring some food next time?

Finally we had a day that was warm and sunny enough to go outside. We took a wagon ride down to the park and had it all to ourselves. We hit the usual slides and swings, then Miles noticed the tunnels. What a hoot! They're attached to tires in the ground so they kind of sway and bounce when you crawl through them. Talk about giggle-inducing!

As we made our way back to the slides, Miles decided it was time for a Bears' Picnic. He went over to the wagon and grabbed his blanket, spread it out and took a brief rest. While I sat there, he made a few more trips to get both bears and his water. It's too bad he found the puddle and sat in it or we'd have enjoyed afternoon tea for a while. Of course today it's back to drab and cold. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long to get back out to the park.

That's gonna leave a mark

I know I said Miles felt like he grew 5 inches when we got home, but I don't think I'm far off. We've had to retire lots of footie pjs and some other clothes that just don't fit the big boy anymore. He learned a few new tricks while we were away too. He's quite a climber now, in fact that's how he got that lovely bump on his forehead. He climbed onto the little plastic picnic table and tumbled off. His favorite climb tactic is "King of the Chair" - climb all the way to the top, stand up and giggle. I also busted him crawling along the hearth. He hasn't yet tried to climb out of the crib (that I know), but I'm preemptively getting the crib-tent and installing it this weekend. He'll love that!

Another change we noticed is that instead of saying "dada" he has started saying "da DEEEEE". It's super cute and I know Wayne loves it. I've heard "ma MEEE" a few time too, but usually I just answer to "aiiiiiiigh".

Miles went to the beautiful Kate's 1st birthday on Tuesday night. Mommy didn't get to go since I'd run a fever that day. I think it was just the lack of sleep and travel wearing me down but I went to the MD anyway. They did the strep and flu swabs which both were negative. Must've worked on my subconscious because Wednesday I felt much better.

I've been working on gettig the Italy pictures online, but shutterfly is being a little beastie for me. But I have started a separate blog [link at right] with the stories of our travel and a few photos. It may take me a while to get through the whole trip, but we'll get there!

We're baaack!

Oh wow, was that a long journey home. We had a fantastic trip and I'll will post a link to pictures when I get them up. Miles did well with his grandparents this week. YaYa said that by Friday he was starting to ask about us more, and liked to look at our pictures. We were looking at his every day too!

When we got home he was already asleep. We woke him to get a hug and he teared up a little (so did mommy - maybe even daddy!) but then we just hugged and kissed and told him we were home. He went right back to sleep. He felt like he'd gained 10 pounds and 5 inches in height! The above picture is from the day we left - check out his cool new quilt from my dear friend Stephanie. Below is this morning.

He popped up at 6:30 and was so excited to see us! We played and ate breakfast and talked about school today. While I'd love to be playing with him all day, I'm taking advantage of his school day to do laundry, nap, go to the grocery, and oh yeah, blog. Today is the Valentine's party for the Tues/Thursday class. Thank goodness I planned ahead and had his cards ready. At breakfast I told him about the party and seeing his friends. So when he got out of his chair he immediately went to get his coat and went to the door. Well okaaay!

As I said, I will post pictures and maybe even blog our trip journal for anyone who is interested soon. but for now, about that nap....

The roster

So Miles is not quite to the caliber of this kid, but we've been working on the names of our family members:



He's been practicing a lot so hopefully when those grandparents come through soon he'll be in the know. Will it translate into 3-D recognition? We shall wait and see.

The first test will come this weekend when his grandparents come to take care of him for 10 (!) days while Mama & Dada take a vacation. We will be celebrating our 5th anniversary in Italy! A special thanks to my former employer for having me travel so much. Without them I might never have accrued the miles needed.

The itinerary includes Florence, Siena and Rome. We've got some cool stuff on the itinerary, but we are nervous about leaving Miles. Hopefully the only bad thing from our List of Dread that will happen is that the DVR will fill up.

Back in two weeks....

Happy Blog-iversary to me!

I'd actually forgotten to note the 1-year anniversary of this blog until I read another blog who celebrated her naissance the same day.

So this is what we were doing last year...

And here's what we're doing now...

My, the times they are a changin'!

Zee proof is in Z-pack

We're much better now. Turns out it was a nasty sinus infection. I was suffering through until Sunday when I woke up with pinkeye. The bacteria from the sinus infection had migrated to my eyes, how lovely. The Dr. at the walk-in place said I was the 5th patient that day with the same crud. So I just finished my z-pack and am almost 100%. Still draining, but I can breathe through my nose. Miles has been going strong all week, we'll have to keep it that way!

Miles had a fun week at school. He gets there after all the other kids and yesterday when we walked in they all rushed him saying "Miles! Miles!" He's already a rock star. I think we figured out the trick of the no-tears drop off: he has to carry something in. It is usually a cup, but he took in a dog biscuit once.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Stay warm!

Getting better all the time

Miles is much improved, though still sick. It's amazing how he can just go-go-go even though he's sick, but I just want to curl up on the couch and moan ooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh.

Yes, it's true. All his coughing in my face actually DID get me sick. I've been trying to teach him to cover his mouth ("cough into your elbow") but that hasn't worked so far. He did fake-cough with his hands over his mouth a couple times, which was absolutely adorable, but it didn't do me much good.

So now we have not set foot outside the house for 3 full days. Cabin fever! Yesterday, I stayed in my pajamas all day. After Miles's bedtime, I changed into clean pajamas, with an extra t-shirt and sweater layered on to fight the chills. I woke this morning and my temperature was 101+, but it was probably the 4 blankets, wool socks and aforementioned t-shirt, pjs and sweater that I slept in. Oh yeah, and the 80lb. dog on my feet. Daddy said "you breathed on me all night." Hmph. But now there's no fever and it's just my throat that hurts, so maybe it's no so bad.

Now I'm faced with the tremendous task of disinfecting everything. And I do mean everything. He may have been somewhat slowed down, but when he was on, it was full force. He still pulled everything out. He still looked through all his books, coughing on each page. I guess I should be happy that he takes comfort in books, and that they are board books, cause I'm gonna be wiping every single page!

Speaking of books, I'm making one for Miles for Valentine's Day. He has a few alphabet books, his favorite is one that Dolly Parton gave him. On the cover are a big bold A B & C, which we trace with his finger and say together. The other night he totally did it on his own too!! But the only big letters are A B & C. So I'm making this big book with pictures of his stuff for each letter. And hey, I thought I'd throw in the numbers while I'm at it. I'm about 2/3rds finished. I need to do G, I, LMN, QR, XYZ. I have some ideas, but can't find anything to photograph while we're holed up here in the house. Any suggestions?

The icky greens

Holly may have hated the mean reds, but Miles and I really don't like the icky greens right now. He's come down with some nasty brew of mostly a sinus infection with an earache and a low fever thrown in just for fun. Oh and did I mention the green goo coming out of his eyes? Poor kiddo. So we've been doing the sick day routine: lots of fluids, fruits and veggies...as much as he will eat with his poor appetite, and lots of sleep. He's been in good spirits, despite the look on his face.

After lunch today we indulged in an early viewing of Baby Noah, his new favorite. It's so cool how he's picked up names of animals and even places while we watch & talk about the show. He can say "outback" really well and does some great impersonations of lions, tigers, lizards and penguins. The Happy Feet dance continues, always during the puppet penguin race towards the end. And the sweetest sad moment follows when the concluding montage starts to play. He gets upset knowing that his show is almost over & he's off to dream of the best vacation a kid could ever want...

could it be the butter?

Happy 2nd birthday to cousin Kate! We journeyed to midstate again for another fun weekend with Miles's cousins. He was excited to climb the stairs at YaYa and "buh"'s again and got especially giggly when Kate and Evan showed up for breakfast. Saturday was a big day starting with breakfast at Puckett's then fun in the park while the moms ran errands. That evening was the big girl's party, with lots of kids and pizza and cupcakes. Miles still didn't like pizza that much (3rd try) but really dug in for the cupcake.



But as much fun as he had on Saturday, I'm afraid I'll have to give his Most Excited Moment award to Sunday's drive back. More specifically, our pit stop at the brand spankin' new (and nice!) KFC in Cookeville. We were too early for the buffet, even though it was fully stocked and steaming. So we opted for some breast meals and I thought, "I'll just give Miles a taste of my corn on the cob." A "taste" turned into the rest of the cob and lots of smiles. He is a BIG fan!

fun the true Miles fan...

Here's a little video from dinner last night. It's a little longer, but shows off his other new move... the head shaking NO!! Have a great weekend everybody!

You turn your head for just a minute...

Yogurt in the hair, yogurt everywhere! So much for doing dinner prep while he's "contained."

Also in a footnote, daddy called me out on my "Phobia".... hey, if I keep talking about it, it will happen sooner, right?

That is couscous in a jar.

Yesterday when Miles got dressed for school we looked at him and said, "where is he going? first grade?" He was just so handsome in his jeans and rugby. And those new shoes! With Velcro! His feet just keep growing, so he gets a new pair every other month. These are size 6. Even his teacher at school commented on the size of his hands and feet... she said kids are like dogs, they grow into their big paws and Miles has some big ol' paws!

We've been having lots of fun lately, enjoying our extended waking hours. This morning Miles was so excited when he stacked all these things. We were trying to play with very few items as we'd cleaned and vacuumed and were waiting for our playgroup to arrive. But minutes after they arrived, the floor was covered in toys. He did plant another smooch on Ava, the same girl from last week. I hope the others didn't get jealous!

Over the weekend we celebrated two birthdays. I turned 32 on Monday and my friend Erin did the same on Saturday. Seems like for the last many years that we've lived in the same town we've had birthday dinner together. This year was a little different with two little ones. Miles was checking out Eileen, but I guess he was saving his smooches for later.

Since Erin tagged me on her blog, I'll join in the fun.. "The ABC's of Me" (or should I do the "ABCs of Miles"?)

A - Available or taken: Taken! our 5th anniversary is next month
B - Best friend: Wayne (awwww)
C - Cake or pie: cake, but my birthday ice cream pie was pretty great too.
D - Drink of choice: tea
E- Essential item you use everyday: my new cooktop!
F - Favorite color: red. or blue.
G - Gummy bears or worms: Do sour patch kids count?
H - Hometown: Memphis
I - Indulgence: surfing the web
J- January or February: Hmm, January is my birthday month, but February is my anniversary!
K - Kids & names: Miles 16 months.
L- Life is incomplete without: good friends
M - Marriage date: February 9
N- Number of siblings: one, Kiley
O - Oranges or apples: Apples.
P - Phobias or fears: never getting to redo the kitchen!!
Q - Fave quote: Dance like nobody is watching. (or like only your toddler is watching!)
R - Reason to smile: my great family!
S- Season: Fall, yummy food, crisp weather, SWEATERS!
T - Tag 3 people: Tiffany, Jen & Heather (I had to pick some bloggers!)
U - Unknown fact about me: I'm not a neat-freak, but I am an organization-freak. There is a difference.
V - Vegetable you don't like: Turnips and Collard Greens. Gross. (I'm using Erin's choices!)
X – X-rays: broken fingers and checking for melanoma
Y - Your fave food: italian!
Z - Zodiac sign: Capricorn.

wasn't that fun?

Happy Feet

Here are the latest moves and grooves at the Erwin household. He's dancing to the music of Baby Noah, a Baby Einstein DVD that Santa brought. I'm still trying to capture his other moves, slow moves - the "we are the world" sway with arms reaching to the sky. Very cute.

Speaking of moves, we had a playdate at the new play area at the mall this morning. Miles kissed TWO girls behind the slide! One ran away and the other started crying. Hopefully this doesn't foreshadow anything about how the teenage years will go.

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!!