Michigan Trip & Wedding #3

Our Little Road Warrior

Last weekend, we headed to Michigan for Wedding #3. Before the weekend, we picked up Tim's mom - she was staying at Tim's brother's house for the week and she drove to Michigan with us. She had a fun time sitting by Miles throughout the car ride. 

We have attended 1 wedding per month for 3 months in a row this year. Miles has attended them all. This wedding was #3 for us and it was Tim's high school friend, Danielle's wedding. It was nice to see them again and their wedding was very lovely.. held at Dow Gardens. After the ceremony, we walked around a little bit and took a bunch of pictures. Miles enjoyed looking at the fountain and the different colorful flowers.

On Sunday, we drove down to my cousins' place.. my aunt and uncle finally met Miles in person. It was cute to see my Aunt play with Miles. It was also a nice surprise to see my friends Carla and David (newly engaged!) =) Since we had such a late start to head back home, Tim and I decided that Miles and I should go back home on Wednesday instead. The road trip back would have been a bit too much for Miles. So, Miles and I stayed with my brothers for a few more days and took the Amtrak back home. Miles was a trooper during our train rides. He did great. But now that we're home, I think it's taking a little bit of time to adjust back to the routine.

Mama's Birthday

Last week, I celebrated my 28th birthday with my favorite guys. Tim really made it a special day for me. It started with a surprise birthday breakfast in bed. And then we all headed to church. Later on, Tim and I had to go to a Parent Orientation for Miles' KinderMusik. heh It felt kind of funny/neat to go to a parent orientation for our little baby. 

After that, Tim took me on a dinner date while our friends watched Miles. It was our first time leaving him anywhere...(other than my parents at home). It was nice to spend some alone time with Tim. Miles was ok for most of the time we were gone until 15 mins before we got back =P He just missed his Mama.. 'cause once I held him, he stopped crying instantly. Tim also surprised me with a little ice cream birthday cake.. and we shared that with our friends too. =)


It was a great birthday. It's so surreal to spend a birthday with my own baby.. life is so precious. I am so grateful for my life and all of the wonderful people in it.

Wisconsin Trip

For Labor Day weekend, we headed out to Wisconsin to see the newest Khoury baby! [It's also another state for Miles =) ] Miles did pretty well driving to Wisconsin.. fell asleep in the beginning of the trip which is always a good thing. We arrived at Jalal and Mary's new house late afternoon on Friday. It was so nice to see them again and of course, we were very happy to see Abagail! She is a cutie. =) Congratulations to Mary and Jalal =)

It was a nice trip - we also got to spend time with Tim's mom and Tim's oldest brother and his family. Miles got to play with a few of his cousins in this trip. It was cute to watch Mena and Miles laugh together (I will upload that video soon). We ended up staying longer and got to hang out some more. =) Jalal and Mary have a lovely house, very comfy-feeling.


On our drive back home, we made a little stop at Sprecher Brewery. Tim and I have been there before and did their brewery tour. This time around, we just wanted the goods! Hah! Tim bought our favorite beer and sodas. I'll only be enjoying the sodas. =)

Here's a little video of Miles playing the piano at his Amu Jalal's house. =)

First Time Eating Solids

Miles had his first bowl of rice cereal this morning! He is 20 weeks old now and since he has been chewing all the time.. and has been waking up at night during times he used to sleep through ... etc etc, we decided it was time for him to start eating solids. I made a very runny bowl of rice cereal for him to start with and he did pretty well eating it. It was really nice to feed him on the bumbo seat. After awhile, he got a bit annoyed of it and I ended up having him sit on my lap and Tim fed him. Tim enjoyed being able to feed Miles finally. Miles never really got into the bottle .. and whenever Tim tried to feed him with the bottle, it was never a relaxing and enjoyable experience. Today was fun for all 3 of us. After Miles ate his cereal, we hung out in the living room and eventually, Miles took a nap on the couch next to his Papa. It was pretty cute. =)


We had a very busy weekend. We got to enjoy a minor baseball game in town on Friday night. It was Miles' first baseball game and I dressed him up in a cute baseball outfit. hehe It was a lot of fun. We watched the game in an executive suite with the Foehr Group. It was fun to hang out with friends, chitchat, eat, and be able to just go in and out from the humidity =P Miles enjoyed it and was zonked out by the end. We didn't stay for the fireworks after the game because it got pretty late as is but we still had a great time.


On Saturday, we went down to Lincoln, Illinois to go to the Lincoln Arts and Balloon Festival. The weather was perfect.. any hotter and it would have been a whole different experience. We got to see some pretty amazing kites, old war planes, and of course see the hot air balloons. The weather conditions were too windy for the balloons to go up that day but it was still neat to see them. We got to enjoy some fair foods like a funnel cake, a lemonade shake-up, and a corn dog. You have to have those things at least once in a summer right? =) Miles definitely got to experience a lot this weekend and he did really well in all of them. He loves to look around, and the festival was a great place for him. He had a lot to see there. =) It's really fun to be able to show him new experiences.

Relaxing in Central Illinois

After a very busy week after a pretty busy vacation, we just relaxed in town this weekend. Tim has been working a ton this past week and didn't get to hang out with Miles that much. He'd be sleeping when he left for work and sleeping by the time he came home. This weekend, Tim spent a good amount of time with Miles. We went to the Farmers Market downtown and also checked out a local cheese farm and the windmills nearby. Tim carried Miles in the Baby Bjorn front facing for the first time. Miles enjoyed it because now he can see even more stuff! He's a fan of looking around outside. =) And It's really a cute sight to see.. Tim carrying Miles around in the bjorn. ♥

Tim's mom gave me a few of Tim's old clothes from when he was a baby. So, today I wanted to get Miles in one of them before he outgrows it! I spent some time going through Miles' clothes this weekend - retiring some things (I can't believe it!) and getting bigger things in rotation. =) Pretty soon, he'll be wearing Fall weather stuff. (Cute!) =) During his photo session with his Papa's old PJs, there were a few shots of him where he really looked like Tim when he was a baby. I should post a side-by-side of their pictures one day.

Our precious Miles in his Papa's old pajamas from when he was a baby

Miles seems to really like books. I try to read to him everyday.. He has 2 favorite books so far. Whenever I bring one of them close to him, he instantly lifts up his arms to hold on to the book. It's pretty cute to see. =)

4 Month Check up & California Vacation Update

We are back from our California vacation. For a short trip, we crammed a lot in. We started out in LA area.. and then after hanging out with my sister and her family, we drove north to San Francisco! We attended our friends' wedding in San Mateo actually, and spent a couple of nights there before heading to SF. Miles did really well on all of the modes of transportation we put him in. A wide range too! From airplanes, car, train, & cable car/bus! He was definitely a trooper and enjoyed the different rides. He also hung out with me a lot during the trip too... literally. I carried him in a baby bjorn throughout the airport and he loved it. He loved looking at everything in the airports. It was really cute.


We had a great time at our friends' weddings. It was very cute. A mixture of Korean and Indian traditions. Very sweet. Miles was also the 3rd most popular person at the wedding. Everyone thought he was a cutie... and he hammed it up by smiling and giggling whenever anyone talked to him. =) He had fun for sure at that wedding! Miles is attending a lot of weddings! =)


In San Francisco, we got to meet up with a few friends. It was really nice to hang out in the nice weather. Too bad we didn't get too much time in SF.. it's a great city! We got a bit confused at first with the public transit...but after getting the hang out it, it would have been great to have more time to use it more, to see more.


Miles' 4 Month Check Up


Miles did pretty well at his check-up today. He didn't cry as much as last time. During his visit with the doctor, he was happy happy. He did have to get 2 shots and an oral vaccine and he cried for those. But it didn't last too long, so he was fine. I nursed him at the Doctor's Office and he fell asleep after that.


Here are his stats:


Height: 24 inches
Weight: 15 lbs 3 oz
Head Circ: 16 inches

First Plane Ride

Miles rode on the plane for the very first time on Thursday. We headed out to California for our friends' wedding in San Mateo. =) We changed our flight to a very early morning one versus the night time flight we originally had. It worked out nicely. Miles did great on the plane. I nursed him during the ascent and descent of both trips so he his ears wouldn't get achy. (We had a layover in Minneapolis) He slept a good amount during the plane rides and when he was awake, he was pretty happy and observant of everything. He only cried when Tim had to change his diaper in the bathroom.. but in his defense, that probably didn't feel comfortable. Nothing feels comfortable in a small airplane bathroom.

Once we got to LA, we got our rental car and headed to my friend's place in Hollywood. Since we arrived earlier, we got to hang out in LA for a bit - so that was nice. We hung out with our friends Ralph and Melissa, which was a delightful surprise for this trip. And we also got to eat lunch at In and Out .. the usual first meal in California. hehe  Miles had a great time. After LA, we headed out and drove to Tim's cousin's house in Granada Hills. We hung out there for the evening. Finally, at the end of the night, we headed out again and drove to my sister's place and spent the night there. It was a very full and busy day for us, especially for Miles.

Riding the Tram at the airport in Minneapolis

4 Months Old

Miles is 4 months old today! He was so happy happy today. He watched me make his cupcakes and he babbled throughout the whole process. It was really sweet. Tim gave me a cupcake book years and years ago... and so I'm finally getting around to making them. I love cupcakes but I actually never make them from scratch. I usually just use a box cake mix and then have fun decorating them. So, this time around, I really wanted to make the cupcake & frosting. These were Cookies & Creme cupcakes and they turned out pretty good. Tim liked them a lot and will bring some to work tomorrow. We also brought some cupcakes to a few of our neighbor friends. They thought it was pretty cute to get cupcakes from Miles. =)

Shake the Fat!

Miles' laugh is so so cute. He is laughing and smiling more and more (then again, he's been smiling since Day 1) =) He is showing more emotions now too. He pouts and whimpers and we can actually know (sometimes) why he's doing it. When he's laughing at Mama or Papa, usually 'cause we're doing something to make him laugh, he waits for us to do it again and again. It's really cute. When his playmat stops playing music, he looks over to me and waits for me to turn it on again. hehe So adorable.

Here is a little video of Miles, before Tim feeds him. We haven't really fed him with a bottle lately since we've been moving and cleaning and unpacking all the time. Though, we hardly feed him with the bottle in general too, since he doesn't care for it much. But anyway, we still want to try. Before feeding Miles, Tim needed to shake the milk a little bit .. and Miles sure loved that! haha

Go Blue!

 

Tim mentioned tonight that college football is starting in a couple of weeks. I can't believe how fast time has gone by! Miles' 4 month birthday is already next week! Our little baby is growing up so much. He is getting so big and reacting so well to his name, to music, to his surroundings. He loves to go on walks and look at everything. So cute. =) He still works hard on trying to turn over by himself, from back to tummy. He's pretty good at turning over from tummy to back. He loves to chitchat. 

Miles and I videochat with my siblings all the time and he's good at following their faces as they move in and out of the screen. He gets very entertained by the computer. He loves to watch Baby Beethoven on youtube. Maybe I should just buy the DVD, heh.

I've been going to an Occupational Therapist 3 times a week for my wrists. It's somewhat helping.. I really need to rest them.. but that is so hard when raising Miles. =P Oh well, I'll keep trying to rest them when I can. Miles is super popular with the ladies at the OT place. They remembered him when we first came.. and he cried so frantically the entire appointment! From then on, Miles has been known! But thankfully, Miles is getting used to going to my appointments and is now a big ham! =) He's full of smiles to the older ladies at the OT place. =) It's pretty cute. During my actual appointment, Miles always reads his favorite book. It's so cute to hear him babble as he "reads" =)