nine months of milo!

milo is now nine months old!

nine months = three quarters of a year!  GET IT?

he can now crawl for real, has one and a half teeth with another on the way, can clap on cue, eats everything that is put in front of him, and hopes to be walking as soon as possible.  he is beginning to say "da da" and "ma ma" at appropriate times, and an untranscribable yell that almost definitely means "penny".  folks are constantly commenting on his huge eyes and wide smile.  he's quite a charmer, this one!

first big girl haircut! and she's a toughie!

all three of us large enough to get our hairs cut did so this weekend, and penny got hers done in the salon where alex & i get our hair cut.  it was her first time getting her hair washed, her first time sitting in a big chair, and her first time not being distracted by a television.  she was awesome!

also this weekend, penny demonstrated that she can get herself across the monkey bars.  this was her second attempt - the first time she made it all the way across!

Pizza makers!

laundry identity crisis

New shoes and a new skill!

Penny got shoes to match mine, and she learned to tie them herself! Now she is a tying machine!

finally, an outside day!

though it's been getting warmer, today was the first day that all four of us could be outside together.  we started out with boring stuff - library, bank - but we had bagels:

and then we went to the park!  it was such a beautiful day, penny and alex decided to do a little exploring:

 then we all went to visit the prospect park zoo!  it's hard to believe, but it was actually hot outside!

 then penny and i took a spin on the carousel:

and then we headed home.  according to alex's phone, we walked just a little over 8 miles today!  that's pretty good for some 5 year old legs!
when we got back, i spent probably 45 minutes trying to get a photo of the star of our lives recently, milo's tooth, before it's joined by another (very possibly tomorrow)

success!

milo's newest trick is clapping - i'll try to grab some video soon!

My personal assistant

Milo carried the umbrella from the subway to the bus.

Attempted tooth portrait

Attempted: tooth
Achieved: squinty grin

spring has (finally!) sprung!

last weekend was the beginning of passover, and i had the day off for good friday, so we FINALLY got to take milo to a playground!  here is our little sailor enjoying the swings:

 and standing!  outside!  wearing shoes!

 when he got one of these to rotate, he did a total double take, then smiled his giant gummy grin at me.  so magical:

 guess who he's looking at/sneaking up on here.  there's only one person who inspires that kind of devotion in milo.  and it's not me.

 did you guess yet?  he's trying to be super sneaky here, but she saw him coming.

 penny.  it's penny.  he just plain adores her.

milo is watching penny eat frozen yogurt here, and is making all the right mouth movements to be sure he's prepared when it's his turn.

 then it was seder time!  we started off the evening with a small concert:

 and milo got his first taste of matzoh.  it turns out you can do some serious damage with only one tooth.

for the second night of passover, we went to a seder at graunt carol and gruncle charles'.  milo ate even more matzoh, and a ton of brisket and salmon!  penny also had salmon, and decided that she likes it because it "tastes like meat."

spring break started, and penny spent the week with grandparents, and today we got her back!  milo missed her, and was constantly looking over his shoulder and around his high chair to see if he could find her.

 today is actually finally really sort of spring weather.  it's mid-50s, and that makes it just plain hard to figure out how to dress your eight month old.  i think i got it right.  after much walking, we ended up back at our old stomping grounds, the prospect park tot lot.  milo dove right in, and now penny is a big kid there, so she was doing all sorts of daredevilish things, and charming the other kids' parents.

i'm so glad to be able to get outside finally.  hopefully all of our coughs and runny noses will clear up as we are trapped inside with our germs less and less.  i'll do my best to get a photo of milo's one tooth before it is joined by the next.

story structure and narrative arcs: achieved

before bed for a while now, penny and i have been reading chapter books.  when i told her that one of my favorite books growing up was "the phantom tollbooth", and that the main character's name was milo, it was an easy choice for our next book (our last was the third harry potter).
we were about halfway through the book (we read two chapters a night) when penny asked me
"mommy, does milo stay in this land forever?"
"no, he goes home at the end - remember he got two coins at the beginning?"
"oh, but i'll bet he learns his lesson."
"his lesson?  what do you think his lesson is?"
"to pay attention to what's going on and to make his own fun.  he shouldn't be so bored all the time."

bingo.  halfway through.  norton juster should be proud.  i know i am.