Blueberry: A ball you can eat!

Milo is a ball nut. He's obsessed with all spherical objects. He points to all ball he sees whether it be pictures of them in books, magazines or newspapers or out and about in restaurants, stores or pretty much any where really. If there is something round around Milo will find it, point it out and try to get at it. It doesn't even have to be a real ball it just has to be kind of round.

This morning he had a bowl of fruit as part of his breakfast much like he does every morning and I put in is cut up strawberries, raspberries, and grapes and a handful of whole blueberries. He was moderately thrilled with his breakfast until he came across one of the blueberries. Then he face lite up and he started picking threw the rest of the fruit for the blueberries. I started laughing at him because I knew what he was doing but when he held one up and said "ball!!!" with the biggest grin on his face I nearly fell off my seat. I love my little boy!

18 month pics (round 2)

Now that Milo is nearly 19 months I figured it was a good time to go ahead and post the rest of his 18 month pics. (sheepish grin)

These I took on a whim at a local park after one of his naps.

Practice Egg Hunt

Since Milo is old enough to hunt eggs for Easter this year but hasn't done it before I thought that it would be fun for him to practice "hunting" (picking up) eggs we "hid" (laid in plain sight) on the living room floor.

He is in a phase of liking to put objects in other objects so picking up Easter eggs and putting them in a baskets is a ton of fun!

What's even better is trying to put those eggs into each other!

He is also loving hats right now and what makes a better hat than one's Easter basket.

He carried his basket around and picked up the eggs I dropped around,

which was fun for a little while,

until his short, 18 month old, attention span ran out.

Then it was time to do other things like play with his light saber,

Or point at things outside the window!

18 Month Pics (round 1)

I did two sessions with Milo for his 18 month photos here are a from what I took at my grandparents farm.

Just in Case You Were Wondering...

... a sippy cup of Gatorade lost under the seat of the car for weeks and weeks will not mold and can be clean and reused. The same scenario with a sippy cup of milk on the other hand does not turn out so well. It's best to just throw the cup away and never speak of it again, trust me.

Waiting for Daddy

Milo has taken to climbing anything and everything recently and his favorite thing to climb up on is his window seat. He loves to climb up there around the time Chris is supposed to come home and look out the window waiting for daddy to pull into the drive way. It's so sweet how much he loves his daddy!

Too True

The Toddler’s Creed

If it is on, I must turn it off.
If it is off, I must turn it on.
If it is folded, I must unfold it.
If it is a liquid, it must be shaken, then spilled.
If it a solid, it must be crumbled, chewed or smeared.
If it is high, it must be reached.
If it is shelved, it must be unshelved.
If it is pointed, it must be run with at top speed.
If it has leaves, they must be picked.
If it is plugged, it must be unplugged.
If it is not trash, it must be thrown away.
If it is in the trash, it must be removed, inspected, and thrown on the floor.
If it is closed, it must be opened.
If it does not open, it must be screamed at.
If it has drawers, they must be rifled.
If it is a marker, it must write on the refrigerator, monitor, or table.
If it is full, it will be more interesting emptied.
If it is empty, it will be more interesting full.
If it is a pile of dirt, it must be laid upon.
If it is stroller, it must under no circumstances be ridden in without protest. It must be pushed by me instead.
If it has a flat surface, it must be banged upon.
If Mommy's hands are full, I must be carried.
If Mommy is in a hurry and wants to carry me, I must walk alone.
If it is paper, it must be torn.
If it has buttons, they must be pressed.
If the volume is low, it must go high.
If it is toilet paper, it must be unrolled on the floor.
If it is a drawer, it must be pulled upon.
If it is a toothbrush, it must be inserted into my mouth.
If it has a faucet, it must be turned on at full force.
If it is a phone, I must talk to it.
If it is a bug, it must be swallowed.
If it doesn't stay on my spoon, it must be dropped on the floor.
If it is not food, it must be tasted.
If it is food, it must not be tasted.
If it is dry, it must be made wet with drool, milk, or toilet water.
If it is a carseat, it must be protested with an arched back.
If it is Mommy (or Daddy), it must be hugged.
I am toddler!

This is so true of Milo, especially the food part!

If

My sister-in-law, Nikki, posted a very sweet post on her blog inspired by her five boys and she,in turn, inspired me to post this. A while back I came across the poem If by Rudyard Kipling and it said everything that I wanted to say to Milo but couldn't quite think how. I've wanted to frame it and hang it in his room but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Chris thought it might be a little old for him but I thought that was okay it would be something for him to grow into!

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

More Crazy Nap Hair!

Milo was Bitten by a Donkey... Yes, a Donkey.

Last Thursday I took Milo for a walk and went by the little farm near our house that we always go by to see the little donkeys that live there. I had put goldfish crackers in cup holder in Milo's little push car he rides in so he could have a snack. He had been munching on the goldfish but I didn't know that he had one in his hand still when he got to the donkey's fence.

We pulled up next to the fence and the donkeys come over and we start petting them and I fed them some goldfish. Before I realized what was happening Milo was offering the goldfish I didn't know he had in his hand to one of the donkeys and the donkey took it and bit Milo's finger in the process. Milo starts screaming and I pinched the donkeys jaws to make him let go and there is blood everywhere. I carried Milo back to the house two streets away and called the doctor who says since it's still bleeding and starting to swell I needed to take him to the ER.

Chris and I loaded our screaming son up and headed off for the ER and when we get there they ask me what's wrong. I say "my son was bitten by a donkey".

"Are you joking?" the nurse says.

"No, I'm not joking" I say thinking, seriously, my son is screaming a clinging to me and you ask me if I am joking?

To make a long story short the donkey striped some skin off but, thankfully didn't break the finger. They soaked his hand in Bedodine (sp?), wrapped it up and gave him an antibiotic prescription.

Now that I have some distance from it and Milo's not seriously hurt and is no longer bleeding and screaming I can see that it is a little funny that my son was bitten by a donkey of all things. At the ER he was their first ever donkey bite victim!

We had to cut off the arm of one of his pj's to accommodate the big ol' puff ball they put on his hand in the ER. He had to wear it for 24 hours but he torn it off while he was supposed to be taking his morning nap Friday morning. I wrapped it up in an ace bandage after that.

He played happily most of the morning despite being one handed.

I took him on a "drive" by of the donkey paddock to help him start to get over any fear he might have. We pulled up next to it (but not too close) and he was wary but did fine until the donkey came up to the fence and then he started to whine and try to climb up in my lap. We backed off to the other side of the road after that and watched them for a little while. He even smiled a little at that distance! I think if we just keep going back (with out goldfish mind you) and taking slow my little trooper will conquer his fear!

The culprit. Looks menacing doesn't he?

Room of the Month

A long while back I posted Milo's room on HGTV's rate my space and was approached by another lady to put in on her site. I agreed and this month Milo's room is being featured as room of the month on designdazzle.com! I thought that was pretty cool! You can check it out by following the banner on the side of the blog.

16 Month Photo

I know it's a bit late but to post but this it was I end up doing for Milo's 16 month/Valentines Day portrait! I thought it was a bit different from the the usual stuff that I did with him.



It took two different session and several melt downs to get these shots. At first he didn't want any thing to do with that sucker. After trying and trying I finally gave up, packed up my stuff, stripped him down to his diaper and a decided to eat the sucker myself and that is when he decided that he would give it a try (of course,becuase anything mama has has to be something he needs). Once he tried it he liked it like I knew he would. After all he does have my sweet tooth. Fortunately there were two sucker in the pack that I bought and a couple of day s later we tried it again and it went MUCH smoother. In fact I could get him to let the darn thing go when the shoot was over! His room was a sticky mess but I think the picture was worth it!

Favorite Blanket

I think Milo has finally decided that he has a favorite blanket. He has always been a blanket baby but I kept changing out the blankets he slept with so that he wouldn't get attached to one inparticular so it wouldn't be a big deal if we went some where and forgot that blanket. It took 16 months but despite my best efforts he seems to have formed an attachment to one of his blankets. I first noticed his growing love when I went to put it in the wash and he threw a fit. He didn't care about the other two blankets that went in the wash, just that one. Since then when I get him out of the crib in the morning he grabs the blanket and carries it around all day. He even insisted that we take it with us when we were leaving the house.

I am really kind of flabbergasted by this. Other than a preference for Tux (his stuffed penguin) over his other stuffed animals he has never really shown much attachment to things. He has certainly never carried Tux around like he does this blanket nor insisted that he ride in the car with us. I thought that if he was going to have formed a bond like this with a blanket or stuffed animal or something he would have done it by now.

Super Milo using his blanket as a cape

"oh Blanket I love you!"

Milo and the Doughnut

We took Milo to Krisp Kreme for Valentines day and he got to feed himself his first doughnut. He LOVED it!