the first day of school.

in some ways, the summer flew by.  in others, it dragged on and on.  i think the boys were ready to start school.  i know i was.  they (and the family!) needed some sort of consistent routine and they definitely required some time apart from each other.  they were pretty much getting on each others nerves at every moment.  

each boy was excited to get dressed this morning (though miles was a bit sad he didn't have a uniform) and walk into their new classrooms.  i was a bit teary-eyed.  neither one of the boys seemed sad in the least.  

it is hard to believe that ethan started kindergarten today!  i know he was ready for it and all of the learning and independence that comes with it.  miles didn't look back to the EC3 classroom of last year at all...he just marched right into pre-k and went right up to his teacher to work on spelling his name.

i think he looks so much like lance in this picture.

eager to get to work.

i am excited to hear about their first day this afternoon.

mr. miles is FOUR!

it is hard to believe, but this guy is FOUR!

just born.

first year.

second year.

third year.

fourth year.

we love you so much miles.  thank you for the smiles, the laughter and even the tears when things get rough.  even though it can be trying, it all seems to fall away when you ask me just one more time to cover you up and snuggle with you.  i am so happy that you still ask for that...i know there will be a day when you won't.  so even when i am in the midst of the dishes or just sat down to finally eat my now cold dinner, i try to remember that i am the luckiest momma out there because you still want me to tuck you in.  happy birthday, guy.  i hope your next year is the best yet.

a day of firsts

today was a day of firsts.

a first day of school for the windel boys.

they were very eager (and maybe a bit nervous) to begin school today.  


a first day of a new fitness routine for me.

i was eager (and maybe very nervous) to begin and new fitness routine.

it was a good start to our fall.

happy birthday to mr. miles

we celebrated a very happy 3rd birthday for miles today.  

we started off at the lake and had lots of swimming and sun.

we ended the day with cupcakes and family toasting his three years.

we love you so much, miles.

*we had his pirate party earlier this week and hopefully i can share pictures from that soon. it has been a busy (but good) week between party preparations and visiting with family.

a first dentist visit for miles

miles had his first visit to the dentist.  i've been a bit nervous about it.  i wasn't quite sure he'd handle it well and when he doesn't want to do something he is much more vocal than ethan in letting you know.


he did great!  he loved playing the games in the lobby.

he proudly walked back and did just what everyone asked him to do.  he even went by himself to get his xrays taken.  he got a dinosaur sticker as his prize for doing well.

no cavities and all in all his teeth looked fine.  we didn't even get a lecture about the binky, so thankfully looks like we stopped that at the right time.  his bite is a little bit crooked (i can't remember exactly what he called it) but they can put something in their mouth for about 3-6 mos. around the age of 4 and it will correct it before permanent teeth come in and it shouldn't be a big deal.  next visit will be with his big brother in november.

bye bye binky....

oh, such a sad day for mr. miles (and momma!!) but we had to do it at sometime!  especially since he'll be three in august and is about to have his first dentist visit soon.  eek!


we have been talking up that the first time we go to the houseboat for the season, we would say bye-bye to the binky.  we were supposed to go last weekend, but the weather was AWFUL, so we got an extra week with the bink.  whew.  this week though, it was on.  

we loaded up the family, even poor baby sis who wasn't quite feeling up to it and battling a virus for a quick trip out to say good-bye to the bink.  i had grabbed some wal-mart cupcakes earlier in the day to make the celebration complete.

the boys were both excited.  for good measure we let ethan throw a binky in too.  miles got the froggy binky though...they were these little nuk binkies that looked like a frog and a lion.  totally random, but miles was really attached to the frog!

everyone was excited about the binky in the lake.  and everyone was even more excited about the cupcakes afterwards.  

and mr. miles, true to himself and surprising us when we think things will be the worst, did a great job his first night without froggy bink.  he only woke up once and didn't even ask about it all day.  so proud of my big boy.

potty talk...take two

i can't believe that we are in the middle of potty training our second child! seems kind of crazy. but so far miles is a whole different story. life is good. maybe after all of his horrible tantrums he decided to give us a break on this one :)

wow. he is about 5 days in and he is doing great. we took him to wal-mart to pick out his own potty since he wasn't a fan of the frog potty. he picked out elmo. not a big surprise there. we had about 2 days of nakedness and then he's been in undies since while at home.

he is so proud of himself too!

a little party

we had a small celebration at our house on miles' birthday this past weekend. his big party is next weekend, but i still wanted to celebrate with him on the actual day.

i went all out with my wal-mart cupcakes. though as you can tell from the pictures, they were VERY well received.

we had a great time and it was the perfect afternoon party.

miles is TWO!

happy birthday to our sweet little guy who has brought so much love and laughter into our lives!

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miles lately

it has been a while since i've updated on miles and LOTS has changed! it is hard to think of him as my baby anymore since he is much more like his big brother these days.

1. he is sleeping well in his big boy bed (well for nighttime anyway! we haven't attempted naps yet)

2. he talks up a storm. it took him a while to start talking and saying recognizable words, but now he chatters quite a bit and can identify quite a few things. he especially likes animals and fish. his first spanish word was the same as ethan's "agua," now he may say some others, but it is hard to tell right now. he will repeat the basic colors (blue, red, green and yellow) in spanish and sounds very cute doing it...but he doesn't really recognize them yet. an d no does not mean no all the time with miles. he says no even when he means yes, he is usually smiling when it means yes...and you can also pretty much tell when he really means no...he doesn't try to hide it.

3. is active, active, active! he wants to run and play and do pretty much everything ethan does and can do most all of it. how he does some of it, i don't know. yesterday morning while i was taking my shower, they both got on top of the sink in the bathroom, i didn't think he was tall enough to climb up there, but he figured it out somehow.

4. doesn't take much from ethan! he isn't one to back down when his bossy big brother tries to get him to do something. now if he wants to do it, and especially if it gets laughs, he'll go for it, otherwise, don't expect him to follow big brothers requests.

5. is still a cuddler. he loves to sit in laps and watch tv, read books or just play. and when he is sleepy, he'll bring you blankie and he will cuddle on your shoulder with blankie. very sweet and one of the few times he is still.

18 months!

miles is 18 months! he is getting to be such a big boy and it is a lot harder to think of as my baby. he follows directions well, when he wants to, of course! he loves to climb on any and everything and is almost an expert at the stairs. we've stopped using the high chair and he is now in a regular chair at our table or a little one at his and ethan's table.

sleeping: still consistently sleeping 11-12 hours at night, normally with no wake-ups.

routine: same as last month. wakes between 7-8 with a nap from noon-3. LOTS of playtime in between!

milestones: he is talking a lot more now. tonight he even said "oh man" - think in the swiper the fox voice (from dora, in case you aren't aware of who swiper is...) he consistently says mama, banana, car, uh-oh, bye, pee-pee (which ethan thinks is HILARIOUS - oh the joy of boys!) and "ew, poo" when we are changing diapers or if anyone is on the potty or near it. he will repeat some other words when asked, those are just the ones he says on his own. we are in the process of weaning back on the binky. trying to keep it only to when he is in bed. this will be an ongoing process, i can tell.

some of his favorites:
food: cereal, crackers, yogurt (regular and drinkable), mini sausages, corn bread, tortillas (plain or with butter), cheese sticks and turkey bacon. i tried fruit smoothies, but those were completely rejected! as were cheesy scrambled eggs.

fruit: still loves his bananas. will eat blueberries, apple slices, raisins, craisins and diced fruit cocktail. we haven't been able to get any good watermelon lately.

veggies: carrot sticks, corn, french fries

drink: we are finally bottle free! hooray! no more dr. brown's (well, for about 6 months anyway) he does well drinking out of a regular sippy and a cup with a straw.

toy: trains, tractors and little matchbox cars. he also loves the melissa&doug play food we got. both he and ethan will cook up all sorts of things with it. we got the slice apart food and he even tries to use the little play knife with it. it is very cute. my parents gave us a gift certificate to the discovery store for christmas and we found this great acitivty cube, it is a HUGE hit (though a bit loud!)

book: any books that make noise. he loves to push the buttons. he also like the john deere farm ABC book. he especially likes the pictures of tractors and the animals. he will point out the apple if you ask him where it is and will pretend to eat it and corn. so cute!

activity: he loves to color and dance..if he hears music, he will start clapping and dancing.

he speaks!!

miles has been babbling and chattering and making lots of noises for quite some time now, but nothing that was every for sure a word other than mama and dada. in the past week though he started saying "uh-oh" and it is so cute! he will just repeat it over and over if you keep chatting with him. ethan likes to get in on it too. he also said "hi" and it just sounded so sweet. i know there are a few other words here and there that he has said once or twice, but it is nice to start getting a list of real words that he is saying regularly. i know when ethan was about 17-18 months he started talking a lot more, so we'll see if miles follows pretty closely to that.

16 months

hard to believe that miles is 16 months already! for some reason i always think of him as my little baby. but he really isn't! he understands soooo much and even though he doesn't say much yet, he can easily follow directions and copies most things his big brother does.

sleeping: hooray, hooray, hooray! i think we are finally there and i can say he is STTN!! he consistently sleeps an 11-12 hour stretch now. bedtime is between 7:45-8 and he wakes between 7-8.

routine: same as last month. wakes between 7-8 with naps from noon-3. LOTS of playtime in between!

milestones: he is definitely trying to talk and if you listen hard you can start to hear him making out words. i remember ethan wasn't saying much, but around 18 months started saying a lot more, so i'm guessing something similar will happen. he has been getting teeth in like crazy! he is currently working on his left bottom molar (already has the top two in) and his two more front teeth on the top.

some of his favorites:

food: cereals of all kinds! he is a little snacker! he loves the gerber yogurt melts and those little freeze dried diced fruits. we did try raisins and dried cranberries and he loves both!

fruit: still the same favorites as last month watermelon, canteloupe, apples, red grapes, diced peaches and bananas. new to the mix is mango - he loved it! a few we tried that were not successful: kiwi (neither of the kids liked it) and strawberries.

veggies: finally a vegetable he'll eat! carrot sticks.

drink: well, i wanted to be bottle free by this time, but it didn't happen. we traveled over thanksgiving and i didn't want to mess with the transition then. this is the month though :) he still loves milk and iced tea. something new we tried at my sister's house is drinkable yogurt and both he and ethan love that!

toy: tractors and trains are still big. he also like stacking things. he does pretty well using the stacking cups we have and then his favorite part of course is knocking them down!

book: just started getting interested in lift the flap books. we tried out some at my sister's house and he had lots of fun with them! we also have this little train book with wheels on it that he loves. and still a fan of the ladybug book.

happy 15 months, miles!

yes, i know i missed 14 months...but hopefully these cute photos will help make up for it!

here is miles at 15 months:

he is VERY active these days. i am enjoying seeing him play more with his big brother. they are very cute together. and now that miles can walk, the two of them like to run and chase!

sleeping: it has actually been better since the time change! yay! we also ended up moving both of their bedtimes to 7:30-7:45 since being sick. i kept with it since it seems to be working well. we put him down at 7:30 and he usually plays in his crib for about 15-30 minutes and then sleeps until 5:30 or 6:30. then he will go back down for another 45 minutes to an hour. so much better than before!

routine: pretty much stayed the same. wakes between 7-8 with naps from noon-3. LOTS of playtime in between!

milestones: walking all over now and it is very cute! he can get up the stairs very well, but needs help coming down since he often tries to walk down like his big brother. he does fine on his own if he will crawl though. definitely getting closer to talking. he tries to repeat things we say. he understands A LOT even though he may not say many words.

some of his favorites:
food: cereals of all kinds! cheese sticks, lil' smokies sausages, pancakes, crackers. some foods he has tried lately, but hasn't been a fan of are fish sticks, green beans, scrambled eggs, mac-n-cheese.

fruit: watermelon, canteloupe, apples, red grapes, diced peaches and bananas.

veggies: still not a lot of luck here. i tried green beans again and he still doesn't like them. diced carrots are hit and miss. he does like corn and mashed potatoes. he is a little carb guy!

drink: now that we've figured out his medication dosage, he is doing well on milk. we are back to regular milk as the lactose-free didn't really seem to have any difference and he needed to be on his meds with it as well. we are in the process of weaning from the bottle. i didn't even try earlier with him since ethan had trouble early on...too much to worry about and a few more months with a bottle isn't really a huge deal. i found these green sprouts silicone bottles to ease with the transition, i started with the regular nipple and then just started with the sippy cup nipple for naps this week. hopefully he'll be on all sippy cups by the end of the month.

toy: he plays with the trains with ethan and is trying more and more to keep the trains on the tracks. he gets frustrated easily and will tear apart the track, but he is definitely starting to get the hang of it. loves the john deere tractors we have too. he wants them down from the shelf each morning so he can push around.

book: 10 little ladybugs he loves this book! grandmother and grandfather have the full book and we have the 5 little ladybugs mini book and he just loves to flip through the pages and gets so excited pointing out the different animals on each page.

activity: coloring. he loves to use crayons, pens, magna doodles, anything that he can draw with. ethan wasn't ever interested in coloring this early, so i am excited to see how it continues.

another walking video

i LOVE the early walking videos. how they're all shaky and their arms are held out in hopes of not falling. miles is definitely walking a lot more now and will even get back up and start walking again rather than just crawling. very, very cute! and i promise we do get dressed here, even though it doesn't ever look like it from the pics :)

look who is walking!!!

at 13.5 months, we have a walker!!

and while he is still wobbly and doesn't go much more than 6-7 steps at a time, he definitely has it down and is trying to walk a lot more. he probably took his first steps about 4 weeks ago, but they were rare and he'd only do 1-2 at the most. but since yesterday he has really started getting excited about walking. i bet in no time he'll be running around with his big brother!!

caught a few of his steps on video tonight.

teething fun!

so i have never been the best at knowing when my kids have been getting teeth. with ethan, he'd get a pretty bad diaper rash (but he got those all the time, so it was hard to tell for sure) and nothing else. then suddenly teeth were there. and half the time someone else noticed them and said something to me.

with miles, his first 4 teeth came in at once, though the top came in before the bottom. he did get a TERRIBLE rash too, like his big brother and was a little cranky, but other than that, nothing else really. well, he has been a drool monster over the past few weeks and has been sleeping terribly (up usually 2 times between midnight and 5) and i thought it was becase he was about to walk. turns out he was getting his next tooth...how would i have known to look in the back though?? he isn't getting another front tooth, like what is normal. his crazy teeth are all out of order and he is getting one of his upper molars in. who would have guessed? but yes, it does explain the recent moodiness and sleeplessness. i only saw his tooth when he was screaming his head off during a diaper change last night. fun times! :) i will say that now that it has popped through, his sleep has returned to normal and i am very happy!

i should keep track on this handy little chart, but i printed one off for ethan a million years ago and i think it is still blank in my desk at work. good intentions! i'll keep track here. so far he has the #1 teeth on both the top and the bottom and now is getting the #4 tooth on his upper left side.

mr. miles at 13 months

miles at 13 months:

what a little cutie! he is definitely a handful though. he wants everything he doesn't have (who doesn't?) and he definitely makes it known when he doesn't get it. loud screeching seems to be the most used method, with full-on, throw down face forward (or flinging back) tantrums as runner-up. i know ethan would screech when he didn't get what he wanted, but the flinging backwards is definitely new to me and scary! the kid is pretty powerful. he makes up for it with the huge grin. and his snuggles. while he doesn't stay still long, he will come over and just lay his head on you for the shortest moment and it is so sweet. he does it pretty often if you're sitting on the floor with him, so you can easily get in lots of snuggles. and if he is tired he loves to cuddle into your shoulder. so you *almost* forget about the knock-down tantrum of about 30 seconds ago. he has lots of rapid mood swings.

sleeping: not that great these days, but definitely could be worse, so i'll try not to complain too much. he has been having problems adjusting to milk (first in formula and now in whole milk) and let's just say it is causing him tummy issues and some night waking. we're trying some different things and hopefully we'll have something that works soon! he is also so very close to walking and i think that is causing some of the wakings. he goes down between 7:30 and 8 depending on how tired he seems and wakes sometime between 7 and 8, with 1-2 wakings in between.

routine: i don't think we have one! other than nap from about noon-2:30 (and sometimes 3) and then play, play, play and go, go, go.

milestones: getting so, so close to walking. he has taken a few steps here and there...most in a row so far - 2. so definitely see this happening soon! chatting more. no words yet other than momma and dada, but he has started making different sounds and using other letters than before.

some of his favorites:

food: fruity cheerios, most any cereal and carb you can give him. thankfully a fan of the fiberone poptarts. his first taste of burger king chicken nuggets last week was a HUGE hit. he ate 2 - almost as many as ethan did.

fruit: he now loves watermelon, canteloupe, pears (but must be fresh cut ones, not from the can). still likes bananas though he rarely gets them due to his tummy issues. mandarin oranges were a big no, as were raspberries.

veggies: eh, he isn't a veggie fan at all. he doesn't eat any purees anymore so one way to get them is out. he will eat peas, but that is about all he likes lately.

drink: having issues with the transition to whole milk - they started with the transition to formula though i didn't know for about a month. i am switching to lactose-free milk, but only a few days into that transition so a little too early to tell if it is working yet. he does drink water well from a sippy cup, i think that is in part because he wants all the sippy cups that ethan has, so he figured them out pretty well. we still do milk in a bottle though.

toy: things he can push. he mostly uses them while kind of crawling behind, but he will sometimes pull up and try to walk behind things. we just got our first shopping cart and he likes to play with that quite a bit. a fan of the trains. he has been pretty interested in books. he likes when you read to him and he enjoy flipping through books too.

activity: just being mobile. he loves to crawl around and is pretty fast. climbing stairs. he gets very upset (throws the tantrums described above) each morning when i close the gate to the stairs after we get ethan. he likes to walk holding your hands, but then decides it is faster to just crawl where he needs to go. just starting to figure out how to navigate short level changes, not a full step, but changes like the sidewalk to the yard and the little ledge in the garage.

learning: waves regularly, but is now pretty good at doing it when you say "bye-bye" he also knows when we go out to wave in the mornings that as soon as he hears lance's truck start up the hand starts going. he is also pointing things out. very cute!

*and yes, the chair he is sitting in has ethan's name on it. poor second child doesn't have his own anywhere chair yet :) maybe this christmas.