Mr. Independent

I feel like I've posted a ton of high chair pictures lately, but I have a new food development to discuss. Miles has decided that he would like to feed himself. And when I say "he would like to feed himself" that means he WILL NOT let us feed him anymore. He turns his head and clenches his mouth. Then, he screams for me to give him the spoon. The night I discovered this I actually gave him the spoon to see if that is what he wanted. This was his immediate reaction...

I let him play with it for a while to hopefully let him get it out of his system. I thought he might get frustrated b/c he wasn't able to get any food. No such luck.

I text his teacher to see if he was doing this at school. I asked her if the kids fed themselves at daycare. She said that he has become very independent and won't let them feed him either.

I let him eat his dinner by himself tonight. He did a pretty good job until he was finished. Then, I looked over and he was smashing the food in his hands. I tried to feed him some banana ice cream after dinner. I thought for sure he'd let me since it was something he loved. Nope. I hope this phase ends soon.

Dirty Boy

Someone must have played really hard at daycare today. He was a mess when I picked him up. They have that black rubber stuff on the playground. His face and hands were black.

Lately he's been loving wagon rides. If you stop the wagon though, this is what happens...

Start moving again....pure happiness....

Not Now, I'm Busy

Some people entertain their kids with TV. Not me. I use cheese puffs. I gave him 4 cheese puffs tonight and he was content for 15 minutes. It takes him forever to eat them. He'll take a couple bites off one....put it down....pick up a different one...chomp on it for awhile....and then move on. The trade off is it's messy. In my mind, a load of laundry, changing out of work clothes, unloading the dishwasher and a little Facebook is worth orange fingers.

I Love Tacos

This was Miles' first experience with Taco Bell. Thankfully he loved it. As much as Darrin and I have been eating Taco Bell lately, he would starve if he didn't. Miles is still doing great with table food but he wants to feed himself no matter what it is. This is what eating taco meat with your hands gets you....

Lions, Tigers, & Bears....Oh My!

That was the theme of Miles' birthday party on Saturday.....Miles is turning 1 oh my! We decided to have a very small party b/c Miles tends to be shy around crowds, and you never know how it's going to go with a one year old, so no need in added stress. Turns out, I think it was a great decision. He seemed to have fun and we enjoyed the party too.

There is so much hype around certain occasions/milestones....and a baby's first birthday is definitely one of those times. I have to say that his first birthday lived up to all my expectations. It was such a fun day. We had the party from 1-3pm and then all the family left and Darrin and I just hung out with Miles for the rest of the day. Darrin is so busy this time of year.....it was just nice to chill out as a family and celebrate his birthday.

Obviously he didn't know we were celebrating but I know I did a lot of reflecting over the last year. We've come a long way from that first night home from the hospital when we were literally scared to go to sleep. Lately it's hit me how much I have stressed and obsessed over Miles during the last year. I have unrealistically wanted everything to go perfectly. That's just my personality. I've always been this way. At times it lets up and then other times I can't seem to catch my breath. Now that the first year is behind us, I hope I can relax a little and just enjoy Miles.

I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves b/c it took me forever to upload them and now I'm tired! Thanks to everyone that made his birthday special. He (we) loves you all!

He was asleep 5 minutes after everyone left. Party til you drop.

One

Happy Birthday Miles! At one...

You are about to walk, but haven't taken more than a few steps yet.


You love to play. You like to play in your play room or your bedroom. We have to keep toys in every room b/c usually you just like to be close to us. Your favorite toy is any kind of ball.



You like to go to daycare and see all your friends. The teachers all really like you. I think you are a good boy while you are there. They say you laugh and smile, but most of the time you are very serious. You tend to be laid back so whatever the other kids are doing is fine with you. If they take your toy, you don't really care.



You love, love, love taking a bath. You like to get in while it's still filling up so you can play with the water as it comes out, or just watch. But watch out, when we turn it off....you get mad. You like to splash and play with toys...the big rubber duck is your favorite. When you are ready to get out, you stand up and put your arms up. If we take you out before you are ready, you get very upset.



You don't take long naps, but unless something is wrong you sleep through the night. Your favorite place to fall asleep is in Daddy's arm. I call him the baby whisperer. When he holds you, you are content and still every time. When I hold you, you are a little wiggle worm. You play with your hair, or mine, when you get start to get sleepy.


You LOVE soy milk. You get excited when you see us pouring a bottle or sippy cup. It's rare that you don't drink every drop. You started eating all table food this week and so far there's nothing you haven't eaten. You really like scrambled eggs.


You are a daddy's boy AND a momma's boy. You are very sweet and affectionate towards us. You let us know that you love us. You make us laugh all the time. Taking care of you is never a chore, it's a pleasure. We don't like to be away from you for even an hour. We love you endlessly and can't believe we have been blessed with a son as amazing as you. You made us parents and we couldn't be happier. Happy First Birthday Miles!!! We love you.

A Look Back

In honor of Miles' birthday tomorrow, Darrin gave me the idea to post a look back at how he's changed. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the last year.

The car ride home from the hospital....

The first day home from the hospital...

1 month...

2 months...

3 months...

4 months...

5 months...

6 months...

7 months...

8 months...

9 months...

10 months...

11 months...

Now...

Darrin made the comment last night that this has been the best year of our lives. Absolutely.