Minnesota

Hi Everyone,

Miles & I have just returned from a trip to Minneapolis to visit friends. Miles did great on both outbound and return flights. (I bought a seat for him, which makes all the difference in the world.) We had a wonderful visit with Dr. Dorothy Anderson, my Ph.D. advisor, who is leaving the U of MN to take on a department head position at NC State. Here is Miles with Goldy Gopher.

The rest of the time we spent with dear friends, the Stahls...here are some random pictures. It was HOT in Minnesota, and the leaves had yet to start changing colors. Hope everyone is having a good fall so far:

Miles laughing!

Those of you with kids know how hard it is to capture a laugh on video. Well, here it is! Seth is shooting foam darts in the background, and Miles loves it:

Speed Racer?

Miles's second bike ride in the trailer...the helmet didn't last too long because it's too big on him and it kept covering his eyes. He cried and cried, so we had to take it off. Poor kiddo. Next time we're going to try one of those bike seats that mounts to the back of the bike. At least the weather was perfect!

First day at day care!

Sorry, no photos today...but I wanted to update y'all on Miles's first day at day care. We're starting 1/2 days (afternoons) this week, and going to full-time next week. He did GREAT! My biggest concern was that he always gets an afternoon nap from about 1:45-3:15, and there's only one nap scheduled for this toddler class, and it happens before Miles gets there at 12:30. I was expecting a cranky crybaby at 5:15, but the teachers said he was happy and curious and on-the-go the whole time. But he was so tired that he almost fell asleep at dinner. I put him to bed an hour earlier than his usual bedtime.

Problem Solving

I'm having a lot of fun simply watching Miles these days. He spent about half an hour today stacking, unstacking, and nesting these plastic cubes. You can see in his left hand a little wooden ball, which he kept putting in and out of the various cubes. The ball only fits in the larger cubes, which he finally figured out. (In this particular photo, Miles has his hand through the cube.) Later, he kept dropping the ball into a big bin, which he couldn't retrieve because he couldn't reach the bottom. Sure enough, each time I got it for him, he dropped it again until I told him I wouldn't do it. He dropped it again and then protested when I wouldn't get it. I am really loving this almost-toddler stage!