A Treasured Diego Blanket for Miles

Mollie's Mimi (aka Mollie's grandmother, aka Donna's mom, aka Jane Goins) surprised Miles with a very special handmade Diego blanket this weekend!  I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but the squares are Diego fabric (Dora the Explorer's cousin, and Miles' favorite show).  Miles was so excited and now sleeps with it every night.  He had seen the Dora blanket that Jane made Mollie and was jealous -- so Jane made him his own!  He will treasure this always, not just because it is Diego, but because his future grandmother-in-law handmade it.  Jane is so thoughtful, and we are glad we get to see her on her many trips in from Colorado!    

Jack's Back

Actually, we're all back. It's been a while since I blogged, because Miles, Jack and I spent a fabulous nine days on the east coast. While we got back about a week ago, we've been juggling some lovely fall illness (nothing serious) and I haven't caught up. We had a really nice trip -- my brother Ken came up from Baltimore, my uncle Vin drove down from Boston, and it is, of course, always lovely seeing Mimi, Papa, Nora and Steve. And we had a very fun (and too short) day with Emily, Maddy, Will and Ruth. For the first time, Miles and Will really played together and the 18 month age difference didn't seem to matter. I have lots of photos to post, but I need to collect them from various sources (Vin, thanks for sending yours!), because I didn't have my camera. Watch for more soon! But we're back and I should be posting more regularly. Hoped you missed us.

Miles' First Trip to the Dentist

Now that Miles turned three, it was time to tackle the dentist. I thought that there was no way he would sit still for this, so we did a fair amount of advance work, buying him a book on going to the dentist and having him go to the dentist's office to meet everyone and watch one of Jesse's cleanings in September (before his actual appointment). But I was worried that it would be a different story when they put the tools in his mouth. However, he did amazingly well (no tears or squirming) and much of that credit goes to Dr. Friedrich and Abby (the dental hygenist). The orange flavored toothpaste was the highlight of the cleaning, as well as getting his polaroid on the wall with all of the big kids at the end. My little man seemed so grown up! We were very proud of him.

Mellow Jack

Mellow Jack. It sounds like a cheese, but I am referring to Baby Jack, as Miles likes to call him. He's such a "go with the flow" little guy, probably because he is the second (or "last and final" as I like to call him) child. Here's a few photos of him sitting in my rocking chair watching while we set up Miles' tool bench. The rocking chair was first my Grandmother Dorothy's when she was a baby (~1921), and then my dad refinished it himself for me when I was born in 1974. And then my parents had it refinished again (and repaired the caning that I had destroyed by climbing on it as a little girl) in 2006 when Miles was born. A three generation chair!

Miles the Builder

As a birthday present from Mimi and Papa, Miles received the tool bench he has been coveting (he first saw it at his friend Brandon's house when we were there for a dinner party, and we couldn't tear him away). As you can see in the photos, he was very serious about setting it up with Dada. I often wake up in the morning to find him down in the basement in his underwear only (not sure why no clothes) hammering away. As long as he doesn't hammer Jack, we're good.

Nora and Steve Visit

We had a lovely visit from Nora and Steve at the end of September. Miles was very excited to see them and they got to meet Jack. Miles got a crazy trip to Toys R Us for his birthday to pick out a toy, and he walked up and down the aisles saying, "I do not have that, I don't have that?!" Needless to say, he walked out with more than one thing. Above is a photo of Steve (the Viking fan) making a new use out of Jack's bumbo seat, and a photo of Nora with Jack. It was great to see them!