Curls

Love that little curl over his ear. G had curls too when he was a baby, but they grew out with his baby hair.

9 Month Baby M

Miles weighs 16 pounds, 15 ounces (9th percentile) and is 27.75 inches (24th percentile). He's keeping us on our toes these days. New this past month, he:

• Cut his first FOUR teeth in the span of about three weeks. This made him pretty crabby.
• Crawls faster every day, but wants to do nothing more than stand up.
• Figured out how to climb the stairs. Oh boy.
• Babbles "da da," "ma ma" and I swear he said "Grant" the other day.
• Loves playing peekaboo.
• Waves bye-bye.
• Mimics our actions, like playing drums on the table.
• Is very interested in his brother's toys. Forget baby toys; he wants the big-boy stuff: trains, cars and Teddy Bear.

Earlier:

Happy Mother's Day

We couldn't raise these two boys without your help and wisdom.

Grandma Smith with Baby Miles, August 2011

Grandma Jerousek with Baby Grant, May 2009

Heard at the Dinner Table

Recently as Grant and I were arguing about whether he needed to eat his dinner in order to have dessert, Kent commented proudly, "G is becoming a good debater." G retorted, "I'm not a 'bader. I'm a big boy!"

First Anniversary

Our family blog turns 1 this week! Thanks for reading, Dad! :) Here are 10 favorites from the past year:

Puddle Jumping
Berry Picking
Remembering
Introducing...
Apple Picking
More Leaf Pictures
Winter Is Here
First Bites
Too Quiet
It's Official

And a bonus: Monthly Photos: Baby M

Happy Birthday G!

We celebrated the birthday boy with a weekend of parties, cupcakes, grandparents and cousins. The weekend started on Friday night with a special dinner at a favorite restaurant with his grandparents. On Saturday, we went to Tulip Time for the annual festival and family gathering, which involved lots of trampoline-bouncing and chasing his cousins. Sunday began with breakfast at Gateway Market, and included a backyard party with a few friends and a family dinner.

Our favorite waitress at Gateway gave him a special birthday cupcake to start the day.

Throughout the day on Saturday, he told us that he wanted a particular Thomas the Tank Engine train. This was news to us, so Kent made a quick trip to Target the night before his birthday to avoid a tantrum.

Playing with friends in the backyard

Building sand castles with his cousin

Blowing out candles and enjoying more cupcakes

Another year went by far too fast. And what a year it was: he became a big brother, started preschool, learned to use the potty and truly started to talk. His personality and interests came out in big ways this year, and it's been fun to watch him grow and change. If we could just slow down time a bit, all would be well.

Love

Every since we brought Miles home, Grant has been full of love and affection for him. I assumed this love would wane over time, but lately I feel like I'm constantly reminding G to give Miles some space. G grabs him--somewhat forcefully--by the head and presses his face to him, pauses for several moments, then moves in for a hug before finally releasing him. Then he's back a few minutes later for more love.

No one in this house gets more love than Baby Miles. No one.