11 Month Miles

It's hard to think that nearly a year ago I had was still teaching, waiting for this boy to make his way out. Now, he's pretty much what my day revolves around.  Playtime, naptime, food-time; and I wouldn't trade it for the world.  I'm trying to soak up these last few months of him being my baby and getting my full attention because soon his sister will storm into our lives. I can't wait to see him as a big brother, he's so patient and contemplative. I know he will thrive in the role of big brother.

 

 

 



 Miles knows how to wave, shake his head 'yes', growl like a lion, say a bunch of baby babbles including mama and dada (his favorite).  He loves to eat and isn't a picky eater.  Trevor wrinkles his nose up at Miles favorite food: peas with cottage cheese mixed in.  He's a healthy boy! He also eats fruits and proteins as well as becoming more confident with a sippy cup of water.

 

At 10 months, I started the weaning process, due to a nasty bite Miles 'gave me'.  After that whenever he would latch on, he would disturb the scab.  Without too many details, it turned him off drinking on one side. We were down to 3 nursing sessions a day because he's just too busy and uninterested. When faced with the decision to try to keep milk supply on just one side, I decided he was old enough to have formula supplement. Now he drinks two 6-ounce bottles a day and I'm a free woman! I'm enjoying having a few months off before Hazel is born and we start all over again.  I wouldn't trade our breastfeeding journey-- it was special to be able to feed and comfort him in that way, but I'm enjoying my 'normal boobs' again. 

 

 

He still has just the bottom two teeth.  His hair looks reddish in the sun and light brown inside. His eyebrows and eye-lashes are light blondish red. He's wearing 9 month clothes and size 4 diapers. He should be in size 3 according to his weight (20ish pounds) but they just aren't cutting it at night.

 

Miles enjoys standing and sitting but is still not a fan of crawling. He can roll himself around and scoot on his back. As much as Trevor and I try to encourage him to crawl, he seems blissfully unaware that some people move themselves around.

 

 

Miles you are such a happy boy. You make so many people smile on a daily basis. You are friendly and curious and we wouldn't change a thing about you!



Dear Hazel - 23 Weeks Pregnant

Dear Hazel,

Good grief, I swear you have ultrasound pictures that prove your in there, and that you are in fact a girl but here's the deal: when we picked out this laptop we chose one that didn't have a cd drive. All your ultrasound pictures are carefully stored to download someday. I'm pretty sure it's either in the car, or my purse, or the dining room.  It's not in a cd case because Dr. H ran out of them. 

You will find out soon enough that your mom is very concerned about important things (like shaping you into a respectful, kind person) and not concerned at all about non-important things (like washing baby socks). That being said I've done a horrible job at documenting this pregnancy.  Know that you make your presence known and we talk about you constantly.  You something of a wild child in my stomach and seem to sit right on the part of my pelvis that hurts when I move.

Despite my lack of keeping track, we love you dearly already and your arrive is much anticipated. Please wait until we get moved though.

Love,
Mom

The Name-- Hazel's edition

okay: disclaimer I totally typed addition instead of edition on this title and just sat and looked at it for a bit, so there are no guarantees if this post will make sense.

When Trevor and I found out we were pregnant with baby 2, he was very excited. I went through denial, shock, disbelief, and finally settled into ignoring it. That lasted about 3 days until I started throwing up. Like it or not, this babe let me know she was in there from the beginning. Throwing up turned to head-aches, head-aches turned to heartburn, and heartburn lingers now with added kicks and rolls through the day.  To say she is more active then Miles, is a gross understatement.

We had a lot of trouble discussing names this go-round because I just couldn't imagine a boy name that I liked as much as Miles. So we threw a few around but never really settled on one.  We had Hazel picked out for a girl before we found out Miles' gender.  So we didn't spend a lot of time discussing girl names this time around, figuring we both really liked it and would use it.  Even though I joked that this had to be a girl, I really didn't believe it would actually be one, you see, Howards don't make girls.

Well at our gender appointment the first thing that flashed on the screen were girl parts. Doc H asked if I wanted to know the gender and I said, well it appears to be a girl. He laughed and confirmed that he thought it was. I told him that he didn't  have to make the announcement yet, make completely sure. So he looked a few more angles and yep, an absences of boy parts and then a clear shot of the girl ones! He said 100% this is a girl. Then he started calling her Hazel :).

Hazel is Trevor's Grandma's first name.  She didn't go by it though, and from what I hear she didn't even like it. But we do, and Trevor loved his grandma. I love it because I have a few really good memories of Trevor's grandma before she passed away in 2005.  I have heard even more stories about her and admire every one of them. She loved her family fiercely, something I hope our Hazel will share. Even though she didn't love the name, I have no doubt she would love her great-granddaughter.

I also loved Hazel because it means commander. I'm a sucker for a good-strong-woman name. I can tell our little commander will be just that, she certainly has no problem making herself known right now. And with the long line of strong woman she comes from, I don't see it being a problem in her future.

Hazel also passed all the barriers we have for names: not trendy, spelled like it sounds, gender-specific, no weird nicknames, classic.

We picked Lane for the middle name for a very simple reason. It's Trevor's middle name. It was also his grandpa's middle name. I felt strongly about passing Trevor's middle name on to a girl if we had one.  My reasoning (and he agreed) that someday Hazel will get married. She won't have the last name Howard forever. I wanted her to still have some family connection in her name. I also felt strongly that we shouldn't feminize the name. Plus, Hazel Lane just sounds good.

So that's it, why our July girl will be Hazel Lane Howard.