Giving up

Starting to drop the morning nap....sort of!

Noisy!

Fun new toy from Grandma and Grandpa Evans that has lots of buttons to push. And proof we put up a tree!

Walking

Two little videos to highlight Miles' recent activity....walking! He took a little break after his first steps and then suddenly on Wednesday, decided that walking might be the way to go. It's still not his preferred method, but I don't think it will be long before he's cruising all over the place!

Snowy days

We recently ventured up one of our canyons to enjoy some clean air, a roaring fire and celebrate Sam's birthday. Miles had plenty of warm clothing, but the snow boots I had bought really upset him, so I didn't have any waterproof shoes for him to wear. This required him to spend the evening in our arms and guess what.....he hated it. He wants to be down-moving-doing stuff, not stuck in our arms. Also, he's not a big fan of the puffy winter jacket or being too cold. It was a fun, short-lived experiment. Can't you tell from their expressions!

Drum roll.....

Sorry about the quality of the video. The light in our living room is low at night and the camera was really struggling to focus. The beginning starts with some ball spinning. I know, old news. Stick with it though, because shortly after the spinning he stands up-on his own without holding on to anything! It still startles me sometimes to look around and see him standing in the middle of a room. He's really been practicing this a lot lately and his stability has greatly improved because of it.

Does this make you nervous?

Jobey found this in the backyard at Aunt Mary's today. Don't worry, he has no idea what a match is, nor the thumbs to use one if he did!

sidenote: the container was empty and I took it away as soon as picture time was over. In spite of all our troubles with Jobey, I do occasionally find him very endearing and cute!

Off to the races

We headed to Farmington for another playdate with Leah. They are both getting so big. Still mostly parallel playing, but poor Leah really, really wants to touch Miles' face. Miles, on the other hand, does not want to be touched. But, with mobility all around, it's really not an issue....yet! :-) I threw in the video because it was just so cute-both of them crawling off after something-at the same time and in the same direction!

Leah has lots of awesome toys that make noise. Nice to visit, but glad they stay where they are. Miles really loved this particular one-it has many components and buttons to push and it's standing height. Perfect combination.

Push cart mania.

Ear flaps

I finally got the ear flaps added to the hat and I am so glad I did. Weirdly, he was wearing the hat inside when I returned home the other day. No reason, Craig just said he asked to wear it. Okaaaaayyy. Don't worry, we really don't keep the house that cold. Turns out, it was a short-lived desire. But, long enough for a photo or two!!!

Please

So, the sign language is still slow going. Miles communicates a lot, but still doesn't seem too excited about signing. The weird thing, he'll randomly choose words to learn here and there. For example, we've been signing bread, cheese, apple and water for months now. Then, he learns hat (from a book) and please in a second! The hysterical thing about please is that he uses it to get us to do EVERYTHING for him (and it's hard to resist because I just find it so darn cute!). Please get my ball. Please more food. Please get this. Please get that. I guess that might have a little to do with the context in which I taught the sign. I started it with 'help please'. He didn't want to learn the sign for help, I guess he figured he didn't need to, and...he was right!

Water play

First steps!

No picture for this one. Miles took his first steps tonight, by himself, for himself! He's been working hard at standing up without holding on to anything the past few days and tonight, it paid off. We were all in the kitchen and he was practicing standing up and then free standing. We got him to walk back and forth to us a couple of times and then....while he was standing next to me, he decided to head toward the dining room. He toddled off away from me and managed about 3 or 4 steps before deciding that crawling was still much faster. I imagine he'll be working on it a lot more this weekend, so maybe we'll catch it on video if we're lucky!

Rolling

Miles rediscovered his push cart this weekend and loves it. He spent a good deal of time perfecting 'the turn' so that walls, dog beds, toys, chairs, etc. don't slow him down! Our house has a circular layout, so it's ideal for cruising.

Elf hat

Darling hat Mary knit for her friend's baby. Of course, we had to try it on Miles. So, so cute!!

Rainbow

Leah had her first birthday party on November 30th. The theme-ducks and tutus! Here are a few shots from the festivities.

The birthday girl

After a few glasses of wine, we moved into fashion design (that's Sam).

All the boys in their tutus

Check me out!

Mozart Mania

A little post for Aunt Connie!

If you only watch one, pick this one, it's the most entertaining and shortest! Features a new take on dancing-Miles style.