Milo, Milo, and more Milo

Tickle-tickle-tickle.

It's hard to resist tickling Milo's chubby little tummy (and all six of his delicious little chins). And even harder to stop, when the tickling produces results like this:

7 months!

Milo turned 7 months old last week, and celebrated by getting a shot in the thigh. He barely flinched! We've been keeping Daddy away from all vaccination appointments, and so far, Milo seems to fall on the opposite end of the needle-phobic spectrum.

This past month was all about food. Milo is discovering all kinds of new tastes and textures, and is eating two or three solid-food meals a day now. In addition to eating lots of yogurt and baby food from a spoon, Milo is learning to feed himself some finger foods.

Recent culinary delights have included bagels:

and apples:

Avocado in the mesh feeder remains a perennial favorite, too.

Milo is now riding in his stroller in the "big" seat, instead of the snapped-in bucket carseat. He loves facing out at the world! He looks around intently, sometimes taking it all in contemplatively,

and sometimes giggling at the silliness of it all.

He's rolling over all the time now, often in the middle of his diaper change. Considering the new and exciting things he's eating, and the corresponding new and exciting things we're finding in his diaper, this could get messy soon.

This week, MIlo's sitting skills really came together. He loves hanging out and playing with his toys from a seated position, although he's not quite stable enough to leave unattended.

Milo still loves to "stand up," with Mommy and Daddy's help, and to lie on his back and kick his feel like crazy. But as he learns how to maneuver himself from a sitting position, so he can grab and manipulate his toys, he's starting to see the benefits of  the whole sitting thing.

Real mobility can't be too far behind, but we're still in denial on that front. Gates? Cabinet locks? LalalalalalaIcan'thearyoulalalala.....

Six minute abs.

Milo has pretty well mastered the roll and is working hard on stabilizing his sitting. Towards that goal, he spends a lot of time doing "baby crunches" and looking pleased with himself, as you can see here.

This clip also demonstrates Milo's stupendous kicking abilities. He has already kicked through the heels of at least one pair of shoes, and has kicked a hole clear through the padding on the changing table. Hopefully, he won't wear his heels down to the bone before he's old enough to start playing soccer.

This one is for Aunt Laura.

Although Milo's weirdo mother is not much of a chocolate lover, he inherited chocoholic genes from both sides of the family. It seems the trait is already manifesting itself in him:

Chag sameach Purim!

Milo had a GREAT week with his Grandma Eileen and Grandpa Peter, who visited us from Wisconsin. They had not seen Milo since Christmas, and he dazzled them with all his new skills (and his every-day cuteness, too). For much of the week, Milo was Very Busy, and could not take time away from learning, seeing, and playing for anything so boring as napping. Where once a long walk or a ride in the car was a surefire soporific, now Milo has Things! To! See! And! Do! Sleeping is off the agenda.

Grandma E. and Grandpa P. managed to keep up with our busy little guy, and the three of them had lots of fun together. But by the time the weekend rolled around, we were all pretty tired.

Milo also attended his very first Purim Carnival on Sunday. He dressed up in his baseball-player costume (a/k/a the only remotely "costumey" thing in his current wardrobe) and watched the megillah-reading/play with reasonably rapt attention. As you can see, he is standing up on Mommy's legs, practicing one of his cool new tricks, known as "I Will NOT Bend At The Waist And You Can't Make Me."

Milo saw lots of his friends at the carnival, including the lovely Sophia, whose hands (and noise-maker) he immediately reached out to grab.These two cuties are less than two weeks apart in age. Their mommies are already planning the wedding (or at least the prom date).

Splish splash!

Milo is really starting to love his bath time! Here he is, doing his best to get the entire bathroom soaked clean.

Nordic baby!

Milo lived up to his Wisconsin heritage yesterday, taking to his first cross-country ski expedition like a fish to water. We bundled him up in lots of layers, although it was a relatively warm and sunny day. Here he is, ready for the workout. He even has his own Gatorade!

Milo rode happily on Daddy's back in the Beco carrier, gazing about happily for the first 20 minutes or so, then sleeping contentedly for another hour.

When he woke again, just before we returned to the lodge, he was STILL content. What's not to like, when you get to go fast like this:

Needless to say, Mommy and Daddy were proud and thrilled, and we can't wait to take him again. Milo discovered the joy of XC skiing just in time for Grandma Eileen and Grandpa Peter to come visit - hooray!

Raspberry Tart.

Milo likes to tell us stories, although we can't understand them yet. I think this one has something to do with motorboats. It's all in the delivery.

Updated to report that on Wednesday, Milo finally rolled over (and over, and over, and over!). Both directions, repeatedly! Grandma S-J and Grandpa Bill were the lucky witnesses of most of this milestone activity, but Milo treated Mommy to a show, too. Daddy has yet to see it happen and is still skeptical. We hope to have video proof soon, but Mommy was too excited to hold the camera steady.

Sharing Daddy's obsession?

During our leisurely breakfast on Saturday morning, Milo began paging through a bike-gear catalog. Just as his father does, he found it irresistible.

Dozing.

When Milo blew out his diaper during his morning feeding yesterday, I didn't have time to get him dressed after I cleaned up the poopsplotion. Instead, I tucked him into bed with his Daddy, who was sneaking in a few more winks. When I got out of the shower, this is what I found: