It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

This last day of June 2008 proved to be a beauty. We decided to visit the birdies and ducks down by the "river" (too big for a stream/creek, too small for a river if you're from the MN River valley...but some locals still call it a river.).

We also watched the water rapidly flow through the dam and under the bridge.

And we went swinging. Sort of.

Maybe we'll venture out again tomorrow night when a certain little guy isn't quite so sleepy.

Breaking news: We've got a tooth!

That's right folks, Miles has a tooth! A really cute, little, sharp tooth! We've been waiting weeks for Mr. Tooth to arrive and welcomed him today with lots of drool. Does this make Miles a big boy now? I think so! There's no way to capture the tooth on camera yet (it's still an itty bitty little thing), but stay tuned. It won't be long before Miles' grin starts looking goofy.

Another thing that made Miles seem like a big boy today: he graduated from the baby tub to the "real" tub. You'd think that all the water surrounding him - and the great freedom he had to flap his arms - would've sparked some excitement, but nope. Instead it was the little silver plate do-jiggy that kept his attention (you know, the plate thing-a-ma-jig that is placed on the wall of the tub in between the faucet and drain. What purpose does that serve, anyway?). In any case, bath time was extra fun tonight and is sure to be even more exciting as Miles figures out the many games he can play in the tub. Let's hope he doesn't learn how to blow bubbles any time soon...if you know what I mean. Uncle Charlie.

One last thing about this boy of mine (OURS...sorry Tanner) is that he's learning how to get himself to sleep at night. It's not easy for any of us, but we're making progress. Tanner was gone Wednesday night and I didn't have the energy to go into Miles' room every few minutes to give him his dooza, rub his back, tell him it was time to go night-night, etc. It takes some team effort most nights. So after a brief bed time battle, I put Miles in his rocker chair and told him he could play quietly until he was ready for bed. Well let me tell you, this kid ain't stupid! He sat quietly in his rocker and played for nearly 45 minutes while I showered, cleaned the bathroom, folded some clothes, and washed some dishes (aren't I a good little housewife?). Neither one of us made a peep. Then Miles started whimpering, so I gave him his dooza and put him back in his crib. He was sound asleep within 10 minutes. Sigh. That's my boy! We're figuring this thing out, that's for sure. Of course once it IS figured out, something will change and we'll be back to ground zero. But that's okay - it keeps us on our toes.

You want some more pictures now? Here you go!

Washing all 2000 body parts

Drying all 2000 body parts

Learning how to hold his own bottle...a big boy move that has yet to be accomplished.

YAY for high chairs!

Miles' new high chair arrived in the mail yesterday. Yahoooo! I don't know who is more excited, Miles or his mommy and daddy.

Miles loves sitting in the high chair at Grandma Jill's and Grandpa Larry's house. The tray on it is so entertaining that he forgets about his fingers. That means most of the food actually ends up in his belly instead of on his face. A VERY nice thing for the person usually in charge of wiping him down...a woman who shall remain nameless...but who has done a lot of wiping in her days.

It's hard to believe Miles has graduated from (i.e. completely outgrown) his Bumbo seat. We're told the trays for Bumbo seats are very handy, but who would know? Most babies develop some chub chub around the thigh region, which is not very conducive to Bumbo-ing. Miles was getting pretty darn tired of us cramming his meaty thighs through those leg slots, and I don't blame him. Yay for high chairs! Yay for high chair trays!

One more thing to YAY about today -- tooth #1 is in sight and can sort-of-almost be felt! YAY!
We're confident it will break through this weekend and are really really hoping it brings along a few friends. Might as well get as many in at a time as possible.

Enough YAYing for now. On to the pictures! YAY! We have a video clip of Miles eating in his new chair, but I can't get it to upload...Natalie said it's easy to upload videos. Sure. Right. Show me!

Miles spent a solid 15 minutes playing with his farm friends tonight. Just him and the farm. It has nothing to do with the high chair, but was super cute and deserved a spot on the blog.

Hurry up, daddy!

Friday doesn't mark just the end of the work/school week for this Grimmius bunch...it also marks the return of DADDY! Tanner was in Virginia (the state, not the MN city) all week for work. He survived the heat wave, did all sorts of business related activities, gave a presentation, and even snuck in a bit of golf. After only an hour of him being gone, I quickly remembered how much I don't want to be a single mommy. How do some women (and men - but we call them single daddies, not mommies) do it? Ooofdah. Even though Miles was a perfect boy all week, it was still hard. I prefer having daddy around - he's a good guy.

I admit I didn't fly solo in mommyhood all week. We had lots of visitors!

On Monday Grandma Jill came over (she only allows her feet to be shown in pictures...hence the big toe instead of her pretty face)

On Tuesday we went for a nice walk with Claire and her mommy

On Wednesday Grandma Jill returned (isn't Grandpa Larry the retired one in that relationship?!), followed by Uncle Charlie and Auntie Angie

On Thursday Grandpa Dave and Grandma Doreen came to play

On Friday Gus the caterpillar made an appearance.

After a busy week of entertaining visitors, putting up with mommy, and missing daddy, Miles has called it a night. I took a picture of him snoozing, but the Blog God tells me I have no more room to upload pictures. I can't figure out how to work around it. Anyway...

Here's a shout out to all those single mommies in this world. YOU'RE GREAT!

Daddy just called and is on his way home. Yahoooo!

Dear Cousin Hannah (again)

Dear Cousin Hannah,

I miss you so much! Please come visit again soon. You are a fun girl! I liked watching you eat big people food and walk around furniture. Sometimes you acted goofy and made me giggle! Like when you mooned me. That was so silly! But it was also proof that we come from the same family. I love you very much, cousin. Give Ira a juicy kiss for me. He's a good monkey friend.

Love,
Miles

Dear Cousin Hannah

Happy Birthday!
I love you.

Love,

Cousin Miles