Riley Nerd and Scouty Pouty: August 2010

4 month well check

We went for Miles' 4 month check up today. According to the doctor and nurses he looks great. We agree! We all got a kick out of him when he tried to grab the nurses stethoscope while she measuring his head circumfurance. He was also very brave for his shots and barely cired this time. Anyway, here are the stats:

weight: 16lbs 1oz (75%)
height: 25 inches (50%)
head: 42cm (50%)

Babies make happy morons of us all

I am posting these vidoes not because Miles is doing anything all that special, other than being Miles that is, but because Drew's attempts to make his son laugh for the camera are precious. To be fair, I join in on the last one.

On Tuesday, we are all headed to Maryland. Although the circumstances are sad, we are thankful that we get to see family and that Miles will get to meet his Aunt Sandy and Uncle Dave, his 4 wonderful cousins, and Uncle Jon and Aunt Katie. Also, Miles has not seen his Pop-pop since he was a month old, and I am looking forward to us all being together.

Happy 4 Month Birthday Miles

I cannot believe it has been 4 months already. The first two months of Miles' life seemed to last forever and now the past two months have flashed by in what seems to be the blink of an eye. Miles still loves monkeys and has also begun to notice the dogs. He even smiled at Scout yesterday, which made Drew and I beam. Miles is also taking an interest in other babies so I am making an effort to go to a play group at least once a week. At the last one, when I held him in front of another baby his age he held her hand. Even with his perpetual drooling, I think he is going to be a ladies a man.

Last week, we bought Miles a Jumparoo. This is the best $70 we ever spent. He loves it, and quickly learned that if he bounces the lights flash and the music plays.

In other news, Drew and I have a wonderful boss. In addition to allowing us to have very flexible work hours, because she travels a lot she brings back a little outfit for Miles from every place she visits. Miles has woolies and a Moose onesie from Norway, a silk outfit from China, and here are some pictures of Miles in a T-shirt our boss got him in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. It has a seahorse on it because the area of the brain that most of our research centers around (the hippocampus) is Latin for seahorse and was given this name due to its characteristic seahorse shape. Woods Hole is also the place where Watson and Crick figured out the structure of DNA. Anyway, I think that the color really brings out Miles beautiful blue eyes. Yesterday, our boss gave Miles a camo onesie from Alaska. Now Miles and Sarah Palin will have something to talk about. At least until next month when Miles becomes too intelligent to tolerate her.

We learned yesterday that Miles will gaze follow, meaning that if I make a big deal out of looking at something he will direct his gaze at it. Now we are working on him sitting up. He really wants to be able to do this, but still has some balance issues. Also, we have started to ween him off being swaddled at night. So far so good. Last night only his right arm was swaddled and he woke up once between 8pm and 6:30am. By next week we will retire the swaddle and he will start sleeping in jammies.

How we found out that Miles is ticklish in his neck

Family Update

It has been awhile since I attended to this blog. Life has been so hectic with work, and trying to keep the house from stumbling into chaos, that it has been hard to find the time. Anyway, Miles is napping and I have a minute so here it goes...a quick update.

This past month, it has been really fun watching Miles discover things out about his body. Starting over a month ago, it was his hands. He learned that he could use them to push things away that he did not like, particularly the nasal aspirator, and pull his toys closer. A few weeks ago, he discovered that he had control over his tongue. You could not look at the little guy without him trying to lure you into sticking out your tongue by sticking out his. This simple action, and the following imitation, still fills him with glee. Here is a video we took almost 2 weeks ago of Miles' hypoglossal motor control.

This past week Miles discovered his feet, and he thinks they are awesome. Every time he is on his back he is grabbing his feet.

The other new develop over the past few weeks is Miles' strong desire to sit up. When recling or laying down he does these funny 'baby crunches' trying to sit up.

In other news, Drew and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary on Wednesday. We decided that our present to each other would be a baby carrier, because what could better than getting to spend time together hiking. Here it is with Miles tucked inside.

Miles still has a little growing to do before we can do any serious hiking with him, but until then we are trying to get him used it by walking around the house. In another month or so we may try a short hike on Mt Lemmon.

Last, but certainly not least, yesterday Drew turned 30! He wanted a mellow birthday so we did some geocacheing and then I took him to lunch. He was a very good sport and let me get him a small cake, which was 100% for me. Drew doesn't really like cake and I became obsessed with it ever since becoming pregnant.

Drew got a candle for every decade since Oscar the Grouch's head did not have enough realstate for 30 candles.

Happy Birthday Sweetie! Welcome to your 30s. Now you can watch old "30 Something" episodes and finally get all of the references. I love you.

Frog Bib and Pitt Shirt

Uploader is now back up and working- here is the front of the outfit that Miles' Uncle Jon and Aunt Katie gave him!

Too long since last post!

It's been to long. We've been really busy the past week (NIH grants, manuscripts, Miles in daycare, etc.). Miles is more interactive these days. He enjoys sticking out his tongue as a form of communication and smiles quite a bit. Also, he got some new clothes! So I'll post a few pictures here for everyone!