Miles received a Christmas present from Grammy that we decided he could enjoy a couple of weeks before (not in the spirit of Jimmy Kimmel). He loves bouncing around in the jumper. He is always figuring something else he can do at his "command center."

A few days ago, it snowed for the first time in Mid-MO this winter. So, I went outside with Miles briefly to show him what snow was all about. He didn't really seem freaked out at all that this white stuff was falling from the sky!

Warning: The following videos are extremely adorable. Your head may just explode...

What I am Thankful For...

Miles' first thanksgiving was such a special day!

We went up to Moberly MO where his Auntie Amanda hosted a beautiful family dinner. I brought my family's secret green bean casserole recipe, a sweet potato casserole, and a homemade apple pie. Our friend from the Sher lab, Angi and her brother Michael joined us as well.


Andrew ran a 5k that morning and finished first out of those in our group. :) After the run, we hung out and watched football/the Macy's Parade. Miles got to try his first taste of pumpkin puree at dinner. He liked it well enough, but I think mostly because it was novel.

The turkey was really delicious! We also had mashed potatoes, rolls, stuffing, cherry coke jello stuff, brussel sprouts, and salad. For dessert, we had peanut butter pie, apple pie, sweet potato pie, and some pumpkin bars and cupcakes (YUMMY!!!). 

Miles also really enjoyed spending time with his Grammy and Grandpa for the rest of the day! We played board games and watched tv and took naps.

Andrew really enjoyed spending time with his brother-in-law, Ryan...

A belly-busting fun time was had by all!

A Cornucopia of Updates

I haven't done a top 10 list in a while, so here goes!

Top ten new things that Miles has experienced in his third and fourth months:

1. Rice cereal

2. Mount Pleasant Winery in Augusta MO

3. A MIZZOU tailgate

 

 

4. His newest friends, Mike and Courtney

5.  Cooper's Landing

6. His Great Aunt Jeanette and her friend Ellen (photographer)

 

7. A-frame in Rocheport MO

8. Turning some pages from my library

 

 

9. First Halloween

10. The Great Pumpkin Patch

Miles' First Halloweenie

Miles was an extinct dinosaur for Halloween. He got to sleep in for a little while because he was spending the morning with his Nana, before she headed back to Texas. Miles, his Nana and I went shopping in the morning and then headed to lunch with his Daddy at Addison's.

I also wanted to include the picture below in today's blog because I feel like it will be one of those wonderfully embarrasing pictures that he forbids me from showing off when he is a teenager.

 The day before (Sunday), we attended the Early-Miller Halloween Bash. There were so many adorable babies and toddlers running around that I almost couldn't stand it. Exhibit A:

Miles had such a fun time! He went as Baby Smurf, and Andrew was Gargamel. We got the idea for our costumes from Kenny. He came into the lab one day and asked Andrew "Do you know who you look like?" Andrew said, "Who?" and Kenny said "Gargamel!" So, we ran with that.

 I am Azreal. The cat from the Smurfs and Gargamel's partner in crime.

 And...bit of trivia....there is acually a Granny Smurf. My mom was a sport about it. We created this costume on Sunday morning.

Miles' favorite Mommy Song

Here is a song that is usually a sure fire way to get a smile from Miles - 60% of the time, it works every time. Can't wait to see my own mom this weekend!

Miles' First "Father-Son" Talk

Here are a couple of adorable videos with Miles cooing and laughing during a nice conversation with his Daddy.

The 'Great' Pumpkin Patch

On Saturday, our friends, the Cooks and Millers, invited us to a pumpkin patch just outside of Columbia. It was a beautiful fall day, if not a little warm, so the Littlefields headed out for another adventure!

When we arrived, we were surprised to see that there was admission fee for adults ($5), but Miles was still free (< 12 months). The poor Early-Millers had to pay $15 for the triplets, plus another $10 for themselves.

Here is a picture of Miles in his outfit, reminiscent of Hunter S. Thompson

First, we saw a donkey that was part of the petting zoo. The petting zoo was mostly a bunch of goats, some turkeys, and chickens. There were two little pigs I felt sorry for because they were in a smallish vat with a screen over it. The donkey screeched at Miles and he just stared it down...

Then we took a hayride around the farm and got to see some animals and a small lake. Miles had a great time on the tractor!

We hung out at the small lake for a little while. Little Thomas got into the [spring break] spirit of things!

And the triplets were hamming it up...so cute! Here is an adorable snapshot of Eva and Alex.

We ended our day at the "pumpkin patch" where there were actual pumpkins for sale (by the pound). We didn't actually go home with a pumpkin because we honestly didn't want to pay them anymore money. I figured we could get a pumpkin either on our way to Moberly sometime (as we did last year) or at the supermarket.

Still, Miles enjoyed our outing and he got to see a lot of new things! (BTW, his onesie says: "I'd rather be reading Faulkner").

Zorro Steals Some Thunder

This morning when we woke up, I put Miles on his playmat to grapple with Captain Calamari (and Friends!) for a bit as he normally does in the morning. When I put him on his belly for tummy time, he rolled over for the first time! I wasn't sure I could capture it again, but Andrew didn't see it the first time so we tried a reenactment.

In true middle-child-syndrome fashion, Zorro let us know that he thought he wasn't getting attention. So, we got Miles' second roll over on film...kind of.

Our Trip to Chi-Town

Last week, the Littlefields drove up to Chicago. It started out as a trip to meet with some collaborators at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Then I realized I wouldn't have enough reserve milk to leave Miles at home with Andrew for 2 1/2 days, so I asked Andrew to come up with me. We decided that we should stay an extra day, as long as we were up there, and morph it into a nice family trip.

On our way out of town, we headed to the Moonrise hotel. Yes, we still had a chance to book a room after the debacle a few weeks ago. It was a nice opportunity to split up the trip on the way North. The Moonrise hotel went out of its way to treat us very well this time around. We had our room upgraded for free to a suite.

It was very swanky and the bed was quite comfortable. Andrew and I lamented at how we only got to stay from 9p-6a before we headed up to Chi-town.

I was excited to get some quality work done with my new collaborators. This was my first time meeting two of them in person. The other I had met at a conference a couple of years ago. After our meetings, we came up several papers we are working on and also a contribution to a special issue. The authors in the special issue read like a "Who's Who" in the field I study; so I was grateful to just say my name outloud on one of the conference calls. A little name recognition might go a long way, who knows!? For the two days I was in meetings, Andrew was a stay-at-hotel dad.

They had a great time together. The first night, my collaborators and family went out for a traditional Italian dinner at Rosebud's. Everyone took turns holding Miles and he was a little fussy but also a big flirt, so it worked out pretty well. The conversation was easy and enjoyable.

After my meetings were over, Andrew and I took Miles out to a nice Greek restaurant, Santorini. The ambiance was just beautiful. I had the salmon, cooked very simply and deliciously. Miles had a nice nap underneath the table.

The next day we headed, first to a Jewish Deli (The Bagel), and then to to Shedd Aquarium.

Miles first had a quick lesson in the art of noodling.

The next thing we wanted to see was the Aquatic Show. Miles was transfixed on the sea lion. I think it had something to do with the spotlight that followed him around on the floor of the arena.

During the show, Miles "blew out" his diaper and Andrew had poop running over his pants leg and onto the stone floor of the show arena. Miles had made mess all down the side of one leg. As I was cleaning up, a boy about two rows down started vomiting profusely - what looked like milk. No one noticed our mishap, but people couldn't really miss this other showcase of this poor boy, so we soon headed off to the gift shop to purchase a "Sometimes, I am a little crab" onesie. This did a good job of covering up evidence of his recent accident.

After the aquatic show, we headed to the Happy Feet 4D experience. I am surprised Miles lasted through the 20 minutes short film. The seats moved throughout and the seats in front of us periodically "spit" at us, either "snow" or "sea water."

As we were headed downstairs on the elevator to see the beluga whales, we were thrilled to see that our only other fellow passengers were a penguin and his caretaker. This was quite exciting because the penguin exhibit had been closed due to habitat cleaning. We tried to tell Miles that this was probably the only time in his life he would be in an elevator with a penguin but he didn't seem to notice - he was too busy smiling at his Daddy. Oh well, we captured the following picture (although not a real penguin) for posterity's sake.

Even though he wasn't interested in the penguin, he was amazed by the beluga tanks:

When we got back to the hotel, we had some take out sushi (I can't go to a big city without trying the local sushi joints!). Of course, we also got a deep dish pizza for the road home because, hey, we were in Chicago!

The next day we headed back to Columbia. The car ride was pretty uneventful. Miles mostly slept the whole time. We did manage to fit in a stop at Charlie Parker's (featured on Diner's, Drive-in's, and Dives) in Bloomington IL on the way back.

It was a fun trip! Somehow though, since we have returned, Miles doesn't really like car rides as much as he used to. Go Figure!

Miles Misses His Daddy

Andrew is out of town at a conference in Rhode Island. 

Here is what Miles thinks of that...

Here's what he misses...

Our First Date Night

Wednesday night, the Wagners were kind enough to offer and babysit for us while we went on our first date night since Miles was born. I was so excited the whole day. We drove Miles over to the Wagners' house around 6pm and rattled off a litany of instructions before heading downtown.

On the way, Andrew surprised me with some chocolates from the Candy Factory (http://thecandyfactory.biz/) and a sweet card. He said he had gone to three places to find my favorite flower but I guess they were not in season...for the record...

We arrived at Sycamore and I was tickled. I love that place. The food is good and the atmosphere is great. I would say it's one of the top three restaurants in Columbia.

www.sycamorerestaurant.com

Andrew and I are kind of like small town foodies. We love cooking and food - especially good food. I was delighted to sit down to dinner and ordered the fried yellow tomatoes and gnocchi as appetizers. For dinner, I went for the spare ribs. Andrew, of course, ordered the filet. 

After a wonderful meal, we went for a stroll around the downtown area. It was one of the fall nights in Columbia where the temperature is in the low 60s and there is a buzz in the air from all the people taking it in. We stopped by Sparky's and enjoyed some homemade lavender honey and green tea ice cream (my favorite).

It was a perfect evening and for a little while, we remembered what it was like before Miles. 

We headed back to pick up Miles toward the earlier end of the window we had quoted for the Wagners. Despite the fun we had, we were both excited to see the little guy again and give him a hug and kiss before putting him in bed for the night. He had been a good boy for the Wagners and I had plans to institute a regular date night - about 2 times a month if we can swing it. 

No One Gets Offstage without Singin' the Blues'

This past weekend was the Roots n Blues festival in Columbia. As we have done in the past, we snuck into the lab before the shows got started and hung out in the conference room, listening to the music enter through the open window. Andrew traditionally buys bbq to share and others furnish drinks and snacks. This year was special for a number of reasons. One, because our friend Kristie was in town to hang out and collaborate on a few projects. Two, because it was our son's first music festival. This being Miles' first time in attendance, we decided he needed to dress the part.

He was very well-behaved and seemed to enjoy the social aspect of it all - not sure who he gets that from ;) We left pretty early though; Miles was in bed by 8:30p Friday night.

Generally, Miles has been pretty active. He just hit the 10 week mark. He seems to be growing so fast! Here is a recent pic in some of the cutest little duckie PJs I can imagine.

In terms of milestones, it has been an exciting past few days. Miles is seemingly close to being able to hold his neck steady on his own while in arm. He is getting pretty good, during tummy time, at holding his head and chest up for a bit on his arms.

Miles has also recently discovered his fist and loves to shove it into his mouth. Another day last week, I looked over while he was playing with Captain Calamari ("and Friends!") and he had grabbed a ring on one of his tentacles and was pulling it toward his mouth.

Finally, he recently was imitating my sticking out my tongue at him, which he was tickled by. Still no laugh, but I can tell it is coming soon! I will be sure to try and post a video of that once it happens. Maybe it will be slightly maniacal like Thomas' first laugh or perhaps a squeal. Either way, I am sure we will do everything we can think of to keep it up.

Lots of changes on the little stage of the play gym. My friend once said that babies change so fast that it may be different from "one nap to the next." That is most certainly true! I can't wait to see the other things he figures out  in the coming weeks.