miles.stones // twelve months

He is one!!

My last monthly summary... (thank goodness 'cos I have been pretty slack with them!)

Routine

The routine these days... likely to stay basically the same till he is ready to drop to one nap (I expect around 18 months).

7.30am - Wake, breastfeed, breakfast and play

9.30am - Nap

11.00/11.30am - Wake, breastfeed, play, independent play, lunch etc

1.30pm - Nap

3.30/4pm - Wake, breastfeed, play, independent play (on school days I need to wake him at 2.45pm!)

5.30pm - Dinner, bath, change, play, stories etc

7/7.30pm - Top up feed, bed!

Milestones and more...

Well, Mr Chill is getting a bit more active these days! After thinking he was never going to 'properly' crawl, he has decided to start doing that (though he also still loves doing his commando crawling), and is pulling up everywhere and climbing over everything. His latest trick is pulling himself up in his cot (crib) and crying pitifully till someone comes and helps him get down again!! Cheeky boy. Walking is still a fair way off, I'd say, but he is happy to be able to get wherever he wants to go, fossicking out anything he can put in his mouth and finding himself in all manner of places.

We are still happily breastfeeding - woohoo! Although he is highly distractable these days!!! Now we have hit that magical twelve month mark, my general approach is to just continue as long as we are both happy doing so... with my other two that was till about 18 months, but we will just see how we go. As for eating solids, he eats anything and everything these days. Got his first sugar hit at his birthday party!!! A birthday cupcake :) He loved it of course, haha. (Photos to come when I get around to blogging them!). No sugar since though. I try to just keep his diet as sugar/preservative/processed-food free as I can whilst he is in these early days and his diet is so much easier to monitor. 

Still happily going to the potty a couple times a day or so (when I remember). He loves reading books on there ;) He is still chatting away with  his Mama, Dada, Bye Bye, More More and 'Wow', etc. Loves to copy/mimic new words, especially with his siblings. Loves to clap and wave and poke. My latest favourite are his 'kisses'. I use the term loosely, as its more like an open mouthed lunge at your face, his teeth clicking against your teeth as you laugh, squirm, and ultimately attempt to enjoy this well intended gesture. Super duper cute... though a little more intense! He has seven teeth and a couple more about to break through.

He is a baby no more. I have to admit I got pretty emotional the night before he turned one. Saying goodbye to those precious baby days. The end of an era, a very precious one indeed. *sniff* And though this one-year-old phase is frankly rather exhausting, it's onwards and upwards from here... I'm excited to see our family continue to grow together through every phase to come. He brings such joy to us all.

A glorious dark gold mess of ringlets. Love them.

Crawl free, little man! No more monthly torture sessions trying to get you to stay on your back ;) 

That little mole on the back of his knee? So cute :)

Oh Miles. It has been a blessed year of smiles. You have brought so much happiness and completeness to our family. We love, love, love you, darling boy. We can't wait to see you change and grow and emerge into the amazing boy and man that God intended you to be. Just be 'you' xx

And here 'tis the final monthly portrait. See ya at two, big boy!!

miles.tones // eleven months

Oh, Miles. Ever so nearly one...

Love those ringlets forming!

You are...

Our little sunshine. You say Mama, Dada, Bye Bye (with an adorable wave to yourself) and your very favourite - More More! You love to shout this from your highchair, requesting more food, along with the hand sign and a proud grin 'cos you know you are communicating all by yourself. Clever boy! Just like Eli, it seems baby sign is not going to be much use as you quickly prefer to say the words rather than needing to sign. You still tend to talk and sign at the same time though, and I will still sign new words as needed. You are army crawling everywhere, getting into everything, pulling up and maneuvering under and over all manner of obstacles. You love to clap and mimic you siblings.

You have six big chompers (soooo sharp!), delicious curls forming and a determination to make your way into every nook and cranny of this world (chomping on everything you come across!). The things you have gotten into your mouth already makes me shudder!

Although you are moving into my (ahem) lesser preferred age season of extreeeeeeme busy-ness and mobility, (the 10-18 month zone - coupled with limited communication and attention span...eek!), enjoying your wonder as you explore the world, gain new skills and grow into your sunshiney personality makes it all worth it. Even if I am constantly fishing all manner of things out of your mouth. You just get cuter every day - if that's even possible - and the whole family just can't stop smothering you in kisses and love. What a blessed little treasure you are.

(Sorry this is a short update, gotta get it done before you actually turn one!!)

So time to confess that for the last few months, in order to get these shots of Miles in his back with his cute singlet...
I have had to (gently, lovingly!) pin hold his little body down with my feet while I quickly snap a handful of shots, otherwise he is rolling and crawling away within seconds. But every now and then he escapes, haha! He is so cheeky and laughs the whole time as I rapidly fire off a snaps of the camera!

Drat... escaped again!!! ;)

Oh, we love you, baby boy. Can't believe we shall shortly celebrate an entire year of knowing you. I cannot fathom our family without you. Thanks for making us complete, you little treasure!

miles.tones // 10 months

Overjoyed to be 10 months!

Little man, ten months old! Another month with our ray of sunshine...

This is about his ninth month...

Routine

Miles is doing fine on two naps and rarely needs that third catnap anymore. Even on school days, he can usually make it from wake up to bed time. Two naps! Such a big boy!

His general routine is thus -

7.30am - Wake, breastfeed, play, breakfast

9.30am - Nap

11.30am - Wake, breastfeed, play, lunch

1.30pm - Nap

4pm - Wake, Breastfeed, Play, Dinner

7pm - Bed prep, Top Up Feed

7.30pm - Bed :)

Miles.tones and More...

He loves to sit up and play. He loves to clap and play peekaboo. He is now commando crawling, and with that and his determined rolling and pulling up and over things, he can get anywhere he wants to go.  Yes, we had to pull out the 'baby cage' (aka playpen) for some playtimes as we were losing him otherwise!! (and he was getting all manner of tiny things in his mouth). I am trying to encourage him to do 'proper crawling' instead of commando crawling, as I know it's so important developmentally, but the boy is taking no notice of me and doing things his own way! I'm sure he will get there when he is good and ready ;) 

He is putting away an amazing amount of food. Hungry boy! And his dexterity with manipulating various pieces of food is amazing to watch - and handles his own sippy cup too (when I remember to offer it!).

I know there are lots of other updates I am not remembering, but it's a crazy busy month so this will have to do for now! (Sorry Miles, this month is so brief!)

All in all - full of laughter and giggles, games and cheekiness, we just love this kid :)

The collage is getting very full....

miles // nine months in, nine months out

Seriously, Mum? Nine months?!

Master Miles is nine months old, and now in that last busy little quarter before he hits the glorious 'One'.

Seriously, I am getting so bad at doing these updates - it's almost the next month before I get the month written up! But, persevere I must, as this is the closest my little man will get to a Baby Book... and there are just three months to go of monthly updates so surely I can reach the finish line?! ;)

So - let's chat about MILES... This update is all about when he was eight months old....

Routine

He is doing great on two naps these days, except for school days when I have to wake him up so early (always so sad!), so on those days he gets a little cat nap. But generally the day looks like this...

7.30am - Wake, feed, play
9.15am -11.30am - NAP
11.30am - Feed, play, solids
1.30pm - 3.30/4pm - NAP
4ish-pm -Feed, play
5.30pm - dinner with family, top up breastfeed before bed
7.30pm - BED (Sleeps through the night)

Milestones and More

Miles now has the princely sum of four teeth - yes, those top two teeth fiiiiinally broke through, first the left then the right just a couple days later. His grin is so chompy and cute :) Teeth 5 and 6 (on both sides of top two) are also now piercing the skin so the kid will have a mouth full of little chompers in no time!

He is rolling and scootching all around the room - poor boy has got himself stuck under the couch or coffee table several times!! He is not crawling yet.... just too chilled for that ;) He is doing all the rocking on knees and what not, and often throws himself forward to try and get going places, but just not quite got the strength (or determination) to actually crawl yet. He will get there when he is good'n'ready, and in the mean time, I will enjoy him staying in one zone, haha! He can sit for a while unassisted but mostly prefers to be free to play on his back/tummy.

He is a very communicative little boy. I love engaging with him and he loves it too. Cheeky boy loves to play games and even initiates them. If we are snuggling, he will look up at me, give that playful smile and give a little jump and say 'Boo' to which of course I respond and back and forth we go. He has also started shaking his head and making a sound which sounds a LOT like 'No, no'. I was quite confused about where he got this as it's not like I have had any need to say 'No' to him at this stage!! Then I remembered he has two older siblings who rather...ahh...shall we say, enjoy their older status and tend to give big shakes of their heads with a gentle but authoritative 'No, no, Baby Miles' at the slightest imaginary infraction (such as accidentally rolling in the direction of the DVD player). Poor kid ;)

Miles also still thinks Baby Sign Language is the funniest thing ever. He cracks up when ever I sign 'More' and copies the sign, and saying 'Mo Mo'. He has even initiated the sign (and word!) once or twice! But I am not convinced he knows what it means just yet, but he is definitely getting the association. Like Eli, I have a feeling he will be jumping to just saying the words and not actually needing the signs pretty quickly, but we will stick with the signing just in case.

Breastfeeding is still going fine although Mr Nosey is highly distractible so I have to really keep things quiet (eg older kids away) so he can focus on feeding!! Baby Led Weaning is going great. He chows down like a maestro on whatever is set before him. His appetite is really growing - can eat a whole banana plus whatever else is going. He has now mastered the 'Pincer Grip' which opens the door to all kinds of food possibilities - including frozen peas for teething babies - always a winner! Love having him as part of our family dinners.

His hair is getting blonder and curlier every day! Ohhhh, I am loving those whispy locks and hope they get ringlets like Eli's. He is still just the happiest, cheeriest, calmest, most adorable and snuggly little man. Rolls with the family schedule, gets toted here and there, sleeps wherever we go, gets manhandled by his siblings and nary a complaint. He is just happy to be part of things.

My boy is a true bundle of joy, and any interaction with him just brings so much happiness. A laugh is always at the tip of his tongue, that twinkle in his eye always sparking - he is truly our delight  He makes us all so happy and I just can't stop 'wasting time' exchanging kisses and laughs and cuddles with my beautiful little boy whilst other less important things linger. These are sweet days, and these 'wasted moments' are the most precious ones of all, aren't they!?





Nine precious months! The nine months I was pregnant with you, sweet Miles, were some of the hardest days - but you have more than made them worth it. The nine months you have been here have been pure delight. You bring sunshine wherever you go and we all just adore you to pieces, beloved little prince xx

PS So many people have asked me where I got these gorgeous number singlets from! Well, they were actually a gift - my dear friend Tarnya ironed the number decals onto singlets - cute, huh?! I don't know where she got them but if you are after something similar, head to www.Etsy.com (ummmm, I love Etsy!!) and search for 'Baby Monthly Milestone Stickers' and you will find HEAPS of options... such as this one and this one! Hope that helps xx

milestones - eight months

Eight months old... creeping closer to the big 'one'! It's been a busy month for this little guy, travelling to Queensland and having lots of adventure. He is, as always, our happy Little Bear, content and pleased to be part of the action! He was an absolute breeze and delight to travel with :)

Routine

We are half way between the transition from three to two naps per day. The problem is with school pick ups, I need to leave at 2.30pm, right in the middle of 'afternoon nap time'. So on school days we do three naps (as I have to wake him for that second nap so early), and then on other days we are mostly doing two...or three depending on family activity. It's in a bit of a state of flux at the moment, so will see how things go over the next month.... he is easy either way really so there is no rush or stress about it!

Two nap routine days go something like...

7.30am - Wake, breastfeed, play
9.15am - Nap
11.30 - Wake, breastfeed, play, solids
1.30pm -Nap
4pm - Wake, breastfeed, play
5.30pm - Dinner with the family, play, bath
7.00pm - Top up breastfeed, bed
Sleeps 12 hours.

He is very flexible (as always) and sometimes can stay up for three or more hours if we are out and about!

Smiling at Dad :)

Miles.tones and More...

He still has just two bottom teeth. They have grown so much, they are a real feature of this month's photos :) The top two are really bulging but have not broken through yet!

He has had a big month of physical progression. He has gone from rolling just occasionally to constantly flipping back and forth (but not multiple rolls sequentially eg barreling across the floor!). He can sit independently but not for very long before he tips over. He is really making progress on his tummy - in the last couple weeks he has started lifting himself up onto hands and knees, not full crawling position but close. it was a bit of surprise, actually! It's so cute seeing him experiment with positioning and moving around, really testing himself out. I have even seen him lift up even his knees, doing a full push up (eg just toes and hands touching the ground, not even knees - it was so funny - looked like he was planking!).

He is LOUD AND CHATTY. Constantly squawks and babbling and various sounds the kids call 'words'. As I am a distracted mother I don't have a record of all the actual phonetic sounds or anything, I just now there are lots of them. (sorry Miles, I hope you are pleased I am at least managing to record this much!!!). He is making himself heard even in the midst of this very noisy and chatty family :)

We are still doing potty time... not very regularly especially while we were travelling, but it's getting very familiar to him and he even did a wee on there a couple times! Big cheers for that. We have also started doing Baby Sign Language - just the basics of 'more' 'all done' 'food' and 'drink' for meal times at this stage. He is such a mimic... he is even doing the 'more' sign himself! Not that I think he understands it yet (I don't think?!) but he likes to copy and whenever I sign it (or the kids) he cracks up laughing like its such a good joke and gets right into it himself. Sweet little hands!

I have finally snipped off a few of the long dark whispy bits of hair left from his newborn days (those days where I thought I might actually get a kid with dark hair like me, ha!). So his hair is now a dark blondish colour and growing in quite thickly! The hair behind his ears and back of neck is just starting to kick up a little, so I am making the call now that he may have curly ringlets like Eli did. *sigh* I loved his curls. If Miles has them too I am just publicly stating now that people may need to stage an intervention 'cos I won't EVER want to cut them off! :)

Solids are going great. Especially over our holiday, he really took a big leap into eating. He is sooo dexterous now, managing to pick up all kinds of things. He is eating a much wider variety, though due to his eczema I am being a bit cautious about introducing dairy. Also he had a bit of kiwi fruit the other day and got a red rash around his mouth and all up one forearm (it was really angry and inflamed!).... so looks like he may have a salycilate intolerance just like the other two kiddos did. Poor Miles. So now also avoiding a lot of acidic fruit and veg (tomato, mandarin, kiwi etc). He love his roast veg, loves meat, loves hummus on rice cakes.

He is still as sunny as ever. Visiting my Dad recently, he must have said at least 100 times (literally) on our visit 'Miles is just so HAPPY all the time. Is he ever NOT smiling?! I've never seen such a happy baby'. Yes, he really is a little ray of sunshine!

It's a busy month for our family with a few things going on. Time for blogging is cutting shorter and shorter (hence why I am so behind - have not even finished holiday posts yet. Real life takes precedent!). So though I could easily ramble for pages about the seventh month of my Little Bear, I will have to finish here. Suffice to say... we love our happy little boy!

'DADADADADADADADA!!!!!!' (the soundtrack to this entire photo session!) This is his crazy shrieking face. He is
very determined about whatever he is saying!

The eight month collage of course...

miles.stones - seven months

Miles is shocked to hear he is seven months old, too!

Miles sixth month was a big one... it felt like a very significant transition from infant to baby. All of a sudden he seems soooo much more grown up! (I know I say that every month. Ahem). A lot of milestones and changes occurred this month that moved infancy further and further away. A few sniffles were had at saying a forever farewell to those precious baby days - but I am enjoying his growing personality and independence too!

Routine

Miles is on a rough 3.4-4 hour routine/cycle. Waketimes are about two hours in length. Once he was established on solids, (about 6.5 months) I got the nerve to drop the Dream Feed to see if he could sleep through for the solid 12 hours. He did!! Every now and then he might wake in the mid-evening for a feed, which is fine, but mostly my little dude is in bed and peacefully sleeping for 12 solid hours! I admit I do miss him a little.... but not enough to wake him, haha. But I did love and cherish those sleepy, cuddly, quiet evening feeds. They were precious bonding time. But I am glad he can get such good sleep too!

Routine is currently something like...

7.30am-9am – wake, feed, play, nap

11am-1pm – wake, feed, play, solids (sometimes), nap

2.30-4.30pm – wake, feed, play, catnap (just 30 mins or more if earlier naps have been interrupted due to plans)

5pm – wake, feed, play, solids, top-up feed

7.15/7.30pm – bed!

Sleeps 12 hours.

I think we will have to try and drop the catnap pretty soon as it's getting awkward to fit it in but also not sure he can do without it yet so might just see how he goes depending on the days events in the coming month or so!

Milestones and More...

Sooooo - we started solids – yippee!! It was fun to dive into Baby Led Weaning again for the third time. Such a big transition, introducing solids for my little guy! He has done really well.... more gung-ho than I thought he would be. For the first two weeks, he did a mixture of interested eating, playing with the food, sometimes not being interested, or not coordinated to pick up the food, etc. It was so cute seeing him work out how to pick the food up and explore! Then all of a sudden, about two weeks in, it was like a light switched on and he got serious. Now every time he is presented with food options, he digs right in, grabbing food sticks and gnawing away. He can polish off several food pieces in one setting (and there is proof on the other end how much he is consuming, haha). It is doing wonders for his fine motor skills too, I am so impressed by how he managed to pick food up. He is so gorgeous, the way he chomps and chews so intently. The older two watch him like hawks, cheering, coaxing and gushing over every bite. He is a lucky little baby to have such a doting cheersquad ;) I am offering food once or twice a day. It is a new routine for all of us to get used to, haha! So far he has had avocado (his first food, just like the other two kids!), beans, sweet potato, carrot, potato, broccoli and once he had toast with hummus. He loves 'em all!

Physically, he is happy just rolling around. He does these very cute little baby-push-ups (to straight arms, lifting up his torso) and is very wriggly and active but at the same time, he is pretty chilled and doesn't seem all too eager to get going anywhere. I don’t imagine he will crawl for a while (I am pretty sure my other two didn’t crawl till about 9 months... umm.... but I can’t really remember!) so we will just see what happens... he will lead the way! He gets plenty of floor time to play and explore. He sits great in the highchair but can’t really sit unassisted for more than a few seconds... I am kinda trying not to force that before he is ready either.

He loves to mimic (he and Eli have a great coughing routine going on), and can squeal and gurgle and growl at rather a high pitch.... 3rd kid gotta make himself heard!! Oh and I almost forgot - he now has two chompy little bottom teeth too.

We have also introduced the potty! As part of our previous habit of getting the kids into early potty training, we just casually start sitting him on the potty – usually just once a day or so. He has already done a wee on there – big cheers for that! :) Mostly the goal is just to make it a positive place and to learn the association  of what the potty is for. We use baby-sign and Elimination-Communication-type cues so that he can become familiar with the process and recognise his own cues too. Timing is key as well in this learning phase. The other two kids were nappy/diaper-free during the day at about 18 months so we will aim for something similar with Miles but will just see how it all unfolds for him, of course!

  

He is still the happiest, most sunshiney baby boy around. Everywhere we go, people comment on how happy, content and adorable he is. And he really is. He is our little delightful - the family treasure.

We love you, Baby Miles!

PS Lily asked the other day 'What are we going to call Baby Miles when he grows up and isn't a baby anymore?' 'Ummmm... Miles!?' 'Ohhhh'. A sign that the 'Baby Miles' nickname is pretty entrenched!