Just a little Dude and his Dad

The 4th of July.....and what do you do before the fireworks? Try to catch big huge beatles, ofcourse!

Miles, posing for the camera with dad

Hey Dad....There's something down there!

Almost there......Just a little closer....

(That's as close as he got. Once he saw it up close and personal, he decided he didn't want it anymore.)

That's alright by me. Given his penchant for eating bugs, I'd rather he not learn how to pick up big stink bug beatles.

Crack is Wack....But Babies are the next best thing

The other day I was playing with Miles, something I do pretty much all day, every day. I'm not sure what was different about that particular play session, but I found myself noticing just how happy I felt. Or maybe I should say, I couldn't help but notice how happy he made me feel. I wasn't exactly sure what it was, but there was something about the way he smiled and laughed, and just couldn't get enough of my silly faces or the tickles on his tummy. I even brought it up to Mike, and we had a whole conversation on the mysteries of a smiling baby, and why we will do ALMOST anything to see the dimples in his cheeks, and hear his infectious giggles.

So, imagine my surprise when, later that afternoon, I came across an article on MSNBC about this very topic. Apparrently, seeing your baby smile activates pleasure receptors in your brain typically associated with....you got it. Drug Addiction. (along with other things). According to the article:

"Any mother who's ever felt a jolt of joy at her baby’s first grin knows how intoxicating that can be. Now, scientists at the Baylor College of Medicine say there’s more to the baby buzz than just a rush of happy feelings. Turns out that seeing your own child smile actually activates the pleasure receptors in the brain typically associated with food, sex — and drug addiction.
“It may be that seeing your own baby’s face is like a ‘natural high’ ."

Apparrently, this has been scientifically tested. (You know how I love scientific things)

So there you have it. Now you know why you might jump up and down, talk like a chipmunk, prance around the house or act like a monkey, make various strange noises, stick out your tongue, play pat-a-cake, tickle tummies, and sing childish songs in the presence of your favorite baby, all to coax out one more grin. You do it for the same reason I do.

We can't help it.

We're addicted

And how could I not be?

Add Lion Tamer to my list of job requirements

Today, my little man is 9 months old.

My sweet, crazy, funny, Smiley Miley

And since he is now 9 months, I figured I should write his 8 months "summary."

at 8 months he was: 15 pounds 8 ounces

• He perfected his army crawl
• He perfected his "regular" crawl
• He learned how to pull himself up to a standing position (which resulted in his crib being lowered to the lowest position)
• And he learned how to get himself into a sitting position
• He got his first tooth. (Actually, his first TWO teeth) both bottom front ones
• He said his first word, "da-da". Despite the HOURS I have spent whispering mama into his ear
• He started having formula and eating all kinds of yummy finger foods, like cheerios, yogurt bites, and fruit and vegetable puffs
• He learned how to get these yummy treats into his mouth all by himself
• And then he ate his first bug right off the kitchen floor (see my previous post)
  
• And he has learned how to throw a pretty good tantrum, and cry in just a way that mom feels bad and gives him whatever he wants. What a smart little bugger!
• Tasted his first ice cream. Ofcourse he loves it.
• And he got his first haircut. (performed by Grandma Atkinson) Mike wasn't very happy about it. But don't worry. He still has PLENTY!!
  

That's a lot in just 4 weeks! Miles is definitely developing his little personality. Here are a few things about him at 8 months.

He prefers army crawling to regular crawling, but only pushes off with his right foot

• Loves kicking and kicking and kicking his legs. (Maybe we have the next Michael Phelps on our hands?)
• Loves his Baby Einstein First Signs dvd. We watch it everyday.
  Favorite Book: Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton
• Favorite Song: Mom singing "I've been working on the railroad"
• Loves chasing after electrical cords and remote controls. I can't keep him away from them.
• Hates being held "like a baby", in a cuddly position. If he lets you hold him at all, he wants to be facing out and looking at his world. But he really prefers to be exploring.
• Doesn't like going down for naps, or going to sleep. He tries to fight it, and usually cries for about oh...30 seconds before he just gets too comfy and falls right to sleep.
• Sleeps about 12 hours at night. He usually doesn't wake up

But if I had to describe Miles in only one word, it would be HAPPY! I probably don't deserve how good he is. He is just happy and smiley all day long. And that makes ME smile all day long.

And NOW...Miles is working on cute new things I can record for nine months. At nine months, Miles now likes growl like a lion. Atleast thats what I think he sounds like. He started doing this today. It just doesn't get any cuter than this.

We only eat Gourmet Delicacies at our house

One major negative aspect to living in a climate where temperatures soar above 100 degrees (well, besides the temperatures themselves) is all the little warm weather loving creepy crawlies that seem to be in abundance around my house lately. These buggies are, I think, smarter than most people give them credit for. You see, while they love warm temperatures, they want to get out of the HOT temperatures, just like everthing else. They do this by finding any crack, hole or opening and sneak their way into MY lovely air-conditioned home.

We do our best to keep these pests under control. Our HOA pays for a company to spray twice a year. And we spray outside and inside ourselves a few times a year. This helps. But some creepy crawlies still manage to get in. Usually the fly swatter takes care of these. Even still, some extra sneaky buggies sneak past us. Today was one of those days.

I have officially become a baby wrangler around here. (In addition to bug zapper.) Miles just can NOT hold still. He is crawling everywhere, pulling himself up on anything he can get his hands on, and simply REFUSES to be held, or contained in any manner. This also almost always includes being put in his baby jumper he LOVED only a couple weeks ago. At the same time, he has also learned how to throw a pretty good tantrum. These tantrums generally occur when he feels his new found freedom is being infringed upon (as in being placed in the baby jumper, crib, pack-n-play, highchair, or even being held.) And did I mention I'm also a push over? As a result, Miles enjoys free reign of the house. He gets to crawl all over the place. We don't have stairs, and everything has been appropriately baby proofed, so I just let him go, and go, and go. He's happy, I'm happy.

He has also figured out how to pick little things up and put them in his mouth. Usually these little things consist of cheerios or vegetable puffs, or other baby appropriate munchies. But TODAY......today he found a new treat.

I was putting things away from our trip to Utah this afternoon. I came into the living room and noticed Miles was just chomping away. Chomp Chomp Chomp....perfectly happy he had found such a yummy treat. I hadn't given him any snacks. Afraid he had found some kind of choking hazard accidentally left out, I rushed over to investigate. And What did I see????

Two perfect little cricket legs sticking out of my baby's mouth.

Yes. That's right. Miles found a cricket that had somehow made it past me. I'm assuming it was already dead when he found it. I started yelling: "Oh NOOOOO! Don't eat that! Yuck! Spit that OOUUUUTTTTT!" I tried getting it out of his mouth, but Miles' jaws were shut tight! He was not about to let the snack he had found all by himself get away.

Mike had to help me get the half chewed cricket out of his slobbery mouth. It was a fight I tell you. We finally had to pinch Miles' nose to get him to open his mouth. And once the cricket was removed......we had a tantrum on our hands.

Lovely. My only consolation is that somewhere, in some foreign land or third world country, crickets are probably considered a delicacy. And as I'm quite sure this won't be the last "delicacy" Miles finds around our house, next time I'll try to get a picture.