First "haircut"

Today we finally trimmed off those unfortunate wispy bangs of North's. They were getting ridiculously long and starting to resemble a comb over. He looks so different now--at least to us. Alan got a haircut today too.

My 2 guys with their haircuts

Also, North has now been sick for a WEEK (runny nose, cough, fever, and 2 ear infections) and FINALLY seems to be on the mend and maybe (fingers crossed) will be well enough to return to daycare in the morning.

Also, he got his second tooth today!

First Tooth!

North is getting his first tooth! His left mandibular central incisor to be precise.
Last Friday, Jen (one of North's daycare providers) drew my attention to North's gums, and low and behold!, during the day he had started to get a tiny little tooth poking out!
It comes in the teeniest tiniest bit more each day and I have been desperate to get a picture of this little pearly white bud of milestone cuteness but, he's pretty non-cooperative regarding this pursuit. So, I'm giving up and just going ahead and posting without a good picture.
Here's the best I have--you can kind of sort of see it in the close-up.
He undermined all other attempts at getting a picture with stealthy movement of his tongue
and even feet.

7 months...

North is now 7 months old.
I can't believe how quickly my little baby is growing up.
He's eating like a champ. loves fruit, tolerates vegetables. His absolute favorite food at the moment is organic banana-oatmeal-peach mush. He HATES green beans and must be tricked into eating even a few bites of them.
Related to this eating thing, he's started having "real" poops now. very weird.
He babbles like mad and loves to move his hand in and out of his mouth while humming to make a 'woo-woo-woo' noise. He says "dada" and "nine" a lot. These do not have actual meaning. They're just what he says to everything.
He also shakes his head and thinks it's funny when other people join in on the head shaking.
He's trying desperately to crawl. Mostly he just moves from sitting to lunging forward (he's fearless when it comes to lunging--goes full force at EVERYTHING) then he gets on all 4s and moves either backwards (in the exact opposite direction from the one he is aiming for) or in circles. Ben, one of his daycare caregivers, says he made some forward progress today. I haven't seen it yet though.
His eyes seem to change each day as they gravitate toward the brown that I know they will become. right now they are such a beautiful gray.
He smiles all the time. all the way to his eyes. it's heartwarming seeing his little eyes and nose crinkle.
He squeals in laughter at least 10 times a day--particularly at Alan. He thinks his dad is HILARIOUS.
He never sleeps for longer than 2ish hours at a stretch. Ugh. I'm sure even this I will miss someday when he no longer has any desire to snuggle me in the middle of this night. right now though, a full night's sleep seems like the greatest thing I can imagine.
He's great in the car. I can't imagine a better commuting buddy.
He loves Ender and Petra. He's more and more interested in them each day. And they love him too. It's surprising how tolerant both of them (particularly the cat) have proven to be with his grabby little baby hands.
Sometimes Ender has a problem with licking him... EXCESSIVELY... and in his mouth when he smiles and laughs (yuck, I know). But, all in all, they are becoming best friends.
He loves baths. He can now take baths in the real bathtub rather than the baby one.

His hair seems to get lighter each day. It was really dark like mine when he was born. Now it's much more the color of his dad's.
He also seems to lose a little bit more of that baby hair each day--he had a full head of hair when born--now he just has bangs.

I can't believe that he's already been around for 7 months...

Arizona!

After Christmas, North took his first big (as in plane ride) trip!
We went to Arizona on the 26th of December to see Nanny and Papa.

Getting ready for take-off from the brand new Indianapolis Airport. North was pretty great on the plane--we had late flights and so he mostly just slept.

Hanging out with Nanny and Papa--he had such fun with them!
And playing with the toy apple that once belonged to my cousin Gary--I remember playing with it when I was a little kid!

He really loved that apple.
He has started to get up on all 4s and attempt to crawl. Unfortunately it's a skill he's yet to master and usually ends up going backwards rather than forwards--this leads to him ending up in strange and unintended locations--like under coffee tables several feet away from the toy he is trying to reach.

Visiting with Uncle Greg, Aunt Pam, and Taffy.

Alan really wanted to see a roadrunner--on our 3rd day there we saw a pair of them wandering around Nanny & Papa's front yard.

Visiting Parker Dam--the deepest dam in the US--pictures of North and Alan on the California side of the dam.

North's first trip to a bar. A floating bar no less.

Exploring Nanny & Papa's yard. I remember when these cacti were teeny-tiny little plants that Nanny nurtured in a flower pot. Now they are giant and dangerous landscaping!

And of course, no trip to Lake Havasu City, Arizona (where Nanny & Papa live) would be complete without stopping at the London Bridge!

We had such a wonderful time--we miss you already Nanny & Papa!

Chirstmas(es)

Poor blog--the holidays have been busy! They always seem to be and this year was definitely no exception. So no blog in a while....but tonight my goal is to catch up!
North's first Christmas--or Christmases as tends to be the case in the Milner family--were lovely. He didn't really get what was going on throughout the celebrations but was very patient with us as we carted him here and there. Really enjoyed the wrapping paper and gift bags--and even a few of the things contained therein. : )
Here are some photos from a few of the Christmas gatherings:

Christmas with Nana, Grandad, Aunt Angie, Uncle Adam, and Cousins Connor and Madi

Lovies from Madi

Lovies from Connor

Christmas with the Huff Family

Lovies from Gigi Huff

North is still too small for the kids table

North's gift from Nana and Grandad was a wagon!

Christmas with the Milners

North got a jack-in-the-box from Mimi!

Christmas morning at home! Grandma and Grandpa came over for a Harsh family Christmas and then Nana and Grandad joined us for brunch!

North's 2 favorite toys--his new activity cube and his drum!

Santa!

Last weekend we went to the mall and North got to sit on Santa's lap!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Terri!
We love you!!

Flu days...

For the past 5 days the Milner household has been a rather dreary den of germs and ickiness which had lots of really bad stuff about it but also some good stuff--like 4 solid days spent together, only a few moment of which were not spent snuggled in at home (gatorade and pharmacy runs).
On Wednesday North got sent home sick from daycare and as I left Bloomington to drive him home, there was some pukey, coughing, yuckiness that convinced me to stay in Bloomington until I could get North into a doctor before taking him home. His pediatrician's practice thankfully has extended office hours and so was able to get him in at 7pm on Wednesday. He was diagnosed with bronchiolitis and given a prescription for breathing/congestion medication. Alan was going to stay home with him on Thursday and take him to a follow up doctor's appointment that day.
Then, around 4 am, I was up feeding him and Alan got up to change North. I peeked down the hall to see how Alan was doing in time to see him set North down in the hall and make a mad dash to the hall bathroom where he commenced to get sick. North and I and Alan eventually made it back to bed and a short while later I got up, got ready for work and started to leave when I started to get pukey. Thursday was a truly miserable day. The above photo is the only one taken from the really yucky time. Alan and I each claimed 1 of our bathrooms and some space outside of them for napping and passed the baby between us (North was already pretty well by mid-morning on Thursday).
Friday I was feeling much better and Alan was on the mend but he's been sick a bit longer. We've spent the weekend in with lots of rest and now I think everyone is well and ready to start a new week.
It wasn't all bad though to have some snuggly days at home--Thursday admittedly was TERRIBLE but the other 3 with us all under 1 roof were rather nice. We got to spend lots of time together.

North learned that TV is sometimes a wonderful thing (and he learned that remotes can be valuable--he kept trying to steal ours--here is a photo of 1 of his successful missions).

we learned how ridiculous North's hair has really gotten lately--he had so much when he was born!--now he has very little--but there are still these weird wispy long stragglers that are holding on.
North threw up all over his winter wear on Wednesday including his winter hats--because of this, when we briefly left the house on Saturday we put him in one of Alan's.
Here are some photos of him wearing Alan's hat (from the year he, Levi, Jeremy, and Jon were Team Zissou for Halloween). He even managed to get the hat half-way off and wear it in true Zissou fashion.
we got to spend lots of time in the living room, camped out on the floor and couches alternating between watching the christmas tree, the fire, and the tv. north loves watching the fire.

Thanks Sam!

Sam recently took North's 6 month photos.
Click on the link to see the slide-show she put together for us.
So great!

Thank you Nana Nancy!

Thank you! thank you! thank you! for the soft, snuggly, and warm (not to mention adorable) hand made blanket. North is a big fan.

and a silly daddy in his North hat picture :)