Milo, Milo, and more Milo

Lounging.

As active as he is, Milo has lately discovered the pleasure of kicking back and relaxing. His new favorite thing to do is to lounge, with his legs out and his ankles casually crossed:

When he's not chillin', Milo has been having lots of play dates and adventures, hanging out with big kids, like Daphne and Julian, and little kids, like Leo and Gabriel. He's been going to the pool and the park, and is much more aware of all these new people and places he encounters.

We've continued our adventures in solids, back-tracking a bit to actual baby food. While we'd hoped to start Milo off with "real" food as soon as possible, he has demonstrated a surprising unwillingness to pick up pieces of banana, sweet potato, or avocado with his own hands. Non-food items are quickly grasped and gobbled, but food? Meh. Happily, he'll accept a spoonful of Earth's Best puree, both plain or mixed with some oatmeal. He also loves his sippy cup of water, though he's better at banging it against his high chair than drinking from its spout.

We have also had moderate success with the mesh feeder, a fun plastic feeding gizmo. Milo loves to chew on plastic, and seems pleasantly surprised when this familiar action produces unfamiliar tastes - particularly avocado. Given that Mommy pretty much lived on avocado sandwiches and burritos with guacamole while Milo was in utero, his enjoyment of this delicious food comes as no surprise.

(Note that Milo is wearing  his "Crusher" shirt! This was an eagle-eyed shopping find by our friends Jay and Angy, and, along with the avocado-love, a sweet reminder of Milo's inside-baby days).

Weekend fun.

Milo has had a wonderful weekend! It all started on Friday with the first Shabbat dinner of our new chavurah. Because it was at the home of friends who live right near MIlo's school, Mommy and Daddy picked him up together. He was so excited and surprised to see Mommy at pick-up time, and Mommy loved seeing first-hand how content and happy he is with his caregivers. The potluck was great, too, and Milo handled the later bedtime just fine.

On Saturday, Daddy went backcountry skiing, while Mommy and Milo ran errands, went for a walk, and did lots and lots of playing. Milo also had his first oatmeal, which he liked even more than the rice cereal.

Later, Milo let us go out to dinner after his bedtime - he snuggled into his carseat and slept through the whole meal without making a peep. And then he slept for 8 straight hours after we came home and put him to bed. What an awesome kid!

After that good night's sleep, MIlo was ready for a lazy Sunday morning with Mommy and Daddy. After he ate his oatmeal, he shared the paper with us, while we drank our coffee (please ignore the scratches on his face).

Then we had a great play date with Karin and Gabriel. The boys were eying each other very curiously, and we know it won't be long before they're playing together like great pals.

In the afternoon, while Mommy went rock climbing, Milo and Daddy had some quality time together.

Weekends are fun!

Food, glorious food!

Spurred on by Milo's apparent fascination with our eating activities, as well as his recent growth spurt and ravenous appetite, we decided to give solid foods a try. Or, more accurately, semi-solid semi-food, since rice cereal mixed with breast milk isn't exactly gourmet grownup fare.

Our camera's battery died a few seconds into the adventure, but we did manage to capture a taste (pun intended) of it. We think he likes it!

Caucusing for Obama, with Mama.

Although he was not the youngest person present at our neighborhood caucus spot last night, Milo was the youngest AWAKE person in the room. And how very awake he was! Though the evening's events began right around the time Milo is usually getting ready for bed, he wasn't about to miss out on the opportunity to help pick America's next president. Plus, he was already dressed for the occasion:

Our caucus location was jammed to the rafters, and things were pretty chaotic. But Milo took it all in with wide eyes and a calm demeanor. He snuggled into the Beco carrier and looked around at all the people. He listened patiently to the speeches, and never once spoke out of turn. He's not quite old enough to vote, but he smiled broadly when Mommy and Daddy cheered for Obama.

It was pretty thrilling to share this kind of grass-roots politicking with our kiddo. I have a feeling we'll tell the story of his first caucus for many years to come (and we'll drag it out to torment him if he rebels against us by becoming a conservative Republican).