Oh so tired

This week's post will be very brief. This past week and weekend was the huge annual conference I help to organize and after my longest stint away from Miles (3 nights) and after many 16+ hour work days I stumbled out of the Hilton Minneapolis this morning, into the sunshine and home where big Miles' hugs were waiting for me. He had a great week of playing with daddy and Grandma Nickolay. Thank you so much to my mom for helping to care for him while I was away! At the end of this week I'll conclude 11 days of work in a row and hope to take full advantage of next weekend off of work. Now time for a soak in the tub and bed. Goodnight!

Fun with Family

Brunch and a pj party at grandma and grandpa Nickolay's.

Quality time with Godfather Matt.

Snuggling with Matt & Janelle.

Getting creative with can koozies with grandma.

Mowing the lawn like dad.

"Off to grandma and grandpa's house I go!"

Uh-oh - this little boy discovered a fun pond.

We were lucky to have quality time this weekend with Matt and Janelle and my mom and dad. We shared great meals and lots of play time with Miles. Ms. Darcy from school also came over on Saturday to babysit Miles so that we could attend my cousin Scott's wedding to Michelle. It was a lovely ceremony and I'm always a fan of wedding receptions - chit-chat, food, music, cake and dancing - the recipe for a great night out.

The weather this weekend was so unbelievably gorgeous. 70s and sunny in mid-October is a true gift! Wearing short sleeves we played in the yard, Miles discovered my parents' pond, we took a long walk and played on the playground at Lake Susan. Miles impressed us with his slide skills. A few inches from the slide he plops down on his butt, flips onto his belly and gleefully zips down the slide feet first.

Sigh of Relief

The 2 buddies hanging out by the gate waiting for mom to come upstairs.

Miles loves petting and hugging Ruby.

Pals.

Our big boy has moved on to whole apples!

Well, gnawing on the apple cores anyway.

Yum!

Ready for the park on a lazy, pj Sunday.

Tuesday morning we woke Miles up early and brought him to Ridgeview Hospital in Waconia in his jammies to have surgery to get tubes placed in his ears. We checked in at 6:45 am and were taken back to a children's waiting and recovery area. It was glass encased, so Miles could easily see out but couldn't escape, with toys and a large teddy bear that Miles gave a few hugs to. Miles received a little ID bracelet around his ankle and the surgical team came and talked to us. They were very professional and comforting and when the anesthesiologist gave Miles a high five my fears for the morning were greatly eased. At 7:45 he was taken back by the nurses to surgery and Mike and I settled into the waiting room. At 7:50 (yes, 5 minutes later) we were called back to talk to the ENT - the surgery was over. He reported everything went smoothly and Miles actually didn't have any fluid in his ears at the time of the procedure. He was in recovery and we would be able to see him shortly. At about 8:10 we went back to the children's recovery area. A nurse was holding Miles and he was crying and his little head was wavering around. They said that he was dizzy from the anesthesia. I cuddled him on my lap and he calmed down immediately. Just like Miles, he was acting like he wanted to get down off of my lap and walk around so we turned on Dora the Explorer which was a good distraction so he could recover peacefully on my lap. The nurses checked on him and at 8:45 told us he was doing so well that we could go home. Once home, Miles took a 2 hour nap and that afternoon he played and walked around like he had never had surgery. We were so thankful that everything went well and that he recovered so quickly. The experience surpassed by expectations. We received great care at the hospital and now hope that the tubes will work and we will be ear infection free this fall and winter.

The rest of the week played out like normal and we had a fairly low key weekend. Today we got outside for a long walk around Lake Susan with a stop at the toddler playground. Miles can now go down the slide (on his belly, feet first) by himself and attempted to climb a ladder (he hung out on the first rung).

Over the last week or so we've noticed that his separation anxiety has increased. Going to daycare, ECFE or a play date he'll cry and cling to me if he thinks I might leave or put him down. This is a new stage for us and Miles - up to this point he has been pretty easy going and hasn't experienced that much separation anxiety. This is however a normal stage in his development so I'm sure it will pass.

Cheers to Health

Watching for dad out the window.

There he is!

Wagon ride on a beautiful fall day.

Sweet boy.

Mr. Independent would rather pull the wagon than ride in it!

"Yes, I'm a big boy!"

"I love walking so much that I insisted upon wearing shoes with my pjs!"

"I love my shoes (and crayon)!"

Picking out pumpkins.

Oh boy!

We had a breakdown on the way home from pumpkin picking

and had to call roadside assistance (thanks Grandpa Nickolay!)

Miles was a wonderfully healthy boy this weekend. After what seemed like a long stretch of nasty colds we saw the twinkle back in Miles eyes, the sparkle back in his big, toothy grin and heard his chatter and giggles throughout the house. Besides the typical weekend warrior house and yard chores we had a low key weekend of playing, reading books and snuggling. Other highlights included Miles and I starting a new ECFE class "World of the One Year Old" (boy are 12-24 month olds busy and constantly changing little people!), we spent time outside for walks and wagon rides, picked up gorgeous, orange pumpkins for the front patio and crunched in the leaves (a new experience for Miles).

Our topic at ECFE Friday was language development so I thought that I'd take this opportunity to record Miles growing list of impressive communication skills so far.

• Spoken language: mama, bye-bye, hi, dad, da (for dog), uh-oh, boo (for peek-a-boo)
• Animal/object sounds: dog (makes panting sound), elephant, horse, turkey, truck
• Sign language: more, milk, please (his teacher at school reports him to be a very polite toddler, always using the sign for please when he wants something)
• Receptive: follows simple one and two-step commands, points to people and objects and his nose
• Other: lots of gibberish, especially when "reading" books

This Tuesday is Miles surgery to get tubes placed in his ears. Please say a prayer for him that everything goes well!

All About M

Reading books in his favorite chair.

(Pre-haircut)

"Boo!"

"Yes, I look darn cute with my new haircut."

Playing ball in my playroom.

Looking at the goats at Deardorff Apple Orchard Saturday.

Pumpkins!

Miles looks a little too happy for just making his first crayon mark on the wall!

Coloring with Grandma and Grandpa Nickolay

Oh boy these crayons are fun!

Horsey ride from Grandpa.

The Amazing Mr. Miles

Boy, Miles is a mover and a shaker now. His primary occupation these days is walking everywhere. Up and down the hall, up the stairs, around the playroom with his vaccuum popper. He puts on many miles a day and so do the rest of us following his every move. If we're not watching him every second he will probably a) have his hands in Ruby's water bowl, b) be trying to press the buttons on the carbon monoxide detector or c) trying to break down the babygate by shaking it vigourously.

Other things that keep this little man busy include:

• peaking around corners and saying "boo!"
• pretending to sneeze (very dramatic)
• reading books constantly - this is usually done either while walking around or snuggled into his little stuffed chair
• hugging Ruby
• reading books to Ruby
• making funny faces
• signing "more milk please" (3 different signs in a row)
• cleaning surfaces with his washcloth

He also very clearly says words and phrases like "bye-bye," "hi dad," and "ma ma." We have figured out that mama has several different meanings including: calling me, he wants something or he's hungry. It's very cute when he's walking up and down the hall looking for me he'll really draw the word out - "maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

How much more can the kid take?

It's been a rough week in the health department for our little man. The least of his problems was waking up one morning with several mosquito bites covering one side of his face and neck. He still has the chronic snotty nose in part now because his molars are cutting through. One huge one on the bottom is in and the others are starting to poke out. I can only imagine the pain this must cause him. He also started to run a low-grade fever last Thursday and was not himself. We took him to the doctor but his ears were clear of infection. His fever persisted through the weekend and on Sunday he broke out into a rash all over his body. Sunday night he was really feeling horrible and was inconsolable for nearly 1 1/2 hours. Mike and I were feeling really horrible too - nothing we did seemed to comfort him. Miles and I went to the doctor again where he was diagnosed with a virus - aka - we don't know what your kid has and we're not giving you any medicine for him so you'll both just have to wait it out in misery. Luckily grandma and grandpa Nickolay have been around to take good care of him during the day so that he hasn't had to go to daycare.

We scheduled Miles' appointment for surgery to get tubes placed in his ears for next Tuesday morning. Many parents have told me that tubes helped to clear up their children's cold symptoms and ear infections. We're hoping it also works miracles for Miles. This will be a long cold and flu season if illness is hitting him hard already. I must say, although his temper has been a little shorter (meltdowns are the norm the last few days) and he's clearly not been feeling well he still plays through it all and is a sweet child. A clear sign that he has been sick for too long happened this morning when we were getting him dressed for school. He grabbed his thermometer and actually put it under his arm and held it still there. Fingers crossed that this latest virus kicks the bucket soon!

Wonderful Wedding!

Celebrating together at the rehearsal dinner.

Miles snuggling with Godmother Rachel during some down time.

Miles and Corey enjoying lunch out with the girls on Friday.

We just returned from a wonderful weekend in Fargo/Moorhead where we were honored to participate in all of Matt & Janelle's wedding festivities. My little brother is married! And to a beautiful woman who I am so happy to call my new sister. The ceremony and bride were absolutely beautiful. I found myself choking up several times throughout the day - I was a proud big sister. The reception was a joyful celebration in which everyone exhausted themselves by dancing the night away. We had a blast and I can't help but feel sad that it's over. Congratulations Matt and Janelle!

For most of the festivities Miles and his little cousin Corey were tucked safely away with babysitters in the hotel where they stayed on schedule with naps, meals and playtime. Although we would have loved to have them at the party they are just a little too young. We're looking forward to attending weddings with Miles in a few years where he'll be one of those little, hyper kids cutting a rug on the dance floor.

Independence

Laundry delivery

Miles pushing his vacuum popper

This week's blog entry brought to you by wonderful guest contributor, Mike. (Thanks for the blog break honey!)

Now that Miles can walk he is an independent man, which keeps mommy and daddy on their toes. As soon as he is up in the morning he is ready to go go go.

Don't have time to change my diaper, forget about getting me dressed, just put me down so I can do some stuff. Mostly walk, nowhere in particular just don't pick me up because I have doors to close, books to carry around, laundry baskets to push, toys to play with and I like to pet the dog too.

Walking like a zombie

Walking like a big boy (non-zombie)