Miles had his check-up today and weighed in at 14lbs, 12 oz. Yes, that’s big (98th %ile). He’s also two feet tall! He’s wearing a lot of clothes Charlie wore at 4 or 5 months and is already out of some 3-mo clothing. This boy might eat us out of house and home in ten years.

He continues to charm us like crazy, giving smiles left and right. Last night he fell asleep swaddled in my arms, sucking on a pacifier while I rubbed his face. That’s all it took! I hope it continues because it was the sweetest moment ever and beats rocking and bouncing by a longshot.

He’s currently sleeping after a round of vaccinations. Poor baby. It was horrible. When a baby hardly ever cries, hearing him cry like that is horrendous. Charlie stayed calm and cool, thankfully. He was mostly interested in Miles’ band-aid characters.

Happy 10th Anniversary, my Love.

Ten Highlights from Ten Years:
1) Sitting together on a log next to Lake Baikal while the sunset. Ya tibya lublu.
2) Who Wants to be a 21-year Old?
3) Being serenaded. Finding clues and unscrambling them. Becoming engaged.
4) Walking down the aisle with your tearful, loving gaze watching me.
5) Packing up our moving truck and driving to Seattle. The beginning of thoughtfully creating our own family traditions, dynamics and boundaries.
6) Paris. Aaaah, Paris.
7) Meeting Charlie and bringing him home, hugging and crying once we got inside our house.
8) Taking risks together, learning how to communicate in conflict, pursuing joy and play, and growing in trust of each other and the Lord.
9) Watching you play with Charlie. You are an astounding, amazing papa. Loving, playful, faithful.
10) Meeting Miles and enjoying his sweetness so deeply, knowing now how quickly it all does pass.

I love you, Harry.

When Miles is well fed and rested we have the most beautiful conversations. His smiles and giggles are so awesome.

Miles turned six weeks old on Sunday. At my midwife check-up on Tuesday he weighed in (in a very unofficial manner, including diaper on) at 13.8 lbs. It seems he’s gained nearly a pound a week! No wonder my back kills and his rolls are so yummy…even if I have to pick lint out of them on a regular basis.

He has continued to sleep horribly, but last night we got a (nearly) 3-hour stretch, so I’m hopeful that this may continue and he will improve sooner than later. Harry was with Miles and Charlie from 4-6am (at different times) so I feel better tonight than I have in a long time, but I’m still off to bed…

Both our boys are in their bedrooms! Time to write a bit…

Charlie is really into playing games lately. While they may be titled in familiar terms, the way he plays them will make anyone laugh. Hide and Seek involves the standard seeker role, but the hiding person has quite a bit more leeway with Charlie’s version. In fact, hiding might be simply standing by a wall in plain sight. Or pretending you’re a part of the stairway, simply because you’re on it. And, just in case you’re having a hard time spotting him in his incredibly stealthy spot, he’ll give you a “pssst” every once in awhile to help you out. The “pssst” started after we had to help him find us because his seeking skills are just about as good as his hiding skills.

The other hilarious game is hiding plastic eggs, which we’ve been doing since Easter. We take turns hiding and seeking, but Charlie always needs help seeking if they’re not visible. When he hides them he often picks the spots you just used, particularly if they were new and cool. He also thinks it’s a part of the game to tell you where he’s hidden the eggs (because, surely, you must need the same help he did with spotting eggs, even if they’re right in front of you on the coffee table). We don’t even get a chance to look before he’s told us where they are. And he loves it. So we play over and over and over again.

We bought Charlie Chutes and Ladders to celebrate Miles’ birth because of his growing interest in numbers and counting. He’s also made up his own rules for this game, which basically involve using the spinner and going wherever you want to, for as many squares as you desire. And nobody wins or loses. It’s quite easy to play. Come over and join us someday!

An older girl ran up to him at the playground a few weeks ago and said, “Let’s play tag.” She then tagged him and ran away. Charlie thought he’d been hit at first, and then ran the other direction. We might let him have his own rules to this one for awhile, too, just to keep other kids guessing.