Milo, Milo, and more Milo

Feet are fun!

And so are knees, and thighs, and the diaper, and the side of the changing table. See for yourself (and, yeah, I have NO IDEA what that white spot is on Milo's right knee - must be something sticking to the Aquaphor).

Whew!

It is not ringworm, but just a wee patch of eczema. Liberal application of Aquaphor should clear it up quickly, as it did when Milo had some eczema on his sweet face. Thank goodness!

5 months!

Everyone we know who has experienced the joy of daycare warned us about the first year. So it should not have surprised us quite so much when Milo got sick, again. In four weeks of daycare to date, he has had a cold, RSV, another cold, and now an ear infection and possibly ringworm. We take some solace from the same everyone's reassurances that it gets better, and that daycare babies are sick much less in preschool and beyond than their stay-at-home contemporaries. We certainly hope so!

On the plus side, Milo has weathered the storm of illness with remarkable equanimity. He's had a rough night or two, but for the most part is now sleeping from 7:00-ish p.m. until 6:00-ish a.m., uninterrupted save for a "dreamfeed" before Mommy goes to bed. He's had a few sleepy or slightly fussy days, but has mostly been his usual happy, curious self. And he really, really likes his antibiotics. Maybe a little too much - the way he grins and pants excitedly when the giant syringe full of bubblegum-pink amoxycilin comes out is pretty disconcerting.

Fortunately for us, Grandma S-J and Grandpa Bill have been in town for this round of illness, and they were able to take Milo when he was too sick for daycare. We remain ever grateful for their help, and continue to wonder how anyone raises children without local family support.

Speaking of family support, Granda S-J and Grandpa Bill are going to have their first overnight with Milo this weekend! Mommy and Daddy are going up to the mountains for a short getaway. We are planning to do some skiing, wine drinking, and hot-tubbing, but it is entirely possible that we will just SLEEP. Mommy was in Oklahoma City overnight last week for work, and everyone survived the separation just fine, so we are not particularly nervous about the upcoming adventure.

And now for a little fun stuff! In recent days, Milo has shown more interest in those most tantalizing objects, his feet. He hasn't managed to get them into his mouth yet, but he has figured out that he can sort of sit unassisted if he grabs hold of his toes.

 

The agony of defeat.

Late in the 4th quarter, as the Packers' offense failed to capitalize on not one, but two missed Giants' field goals and countless other second chances, Milo threw in the towel.

Earlier in the evening, Milo had a great time playing with his almost-twin and fellow Packer Fan-in-Training, Abby.

Though Miss Abigail is only 24 hours older than Milo, she's already an accomplished roller. After about 10 minutes of checking Milo out (and vying with him for the remote control - some gender wars start early), Abby started showing off her skillz.  Not to be outdone, Milo followed suit! We were pretty thrilled to witness his first deliberate roll, though he has not yet repeated the feat.

Milo's Lucky Packer Sweatshirt failed to work its magic this time, but he had a lot of fun watching most of the game. He didn't even get upset when Daddy and Ron started hurling epithets at the television.  Apparently, he's gotten used to it already (and we're not entirely sure this is a good thing).

Daddy, of course, is heartbroken. Not even his Rally Cheesehead could help the Pack pull out a win.   

Milestones and moments.

It feels like it was barely 15 minutes ago that we were reporting on Milo's 4-month doctor's visit, and all of a sudden, his 5-month birthday is right around the corner. I used to think "they grow up so fast" was an annoying cliche, but wow, is it true.

Milo continues to grow at a dizzying rate. He's bursting out of his 3-6 month wardrobe, forcing Mommy and Grandma to do some shopping (OK, so no one really has to twist our arms to buy adorable baby clothes). He's also bursting out of his carseat, but Mommy and Daddy are still in denial on that front.

Milo spends a lot of time grinning and giggling right now. He's using his hands very deliberately, and he's now able to take his pacifier out of his mouth (and sometimes even get it back in the right way - a much more useful skill). He can hold his own bottle sometimes, and can grab just about anything that strikes his fancy. Once it's in his hands, it' s in his mouth, so we have to keep a closer eye on him these days.

Milo seems to be having a great time at daycare. We love hearing that he's having "long conversations" with his teachers, and reaching out to hold another baby's hand during face-to-face tummy time. He's not quite rolling over yet. He'll roll from his back onto his side, then stop and think better of going all the way. "Maybe tomorrow, Mommy," he seems to say.

Last Sunday, we had a significant, if not-so-fun milestone: Milo's first visit to the Emergency Room. He'd been wrestling with a terrible cold for several days, and was so congested that he couldn't breathe well enough to nurse, or even to eat from a bottle. We realized that it had been much too long since he'd had a wet diaper, and the pediatrician told us to take him to the hospital. It was heartbreaking to see our sweet little baby wearing a tiny hospital gown, with his little diapered tushie sticking out the back. The nurses were very kind and gentle, and did their best to make him comfortable.

It turns out that Milo had RSV, a yucky - but fairly common - virus. Fortunately, he didn't have a bad case of it and did not require hospitalization or oxygen therapy. We were able to get him hydrated with a bottle of Pedialyte, and then fed him a mix of breastmilk and Pedialyte for a couple of days. By Wednesday, he was his normal, happy, active self, and he seems to be almost rid of the lingering cough and congestion. Unfortunately, Mommy and Daddy got sick, too, but we're all on the road to recovery. Frequent illness is definitely the downside of daycare.

We had another exciting milestone last weekend: Milo's first Packers playoff game! When the Pack was down by 2 touchdowns early in the game, we suddenly realized that Milo wasn't dressed for action. Within minutes after we changed him into his Packers sweatshirt, the team had scored its first of six straight touchdowns. Needless to say, we'll have him ready at game time tomorrow (photos to follow, outcome dependent).

And speaking of football, here's a video of Milo's ball handling skills. Brett Favre, your job's in jeopardy!