5.5 months!

I feel like we are on the verge of very exciting times!  Miles tried his first bowl of baby cereal not too long ago (with mixed results) and is almost old enough to eat fruits and veggies!  I get the vibe he is getting tired of his very very limited diet.  Almost every meal, he is crying for what we are eating and trying to grab things off my fork!  Don't tell Dr Mike, but more often that not we do slip baby appropriate foods in his little mouth for him to gum and taste.  Can't wait for more "approved" foods to feed him!

Obviously, he loves his cereal... Ha ha!  We started him on oatmeal, but after a few days he would just shut his mouth and turn his head and then cry if we were really persistent.  If we managed to get some in, he did all he could to spit it out!  Actually quite cute (which is probably why I tried so long).  We then switched to rice cereal, but it has been a couple of days and he doesn't seem so keen on it as he was at first.  I think the novelty has worn off!

The other day, I realized he was discriminating against some of his toys.  He was starting to play favorites and I tried my very hardest to figure out why he was rejecting some and not others.  Finally I figured out that he was only playing with the toys with tags on them, the other toys sentenced to the toy box.  He would pick up a toy, play with it until he found the tag, and then chew the poor thing to death!  So, during one of his naps last week, I pulled out some fabric and ribbon and made him a taggie blanket!  It turned out really cute, though pinning it was a nightmare!  I had to re-pin the thing three times to get it right!  If not for my retardedness, it would have been a very easy project.  He loves it and chews on it all day, giving his poor toys a break!

Miles is also getting more mobile everyday.  He rolls one way easily and the other way if we trick him to do it.  He goes after toys on his blankets and can usually scoot to them, eventually.  Sometimes I leave for a few minutes and come back to the room and he is on the other side (or off) his blanket, going after something.  He is quite often on his tummy with either his knees or his hands under him.  He hasn't quite coordinated them yet but he is quickly getting there!  He is still really young, but I have a feeling he is going to figure out scooting around better very soon!  He can also sit by himself for quite some time now, and you can tell he is getting stronger!  His signature move, however, is jumping!  If you hold him, get ready for an arm work out!  He will jump in your lap all day if you let him, and if you try laying him down, he will kick you in the stomach.  Recently, though, he has started "marching," rhythmically moving one foot and then the next.  He looks like he is walking.  When in the pool, he does this move and it looks like he is crawling across the water.  So exciting that he is getting so big!  But kinda sad...each milestone is a little sad cause it means he is growing up....  *sniff*

Andrew is on the verge of starting his next school year!  He goes back on Thursday (Aug 1) and he will have meetings and we will get his room all ready before the students start a week later (Aug 8).  Our anniversary is Aug 6, so hopefully we will make time to go on a date, though we will probably have a third wheel with us!  We love celebrating with Mr Miles! Can't believe we have been married three years!!

20 lbs and counting!

Or, Utah Trip part II

Miles is officially 20 lbs exactly!  I weighed him on my scale today (doing the old weigh myself and then myself with him).  After a couple tries the verdict is in:  20 ridiculously heavy pounds!

This next week he will hit 5 months old and I can't believe how much he is changing!  He no longer sleeps swaddled and cute in the middle of his bed sucking on his pacifier.  He sleeps like this:

 Adorable, until you see where his feet and legs are.  Baby legs + crib bars = worst screams ever!  But he is pretty cute.

As for the second half of the Utah trip, I realized after that I took absolutely no pictures of the reunion!  I don't know what I was thinking!  I will hopefully snag some from people who took pics there.  Miles really really enjoyed his first fireworks show.  He cried a little during the finale when it got really loud and bright, but did really well!  That made us happy because we LOVE fireworks!  The 4th of July is Andrew's favorite holiday :)

I did take pictures of our hiking trip though!  Miles hiked TIMP!  Well, to the first waterfall  :)  It was his first hike and I think he liked it.  He is absolutely fascinated by trees and greenery, so it was perfect.  He stared and stared and stared at the waterfall too.  We went in the evening so we had plenty of shade and it wasn't too hot either - perfect hiking conditions!  We even saw a snake out for a... slither.  That made Andrew panic, but not nearly as much as I panicked over all the bees! 

 Since we've been home, we have been getting back on decent nap schedules (Miles), working on lessons and school prep (Andrew), and finishing up misc projects (Erica).  We had a little bit of rain and it feels like August is coming with some humidity and extra heat!  The best part of the day is in the evening when we go for a walk or a swim, eat dinner together as a family, and do Mile's routine.  I just love spending time with Miles and Andrew, and bathing Miles and putting him in his jammies and seeing how happy he is makes me so glad I am a mommy.  I really do live a blessed life and couldn't be happier!