Source of Comfort

Amelia is my snuggle bug. When she is feeling exhausted or upset, I am honored to be a source of comfort to her. It's amazing how much she just relaxes into me and how quickly I can sooth her.

Amelia's Latest Photo Session

I spent some time on the floor with Amelia this past weekend snapping photos. She is clearly teething (everything was straight in her mouth), but I am amazed at how strong she has gotten (obviously). She sits up great when she isn't off to the races somewhere. She is getting really proficient at crawling and is otherwise a healthy and super active little love.

Mr Demille, I am ready for my close up

Couple of shots of my cuties being goofy... love them!

Kneeling at the activity table

Here are the promised photos. Miles wanted to get in on the action, so he jumped in for a few, too!

Assertive little man

Miles' new game. "I be mommy and you be Miles". I say "okay", but them I am not sure what is supposed to happen. I sometimes say things that he says, but he looks at me all confused.

The other night he told (not asked) me to change seats at the dinner table. I explained that I wasn't going to move, and he told me I was going to get a time out.

Miles is certainly exploring his independence these days. While in his two's, I would in no way describe them as terrible. He is a wonderful little boy who is learning about the world around him. I love catching glimmers of the world through his eyes - what a wonderful view.

SLOW DOWN SWEET GIRL!!!

Oh my.

Last night, I put Amelia down in the playroom after dinner. She crawled (on all fours) over to her activity table and pulled herself up to her knees to play. She was so pleased with herself! She is finally getting herself off the floor and is experiencing a whole new world and new set of toys to play with. I jumped up and grabbed the camera to capture the moment. (Photos to come.) While I was looking through the pictures I just took, she stood up. On her feet. All by herself. She was even more pleased with herself, right up until she bailed and toppled like a stiff tree.

The fall irritated her as she bonked her head and I expected her not to try it again anytime soon. I was wrong. Twice last night, I had to go into her room as she was standing up in her crib. We lowered the crib a bit on Monday to account for the knees thing, but we didn't expect standing to happen quite so quickly. Miles was about 9 months when he first pulled himself up, what is she doing?!?!

Slow down, Baby Girl, you're growing up too fast!!!

Amelia Practices Her Pincher

One of the upcoming milestones for Amelia will be learning how to pinch small objects. Once she does, we can do all sorts of fun things, like Cheerios! She is ahead of the game for starting to explore this skill, and while she hasn't mastered it, she clearly has an interest. So fun to see her changing so quickly and learning so much.

New Milestone

Amelia is cutting her second tooth today so needless to say her sleep patterns have been a bit off. I fed her twice last night and she didn't go down after the second feeding. About 30 minutes later, Tim was on duty trying to give her orajel and calm her to sleep. At one point he left the room to see if she would fall asleep. She didn't. Instead, she figured out how to get to her knees and look over the crib rail and wail until he came back, which he did, and was startled to see her little head peaking over at him. She finally fell asleep, but it was a hard night on us all.

Needless to say, we were kind of hoping she would forget how to get to her knees, but she didn't and not only disrupted her nap today, but also Miles'. He couldn't help himself, and I can't blame him. She would stare at him, he would preform, she would laugh, he would keep going. Finally after about 90 minutes, we took Miles downstairs and he slept in the pack 'n play in the guestroom. I am sure the two of them will figure out her new found trick and get back to sleeping, but right now the world is too fun and sleep is taking the brunt of it.

We ended our weekend with a bottle of wine with a new family the we met at the park last weekend. They just moved to Burlingame (literally last weekend) from San Francisco, and they have a son about 6 months younger than Miles and a new one on the way in January. It's always wonderful to meet new folks, and this was a lovely family who we are likely to see again soon.

Big Saturday

We had a very big Saturday this weekend. On Saturday was the annual Burlingame Pet Parade. We have never been, but we decided to check it out this year and it was a wonderful event - the type that makes you fall in love with your community even more. Basically, Burlingame comes out in force with bands, kids, and pets, all dressed up to the nines - think Halloween for pets, or super eager families who want to get a jump on it. We saw 2 marching bands, and the San Mateo Elks band that remained seated. We saw lap dogs dressed up as flowers and a doggy bag. we saw a great dane as a horse. Before the parade started, Miles and Dad had fun in the street.

After the parade, we headed up to San Francisco for Kidaroo - a kids concert benefiting a local school with a string of kid-rock bands on the little marina green, right by the Saint Francis yacht club where my parents had their wedding reception 42 years ago.

This weekend was one of those San Francisco September heat waves - there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was 85-90 degrees. We don't have much of a summer, but our September is amazing. We tried to get Miles to take a nap during the concert in a little tent, but it was too hot and we didn't much want Miles soup for dinner - so we opted to skip the nap. He was mostly well behaved, but clearly on his 3rd, 4th and then 5th wind by the time we left.

Miles had an amazing time and was asleep before we left the city. We had a quiet night at home and an early bedtime. In fact, Tim and I were in bed at 9. What a wonderful (and tiring!) day.

Kids say the darndest things...

Some of the more recent ones:

"Miles, which sweatshirt do you want to wear? (Brown hoodie full zip or orange fleece half zip.)"
"Ummm... deez one (brown). Miles look fat in dat one (orange)."

Touching the mole on the side of my cheek by my ear.... "Mommy nipple right there."

Love it.

twitch, twitch, twitch....

My eyelid is twitching out of control today. I have heard this happens from stress and lack of sleep. Check. Check.

Miss Amelia still isn't sleeping through the night. We have slightly changed our approach of late, introducing formula into the dream feeds and having Tim try to treat her for teething. I'd like to say that I think it might be helping, but it's Friday afternoon again and I think I could fall over. Last week I was tired by Friday that I literally drove home to get an hour nap in before the kids came home, and I just might need to do the same tonight. It's been another frantic week at the office with working at home at night -- and then being up twice a night doesn't help either. I imagine that this is a time of my life I am likely to not remember - which means its all the more reason to be active on the blog. But I am just so tired....

Happy, but tired.

Oh my....

Tonight was just one of those nights.

Tim had the kids in the bath as I organized things like laundry and laying out clothes for tomorrow - and all seemed to be perfect in our little house. Until Amelia pooped in the tub. Nice. We got Miles out of the tub as quickly as possible, wrapped him up in his towel, and put him on the chair in the living room. We then got Amelia out of the tub and I started to get her changed on the couch in the living room with Miles. Tim, unfortunately got the job of cleaning the tub.

But wait, there's more!

While I was dressing Amelia, and Tim was cleaning poop out of the tub, Miles announced that he peed. Naked. In his towel. On the chair. Double-nice.

Sometimes it's so bad, it's just funny.

Calling Mama & Pop-pop

Miles has gotten very into the phone lately. Sometimes he plays shy at the end, but he has been known to insist on calling Dado, Beebles & Bynnie (the dog) or Mama and Pop-pop. Last weekend, he picked up his toy phone and was determined to call his grand parents. We're so lucky to have all of the grandparents in our children's lives - and that they know how loved they are by the preceding generations.

Fifi

There is a new little girl at Mama Sue's who is in love with Miles. Apparently she won't do anything without him. The other day, he was sitting down to eat and she made a huge fuss about sitting next to him. He didn't realize what she wanted, and thought she wanted to sit where he was sitting, so graciously, he got up to move and switched his seat.... at which point she followed him and continued her fuss until the adults moved who was sitting next to Miles so she could sit there.

Just this morning on drop off, she was playing in the playroom waiting for Miles to come and eat. As soon as we arrived, she ran to the kitchen to eat her breakfast. Apparently she just can't bare to eat without him.

However, Miles doesn't much like her back - I am sure it is the first of many unrequited crushes. :(

I have never heard him say anything bad about anyone, but the other day he announced that "Miles no like Fifi". I haven't quite figured out the full story (apart from her obvious clinginess) but apparently, she also pronounces his name wrong and calls him something closer to Milo instead of Miles. As soon as she says his name, all the little kids who can speak say "No! MIYOS!". While none of them can really pronounce his name, they are all fiercely defending him.

Tiguh Tumin'!

A while ago, Miles invented a tiger that follows us home from Mamma Sues. About 1/2 way home, he'll announce that the tiger is coming and that we need to go faster - super fast in fact. We then get to an intersection where he decides which way the tiger is going to go and which way we will go home. We then make the turn, say goodbye to the tiger and go along on our merry way.

I love that his little imagination has just exploded. You can see it in his playing at home, or with things like the tiger. He also has a game where he turns one of us into a tiger - who then has to chase him. As soon as you get too close, he turns you into a giraffe. No idea - but great fun for all!

Boing!

It seems like the bouncy chair has been the only milestone Amelia hasn't hit earlier than Miles, but she finally has it. She loves being upright, in the center of everything, and bouncing away. As often as Miles amuses her, she amuses herself with this - and certainly entertains the whole family with it, too!

Party Tricks

Last weekend, we went to Half Moon Bay to celebrate Natalie's 3rd birthday. Natalie was a little girl at Miles' daycare who just graduated. He always had a thing for her even though she was the one who bit him. Miles had a blast on the ponies and went nuts in the bouncy house. More interestingly, however, was all the little girls who went nuts on him in the bouncy house - they were literally tackling our little Bubs who mostly took it in stride.

As we left, each of the kids were given a party bag. We didn't do much with the party bags until this past weekend when Miles figured out the little horn blowy thing... much to Amelia's amusement.

Some vids from Soda Springs

I was just clearing out the video camera and uncovered these. For whatever reason, closing weekend was a super magical time, and I still feel that when looking at these videos. I just love how much my kids love one another and how much they love Soda Springs. (Ok, Amelia may not know that she loves Soda Springs yet, but she'll figure it out soon enough!)

2 1/2 years!!!

I can't believe it, but Miles is 2 and a 1/2 years old. Sometimes I look at him, and he is still my little baby, but mostly I see a little boy. His language is exploding and we now talk all the time - real conversations. I am totally surprised by his little memory, and he is picking up concepts really quickly. Some snippets:

• "Look Miles, a school." "Yeah, people going Kindergarten there." "Yeah, kindergarten." "But Mamma and Pop-pop are too big for Kindergarten." "yes, that's true, Mamma and Pop-pop already went to kindergarten. Where are mamma and Pop-pop now?" "On a boat!" (Cruising in Alaska.)
• "Miles, are you done with your blueberries?" (he, looks) "No, just have a little bit left".

He is amazing with his little sister and is constantly jumping out of bed to say goodnight or good morning to her. He is a wonderfully polite little boy and says please, thank you and your welcome all the time. He has even started to say "bless you" when someone sneezes, including himself.

When I count my blessings, I count Miles twice.

Miles wearing his hair like Amelia

And one more guitar one because they ROCK

Guitar Hero

2 weekends ago, we went down to Santa Cruz with the kids, Uncle Doogan, Mamma, Pop-pop, Kylie and Cody. Miles was THRILLED to see his cousins, in fact, when they all met up, Miles was so excited he ran down the boardwalk flailing his legs out to the right and left - just an expression of pure joy.

As we milled about the boardwalk, Miles was disinterested in all the games and other "schlock" the boardwalk promoted - until he saw the stall with guitars. At which point, he made a hard left, crossed pedestrian traffic and waited for one of us to win him a guitar. The game was to throw 2 darts into a star on a board. Tim took a couple of attempts, so did Uncle Doogan - but it was actually me with Amelia in the Bjorn who one him the guitar. I actually threaded the second dart into the back of the first one - like Robin Hood. The kid manning the booth gaped and declared he hadn't seen that before. We hardly noted the rareness of the throw and concetrated on arguing why we had one our little man his guitar.

He then spent the rest of the day walking around the boardwalk and playing. We could hardly get it out of his hands for the ride back, and 2 weeks later it is still his favorite toy. Clearly Miles has a thing for stringed instruments.

In fact, last weekend up in Soda Springs, our caretaker's daughter Brooklyn had her small guitar and she let Miles hold it. I really think this might be his future album cover....

Funny kids

Last weekend we went up to close Soda Springs for the summer. :( It was a gorgeous weekend full of mental pictures. I am not sure if it was that the light was better (which it is in the fall) or if I was trying to capture all the memories to get me through the winter (which I did), but it just seemed like everything was a memory. Miles ran around like he owned the place - and knew just where the ping pong table way, Nick's cabin, and even the lake. On the ride out, I started saying "Goodbye" to everything like the cabin, the meadow, the soda house, and the river. Miles repeated everything, and then started adding his own "goodbye lake, goodbye beach, goodbye trees) so cute! I hope that he grows up knowing how special of a place it is and loving it as much as his parents do.

While in the cabin, Amelia scooted everywhere on the floor. She really became a filthy mess, but couldn't have been more pleased with herself. At one point while I was trying to photograph her excursion, she made the following face:


Obviously not her prettiest, but Miles thought it was so funny, he wanted to imitate it!

Visit from daddo!

Daddo and his partner were out in CA for the weekend and came by for dinner. Out Little Bug was a bit cranky, but couldn't have been happier in her grandfather's arms. Daddo was a little tired and hurting, but he danced away with our little girl and she calmed down and loved the cuddles!

Make up man

While I was putting on my make up the other day, miles took to the activity. He quietly sat next to me, which is big for him, and brushed on his own eye shadow... Just not on his eyes.

Holy Cow - 7 months!

Life has been insane, and I can't say I have been all that graceful at handling life as a working mom with 2 kids. However, everyone is happy and healthy even though Mom is exhausted!

Amelia is 7 months old today, and here are some notes on her development:

• Teething. Awesome. The first one came out of no where 2 weeks ago, but lately she has been snotty, cranky, and waking up at all hours.
• Eating. She eats everything. She seems constantly hungry and is always thrilled to have more food. We got her her own high chair so she now sits at the table and not on the table - very Exciting! I think she loves being in her own chair, and when she is done eating, she is mostly content sitting in her chair and chewing on a teething biscuit or frozen fruit until the rest of us are done with dinner.
• Moving. Amelia motors everywhere, though still in the army crawl. She often gets up on her hands and knees and can sometimes scoot both her legs forward at once, but she hasn't figured out the real crawl, though I imagine it is coming soon.
• Communicating. Though she hasn't started with many of her consonants, she engages with her squeaks and her grunts. She is ahead of the curve physically so I am not concerned that she might be a week or 2 behind the curve verbally.
• Sleeping. Still not through the night, especially while teething. She seems fine with it, but I am pretty cranky. :)
• Siblings. Miles adores her and she adores him. Lately the two have become quite chatty at night with each other and part of their routine involves entertaining one another before the drift off. It is literally my favorite time of night when we've put them to bed and listen to them build their relationship.
  

More to come soon, she is an amazing little love and we can hardly imagine life without her.