Daddy Is Coming Home

Thank the good lord.

It's been a wonderful, albeit exhausting five days since daddy left. And while he was tanning (and yes "meeting") we shared a lot of together time. The highlights: bashing your eye against the brick wall at the Italian place, yelling your head off and running out of the shower when mommy tried to multi-task and wash us both on Sunday morning, watching you say "bouble" 100 times yesterday at Baby Loves Disco like you were the happiest kid in the world, running around the backyard with grandma and sitting on her little bench, watching your eyes get wide when poppy made his trains whistle, yelling your head off while mommy tried to walk Finley and you Sunday morning, and last night when you realized, to your delight, how to scream at the top of your lungs.

Milo Loves Disco

On Sunday we went to Baby Loves Disco at Rams Head Live—just a few minutes from our house. It was a baby dance party with a DJ, bubbles, hula hoops and egg shakers. You had a great time. We mostly stayed upstairs in the play area. Maybe you thought you were home b/c they had so much of the same stuff we do (Ikea rug, Ikea toys, Marin)—just with a lot of extra people around. You did not dance as much I thought you would. Especially since you really like to "get down" at home—especially when Sesame Street is on. They had a lot of snacks—and one woman pointed out to me that you were eating the goldfish crackers (though they happened to be duck-shaped) off the floor. It was an exhausting day for all of us. And I'm not saying I was more tired—just that you had an almost two hour nap before we left. And I cleaned the house.

Why I Love You

Tonight you cracked yourself up in the tub-including a snort!-by simply splashing like a mad man! I would pretend gasp and you would literally belly laugh. I wish I could bottle that sound.

Milo does Italian

(Just minutes before the fall. Photos taken by Holly Beatty.)

Why I Love You

You kiss daddy's picture when he's away with a big, wet, loud, sloppy kiss.

Injury Prone

Major injuries mommy has been present for all by herself:

*November 2007: Milo chips his front tooth on the pavement in front of the Florida Diamond's house
*February 2008: Milo face dives off the stairs at the doctor's office and gives himself a black eye AND rug burn
*March 2008: Milo and the brick become one. He cuts his eye and gets a giant swollen lid

Boo-boo #43764278965

Milo my love. Obviously you did not get the memo about going easy on mommy while daddy is out at sea (cruise ship/marketing retreat.) Last night while out to dinner with Holly & Jessica (who were very patient with your constant need to throw EVERYTHING on the floor) you were running around having a ball with mommy's cell phone and then boom! I'm pretty sure you went eye first into the brick frame of the window. There was an instant cut on the corner of your eye and you screamed so that everyone at the restaurant knew I was a bad mommy. You had a little bit of blood (mommy handled this well) and you calmed down once I took you outside. After a terrible night's sleep, you woke up with your eye swollen shut! Mommy felt pretty sick to her stomach. So she took you to see Dr. W who put orange stain in your eye and checked to make sure there was no damage. Luckily, everything looked perfect-well, expect for the swelling and black and blue mark forming on your lid.

Stinky

How do you brush your teeth Milo?

Cheese

What's Up?

Mmmmm tasty

Milo, of course, you wanted to feed yourself tonight. Applesauce is tricky but you did great. Only a few globs ended up on your shirt, and the highchair, and the floor, and the dog. And I scooped out what you couldn't get and you sucked it off mommy's finger. That'll be a fun story to tell when you're 27.

Milo's Room 2

Milo's Room

Urban Gardener

Lilo

This is what Marin calls Milo.

Cry Baby

Our dear boy Milo - It's 10 PM and you have been crying since 7:30. We can't figure out what is wrong. Your diaper is dry. Your sheets are clean. Your belly is full. You don't want to go to sleep. You've dumped everything out of your crib. You are crying and yelling and jumping. It's like you had an XL espresso before we put you to bed. It is making us very upset. Please go to bed little boy. Love, Mommy & Daddy

Mommy & Daddy

The Beast is Dead

Long live the beast. It was back in January 2007 when mommy and Marin's mommy found The Beast on Craig's List. Though older, it was in good shape. And because the babies needed to be able to fully recline, it was exactly what we were looking for. And we wanted side-by-side so the babies had the same view of the world. They always sit in the same seats. Milo on the left. Marin on the right. Anna has lugged that thing around to the park, to the library, to Starbucks, and back again. Each Monday we would schlep it back and forth between the houses. But no longer. Now we have a new and improved lightweight version that the babies love. Another piece of M&M history.

Sweet Nothings

About two and a half hours into Milo's super three plus hour nap on Sunday, he pulled his paci from his mouth—with his eyes still closed—and said, in his sweet voice, "dadda." He did it twice more. Obviously, dreaming of daddy.

A Moment for Mommy

For mommy's 32nd birthday, Milo and daddy got her the most amazing necklace. It's a custom silhouette pendant of Milo. Daddy sent a profile picture of our fat cheeked, curly haired boy and the designer drew his silhouette from that. Next she used a vintage ring, filled it with resin and covered the back with antique sheet music. Mommy loves the necklace so much. It's like carrying around a picture of Milo all day.

A Boy and His Mum-Mum

Sweet Hand

In Manhattan, this is a studio apartment

If You Give a Pig a Pancake

Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Larry braved the cold and rain to spend the weekend with Milo. On Friday we went to Ikea and they bought Milo a Milo-size chair. He likes to stand on it backwards, grab the back of it and shake it with all his might. (Not the quiet reading chair mommy had pictured.) On Saturday, G&G watched Milo master the pool, before we drove to Frederick. They were very impressed by his swimming prowess. On Sunday we went to the 38th Annual Maple Syrup festival in the Catoctin Mountains. It was freezing—but so much fun. We started with fresh pancakes served with (warm!!!) Maryland maple syrup, sausage and hot chocolate. Milo loved the sausage, but would not eat the pancakes. The food shack was great because there was a fire inside. (And an awesome bluegrass band.) G&G managed to stay outside for most of the syrup history lesson, but soon booked it for the fire. Not bad for a bunch of Floridians. They flew home Sunday afternoon. Milo misses them already. Grandma Nancy was great at reading stories and Grandpa Larry kept trying to steal Milo's food!

Sleepless in Frederick

We'll start by saying that who ever invented daylight savings did NOT have a baby who had a great sleep schedule. (It was probably a man.) Saturday evening started out great. Milo fell asleep on Ron (we were in Frederick) and went right to sleep in the crib. I was thrilled. A relaxing evening?? It was not to be. Milo started crying and would not stop. Was it the strange crib? The howling wind? The cuckoo clock? Grandpa Larry's snoring? Grandma Marianne calling the house at midnight? The dogs barking? Yes. All we know is mommy, after sending daddy to bed around 1 AM, spent the night with a restless boy in Aunt Beth's twin bed. It was a long night. Add in daylight savings and mommy and Milo were both very tired on Sunday. Daddy let us both take a two hour nap. Mommy and daddy were reminded what life use to be like. It's enough to keep you awake at night.

Fork In the Road

Mommy has realized that the trick to getting Milo to eat sometimes is putting it on a fork. A chicken sausage that Milo has turned his nose at suddenly become a gourmet meal on a fork. Green beans? Even better when speared on a fork. Squash? Maybe not. Unless we use a fork. Mommy is trying to figure out the psychology of this. I'm sure it has to do with Milo being able to feed himself and being the one in control. (Though do not think for a second that mommy is not the one in control.) We are also working with the spoon, though the applesauce/yogurt always seems to end up on Milo's shirt. (And the floor.) And in the other food news, Milo's new love: hummus! He's living up to that Greek name.

Oldies But Goodies

Stair Master

Dear Milo - This was a big weekend for you! You are now the calm happy baby at swimming—not the "get outtt" toddler who cried the entire class. You have mastered the word "bubble." You know where mommy keeps them and you happily command me "bubble"—though you say it more like "bouble." You have been drinking your afternoon milk out of a sippy cup—though mommy and daddy are still guilty of bottles in the morning and at night. You love to have us read to you. You pick out your own books and back into our laps (my favorite part!) for a read. And I love that you don't mind reading the same books over and over and over again. You never bore of them. But the big news this weekend: You have conquered the stairs in the kitchen and your bedroom. After months of mommy showing you how to swing around and go down by yourself, this weekend you did it! You don't need us anymore to help you walk down those stairs! Mommy and daddy don't know if this is a good thing, or a bad thing. Love, Your Parents

Don't Blame the Horse

Or "At Least It Wasn't the Electrical Outlet Part 2." Babies—specifically toddlers (specifically boys?)—are accident prone! So far Milo has chipped his front tooth (Thanksgiving 2007) and given himself a black eye and rug burn (January 2008)—and that's just the big stuff. Daily he's tripping over things, running into things and knocking his head against things. He loves to climb on Finley—at which point Finn stands up and Milo usually rolls off. Kaboom. So, Saturday as we were getting ready to meet Milo's grandparents for dinner in Olney we were hanging out in his room. (He loves to play in his room—so many things to pull out of his dresser, a little garbage can to empty, diapers to throw!) He has taken a new liking to Austin—the awesome wooden horse Aunt Beth brought all the way from Texas for his first birthday. Anyway, so we're getting ready to leave and Milo's foot gets caught under his brown shaggy rug (the real culprit in all of this!) and he goes head first into Austin. No time to brace himself or for mommy and daddy to catch him. Milo noggin to horsey noggin. Luckily, there was no blood. Just a giant bruise that immediately formed on his little forehead. There was a silent cry (the worst kind as any parent can attest!) and lots of tears (for all of us.) Daddy ran and got the biggest bag of ice mommy has ever seen—enough for a family brain freeze—and eventually he calmed down. And Milo did too. (Photos: When Austin arrived at Milo's birthday party. And happier times.)