And Now For Something Completely Different

I've been posting about Miles a lot (okay, not a LOT, but every chance I get), but some of my loyal readers (okay, both of them) may have noticed that I rarely mention Macey. I'm going to correct that now.

Macey persists in being the perfect baby. She hardly ever cries or fusses, she's adorably affectionate, and she's got the sweetest little personality. She's been perfecting her crawling skills for the past month, and she can get wherever she wants to go, which usually means looking for stray pieces of "food" on the ground. She has recently started pulling herself up to standing, and loves "walking" with just a little help from Mom.

She likes performing all her tricks (clicking her tongue, singing, waving "bye-bye", or just sitting there looking cute) and looks at everyone in the room in turn to see if we've noticed. If we've noticed, we're supposed to say "Yay Macey!", and if we fail to comment, she grins gummily at us until we do.

So, in a nutshell: Greatest baby in the world. If that changes, I'll be sure to let you know. :)

Miles's Personal Bubble Part II

We were playing pirates the other night and I just thought he was so cute that I had to reach down and give him a quick hug and kiss. It's not like I disrupted his playing at all, but--not looking up from his action figures for even a minute--he said calmly, "That's too much, Mom. That's too much hugging now."

Little stinker.

In Which Miles Intends To Prove Me Wrong

I was preparing Miles for the idea of going to bed (a concept saturated from beginning to end with bargaining and scheming, on both parts). He started in with his typical protest about monsters ("mon-thterds") coming out of his closet. I told him he didn't need to worry because there are no monsters in Mommy's house. He said, "Mommy, there ARE mon-threrds. I need to take my camera to sleep with me, 'cause I will show you."

Tough Guy

We were Christmas shopping, and a little boy (about four years old) was in a nearby shopping cart with his grandma. The boy must've said something like, "Look at that little kid," because before I could stop him, Miles hit the ground running and was over at his cart. Here's the conversation that ensued:

Miles: "I'm not a little kid - I'm a big kid! You're a little kid! You're a little kiddy-kid!!"

Other Boy (perplexed): "What's your name?"

Miles (chin as high as he can hold it [i.e., about three feet off the ground]): "Miles Smif."

Other Boy: "How old are you?"

Miles: "Nufin."

Miles's Personal Bubble

Almost every day, Miles asks me if he can go to church because, "I gotta see my buddies." Monday night he was at church playing with his "best friend," Sam Campbell. Sam was getting ready to leave and went to Miles to give him a big hug. Miles hugged him back for about five seconds (Awwwwwwww...), then stretched his arms out and yelled, "Done now! Done noooooow!"

On a related note, Miles told me this morning, "Someday, when she is done being Macey Smith, she will turn into my Sam Campbell, and I can play with her."

"Skenten Face"

So I was leaning down to give Miles a hug yesterday before leaving for work. He noticed my eye shadow and said, "Mommy, you got purple on your eye." I said, "That's called eye shadow, to make me look pretty." He said, "You look like a skelton face. You will scare the people at your work."

And I thought it would be a couple of years before I'd be made insecure by my son...

Halloween!

Okay okay already! With a readership of nearly 3, I recognize that my life is no longer my own. The audience demands new posts... so here's the Halloween album. Miles was a "skenten" and Macey was a flower. All of Macey's photos are of her gradual wilting, whereas Miles insisted on making a scary face in all of his. Also, he kept wanting to go to new houses to "say Halloween to them", but when someone opened the door his catchphrase was "Trick or treatin'!"

Oh, and the first few pics are of Macey's first meal, which she of course devoured like everything else in her life. We haven't yet found something the kid doesn't want to eat.

Remember This?

When Macey was first born, Miles was of course very interested in seeing her and wanted to hold her. About ten seconds after having her on his lap, though, he said very matter of factly, "I don't want this." Poor kid had only an inkling of what changes this would bring!

On a related note, the last time I was in the hospital for my appendectomy, Miles came to visit me. He ran into the room--very excited--and said, "Mommy, are we getting another baby?!?"

I guess Macey turned out to be not so bad after all.

Miles and Gender Roles

On our way to the doctor Friday, Miles kept talking about what "he" (the doctor) was going to do. I kept telling him that our doctor was a "she." He insisted, "No Mommy, the doctor is a boy. You'll see, Mommy. You'll see when we get there." (To his credit, he's only ever seen male doctors in the past, so the little stinker did know what he was talking about; he just wouldn't believe me when I told him we have a different doctor now.)

So we walk into the lobby, see the receptionist, and Miles immediately says "Oh. You were right, Mom," and starts playing with his cars. After another twenty minutes or so, the nurse took us back to take his temperature. Up until this point, nothing else had been said. But when she left, Miles turned to me and said, "See Mommy? I told you the doctor was a girl."

Brett says I've met my match. I wonder what he means by that???

The Circus!!!!!!!!!!!

What can I say about the circus? Miles "gets" the circus.

How To Look When You're Sick

We've all been there. Sick, miserable... probably in the last throes of death. But in order to help others empathize, it's important to walk around the house bent over with your arms swinging by your knees. Ear infections are known to cause this kind of posture among three year olds. It's a medical fact. (He had to walk around our living room and kitchen like this a few times to help Brett and I know how terribly sick he really is. When we finally caught on, he collapsed. Truly, we are neglectful parents.)

My Little Goober

The other day we were talking about his birthday and how he turned three, and that next year he'll turn four, then five, then six, etc. He told me (and this is exact), "Mommy, I don't want to turn four and five and six and seven and eight. I want to turn the letter 'E'."

The Difference Between Miles and Macey

Any nursing mother will tell you that "teething" is a very painful time for both mother and child. But here's the difference between my two kids:

When sensitive little Miles would bite me, I would jump and say, "OW!" and he would stick that little lower lip out and wail and scream as if I'd just hurt his tiny feelings beyond repair.

When happy-go-lucky little Macey bites me, I jump and say, "OW!" and she giggles and snorts and laughs out loud as if other people's pain is expressly for her personal entertainment.

On a related note, Macey was in the backseat of the car this morning saying, "Da da da da da da da da." I think she misses her daddy this week!

Recent Stories Pt. 2

So we were at church and Miles picked up a little "Alabastor Box" (which are used for collecting change for missionary work). He took it home and asked me, "Mommy, what is this?" I told him it was so we could give money to kids who don't have any toys or food or clothes.

He didn't say anything for awhile, and I thought he'd forgotten. But about ten or fifteen minutes later, he says to me: "Mommy, I will give those kids my money," and he poured out his piggy bank and started filling his box with all his coins!

Such a sweet kid, right? Well, he kept thinking about it (even though we didn't mention it again for several days). Then last week his "Papaw" gave him a dollar and asked him what he wanted to spend it on. Miles said, "Um, I spend it on... um... I give it to those kids who don't have toys or food!"

The little stinker might just be the greatest little thing that ever was.

Recent Stories Pt. 1

I started this blog because Miles has been doing so many funny and memorable things lately, and I wanted a place to record them. (Paper? What?) So here's one recently:

We were all at Ryan and Jamie Brown's house, and Miles and the kids were playing together while the adults hung out in the kitchen. After awhile, we heard a ruckus in the bathroom, and Miles comes out with an adult football helmet on, his underwear around his ankles (the kid's not shy), and a slightly offended expression. He says, "Mommy, Jamison pee-peed on me!" Sure enough, they had been standing opposite each other trying to pee in the toilet together. "Gee, it seemed like a good idea at the time."

We're still not sure why the football helmet was necessary...