the littlest carscadden

Sunday, April 13, 2014

23 Months

At 23 months Miles has been walking for more months than he didn't walk. He's also been talking longer than he hasn't. In the very beginning, I remember thinking that I couldn't wait for these milestones to come, and I was excited when they did. And I get excited each day as the complexity of his language develops and his motor skills refine. I'm not wistful for days gone by. I'm happy to watch his life unfold. He's nearly two years old. I'm excited to watch him continue to gain skills and develop emotions.

He has strong character. He pushes limits, as all toddlers do, but he's rarely unmanageable in that way. It's rare that I'm at the end of my rope, but unfortunately those times usually coincide with when he's at the end of his. Five pm can be a trying time in this house.

But the love in our family fills our house. When I'm out for a night, I want to come home and wake him because I miss him that much. And Lucas and my love has grown in the presence of Miles. We're a tight unit.

Here is the our happy little unit this month:

Crossword King

Kids are weird.

Who needs blocks?

Oreo. Like manna from heaven.

It's zoo season!

You can't tell but he's digging for worms.

Superhero pizza night aka Thursdays.

Careful Superman, it's not like you can fly or anything.

Train gang.

New neighborhood mascot.

"Mama, peas howd two bottis."

Okay.

Cutie shark face

Why not?

We might be the worst parents.
But he did want his shirt like this for the next 15 minutes.

Science museum fun

Water table at the science museum.

Birthday date night!

"Gamps" and "Mi-wes"

Some mornings he just wants to wear a helmet.

So we indulge him.

It's spring time!

No really, spring has sprung!

New spring shoes!

He's dressed in a towel toga because he had just thrown up.
And the feeding struggles continue.

What's that on your arm. A tattoo?
Oh, yeah. It's no big deal.

Sunday, March 16, 2014

22 Months

There's this thing with parenting. It's full of surprises. We were surprised that our kid didn't really like to eat. Especially because we made him and we love to eat. That whole eating thing is getting better, by the way. He eats really well now, with 15 seconds of TV for each bite to push him along. It's showing too. At 22 months he's finally grown out of his 12 month clothing. Here we come 18 month sized clothing, here we come.

I was surprised that the sleep deprivation carried on way past infancy. Even on the nights he doesn't wake at 2am crying for no reason, I've woken, waiting to hear his little cry.

We're surprised at how different kids are; mine happens to be of the variety that stares death in the face and gives it a big middle finger. At his first swim class in over a year he walked straight down the stairs and into the pool with no knowledge of how to swim. Today he ran headlong into the street as we yelled "STOP!" even though he's been taught over and over again to never go in the street. And when I reached him and picked him up, he was giggling maniacally. This kid.

Sometimes I think this kid is going to be the end of me. I feel myself getting annoyed with him when for the 16th time in an hour he's managed to jam his elbow between two of my ribs while climbing all over me. Or when he sits on my head for no reason other than he thinks it's utterly entertaining.

And then, there are the most wonderful surprises, the ones that redeem him from his determined course toward a certain death or his 3am screaming. Like when out of the blue he starts hugging. I mean, real hugging. Without prompting he now throws his tiny little arms around our necks and kisses our cheeks. The surprise for me was the feeling of warmth and love that can come from such a small action, from such a small being. Before this, his hug was leaning into our bodies so we could envelop him. This new version, this participatory version, is the best surprise I didn't expect.

And I'm so happy he's my kid. I wouldn't want another version of Miles, one that eats or listens better or showed even an ounce of caution, for fear that we would lose some other perfect part of him. Here he is, in all his glory, 22 months old, Miles Daredevil Carscadden:

Drunk on the job

More fun stuff like this is happening.
He's on top of our kitchen table. Unraveling the towels.

It snowed this month

When this picture was taken, he was yelling "HELP!"
We're pretty good parents.

Selfie

Friends

Family

Spring seemed to make some appearances this month.
Train watching commenced.

Neighbors came out of hiding.

Dinners were had, hands were held.

We took the train to DC.

We went to the Natural History Museum.

We played on the mall.

They can never watch too many trains.

Have to watch all the trains.

Sometimes Miles is a pirate.
He steals my heart. (groan)

Playing with his airport.

"Using" chopsticks.

Chilling

Who me? I didn't eat the last yogurt.

Last night we ate a boatload of sushi. (Buddump bump chhh).

Sunday, February 9, 2014

21 Months

Although Miles hasn't caught up in weight or height as much as we'd hoped this month, he is exceeding our expectations in regards to his language.
-He's putting together three or sometimes four different thoughts in one sentence: "No daddy engine under" which translates into "Daddy, don't put the engine under your legs."
-Lucas and I often look at one another and ask if the other had heard a certain word he said because they're coming out so fast these days.
-He often echoes the last couple of words of our sentences: "We're going to go for a ride in the car", "ride car."
-He says please a lot and thank you sometimes.
-He's often telling Lucas or I to get off of our phones and pay attention to him, "Mama, no phone."
-He understands (sort of) the concept of halves. He will break something in two (food, mostly) and say "half." He even put two blocks that were the exact same size, shape and color together in his hands and then pulled them apart and said "half."

I know I've said this many a time but watching his brain work is so fascinating and fun!

There was a big milestone this month. I had been coaching Miles to say he loved us for the last month or so but about a week or so ago he said "love mama" independently. Made my little heart melt.

We went to the feeding clinic appointment a couple weeks ago and after two hours of talking and then watching Miles eat, they said he has a mild feeding disorder and could benefit from some professional behavior therapy. They were impressed with what progress we had made with positive reinforcement but they think he could benefit from once weekly hour long sessions with the behavior therapist. There's a three month wait to get into the weekly appointments but the therapist will see us monthly until that point. His first session with the therapist is this coming week.

Here is Miles, Sir Cutieguy, this month: