On the move!

Well, I think it is official. Miles is crawling. We are just in time too. We have our new floor installed in the living room and we finished repainting on Saturday. So we are ready for a mobile baby.

His first discovery...the dog water.

Another Growth Spurt

A month ago we had our "well baby checkup" and Miles got another round of vaccinations. Our Doctor was concerned that Miles was in the 1% for his weight. We have had concerns about this in previous visits, but really I'm still not too worried. We discussed this at my La Leche League meeting this week and the ladies agree that breast fed babies grow differently than those charts reflect. Our LLL leader said that breast fed babies grow in spurts rather than a steady curve and most of the weight guidelines are based on formula fed babies. And besides, my friend Stacey said, "some one has to be in the one percent." That's right! And I guess that is Miles.

Fun with Dad outside

Well, this week we went back to the Doctor to have him take another naked weight. And Miles has gained a pound and a half in a month! He now weighs 15lbs. 7oz.! So I think he was just saving up for this next growth spurt. We have also been chowing down on the solids. Our daycare provider is feeding him rice cereal and all the pureed veggies he can eat. We have also been feeding him lots of homemade purees at home. He can't seem to get enough. Broccoli, spinach, peas, green beans, squash, sweet potatoes, ground rice, apple+pear, all zapped with our stick blender. We have these cube containers that we freeze his food in single serving portions. Well, he has been eating 2 or 3 of these cubes a night. Seems like a lot for a little guy, but if that is what he needs, then we'll feed it to him. We are still nursing, and just as much it seems.

Baby on the prairie. This is on Grandpa Sam's property in Fessenden. Dad is way off in the background.

Now about the other end! I have realized talking to other moms that poop is a common subject and not really shunned when discussed while eating or drinking coffee. How life changes. Miles' BMs have changed. They are much stinkier and more solid, but they look exactly like the food that goes in him. It is weird! It seems like his system isn't digesting the food fully. But, I'm sure he is still getting all the nutrients he needs from my breast milk. And I've heard this saying "food before one is just for fun" and we are certainly having fun with our food.

Happy baby can fly!

Crawling soon?

Every day Miles gets closer and closer to being mobile, which is a little frightening because I have a feeling that once he gets going there will be no stopping him. He has held off until we got our new floor so now we have a railing for the stairs and I feel a lot better now that we can put up a baby gate.

He is getting up on all fours and rocking now. He almost has the bear crawl thing going too. He props himself up on his hands then pushes his bum up in the air with his feet. All his grunting and yelling shows he is putting in a lot of effort. It looks like he will figure it out any day now. He can get around, he scoots and gets from one end of the room to the other. But it isn't a legit crawl yet. He'll get there soon I'm sure.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

It is times like these that I really enjoy living in North Dakota. And don't take that statement lightly. The winters here can be brutal and last forever! But this year we are getting lucky with temperatures in the 70s in March! We have started thinking about planting our garden and the grass is starting to turn green. Scientists are worried about the unseasonably warm temps and early bird migrations, but for me, well I'm loving this weather. And I think we deserve it.

St. Paddy's day! We really didn't need long sleeves this day it was so warm.

Since we moved to ND in 2007 we have had snow up to our knees every year and bitter cold temperatures from October to April and even into May. People kept telling me "Our winters usually aren't this harsh." Yah right! Well this year was one of those years that made me a believer.

Digging out the car at our old apartment. April 11, 2008

Frolicking in the April snow. I think I had a tank top on under my coat in hopes of warmer weather.

We got very little snow this year, and the snow we did get melted soon afterward because temps didn't stay below freezing for very long. A rarity I think. We were able to travel for Christmas this year and Aaron only used the snow blower once to clear the driveway. In fact, we weren't even here for one of the biggest snow storms, we were in Texas.

Running O' the Green, St. Paddy's day 2012 with the Derby Girls. It was a beautiful day and no snow to slip on when going down the big hill.

So we took some time this week to get out and enjoy the warmth of the spring sunshine. Our back yard is awesome for sitting outside and relaxing while the dogs run around and play. Well, Willow plays, Hayduke just kind of lays down or goes off in the corner to poop occasionally.

Love the sunshine!

Fish eye effect

Do you know how hard it is to get a good picture of two dogs and a baby?

What's Willow looking at?

Well we hope that everyone else is having a great a spring as we are. Get outside!

What has Miles eaten?

For some reason we have been taking a lot of pictures of the foods we have been feeding Miles. I guess because it is fun to see him experience the new flavors and textures. And he gets pretty messy, which is kind of cute. On the menu, rice cereal, and purees of peas, green beans, spinach, squash, sweet potatoes, and broccoli. A friend of ours also gave us one of those mesh feeder things that you can put whole food in and they can suck on it and get the taste of it. We have put tangerines and apples in that and let him experience those flavors. Aaron also gave him a taste of a lemon from his water when we were out to eat one night.

Rice, this was the very first time he ate solids.

He doesn't seem to like the citrus much, he does this little cringe and shakes his head. He really seems to love sweet potatoes and a big surprise was the spinach.

Spinach face! I loved the bright green color of this one.

Toasted English muffin. This is actually a good teething biscuit, they get really hard when you toast them.

Squash, it doesn't show up well in the photo, but trust me it was messy.

We are getting better at feeding him. The mess is a little more contained. But the dogs do get their share when they clean up the chair and tray when Miles is done. Willow is also enjoying getting the teething biscuits that fall on the floor. I love having our dogs around to clean up the food messes. Dogs and babies make a good pairing.

Teething!!!

Wow! This teething thing is hard work. How can one little tooth cause so much trouble? And how long will this go on? Well, Miles is cutting his first tooth. We first noticed it when we were on vacation in Texas. He got a fever and wouldn't sleep. It wasn't fun. He is still having symptoms and is drooling a lot. We have been giving him Advil and Tylenol on occasion to help. We also got these Hyland's teething tablets. They are a homeopathic medicine, I guess they work ok.

There is lots of drool involved in teething. The picture just doesn't capture it.

So we are doing our best to get through this next growing pain. We can feel the tooth when he chews on our fingers, it is like a little razor in there. Ouch! It reminds me of when Willow was a puppy and she would bite us with those sharp little puppy teeth. Teething looks like it is going to be a long bumpy road. I take solice in the thought that he won't remember the torture he is going through. I just hope the memory of the torture Mom and Dad went through fades too.

Smiles do happen during teething

Rolling, rolling, rolling....Rawhide!

Another big moment in baby life. The first week in February Miles started rolling from his back to his tummy. This is a tougher one than from tummy to back. Crawling will follow soon., he is now getting up on his hands and knees but just can't quite get moving yet. We have started baby proofing the house. But where did we put those dang outlet protectors?!

We are also getting new laminate flooring in the living room and hallway. This will be an upgrade from the shag carpet we currently have and will be easier to clean up dog and baby messes. With the new floor we are going to get a railing to go above the stairs. For those of you who have been to our house you know that we pretty much have a pit where the stairs are in the living room. Thus currently there is no way to put up a baby gate to keep the little one from tumbling down the stairs. A major no no in parenting! So the new floor goes in the first week in April and we are hoping that Miles holds off with the crawling until then.

Yay! Now I won't fall down the stairs!