Sweet Kisses

A few days ago, Miles started to make this super cute kissey-type face. It was so cute to watch him do it and since we loved it so much, he does it all the time now! =) This kid is just so squishable!! =) We love him!!!

Our Little Bookworm

Miles really really loves reading. And the book shown in the picture is his favorite. Tonight, we were all just hanging out in the living room. I cleared out the toys around Tim and gave him Miles' favorite book. Miles was playing with his toys a couple of feet away from Tim.. I told Tim to call Miles and ask him if he wants to read a book. Miles looked up at him and looked at the book.. then he dropped his toys and started to crawl towards Tim!! This was the farthest I've seen Miles crawl! I did the same thing with Miles earlier in the day, but he wasn't too far away from me. It was so cute to see him crawl, especially for a book! My heart just melts for moments like that.

Sweet Kisses

My little baby is such a sweetheart!
(Also, Miles claps when I ask him to or whenever I sound happy happy. It's so adorable.) =)

Bread Blog

Tim and I started a bread blog this year. We wanted to do something different and fun together. So far, we have done a few bread recipes and have really enjoyed each one. We have loved both the process of making bread together and definitely eating the fruits of our labor. =)


Check it out: whatweknead.blogspot.com

We have been pretty busy lately. It has made the time go by quickly. Lots to do. I'm really glad we're all over the cold too. It was good for us to relax in the beginning of the year, but it's nice to be able to do stuff again without feeling so eHh. We're actually enjoying the sunny days now. Miles is doing well- not coughing anymore. He's been "singing" louder nowadays. It's pretty funny to listen to. He also gets more emotional if I take away something he likes. His little pout is just so adorable though!

Clap Your Hands!

Miles is really picking up a lot of new tricks lately! I am just so amazed at how much he is learning, it's so fun to see. I've been clapping with Miles a lot, and he would sometimes lift up his hands and just be in awe. (Really cute!) But yesterday, we were just playing around in the living room and I asked Miles "Can you clap?" and I clapped my hands and he instantly brought his hands together to do 1 clap =) I was so shocked to see him react so quickly. I was so excited. And from then on, I can ask him to clap and he will happily do it. It's so adorable.


Miles is also really good at putting things in to other things... a ball into his helicopter toy, a toy in a box, and today, a cupcake into the hippo's mouth (a stuffed animal I have) =) I will have something in my hand, and I'll say "put the ball in" and do the motion.. and after a few times doing it in front of Miles, he does it when I ask him to. Sooo fun! =)


I have also started to give Miles little pieces of food to pick up from the table. He likes this puff snack I give him. He is actually good at picking up 2 pieces with both hands - 1 in each hand - versus having 1 snack to pick up. When I give him 1 piece, he will usually just play with and watch it slide off the table. (He loves dropping stuff when I he's sitting in his table chair!)

My Smart Little Cookie

Miles is getting really good at following instructions and finding stuff! I'm a proud mama! =)
Can't believe our baby is 9 months old today. Pretty soon, my baby will turn the big 1. Sheesh, time is going by so quickly! 

A New Year

It's a new year. I hope everyone had a safe New Year's celebration. We stayed at home and celebrated with some homemade bread and other treats. Tim and I want to make bread weekly this year and we started a new blog to document it all =) Hopefully we keep it going! It was nice to just relax at home for the NYE countdowns (for Eastern and for Central time) We had a mini countdown for Miles before we brought him upstairs for bed too. =)

 

Miles has been such a happy sicky baby lately. I've been very thankful that he's not too crabby...even with a stuffy nose and an annoying cough. Such a good boy! =) I've also noticed that Miles is getting better at following some simple directions from me. (It's really cute!) He has a little helicopter toy that you can drop the balls in it and he can do it when I tell him to. He also has a bunch of bowls that stack that he got for Christmas from his Aunt Katie. I would hide a little ball under one of them and put 2 or 3 bowls in front of him and ask "Where's the ball, Miles?" and he finds it each time! I was so amazed! =) It's amazing to see how much babies learn. Incredible. I'm excited to see all of the things he will learn this new year!

I read Miles a new book he got from Christmas today and he was laughing so hard. It was too cute! I decided to record us reading it again, to see if he would react similar ... he did. =) Enjoy the video! And Happy New Year!!

Miles' 1st Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We enjoyed our first Christmas with Miles this year and that in itself is the best present ever. We got back from our trips on Christmas Eve and spent the holiday at Tim's brother's. It was fun to hang out with Kareem and Dina and the kids. We went to church with them on Christmas Eve, Dina made lots of delicious meals for us, we played a little bit of ping pong, and we played a pretty intense game of Trouble on Christmas night. That Trouble game would have been entertaining for anyone to see. hah! It was a really enjoyable time.

California & Honduras Trips Recap

Traveling, being sick, and taking care of sicky people has gotten me to be a little late on my posts. We are all at home now, just relaxing and trying to get better for the new year.


So, to recap... Miles and I had a great time in California. He had fun playing with Lily and Ian. He loves listening to his cousin Lily sing =) During our short trip there, we got to go to a restaurant on Diners Drive Ins and Dives .. (I love going to restaurants featured on TV shows, haha) and also to Universal Studios. This was my first time going inside Universal Studios - I've only gone to CityWalk a few years ago. Grinchmas was the theme for the park at this time and Lily & Ian were very excited about that. They had real snow at the park. It was pretty ironic that we got our first sight of snow of the season in California rather than in Illinois. We spent the day at Universal Studios and got to do the Studio Tour. That was actually really fun. After playing and walking around the park, we hung out in CityWalk - very fun and busy. I brought Lily and Ian to the center where many people were dancing. They had a great time just dancing around and seeing themselves dance on the huge screen above. It was cute and reminded me of mine and Tim's first time dancing together (which was at that same spot on New Years Eve 2004). It was a really nice vacation. I got to relax a lot more since my family helped out in everything with Miles. It was also fun to have a little pre-Christmas celebration before Miles & I left. We got to watch the kids open some Christmas presents =) Miles is loving his new blocks! Thanks Ninang!

We also hung out in Santa Barbara one evening and took some nice pictures on the beach. 

A little recap of Tim's trip - Tim enjoyed his time in Honduras. He went scuba diving with his buddy, Ruchir. They got to swim with sharks (which made me very uneasy!). They went diving everyday.This is Tim's 3rd time scuba diving - and 3rd country to do it in. I wonder where he'll scuba dive next!

Playing with California Cousins

Miles & I flew to California on Sunday night while Papa flew to Honduras for some scuba diving adventures. Before heading out, we spent Saturday night at Tim's brother's house. It was nice to spend some time with the kids. We even got to attend church and watch Gabe's Christmas Program on Sunday. Miles had a lot of fun playing with his cousins in Naperville.


Miles & I have been having a nice time in California so far. It's been relaxing to hang out at my sister's house. I even got to sleep in a bit while my family watched Miles (yay!) =) The weather is nice and mild here - which beats Illinois weather! Miles did great during our travel. He was such a happy baby at the airport and entertained lots of people. On the plane, Miles did great too! Tim got us an upgrade seat, which made it more comfortable to hold Miles (who is very fidgety nowadays!). On the plane, Miles was either asleep or happy happy, so it was a relaxing trip.

So far, Miles has been playing and having fun with everyone. He seems to be "talking" a lot more now. He's been saying "Mama" and "Tata" a lot, and he tends to respond with a certain sound whenever you say his name or get his attention. It's really fun to hang out with Miles. He's been cracking us up. Miles, Ian, and Lily have been playing a lot. And Miles loves to laugh whenever the other two laugh. Miles really enjoys seeing dancing, so he loves watching Lily and Grace twirl around. Grace was dancing for Miles when we were in Naperville. Miles' laugh for whenever his cousins twirled around sounds so so cute =)

These three little kiddles sure love the iPad! The 2nd picture makes me laugh. Miles and Lily were looking at the camera and Ian would not look, so I told Lily to get Ian to look - this was the result. =)