"I play piano like daddy!"

I have to use one of Jeff's video editing programs to get this facing the right way but until that happens, turn your computer on its side to enjoy this very cute clip...

The Kiddie Pool

The weather for the last two days has been uncharacteristically sweltering. The Bay area is known for its very mild, temperate weather with cool ocean breezes moderating the summer sun. But this week, the sun has been winning out. It has reached a deadly 98 degrees and we have been doing everything we can to keep the house cool.

Miles has been particularly cranky for a number of reasons. First, he let me know, if we had told him it was going to be like this, he would have stayed in the womb where the weather was similar but at least he could always be naked. Second, he is transitioning from two regular naps to one. We have been trying to keep him up a little longer in the mornings to try to reduce the cranky time between his nap and bedtime but we have met with little success.

To try to entertain him and keep him cool, we have been playing in water. The first really hot day, I brought him out the backyard and tried to put him in a small foot tub filled with water. However, as he had to wrap his legs around himself like a yogi, we took him out and let him play in the sprinkler instead. I never knew trying to grab water could be so darned entertaining.

Yesterday I went to Target and got him his first ever kiddie pool. It's pretty neat. It's a cross between those spring loaded magic windshield shades and a blow-up kiddie pool. It's very portable and has a sunshield to protect my little white baby (I thought my olive-skinned genes would win out, but, alas, my baby has his daddy's pink skin.)

Instead of just filling it with water, we put the sprinkler inside and let it gently fill the pool. I'm sure Miles could have spent the whole day just holding on to that hose. Even when the water was off and he was out of the pool, the hose provided hours of entertainment.

Nine Month Well Baby Visit

This news is a little old but I thought the family might want to know...
At nine months, Miles was weighing in at 20 pounds 13 ounces and measuring 29.25 inches. That's around the 50th percentile in weight and around the 75th percentile in height. He is bouncing between 75th and 90th percentile in height so we may have quite the tall guy on our hands.
My pediatrician just adores Miles and talks about how cute he is every time he comes in. All is well and I've got a generally healthy baby (though he is currently experiencing some random vomiting- we'll have to see what that's all about).

Nes Gadol Haya Sham

That means "a great miracle happened there."
And the great miracle- Miles has started sleeping through the night.
When he was really sick he slept through the night but that doesn't really count. And Monday when we spent the day at Leeann's, he slept in the car on the way home then was up for about an hour and a half before sleeping through until morning.
But last night was the first time he went to sleep at 7:15 pm and didn't really wake up until 5:30 am. Jeff asked if waking up that early was still considered sleeping through the night, and, yes, it is. And best of all, I was able to sleep through the night as well instead of waking up to check whether or not he was still breathing. It took awhile, but we finally got there!
In so many of the baby books, there are statements like, "If you (insert action here), your baby will never (insert desired response here)." There are many statements of absolutes. But babies are such unique creatures that I don't believe there is any one statement or rule that can apply to all babies. Families have to do what works for them and the baby.

Falling in Love with My Baby and Other New Tricks

An acquaintance told me that having a child was like being in love every day. While there are some days where I am more in love than others, I would have to agree. That's how I can still smile at him and kiss him even when he wakes up at 5:00 in the morning.

When he first began to smile for real, I totally fell in love. When he began to laugh, it got even better. Many months ago, we were walking home from the library in his stroller that faces me and he began to giggle every time he looked up at me, as if he had just noticed I was there, as if he hadn't seen me for weeks on end. And when I asked, "What are you laughing at?" it just made him laugh all the harder. That was great.

But now he's in a phase where he is doing something new all the time and it is often so cute my heart just explodes. For example, on Monday, in a moment of weakness, I let him watch his first ever Baby Einstein video. It was Baby Neptune, all about water, including water at home. There was a video clip of a little baby taking a bath and the baby waves at the camera. My little guy, who loves watching other children, raises his little hand and waves back. It was so adorable I had to grab him and kiss him.

That afternoon we went to visit Leeann and her two little ones, Zoe and Sam. We had our first kiddie pool experience (not too different from the bath) and stayed for dinner. Sam wanted to show Miles all of his toys with wheels but didn't allow anytime for actually playing with them. He would just bring one and then run off to find another. After a few minutes there was one small baby surrounded by a sea of wheeled toys. He was so overwhelmed, he didn't know what to play with.

Whenever I see Miles' hearing teacher, Kerry, or talk to my mother, they ask about any new developments like crawling or getting teeth so I've started to be very aware of his new
accomplishments. His latest trick is pulling up on my fingers and standing quite stably while holding on to something. So
he now has a little play set designed for crawlers and cruisers. Check out how proud he is of himself. Note that he also is still all gums.