Autumn has arrived!

If you're in Minnesota today, we hope you're enjoying the beautiful fall weather. It doesn't get much better than this! Just think...the ground could be covered in cold white stuff in only a few weeks. Maybe less. You never know.
When we asked Miles what he wanted to do today, he replied, "Get a pumpkin!" So a pumpkin is what he got. And thanks to the lovely weather, Tanner and I were in such a good mood that we decided to get him TWO pumpkins! A big one and a little one.

After our pumpkin hunt was finished, we visited Mineral Springs Park. Miles read up on the legend of Princess Owatonna and her visit to the springs many moons ago... I'll just stop there and leave the mooning jokes to Dad/Grandpappy, Evan, and Charlie.


Miles hoped the curing waters would help restore HIS health, too. For some reason, I don't think Princess Owatonna drank the waters in an attempt to pop a few more teeth, but I could be wrong. We'll let you know if they're of any help to Miles. Keep your fingers crossed.


Another nice thing about this park is the big playground area with fancy equipment. Tanner loved it - thank goodness! Miles and I just can't believe how much he's grown lately.

The park also has a lot of trees (more than a lot, really). It was the perfect opportunity to introduce Miles to crunchy leaves. Wooo hooooo! He had a good time. As Tanner kept saying, some day we'll have that many leaves in our yard. SOME day. Probably not in our life time, but no doubt some day.

Before we knew it, it was time to head home. Let's hope for many more days like this in October!

Miles "96th to 97th Percentile" Grimmius

Miles had his 9 month well-child checkup on Tuesday, which happened to be his 10 month birthday. Better late than never, right?! He continues to be an overachiever in the weight and height department...further proof that he is our child.

Here are the stats, with (in parenthesis) a description of his growth in the last 4 months:

Weight = 26 lbs 4 oz (97th percentile, gain of 5 lbs 12 oz, and 4 lbs heavier than his 15 month old cousin Hannah)
Height = 30.5 inches (95th percentile and gain of 3 inches)
Head Circumference = 19 inches (97th percentile and gain of 1 1/4 inch...as well as 17 percentage points)
Depth of Chin Dimple = .16 cm (67th percentile and .06 cm deeper)
Shots = 3 misc. + 1 oral Rotovirus vaccine

I'm pretty sure he wasn't supposed to get any more vaccines until his 12 month appointment. In fact, I know that's the case. Poor Miles. The error is a bit disturbing, but he's fine and is one step ahead of the vaccine schedule now (sort of).

So that's the scoop! Miles is a happy, healthy boy and continues to teach his old parents new tricks. Although today WE taught HIM a new one: kisses! His technique could use some fine-tuning, but we'll take 'em -- no matter how sloppy or open mouthed they come :)


One benefit of taking him in a month late for his checkup is that I can post this picture of him, which wouldn't have been possible a month ago because he wasn't capable of doing this at 9 months of age. See?! It's all good.


(Watching his daddy mow the lawn)


He also was not given a fat apple slice to suck on when he was 9 months old. But now that he's 10 months, he gets all the fat apple slices he could ever want. Did you know that 10 months is the magic fat apple slice age? Well...it is! His 3 teeth don't exactly provide much support in the biting/chewing department, but the apple still makes for a delicious sticky treat. MMMM!
(Charlie: Miles is a Paula Red fan like his mommy. Pick some up at Jim's for us, would ya?)

Farmers Market

Miles and I walked to the farmers market with Natalie and Claire this morning. Normally our ventures down to the market on Saturday mornings follow the same old routine and are rather uneventful. Today, however, marked the first time Miles and Claire went to the farmers market TOGETHER. They seemed to enjoy each others company...probably not as much as me and Natalie enjoyed each others company (we tend to have a bit more to chat about than the babies do), but the two babies played nicely and that's all we ask these days. Right?! Just play nicely, dang it.

Miles was impressed with Claire's two new teeth. They are her only teeth, which makes them that much more important. He bragged about his new third tooth that just popped through, but she didn't seem too impressed. She's probably got plans to bust out 4 more in the next month...that'll put him in his place! Of course, simply pulling his hair will put him in his place, too.

We all went home with mini pumpkins and fancy gourds to help decorate the babies' houses for fall. We also stocked up on freshly picked apples...mmmmm. It was a fun way to start a warm Saturday morning. I'm afraid there aren't too many days like this left, so Claire and Miles better get in as many walks as they can.

A 2 Slideshow Weekend

Is it already Monday? What happened to the weekend? Oooofdah.

It was one adventure after another for Miles, beginning on Friday night when we stayed at Grandma and Grandpa G's house. We celebrated Tanner's birthday (early) and Miles was reunited with Putter. He loved every minute of chasing after the "puppy". Putter showed us that, despite being nearly blind and almost completely deaf, he still knows when a baby is around and on the loose. Fortunately he was very patient with Miles, and after a few ear tugs he calmly retreated to his kennel where he was safe until Miles either fell asleep or left the house. Poor Putter.

On Saturday, we ventured over to Worthington for the annual Turkey Day celebration. I'm proud to say that Paycheck (a Worthington native) once again defeated Ruby (the Texas turkey) in The Big Race.**
Just prior to The Big Race, though, was My Big Race. Once again I did my own version of the turkey trot around Lake Okabena... I finished with a decent time and was proud of myself for having clipped off about 13 people along the last stretch. Normally I'm not a competitive person when it comes to fun runs, but the smell of defeat (or someone's feet, anyway) made me kick it into high gear at the end. I wish Chuck and Angie would've been alongside me during the run, but instead some girl named Ellen kept me company most of the way. She was nice. Just not as good of a joke teller and CP and A2P2. Ha. That's a joke, too.

Anyway, Miles was a great cheerleader as usual. After the run, we enjoyed BBQs (or "barbs") at Great Grandma Helen's place. After a quick nap for Miles and Grandpa Dave, we made our way to the parade route. As you can see in the slideshow, Miles was right in on the action with his second cousins Eli and Molly. They were lots of fun!

After an exhausting day of fun-running and parade watching, it was time to go visit Gramma and Grandpappy Potts. We celebrated Tanner's birthday yet again (and early, yet again). Miles stayed up well past his bedtime and then surprised us by sleeping until 8am on Sunday. What the heck?! Why can't he do that when there are no grandparents around to take care of him while mommy and daddy sleep? Ugh. Some day he'll learn. We hope.

After a delicious brunch and some napping, we returned home to Owatonna where we continued napping and celebrating Tanner's birthday.

Now you understand why it was a 2 slideshow kind of weekend!






**For those of you unfamiliar with Turkey Day festivities, I strongly suggest you check out the links.

odd-n-ends

Story of the day:
Around his usual post-lunch nap time, Miles was simply exhausted. He didn't have the patience to wait for one of his "teachers" to bring him to his crib, so he crawled over to one of the cots used by a friend in his daycare room, crawled up on to it, and snuggled with his friend's blankie. I can't imagine this is the same cot that left a big bump on his head yesterday, but it's quite possible...one day the cot is his worst nightmare, and the next day it brings him sweet dreams. Hey, whatever works.

Photo of the week (needs no explanation):

Happenings:
On Sunday, we ventured up to the Defeat of Jesse James Days (aka DJJD) festivities in Northfield. I ran the 15k fun run with Chuck and Angie (where was the "fun" part of the run?? Oh yeah, when Charlie told a funny joke... What did the farmer say when he lost his tractor? "I lost my tractor!" Duh.) It actually was a very enjoyable run, despite the many (many many many) hills. Charlie and Angie are good running partners - they keep me movin', which ain't always easy. Afterward, we visited with Angie's family (Darla: thanks again for the use of your shower!) and Miles giggled at Brit's itty bitty dog. Then Chuck and Ang treated me, Tanner, and Miles to brunch at the local Perkins. That doesn't really have anything to do with Jesse James or his gang, but it was still a very good meal (did Charlie say something along those lines on his blog? Sorry. I guess it's a true statement, though). Anyway, it was a fun day and wooo hoooo for the Northfieldiens defeating JJ!

On Monday, we helped cheer the Packers on to victory. The Grandparents Grimmius were live at Lambeau, leaving us a tad bit jealous...but we managed to snag a picture of them when the ESPN camera zoomed in close.

On Tuesday, Miles decided to skip his late afternoon nap. For some reason, that meant he produced more boogies than usual. Yeah, I don't get it either, but it was gross. Do you see the one in his hair, too?

On Wednesday, Miles decided to skip his late afternoon nap again! I hope I'm not picking up on a theme here... Fortunately Grandma Jill and Grandpappy came over to play. That gave Miles a new audience to ooooh and aaaaah over his amazing crawling/pulling/standing skills. Yay for the extra cheer leaders!

This weekend Miles will be experiencing his first Turkey Day celebration in Worthington. He's opting out of the 10k run, but will be there to cheer on mommy (or nap in the stroller...).
Tune in next week!

Cougars and porcupines and cows...OH MY!!!

As I alluded to in the last blog posting, Miles took another trip to the zoo. This time, the zoo was a short 30 minute drive down (along) highway 14 to Byron. Grandma Jill, Grandpappy (Grandpa Larry...), and Great-Grandpa C. Reps joined the fun.
It was a pretty warm day, but the lovely picnic grounds were so shaded that we didn't even break a sweat! Thank goodness.

Oxbow Park is a great place to play. Grandpa C. Reps and Grandma Bene used to take us Potts kids there during our annual summer vacations with them. The only thing I remembered about the park was that it housed a bear that tried to bite my hand off. Seriously. It did. Nobody else seems to remember the traumatic moment, but it's a true story. I was thisclose to losing my right hand. Errr...maybe it was my left hand. Anyway, it was scary. (And no, Charlie, Uncle Don was NOT there.)
With all of the other neat things to see and do at Oxbow park -- walk through the woods, go down slides, swing, have a picnic, stroll through the interpretive center (albeit a small one...like 2 strolls and you're done), pet a cow, watch some bison -- I'm a bit saddened by the fact that some old grizzly bear tainted my memory.
Sigh.

In any case, it was a very fun trip and we look forward to visiting the park/zoo again soon. I'm sure it's gorgeous in the fall...we'll be back to see!

And now, a slideshow of the day (except for our picnic, as those photos can't be found):