Ten Months Old

Dear Miles,
We have hit the double digits!  I cannot believe you are so close to turning one year old.  Then again, you have looked that old for awhile so I should be ready for it!  You are such a sweet sweet soul and that is the one thing that isn't really changing.  You are such a busy boy these days.  You constantly chase after your brother and still want to be doing whatever your big brother is doing.  You are also still pretty attached to your mommy as well though and she certainly doesn't mind.  Your father refers to you as "Mommy's baby" and you certainly are that.  We think even if we have another kid someday you will remain the baby.  Just our sweet little one that wants to cuddle and be held tight.

Speaking of cuddling, you have developed a new routine.  As you were before going to sleep on your own, you have suddenly started getting up a few minutes after being put down and fussing for us to come in.  When we come in you stop fussing immediately and just want to be held.  It is some of the sweetest times we have all day.  We rock you in your chair, sing lullaby's to you, and just look at your sweet face and you stare up at us.  Then after a few songs you are happy and ready to go back to bed.  We both love this special time with you and are so glad you seem to love it too. 

You are still standing on your own and while you can keep your balance for a few seconds on your own, you much prefer to hold on to one of us or some furniture.  You do love to use the wagon walker though and you love to push the little chairs around the room.  It seems like it will be so soon that you are taking off.  No matter how fast you start moving though, you will always be out little baby.

We love you,
Mommy and Daddy

Ready for School

So Jax starts preschool next week.  It is so hard to believe he is old enough for preschool, but I know he is more than ready.  He did so great with summer camp this summer and this will be the perfect environment for him.  The kid already can count to 20, sing the ABC's (he might mumble through a couple of letters though), knows his colors and his shapes.  He is ready ... well, almost.  First we had to get him a big boy haircut and a new pair of tennis shoes!

He has been doing so well at getting his haircut.  Today when we walked into the salon he ran up to Julie and gave her a big hug before sitting down.  A little Curious George on the iphone also helps him sit still. :)

Miles is taking notes for when it is his turn in the big chair.  At the rate his hair is growing, it won't be long before we are getting his first haircut.

 

Jax was pretty excited to get a sucker after he was done this time.  First time I have let him have one after and he kept saying "Mmmm, green sucker GOOD!"  I think he liked it.

After naps we headed out to the mall to get some new shoes.  Jax's current shoes still fit, but are getting a little snug.  Plus, it just seems like a tradition that you need new shoes before school starts, right? He insisted on both his red hat and green glasses when we left.  The kid is too cool for his own good.

Really important people keep their shades on inside the store.

Of course, no trip to the mall is complete without a stop for pretzel bites.  My kids can crush a full cup of these.  I am pretty sure Miles ate as many as Jax.

It is hard to believe that school is right around the corner, but we are ready.  At the end of the week we meet Jax's preschool teachers and then next week he starts!

Nana's Birthday

We got to celebrate Nana's birthday today and the whole family got together. Being the only children in the family right now, the boys get lots and lots of attention. 

Miles got to spend some fun time with his Uncle Tyler.

Tyler seemed to be loving it.

As much as the boys like everyone else in the family, 

sometimes they just want their dad ... at the same time. 

Jax is finally starting to figure out this whole gift thing.  Not only is there something in the bag, but you get to pull all the tissue paper out first!  Armed with this information he decided Nana obviously needed some help opening her presents.

Only grandkids can get away with giving pictures of themselves as presents.

After the presents were opened it was time for cake.  Jax seemed pretty excited that he is old enough to have some of the cake now.  I mean, it was chocolate.

Happy Birthday Nana!

The First Rule of Little Brothers

Soooo, we have hit a little hurdle in our house.  Miles is up and EVERYWHERE.  There is no containing this kid and this includes keeping him from his brother and his brother's toys.  If I had a nickle for every time I hear "No Miles, NOOOOO" I would be loaded.  The problem is I don't really know the best way to deal with this situation.  I want Jax to learn sharing and realize that everything isn't his.  On the other hand, I really empathize with him when he is playing with something and Miles comes over grabbing at everything. I feel like he should have the right to have some things that are off limits to his baby brother, but Jax wants everything off limits and, well, that can't happen.  

Funny enough, one of the two books Jax wants to read every night before bed is his "brother book."

It pretty accurately describes this phase.  "The one day he began to move!  Creeping and crawling closer and closer; coming toward me.  First he touched, next he grabbed -- all my stuff!

 A big problem is, Miles is stronger than the average 9 month old.  He easily pulls some toys out of Jax's hands.  Of course he just wants to play with Jax and still acts like a 9 month old.  To Jax though, he seems much more like a Bro-zilla than a baby brother. 

So I don't know the right answer here.  There are a couple of Jax's favorite toys that I try to make sure Miles doesn't get a hold of.  Other things have to be shared.  However, Miles can't really play with some of the toys the way that Jax wants to play (as in Miles just wants to try to eat many toys) so if Miles would just mess up Jax's way of playing, like say building a block tower, I try to redirect Miles to something else.  It is a learning process for us all and it is times like these that I really wish kids came with instruction manuals.