Obligatory birthday video

Come on, I dare you not to smile.

Party time!

On Milo's real birthday, we all received the gift of stomach flu so we rescheduled his party for a week later. I don't think he noticed.

We all enjoyed Mike's 20 plus hour smoked brisket, baked beans, fruit, and of course...

Cake. Delicious banana with a cream cheese frosting (and no I didn't make it).

The highlight was watching Milo dig into his own mini cake. 

He didn't stop at the frosting and pretty much demolished the whole cake. 

Then it was gift time. Collin took over helped Milo open everything and play with his new toys. 

After everyone left, it was sugar crash time. Milo promptly fell asleep for a long afternoon nap. 

One year!

A year ago I was sleep deprived and in love. My tiny second born arrived and it has been a wild year.

Big brother adjusted to no longer being an only child and grew to be a pretty sweet with "his baby." Most recently he said, "I'll datect Milo."

We swapped houses for more quiet and more space. Milo started daycare and begin to grow into a real person.

Going from one to two is a huge change. Going anywhere from a restaurant to an airplane turns into a  production. We found somewhat of a rhythm and as Milo gets older certain things are easier. (like not having to carry a whole nursery). Certain things are harder (like having a squirmy toddler who tries to jump out of high chairs and pull everything off the table).

Still, we were definitely more relaxed than with Collin. It also helped that Milo is a lot less dramatic. From the beginning, he has been mellow, goes with the flow, and smiles nearly all day. He is curious like his big brother and maybe more dangerous. He also has to catch up with him so rolling, crawling and walking have all been a lot sooner than he expected.

For a while, I was worried we were never going to sleep. Collin slept through the night at three months but we weren't so lucky this time. After we moved and Milo slept in his own crib, he finally started sleeping through the night (probably around 8 months). Now he goes 12 hours or more and is pretty much on one nap a day.

It's so fun to see the difference in personalities between my two boys. I have a feeling, Collin will always be more emotional and intense but at the same time, fun, full of energy and creative. Milo, like Collin is social and also busy, busy, but so far we haven't seen too many outbursts. And while he does get frustrated, generally he's just content. Both boys love to cuddle and show their love. I can't wait until Milo gives me those sloppy toddler kisses.

Happenings in the world of Milo:

• Giraffe blankey (thanks Aunty Joanne and Uncle Keene!)
• Pacifiers. Weirdly he didn't start liking these until a few months ago where they discovered at school it was the only thing to get him to nap. I'm okay with it as we don't "plug" him in often and supposedly it's easier to break that habit than thumb sucking.
• Like his brother, he loves most fruit especially blueberries and apples.
• He's still a good eater but starting to show a pickier side.
• Gets very excited about Hurley the cat and loves chasing his brother or mom and dad with his arms outstretched--Mike coined it the baby zombie run.
• He's now the big baby in his class at school and will join the "Koalas" (aka toddlers) in June. It'll be exciting to see him start to speak French as he spends his time in an immersion environment. So far, not too many words besides "Mama and Dada" and lots of babbling.
• He loves opening up drawers and trying to climb into the dishwasher. He would also swim in the toilet if we let him. He's starting to stack toys and likes clanging things together. Everything still goes in the mouth and Collin's tiny toys are routinely pulled out of his cheeks. One of his favorite games is to roll a ball. It's also great fun to hand a toy to someone back and forth.
• He also loves to get into anything his big brother has, such as blocks or coloring. This usually results in Collin screaming and pushing Milo out of the way. I can understand Collin's frustration so it's always interesting trying to keep Milo away while Collin is playing. Of course the most scream evoking will happen if Milo messes with interrupting Collin's TV watching.
• He has a total of four teeth and I think some more may be coming on the top
• So far, he has no interest in cow or soy milk. Nursing is still enjoyable, the biting seems rare now. Knowing he is most likely my last baby makes it all the harder to think about weaning him...

So without further adieu, presenting Milo through the months:






















And the big numero uno

One more week...

Until Milo is an official toddler. The other week I bagged up Milo's clothes that were too small to donate to charity (save for a few cute pieces I couldn't part with). Then I pulled out Collin's 12-18 month clothes and found myself on the floor wanting to crawl into the fetal position and bawl. It's bittersweet knowing it's our last baby. I'm  comfortable with that decision, but also saddened knowing that my tiny little newborn days are gone.

And so it goes...

Milo is nearly one year old! And he is everywhere!

The Dark Knight starring Collin

Here he comes from the shadows









What kind of crimes will I fight today?






I couldn't go anywhere without my cool boots


Better hurry down the pole



Just another day in the life of Batman...

Collinisms

Four-year-olds are funny, sweet, little people with absolutely no filter. I'm trying to remember to write down some of his gems before it becomes a distant memory and conversations consist of grunts and one word answers.

1. "Do you know how to say butt in French? Le butt!"
   
2. "Milo is made of wiggles"
   
3. Mike had to go to Trenton, NJ for five days for work (a real exciting town). Collin to me: "Someday when I'm older you'll be alone with Milo and I'll go to New Jersey with dad. I love him."
   
4. Upon walking into a Mexican restaurant with a strong seafood aroma. Collin very loudly, "Ew it smells so stinky. It smells like butts. Gross." Mike and I quickly tried to quiet him, luckily he was happy with his quesadilla and the waiter didn't seem like he spit in his food.
   
5. Collin: "I don't like you mom. Fuck!"
   Me: "Collin do not say that."
   Collin: "I said puck. Puck."
   
6. "Can I marry you mama?"
   
7. "Can we do love?" (aka cuddles)
   
8. Collin:"He's on the list."
   Me: "What list?"
   Collin: "My birthday party. If you're mean to me you're off the list. You're on the list too mom."
   And so it begins...
   
9. On talking about our best and worst parts of the day:
   
   "My best part was playing Candy Land with mom and dad and dad won and I didn't get upset. My worse part was not watching 100 tv's."
   
   "The best part of my day was cuddling with you, the worst part is dad smells like throw-up." (After which Mike took a shower)

11 months!

Only one more month until Milo is an official toddler!

He started taking a few steps by himself a few weeks ago and I imagine will be full on walking by his birthday.






He loves to jabber, bath time, and push the little wagon that he inherited from Collin. (He also has a huge smile on his face when Collin pushes him in the wagon). He is still a happy little trouble maker. His new goal is to infiltrate the wine fridge and the cabinet that holds the wine glasses. The kitchen is probably his favorite place where he can pull everything out of the recycling bin and reach into drawers and play with tupperware.

Poor guy has not had a break with sickness. We're on our third back-to-back ear infection while just getting over pink eye (on top of a cough and endless runny nose). Next step is a visit to the ENT to evaluate whether or not he'll need tubes. We never experienced this with Collin luckily (for him it would've been extra scary because of his hearing loss). I feel bad for my poor miserable baby. It feels like newborn zombie land these last few nights with Milo waking up every few hours, hopefully the new dose of antibiotics helps clear things up.

Meanwhile I have to actually start thinking about his birthday. I envision his own mini cake that he sticks his face in and photo happy mama snapping away.