Happy Birthday, Mojo

We all took another trip to the Jackson Zoo recently for Zoo Day, which was a celebration of Mojo's birthday. Mojo is an orangutan at the zoo. There was cake (supposedly), but we were too busy taking in the rest of the activities to notice.

Miles was very excited for the petting zoo. He got to pet and talk to a goat and a pig. He enjoyed it immensely, but the animals couldn't seem to care less. Then, we got to witness an impromptu dance-off in the middle of the park. I thought Miles would join in the fun, but he was tired by this point in the day. Still, he enjoyed seeing people bust out some moves.

Along the way, Miles also got to see a bunch of different types of monkeys. He enjoyed waving to the monkeys (or maybe he was humoring us), but I don't think one ever waved back.

My favorite part, was when the Sand Person and Stormtroopers (along with some imperial guards) showed up with Darth Vadar. Miles was terrified of the costumed Zebra and the Atlanta Braves mascot (Homer) we ran into, but seemed really excited about meeting up with most evil force in the galaxy. But, of course, so was his mommy. :)

He's a dance, dance, dance, dance, dancing machine

I'm not saying that Miles' moves have been perfected since the last time we posted a video of him dancing, but he really enjoys himself, and that's all that matters when you are dancing.

Our Little Cowboy

Andrew and I just got back from Lubbock. He interviewed potential students for the clinical program at Texas Tech and we looked at a bunch of houses - it was busy but fun!

While we were away Miles' Grammy and Aunt Jo-Jo came to Jackson to watch him for a few days. We hear that they had a great time!

Since we are moving to Texas we thought that Miles might as well embrace his natural cowboy ("when in Rome") so Grammy and Jo-Jo took him for his 18-month portraits - enjoy!

This past weekend, Miles got to attend the Jackson Mississippi annual Boo at the Zoo.

They opened up the zoo and allowed kids of all sizes into the park to - what else? - go trick or treating in a family friendly and safe environment. Miles got to pet a turtle outside the zoo while waiting in line. Actually, I believe he tried to wrestle it away from the zookeeper, but he seemed intrigued nonetheless.

Once we got into the park he waddled through a trick or treat maze, mostly ignore people's attempts to talk with him and give him candy. 

After he left this area, we wandered into a dark exhibit inside a small building with creepy music, low lighting and lots of children. Unfazed, Miles decided to make a break for it and veered right into the darkened glass wall of the exhibit, which to be fair, did clearly reflect a potential space to explore. It reminded me of old roadrunner cartoons in which Wile E. Coyote smacks into a fake tunnel on the side of a rock. It still made me laugh - even though this time it was for real.  

After this, we went to this area which had large dinosaur eggs that kids could crawl through. Miles LOVED this area. Although right before we got there, this older kid (~7) with a face mask ran, full-throttle into Miles.  Miles landed directly on his butt and then smacked his head into the pavement. That was not as funny. He cried for a couple of minutes. The other mom felt terrible so she had her son apologize to Miles. I didn't know what to say because she looked like she was about to cry, so I just said, "It was an accident; he'll be fine." We subsequently avoided this family for the rest of the night. Regardless, I think he forgot about it less than 5 minutes later, but perhaps that is part of the concussion (kidding- of course). 

After a few pieces of candy, Miles preferred simply running around to various isolated areas in the park to explores trees, rocks, dirt, whatever struck his fancy at the moment. Andrew and I decided that he is probably still to young to "get" Halloween, but had a great time at this event. 

One of my favorite parts was when he saw this random guy floating around as a ghost, making scary sounds. Miles came upon him and just stared at him for about 30 seconds. Then, he ran right past him like - if you're not gonna do anything, I am just going to keep on going about my business. If nothing else, we confirmed that Miles Gene is definitely a securely attached little boy.

Playtime!

Well, it has been a long, hot summer, and we have gotten somewhat creative with ways to spend time indoors. For example, A.W.E.S.O.M.-O has been recycled into a spaceship. Miles loves to poke his head through the portal windows. 

As another example, here is an inside view of Miles' first pillow fort. He loves reading books inside of it with a flashlight. 

Miles really got into dancing recently. His favorite book to dance too right now is "Let's Dance, Little Pookie." I put the words to a rhythm and he bounces along as we dance the words together. While Auntie Christine was in town recently, she put on some Gabriela y Rodrigo and Miles just went to town.  

That's one small step for Miles, one giant leap in gross motor skill development

Well, okay. I wouldn't necessarily call it walking at this stage, as he is only able to take about 5-6 steps at time before he falls on his butt or catapults himself to the floor.

Nevertheless, just look at the progress he's made in a few short days...

Saturday, Aug 3rd (My good friend Christine has pointed out that I often make a "Cartman-type" voice when I am talking to Miles):

Thursday, Aug 9th:

I'm so glad you came into my life, A.W.E.S.O.M.-O.

This past weekend Miles celebrated his first birthday with some of his close family and friends in Jackson, MS. Grammy and Grandpa, Auntie Amanda and Uncle Ryan, and Nana came into town for the weekend. 









On Sunday, we started out the big day by going to the Hilton (where the Littlefields were staying) to swim. It was Miles' first time in a pool.

He was a little unsure at first, so he clung to his Daddy like a little koala bear.

After a while he was feeling a little more adventurous, so he sat on Andrew's shoulders and they waded in a little deeper. Miles even splashed around for a bit.

After swimming, we all headed to Char for a nice brunch.

Miles had chicken fingers and french fries and, finally, a bowl of ice cream with chocolate sauce. He ate a whole bunch and feel quickly into a food coma.

After brunch, we headed back to the house, and our friends Mikey and Court joined the party.  A.w.e.s.o.m-O. the robot (created by myself and Nana) was the party mascot, who was programmed to ensure that the party was not lame.

The theme of the party in general was robots (as if you couldn't tell). The first toy we bought Miles was a robot from FAO Swartz in NYC with Auntie Christine. He loved his robot friend, Marv, so much around 6-8 months, we let that inspire this theme. 

When it came time for Miles to make his first birthday wish, he became mesmerized by the candle. Never mind the only time his mommy was spanked in her childhood was when she set her nightgown on fire. I am sure he is not a pyro at heart....really. 

He was interested in what this blue confection was that we placed in front of him. He shoved his finger in the frosting and looked up at me with questioning eyes. 

I placed a piece of the white cake in his mouth and his eyes lit up, as if to say, "why have you been keeping this from me?!" 

He tore into the rest of the cake and devoured almost 3/4s of it. Andrew and I joined in on the blue-tongued fun. 

Following the cake, Miles opened his presents. He got some clothes from Great Aunt Joanna and Uncle Rick. His Grammy and Grandpa got him some clothes, books, a leapfrong laptop and a ride-along dog toy.

Auntie Amanda and Uncle Ryan got him a baby pool for the hot jackson summer. Nana got him some clothes, books, and a kid chair shaped like a frog. Mike and Court got him his first Nascar Racing Suit - he is super cute in it, of course!

The Wardlaws and his friend Jackson sent him some Tonka truck playsets. Finally, his Mommy and Daddy got him a new set of baby golf clubs and some books.

After the party, we played for little bit and then headed to Margarita's Mexican Restaurant. Miles was sugar crashing, so that was not too exciting, but we had a good time and said good bye to the Littlefields and McCluskys at that point. We sure will miss them!

Nana got to stay an extra couple of days and so that she could visit her favorite baby daughter and help her run some errands. It was so great to spend some quality time with her and the rest of the family on this special occasion. Even though Miles won't be able to remember it, at least we know he had a great time!