Week 10 (Feb 7)

We started playing the "Ready" game this week. I had Miles laying along my legs (which were angled, my feet on a footstool) and he kept trying to sit up. I would take his hands to help pull him up to a sitting position, saying "ready?" each time. He started reacting to the word and sitting up whenever I said it. Now we joke that we have to be careful with the word ready, sometimes using the word "prepared" or spelling r-e-a-d-y instead, otherwise Miles tries sitting up!

Week 10 pictures...

Sitting in our new highchair!

Sleeping on Gramma Sue

Tummy time with Daddy.

In our "going home" outfit from Aunt Ali.

As a reminder... here he was when he went home in it!! What a big boy!!

Week 9 (Jan 31)

This week has been exciting so far. First, Miles and Maren started attending Early Childhood Family Education classes on Wednesdays. M&G joke that it is so Miles can learn how to be a baby, but really we sang, played with toys, watched the other babies (Miles was especially interested in the other babies) and the mommies talked about baby issues. We both had a very good time. There were 6 other babies there - a 10-week-old, 3 3-month-olds, a 5-month-old, and a 6-month-old - and Miles was the youngest but was (unofficially) bigger than all but the 6-monther. He appeared to be about tied in size with the 5-monther. He is definitely a big boy!

The other exciting news is that we have had three accidental roll-overs during tummy time. Earlier today, I put him down and he leaned his head over sideways, which rolled his upper body over. So I helped him push his legs over. Then, this afternoon, I again put him on his tummy and he leaned his head to the side. This time, there was enough momentum to bring him all the way to his back. He was really excited (mainly because he merely tolerates tummy time and would much prefer being on his side or back) so I tried putting him on his tummy another two times with the same result. However, on the fourth time, he got stuck and then got really frustrated and mad, so tummy time was over. I call them "accidental" roll overs because I have to place him with his arms under his chest for the whole thing to work, like this...

Once he can bring his own arms under his chest and roll over, it will be an official one, if that makes sense. I was hoping to catch some pictures of the roll overs, but they happened so fast I couldn't get the camera to my face in time. Some other time!

Other exciting news is that Miles seems to be tracking faces and objects better this week. I'm still not convinced that his eyesight is good, but he is at least adapting.

Today's series of pictures is Miles looking at his fuzzy block mobile... enjoy!!

8 Weeks, continued

Just a few more pictures from week 8...

Henry snuggling with the baby.

Sitting up so tall!

Week 8

Two months old! Wow, time does fly! He's gotten so big... he's growing out of some of his 3-6 month clothing now and has started to *occasionally* wait 4 hours between feedings, luckily mostly at night! Got some cutie pictures of him for his 2 month birthday...

Miles is all smiles!!

Cute digits!

Cute fuzzy outfit, huh? (Thanks Faunt Jill and Funcle Jason!)

Sleeping in the swing. (Thanks Whartons for the lend... he loves it!)

Week 7

Miles has his 2 month check-up this week, which was good and bad. Good, because we found out that he is healthy and big (numbers below) - bad, because he had shots for the first time! Miles' crying was heart wrenching!! He also reacted a bit, being fussy and having a bit of a fever. He also reverted to a 2-hour eating schedule for a few days (a few exhausting days!). But now we are back to our normal, happy self.

We are also starting to think that Miles may have gotten Maren's eyes... literally. For those of you who don't know, Maren is extremely near-sighted, only able to see clearly to the end of her nose, and has been since birth. She got glasses at the wee age of 1. Miles seems to not be able to focus on faces (they would just look like blobs), and is mainly attracted to lights and contrast-y things (like a dark picture against a light wall). The pediatrician says that if he doesn't improve by 4 months we'll go see the ophthalmologist. We are trying to train him to look at our faces by holding things he can see in front of them while talking (our large, black camera works great), or by making sure we stand with something blank behind us, like the ceiling. It's great to see him smiling at you instead of smiling at the picture on the wall behind you. We'll keep you all updated on this issue in the future.

Now, on to happier things... results of the 2 month check-up -
Height: 24 1/4 inch (90-95%)
Weight: 13 lb 12 oz (97%) - BIG BOY!
Head circumference: 16 inches (90-95%)

Yup, he is growing well! Yah! Enjoy this weeks' pictures!

Week 6

Gramma Sue and Papa Dean were in Las Vegas this week, so Miles and Maren were home alone during the day all week long - a first for them (the benefits of having live-in grandparents!) Everything went fine and Maren now has a new appreciation for all those moms that stay at home, just them and the baby, each day, all alone. Wow... exhausting! She was especially happy to see Gerritt come home each night! Maren and Miles stayed inside all week because of the REALLY COLD weather (below zero for 88 hours straight!), which probably contributed to Maren's feelings of cabin fever. But Maren took a lot of pictures this week, which you will get to see below...

In other news, Miles is happily now on a consistent 3 hour feeding schedule, meaning a full 2.5 hours of break in between feedings! Whoo hoo! Much more managable than the 2 hour feedings we were on before now (only 1.5 hours of break).

Week 6 (Jan 9th)

Tummy time series...

Daddy kisses!

Happy baby!

Pensive baby.

Petting the kitty!

Week 5 - Start here!

Sorry for the lack of updates!! Here are 4 weeks of updates all in one day (if all goes according to plan!). Enjoy!!

Week 5 -

We tried our first bottle this week. Maren will be going back to Caribou for a few shifts a week very soon (it ended up being in week 7) and Gramma Sue needs to be able to feed a certain someone. Miles refuses to take a bottle at all if he knows his Mama is around. He also only eats 2 oz. at a time (basically, a snack) no matter what, so Gramma has to keep feeding him every hour or so when she is babysitting! Thanks for being such a great Gramma!!

Miles' first bottle, given by Daddy (Jan. 3).