Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Because ...

Dear Milo,

I'm writing to you today, not because you're X number of months old, but because I want you to know something. I want you to know the world isn't a terrible place. I know there will be times in your life (much like this summer has been) where the world seems to be filled with chaos and hate. Still, despite the acts of horror committed by mad men, despite the havoc wreaked by Mother Nature, despite unkind words spoken without thought, the world is amazing.

 
You, my beautiful son, are proof of that. The world is full of people who do good deeds and speak kind words and go out of their way to treat others with respect and love. Mother Nature produces beauty beyond measure. You are loved beyond words. I want to raise you in such a way that you will be able to find hope and beauty and love in the world no matter what. I don't want you to be a Pollyanna by any means. But I do want you to always search for that silver lining. There's nothing wrong with being a realist, but let's work really hard together to not be pessimists.

I love you. Carry that in your heart even when times are tough.

Love,
Mommy

Monday, July 16, 2012

15 months

Dear Milo,

Where the heck did this past month go? Since you've been born time seems to fly faster than ever, but the last four weeks went by in a blink.


We were far away from the recent wildfires, but we did have the smoke to deal with. You suffered a really runny nose. Which I attribute to the smoke. We kept the house closed as much as possible to try to not breathe it in, but with record high temperatures, it was hard. Our little room air conditioner worked as hard as it could just to keep us from suffering heat exhaustion.

You're pretty adaptable though. You didn't love being confined to one or two rooms in the house, but you didn't throw a fit about it. And you actually enjoyed hanging out in the AC at Grandma's.

Even though the fires were the big news in Colorado and nationwide, it wasn't a big deal to you. You were too busy playing with your trucks and trying out new words like "walk," "bump" and "go" and learning to sign "please" and "thank you." Saying, "please" and "thank you" were major accomplishments in my book. I do want you to be a polite boy.


You've had a couple of play dates with friends from The Little Gym, and I'm surprised at how different you sometimes act when you're playing one-on-one with another kid. You were a bit of a bully with one boy, even though at the gym you're either buddy-buddy with everyone or you keep to yourself. I think it's something we need to work on. I really don't want you to be a bully.


You're getting really good at feeding yourself with a spoon, especially yogurt and cottage cheese. You still make a bit of a mess but you usually get more in your mouth than you get on your head. You really want to do it yourself, and that's really cool.


In fact, pretty much everything you do is pretty cool. People who haven't seen you for a while are impressed with how well you get around and how big you've gotten. I'm impressed by you everyday. You're smart and super cute. And I'm so proud to be your mom.

I love you, Sweetness, with all my heart.

Love,
Mommy

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Daddy Talk

The Classics.


I shared a memory of my dad with Pam today. It was when I was young, somewhere around 10. My dad rented a movie for the family called Thunder Warrior. It was certainly a cheese fest, a bit of a rip off of Rambo only with a Native American as the lead. It was a terrible movie from my recollection. I think my dad secretly liked it, but I can only guess. I remember my brother and I thought it was terrible on a whole lot of levels. Kind of a feat really to get kids to think it was so cheesy. Its a funny memory only because my dad picked up the sequel a few years later.

We gave him an endless amount of ribbing about it, how we hated it because it was so terrible and this and that but we still watched it. I can't remember what happened with the movie, what the plot was or who the characters were. There were plenty of times where we watched good movies or forgettable movies, but nothing like this. Nothing that sticks in my mind. It doesn't bother me that this movie was bad and it sticks in my memory, I think the worst part about it is wondering if my dad took it too hard.

I may just make the boy suffer through it when he gets older. I hope he has a memory of it, it will probably be a good memory for him. Just got to figure out the right time to do it and where to get a vcr. Most importantly I need to find the 80 dollars to buy it because it is a "classic" now.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Friday Flashback

Milo enjoying the Renaissance Festival last July:


Saturday, July 7, 2012

Saturday Smiles

Gotta love spontaneous naps.


Thursday, July 5, 2012

Friday Flashback

This time last year, the boy was just starting to try to roll over on his own.


Now, he's constantly on the go -- busy, busy, busy. There's no stopping him.