Just before the fat lip ::

Just before the fat lip, it was a pretty idyllic fall scene at the rocket ship park.

The kids were giddy and giggly, and running all over the place.

Miles was running in circles around the toy riding pony.  June was climbing her favorite rock.  We were all enjoying the twirly slide.  But then... Miles wanted to follow June to the top of the rocket.

And Mom hovered behind him, watching his jerky balance as he climbed steps taller than his knees.  Watching him sway and catch himself, getting ever more nervous.  I made a declaration that he could no longer be at the top of the rocket, and carried his screaming-with-protest showing-signs-of-being-way-too-tired self down to the bottom of the rocket.

I was having fun too, as you can plainly see.

Then I had to go meet my friend and made my goodbyes, and as I walked away, Mr. Too Tired fell head first (from what I could tell) down the metal spiral staircase that leads up and down the rocket.

Lucky his valiant father was there in a heartbeat, and his mother was there two heartbeats after that.

I scooped his bleeding profusely from the face body into my arms and we carried him home, June happily toted in the much coveted stroller.  Not before Adam examined the inside of his mouth to get a look at the injury.

Top of the rocket ship.

Weirdly enough, he had already fallen up the stairs on the smaller play structure, cutting his lip slightly that time.  I'm not sure if the final injury contributed to the first, or if they were too separate ones.

We brought him home and treated him with baby ibuprofen, a popsicle for the swelling, and lots and lots of love.  The swelling was so intense that we thought for sure in the morning we'd get a great fat lip photo - but the swelling had decreased such that it was anticlimactic.

This is him sleeping that night, you can see the fat lip if you know it is there.  And look at those hands!

I think the trauma was experienced mostly by Adam and I.  And as Adam keeps reminding me, this is only the beginning....

He's Two - good excuse for a barbecue

Miles turned two last week.  While I have some birthday photos, I wanted to fill this post with some photos we took out at Point Woronzof last week.  It was sunny and hot for here, and we had dinner on the beach.  Adam and I feasted on some Bear Tooth burritos and the kids had dumplings, which they adore and clamor for.

But this post is about Miles.  Who is officially two.  It feels like not so long ago that he was born, but I cannot pretend that it feels like only yesterday.  I do feel a little momma guilt that June had so many more blog posts than he has had.  But... I have to get over it.

Some things he says that I do not want to forget:
Choc-kick -- chocolate
Poot-taste -- toothpaste
Oh Man (a la swiper) -- and sometimes, "No oh man!" when he's tired of us repeating it to him
Boo-ka-boo -- popsicle
helipopter
Sliiide
Outsiiide

For yes, he says, "Hmm."  Or maybe it sounds like "Huhm."  With an affirmative nod.  Rather than yes.

To direct us to what he wants he continues pointing at what he wants and says, "Kind!!"  And if we get the wrong thing, "No Kind.  Kind!!!"  And it repeats.

He is steadily and very rapidly growing out of this speech though.  All of a sudden, he is talking almost as much as Noah was when Noah was here visiting two months ago.  He is learning his colors and is good at recognizing blue, green, and orange.  Today he said, "My ball is outside."  And while I can't remember it, I counted a six or seven word sentence the other day.

Mean throwing arm - which led my Mom to tell me for the first time ever that her brother was a minor league pitcher.
He is not left-handed though, which perhaps lends to the apparent difficulty here...

One thing I should have documented a while back is that whenever we color, he wants me to draw him an owl and a kitty.  Every. Single. Time.  Today though I drew him two spiders, and he was wild about those.  He did not want anyone to touch them after.  He loves to paint, but what kid doesn't?

Throwing is serious business.

He is fiercely into momma these days.  And still snuggles closely.  He very recently weaned and still wants to nurse now and then, but does not get any milk when he does.  I think we have only a month or two to go and he will stop incessantly putting his hand down my shirt.  Maybe.

It may be hard to tell, but this was a tough rock to climb.   Hence the look of pride.

Both kids have been climbing into the bed at night as we sleep.  Sometimes I hear them, but they are stealthy little ones.  They like the snuggles and I confess I like them too.

He was afraid of the airplanes taking off overhead.

Miles continues to be a good sleeper all around, but we sure wish he would get over using his "plug."

Today, we bought him a froggy potty at Target.  And tonight he used it to go pee for the very first time.  He's growing up this kid.

He loves to climb and throw.  And hit.  We're trying to teach him not to hit.  In the downstairs bathroom, he'll climb onto the toilet so he can reach the sink to turn the water on and wash his hands.  I'm amazed at the things he'll think of in order to reach something he wants.

June and Miles have a very sweet relationship.  She protects him when big kids are running nearby.  She overprotects him sometimes and it makes him crazy.  She is a little momma to him and I have not once seen her strike him or lash out at him.  That'll come I'm sure, but for now they have a very sweet relationship.   They are sharing a room and June couldn't be happier about it.  She did not like sleeping in there alone.

Our little girl.

He is charming, this boy.  He looks like his baby nickname was Smiles.  His hair (as you can see) has become very blond.  He looks like his daddy that way, but has a bunch of me too.

P.S.  I guess I never talked about his birthday barbecue that we had yesterday.  I'm about to upload his birthday song video to Vimeo though, so I'll try to post it soon.  Like tomorrow.  But I know better than to promise I will!  I'm so lazy about blogging these days...

The Fox at 14 Months

Little Miles did not get a birthday post here, which I want to call tragic, but really... that is too melodramatic even for me.  BUT, it is something I have to remedy.  So our boy is going to be 15 months old soon, and I have a lot of catching up to do if I want to give him even a fraction of the blogging attention that I gave to our lovely June as she transitioned from baby to toddler, now to big girl.

Walking Love

The night before last, Adam and I had gotten both kids to bed and were enjoying our short, exhausted moments together at the end of the evening, when we heard giggling coming from Miles in the bed.  A lot of it.  I cannot say how lovely it was to hear him laughing in his sleep.  I like to think that it is a sign of a good life.

We cosleep still.  I am grappling with him being my last child and the sadness of not having another baby.  If logic had any place in the matter I would not feel this sadness at all.  But I wished to stay home with him his first 6 months at least, and in my heart I feel as though I missed a lot of the little baby cuddle time with both children, in those very first days.  So, we cosleep, and I know by looking at June that this time too will be over so quickly.  He will be sleeping on his own before we know it.  There are no do-overs with children.  I am not ready to rush it just yet.

Mama Love

This morning he very clearly said, "apple" while pointing at the mini Alaskan apples we still have in the kitchen.  He has a nice little roster of words, including Mama, Daddy, Up, Uh-oh, Cracker (all food is cracker), Na (for No, which he does not say yet, but he has got a very emphatic way of shaking his head no that is unmistakable), Touch, Sister, June, Kitty, Dog, Woof, Broom (oh is he ever obsessed with brooms), All Done, Boo, Ta Da, Bath, Ball, Balloon, and Book (which sounds like Book-u.)  And oh!  The intonation of his voice.  It is so sweet and kind of squeaky.  Adam says it is as if he is always singing when he speaks.  He chatters a lot to himself nowadays.  He understands a lot too, and will do things that are asked of him, like "Miles, go get your starfish."  Or, "Miles, time to go up(stairs)."

We still nurse.  (Which he calls Boo-Boos, as June did, or else "Mii" since, Milk is hard to say.)  He very adamantly expects nursing when we reunite in the evenings.  Having been through this before with June I just adore it the second time over.  Except at times when we are sleeping and I get a good sense of what it must be like to be a mama-cat, as Mr. Claws scratches me both with his toe and fingernails.

Balloon Love

He adores books.  Some of his favorites are Go Dog Go!  And the Eric Carle book From Head to Toe.

He is very active and always likes to figure things out.  Yesterday I loved watching him figure out how to squeeze a lime onto his dinner after I had done the same to mine.  He has already figured out how to squeeze a few kinds of bath toys so that they squirt water, which took June ages to figure out.  He walks, runs, and climbs quite well.  Climbing the stairs, into the dishwasher, onto various pieces of furniture.  He uses a fork and spoon, particularly at school, since it took us a while to try it at home.  He loves sitting at June's princess table to eat.  Another favorite thing is chewing on toothbrushes.

Daddy Love

He's made a very cozy home in all our hearts.

P.S.  Peep Junie's 14 month post, here.