8 months old!

Miles is 8 months old today! He's getting so big and he's really becoming fun! I sat him on his Nap Nanny today and he just started smiling from ear to ear! He must have known it was time for his photo shoot!

He's a great eater! He will try anything I put in front of him. Even though the poor boy is still toothless (Bennett already had 5 teeth when she turned 8 mo), he still manages to eat a few small table foods too. For instance, he ate an ENTIRE banana for breakfast yesterday!!

Here are some cute pics taken today...

By the way, his hair does definitely have a reddish tint to it, but looks much more brown in person. I'm always amazed by how red it looks when I take pictures of him!

Peek-a-boo!

Hi buddy!

Videos!

Just some fun videos I took today...To explain further, yes, there is Lion King music in the background. Bennett has been in love with it ever since we read the book then watched the movie. Also, we took Bennett to Disney's Princesses on Ice last weekend, and since then she has insisted on being called "Ariel" or "Jasmine" or any other princess, and she "skates" around the house! She even will turn off the lights and say, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the show will begin in 5 minutes."

Miles on the move.

I have no idea why this is sideways. So just turn your head and enjoy "princess Bennett" ice skating! :)

Miles showing off his new clapping skills!

Bath time!

As Brandon is getting ready to start his 100 mile race in Utah tonight, I decided to take on a challenge of my own. (drum roll please)...

Bathing both children at the same time!!

It actually went much more smoothly than I thought it would, other than the fact that Bennett had the tiniest little space to take a bath. They both actually loved it, especially Miles. Getting to look at his sister the whole time made him extremely happy!

His newest achievements are pulling up everywhere on everything, clapping and today he climbed up all 9 basement stairs (with me right there of course!). He is still army crawling (very fast!), but gets up on his hands and knees a lot.

laughing at each other!

Happy kids in the bath

Just playing

Lately we've just had a lot of good, playing time. Bennett is loving school this year. I have already caught her "reading like a teacher" to her babies (holding the book up so they can see the pages). She also told me that she loves to play with the doll house at school but she knows she should "mix-it-up" sometimes. Must be a word her teachers used! haha

Miles is into everything...especially his sister's toys!! Although she does get frustrated sometimes, she is really pretty understanding about it. She also takes her job of "keeping small things away from Miles" very seriously! Miles just started pulling up to standing a few days ago, and now it's his favorite trick. Unfortunately his favorite place to do this is on the living room fireplace where all of Bennett's castle people live. This has been a point of contention for the past few days. Also, he now gets up on his hands and knees a lot, but he still flops down to his tummy to actually move, army-crawl style.

We've had some rough nights lately, as Miles had gotten himself into the habit of waking wanting a bottle sometime between 2 and 4AM. Since we know he doesn't need this, we are working to get rid of it. Two nights ago he was up for an hour before he finally went back to sleep without a bottle. Last night it was 40 min. I'm hoping tonight is shorter again!

Otherwise, Miles is a really happy guy! He's so curious and generally very smiley. He's also doing great eating solids. He's liked everything he's tried and now has solids for 2 meals a day.

In other news, I ran a 10K race last weekend with my friend Mona. It went pretty well! I have one more 10K in October before my half marathon/girls' weekend in Memphis in December!

Happy guy!

On the move!

Bennett and her "dollhouse guys"

playing together

First day of school!

Today was Bennett's first day of preschool. She will be going Tues, Thurs and Fri this year from 9-11:30 each day. She was such a big girl this morning and I was really proud of her! We laid out her clothes last night, and she got up and got dressed this morning right away. She was really excited! I asked her what she was looking forward to the most at school and she said the doll house (when we met her teacher last week, I could barely rip Bennett away from the doll house in her classroom!). When we got to school, I walked in with her, helped her find her hook to hang up her bag, and helped her wash her hands, and then she was ready to play. She gave me a quick hug and kiss and then she was off to the doll house! She seemed very happy, comfortable and excited about school, which couldn't make me more happy! She is still at First Presbyterian in Kirkwood where she did Kids' Day Out last year, but now that it is really preschool this year, they will be incorporating more actual learning this year instead of mostly just play. Here are some pictures from her first day...

Bennett's in the "Bunny class" this year.

Bulletin board outside her classroom

Last Tuesday was her first dance class for this year as well, so I wanted to post her picture from that. We just picked up her first pair of ballet shoes and tap shoes that she will get to wear this afternoon. She is VERY excited!!

Weekend away

This weekend, I was able to get away and visit Meredith in Philadelphia. We were busy the whole time! She gave me a tour of Villanova's campus, because there are a lot of new buildings since the last time I was there, we shopped downtown in Philly, and went to see a movie. I also got a chance to catch up with Franny and Joelle on Friday night when we went out in Manayunk, and met Allison for brunch on Sunday before I left. It was so great to see those girls! Meredith also took me to some of her favorite restaurants, and we really ate well the whole time!! :) Her apartment is adorable and I had fun meeting her kitties! It was really a great trip!

This was all made possible because Lorie came to visit for the weekend. She was a tremendous help with Bennett and Miles. They just love her! Everything ran so smoothly while I was gone, so I didn't have to worry for a second! Thank you! Thank you!

Here are a couple pictures from the weekend. (Allison, I'm mad I forgot to get a picture with you!!)

Sisters!

Joelle, me and Franny

Nana, Bennett and Miles (post bath!)