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Wow, I can’t believe Miles is 5 months old already! Where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday he came home from the hospital. Of course, the first few months probably seem like they went by so quickly because I was half-asleep the whole time. Anyway, here are his unofficial 5 month stats:

- Weight: 17.5 lb. (50-75th percentile)
- Length: 25.75 in. (25-50th percentile)
- Head: 17 in. (25-50th percentile)

And of course, since I took all these measurements myself, I’m not sure how accurate they are. It’s hard to get him to stay still for any length of time! And just a note, Miles now weighs more than I did when I was a year old. Though I was such a scrawny thing, it’s not fair to compare.

In the last month, Miles has changed so much. It seems like every day he’s doing something new. Today he rolled over for the first time that we’ve seen. I guess he’s rolled over at daycare, but we’ve never seen it. Greg was trying to take pictures of Miles on his tummy and he kept rolling over as soon as I’d put him down. He still doesn’t really like being on his tummy. It doesn’t seem like he hates it quite as much, but he’d much rather be on his back, looking around.

After trying cereal for a few days after he turned 4 months, he became really, really constipated, so we stopped until his system regulated itself. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out on its own, and the prune juice and corn syrup (separately, not together) his pediatrician recommended didn’t work, so he’s now on a prescription laxative, which has really helped. He actually had oatmeal for the first time again tonight, and seemed to really like it.

He’s been reaching for and grabbing things, and most things end up in his mouth. The latest thing he’s been doing the past couple of days is grabbing hair from both sides of my face and pulling my face down to his and giving me “kisses.” I have no idea what he’s really trying to do, but he pushes his mouth onto mine, so I call it kisses. I thought at first he was just trying to suck on my face, but he doesn’t. I do give him kisses all the time, so maybe he’s just learning quickly to give them back. He also tries to eat my hair, and has pulled out big hunks of it. I’ve considered cutting it a bit shorter so he can’t grab it so easily, but at least with it long I can pull it back, though he still grabs it even when it’s in a ponytail. Oh, well.

He still really loves books. It doesn’t seem to matter what we read to him, but our local library has mail delivery so I’ve had some sent to us from the Skippyjon Jones series. They’re funny and really cute. They’re about a Siamese cat who thinks he’s a chihuahua and we really like them. I’m going to order him some of them because they’re due back soon. He also has a lot of Dr. Seuss books that have bright colors that he likes. He’s been having fun now that he’s figured out how to turn pages, especially those on his board books.

A couple of weeks ago, he figured out what his Jumperoo is for, and now I put him in it when we get home while I put things away and start dinner and he just jumps and jumps and jumps. The music and lights on it don’t go off unless he jumps, so now they’re going constantly.

He’s still such a serious little guy, making you work to get a smile or laugh out of him, though now that his digestive system is more settled, he’s definitely happier and smiling easier. And if you’re holding him while someone tries to make him smile, he’ll smile at them and then turn and bury his face in your shoulder. It’s cute.

He’s still spitting up all the time, though the doctor said that that should start tapering off. I hope so. Last Friday when I went to visit him at lunch he threw up on me. Like what seemed like a gallon of milk, all. over. me. I was soaked to the skin, through both shirts I was wearing, down both legs, even my underwear. And of course I didn’t have a change of clothes so I had to go back to work soaking wet and smelling like sour milk.

He also has started humming to himself when he’s tired and falling asleep. And if he has his pacifier in, he’ll chew on it and make these noises that sound like “grunk grunk grunk grunk.” It’s hilarious, but it’s a good indicator of how close to sleep he is.

We’re really enjoying spending time with him and seeing all the new things he does. He’s such a funny little guy and, though I’m totally biased, I think he’s one of the cutest babies ever!

Here are some of his 5-month pictures, including one of him and Percy the penguin.

Miles & Percy

Leah playing with Miles

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The last few weeks seem like they’ve been pretty busy but we haven’t done a whole lot, really. Last weekend we had the excitement of waking up early Saturday morning to discover our furnace wasn’t working. Luckily we had some dry wood in the garage so we used the fireplace in our living room. It doesn’t put out a ton of heat but it was better than nothing. Thankfully, the repair guys had it running again by noon. It was a bad ground wire on the auto pilot but they also discovered our circulation pump was bad, too. This explained why it took so long to heat up the house and why our bedroom was one of the colder rooms. Now that it works it’s like night and day. Plus, we should be able to save money on propane. Later that day, Leah’s mom came for an overnight visit to see Miles and we had a nice Valentine’s dinner at home that night.

Last week it snowed some more and we’re getting really close to breaking the hundred inch mark for the season here in Skandia. Miles is also continuing to grow and change before our eyes. Today, he is 5 months old! It’s hard to believe he’s already there and we comment that he seems like a little boy rather than a baby. Leah will be doing a write-up soon of his accomplishments and other details.

Below are some pics from recent days. For Valentine’s, Leah gave me these cool custom M&Ms. (Miles looks like the Gerber baby on them.) This past weekend we went to the start of the U.P. 200 dog sled race in Marquette and Miles seemed to enjoy that. Then on Saturday we drove down to Nahma for the annual church fundraiser and stayed at Leah’s grandma’s house.  Miles is strong enough now to do the famous standing on Leah’s dad’s hand trick, a tradition for all the little ones.

Custom M&Ms from Leah & Miles

Miles at his first U.P. 200 dog sled race

Watching the dogs run

Standing on grandpa Russ' hand

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Well, it’s been a couple of weeks now, but Miles has started eating some solid food. So far he’s only had rice and oat cereal, and he’s still not too sure about either one. I’m only giving it to him about every other day because I’m not really sure if he’s ready for it. He seems really interested in what we eat, but when it’s his turn, he’s not really sure what to do. One day he’ll eat really well and the next day he acts like he’s never eaten before. So I’m taking it slow with him, giving him only a few bites and stopping if he’s not into it.

Miles eating cereal for the first time

Two weekends ago we headed down to the ski jumps. It was cold, cold, cold outside, so Miles was really bundled up. He was awake for maybe an hour and then fell asleep and slept the rest of the time we were there, all toasty warm in his sled. Greg got some pretty cool pictures, including one of my dad and Miles with Steve Mariucci.

Grandpa Russ & Miles with Steve Mariucci

Last Friday Miles finally had his shots, and I was worried ahead of time because of how upset he was the last time. This time was totally different. He only cried during the actual shots and was totally fine afterward. He slept most of the afternoon and was pretty sleepy all weekend, and also ran a mild fever on Sunday and Monday, but he seems to be fully recovered now.

Greg’s brother Steve came up on Thursday, though I think Greg will write about all of the stuff they did while Miles and I stayed home.

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Since Steve will be deployed in a few months, he decided to come up north for a few days to hang out and do some ice fishing. We headed out on Friday morning to Lake Independence in Big Bay (30 minutes northwest of Marquette) and did pretty well. The fish were biting pretty good in the morning and then picked up again later in the afternoon. We caught a total of 4 walleye and 2 northern pike and brought home 3 of the walleye for dinner. On Saturday, we headed to Negaunee for our little cousins’ (Jacob & Caleb) hockey game. Watching 6 & 8 year olds play hockey is quite entertaining. The older one, Jacob, ended up with 2 goals during the game and their team also won! Later that evening we headed over to their house to check out their homemade luge run through the woods. Pretty dang impressive and fast! On Sunday, we went ice fishing at Sporley Lake, which is about 10 minutes from our house. The weather was great and we caught 3 splake (lake trout/brooke trout cross) but none were over 15″ to bring home. In the afternoon we went down to the Skandia Township pavilion to play hockey with Jacob and his dad, Ken. After 2 hours of skating and playing 2-on-2 hockey, we were whipped. Steve headed back downstate yesterday but we’re hoping to make one more trip down below before he is shipped out. Miles also enjoyed Steve’s company and was even giggling for him.

Leah & Miles

Steve displaying the pre-cooked walleye dinner

Leah making Miles laugh last night

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Miles had his 4-month well-baby check today.  He was supposed to have his immunizations, too, but it turns out that it hasn’t been 60 days since his last round, so we have to wait until next week.  So he got a brief reprieve.  His stats:

- Weight – 15 lb., 12.5 oz. (50-75th percentile)
- Length – 25 in. (25-50th percentile)
- Head – 17 in. (50-75th percentile)

So he’s still a little on the short side, compared to his weight and head, but not too bad.

Miles started daycare last Monday, with a woman who watches him in her house.  She has a 2 1/2-year-old daughter and she also watches a four-year-old girl two days a week.  So far, that’s it, so he’s getting a lot of attention, which is great.  He seems to like it there and he’s close enough that I can go over on my lunch hour to feed him and put him down for his afternoon nap.  He’s not getting a lot of sleep there, but I think that he’s still adjusting to being there.

Speaking of sleep, in the last month, he’s begun sleeping through the night.  He’ll go down to bed around 8:00 and most of the time we have to wake him up at 7:00 the next morning to eat and get ready to go.  It’s wonderful and you’d think that I would feel more rested, but I don’t.  I think I just sleep so lightly, listening for him.

He still loves to lie on the floor and kick his legs, but now he also will grab at his toys that are there.  He really likes to be read to, especially books with bright colors, like Dr. Seuss books.  He seems so serious much of the time, watching and studying everything that we do, like he’s just storing it all up in his head and trying to figure out what it is that we’re doing.  Either that, or he’s thinking, wow, do these people realize how stupid they look when they try to make me laugh?

He’s getting much stronger, which is not surprising, considering how much he kicks.  He can support himself pretty well and he’s really close to rolling over from his back.  He still hates hates hates being on his tummy, even for a short period of time.  I think it’s because he can’t see anything from that angle.  So it’ll be interesting to see how he reacts when he does roll over and finds himself stuck there.  Maybe if he does it himself it won’t upset him as much?  I hope so.

We haven’t started him on cereal yet, though I think we might next week.  He’s really hungry in the evening, and sometimes he’s so hungry he won’t even attempt to nurse, so maybe giving him cereal at dinnertime will help.  We usually put him in his bumbo right on the table while we eat so he won’t feel left out, so I’ll probably just feed him like that.

Lately, he’s been chewing and sucking on his hands.  It almost seems like he’s teething, but the doctor said that she didn’t think so.  We actually noticed him sucking on his hands during my ultrasounds, and he was trying to suck on them as they were cleaning him up after he was born, so I think he just likes to do that.  He’ll actually spit out his pacifier and stick his hand in there.  I keep thinking that he’ll find his thumb and that will be that, but the few times he’s managed to get just his thumb in there, he’ll pull it out and tuck it under so that he can try to fit his whole fist in.  So far, his hands are the only thing in his mouth, but I’m sure it won’t be long before he’s sucking on toys and whatever else he can find.

Oh, and Miles definitely loves to be naked or as near to naked as he can be.  If he’s fussy at all, all you have to do is unsnap his sleeper or take off his pants and he’s happy.  I’m sure that this summer he’ll be that kid running around in just a diaper.  As a side effect of all of this nakedness, he’s noticed his feet.  One day last week when he was in the tub, he lifted his feet straight up and just stared at them, like, what are those things?  Last weekend he reached down and grabbed at one foot.  I imagine that it won’t be long before they’re in his mouth, too.

One thing that I wish he’d grow out of is the reflux.  It’s a constant thing, but because it doesn’t seem to bother him and since it’s not affecting his weight, we have to just let him grow out of it.  His doctor said that we’re right at the peak of it, and that it should start to taper off a bit, especially once he spends more of his time upright.  I can’t wait.  A couple of weeks ago, I went through three shirts in a five-minute period.  And Greg has had that happen, too.  Not to mention his own outfit changes.  He’s already had to be bathed twice at his daycare because he projectile vomited all over himself.

It’s so amazing to see him learn something new every day, and he just seems to be growing up so fast!

Below are some pictures from last night, and his four-month picture with Percy the Penguin.

4 months old

What...

Miles and mom snuggling

Miles and Leah watching TV

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If you’ve been visiting our site over the last few days, you’ve probably noticed that it’s been different every time! We’re trying to choose a new look for it, getting away from the cool-but-difficult-to-update look that Greg designed and instead choosing a template. Only we can’t seem to find one that has all of the elements we’re looking for, so we keep changing it. We’ll probably change it a few more times until we find something we’re happy with.

Below are some pictures of Miles in his jumperoo and some other random photos. He’s still a little too small for it, so he doesn’t jump in it, but he seems to like being able to look around when he’s in it. Also, make sure to check out the video of him giggling at the very bottom. He turned four months old on Friday, so we’ll be posting his four-month stats after his well-baby appointment on Wednesday. He’ll be getting more shots at this appointment, which we’re not looking forward to, poor little guy.

Miles at his first hockey game

Enjoying his new sled

First time out for a sled ride.

Teaching Miles how to play XBox360

Miles sucking his hand.

Too tired to move.

Miles looking cute as always.

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