Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Miles 1 year old!

It is time for an update on our smiley Miles. What a sweetie our second born is.....unless you are trying to take something away from him or get him to do something that clearly is not what he intends to do...then he is just like his big brother.....sassy! He lays right on the floor and screams. He also sasses whenever I leave daycare. Ronan never cared, so that is a new thing for us. Miles is my little cuddle bug. He loves to hunker down with his little head on our shoulders. I just love it!

 

Miles loves to play with his big brother. He never takes his eyes off of him. Sometimes the two of them can be very naughty! (playing, screaming, throwing food, giggling) It is so fun to see the 2 brothers together. Ronan will commonly ask "Can I play with Miles?" or "Where is Miles" or "I need to give this goldfish to Miles".

  Miles turned the big 1 year old on 10/20. We had a great day and had about 25ish family and friends over for a Halloween 1st Birthday Extravaganza.

 Ronan and I made the cake that Miles ate and my mom decorated it. We thought it was hilarious and couldn't stop laughing. I guess you had to be there.

 The kiddos at the party with their costumes on. Poor little Stella. She's was such an angel and the star of the party, but she isn't too happy in the picture.

 Miles loved to eat his cake and was VERY messy afterward. He went right into the bath.

 Miles even tried to open a few presents. He got a drum set, a train, books, gift cards, trucks, a laptop, finger paint....and more.

 

Milestones for Miles:

Crawling 8/4/12 (9 months)

Pulled to stand 8/19/12 (9.5 months)

Waved 8/19/12

First steps 10/30/12 (1 year)

First words: Jim and I disagree, but I say he said "all done" at 10 months. Now he is chattering up a storm. He says Mama, Dada, all done, uh oh, ho ho ho, hi, bye, and what's that.

 

Miles has 9 teeth and is getting 3 more molars. The poor child! He is still a biter. Ronan recently got a good one on the forehead. Eight little teeth marks, nice and deep.

 

1 year doctor's appt:

Height 31" (75-90%)

Weight 22 lbs (25-50%)

Head is full of lots of brains and is in the 75-90%

 

Miles is such a good eater and stopped his bottles just after his birthday. He now eats all kinds of table food and drinks his milk from a sippy. Still nursing just a little before bed. Every day his daycare report lists "ate well" beside all meals and snacks.

 

Miles waves bye-bye and blows kisses. He also give kisses. Once he starts kissing, you had better be ready for about 6-7 forceful ones. Then he will give them all around.

 

Sleeping through the night (finally) and goes to bed about 8pm. He takes 1-2 naps per day (1 at daycare, 2 at home). He is somewhat of a light sleeper, but goes back to bed easily. He wakes up between 630-730 on most days.

 

Daycare notes:

12/3/12 Miles loved watching and helping his teachers put up Christmas lights and also singing Christmas songs. Nap 1255-245.

 

12/4/12 Miles loved reading the book "Santa Claus" and saying "ho-ho-ho" with Santa. Nap 1250-220.

Ronan James 3 years old!

It has been a while since I really updated everyone on what has been going on with us. What a blessed summer/fall we have had. Ronan turned 3 years old while we were staying with Grandpa and Grandma Staat. He had a great birthday. He loved opening presents with his little brother.

 Ronan's family and friends birthday party was at the cottage this year. I think it was one of the only cool weekends all summer. He had a great time, especially with Olivia!! No burnt lips this year either.

Couldn't resist this picture of the 2 Gramps

Our little sweetie is such a character. He is "all boy" and loves to run, run, run and play in the dirt. He loves cookies, cake, candy, marshmallows, and asks for oreo cookies every day (can anyone say Jim!!?). Ronan also loves his brother to pieces. Recently Miles was sick and slept most of the evening and Ronan just kept saying, "I want to play with Miles." That isn't to say that there aren't a fair amount of brotherly fights...but they all work out in the end.

 

Ronan loves to ride on the lawn mower and will do it for hours. He had so much fun this fall watching the tractors and combines around our house.

 

His 2 favorite movies are Cars (he loves Lightning McQueen) and Toy Story (he calls it Woody). He also loves Curious George and needs his "phones" to watch the video in our new van.

 

Ronan had a great doctor's appt in August. He was healthy as a horse and was 40" tall (90%), and weighed 38.4 lbs (75%).

 

We recently asked him 20 questions.

1. What is your favorite color? Green

2. What is your favorite toy? Blocks (mega-blocks)

3. What is your favorite fruit? Vegetables

4. What is your favorite tv show? Little Bear

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Fruit

6. What is your favorite outfit? Connor's outfit

7. What is your favorite game? Whitecaps

8. What is your favorite snack? Tree

9. What is your favorite animal? Cow

10. What is your favorite song? Unanswered!

11. What is your favorite book? Pirate Papa

12. Who is your best friend? Connor

13. What is your favorite cereal? Costume

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play in the sandbox

15. What is your favorite drink? Apple juice

16. What is your favorite holiday? Cottage

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Dog

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Popcorn

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Fruit snacks

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Bob the Builder



Happy Fall!

 We recently enjoyed the Zeeland Pumpkinfest. Really the only thing we did was take pictures because eveything was packed up by the time we had dinner. The boys enjoyed the parade on Saturday with Grandma and Grandpa Staat. Hope you have a great fall!

Miles 10 months/Ronan 3 years

Miles Update:

My little Smiles is 10 months old! He has 8 teeth that he loves to use (bite/chew/etc.) He is getting more and more blond hair. At his 9 month appt. he was 19.4 lbs (25%), 29.75 inches (90%). He is long and lean!!

He just moved up into 12 month clothes and wears a size 3 diaper.

He loves to eat and has really taken a liking to table food. He likes to feed himself and doesn't want the jars of baby food anymore. Unfortunatly, I still have quite a few in the pantry, so he is being forced to eat them. He still nurses 3-4 times per day and drinks 2-3 5 ounce bottles at daycare. He holds his own bottle and has been doing that for months.

His favorite toys are things that he puts in his mouth that he shouldn't. He loves to bang and bang.

He can crawl fast like a bandit and pull himself up to stand. He will stand by anything, so we have to watch him very closely. He can navigate a few stairs and sometimes will faceplant.

Miles takes two naps of about 1.5 hours each.

Ronan in front of Mommy and Grandma's birthday cake.

 Sticker boy

 Ronan opening his first birthday gift.

Ronan Update:
Ronan is my little spit-fire. He is so funny and all-boy. He loves to play outside, watch NickJr., and play with his garbage truck/cars/anything Miles is already playing with. He can ride his tricycle out to the road, spell his name, and count to 20 (sometimes 30, but not reliably). He loves to ask which direction we are facing and does pretty good recalling it. He will ride the lawn mower for hours with Grandpa Jim or Dad. He likes to help in the garden and wash the cars.

Favorite recent Ronan question to me: "Are you a princess, Momma?" (My answer: "Yes, yes, of course I am!")

Ronan  has started potty-training with the start of his new daycare. He couldn't go to the next room (3 y/o room) until he was potty-trained. This has been quite challenging, but after 1 month of no diapers he is now pretty reliably going in the big potty. He doesn't like the little potty for some reason. At one point during this process he did not pee for 19 hours straight!! How is that possible? He is usually dry overnight and thru naps. He refuses to poop on any potty, so we are still working on that. If he does have an accident he usually tells me that he "Just spilled a little water, Momma."

Ronan always says the prayer at dinner. He usually cracks us up for some reason. Recently he has prayed for the weatherball, for the milker (aka the breast pump), and for his cup/apple juice/ravioli or whatever he sees in front of him.
Ronan's 3 year appt went well. He is 40" tall (90%) and 38.4 lbs (75%).

His favorite books right now are any of the Curious George books. Favorite place to eat...McDonalds (don't judge, you know it is delicious!).

Daycare updates:
The boys started at their new daycare on July 30 (Ronan's 3rd birthday). Things have been going well after a big adjustment for Ronan James. They started full-on potty training at the new daycare. Ronan has to stay in the 2-3 y/o room until he is potty trained. We sent him in undies on the first day and he has been in them ever since. AFter lots of refusing to go (19 hours without peeing or having an accident), we have finally made some progress. The boy likes the shower better than any potty, but I will take it! He is doing well there and Miles loves it too.

Notes:
6/12/12 While outside at 420 pm, Ronan ate sand. We flushed his mouth out with water! (This made me laugh...had to share)

8/21 Ronan used dot paints to paint his clown (he doesn't like clowns by the way).
He dug a big hole in the sand with Eli and Colin and counted. He went ont he potty twice.

8/21 Miles S. (There is another little boy in Miles room with the same name!)
Miles loves standing! He likes to play with our leapfrom table and playskool spinning table because he can stand up to them. :)
*We are working on not throwing plates and utensils @ meals and using our signs for "more" and "all done".
Still atking a morning and afternoon nap and ate very well (waffles, pizza, applesauce/goldfish) and using a sippy cup.

Fourth of July Pictures

 We started off the 4th of July celebrations at the cottage on Wed. July 4.

 We headed up to PH on 4th of July weekend. Ronan had to ride the back-hoe with Grandpa Norm.

 Fireworks in PH. Miles did great and liked watching them.

 4th of July Parade in PH

 Can you tell who the 2 crazies are in this picture?!!

Miles 7/8 Month Update

It has been hard to keep the blog updated with all the exciting events going on in the Staat household (selling house and buying new, nicer, bigger house). Miles had passed the half-year mark and is approaching his 1 year birthday! What a big boy he is getting to be. His favorite toy is still his jumperoo, but he also loves to sit on the floor (started sitting really well at 7.5 months) and play with toys. He is currently getting really close to crawling, but that can wait (says me!). He is often called "Miles of Smiles" or "Smiley Miley" or "Milsers" or "Milesy". You can't tell by the pictures, but he smiles all the time and is such a good natured and happy baby. He really only cries when he is hungry or tired (he get that fromt he Klesczewski side I think!!).

Miles is currently wearing size 6-9 month clothes and size 3 diapers. He weighed over 19lbs (19 lbs 3 oz) on 7/3 when he had his second ear infection. His first ear infection was 5/1/12 and he weighed 16 lbs 11 oz then (6 months).

He eats baby food 3x/day and drinks 2-3 5 ounce bottles at daycare plus 2-3 nursing episodes per day. He has really started to "plump" up since he started eating his baby food. He really started eating well at about 6.5 or 7 months. He likes everything except peas and the meats, but he will eat meat mixed with fruit. He also has started crying every time he eats mixed vegetables, so maybe he doesn't like that one either.

 We enjoyed Tulip Time a week early due to having nice weather and the tulips being way early this year. We took these pictures of our little, Dutch boys on May 2, 2012 when Miles was just over 6 months old.

 We have had such nice weather this spring that we got to enjoy some picnics in our backyard. Ronan thought it was very fun. Nugget liked the close access to the food and Miles, well, you can see that he was getting a little tired/hungry or maybe Ronan was bugging him.

I took these pictures at Grandpa and Grandma Pawlitz' house. Miles is just over 8 months old. He loves to show off his teeth. He now has 6! He got the 5th and 6th tooth right at 8 months old. He loves to use those teeth and bite! He bit Ronan in the face and drew blood. He has also bit me while nursing (ouch!!) and has bit my sholders multiple times when he is being held. Such a stinker!

Big, blue eyes

Ronan and Miles have been taking baths together now. This is the first one! Sometimes it is rather dangerous for the little guy since Ronan loves to slide, splash, push, etc.

Brown skin (Ronan and Mom) vs. white skin (Dad and Miles)

Daycare notes:
5/21/12 Played on the floor. Slept from 920-1015 and 1220-1 pm. Also took a nap until mom picked you about 4 pm-430 pm? Ate bananas and cereal at 0900, bottle at 1035, veggies and cereal at 120 pm, bottle at 150 pm and bottle at 445pm.

6/4/12 Miles went for a stroller ride today. Napped from 1125-1155 and from 400-440 pm. Ate tropical fruit and cereal at 1100 and bottles at 1240 and 330 pm.

6/18/12 Miles went for a stroller ride, played with dinosaur shapes (?what does that mean), read "Baby Bops Food" and tried to sign "please". He ate bananas/cereal at 830, bottle at 950, fruit/cereal at 1215, bottle at 130 pm and bottle at 415pm.

7/2/12 Went on a stroller ride/all around the world walker. Played peek-a-boo. Read "I love you stinky face". Signed all-done. Slept from 905-945 and while on the stroller ride 1210-1240. Also took a nap from 205-245. Ate fruit and cereal at 840, bottle at 950, fruit /cereal at 1240, bottle at 135 pm and bottle at 410 pm.

7/9/12 Note from Ms. Britney: Miles had an awesome day! He was very vocal this morning while playing toys. He was all smiles when we were singing songs today.

7/10/12 Miles played with soft toys/floor time and worked on the baby sign "drink". Nap from 1040-1205 and 440-505. Ate garden veggies at 840/bottle at 930/chicken rice food at 1235/bottle at 2 pm and bottle at 420.