This one makes me want to gush

Today Milo blew me a kiss for the first time. Before today, I would blow him a kiss, with the kissy noise and the hand gesture, and he would either a) do nothing, or b) bring his hand to his mouth, then get distracted and suck on his fingers.

But today he brought his hand to his mouth, and said "ah" as he brought has hand down. It was so cute. I was so proud of him.

And, speaking of being proud, Milo can sort of feed himself with a spoon. He likes to hold the spoon at meals, and lately Andrew tried putting some food on the spoon, then helping guide it to Milo's mouth. Well, now when Andrew puts some food on the spoon, Milo can bring it to his own mouth. We cheered for him, and I think Milo was proud of himself, too. (and ok, sometimes Milo would just pick the food off the spoon with his other hand. But hey, it's a start.)

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Two Not-So-Great Firsts

In the last week or so, Milo has experienced a couple of firsts that, frankly, I would have preferred him to avoid forever. But avoidance would have been nearly impossible.

1. Milo had his first injury that involved blood. Thankfully, not a lot of blood. He tripped and fell into the coffee table, smacking his face in the process. He got a bruise on his upper lip, and bit his mouth. Yeah, that one made him cry for quite awhile.
2. Milo choked on a piece of food for the first time. The culprit? Watermelon. I guess the piece was too big and it just slid down too fast and made Milo choke and gag. I think it startled him more than anything, because the food didn't stay stuck at all. But the gagging that followed lasted way longer than I would have guessed. My heart also pounded way longer than I would have guessed. Milo needed quite a bit of consoling after this episode. He cried (for way longer than after the bleeding incident, to my surprise) and screamed and could not calm down. Even his beloved paci could not soothe him. But after he was out of his high chair and in my arms, some patting and shushing eventually did the trick. The watermelon was cut into much smaller pieces, and Milo resumed eating it, as though nothing had ever happened.

Last night...

...I was home alone with Milo until Andrew got home from yoga at 7:00.
...Dinnertime was one big tantrum.
...Mashed potatoes were thrown on the floor.
...Meatballs were flung halfway across the kitchen.
...Milo threw his cup on the floor and refused to drink any water.
...Milo drank a ton of tub water during his bath.
...Milo peed all over the changing table immediately following his bath.
...The puddle was too tempting, and pee was swished around and got all over Milo's hands.
...Bedtime nursing did not go well.
...Milo bit me. Hard. Three times.
...Two of the three Langfords ended up in tears.

The Birthday Party!

As I may have mentioned once or twice or a hundred times, Milo turned one last week. And we celebrated by throwing him a birthday party. I spent a LOT of time planning and preparing for this party, and I have to say, it was all worth it. Milo had a great time, and everything turned out just right. All in all, it was a success.

To read my commentary and see a few select photos, continue reading. For a slide show of all the party pics, scroll to the bottom of this post or view my web album here.

Happy Birthday, Milo. You're the best.

It was a robot theme. Since I wrote the copy for her website, Janice of RSVParty made this robot for me. She also helped me come up with tons of great ideas for the party. If you want a great wedding/party planner, hire this woman. Thanks, Janice! Anyway, robot theme. Lots of robot things, like these robot snacks:

There were robot placemats.

I even made a robot cake! Can you believe it? Isn't he cute? I love his little donut legs. It was my very special funfetti recipe. Been in the family for years.

Milo wasn't sure what to think of all the party fun.

But he warmed up by present-opening time. Note his adorable "one" onesie, courtesy of my friend Erica. So sweet! He's worn it three times in the last week, and I'm not even kidding.

Milo was not too eager to dig into his cake at first. He was all, WTF? What is this? Why is it not cut into tiny bites like I am used to? And why were all those people singing and staring at me a second ago?

But Daddy gave him a taste and he was all, meh. Cake is okay, I guess. Perhaps I eat some more.

Milo was pretty cute with cake smeared all over his face. Until he rubbed his eye and got a frosting shiner. I swear no one punched him.

Milo loves balloons. I am tempted to keep some balloons on hand just to entertain him. They never failed to produce a smile, even in the most dire of circumstances, like when Milo felt a smidge hungry or preferred to be carried.

So I have a toddler now. It's true what they say about time flying when you're having fun etc. etc. Nobody's more fun than this little man.

*A big THANK YOU to JiaoJiao for taking all these photos!

Milo's One-Year Photo Shoot

Yesterday Milo and Andrew and I met Rachel, our wedding and "baby's first year" photographer, at the Plaza branch of the KC public library for Milo's one-year photo shoot. Milo had a great time playing and checking out the sights, and we had fun chasing after him and occasionally smiling for the camera. Thanks, RPM Photography, for another fantastic photo shoot.

Check out the preview on the RPM blog here.

Birthday Video: The Remix

I had some issues with my previous first-year video. Let's try it again, this time with different music...

One Entire Year: the 12-Month Stats

Wow. Milo is one year old. Twelve months. 365 days. And—sing it with me—525,600 minutes. Here are his official statistics.

• Weight: 21 lbs., 10 oz. (30th percentile)
• Length: 28 3/4 in. (20th percentile)
• Head Circumference: 18 1/4 in. (50th percentile)

At one year, Milo can walk.

At one year, Milo likes to be carried.

At one year, Milo can climb our entire staircase without ever pausing to rest.

At one year, Milo has said his first word: kitty. He had said it at eleven months, but I wasn't sure if he knew what he was saying. But now it's pretty clear that whenever he sees Zadie, he says the same noise, "kheekhee," which is obviously "kitty."

At one year, Milo began to get ear infections again. Thank you, tubes. He's been on antibiotics twice in the last month, and at his check-up today, I learned that his other ear got an infection WHILE HE WAS ON THE ANTIBIOTICS. Did not know that was possible.

At one year, I, too, have an ear infection. I now feel a whole lot more sympathy for Milo—this really freaking hurts. My head may explode at any minute.

At one year, Milo is a super snuggler. When he isn't feeling well especially, he likes to cuddle and cuddle. He lays his head down on your shoulder and rests his hand on your arm. Nothing in the world feels better than this.

At one year, Milo likes to be close. If he's feeling the need, he'll just reach out and touch me on the leg or arm as he plays on the floor, just to be sure I haven't gone anywhere.

At one year, Milo is a pretty good eater, unless he's sick. He likes cheese a lot right now.

At one year, Milo has been teething for much of the last month, and yet...

At one year, Milo still has just two teeth. I swear the top two are *thisclose* to coming in. In another month, I'll likely be saying the same thing, though.

At one year, Milo loves balloons.

At one year, Milo loves to be outside. Thank god it's warming up outside.

At one year, Milo is a waving fool. He waves at anything and anybody. Occasionally he waves in the opposite direction of the person he's waving at. Pretty funny.

At one year, Milo doesn't like to put his sippy cup down on his tray. It almost always ends up on the floor.

At one year, Milo is already quite good at throwing tantrums. If he wants to be picked up and I'm not quite able or ready to pick him up right that instant, he cries and cries, and throws himself prostrate on the floor. Can't wait for the terrible twos...

At one year, Milo no longer gets breast milk during the day. I am done pumping during the work day, and it is glorious. In place of the breast milk, Milo drinks whole milk, but some days he likes it and some days he doesn't. I'm not concerned about that, as long as he gets enough fluids and eats his green veggies.

At one year, Milo likes to be tickled and likes to tickle. If he can see a bit of tummy poking out when Mama or Daddy is lying on the floor, he pokes it and we laugh. And the tickling game goes on.

At one year, Milo loves hiding behind the curtain in the office while we say "Wherrrrrrrre's Milo?" Then he flings it aside and giggles and giggles when we shriek with surprise and delight to see him. This is one of my favorite games.

At one year, Milo is entertained by his toys and can play independently for quite some time. That is, when he isn't sick.

At one year, Milo has deep blue eyes, brownish reddish blondish hair, dark brown eyelashes, and gorgeous pink-red lips.

At one year, Milo's thighs are exceedingly chompable, as are his toes, elbows, and neck.

At one year, Milo is so cute, so sweet, so lovable, so wonderful, so everything.

At one year, I don't know how we got so lucky. I love Milo more than I ever thought I could love someone. I feel so privileged to be his mommy.

Happy Birthday, Milo

A few thoughts

• Milo’s birthday party is on Sunday, and I still have SO MUCH to do to get ready. Crossing my fingers that it will all come together in the end…
• I’m down another few pounds (!!!) and it seems my weight-loss plateau has finally come to an end. I’m now twelve pounds below my starting pregnancy weight and only five pounds from my goal.
• Milo has been sick again, and we’re all dragging in the Langford household. For whatever reason (teething, difficulty breathing, generally not-feeling-well), Milo has been waking up every day for the last week or so at 5am. Or earlier, if we’re lucky. And I am TIRED.
• I am no longer pumping at work. So nice not to be doing that anymore. And Milo is doing just fine (other than the aforementioned issues, that is).
• This morning Milo was in the bathroom with me while I, um, used the facilities. He opened the cabinet, pulled out a large box of pantyliners, and grabbed them by the fistful, surrounding himself with little piles of feminine hygiene items. Time for more babyproofing!
  
• As you know, today is St. Patrick’s Day and I would like a shamrock shake. Can someone please make that happen for me?

Well Said

I just read a post on the Advice Smackdown from my favorite blogger, Amalah, about mom judgey-ness. The post was actually about cloth diapering, but the part that really hit home with me was this:

You’re either the Weird Mom who won’t let them have food coloring or the Bad Mom who treats them to McNuggets for lunch. And honestly, I could not care less about any of it anymore. I’m a cloth-diapering breast-feeding bottle-supplementing co-sleeping crib-transitioning baby-food-making baby-wearing stroller-pushing ingredient-obsessing cartoon-watching Weird Bad Good Enough Mom, and I LOVE IT.

Like every other mom out there, I'm full of contradictions in the way I parent: I have fed Milo fewer than ten jars of store-bought baby food, but his birthday cake is coming straight from a box. I have given Milo exactly one bottle of formula, but I'm still feeling guilty about giving up pumping at work one week before his first birthday instead of pumping all the way until the year mark. I put Milo on an alternative immunization schedule in order to prevent too much bad stuff from going into his little body all at once, but I have given him Ibuprofin pretty much every day for the last week and a half.

And I hope no one judges me for any of those decisions. That's the way I do things because it works for us. And I love it, too.

Less than two weeks to go

One year ago, I was hugely pregnant and sure I'd go into labor any minute. I had no idea what I was about to get into. Even if the me of today told the me of last year what this year would be like, I wouldn't have understood. There's honestly no way to explain what it's like to figure out how to be a mom. (You never really figure it out, by the way. There are always new challenges and new things to learn. Thankfully, Milo doesn't seem to have a clue that his dad and I are novices.)

Milo will be one year old in a little less than two weeks. In the most cliche way possible, this year has truly flown by. I watch Milo every day learning something new and figuring things out. And he amazes me. Just a few short months ago he couldn't even control his arm movements or lift his head. Now he can point, wave, bounce, climb, walk. And the list goes on.

I think Milo might be starting to say his first words. Like many things, his "first word" is fairly ambiguous. I think he has started saying something like a guttural "keekee" when he sees the kitty. I definitely hear "mamamama" when he wants to nurse. And this morning he may have pointed at the bookshelf and said "ehh-sit?" which sounded a lot like "what's this?" (Surely he can't be saying two-word phrases, right?) But the very first word to go in the old proverbial baby book? Not sure at all.

I'm thrilled that Milo is getting older and I'm sad that he's not staying small. More happy than sad. I can't wait to run around outside with him this summer or sing songs with him or take him to the petting zoo at Deanna Rose. He's just going to love that stuff.

But he has tubes!

Milo has ANOTHER ear infection. I noticed last week that there was goop coming out of his ear, and I wondered if that was just what happened when a baby has tubes, or if it was something to be concerned about. And after a call to the doc and several days of goop, we decided it was something to be concerned about. And sure enough, infection.

I thought the tubes would prevent this sort of thing. But I guess they're not magic tubes. If I'd known Milo would still get ear infections and be on antibiotics just two months after getting the tubes, would we have still chosen to go ahead with the surgery? Probably? But I wonder, was it worth the risk?

And, speaking of antibiotics, get this. The day Milo took his first dose of his ten-day course of meds, the pharmacy called me around 10:00pm and left a message, which I did not see until 10:30. They thought there has been a problem with the water dispenser, and Milo's medicine might not have enough water mixed in. Meaning, he might be getting extra strong stuff. Also, we might run out early. They wanted us to bring in the bottle so they could check it and replace it with a definitely-mixed right bottle.

So at 10:45, long after I wished I had been in bed, I set out for the pharmacy. And they had indeed messed up the water mix. Sigh. I'm glad they called; I wouldn't want Milo to have gotten extra-strength amoxicillin for a week or more. But I would have been more glad if it hadn't gotten messed up in the first place.

(He's feeling much better now. Aside from the teething, anyway. He's still Mr. Crankybutt, but I like him anyway.)