**edited...the sound is working now....not that you were missing anything when it wasn't*

For My Daddy: Sure miss you!

PS....Just ignore the LOUD background conversation between my mom and Grandma. When you're talking to Grandma.......everything has to be loud. :)

Monthly Synopsis

Now 10 months old....and he just can't stand the excitement.

Monthly synopsis: Things Miles accomplished as a 9 month old. He has:

• given up on his army crawl. ( I guess he figured out doing the regular crawl is faster)
• Stands up and walks back and forth (while holding onto something for support)
• Occassionally lets go of whatever he is holding onto, and can balance 5-7 seconds before falling down.
• Understands the word "no". But loves pushing his limits. He will crawl somewhere he knows he's not suppossed to be, and then give me this "look", as if to say..."c'mon mom...come and get me. I dare ya!" And when he sees me coming, he crawls away in hyper speed, giggling the whole way.
• learned to climb up stairs. (That took about 2 minutes at Grandma Atkinson's house). But doesn't know how to come back down.
• was sick for the first time. Cousin Gabe came over on Aug. 5 with a runny nose, and the next day...Miles had it too. And by the 7th, the cold moved down into his lungs and gave him "croup". Even though he didn't feel well, he still tried so hard to be happy. He started antibiotics on the 8th, and began napping and sleeping right next to the humidifier. By the 10th, he was feeling a lot better. Thank goodness!
• Loves reading books, and turning the pages all by himself.

We have also taught Miles a few new tricks this month. He has learned to:

• Growl like a lion
• Play pat-a-cake
• Smile for pictures
• Say "mama" (he says it now more than dada) :)
• Give "high five"
• Play Peek-a-boo
• and do "so big"

And he has said "ruff" like a dog and "quack" like a duck....but only once, so I"m not sure if it really counts.

And I have been busy chasing him around everywhere. Why was I ever anxious for him to start crawling?!

I can't wait to see what new tricks he will learn at 1o months!

Camera Shy?

Miles has recently taken to LOVING his picture being taken. No complaints from me, because I love to take his picture. It's a win-win.

As soon as he sees you holding up anything even remotely resembling a camera, he gets all excited.

The routine is this: I hold up a camera ( or something that looks like a camera. Once I used post-it-notes, and got the same reaction.) Then I say 1-2-3- SMILE! He usually starts smiling by the time I reach -2-.

And because Mike is in Texas (for 2 whole months), and I am now in Wyoming (for 2 whole months), I thought he would probably want to see some new pictures of his cute little boy.

Miles also figured out, in the space of oh....about 5 seconds.......how to climb up the big curvy staircase in my parents' front room. But unfortunately, he didn't want to show off his new skills in front of the camera.

(And you may be asking yourself, "Why is Miles wearing his outside in the sun/swim hat inside? And why is it crooked like that?"

And my answer to you would be....Because I bust up laughing everytime I see him like that. That's why." :)