15 months with Miles

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I can't believe we're already a quarter of the way through Miles's second year ... is it even possible that this one goes faster than the first??? I truly love this little man more and more every day. He has such a vibrant personality, is sweet as pure honey, and is just a really, really good child. We seriously hit the kiddie lottery with this one.

Here's a little update on what he's been up to for the last three months:

Knows lots of animal sounds: cow, horse, fish, chicken, bee, sheep, dog, cat, duck, mouse

Went through a brief picky phase, but is now into all kinds of foods - I credit this at least partially to implementing the meals-in-courses method in Bringing Up Bebé. Officially never wants our help at mealtimes and insists on using spoons and pouches himself. New things that he loves include artichokes, soba noodles, and pasta with truffle oil. Also, eats as much as a teenage boy.

Keeps us laughing all the time. For example, Josh was reading him a book with a chicken in it, and Miles said "mmmm" like he does when he's eating something yummy, but when I say he's having chicken for lunch, he makes a clucking sound. He's the best, y'all.

Walks, or more often, runs everywhere! This has unfortunately resulted in several falls, bumps on the head, and scratches to the face. I guess that's life with a boy.

Loves playing with his soccer ball, hugging Elmo, and swinging and sliding at the park.

Still obsessed with books - favorites right now are The Pout Pout Fish, all of his Sandra Boynton books, and a couple of random books (specifically Night Night Forest Friends and Bubbles, Bubbles) he's received through Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.

Randomly bows (which he learned from the book Barnyard Dance) and loves doing Patty-Cake, especially the "mark it with a B." Will spin in circles to make himself dizzy and say "weeeeeee." Loves throwing and kicking his soccer ball around the house. Holds my phone up to his ear and say "hello?" and then proceed to have a "conversation." Basically will imitate anything we do.

Lets you know when he wants to go outside by trying to put his jacket on and get in his stroller. Enjoys being outdoors and especially loves going to the park to swing and slide.

Knows 15+ words (other than animal sounds): Dada, bye-bye, night-night, Bubba, cheese, banana, Mama, please, pout-pout, bubbles, eye, shoes, hat, bath, keys, Gigi, and more literally every day.

Has recently become obsessed with daddy after being a real mama's boy for the first year. Loves sitting in the rocker with him to read and seeing him off to work every morning. 

Is fascinated by the way things work - locks and latches (which he's learned to use from this toy), screw-on caps, door hinges, and anythings with working parts.

In the past three months, has traveled to Paris and Florence bringing his count up to a total of five countries.

Aside from some mean molars and a cold, is overall sleeping much better. Usually 9-11 hours completely through the night. Still takes two naps, but has started having a random one nap day from time to time.

And last but not least, we are officially completely weaned from nursing. Hallelujah!

We have so many fun adventures planned for the next few months, including a trip to North Carolina, Spain with friends, and visitors from the U.S., so I'm hoping this big boy who's always on the move handles the upcoming plane rides and roadtrips like a champ. If you have any tips for keeping a very active toddler entertained on a transatlantic flight, leave them in the comments below. I'm desperate for a meltdown free flight :)

Next update coming at you in another three months... I can only imagine what crazy things our Miles man will be up to by then!

my baby is ONE!

I'm playing catch up here as the past month has been an absolute whirlwind. It all started with a transatlantic trip to Nashville the Saturday before Thanksgiving. The U.S. of A. welcomed us with colds for everyone, starting with Miles the day after we arrived, which also happened to be the day of his birthday party. Josh's mom and stepdad made the trip down, and we had a nice little family affair along with my parents and grandparents. And by "nice," I mean that the three of us were jetlagged, and Miles was an epic grump due to said illness.

It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to!

Despite the rough go of it, I did manage to make a pretty delicious cake (courtesy Smitten Kitchen, of course), and Miles got some awesome birthday presents from his grandparents - several wooden things-that-go... trains and tractors and such... some fun books, stuffed animals, some new clothes, lots of cold hard cash for his college savings account, and from Josh and me, Elmo to fuel his newfound obsession with Sesame Street on YouTube. 

In true one year old fashion, Miles was most amused by the bags, boxes, and of course, glorious, magical paper.

One whole year. Just like that, our baby is a toddler. Today, we celebrated Miles's first birthday. These have been both the longest and shortest 12 months of my life. I've been more exhausted, more stressed, more proud, and more grateful than ever before. I've been challenged and stretched and molded into a new person. I've felt like I knew exactly what I was doing and more often, felt totally clueless. I've experienced the overwhelming emotions of having your heart outside your body - of loving a person so much, it actually hurts. Precious boy, you fill our lives with endless joy, and your spirit and spunk brighten every day. I am beyond blessed and eternally thankful to have the honor of being your mama. All my love, forever and always ❤️#milesalexanderglessner

A photo posted by Elizabeth Glessner (@elizabeth.glessner) on Nov 21, 2016 at 10:00pm PST

Above is my (sappy) Instagram post from his actual birthday, but I'll give you a little update on what he's been up to for the last few weeks. It seems like overnight, my baby became a toddler - a miniature adult with opinions (and lots of 'em), an occasional tantrum, loads of personality, and curiosity.

• loves climbing and can walk (but still prefers crawling as it's much faster)
• will have "conversations" with you in his completely incomprehensible baby language but with inflections in all the right places
• gives lots of kisses, particularly to mommy, his stuffed animals, and the characters in his books
• still loves reading
• has added the words "light" and "keys" to his repertoire
• is still utterly obsessed with cars - I hear vroom, vroom all. day. long. every. day.
• has suddenly become very opinionated about his food - my excellent, adventurous eater has suddenly decided that he prefers cheese, bread, fruit, and yogurt and he'll stare me down as he throws food over the side of the high chair. Mommy is learning lots of patience!
• as of his one year checkup, was 20-something percentile for weight, but has shot up to 70-something percentile in height
• likes to copy anything and everything that we do and wants to do everything himself, including feeding, dressing, brushing his teeth, etc.
• has begun weaning (hallelujah!) and is now down to just wake-up and bedtime nursing
• is always, always on the move!

Life with a toddler, though exhausting both mentally and physically, really is a joyous adventure. I love watching the person he's becoming, and though I find it an epic challenge to parent these qualities, I know that his fierce independence, passion, and his desires to learn and explore will serve him well.

I'm looking forward to seeing what 2017 and year two of adventures with Miles bring!

P.S. If you're looking for another good read, be sure to check out my hubby's newly established blog starting with a little personal 2016 recap :) He'll probably be mad at me for shouting out, but honestly, he's way more entertaining.

eleven months with miles

Gosh. Eleven months. This time last year, I was in North Carolina preparing to photograph my last wedding before baby, putting the final touches on a gender neutral nursery for our little surprise bambino, and anxiously counting down the days until Josh returned home. I was excited and nervous to welcome our child, but I had no clue how that event would change me and change our lives. More love. More work. More joy. All more than I could ever have imagined.

In the past month, Miles has become infinitely more active and infinitely more exhausting. He's curious, smart, and fearless.

He tries to have entire conversations with us, but we can't understand a thing he's saying except for mama and dada. He has some words that he repeats... it's just a matter of us learning his language to figure out what he's talking about!

He's been practicing standing up on his own and will try to take a step but hasn't quite gotten the hang of that yet. He's always on the move and has recently discovered how to climb on furniture by himself. He also enjoys diving over me or his dad if we're lying on the floor. 

He (and the whole family, unfortunately) survived his first stomach virus, though we're still trying to recover from the effects that had on sleep.

He'll mock just about anything you do and has become an expert at bye-bye and patty cake. If you tell him he's done a "good job," he'll applaud himself. This boy gives the sweetest, slobbery open mouthed kisses, but only to mommy and his stuffed animals. If you ask him "How big are you?," he'll respond by emphatically raising his arms above his head.  

He'll often fake cry if you tell him no - he has the ability to be very dramatic when he wants to be. He has begun vehemently resisting diaper changes and being put in the stroller and requires lots of distraction to get him to cooperate --- hoping he grows out of that phase quickly! 

He loves drinking water on his own out of a straw cup and continues to love all kinds of food. New, recent favorites have been clementines, butternut squash, and the roasted chicken that we had on our trip to Haarlem.

I can't believe he'll be one in only a month, and we're looking forward to celebrating with family on our upcoming trip to Nashville!