Walkin' Man

I'm proud to say that Miles is officially walking! Sure, we say he took his first steps August 3, but it wasn't until this past week that he's really been going long distances on his own. He's such a big boy now!

We also had a visit to the doctor last week...and this time thankfully wasn't due to illness. Miles measured in at 32 1/4 inches tall (80%) and 24 pounds, 2 ounces (50%). The doctor asked us if we thought Miles would be on track to say 5 words by his 18-month appointment. Of course, we told him all about what a genius our son is and how he's far surpassed that number already. ;-)

Since the last post, Miles has had quite a few exciting experiences! On our trip up to the lake, Miles got to spend some time with Great-Grandpa and -Grandma Woodling for their 60th wedding anniversary party. We all pulled over a pretty good surprised on them, and Miles got to meet and reunite with all kinds of aunts, uncles, and cousins. We all had so much fun and even got to hear some fun stories we'd never heard before about Grandma and Grandpa.



We also got to watch the sun set on the lake:



And eat some chili fries at Netty's:



Some more big excitement came when Miles made his first trip to Cedar Point. He wasn't so excited by the kiddie rides - clung to Daddy on the Snoopy Train, cried on the carousel, and tolerated the rub-a-dub-dub tubs. However, he seemed to really like the petting zoo (although he got head-butted twice by a goat), the big train and the antique cars.



He also loved spending time with his cousin Lyla, even though he made her cry by biting her toe! Nana is no longer playing the "I'm gonna bite your piggies game." Here's a pic right before "the incident".



Miles also had a fun day last Saturday with Grammy. Daddy had a contest in Cincinnati, and Mommy was visiting with U2 in Chicago, so Miles spent all day keeping Grammy on her toes. She must have been coaching him all day, because it wasn't long after that that he started walking!

While I'm piling on the pics, might as well add this cute video from a while back. Miles sure does love his pup.

The Short of Things

Too beaten down to write complete sentences.

Miles is still sick. (Complete sentence count - 1). 103 degree fever last Wednesday - virus the whole family can enjoy. Made it through Sunday with only a 99 degree temp - thought we were in the clear. Call from day care this a.m. - fever's back. Visit to doc...again. Sinus infection and problems with his lungs... again. Sad nebulizer mask is back, and screaming baby is back too. Much harder to hold down a 24 pounder than when he was 6 months old.

Better news - Miles loves to talk. (Complete sentence count - 2). Words he can say:

• Mee-mee (Mommy)
• Dada
• Pup
• Ball
• Nana
• Lyla
• Ash
• Pop (Papa)
• Baby
• Buh-bye
• Bear
  
• Bop (His Jumpstart Baby computer game - he's obsessed.)

Noises he makes:

• Gug-gug (drink)
• Ooh-ooh-ee-ee-ee (monkey)
• Pant, pant, pant (doggie)
• Pfbt! (elephant)
• Hop, hop, hop (bunny)
• Quack, quack (duck)
• High-pitched chirp (bird or cat)
• Tongue clicking (clock)
• Vrrooom (truck, bus, car, airplane...even a poor lady in an electric wheelchair at the fair)
• Mmmmmm (That tastes good - sentence 3 - or a cow...which also tastes good)
• Baaaaa (sheep...but also just sounds like he's laughing)

Non-related picture - Diaper heads!


Gestures:

• More
• All gone/all done
• Can point to his feet, hands, eyes, nose, head, ears, mouth, and belly.
• Getting pretty good at "Where is thumbkin?"
• Bounces up and down every time he sees a horsey, donkey, or zebra

Last few non-related pics - after swimming (finally liked it!) and zonked out in his king-size bed.

Steppin' it Up

Miles officially took his first steps on August 3! I wouldn't exactly say that he's walking now, but he did take 3 or 4 steps unassisted. Nana and Papa and I were walking him down to the pond with his Tonka truck walker. We thought something might be coming when he stopped, put his hands on his hips, and did a little twist. Nothing much happened until about three houses down when he stopped again. I pushed the truck out a little ways, and he walked three or four steps on his own!

I don't have video yet, so here's an old one of him last month with his Tonka truck.

That day was also Miles' "Baptism Birthday". We lit his baptism candle, sang "Jesus Loves Me" and got him a little cake. There were lots of "mmmmmmmmmmm"s to be had!


And a new favorite close-up:

The Whole Fam Damily

It's been a busy couple of weeks! We only had one night in the last fifteen where someone wasn't staying at our house. I'll be putting up the neon "vacancy" sign soon. We loved having the visitors, although Miles probably won't like going back to not getting his own way every second. First, the Kahls came up from Kentucky. Miles had his first experience in a real swimming pool, but apparently watching the big girls like his Aunt Ashley didn't persuade him to be too adventurous. Poor Granny - she got him in his trunks, lathered him up with sunscreen, and he didn't even like putting his feet in the water. Luckily, he did have some fun watching the cars go around Monument Circle, and we even went to the Indians game. Miles loved watching Rowdie (the big red dog mascot) and clapping whenever the crowd went wild.


Next up - baby cousin Lyla, Aunt KK, Nana, and Papa came for a visit. Miles wasn't quite sure what to think about having to share his papa with Baby Girl:



Finally, Uncle David and Hilary came up for State Fair Band Day. Miles was entranced with the sound and colors of the flags. I thought he'd only make it to see Daddy's and Uncle David's bands, but he watched a whole slew of them...and slept through about 7 or 8 in the afternoon.


We also played miniature golf at Rustic Gardens yesterday. Here's Miles, giving Aunt Hilary some pointers on how to play the hole.

More to come in the next post...some exciting "miles"tones!

Boys of Summer

For most people, mid-July is the height of the summer. For a band family, especially a Hoosier band family, it's the end of all free time. Jason started up his marching band rehearsals again, so he's back to being a working dad. He's only going three days a week now, so Miles and I are savoring our waning hours with him before band camp blows summer out of the water next week.

While Jason was home this summer, he made the best stay-at-home dad. I have to admit, I was jealous of all the fun things they got to do together. I think I missed Miles less when he was at day care. When he was out cruising the town with Daddy, I just kept imagining all the cool things I was missing. They went to the Children's Museum and rode the carousel and played and played and played. They went to the zoo and Miles showed off his new-found animal noise-making skills. They rode the train, although, by this picture, it looked like he was thinking..."How banale..." I prefer to believe he was just wishing his mommy was there.



On the weekends, we did get to do some fun family activities. We brought a picnic to the Irvington Farmers' Market and were so pleased with what a happening gathering it turned out to be. Here we are, Miles goofing off as usual.



Miles makes this face often lately. He learned how to pant like a dog, and has been doing it for about half the animals he sees. For the other half, he bounces up and down, like he's riding a horse. He's been reading lots and lots of books, too. Grammy's alphabet books have been his favorite because he can do motions or make sounds for most of the objects in the book. He loves making an elephant noise for the E book, brushing his teeth when he sees the toothbrush in the T book, and making a "tick tock" sound when he sees the clock in the C book.

I'm a bit partial, but I think he's turning out to be a pretty smart kid. It's so exciting to see how jazzed he gets when he discovers something new. Here's a fun pic from this morning - Miles discovering his shadow.


Happy summer to all!

Fourth Fizzle

Thanks to the constant drizzle all of July 4th, we spent another Independence Day watching fireworks set to glorified elevator music on TV. I'm not sure it even reached 70 degrees that day - Miles was very confused when he had to wear pants for the first time since May.


To be honest, I was somewhat relieved that Miles would be missing the show...I was nervous about whether or not he'd be afraid of them. And what can you really do at a fireworks show when a kid freaks out? It's not like you can turn off the TV, shut the door, or, as we tend to do at church, take the kid out in the narthex. Nevertheless, we had a pleasant day hanging out around the house. We even went out to a fancy dinner with Jen and Eddie. Apparently, that was enough excitement for the evening for Miles:


We did manage to have a beautiful day on the 3rd, so we went up to our old stomping ground to Carmelfest. We listened to some bands, watched the big kids in the bouncy thingies, and, of course, ate horrible fair food. Miles even got a hat from the fire station:


Miles is growing into such a big boy! He's eating all kinds of foods (he discovered a love of black beans tonight), repeating words and noises (Ack! Vroom! Moo!), and even making up some new words (babonga...kind of like aloha, it means hello or good-bye). He's already getting pretty good at walking with just one hand on something or someone - he'll be an official toddler before we know it!

The Cuz - Little Lady Lyla

Introducing...Miles' new baby cousin:

Lyla Anne Kolb

6 pounds, 12 ounces
18 3/4 inches long

Lyla made her grand entrance a 1:55 P.M. on June 24. As much trouble as she had given her mommy in the past, all made it through the day happy and healthy. The new Kolb family of three is now home from the hospital, and Lyla is treating her parents well...a good sleeper and eater!

Miles got a sneak peek of Aunt KK in the waiting room before the surgery - he had to give his cousin a good luck smooch before coming into the world!



And here he is the next day, meeting her for the first time. You can't really tell from the picture, but he was grinning from ear to ear. Granted, it could have been his normal hamming it up for the cameras - there were only about a half-dozen onlookers aww-ing and taking pictures. However, I'm convinced that it's only because he loves his baby cousin!



I'm writing today's post about my boy with a heavy heart...sitting in the airport, ready to leave him for 3 days to go to Denver for work. It's the farthest I've been away from my little dude, but it hurts me more than it hurts him!

Here's one last picture from this weekend - trying to go swimming and not really liking it.