First play date!

Milo had his first official play date yesterday. Andrew and I had a couples' baby shower to attend (Andrew's first baby shower!), and with all the grandparents out of town, we needed to figure out something to do with Milo. So I asked one of the moms at daycare if she would mind having Milo over to play with her little guy while we went to the shower. Spoiler alert: she said yes!

Milo spent about two and a half hours there and had a great time. New toys to play with (including an electronic guitar toy, which is on Milo's hot list right now), movies to watch, snacks to eat, juice to drink, and  a new bed to jump on. Good times were had by all. And Milo's friend's mom said Milo was very well-behaved and nice and fun to have around. That's my guy.

We can't wait to return the favor and have Milo's friend over to play at our house. Can you believe my baby is old enough to have friends over? Wow, time flies.

Unrelated photo, but aren't posts with photos much nicer than the ones without?

Milo the Ring Bearer

Nearly a year ago, my dear friend JiaoJiao asked me if Milo would be the ring bearer in her wedding. Of course I said yes, but I must admit I was worried about whether or not he'd be able to handle it. He was barely a year old then, not talking much and barely walking. How was I to know what he'd be like at age two? 

I shouldn't have worried. He was great. Even on a day when he had so much going on, he handled it like a pro. We had a birthday party earlier that day, which meant he a) already had a lot of new stimulation to deal with, and b) crashed hard at naptime. When he woke up from his nap, he was... not happy. But we had to feed him his snack and get him out to the park for wedding photos.

Since we didn't want to mess up his tux in the car, he got dressed in the hatchback of my car. He could not have looked cuter in his little tux and little bowtie. He didn't mind the clothes, but took a little while to warm up to photos. Correction: he never really warmed up to the photographers or the whole idea of having his picture taken, but he did warm up to me and Daddy jumping around and dancing and making silly noises. 

We only ran into one snafu doing photos, when his boutonniere pin stuck him in his hand (because he was messing with it. Which I saw coming a mile away, because honestly, straight pins are just not meant for two-year-olds. I tried to tell him it was sharp and he shouldn't touch it, but somehow that didn't work. So he cried for awhile and got himself good and worked up, but Daddy's monkey impersonation made things all better.

We had some time to kill before the ceremony, so the tux came off for dinner and playtime. Then he got dressed again at the venue and ran around and played some more. With just a few minutes to go before it was time to line up, I put his tux jacket on and he freaked out. Did not want to wear the jacket. Jiao said he didn't have to wear it, but I knew it wasn't really about the jacket. I think he just felt that expectations were high and he knew he was supposed to go do something. Didn't want to disappoint. I talked to him, asked him if he was scared. He said yeah, so I just complimented the heck out him. Told him how great he was and what a good job he was going to do, etc. etc. And in a couple minutes, he was happy and ready to go, jacket on and everything.

And we lined up, and when it was his turn, he only hesitated briefly before practically marching up to the front. I was so proud of him. I still am so proud of him. He never ceases to amaze me.

During the ceremony, I showed him a book to try to keep him occupied. He knows this book so well, that even though I wasn't reading it aloud, at one point he said (out loud) "Horse says 'neigh!'" I looked down and yes, that was the text on that page. Such a smartie. I hope he wasn't loud enough for anyone else to hear.

Daddy and Milo both looked pretty sharp.

Milo even got a haircut for the occasion.

Suave and debonair.

"I don't like dat!" Took him a bit to get used to the bowtie.

I believe he was saying, "No, Mommy! Don't do dat!" I'm sure he could have been referring to any number of things.

Daddy had some trouble with the buttons. Not sure it was ever buttoned properly for the photos. Sorry about that, Jiao.

Running in fancy clothes.

Is he not just the cutest?

Not sure about smiling or saying cheese, but he did a stellar job of standing where we asked him to stand.

He did enjoy the sticks. Good job with that one, Jason. I'd say you're ready for fatherhood for sure.

Ahh, a bride and a baby. Such bliss.

And that is the face of a bride who was just spit up on. 

The Aquarium

We took the kids to the new aquarium in KC last week. Milo had a great time checking out the fish, the sharks, and the sea stars. Fun was had by all. We didn't purchase the requisite Sea Life photo taken upon entering, but that's okay because we've got this, my favorite photo of the day:

I don't think he wanted his picture taken.

Thankfully, he didn't make that face in every photo. More fishy fun:

Proof that Olive was there. And I think she was really into the sting rays.

Olive: Four Months Old

First, let's see how Olive is measuring up these days.

• Weight: 14 lbs., 3 oz. (60th percentile)
• Length: 24 1/4 in. (50th percentile)
• Head Circumference: 16 1/4 in. (75th percentile)

The pediatrician thought Olive looked great. I believe the words, "She's advanced for her age" were actually spoken (not that I'm a proud mama or anything).

She's practically on the move. She can easily roll from tummy to back and back to tummy. She can kick and twist and flip and wiggle until she is no longer even close to where she was laid down. No more laying her on the bed while I get dressed.

At times it almost seems like she's going to sit up on her own, and she can tripod for a few seconds at a time, but she quickly loses her balance and flops over.

Olive has excellent head control. When she's in her reclined highchair, if something catches her attention she'll hold her head up an inch or two from a resting position and hold it this way for a long time. Way longer than I could hold my head up at that angle.

Olive loves grasping things and bringing them to her mouth. She's getting good at it, too. She used to mostly bring stuff up to her eyes or her forehead, but now it more reliably goes to her mouth. She can move objects back and forth between her hands as well, and she has once or twice taken her paci out of her mouth, then put it back in again later. Not too shabby.

She smiles and smiles, especially if being smiled at. Dimples are still to die for.

She babbles and babbles. Lots to say, this one.

Lately we've taken to swaddling her for sleeping times. Not sure why Andrew tried it. I think he was just having trouble getting her to sleep, so he tried swaddling and it knocked her out cold. The next day we went out and bought a Miracle Blanket and another swaddler. She sleeps much better and for longer stretches. I can now do things during her morning nap besides sit there and hold her. Glorious. (Although I must admit that lately I've been using those naptimes to take my own nap. Which is also glorious.)

She adores her brother. Smiles at him and watches him. Sometimes I see her watching him run around and she gets this look in her eye, this sort of feisty grin. I'm pretty sure we've got a little firecracker on our hands. But let me tell you, I can't wait to see her running around with Milo.

She's amazing, and even when she's driving me completely insane, I am also completely wrapped around her teeny tiny finger. I love giving her smooches on her cheeks and her neck and making her giggle. I love blowing raspberries on her tummy and singing silly songs to her. She's an appreciative audience (unlike Milo who quickly tells me "My don't like that" when I start to sing to him).

I have two months left of maternity leave with Olive, and while I will be ready to return to work, I am going to miss spending all this time with Olive. There's really nothing like hanging out with a tiny person all day, for better or worse. But mostly for better.

My Milo

This boy. How I adore him. He's doing so much, changing so much lately. A few things:

• He sings with some sort of melody and pitch variation now. Used to just have a monotone sound, and unless you could make out the words, you really wouldn't know he was singing. His new song is "Happy Birthday," which is incredible since I don't even know the last time he was at a birthday party. Kristin, his daycare teacher, said it has been three or four weeks since the last birthday there, but suddenly Milo started singing the song. Huh.
• He is memorizing books now. We just got The Little Blue Truck, which we had from the library awhile back, but loved so much we bought it. And it's only been in rotation for maybe three days, and he knows the first lines of just about every page, and some pages he has memorized entirely. It's awesome to hear him "reading."
• He thinks "hi" is a silly word, and he says it all the time and giggles.
• He says "Olive is my best friend," all the time and my heart melts every single time. His tiny little voice, the way he leans his head over to snuggle her, the way he reaches for her hand. OMG so cute.
• He can count to ten. I asked him earlier tonight to count to ten, and he said, "One, ten!" I guess he was in a hurry.
• He has started holding his hands and fingers up and saying, "That's a diamond," or "That's a heart," and he's totally right. He is forming a diamond or a heart. 
• He's getting pretty good at drinking from a cup, but still tends to rush and spill.
• He's going to be the ring bearer at my friend Jiao's wedding next weekend, and tonight we were talking about the wedding and how he was going to walk down the "indoor sidewalk" and get dressed up so someone could take his picture, and he just said, "ring bear." He HAS been hearing me when I keep talking about this! So excited. He's going to look aDORable in his little tux!

My kids holding my Mother's Day gift. Don't they look thrilled?

Over she flips

This morning Olive turned herself over from her back to her tummy. She was playing on her playmat in the bathroom while Andrew took a shower, and when I walked in, she was lying on her tummy with one arm awkwardly squashed underneath her. "Did you lay her down on her tummy?" I asked Andrew. Nope. "Then she must have rolled over," I logically concluded.

And after one crappy cell phone photo was taken, she rolled back to her typical face-up position and the moment was over.

She sure is getting strong, don't you think?

Two Stories About Milo

Me: Milo, we're going to the playground later, won't that be fun?
Milo: Playground! Yay, yay, yay!!!
Me: Yay! What's your favorite thing at the playground?
Milo: Seeps.
Me: The swings? Swings sure are fun!
Milo: Baaaa.
Me: Oh! Sheep! I don't think we're going to see any of those at the playground, Buddy.

After bath, Andrew gives Milo some lotion to put on himself/distract him while Andrew lotions him up. This happened:
Milo: I put lotion on my knees. (Rubs lotion on knees.) And my nipples. (Rubs lotion on nipples.)

The day has come.

Nooooo!!!!1!

Milo just walked out of his bedroom. After he had been tucked in for the night. After his bedroom door had been shut. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS???

Milo has figured out how to grasp and turn a doorknob while also pulling open the door. And just like that, our blissful kid-free evenings are over.

Babbling like a brook

You must watch this. That is, if you like adorable chatty babies, you must watch this. I am completely smitten.

She's three months old!

Thirteen weeks. Three months and two days. And with every new day, Olive becomes a little bit cuter, if I do say so myself.

She's lost that newborn look and is all adorable chub and sweet baby. Whenever I take her out, a bunch of people stop to admire her and comment on how beautiful/cute/sweet/etc. she is. And I believe they really mean it.

Olive has the biggest blue eyes and the biggest dimples I've ever seen. Her smile is infectious. Her hair still has a reddish glow to it, but in some lights still looks brownish. Sadly, it rarely sticks up in the back anymore. I guess it's grown out just enough to lay a bit flatter. I kind of miss the crazy stick-up hair.

She eats six times a day, somewhere between 3 and 4 ounces at each feeding. Still waking up once (and occasionally twice) a night to eat. She did go one night sleeping straight through, a solid ten- or eleven-hour stretch of sleep, but sadly has not repeated her stellar sleep performance.

Olive has begun babbling hardcore. She'll talk and talk and talk. Her facial expressions vary from concerned to frowny to excited to surprised. She makes high-pitched shrieking noises when she just can't contain herself.

She seems to be a hand/finger/thumb-sucker. She'll take her paci sometimes, but if it's not available she works pretty hard to get those fingers in her mouth. The paci still knocks her out, though, if she's already on the verge of sleep.

Olive is a strong girl. She'll support all her weight and stand up (with no balance, of course), she'll hold her head up for long periods of time, and she has quite a grip. Speaking of her grip, she is figuring out how to reach out for things, and once she gets a grip something, she'll even try to bring it to her mouth (without much success as of yet).

She is interested in toys and her playmat entertains her finally. She likes to watch them being shaken in front of her and will follow them with her eyes when they move back and forth.

Olive wears cloth diapers about 25 percent of the time and disposables the rest of the time. We're just not having much luck with the cloth. They leak or just plain don't fit. And frankly, that is fine by me. Cloth is great in theory, but I don't miss doing all the laundry every other day and worrying about rash.

Olive is so smiley and fun. She'll smile at just about anything. Yesterday I changed her diaper in the car, and as the breeze blew over her freshly wiped bottom, she grinned and laughed. She was really chuckling. Every time the wind blew a little, her smile was as wide as I've ever seen it, and that laugh was so cute. I wish I could have captured that in a video so I could remember it forever.

Though I sometimes get frustrated with her when she cries and cries for absolutely no reason that I can ascertain, I adore my baby girl. So glad she's mine.