Music of Maestro Miles

It's Band Camp week, and Jason is working 14 hour days. How does Miles celebrate? By pulling out his Terrible Two toddler traits to the max, of course! I've gotten my fair share of reminders about what I don't like about being a mom - screaming, tantrums, hitting, and refusals to do anything I ask. So, I'm now going to turn up the cheese on this post to remind me what I DO like (love!) about being Miles' mom.

Miles attended his first symphony concert last week and loved it! You free spirits out there might be thinking, "Those music snobs dressed their child up in a mini-tuxedo, paraded him downtown, and made him sit in an uncomfortable chair for three hours to listen to Russian funeral music?" No. We had plans to go to Symphony at the Park - a family-friendly, pull-up-your-lawn-chair-in-the-grass, break-out-your-bottle-of-wine (or sippy of milk) kind of a show. Unfortunately, we got rained out and watched the show in the local high school gym, but that didn't mean Miles enjoyed it any less.

He really loved clapping after each song, but also he became to be quiet the critic. Strangely, he said he was scared after Copland's Rodeo, but he "really liked" Holst's Mars. He also informed us that his ol' pal Snuggie Bear thought that the Shostakovich was a "really pretty song" and "cool".

So, Miles is now connoisseur of orchestral music, but he's also a traditionally-trained vocalist. Here are some of his vocal stylings:

First, a flavor of Mozart with Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Please ignore the unfinished tune, plus the diaper-shirt combo (we were on our way to bed, people!).

Next, the Wheels on the Bus. Not quite sure why the "driver on the bus says swish, swish, swish"...

This is an interesting variation on "Old McDonald". In the version, he has a gummi bear, which just happens to be what Miles gets when he goes pee on the potty.

Now, to add a little religious fare:

And this one even includes choreography:

Miles also is a bit of a composer. A few months ago, way back when we had a harder time understanding him, Miles kept singing a song that went "Dub dub dye...sit down!" We could never figure out what it was. Miles now informs us that he and Colin made the song up. He still sings it at least 3 times a week.

Whew! I feel better now!

Hot Diggety Fourth

The 4th holiday was actually our 5th weekend traveling...out of 6 weeks! We are definitely old pros by now at packing up the car, the boy, and the pup. The cleanliness state of our car, however, has yet to recover.

We had a great down-home Kentucky 4th with the Kahls. Miles got to start the fun by dancing to the tunes that Grandpa put together for the family reunion, featuring one of Granny's "kin."

We went to the Bowling Green Hot Rods Single A baseball game. What a nice little park! Miles enjoyed the game and had lots of fun saying "Hey Batter Batter Batter!"


They had fireworks following the game, which was a major shock to Miles' system! Being that the set them off on the field right in front of us, they were ridiculously noisy - even more so for a first-timer! Jason and I immediately put our hands over his ears. When I tried to adjust my awkwardly-placed hand a few minutes in, Miles clamped down on it with his hands and wouldn't let go! I think that three pairs of hands blocking out the noise probably did better than any set of ear plugs.

The next night's attempt at fireworks was much more successful. We decided to watch them from the state park, at least a mile away from where they were setting them off. On the way, we stopped at the cutest little kitschy antique store/ice cream shop/roadside attraction. Check out the Wiener family!


Miles did much better with the fireworks the second time around, and loved playing "ball" (bocce) with the boys and Ashley beforehand. He was also so impressed by the glow necklace someone gave him. This isn't his best picture, but it shows his elusive and adorable dimple:



The weekend ended on time for Mommy and Daddy, but Miles got an extended vacation out of it! Granny had the following week off, so he stayed and hung out more with the Kahls for a couple of days - the first time he'd slept away from home for two nights! It was also the first time that Jason and I had been in our house overnight without Miles - SO weird. We missed him way more than he probably missed us. We loved hearing his stories about the sprinkler and dancing with Grover at the Louisville Science Center.

It's been a great summer so far - lots of travels but the chance to hang out with so many people that we love. We're looking forward to a quiet remainder of the summer at home!

Days of Cousins and Daddies

With all of the birthday hullabaloo, I thought Miles might have a bit of a hard time sharing the spotlight. Thankfully, he's realized that other people can get cakes and presents and special days too.

Miles got to start slowly with Father's Day. Daddy picked bowling as his special day activity, so Miles got to throw his first bowling ball (with the help of a ramp and bumpers). His first time out, he scored a 55! He did great with Daddy's help:


(Sorry about the sideways version...too lazy and too slow of a computer to figure out how to turn it.)

Miles passed the true test of sharing when we celebrated his cousin Lyla's first birthday. He only had a couple of meltdowns when the other kids touched his toys, and it helped the there were so many other people there to keep him distracted. As it turns out, Miles benefited from lots of sharing from others. Lyla's cousin Isaac shared his squirt guns - perfect for such a hot day:


And Lyla even shared her brand new birthday present - a wagon for two (or three):


Some even better news - Miles will soon have one more cousin with whom to practice his sharing skills. Uncle David and Aunt Hilary are having a baby just in time for Christmas! Miles is convinced it's a boy, but we'll have to wait a few more weeks to find out. I've loved every minute of being an aunt to Lyla, so we can't wait to spoil one more.

I Ride That!

We had a great week on vacation up at the lake. Lots of trips to the lake, lots of walks, and lots of Nana and Papa time.

One of the highlights was our trip to Cedar Point, which turned out to be the perfect day. It was supposed to rain that afternoon, so we figured we'd go for a couple hours in the morning, then head home when the weather got bad. Well, it never did get bad! Cool, breezy, and no crowds!

We didn't have horribly high hopes that Miles would be into Cedar Point, after his luke warm tolerance last year. When we first walked in, it took about 30 minutes before he even wanted to get out of his stroller. Apparently, he just wanted to take it all in. Finally, we convinced him to ride the "Snoopy Cars", and he loved it!



He was so pumped full of adrenaline afterward, that he immediately stepped out of the car and shouted, "I ride that!". Of course, he was pointing to Cedar Point's tallest and fastest ride, Top Thrill Dragster. Jason wouldn't even ride that with me (that's not saying much though).

After that, he was unstoppable. We rode the swings, and he even dug one of those horrible spinny rides with Daddy:


We were lucky enough that N & P picked Miles up and took him home for his afternoon nap. That gave Jason and me some time to ride the big kid rides. The longest we waited: 20 minutes for Millennium Force. By the time we rode everything we wanted, we were ready to see Miles again. I think we had much more fun watching him ride things than riding them ourselves! Once Miles had his siesta, Nana and G-Grandma brought him back for some more fun.

We watched "Snoopy on Ice" and cuddled with the Snoopy statue:



He rode in about every type of vehicle you could imagine:




Our grand finale was a big step in the Cedar Point bravery development...for Daddy. Being afraid of heights, I could never get Jason on the Giant Ferris Wheel. Once we saw that the "thrill rating" for the ferris wheel was less than the thrill rating for some of the kiddie rides, I finally emasculated Jason enough into riding it. Surprisingly, he admitted it wasn't as bad as he thought! He even had his wits together enough to snap this picture:



The rest of the non-Cedar Point week was great as well. We went to the Marblehead Lighthouse a few times, and there were lots of naps. Miles stayed overnight with Nana and Papa and was a very good boy while we spend the night in the exciting town of Cleveland.



"If the whole world moved to their favorite vacation spots, then the whole world would live in Hawaii and Italy and Cleveland."