millerization

Myles See

2009-06-28T21:13:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Myles was all - "Myles do, Myles do", but now that Myles knows what a camera is (and does) the big thing these days is - "Myles see, Myles see". Almost every time we break out the camera to record a moment, Myles asks to see the results. What ever did kids do before the digital age? :)

Jumping On The Bed
Jumping continues to be a big thing, and these days Myles loves to jump on our bed.

Hot weather calls for ice cream!
If finally getting hot, er warm, this summer, and that calls for ice cream.

(click image for more pictures)

Myles 2nd Year Birthday

2009-06-14T22:31:00.000-07:00

Myles turned 2 years old today!

(click image for more pictures)

2,3,4,5,6,7,9... go

2009-06-07T21:25:00.000-07:00

Myles isn't quite counting objects yet, but he is verbally sequencing numbers in relative order. Here he is "counting" to 10. Go!

More Pictures

(click image for more pictures)

Myles Do

2009-05-24T21:14:00.000-07:00

Myles is at the stage now where he wants to do everything himself. Its "Myles do" this, and "Myles do" that all the time now. Try to lend him a hand going down stairs or help him with almost anything, and its "no, Myles do". Occasionally we hear a "Mommy do" or "Daddy do" when Myles infact can't do it himself, but most of the time these days its "Myles do".

Memorial Day Weekend
Unfortunately, Myles was sick over the long Memorial Day weekend, but we still had friends over and BBQ'ed all three days (sat, sun, mon). Myles enjoyed hangin' with Aliana on the couch after dinner on Saturday, and playing with the Curtis Twins on Sunday.

Blogging By-Weekly
If you've been following this blog for a while, you may have noticed that the last few posts haven't been very timely, or even every week. Well, let this be our formal noticed that we are officially going by-weekly with this blog. And with that, we'll see you two weeks from now.

Mother's Day at Costanoa

2009-05-10T20:38:00.000-07:00

We spent the Mother's Day weekend (Fri-Sun) at the beautiful and tranquil Costanoa, an "eco adventure resort" (as described on their website).

(click image for more pictures)

64 with Beatles in SLO

2009-04-26T20:47:00.000-07:00

This weekend we were in SLO celebrating GrandPa Rick's 64th birthday! Rick had a big ole bash on Saturday with 50+ friends-n-family and we played lots of Beatles tunes. We still need you, we still feed you, when your sixty four!

(click image for more pictures)

GrandKids On Your Knee

(click image for more pictures)

Spring brings Easter and... another boy!!

2009-04-12T19:32:00.000-07:00

We started the week off with the most wonderful news that we are having another boy! Yes, Anna is now 20 weeks pregnant and, as we found out at her ultrasound appointment on Monday, is carrying a boy. Due date is August 20th. Here we go again! :)

Easter in Lincoln
We spent the Easter weekend with The Christols (including Aunt Sarah) in Lincoln. We had a super grand time and took many good photos and videos so be sure to click thru to the full photo album.

(click image for more pictures)
Sarah also took some great pictures, check out her photos here.

Myles Eats Pizza
To cap off a great weekend, we order super thin crust pizza and Myles got to eat a whole slice by himself.

Underpants

2009-04-06T16:21:00.000-07:00

We are slowly starting down the path of potty training Myles and that includes having him wear underpants (without diapers) until he pees in them so that he knows exactly when he is peeing. Here are a pair of his more "fun" underpants.

(click image for more pictures)

And here is a video of him wearing those underpants being super cute and saying "hi" to the camera after mentioning all his grandparents by name.

Say "Cheese"

2009-03-29T23:41:00.000-07:00

Saying "cheese" actually DOES make kids smile. Here is a great picture of Myles with his fire hat on saying "cheese" for the camera.

(click image for more pictures)

Fun At The Farmers Market
We meet The Beatties at the Grand Lake Farmers market on Saturday. Myles and Claire got some good exercise in running up and down the "hill" of the lawn area.

Honey is Yummy
Here is a video of Myles literally licking his plate clean.

Shy in Stockton

2009-03-22T21:24:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to Stockton (not Stockholm, but Stockton CA) for a wedding reception of a Swedish family friend, Lise Piggett. Here is a photo of the Christol Clan (minus Steven) with a tired and shy Myles on Mom's shoulder.

(click image for more pictures)

And speaking of shy, over the last week or so Myles has entered into the "shy phase" of toddlerhood. He now hides his eyes with his hands and/or puts his head into Mom or Dad's shoulder whenever a situation makes him shy or uncomfortable. But other than a little shyness, Myles is really coming into his own. His vocabulary and personality continue to grow and emerge in leaps and bounds. He is such a joy!

Phrasing (21 months)

2009-03-15T21:27:00.000-07:00

Myles vocabulary continues to grow, and now he is starting to string words together to form short phrases like: "big truck", "new car", etc...

Nose Blowing
This week Myles has started to blow air out his nose (with or without kleenex) whenever he is stuffed up. And when we hold a kleenex up to his nose he will blow snot out. Hopefully this trend continues and Myles will be able to blow his own nose in a few months. Wishful thinking?

Contemplating
Besides his continual verbal growth, Myles is also "growing" in personality. Checkout this photo of "cool" Myles. :)

(click image for more pictures)

Blowing Dandelions

Puddle Playing

Double First Syllable, except Strawberry

2009-03-07T13:08:00.000-08:00

We recently realized that Myles tends to repeat the first syllable for a number of multi-syllable words. For instance, when saying "motorcycle" Myles says "momo". Or when saying "water" Myles says "wawa". But this week Myles did learn to fully say at least one multi-syllable word: Strawberry!

Remote Control Cars
This week Dad made 3 attempts to get a decent remote control car for Myles but still didn't really succeed. The first one only traveled four feet from the remote before stopping. The second one may technically be "remote controlled" but its lame and underpowered. The third one is most certainly a cool and fun RC car, but its a little too advanced for a 20 month year old. Here are pics of the 3 cars.

And here is a fun video of Myles playing with attempt number 2.

March 1st

2009-03-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

Not much to report this week. It was a fairly uneventful week, and the only thing we did over the weekend was visit Emily, Justin, and Aliana for dinner but didn't bring a camera. We do however have this lovely photo of Myles with his great-mormor's blanket.

Hair Cut

2009-02-23T20:44:00.001-08:00

The "main event" this week was a visit to a professional children's barber for Myles' first hair cut! We were expecting the worst (agitation, wiggling, crying, etc..) but got the best (clam, cool, collected). Myles was a champ in the chair!

Before

(click for more pics)

After

(click for more pics)

Hair Cut Video

Verbal Explosion (20 months)

2009-02-16T20:24:00.000-08:00

The last couple of weeks Myles has been saying more understandable words, but this week has seen a serious explosion in his spoken vocabulary. He understands more words than he can speak, but here is an incomplete list of some of the words he is saying now.

Hot
More
Bubbles
On
Off
Up
Light
Uh-Oh
Bye
Hi
Mom (mama)
Dad (dada)
GrandPa (pa)
MorMor
Jo
Brikti (tete)
Sarah (ra)
Keith
Shelli
Pacifier (baba)
Blanket (bebe)
Car
Truck
Motorcycle (momo)
Train (choochoo)
Bus
Tire
Fast
Shoe
Hat
Chair
Bowl
Coffee
Dog (woof)
Cow (moo)
Cat (eow)
Fox
Owl
Bird
TeleTubbies (tubbies)
DVD
Home
Blue
Butt
Poopoo
Sock
Banana
Apple
Toast
Flower
Fish
Duck
Pig
Moon
Keys
Ball
Baby
Draw
Please
Sky

Long Weekend in SLO
We spent the long President's Day Weekend in SLO, where GrandPa and GrandMa Jo got to hear in-person all the words Myles is saying. It was a rainy weekend, but there were some dry and sunny moments and we certainly did enjoy ourselves.

(click image for more pictures)

Jump

2009-02-08T19:38:00.000-08:00

Myles is making his first attempts at jumping. He isn't quite there, but he has the motions down.

[this week's photos]

A New Day

2009-02-01T21:17:00.001-08:00

America has a new president, and we have new photo album software. Its a new day alright. :)

GrandP's Miller Visit

(click image for more pictures)

MLK in Lincoln (19 months)

2009-01-18T22:17:00.000-08:00

We spent the 3 day "MLK" weekend in Lincoln with GrandP Christols. Myles got to spend most of the day Saturday with MorMor and GrandPa while Mom and Dad had a little afternoon "date". Good times all around.

(click image for more pictures)

Cupboard Play

Yogurt Gurgle

TeleTubbies

No No, Mine

2009-01-11T08:02:00.000-08:00

GrandP's Miller got Myles a wagon for xmas. Dad and Myles had a good time assembling it together.

(click image for more pictures)

Pacifier Addiction
The last two weeks we have been trying to wean Myles off a nasty pacifier addiction. See, when Myles is sick he becomes sullen, lethargic, and needy of comfort. All he wants is to be held by his mother and suck on a pacifier. So the other week when he was sick with a triple dose of a cold, ear infection, and conjunctivitis, he basically had a pacifier all day and night. And now, even though he is perfectly healthy, he wants his pacifier (or "baba" as he calls it) any time he is in any slight discomfort. Its "baba" this, "baba" that, all the time.

"No No"
Myles spends alot of time with Claire (his nanny-share girl friend), and as such he picks up actions and words from her. Most recently its "no no". Like double "no". No you can't have that. No i don't want that. No more, i'm done. No, thats mine. etc...

Mine
And speaking of "mine", Myles has entered the phase where every item in the world is his. Or atleast he thinks so.

Pushing and Hitting
As so often seems the case, where there is a "no" and a "mine", comes some pushing and hitting. The typical scenario is: Claire is playing with a toy and Myles comes along and says "no no" and pushes Claire away from the toy. Or as happened this weekend at Gymboree, Myles is playing on a structure and another kid comes to play on the same structure and Myles puts his hand out (in a Heisman type move) and says "no no".

Sliding Down Stairs
On a completely different note, here is a fun video of how Myles goes down stairs these days.

A Wonderful White Christmas

2008-12-28T21:07:00.000-08:00

We went up to Tahoe for the week of Christmas and had a fabulous time with the extended Christol family! In attendence were: Myles, Mom, Dad, Grandpa, MorMor, Sarah, Steven, Judy, Walker, Liz, JB, and Rika. We gathered, and talked, and ate, and partied, and played games, and sang songs, and watched movies, and went for walks, and played in the snow. Good times!

(click image for more pictures)

There was plenty of snow when we arrived, but with a fresh snow fall on Christmas Eve we had a glorious snowed-in White Christmas!

(click image for more pictures)

Family of Sickos (18 months)

2008-12-21T08:15:00.000-08:00

Everyone in our clan is sick this week, especially Mom and Myles. :(

Ear and Eye Infection
Myles started the week with what seemed liked a standard issue cold, but by the end of the week (and multiple doctor visits) he had two infected ears and a mild case of conjunctivitis. Poor guy!

Sinus Infection
By mid week Mom had picked up Myles cold, and by the end of the week she had a full blown sinus infection with a pounding headache the size of a softball. Ouch!

Dad gets off easy
Compared to Mom and Myles (who were so sick they needed the help of antibiotics) Dad got off pretty easy with just a low grade cold.

Climbing up, on, and over

2008-12-15T21:44:00.000-08:00

Myles is mr. climber this week. He is climbing on anything and everything he can possibly climb on, including the couch, stroller, crib, stools, tables, and chairs. His new favorite thing to do is to position a chair near the coffee maker and toaster, climb up the chair and then help dad make morning coffee and toast.

Christmas Tree

2008-12-07T21:03:00.000-08:00

On Monday morning Myles did something for the first time: he feed himself his entire breakfast from start to finish all on his own. And what started on Monday continued the rest of the week. But oh boy can it get messy. :)

(click image for more pictures)

Christmas Tree
On Saturday we meet up with MorMor and Aunt Sarah at the Swedish Festival in San Francisco. Afterward we all went to the Castro Valley Tree Farm and found a lovely tree to call our own for the holiday season.

(click image for more pictures)

Book Club
Mom's book club was at Jen's house on Sunday. Jen made a lovely sit down dinner and a great time was had by all.

(click image for more pictures)

Thanksgiving in SLO

2008-11-30T11:14:00.000-08:00

We drove down to San Louis Obispo on Tuesday and spent a long Thankgiving holiday with Grandparent Millers and the extended Miller/Heywood families.

(click image for lots more pictures)

Take My Hand

2008-11-23T22:11:00.000-08:00

Myles has started grabbing one of our fingers and leading us to the objects/place of his desires. He will come find us, then grab a finger and lead us to his desire. Its soooo cute. :) Speaking of cute, check out this great hair pic.

Bubbles
This week at Gymborie Myles picked up a new word: "bubbles". Its his new favorite word.

TV Time
When Myles was sick last week he spent some time in mom's lap on the couch watching a little TV. He even laughed a little. This was the first time he actually sat and watched the content showing on the TV.

Play Kitchen
Last week Mom went down to the South Bay for a baby shower and came back with a cool play kitchen on-loan from Andy. Myles immediately took to it.