Quite the Accomplishment

Oh, goodness! Miles scared me half to death today. I was sitting on the couch eating (of course) and Miles was quietly playing on the floor....such a good boy. When I look over and he is not playing on the floor at all, but has pulled himself up to a standing position all by himself! There he is standing in socks on our very slippery, and recently pledged, hard wood floors; holding onto a very sharp edged piece of furniture. I just sat there in shock for a second and Miles looked up at me thrilled by his accomplishment. I quickly got my act together and grabbed him so that he wouldn't collapse right onto an edge.
It is amazing how quickly he learns to do things, and I am sure in no time he will be pulling himself up all over the house. Sorry no picture...I don't think he could hold it long enough for me to get one.

Our Future Chef

Miles loves a lot of things....feet (shoes in particular), our cell phones, anything that lights up, and now more the ever... the kitchen. He has just started venturing further and further around the house, and the kitchen has become a place with a lot excitement. He loves all the shiny surfaces and new noises.




He loves the oven and the refrigerator in particular. James will hold him up to the oven (but I think Miles believes he is doing it all by himself), and sometimes he makes it beep which thrills him to no end. When he gets onto the refrigerator he turns into a little monkey trying to climb his way up to the top. It completely occupies his time, whenever we are losing his attention. Maybe one day he will actually cook something.

Sneak Peek

Miles has always loved the sheer drapes in his bedroom. He often tries to grab at them and put them in his mouth as we walk around the room. Today he discovered the door behind the drapes, and was obsessed with pulling the drape behind him so that he could look outside.



He was really excited to see me on the other side of the curtain, this next picture is another great example of his ferocious expression.




I had to put this one in...check out that drool! He is getting three more teeth in all at once, so the drool seems to be exponentially increasing.

Reduce Your Impact

OK, so this might be my only post that doesn't include a picture of Miles....James and I often talk about trying to do something to reduce the amount of waste we produce. We talk and talk and talk...and unfortunately rarely DO. A few months ago we finally made the decision to buy some reusable grocery bags. They were 1$ a bag at our local grocery store. When we bought them I think both of us thought they might rarely get used, but it truly has been such an easy thing to implement.
We just put the bags in our car after a trip to the grocery store, so they are there for our next trip. The amount they hold is amazing, and we believe it saves at least 10-20 plastic bags every time...which is the amount of groceries in three of the reusable bags.
For those of you who already do this....GREAT! For those of you who don't, just try it. I believe it really makes a difference, and it absolutely is easy.
Here are some fun facts to get you inspired....
1. Nearly 600 bags per SECOND are discarded in California—destined either for the landfill or our marine environment.
2. It's estimated that nearly 12 million barrels of oil are required to make the 100billion plastic shopping bags Americans go through annually.
3. Plastic bags have captured more than 80 percent of the supermarket and convenience store packaging market at a cost of $4 billion to U.S. retailers annually.
4. It takes 20 to 1,000 years for a plastic bag to break down in the environment.
5. In 1999, 14 million trees were cut to produce the 10 billion paper grocery bags used by Americans.

A New Expression

 
Miles now loves to scrunch up his nose. He gets really excited and breathes through is nose really loudly, and scrunches it up. This one was taken while he was eating some banana pieces, but the funniest is when he does it right before he lunges for something...it is almost ferocious. We experience something new everyday!

Dental School Basketball

James is on a basketball team with some of his friends from dental school,(and Dave from law school...Dave is really good, so he was a must have). The team is named "Rules of Occlusion" I think that my Dad may be the only one that gets that. This game was played against the "Stormin' Mormons"... it is pretty amazing how many LDS people are in graduate school out here. Unfortunately it was a loss. At some points it was close, but still a loss.
 
I love how mad that James looks in this picture. They haven't won a game yet, so every shot is a nail biter.
 
Miles has a blast at all the games. He loves the bouncing balls, and the attention he gets from James' teammates. He will make a great cheerleader one day... following in Mom's footsteps.
 
Danica and Carson also make great cheerleaders. Carson is much more interested in playing then watching, and he spent most of the game dribbling his own basketball all over the empty court next to ours. By the end of the game he was so sweaty and tired, but still adorable.
 

Look Alike Contest

So I am pretty sure that James wins hands down...but lets see what you think.

Miles and Mom...both big smiles and dark hair...

Miles and Dad...both big smiles, notice the same haircut, the same chin, the same way their nose looks when they smile...need I say more.

Chocolate Tasting

Here is the spread we walked into. Tons of chocolate and palate cleansers. That is really important...otherwise it all starts to taste the same.


So this weekend we went to the Romney's for a chocolate tasting extravaganza. It was a ton of fun. Everyone brought either an exotic bar of chocolate, or just their favorite bar and we had to rate it on a scale from one to ten. There were chocolates with very high percentages of cocoa all the way to milk chocolates. I felt that after eating a lot of the dark chocolate the milk chocolate started to taste really sugary and too sweet. But Zack stuck to his guns (I think he was the only Milk chocolate fan in the bunch) We also had to describe its' smell, the way it melted, the way it snapped, its flavor, and aftertaste. Some people had very advanced palates with lots of description and depth, whereas others were less accomplished.



James said that one tasted like "chocolate", and Spencer had one that faded in and out of flavors of woody-ness, fruity-ness, and every other -ness in between. One of my favorite comments had something to do with a Russian bar of chocolate. They really enjoyed it and so decided that communism must be fabulous as well. Zack was obsessed with the way the chocolate smelled, he described one as..."good smell, really good smell".


Needless to say we had a great time. And it is so fun to actually see what kind of chocolates you like. I did not like the one with Cayan and Chile pepper...yuck. A big THANKS! to the Romneys for hosting.

Just Thought I Would Share

OK, so the little boy in the video below was on Ellen last month. He was so annoying I could hardly stand it. Then last night James and I were watching American Idol and I found myself so annoyed with one of the contestants. I couldn't help but compare the two, and I feel like the similarities are hilarious and worthy of sharing.
The videos are a little long...sorry, but its good for a laugh I think.
Ellen...American Idol...I know...I watch too much TV.

Annoying Kid on Ellen