A Face of Innocence

Born to Ride

Miles being a fireman

So much happening lately, where to start?! Miles is hilarious these days. He's gone from pretending he's a kitten to pretending he's a monster! But, he's a nice monster and usually a baby monster. He crawls around "roaring" and then sometimes I'll roar back at him and he calls me Mommy Monster. And Hailey is the little bitty baby monster. Ahmad doesn't usually get into the monster act. :) He's also taken to acting like Mommy and instructing me to act like Miles. It's kind of entertaining to see what he comes up with. Usually he wants me to be in trouble and he puts me in time out, only to tell me to talk or try to get up so he can tell me I'm in big trouble. Or he wants me to need something, like a snack, so he can get it for me. I don't mind the role play-I think it gives him a chance to be in control of a situation, something that rarely happens for him. And he doesn't do anything too extreme.

Miles went to play in his room with some loud toys while Hailey napped in her swing. We spied some guitar action!

All dressed up for church

Hailey is doing awesome! I cannot believe how big she's getting-she'll be 8 months this week! She's all over the place and loves to explore. We've gotten into a good routine for bedtime and I usually go to put her down while Miles watches his show before bed. We read a book, turn out the lights, sing and usually nurse. Then she's down and out! I've been working on signing with her pretty much since birth. We've been doing "milk" since birth and have been adding more things since. She reacts to most signs as if she knows what they are, but isn't really signing too much back yet. She does the "milk" sign sometimes, but doesn't really distinguish that it means milk, rather it means she wants something. When I sign "book" before bed, she seems to understand; when I sign "light" after our book, she looks to the light switch because she knows we're going to go turn it off. When I sign "all done" after she eats, she smiles and laughs.

Just hanging out looking cute

Hailey likes to put things her her mouth and just leave them there

Hailey is eating really well too and loves table food! She's been killing a pork tenderloin that Ahmad made the other night. I can't believe how fast she eats it! She's still on baby food at daycare, mainly because she's still eating it. But at home, she pretty much refuses any bay food, so we've moved on. She's napping a bit better at daycare as well, but still doesn't get a ton of sleep. They're trying to get her on a regular schedule.

Getting ready for Halloween

Looking cute again!

The other weekend Miles was helping Ahmad out in the yard and Ahmad was wearing his work gloves. So, of course Miles had to get some work gloves (which were really just a pair of winter gloves). He wore them pretty much all week and even wore them to school a few days. He kept finding "work" to do in the house and did some things in the bathroom (I'm still not sure what he was doing!) and also began "cleaning" out the closet in the front hall. He takes everything out and then...is done! We've had to work on the putting it all back again. :)

Hailey loves her bath!

Miles' new favorite thing is to play Mario Kart on the Wii. He even invited Elliott over one evening to play with him (totally his idea), which was hilarious to us.

Wearing a barrette that stayed!

Last week, we all were sick in one way or the other. Ahmad started it and was in bed for 3 days with a 102 fever. Then Hailey started a fever and throwing up for 3 days. Miles threw up once and was done. I was in the bathroom for a day and then better. All in all, Hailey ended up going to work with me for a day and a half and then I stayed home with her one day. I was sure glad when we were all doing better! Thankfully Miles wasn't sick that long and he got to enjoy our a birthday party for our neighbors, Elliott and Meredith. They rented a bounce house in their backyard, and Miles had a blast!

I had to work last Saturday, so Ahmad took the kids to a festival on the canal complete with basketball, football and a bounce house.

Miles is so into motorcycles these days. He talks about them all the time and swears he's big enough to ride one because he thinks he can reach. We had the idea to take him to a Harley Davidson store and finally were able to get there tonight. He LOVED it! He walked around and around looking at all the bikes. We asked one staff if he could sit on one and he said no. After about 30 more minutes, I asked someone else and he said yes. Miles was in heaven. Definitely a good reward to keep in mind.

This was one of his favorites-he kept coming back to it and looking at it.

He loved the scooter and said that was his favorite

We're heading to my parent's house this weekend for a quick visit. Dad's been in the hospital for the last 2 weeks and I'm hopeful that he's home before we get there. We'll see! Mom has also had trouble with her foot, so hopefully we'll be able to help out with some things for them while we're in. But most of all, we're looking forward to visiting with them!

I Never Understood

I Never Understood...

• Why my mom never bought herself new clothes, but instead always insisted on buying me things
• The entertainment my mom got from watching "ironing shows" (i.e. HGTV and Home and Gardening shows)
• Why my parents were so concerned about my whereabouts and my safety. I mean, I knew where I was and that I was safe. I'm already nervous just thinking about letting Miles and Hailey do things on their own!
• I never thought about my parents worrying about supporting us or being able to let us take a class or attend a camp
  
• I never thought that my parents might enjoy my brothers and I getting along or even look at us fondly and smile when we were nice to each other. I just thought they didn't want to hear us argue
• I never thought about continuing to be around for your children. I always heard it was hard to have your children pass before you; I can only imagine the heartache and pain that would involve. I think it would also be very hard to pass before them and not be around to ensure they know your love, see them grow, and see them happy. I can't imagine it either way and they both scare me.
• You want to give your children everything
• The need for my parents to stay up to catch the late night news, or any news for that matter
• The partnership and trust in each other that comes with being married and embarking on a wonderful journey together
  
• Why I couldn't have "just 5 more minutes" when I was little. I remember this vividly. I often wanted 5 more minutes of cuddling with my parents and in my head, it was truly wanting just 5 more minutes. I try so hard to give that to Miles when he asks, but sometimes you do just have to say enough is enough and it's time for bed (or school, or jammies, or whatever it is that is being delayed)
• That you truly can love someone so much you cry just seeing them smile
• You might daydream about what your children will want to do and be when they grow up. What pastimes, hobbies, interests, and talents they will develop.
• That you really can beam with pride in your children.
• That your heart really can feel like it might burst from loving your children so much or that it might break to pieces when they are upset.

I never understood what being a parent meant and entailed, both the good and the bad, the ups and the downs, until now. And I'm sure this is only the beginning and so much more will be revealed to me in the coming years. I only know that this is one of the most amazing adventures I've been on and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

Miles of Miles

Things About Miles:

• Max and Ruby is his favorite show
  
• loves to ride his bike
• is very fast
• can do monkey bars
• can hit a softball (over our heads)
• likes, and is fairly good at, Mario Kart on the Wii
• likes matchbox cars/Hotwheels
• is into motorcycles and wants to drive one
  
• is learning the ASL alphabet at school
  
• is doing much better in school
• is a good listener
• loves his sister
• likes to pretend to be a baby monster
• loves to snack and rarely eats his dinner
• loves cheese, turkey pepperonis and pasta
• likes to do things himself and can work snaps, zippers, and buttons
  
• is very observant
• likes to read books
• sleeps with a nightlight
• sleeps with his cars
• is voicing his feelings
• loves to be tickled
• shares with Hailey and looks out for her
  
• can write his name
• loves to bug bug
• is very sensitive
• is very smart
• is scared of loud noises, or any noises including the toilet flushing
• likes figuring out how things work
• sings himself to sleep at night
• is one of the biggest joys in my life
  

Mama

Yesterday was one of Hailey's days at home with Ahmad. He said that all day long she was saying mama and looking for me! I'm still doubting she is connecting "mama" with me, but it still melted my heart. I love you Bug!

No Fear!

7 Months And Counting

We've had so much fun the last 2 weeks! Everything has been going really well with the kids and we've just really been enjoying our time together. Miles had an excellent week last week and didn't have any incidents all week. As a special reward, I took him to Walmart after school on Friday to pick out some new matchbox cars. It was so funny taking him there-we aren't frequent visitors to the toy department of any store and I don't think we've really just roamed around one since Miles has been able to really look at the toys. He wanted absolutely everything! From Buzz Lightyear to toy guns, trucks, blocks, and everything in between. It was so tempting, but we stuck with a 97 cent car and I was talked into a $3 motorcycle and a bag of chips in the checkout isle. Very cool. And now, again this week, he's been good all week and only has one day left of school. He's just listening SO much better all the sudden; something has really clicked for him. The things we've been talking about-even if you're mad, you still have to do things (listen, stop something, do something) that we say. He's doing that. And he's not fussing as much either. The other day, he was being really disruptive when I was nursing Hailey and I had to repeatedly ask him to calm down. Finally, I told him to go to his room for a minute. He got upset and was crying, but he went. I was so impressed! (he came out 2 seconds later and said he'd be quiet, and he was) We really changed several things in trying to deal with the problems at school, but all in all, I think it was just growing pains.

Super Miles!

He's too funny these days-his imagination has taken over and he's such a little boy now! He's so into his matchbox/hotwheel cars and motorcycles. He no longer sleeps with his stuffed animals at the head of his bed, instead he has his cars and/or his motorcycles next to him. He saw 15 minutes of a Batman movie we got through a free trial of Netflix (before deciding it was way to violent for him) and is now into superheros and saving people, mainly cats (which he pretends Hailey is). I think he'll probably end up being a superhero of some sort for Halloween, but we'll see in another month or so. The other evening while playing outside, he was asking Ahmad for some rope so he could climb the tree. Ahmad said we didn't have any, but the next evening, he found some. Miles was hilarious as we worked out rigging a rope to the tree for him to try to climb. Then he wanted a rope tied around him, harness style, which left a long "tail" that he loved. He went all around outside acting like a superhero with his tail and rescuing cats from the tree. He has blisters or "rips" on the palms of his hands from doing monkey bars at school and they were hurting while he was trying to climb the rope. So he had the idea to go inside and get some tape and put it in his hands. He then decided it was too slippery and took them off. He decided he needed his helmet to be safe while climbing and later added his knee pads and elbow pads. Too funny!


Hailey is getting too big too! She's such a ham and cracks me up! She's begun eating some table food lately because she only takes a few bites of her baby food for us (eats it well at daycare though). She's loving the table food and so far has done the best with Cheerios. She loves it! She's also beginning some separation anxiety. This past weekend, most of the times I left the room, she cam crawling right after me to find me. Sometimes she would fuss and sometimes she would just look for me. It was pretty cute. Then when I had to leave her at daycare on Tuesday after the long weekend, she actually looked after me and cried. It was so sad. That was the first time she'd done that and they said she wanted to be held all day. Poor baby! She's also started saying "mamamama"! She's been saying "dadada" for a bit now, but just started with some mamas! I can't wait for her to know that's for me. :)

Eating mashed potatoes and pulling on her ear!

One other thing we've noticed about Hailey is that she pulls on her left ear a lot. She recently had ear infections, so were concerned they were hurting her at first, but we think she just does this. We notice it mostly when she's eating and when she's tired. It's kind of cute! She also chews her tongue a lot and pats her head. She's too funny. Of course we'll mention this to the doc when we go back in a month, but I think she's ok.

7 months old!

This past weekend was Labor Day weekend and we had an open house of sorts on Sunday. The Kleins came over for a bit, the Bucks were here and eventually the Butlers showed up too. It was so much fun to have everyone over and get to play with all the kids! They all had a blast!




Miles has also been into taking walks these days (which is great!), but he wants us to walk and he wants to ride his bike. The first time he did this, we were weary how long he'd last and if we'd be dragging him and the bike back. Nope, he did great! He'll ride all over, he loves riding just up and down the street with Elliott and Meredith too, and we like to go up to the pool. It's about a mile round trip and he does awesome. Tonight, we went and he kept stopping to observe this or that or to test his brakes. It was funny-he's turning into a little man!

Outlining daddy

A feeling of motherhood has really overcome me lately. Especially on the weekends. These past two weekends, we haven't had much planned and we've just enjoyed hanging out together doing whatever we want. I've really felt like a mom-playing with the kids, coming up with activities, making lunch and dinner (Ahmad usually cooks during the week), and it's been so nice. I can't help but to think what it would be like to be a full time stay at home mom. I think that would be the best job in the world. I hope those who have that job know just how precious it is. I couldn't ask to be more blessed than I am to have my family-all of my family.

Hailey's first wagon ride

Hailey's Voice