Our first family of four picnic

And, Miles got to swing for the first time too! I don't think he LOVED it, but I think he liked it. We'll keep trying!

The Sand Park

Oliver loves playing in sand, but I know what animals do in sand, so I have a hard time letting him do it. Today it was such a nice day that we just had to go to the park and Oliver begged to go to the sand park (I don't know the actual name), so I acquiesced.

Here he is LOVING the sand!

And here Miles is strapped in his seat because I wouldn't let him get near the sand for fear that he would eat it! :)

Playing around

these two are so cute together, Oliver LOVES it when Miles is playing on the floor

Now that the Christmas Tree is FINALLY put away, Miles loves playing right by the window. Today he was so busy playing with his toys, that I couldn't even get him to look at me. At one point he was holding onto the window ledge crying because he wanted to look out so badly. I think he is going to love outside just as much as his brother!

still won't look at me

Miles look at Mommy, please?

A split second look, a quick flash of the camera, and this is the best I could do of my baby sitting up so straight! :)

Plank

My baby can hold the plank position a lot longer than I can! Silly boy!

And he LOVES looking at himself in this tiny mirror on his exersaucer! :)

The last nap in his crib EVER!

It's official. My four year old is finally transitioning to a big boy bed. A few months before Miles was born, we bought bedding and decorations for Oliver's big boy bed, but on the day we went shopping for mattresses, Oliver decided he wasn't ready. Well, since he had no problem sleeping in his crib, and we were buying new bedroom furniture for Miles room anyway, AND he has NEVER tried climbing out of his crib, we decided that it was fine to let him stay in there as long as he wanted. Well lately, we have been having some problems with Oliver forgetting that he is the older sibling and we decided that it might help him feel like a big boy if he had his big boy bed. So, we convinced him it was time, he picked out his own mattress which will be delivered on Friday, and this week we have been preparing for the switch.

So I still make Oliver have a 30 minute rest time almost every day, he doesn't have to sleep, but he does have to be quiet (this lets me nurse Miles, have some time to pick up, or just sit down and look at the computer). On days that he is really tired he still falls asleep, but those are few and far between, so I just had to take one last picture of my little guy sleeping in his crib. So sweet. His face still reminds me of my sweet little baby Oliver when he is sleeping! :)

And after rest time, we got to put up his train stickers!

Look how proud he is!

I think it turned out great! These vinyl wall stickers are awesome!

And I just had to add this picture of my little baby using his teething feeder, he LOVES this thing! :)

It figures...

Oliver asked to feed Miles this morning, and I always love a great picture of them together so of course my answer was an emphatic YES! :)

And here is what figures...see my baby up there sleeping. I put him down for a nap an hour before we needed to leave to meet Clayton's family for lunch and this baby, who had only been taking about 45 minute naps on previous days, was still sleeping when we needed to leave. I just LOVE sleeping pictures! So sorry I had to wake you baby! :)

Fun Saturday

What a fun day. Grandma & Grandpa had spent the night at our house, so...

Miles got to play with Grandpa

And Oliver was able to spend some time playing with Grandma. Francie is actually a pretty good artist, I guess I see where Clayton gets it from now. :)

Miles LOVES his teething biscuits

Later in the day, Grandma & Grandpa went over to Aunt Tricia's house, and Daddy took Oliver to a birthday party, so Miles and I took a walk in between his naps. Here he is all bundled up ready to go. It was nice to be able to focus just on him and explain to him everything we were doing.

And finally, here is Oliver at Sarah & Emma's party at Pump it Up. We have several more pictures, but I'm not sure where my old camera is and that is where the pictures are saved (we let Oliver play with it so I'm sure it is mixed in with toys somewhere). Sarah is Oliver's most favorite friend from Spanish Schoolhouse. I was sure to stay in contact with her mom when we took a break from SSH, so that Oliver would be able to still see his friend. Oliver loved jumping and he said he had a great time and that he wanted to have his party at Pump it Up next year!

Miles Brown Royal is seven months old!

Wow, seven months has gone so quickly (unfortunately, I'm so far behind on blogging that another month has almost past). Miles shared his day with the celebration of Grandma's day, but I wanted to do another post special for him. Look at this guy, could he be any cuter? Love this baby!

Miles has been sick a little this month, which has been really difficult for him and it has put a strain on his ability to sleep through the night, but it seems that he is starting to bounce back to normal. He hardly ever cries any more, so I know that if he is crying, he really needs something.

In addition to being sick, after teething for what seems like FOREVER, he cut his first two teeth this month, the second a week after the first. I can't ever catch his smile big enough to show them in a picture, but soon enough the teeth will be long enough to see.

He and his big brother were both diagnosed with Eczema in the last couple of weeks. Miles has his right around his mouth and the doctor says we just have to moisturize it like crazy. So far, it doesn't really seem to be helping. Oliver has it on his hand and the doctor was able to prescribe some creme for it which cleared it up within a few days, but it can't be used so close to Miles mouth. Poor baby, sometimes it looks so painful!

Miles REALLY wants to crawl as you may have seen in the videos I've posted recently, but I have been postponing him in hopes of getting our carpet cleaned soon. It seems that I may have waited too long though as now, I can barely keep him on a blanket. Soon baby, I promise!

we have a picture almost exactly like this of Oliver at this age and we called him the ring baby, very fitting! :)

The best part of making frosting...

...is licking the beater!

Oliver's Grandma celebrated her birthday recently, so Oliver wanted to make a cake for her. He LOVED licking the creme cheese frosting off the beater. I still remember licking the beaters whenever we made the cake, but I would never let Oliver do that but secretly I think that is the best part of the cake! :) The frosting must have put Oliver on a high, because later that day, I was getting all sorts of crazy smiles. See Exhibits a, b and c below:

relaxing with Grandma before cake, my baby was sooo tired, he was an hour past his bedtime here.

Helping Grandma blow out the candles. Happy Birthday Grandma! I just want to say how proud I am of my little guy on his cake decorating skills. He wanted to make her a chocolate cake with pink frosting. He helped me make the cake and the frosting, then he frosted the cake and then spaced out the m&m's perfectly. I don't think I could have done a better job!

Miles is into touching peoples noses (I still remember this stage of Oliver's -- so sweet)

I think he might have really thought Grandpa had his nose. Look at that face! :)

Just like my brother...

Oliver and Miles in Oliver's crib

Miles has had a fascination with Oliver's sippy cups since he was very, very young. Sometimes I let him use an empty one to be just like his big brother.

Oliver was sitting in this big chair looking at a book today so peacefully while I put Miles down for a nap, I asked him if he'd stay that way while I grabbed my camera, but he preferred I have a picture of the garbage truck too. Can't believe how big this guy is!

Oliver showing Miles how it's done

Since Miles LOVED Oliver's car so much the other day, I decided to get Oliver's car he got for his second Christmas (when he was 14 months old) out of the closet. It was an instant hit!

I just loved this picture of Oliver showing Miles about the car

It seems like Miles is growing up so much faster than Oliver did, or maybe with two I just have a sense of how quickly these early days seem to pass. Sigh. These two loved riding around our house. Oliver had to be in front otherwise Miles would just about fall out of the car trying to see him. These two boys are so much fun! :)