Our Little Alarm Clock

Miles has been doing really well in his toddler bed. He sleeps all night but runs in our room in the morning to get in bed with us. At first this was perfect b/c he would come in our room around 6:30am, which is the time he usually gets up. However, lately it's been getting earlier and earlier every morning. Yesterday when he decided to get in bed with us at 5:40am, I decided we had to break this trend.

Last night I talked to him about staying in his bed until daddy came to get him. I told him he could not come get in mommy & daddy's bed in the morning, and that he needed to wait until we told him he could get up. We went over it several times and one last time right before he laid down.

So, I heard him crying in his bed around 5:45am...but then it got quiet. Success, he had gone back to sleep. Then around 6am, I hear his little feet running through the living room. Usually he just runs straight to our room. This morning, I just kept hearing his feet on the hardwood. We couldn't figure out what he was doing, but we guessed that he was purposely not coming in our room.

Finally after a couple minutes of this, he sat down right outside our bedroom door in a way that he was sure we could see him. He wasn't talking or making any noise....just sitting quietly in the corner. We'll never know how long he would have sat there b/c we died laughing. I finally told him that he could come get in bed with us.


It's amazing what kids can learn and how much they understand. A friend told me about an alarm clock that parents set to let kids know when it is ok to come out of their room. The light is yellow all night and then turns to green when they can come out. We might have to invest. More talks tonight about actually staying in his bed....

Wordless Wednesday

New Room

Miles has been talking about his new room at daycare for a few weeks now. Today was the day.

He was so excited about Room 3...

This is his new room, with tons of new toys...



Amelia & Ethan were so excited to see him when he arrived. You could tell that they were excited too...

He had a very good day. They have a class hamster which he thought was great. As soon as I got there to pick him up, he said "mon momma" which means "come on momma" and he lead me over to the hamster so I could see it.

He told me on the way home "door...teachers...daddy...momma"....that translates to "only the teacher, daddy & momma are allowed to open the doors". I only knew that b/c his teacher told me when I dropped him off that they would be teaching them that first. Even though I needed a translator, it was so neat to pick him up from his first day of his new room and hear what he had learned. I'm so excited about all the new things he will learn over the next year.

Moving On Up

Tomorrow, Miles moves up to Room 3 at daycare. We have both enjoyed our time in Room 2 very much. In Room 2, the kids learn a lot...to feed themselves, colors, numbers, how to play outside, coloring & painting, songs...he has been a busy boy all year long.

The past year also saw it's share of scrapped faces & noses, allergic reactions & bite marks. Growing up can be tough! I always hated to see the daycare # come up on my cell and hear "Jennifer, this is Ms. Debra"....she was always super calm & I knew he was in good hands, but my heart always sank a little.

I took my old camera to daycare and left it for a month. The teachers took some random pictures. Unfortunately the camera is really old, so the pictures aren't great quality. Nevertheless, it's always fun to see pictures of Miles playing and some with his friends.

Miles & Alex Belew....I would ask him everyday on the way to daycare who he wanted to see that day. 9 out of 10 times, he would say Alex Bah-llleeeewwww (just like that)...

I think Miles and Molly have a love/hate relationship. Must have been love on this day. Molly's last name is McClure and these 2 have always resembled each other.

One of his besties...Amelia...

Neeley is another cute friend. Her mom & I are friends, so they have no choice :)





Miles isn't in this picture, but how cute is this? Miles calls them trucks...

Miles had several teachers in Room 2 that we have loved, but the lead teacher, that was there all year, was Dr. Debra. Some of my favorite things about Ms. Debra are: she takes good care of the kids and handles accidents wonderfully, she loves them without babying them, she doesn't act bothered by my questions & texts. We will miss Ms. Debra a lot.

Miles got her a little gift to say thanks...

The note says: Ms. Debra, The time has come for me to move up. Thanks for teaching, loving & watching out for me over the last year. I enjoyed every second with you. Love, Miles. The gift was a rubber boyfriend watch, hence all the time references.

Tomorrow begins the next phase. We're all ready to see what it holds.

Pros & Cons

I always said we would not be those parents that plan everything around their child's schedule. I wanted my kid to be able to go with the flow. Then we did Babywise and it was so fantastic....but it puts you on a schedule....and we've never gotten off. Part of that is my personality and part of it it Miles who probably has my personality. We just don't function as well outside of our routine. And, I don't push him enough b/c selfishly I don't want to pay for it.

He goes to bed between 7:30 - 8pm every night. 8:15pm is a late night. Tonight I decided to throw caution to the wind and watch Darrin play church softball at 7:30pm. We won the first game, which meant he played again at 8:30pm. Oh what the heck, we'll stay for that game too. Miles was filthy and needed a dry diaper but we ignored all that & just kept playing.


We got home around 10ish and still had to have a bath. When he got out of the bath, he hit a wall. Not bad considering he had done pretty well until that point. I got him dressed....we turned on his night light....turned on his music....and I told him to climb up in his bed. He was crying so hard he couldn't catch his breath. At this point, nothing was going to help except sleep.

So, I put him in his bed, walked out, and shut the door. He was screaming & crying while sitting up. This is our first real test of the toddler bed b/c he could have just gotten up.....but he didn't. I walked to our room and talked to Darrin for a minute and by the time I got back to his room, it was silent. And that my friends, is why I appreciate our schedule. It was chaos for a few minutes when he laid down, but when it's all said and done, he knows what to do. Now, I need to do the same. Good night.

Wordless Wednesday

Family Pictures

We had family pictures taken Saturday. My friend (& boss) took them for us. I wanted her to take some for us last year but Miles kept falling on the sidewalk at daycare and his face was never camera ready. I wanted to make sure that we got some made around Miles' second birthday, which is in 3 weeks, and before the chaos that is volleyball season.

It was blazing hot outside at 9 in the morning, but the pictures turned out great. We took them at the UTM quad. She took 300 pics in 30 minutes & I love them. I went through them immediately on Saturday and cropped/edited a few. I took more time tonight and found even more that I love. Enjoy!




He really is a happy kid, I promise...




A favorite from the day...


Another favorite...




Look at that face...



Love...

Absolute favorite of the day. Seriously...

Thank you to my anonymous photographer! If any of my family would like some, let me know which ones and I'll get them ordered.