New 9-Month Milestone

Miles decided this weekend that he no longer wanted to eat anything that he couldn't put in his mouth himself. Delicious oatmeal and bananas? Poison! Death! Spoons are only allowed now if he helps guide them into his mouth, which is kind of a cool development, but makes mealtime three times longer (and messier) than usual. We bought a little bamboo spoon that has a super wide handle and it seems to help him to grab on on and hit the moving target. Every once in a while he forgets to insist on helping and we can shovel in a few spoons of food without him noticing -- although I'm sure it's just a matter of hours before he figures us out.

In addition to acquiring the proper tools for the job, I spent Saturday morning researching baby finger foods. While he tolerates the spoon, he really just wants to feed himself. Since it's probably not advisable for him to live on cheerios stuffed with goat cheese and almond butter, cantaloupe and chunks of banana, I found a few recipes for baby nibbles that will hopefully round out his diet. Here he is enjoying bits of homemade turkey loaf (sounds gross, but actually quite tasty) and quartered grapes. He's definitely more fond of the grapes, but the turkey bits are disappearing slowly.

In just a day, life got a lot more interesting!

This is 9 Months

A day late posting this, but I'm not sure if I could have asked for a better way for Miles to celebrate his first nine months on earth. It's pretty impossible these days to get annoyed at his antics. Basically, it went like this: Jesse set the box on our sideboard after giving him snacks while watching a soccer game, we put him on the ground to play and turned our backs. Guess he decided that he wasn't done snacking. After eating a few fists full, he started kicking them around. It was brilliant. And he knew it!

Saturday Morning Tradition

We made pancakes and eggs this morning for breakfast. Carrying on family tradition with one more generation. Miles liked his first real taste of the weekend!

First Tastes of Greatness

Miles had his first taste of Ken's Artisan Bakery the other night at dinner and first bites of summer -- watermelon. I've been trying to slowly introduce a bit more table food, so he also had little chicken pieces (which he mostly threw on the floor). First, Ken's. They're the best baguettes I've ever tasted, well maybe except in Paris (and I think they'd give quite a few Parisian bakeries a run for their money). He wasn't sure what to think about it at first, but got the hang of it in no time. With the watermelon; skepticism at first, but was pretty into it by the end. I can't wait until the weather warms up and we can picnic with his favorites. And now on to the best part of this post, the photos:

More Teething

Miles has had a rough couple of days. It seems as though he's teething again and has had a hard time sleeping. Last night before dinner, all he wanted to do was snuggle and read books (an unusual set of activities, particularly in the evening). We can't tell exactly which ones are coming in. I think I've seen a little bulge on the top, but also on the bottom left. Overall, sad times. Here's a photo of him after a huge production over taking a nap. There was a little moaning, a little crying, and lots of noises that sounded like baby Chewbacca might never get any rest. But he finally passed out with hands splayed and foot propped up on his crib.  

Also, my new camera rocks. You wouldn't believe how dark it was in his room and it was still able to capture this photo.

First Step

Miles took his first step last night just before going to bed. He was holding onto a chair, let go and moved his foot to try and step toward me. We were all a little surprised and didn't get a chance to capture it on camera. I've tried my best to get him to do it again, but guess that'll just have to wait. And this photo of him enjoying the flowers will have to suffice. Hopefully we'll have a video soon!

Tongue Tricks

Not sure where he learned to do this, but he's been demonstrating his new trick all day long.

Almost Walking

Miles was a pretty active baby this weekend while we were visiting family in Texas. One night before bed he decided to show off his skills. I give him two weeks tops before he attempts this on his own. 

Mother's Day

Miles was the model baby on Mother's Day this year. He was cheerful and funny and made it very easy to be his Mom. He was such a good baby that I got to sleep in until 9:30 and Jesse was able to surprise me with flowers and breakfast treats. We then spent the day playing around the house. 

One of Miles' favorite games right now is crawling in, around, and under things. He especially likes it when his dad's face is on the other side.

After playing with his dad, he dazzled me with his balance skills.

And after dazzling me with his balance skills, he sat still long enough for me to give him a much needed Mother's Day haircut.*

*Dear siblings (and certain siblings-in-law), faux hawk still in tact, just tamed.

More Standing

Stand and Twist

Miles has been trying for a while to stand on his own, scooting on his butt, letting go of furniture, and plunging head first into his toy bin. Tonight though, I caught him on video. 

Climbing

Miles learned today that the holes in his toy bin are the perfect size for his big toes. It's like a climbing wall for babies. Unfortunately, he went in head first and was not pleased. I'm sure that won't stop him from doing it over and over again.

Sunday Picnic

Miles started our outing with a catnap in the car. Jesse and I just couldn't bring ourselves to wake him, so we lugged him out to the park where he napped on the picnic table and we enjoyed our sandwiches. Naturally, he woke up and was pretty annoyed that he was still strapped into his carseat, so we spread out our picnic blanket in the grass nearby. Jesse put Miles in the grass to see how he'd like the new textures and colors, but he wasn't really all that interested. He stayed still like a statue on his hands and knees until we moved him onto the blanket. Guess he takes after his mom, enjoys nature, but not rolling around in it. 

Our friends, Dan & Joanie, joined us at the park and we basked in the sunshine for a while. Miles thoroughly enjoyed all of the attention and watched as the other kids played in the distance. We thought we'd get to use the swing set, but given that this is the best day we've had since the fall, I wasn't surprised to see tons of kids waiting their turn. Swings were just not in the cards.