double bonus post day!

HIP HIP HOORAY! WE FINALLY GOT THE OWL MOBILE HUNG!!!

channeling prehistoric

most recently, milo has started to discover a type of squealing...

although he sounds more like a delighted pterodactyl than a delighted baby (but still delighted nonetheless, so we can't complain).

yummo!

last night milo tried green beans for the first time.

he had slight look of terror on his face. but he ate them again this morning! (granted, he gets maybe a tablespoon of green-bean-mush at time, but both times he finished it.)

the new level of stinky butt we achieved this morning is a whole other matter.

oy.

i had to say something about it. i had to open my big fat mouth.

(last night he woke up at 2 a.m., fussed when i tried to put him back down after a 1 oz. bottle, but then slept again till about 6:30-ish.)

i was really hoping we'd hit four days in a row with this sleeping overnight thing and maybe make a habit out of it.

other things i forgot to mention that he's doing now:

his hand-motor skills are getting more and more impressive - purposefully grabbing the toys on his exersaucer, putting more toys to his mouth (i think for the chew factor), munching on fingers, thumbs and fists, curiously feeling the different textures of toys, grabbing mister hoots during a weekly photo session and flinging him around (i think he's trying to teach mister hoots the art of flight).

the grab-and-drop has become an unconscious regular as well.

he seems to be getting better acquainted with tummy time - i try to help him prop up higher than he does on his own (as in, next movement would be onto his knees for crawling), just so he can get that higher perspective. when he's low on his elbows, he waves and kicks his feet like a merman out of water.

and pretty much any time i look at him sweetly and say "hi milo" he flashes me a huge grin.

(i think he really likes me.)

he also has moments where he can self-entertain and no longer requires my constant, undivided, 100%, take notes 'cause there'll be a final exam on this attention, which is incredibly helpful. i mean, it might only be a minute here or there, but it's a start.

5 months already?!?!

where did the time go? we're gonna wake up tomorrow, and milo will be 5 years old already. or we'll be 50... one of the two :P

milo really lights up for "how big is milo? .... SOOOOO big!" last night ben even got a laugh out of him with the game.

peekaboo still brings on lots of smiles, "this little piggy..." is starting to gain recognition, and now whenever i hold milo up to the mirror, he's all smiles, he loves looking at himself, and even tries to touch "the baby in the mirror" - won't he be surprised when he gets face to face with a real baby who's 3-dimensional!

sleeping, including naptime, is getting better each day... i don't want to jinx anything, but let's just say we've both been dreaming sweetly for the past three nights, and i'm really hoping to continue this trend. perhaps this time it's gonna stick? we'll see.

i'm getting more and more behind on "milo" things though. the old news is that the owl mobile is still sitting on my desk instead of hanging over his crib. the new news is that i'm three weeks behind in posting his weekly "quacksie and mister hoots" pictures (i've taken them, just haven't posted anything yet).

i'll blame my new part-time gig :P

in an effort to help give our finances a little more wiggle room, i've started doing pampered chef. I have yet to actually do any parties or make any money from it - so far, i've just spent money for it, but i know that'll come back to me once i really get rolling. i do have parties planned out for the next month, though. i'm very excited for this and how i'm able to be a stay-at-home-working-mom in a way that i think will work very well for me and my family.

sleep little lion man...

okay, it's settled: we need to work on milo's sleeping habits.

sometimes he'll sleep from 8 pm - 6 am. this would be fantastic if he slept this well every night, but he doesn't. it's usually random, and happens anywhere from once or twice a week to a couple times in a month? i guess i haven't been tracking it that closely, but regardless, it's not happening every night.

most nights he'll sleep for about 6 hours (usually, for example, from 8 pm - 2 am) and then another 3 hours or so after that.

last night he was up every two hours, and even let out a few complaints between wakings...

lucky me, though, i got together with a friend for coffee yesterday evening at about 5 - i thought, ohhhh, just half a cup with a lot of milk, and i'll be okay, yeah? yeahhhhh....

not so much.

i was in that weird dreamy-half-asleep-half-awake mode pretty much all night, which means every time he started fussing, i was already awake anyhow, so it made no sense to get frustrated about it.

anyhow, i'm ready to be done with this middle-of-the-night nonsense...

my only problem - well, two, really - is:

1. it'll take more effort to "sleep train" him at night than it would to just get up, sleepily feed him and put him back to bed. (i've stopped changing his diaper at night, because he's also eating less at night, and the diaper can hold it. i've read/heard/been told it's fine to do this, so i'm okay with it, as long as it's only a wet diaper.) getting him to sleep through the night involves waiting 5 minutes to answer him when he cries, but leaving him in his crib when i do go in; helping him to calm down a little; leaving the room. then he'll probably start fussing again, this time i wait ten minutes? (or is it the next week i wait ten minutes? another component of this problem, i'm not exactly sure how to do this so-called "sleep-training," and the library doesn't carry the book by the guy who came up with it.) anyhow, it' just easier to give him what he wants... but clearly this is not the best.
2. i also really love holding him when he's so peacefully sleeping all curled up in my arms. after he finishes his bottle at those night-time feedings, he turns his head into me, cuddling into my chest; it's unbelievably precious. it's also probably more dangerously addictive than hard drugs and pain killers.

my son the goat (ohhhh, i *kid*)

this morning i was watching milo on the monitor trying to determine if his mumblings and stirrings were because he was really awake, or if maybe he was just getting comfortable to go back to sleep. (fingers crossed...)

i knew it was time to get up and feed him when milo grabbed the front of his sleeper and put it in his mouth.