Ready for Summer Fun

Myles broke in his new swimming pool today and had an absolute blast! Gramma and Grampa A. came for a visit and Myles sure had fun playing with them. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed every moment of being outside!
Gramma was even nice enough to take a bite from one of Myles's water balls, which as you can see, thrilled Myles.
Myles climbed from one end of the pool to the other over and over again! It sure will be fun in our backyard this summer!

Myles traveled to North Carolina with Mommy and Uncle Dan for his cousin Anthony's high school graduation over Memorial Day weekend. He was such a good little boy! He did great on the plane rides and slept really well in the hotel - the first time he had ever stayed in a hotel. He got to meet his Aunt Marty and his cousins for the first time, which he was really excited about. Aunt Marty gave him some of his favorite toys, Matchbox Cars, so he kept very busy playing with those during his visit. Grandma and Grandpa T. were also there, so he enjoyed spending time with them as well. It was a short, but wonderful trip! Myles missed Daddy and was sure happy to see him when we returned home on Sunday afternoon! Next time, he will have to come along.

Knees of Summer

Sorry we haven't posted anything for those of you who happen to check in from time to time. It's just been a typical few months of fun times. Myles is a very typical boy, into everything and pretty much fearless. Couldn't resist snapping this shot while swinging at the park this evening. Those bruised and battered legs are worth more than a thousand words about how he's enjoying his summer - very actively. Myles is in daycare with a couple of boys that are both a couple of years older than he, and he really tries his best to keep up with them. He doesn't let a few bumps and bruises slow him down. As it should be.

Little Drummer Boy...

Not much of a story here, just a picture I really like. We visited some friends last weekend, and our friend Chris plays drums. Myles was getting a little restless and on the edge of a tantrum after dinner and announced repeatedly, "Home! Gabba!," meaning he wanted to go home and watch "Yo Gabba Gabba!" Chris saved the day by letting Myles play the drums. Myles really enjoyed it. Much like Myles's action on the piano at home, he's surprisingly gentle, not pounding away but carefully testing the various sounds, tapping each drum head and each of the cymbals in succession. He sat there for about 20 minutes, which is a tremendous attention grab for a 19-month old.

Fun at Daycare...

A couple of days per week, Myles spends a few hours at an in-home daycare with a nice woman named Angie, her youngest boy, and just one or two other kids, depending upon the day. Judging by his reaction when we drop him off and by his smiles when he hears certain names, we can tell that he really enjoys his friends there and all of the activities that come with it. In addition to little field trips to the zoo or just the store, they also have a nice, big, fenced-in yard where the kids can play, and Myles really enjoys getting outside. They sent us a few photos of Myles in action. It's fun and funny to see a glimpse of what he's up to when Mommy and Daddy aren't around. It's also very comforting to know that he's enjoying himself.

First, it was very important that Myles have boots and snowpants for the winter, because the boys that live in the daycare home love to be outside. It turns out that Myles does too, and it is often a struggle to get him to come back inside.
Myles is very fond of the newest addition to Angie's family, a baby girl. She is just a few months old, and Myles always makes sure to point her out to Mommy or Daddy when we pick him up, pointing and smiling, "Baby! Baby!" He also likes to make sure the baby has plenty of blankets. Here they are together on a recent field trip to a local horticultural conservatory.

It looks like Myles really enjoyed the sights to be seen there.

Is it Spring yet?

Well, not quite. However, 53 degrees and pleasant is about as good as it gets for early March here, and that's what we had yesterday. Daddy was sick on Friday and Saturday, which forced us to cancel dinner plans with friends on Friday and also a visit from Uncle Dan, Aunt Tiff and Cousin Cole on Saturday, not wanting to get everybody sick. Major disappointment. Sunday was a new day, and we decided to take advantage of the decent weather with a trip to the zoo.

Myles really enjoys the chance to get outside and run around. It's a great place for that, as the walking paths are pretty well hemmed in by rails and fences, and Myles is allowed to go pretty much anywhere he can. The weather was nice enough outside to enjoy some long walks around the paths through the zoo. Myles, throwing out shrieks of delight, started chasing one of the free-roaming peacocks and was very frustrated when we had to stop him from doing that. We put him back in the stroller so he could get a controlled look at it, which he enjoyed. Myles also really enjoys many of the indoor exhibits, and this time he especially enjoyed the aquariums, spending approximately 20 minutes running around and pointing out the various "seesh." Before heading home for lunch, Myles took one last long walk outside, stopping to climb on whatever railing, bench or snow heap caught his attention. It was great to be outside, and we're really looking forward to Spring.

Off to the Sunshine State

Myles and his parents enjoyed a wonderful visit to Florida to visit Grandma and Grandpa T. Our flight down was rather early, which required us to get Myles out of bed and moving at 5:00 a.m., roughly 3 hours prior to his normal wake-up. He handled it very well but, to our surprise, he did not return to sleep until approximately noon, when G and G had picked us up at the airport and were driving us back to their place. With having so little sleep and being concerned about Myles handling the flight, we forgot to take a single picture of the trip down. However, Myles behaved surprisingly well, especially considering that he wasn't able to take a nap as we had hoped he would.

For the first few days, the weather wasn't as nice as we had hoped. It was cool and windy, with rain coming and going. However, Myles was at least able to get out on the lanai and play in the fresh air. Even if it was cool and rainy, it was much nicer than home in January.
On one of the cool days, we were able to get out to a playground near G and G's, and Myles had an absolute blast running and playing outside. We had to cut it short because of the chilly wind, but again, it was something fun that we couldn't do at home in January.

However, the big highlight of the entire week for Myles was a series of golf cart rides. The community in which G and G reside in Florida is fully golf car accessible, and it is the preferred mode of transportation for residents. Even when Mommy and Daddy snuck out for a couple of dates (thanks G and G!), we passed up taking the golf cart because we knew how much Myles enjoyed his rides with G and G.

On the day before we had to leave, we had a really nice day. It was over 70 degrees and sunny, with a nice breeze. Grandma took us to a really nice playground a few miles away with huge equipment in place, and Myles played and played and played. That was a great day.

That evening, on our last night, Grandpa took Daddy and Myles on a nice, long golf cart ride around town, and Myles really got a kick out of the ride in the dark. We even saw some folks playing night golf with glow-in-the-dark golf balls, and Myles found this very amusing.

The next morning, it was time to leave town. We had a short wait at the airport, but Myles took it in stride.

Finally, we made it home. It was good to be home with our own crib and all of our toys, but we sure miss Grandma and Grandpa - and the golf cart rides!