Decatur is delightful

We went to Decatur with cousin Karen on Friday. It is a nice neighborhood that usually has music or entertainment on Friday nights in the spring. We had a lot of fun. Baikal discovered that a kids book store had recently opened. They had a great selection of Spanish books, perfect for Karen to take as gifts on her upcoming trip to the Honduras orphanage.

Life with a toddler

Purposeful misspelling

I am fully aware that I misspelled ant in the previous post, so no need to send an email. I was using a homophone to make a joke. And yes, I am posting this at 4:10 am. For some reason, the thought of someone thinking that I didn't know the difference between aunt and ant kept me up at night. Oh, and nursing a 5 month old...

I am an aunt!!!

Madeleine Helms Garvin was born today in the wee hours at a bit over 6 lbs. Mom and baby are doing great! So far being an aunt is a lot easier than having one yourself. I can not wait to meet her. I feel prepared because I just watched the Nova special on E.O. Wilson and his lifelong study of aunts. Perfect timing! Although there are no pictures of her yet, I am sure that the Garvin family blog will be posting lots of them as soon as they all recover from a long night. I have posted a picture of Dr. Wilson instead. Enjoy!

Pretzel time

We made pretzels today for snack time. They are always a big hit around the house.

Contained

Rybolt must be contained. He is getting himself into trouble. Luckily, a play pen filled with some toys is a great way to entertain him.

Dragging your feet

Rybolt can now get from one side of the room to the other. He drags the lower half of his body using his arms in a army-crawl type of way. There are a few items in particular that he is drawn to: straws, the free plastic kids meal toy that Baikal got from Arby's, and a teether by
Combi.

We are ready to take this show on the road...

So Baikal has been doing a great job with her potty training. It is now time to make the commitment and take this show to the road. I am prepared. I have several ziplock bags filled with one of each of the following: cloth diaper to wipe up spills, clean pair of underpants, and clean socks. My plan is to have a few of these in the car and one in my diaper bag. I also have a portable potty to take in the car for long car rides and other times when a clean restroom might not be close by. Here we go!

Happy Memorial Day

I hope your Memorial day was memorable. I was hoping to take the kids over to Oakland Cemetery today, but it is still closed due to the tornadoes back in March. Here is a quote heard from around the house:

Erin: "Baby Rybolt what are you thankful for today?"
Rybolt: drooling...
Baikal: "He is thankful for his big sister."

Here is the amazing... Rybolt

I wonder if Rybolt is going to go through the magic phase that some boys go through. My brother spent a good bit of his allowance on fake decks of cards, magic rings, and other tricks to dazzle his audience. Rybolt has just mastered his first trick: transitioning one object from one hand to another. If I look into his eyes, it is almost as if he is saying, "And watch now, as I take this blue teething ring and carefully move it to my other hand... Voila!"

Summertime is callin' me

Popsicles, pools, and playtime ... summer is here! I have to admit that I am a sucker for summer. I love the beach. I love it that flip flops and tank tops are the standard attire. I love wearing stripes on the 4th of july. One of our neighbors has a plastic toddler pool and has been inviting Baikal over after nap time for a little dip. It is perfect.

Time space continuum and the internet

I didn't blog yesterday. It wasn't that I didn't get online, but I actually forgot. You see, sometimes I get sucked in to an internet black hole. It usually starts with me typing something random in Google or Wikipedia that I wanted to know, for example, "What are the yearly average temperatures of Lake Baikal?" and then two hours later I end up on some web page reading about how Marvin Gaye died. It usually takes something like a phone ringing or a baby crying to get me out of it. These internet black holes can keep you in for hours! One of my most favorite web sites that can really get me into a black hole is www.etsy.com. It is a crafting website where people sell their goods online. I bought Baikal a dress with cupcakes on it a few months ago. It is the type of dress that I would have made her myself if I had a sewing machine and knew how to sew.

Impressions 2

Rybolt can do impressions just like his big sister. Do you remember her impression of Shrek? Here, Rybolt is doing an impression of another animated character. Don't worry, he has his intellectual side also. He's no dope!

Crying and sleeping

Rybolt has been having a harder time going to sleep recently and my mommy instinct tells me that it might be teething. Today it took him about 45 minutes of crying to finally fall asleep. I checked on him at 15 minute increments and tried to help soothe him, but since he doesn't like pacifiers or to be rocked I am not much help. After 45 minutes he is now sound asleep. In fact, both of my children are napping and the world looks a bit more beautiful during those times of peace in the home. I do not know why babies cry to fall asleep, but they do. At least they do for a while, and then they do not. Baikal no longer cries herself to sleep. I remember at one point wishing for the day when she would no longer cry herself to sleep, because it is rather unpleasant for the rest of us. And now she does not. This is a major step. I don't remember the day or month when she stopped crying at bedtime, which is odd because it really is such a great transition.

You can't always get what you want

Today, my mom and I took Baikal to get a pair of sandals for the summer. I was looking for sandals that covered the toes for her to wear as a replacement to her tennis shoes. After measuring her feet, I picked out the perfect pair of summer sandals. They were pink and cute and Baikal really liked them. Score! They told me that they did not have them in her size. I put them back and selected another pair. None in that size either. OK, so I picked out another pair. None in that size either. After a while of browsing, the sales person told me that they did not have any sandals that covered the toes in her size. However, I could order them and come back to pick them up when they arrived. I was skeptical about ordering a shoe for Baikal that I wasn't sure would fit her. I also was not interested in coming back to the shoe store at a later time. I went over to the boy's shoe section and sure enough there were plenty of sandals that fit my criteria in her size. I picked a pair. They fit. Job done. You can't always get what you want, in pink, but you might just find it in brown.

Baikal and the pea

As I was leaving Baikal's room after putting her down for a nap, she called to me, "Mom, come back."
"What?" I said.
"The pea. The pea is pinching me. Get it out."
I pretended to get an imaginary pea out from under her.
"Thank you mommy."

She had watched a show about the princess and the pea. I guess it sunk in.

Rain, rain go away...

Dr. Foster went to Gloucester

I read Baikal the Dr. Foster poem a while back. Like most of her books, she likes to have the same one read to her several times and then is on to something new. So it has been a few weeks since we did the Dr. Foster poem, but this morning I was watching the news and they were reporting from Gloucester. Out of habit I said, "Dr. Foster went to Gloucester." There was a bit of a pause then I heard Baikal say, "in a shower of rain" I continued on, "he stepped in a puddle right up to his middle." And Baikal finished with "and never went there again." What a memory!!! I was so impressed.

Last day of music class

Baikal and Rybolt have really enjoyed music class. Ok, well Rybolt just drools and chews on the instruments, but that is fun times in baby language. Baikal's teacher even told me that she thinks Baikal is musically advanced because she often drums on the beat and sings in relative pitch. She probably says something like this to all the parents, but I couldn't help but to feel proud. Way to go!

New look

I have added some new features to my blog. Since I have several friends and family members due with babies, I figured it might be nice to have my lists for new parents at an easy to find location. I hope this helps!

School's out for summer!

Baikal's last day of her preschool class was today. They had a picnic and parents were invited to come. The kids liked running around in circles and chasing each other. I was able to have full conversations with some of the other moms and dads. That doesn't happen often when toddlers are in tow. I am so thankful for Baikal's preschool. It has been a really wonderful place for her to grow. Now, what am I going to do with her for the next two weeks until summer camp???

Quotes

My camera is on loan, so no pics for a bit. Here are a few quotes to tie you over.

Erin: "Baikal, what are you thankful for today?"
Baikal: "Pacifier"

Courtney: "Baikal, why is baby Rybolt sad?"
Baikal: "Because he needs a haircut."

Baikal singing: "Happy birthday to me, Happy birthday to me, Happy birthday to Kevin, and Baikal, and Uncle Ben, and Emily, and Mommy, and Daddy, and Baikal, and Baby Rybolt. Yeah!"

Baikal: "I am a bear. Roar. No. You are a bear. I am a baby bear. Come find me. You found me. I love you."

Erin: "I think Rybolt is awake. Is baby Rybolt awake?"
Baikal: (Climbs up and looks at him in the crib. He is awake and cooing.) "No. He is sleeping. Let's go play."

Baikal to Courtney: "Mommy is your sister."
Courtney: "Yes."
Baikal to Courtney: "Go hug her."

Matt to Baikal: "Are you having a lot of fun or a moderate amount?"
Baikal: "Moderate amount."

Matt to Baikal: "I am thankful for coffee."
Baikal: "I am thankful for chocolate milk."

High speed chase ends in hit and run

My car was involved in a hit and run the other night. Apparently a stolen car was being chased by an officer. The chase made its way to our street and then the thief baled out of the car before it stopped. You know what stopped his car? Mine. At 1:30 AM. My car is almost 10 years old, so my first thought was...sweeet, new car! But when the sun came out the next day, there was just a small dent in the bumper. I guess it must have been a slow-high speed car chase. The criminal is still at large.

Video may be weird

I am not sure why, but sometimes the video in my post looks weird. I'll research and see if I can fix it.

Blogs as reference....

One of the great things about having your second baby due around the same month as your first is that you can use your pictures, blogs, etc. as a great reference. I am frequently looking at old posts to see what Baikal was doing around certain months to prepare for what is coming down the pipes with Rybolt. So what was Baikal doing when she was five months old? She was dancing.




Also that month, we took her on her first trip out to Rocky Mountain National Park, CO. We went on a small hike with her in her baby bijorn carrier.

Rybolt's Baptism

Rybolt Baier Miller was baptized last week. Here are some pictures from the day. He looked beautiful in the gown made my Grandma Bookie. It is really special to have him wearing the same gown that his father wore a few decades ago. The godparents are my cousins, Karen and Ben Rybolt. Karen will be spending a good bit of her summer doing mission work in central America. Ben will be spending a good bit of his summer analyzing data from microwaves collected from the big bang at Richmond University. I am so proud of them! I will be spending a good bit of my summer doing mission work at home and using the microwave to make dinners.

So sleepy...

Rybolt is close to dropping his third nap of the day. He made it all the way to dinner time, but just couldn't wait until I finished eating before falling asleep in my arms.

Facebook...what is it all about?

I have officially created a facebook profile upon coaxing from two people: my brother and my friend Ginny. My brother always has his finger on the pulse of all things new and interesting, so when he told me about this website I knew it was a matter of time before I was hooked. My longtime friend, Ginny Carson, called me and told me that I had to do this because she knows my love of two embarrassing things: reunions and online relationships (no, not the romantic type). Although I must admit that I think it is geared toward the younger crowd (I'm 32...still young, just not that young). I have been happy to find that it has enabled me to reconnect with some old friends. One of most daunting tasks of creating your profile is selecting what photo you will put of yourself online. Pregnancy and motherhood certainly takes its toll on a person from a photography standpoint. After searching through my digital photos for anything that I thought was a beautiful picture of me, I gave up and posted this picture of me when I was 38 weeks pregnant. I love this picture. My stomach is so big, that I really can't believe that it is real. But it was that big! Here is the proof. Proof that I have done something really amazing with my body twice. I have been pregnant. Tomorrow is mothers day. I am a mom.

Chore a day

Ohh...fabulous Friday!!! Baikal is at preschool, Rybolt is in the middle of a 2+ hour nap, and Fridays are project days. You see, I have a chore chart for myself where everyday is some kind of chore. Fridays are the most fun because they are project days. Today's project is to organize our office. We are finally getting our office settled after moving it from Rybolt's room. I have been organizing stuff for the past hour. How are your books organized? What about your office supplies? I have settled on the following for our books: a section for fiction, a section for non-fiction, and a section for reference. I have further subdivided non-fiction based on topic. I'm not sure how to organize fiction. Below the books are all of the audio-video stuff: cds, mp3 player stuff, cameras, dvd player, computer stuff, etc. Now, how should I store our maps?

It's not easy bein' green

We are green here over at the Millers. I have been reusing our paper bags for the kids clothing for some time now. I have also hooked the dogs up to a tread mill and they power our television. We only bathe and brush our teeth on prime number days. Kermit had it right...it's not easy being green.

Before and After

Rollin', rollin' rollin'

Rybolt is rolling over both ways. I can no longer put him down on a blanket with some toys without keeping a close eye on him. He is also getting annoyed with the bouncy seat. He is ready to move! Here is a tip for moms: hold on to a bouncy seat even when your child seems not interested any more. They are helpful for those times when baby has a cold and has trouble sleeping in the crib. Being upright helps them sleep better.

Gaming theory and potty training

Or as Baikal says, "I go potty, I get one egg!"

So we are potty training here at chez Miller. I am using a book that my mom used with me called "Potty Train Your Child in One Day." I have been using the toilet successfully for 31 years, so I figure it must have done a pretty good job. It recommends using a doll to model training and using treats and snacks as rewards. I decided to add another element to the training. I am going to digress for a moment... After a recent conversation with my brother regarding gaming theories (if you know my brother, you know that this is a normal topic of conversation) I decided to use the jackpot concept with training. For most of us who are not aware of this, I'll explain. Studies have shown that rats, when given a button will push it more often when the reward is variable, rather than predictable. In a practical application of this, casinos have slot machines that are programmed to give out a variable amount (from 0 to jackpot) at every turn. It is this variability that keeps people putting money into them. So back to potty training, after Easter I had a bunch of plastic eggs around the house. I decided to fill them with candy, stickers, and other goodies in varying amounts with a few jackpots in the bunch. After Baikal uses the potty she is allowed to pick one egg at random. So far, she has been using the potty successfully for three weeks. Jackpot!!!!

Which one is the real baby?

Rybolt in lap: A series

Was that a baby crying?

One thing that happens after you have children is that your ears become tuned in to your child's cry. I don't know if they have done studies on this, but I believe I could hear a baby's cry from at least one mile away. The most distracting is when you are watching television after you have put the kids to bed and there is a child crying in the background of the show you are watching. I can't tell you how many times I have muted the television to go upstairs after hearing a cry, just to realize it was part of the background noise in some commercial.

Smarty pants

I think it is natural to believe that your child is smarter than average. I had one of these moments today with Baikal. We were making funny faces at each other and laughing. She said, "I am silly. You are silly. We are silly." She gets pronouns!!!! This is huge!!! It won't be long before she is conjugating Latin verbs!

Bloomin' Azaleas

The azaleas have about one more week of blooms left and then they are spent. They put on such a great show in our yard that I miss them as soon as it is over.

Gatlinburg part 2