Glass Half Full

With all the cooties floating around our house lately, I've been kind of a grumpy blogger. That's turning around TODAY!

(Miles says hooray)


I've realized that most of my posts are events-related. That's fun, but I've been missing out on the little things that Miles has been doing and saying...so that's what this post is all about.

First off - dancing. Miles is a dancin' machine. He loves to turn on the old school record player and request "tunes", usually goodies like Elton John or Simon & Garfunkel. He'll usually do a nice ballerina twirl or two before pounding on the piano to play along. That starts Keno off on his howling.

He also has a number of requests for group dancing. His current favorite is "Bock Bock" - also known as the chicken dance. He's also a big fan of "If You're Happy and You Know It", "The Hokey Pokey", and "Cute Miser". That last one is an adapted version of "The Heat Miser":

I'm Mr. Miles Joseph,
I'm Mommy's son.
I'm Mr. Miles Joseph,
I'm Daddy's number one.

They call me Cute Miser.
Whatever I touch,
Turns to cute in my clutch.

I'M TOO MUCH!

You can use your imagination for the choreography.

Next - books. Miles loves reading almost as much as dancing. He'll bring you a book and tell you "up" or "lap". He's been especially obsessed by his Sesame Street Sing-a-Long book that has little toy CDs, so you can play tunes and sing along. He's starting his karaoke career early! He can name most of the Sesame Street Characters - Elmo ("Mo-mo"), Zoe, Bert (still working on Ernie), Cookie Monster ("Kiki Mon-ter"), Oscar ("Okker"), Big Bird ("Bih-Bir"), and Grover ("Go-er").

We still read classic books - Go Dog Go and Little Bear. He also is really into some of his new Christmas books - Clifford's tab book, Curious George and the Puppies, and What's Wrong Little Pookie? He also likes to "spell" when he sees letters - on T-shirts, cereal boxes, you name it. Then again, his favorite letters are E and O, so in Miles' world, most words are spelled "E-O-E-O-E-O".

Of course, there are the toys. He still loves playing with "[f]armer" from his Fisher Price Barnyard set, and is getting pretty good at calling the animals by name. He prefers to call the cow "moo" and monkeys "ah ah", but he can say their names if he wants to. He likes to sing along with "Scout" - his stuffed dog that says his name, his favorite animal (dog), his favorite color (blue), and his favorite food (fried rice!).

Miles continues to throw, kick, or shoot any ball and can name all of them. I think it's especially cute when he says Soccer ("okker") ball and how he exasperates Daddy by randomly referring to hockey. He will clap on cue when we sing "Butler Bulldogs". Any time he sees the Colts logo, he shouts "Go Colts!" Luckily, he'll be saying that for two more weeks to cheer on the Colts in the Super Bowl.

And finally...the loves of his life: Paci and Bea[r]. Until this past week, he only got his pacifier and bear (aka Snuggie) before bedtime and naps. While he had the flu, we pretty much broke down and gave him whatever would make him feel better, so we're going through a Paci-Bea detox at the moment. We don't mind him having the bear so much, but it's never just a request for "Bea"...it's always a compound noun - "Paci-Bea".



Cheers! Things are looking up...

Oink, Oink

Our boy has swine flu.

Yes, I said swine flu.

Our luck with illness hasn't been stellar, well, this entire winter. I thought the puke parade I mentioned in the last post might be the end of it. Then the puke parade started for Mommy. Then Daddy came down with a "cold" (the likely swine flu culprit). Then Daddy joined the puke parade.

And now this. Swine flu.

And our entire family was vaccinated. Miles had two shots. Doc says there is 20-30% chance of still getting H1N1 if you got the vaccine. He also said we were his first vaccination "failure". So honored to have that distinction.

So, we're hunkering down at home in the hopes of not infecting anyone...else. It figures that the weekend Miles comes down with the plague, we also had a house full of people...including a gaggle of pregnant ladies and children under 5. Just great. Of course, we didn't know it was the pork virus - just thought it was the beginning of a cold.

Here's a picture of Miles infecting his friend Emily:



And Miles infecting Jen:



And Miles infecting Donald Trump:



OK - so it's not really Donald Trump - just the crazy hair-do Miles has had from sweating while sleeping and a long stretch in between baths.

The good news (I have to find it somewhere) is that - in between tantrums, not eating, not drinking, staring off into space, and not sleeping - Miles does not have a fever today. And I hope it stays that way...so we can get back to normal.

At least for a few days until one of us gets sick again.

What a Day!

Today was a day to go down the history book entitled, "Amazing What Moms Will Do." Don't get me wrong - I've had worse days, but this one was quite an example of the hoops we moms will jump for our kids.

I started the day with dashed hopes of "sleeping in" (that's 8:00 nowadays). Even though Daddy graciously got up with Miles, the boys barged in around 7:00 - I'll admit that I was too groggy to remember exactly why. Miles and I snuggled and sang some songs (I think), then Daddy took him back out again. I dozed for another 15 minutes when I heard the squeals. Happy squeals, but squeals nonetheless. Miles found the "echo spot" - which happens to be right at the top of the stairs, right outside our bedroom door. This went on for at least five full minutes. SQUEAL! (Giggle) SCREAM! (Giggle. Giggle.) MIMI! (Tee hee). So much for sleeping in.

Luckily we had to be up soon anyway because Miles had his first dentist appointment. I've been dreading it all week, but I managed to pump up to Miles how cool the experience would be. In actuality, he really did have fun there! He did cry while the hygienist and I held him down for the 60 seconds it took the doctor to poke around in his mouth. Miles recovered quickly though and loved playing with the puzzles and toys in the waiting and exam room. The dentist gave us good marks for teeth brushing - a miracle considering how difficult it can be to corral a toddler for that task. Although he has pretty straight baby teeth, the dentist explained why orthodontia might be in our future. He has extra-thick muscle in between his two front teeth. That's totally my bad genes...I had such a huge gap in my front teeth (baby and adult) that there almost would have been enough room for another tooth. Don't worry though - he got Jason's bad genes on the bottom with the crowded version. Might as well start saving for the orthodontist now! (I'll add the official dentist picture tomorrow...don't want to wake the boy with the scanner.)

To reward Miles for being such a good boy, we stopped off for a morning snack at the McDonald's PlayPlace. We lucked out with a big-kid-free period for just long enough for Miles and me to climb to the top and slide back down. I know I'm smaller than many moms, but I still felt like a heifer trying to navigate that thing! Miles seemed to have just as much fun trying to steal other little kids' shoes from the bin - guess we should have stuck to that. We were so proud that this herbivore ate all the meat in his Sausage Biscuit...little did we know that would come back to haunt us.

Miles woke up from his nap about an hour early pretty cranky - but that's normal. I thought I'd get him back to sleep with a special Saturday treat - watching Sesame Street in Mommy and Daddy's Big Bed. He tossed and turned for a while - also normal. Then I heard some not-so-normal sounds...and smells...and realized he tossed and turned his Sausage Biscuits. I had also been queasy and even mentioned to Jason beforehand that I had a "McStomachache", so I think the Sausage Biscuit was the culprit. Our first major experience with big kid puke...good times.

I won't go into details, but this should help give you an idea of how our afternoon and evening went. We both started out in nicer casual clothes with plans to go to church tonight. Miles is in bed now on his fifth pair of pajamas of the day. I can't bring myself to take a third shower, so I'm sitting here in my third set of sweatpants...at least they're clean.

Surprisingly, Miles was in a pretty good mood most of the day. He did get a little mad that we didn't let him play "tackle" with us during the football game, and he kept getting annoyed when we'd replace his water with "juice" (aka Pedialyte). Other than that (and the three extra loads of laundry), I actually had fun with the boy today.

Amazing what a little snuggle from your toddler will make you forget.

A Christmas Story

Preface

I attempted to follow Reader's Digest's lead and condense the last month into one concise package, with a neatly-tied bow. Turns out that woman-of-few-words is not the moniker for me. At least I didn't post every photo - for the non-abridged version, refer to my full holiday album, which I made public on Facebook. I hoped to not get into this habit, but the travel, illnesses, and craziness of December seemed to warrant it this time.

Chapter One: Advent

For those of you not indoctrinated by "The Church", Advent is a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. It's only supposed to last 4 weeks, but I could have used 4 years this time! Miles and I were both sick (me twice - once with bronchitis and again with mystery stomach bug), so that made getting things ready for the big day difficult. Throw in chaos at work for both me and Jason, plus out-of-state traveling, and that made total preparation next to impossible. I was definitely thanking Jesus though...for Amazon.com Super Saver Shipping and Z-Pack antibiotics!

Miles went to the doc during this time as a totally healthy boy for his 18-month appointment. The best pre-Christmas present he could get - no shots! His stats were 27 pounds (75%) and 32 inches (50%). According to their records, he didn't grow taller from last time, but we're pretty sure they just measured wrong last visit...especially since the official Sharpie tick marks in his closet wall show a growth of a couple inches!

We did manage to find time for a couple fun things. Miles had fun with Granny while we parents went to the Colts-Titans game with Grandpa and Aunt Ashley:



Of course, we had to make time to put up the tree and break out the other Christmas decorations. Miles was happy about his reunion with his talking Christmas bear:



Chapter Two: Christmas Eve

We started the day by visiting Great Uncle Billy and Cathy. Miles was overjoyed to receive his first gift of the season...a ball! It's amazing how he can still be so excited after receiving his 47th ball.

We continued our "traditions" for the day as well...two years in a row makes it a tradition, right? Miles wasn't exactly the most well-behaved child at church, but he fit right in with the gaggle of kids at the early service. We were slightly miffed when Miles told his dad "Beep beep" (translation: get out of my way) in the middle of one of the prayers - but that was nothing compared to the kid a couple rows up who announced to his entire family that he had gas. Our pickins were slim for Christmas Eve dinner, so we stopped off at the Ponderosa. We then headed home to open up one gift a piece, put out cookies for Santa, and finally to go to sleep before Santa came.




Chapter Three: The Fat Man Cometh

Some call him Santa - Miles prefers to call him HoHo. It took us a little while to realize Santa had come at first. Miles decided to give us parents the best Christmas present of all - sleeping in! He woke at his normal time - around 6:00 - murmuring undecipherably, which is different than his normal scream of "Mimi! Daddy! Pup!". Just as I noted to Jason that he was singing Christmas carols, the tunes stopped and he went back to sleep for almost another two hours!

When Miles finally woke up, he insisted on eating breakfast with his present from the day before - talking Elmo. We eventually wandered into the family room when Miles noticed some goodies sticking out of his stocking. It was hard to pull him away from the excitement of the fruit snacks and plastic vegetables he received, but we finally got him started on the stash from Santa.



Miles had so much fun ripping the paper off his loot, especially the giant box his wagon came in. He liked most of his gifts but was especially smitten with the pint-sized Colts folding chair. Who woulda thunk it? He got to continue tearing through gifts when Grammy and Grandpa and Nana and Papa arrived that afternoon. He even helped Mommy and Daddy open their presents and was confused why he couldn't open all the gifts under the tree. The seven of us finished off the day with a true "Christmas Story" meal - Chinese! Fa-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra! I think Grammy brought enough Chinese food to feed most of China, so we were stuffed the whole night.


Chapter Four: Two Turtle Doves

The next round of Christmas came when the aunts and uncles descended upon our house for Family Christmas Part 2. Baby Lyla spent her first Christmas a sick girl, but we were fortunate enough that she was able to drag her parents up from Lexington to be with us. Aunt Kat, and the Uncles Vinny, Craig, and Dean all came from Ohio. It was a crazy day but so much fun to have everyone in one place...and even better that we didn't have to travel ourselves!




Chapter Five: Three French Hens

We got to keep the Kolbs for an extra day thanks to the bad roads. Miles spent lots and lots of time commenting on the "SSSSSSSSnow".

We also got a visit from the Kahls for a few hours that day. On his fourth day in a row of opening gifts, Miles had it down pat. No pics yet, but Miles loves his giant school bus...from the outside. He still needs to work up the courage to actually get in it yet.



Chapter Six: Auld Lang Syne

We loaded up the ol' Ford with four adults, a toddler, and two dogs to head down to the Kentucky Kahls for the New Year's holiday. Miles had a fantastic time hanging out with Granny and Aunt Ashley at the WKU basketball game while the rest of us headed to Nashville for New Year's Eve. Apparently, AA also worked with Miles all night long on this dance routine:

We spent all day on New Year's Day eating sauerkraut and watching football...most notably a win by the Buckeyes! We even converted Aunt Ashley for the day:



Epilogue

For those of you that actually made it this far...thank you! We are so blessed to have so much family and fun times to fill such a long post. Happy 2010!

Cut...it...out

First of all...no, I did not suddenly become SuperMom and make time to blog every day. Jason was at the Butler game Wednesday night, so I spent the whole evening catching up on my blogging. I hate being one of those people that writes a novel for each post (even though I know I am), so I figured I'd break it up...save some excitement!

Did you notice Miles' new haircut in the previous posts? Yikes. We took him back to the kids' barbershop, thinking he could handle it. Well, this round was worse than his very first cut...screaming, squirming, spitting, you name it. I asked the lady to keep it longer on top, but can you really blame her for even being able to cut anything in that situation? Looks like we're back to sitting on Mommy's lap at SportClips for another year or so...



The funny thing is that I kept lamenting about how cute it was long, how we shouldn't have cut it, blahbetty, blahbetty, blahbetty. Jason kept reminding me how shaggy it was, but I just kept holding on to the memory of my beautiful long-locked son.

Then, I got his school pictures back. Eek. Good riddance, tresses!



I would like to add the disclaimer that his hair didn't look quite like this when I took him in to day care that morning. I think the photographer must have spit on a comb and run it through his hair seconds before the shot. Either that, or that bacon grease made a repeat visit.

The funniest part about this picture is that it was the very best shot! And I thought we had issues with his Christmas pictures. He actually had two rounds of pictures. The day care director told me it was because they took the pictures, then realized I had brought clothes for him to change into, so they took them again. FALSE. These are from two different days...I think they saw the first round, decided they were a dud, and wanted to try again to at least get a decent shot for the composite.

I originally had all of the pictures uploaded here, poised to make snarky comments. I decided to delete them instead. Figured there was a chance I might not go to hell for making illegal scans of the pictures...wouldn't want to jinx it by completely humiliating my poor son as well.

So, instead here is the best of the first round. Use your imagination for the other two poses:



I also find it interesting that I was just blogging about the 70s picture flashbacks in Wednesday's post, and we have all these fantastic poses to go along with that theme. Add a shag carpet square and feathery mullet, and we'll be all set to do the Time Warp again!




Photogenic or not, I sure do love that boy!!

Happy Birthday, Nana!

So, remember last year when we had all kinds of issues with our Christmas pictures? Looks like Christmas picture disasters might turn into an annual occurrence.

You might be wondering, "Um, that's great and all, but what does that have to do with 'Happy Birthday, Nana!'?" Well, this year we did Christmas pictures on the sly as a surprise birthday gift from Miles and his cousin Lyla. The plan was to make the trek down to Lexington the day after Thanksgiving to have a joint session at Portrait Innovations.

Before making the trip, we gave Miles his bath. Approximately 37 minutes after his hair dried, Miles decided to rub his breakfast plate - complete with bacon grease - on his head. Within the next 15 minutes, he puked all over himself and Mommy. Now - we're definitely not dumb enough to dress him in his picture clothes beforehand - but it did set a bit of an ominous tone for the rest of the day.

Miles and I both were at the start of a cold (still working on getting rid of it), but we decided to pack up the car and drive to KY anyway. Sure, we were super happy to see the Kolb family, to check out their new house, and to help a little bit where we could...but the main purpose of the trip was for the joint photo shoot.

At first, it looked like things were going according to plan. Miles and Lyla both had their naps, seemed to be in good spirits, and managed to keep their clothes in good shape. We arrived a little early to find - not surprisingly - a zoo at the picture place. Despite the craziness, they were able to get us into the studio right on time for our appointment. (Insert plug for Portrait Innovations here...love 'em!)

The problem was - Miles didn't really have much time to adjust the chaos. When I set him down next to Lyla in their matching Christmas jammies, he immediately freaked out, clinging to me like a baby monkey. Throughout all of this, Lyla was cheesing for the camera. After many songs and goofy faces, we decided to ditch the cute jammies look and try again with the dress clothes.

I thought maybe having me disappear for the next shot would help Miles not be so clingy, so I moved as far away as I could and kept peeking in, trying to adjust myself in a spot where Miles couldn't see me. I just couldn't stand not being a part of it, so when Kari peeked her head out, I asked, "Do you think it would make things worse if I went back in there?" I knew it was bad when she replied, "I don't think it can get any worse..."

We were having no luck, so I finally asked the photographer what she could do with me holding him. We got all of two smiling shots - one goofy maniacal smile that didn't look like Miles at all, and this one:



Sure, he has a tear in his eye, a blip of snot bubble, and a Christmas tree ornament behind him that makes him look like he's wearing a crown. And forget the fact that you couldn't see his entire outfit - including the perfect shade of grey pants to match his sweater...the ones I searched every kids' department in Indy for. For all the drama, we got at least got one good shot!!

The picture people were able to take that shot and do a 70s-ish floating-head montage with Lyla for Nana's present. Nana reports that she loves it. Then again, she also said she started crying before she even opened the package, so I'm sure she would have loved the screaming version of the Miles picture too. The little collage do-hicky probably worked out for the best, because the chances of getting Lyla and Miles both smiling in the same shot were slim to none.

The great part of all this hubbub? We found Supermodel of the Year for 2029...Lyla Anne Kolb! Just check out this face:



I accidentally mailed my copy of the other cute smiley one to Nana...I want that one back, Nana!

Because we didn't want the matching cute jammies to go to waste, we recreated the scene at Casa Kolb the next morning. Yes, there are DVDs in the background, our fancy set includes a sheet on the ground, and we had to bribe Miles with Cheerios. I think it's cuter this way - the bedhead is authentic!

November in a Flash

Has another month really flown by? No more marching band on which to blame my delinquency - I'll blame it on painting and tiling the kitchen instead. Here are November highlights:

Playing in the dirt during another warm November day:

As the weather has gotten cooler, Miles doesn't understand why he can't play outside. He'll grab his coat and his shoes and look longingly out the door. Thankfully he hasn't quite figured out how to open the doors...yet.

Hanging out at Hinkle Fieldhouse after a Butler basketball game:

Miles seemed to have just as much fun wandering our way back to the car as he did watching the game. He thought it was great fun to pick up and throw the landscaping gravel under the trees. I'm not sure how many times that day we heard "rock" and "leaf"...yep, he made sure to tidy up the area around the carillon by clearing the pathways of leaves as well.

Munching pumpkin biscuits with Grammy on Thanksgiving:

We had a lovely low-key Thanksgiving this year with Grammy and Grandpa Ron and Uncle David and Aunt Hilary. Miles didn't get his full nap and was therefore pretty cranky when it was time to sit down to eat. He would not eat a bite of anything...and Mommy didn't get too many bites either since he didn't want to sit in his high chair. Luckily, Happy Miles returned at dinner time, and he was able to enjoy Round 2 of the turkey with the rest of us.

And the Grand Finale...O-H-I-O! It took a little bit of time to get Miles to say "Go Bucks!" (ok...so it really just sounds like "Guh! Guh!"). So, I decided to start working ahead of time to get the O-H-I-O ready for the Rose Bowl. Much to my surprise, he picked it up on the first try.