So I’ve realized that Qade seems to be the star of most of the kid-flavored posts lately. Sometimes his issues or accomplishments DO tend to stand out. Firstborn ya know, he can’t help it. But I thought that today needed to be a post about Myles. 
Because he has some pretty impressive accomplishments for his young life too!!
One thing that he figured out way early (in my opinion) was climbing out of his bed. I know I mentioned that he did that this summer at camp. I should have been more prepared for it to happen because from the time he finally decided to get moving he has been a little monkey trying in every way to keep up with his big bro. His upper body strength is amazing!! Stuart has a pull-up bar that fits in a doorway and he’ll hoist Myles up to it and that little lad will actually do pull ups!!! Oh, and can I just tell you that I am SO jealous of that kid’s abs!! He’s the strongest little guy! Built Ford tough too! He’s like a cannonball! If I’m squatted down to “kid level” to play with them it’s not uncommon for him to completely knock me over! Tough little dude! So all of that to say that since the baby beds weren’t really working anymore we transitioned him to a “big boy bed” about a month ago. He and Qade now have matching beds! It’s cute, though it took me back a few times at first when I’d walk in and see those beds. My “baby” really is gone. 
Now I had a feeling that Myles might have a few rough nights learning to sleep-still in that bed. He seems to be an all over sleeper, and sure enough there were a couple of nights when I heard a distinct plop followed by a wail. Poor guy! He recovers quickly though, but one night he had fallen off on the wall side and when I came into his room he was crying, “Stuck!!!” Ha ha ha!! Had to smile over that one! After that I moved his bed completely against the wall so he only has one way to possibly fall off. He did the next night, but the crying stopped almost right away, and when Stu went in to check on him he had just put himself back to bed! Awwww, what a big boy!
We finally have a playset outside with swings and a slide for the kids to release their energy on. Myles was ready to get at it before we even had it ready! He monkeyed right up the ladders and would “hang” from the beam across the top. He’ll pick up his legs and just swing there, looking ever so much like…. a monkey! The slide tends to be a little fast and if he goes down on his bottom he’ll just kind of shoot off the end, which is terribly funny to watch, but he doesn’t like it that much. So he devised a new way for going down on his tummy! Qade has gone down the slide a few times, but our little OCD child prefers to feel in control so it might take him awhile to really enjoy the slide. Myles however has decided it’s the best and he’ll go up and down and up and down. I enjoy watching.
Myles’ vocab is coming along very well too. He’s saying actual phrases now which is helpful. We had a couple/few weeks of frustration in there when he was trying to communicate to us, but we couldn’t “get it.” Stuart would work with him on saying words because he commented, “He doesn’t know how to say more than one syllable!” Which was pretty much true! He would say “guk-guk” for blanket, now it’s very clearly “bank-it.” He said “bup” for cup, now it’s “cup.” And he’s very good at saying his own and Qade’s name. For awhile when he would call Qade it would be, “Myows, Qade!” He’d have to say both of their names. He’s pretty much got it worked out now though. One thing that thrills me about Myles is his good manners. 
He has always been SO good about saying thank you for pretty much anything. It didn’t matter if you were giving him a snack, changing his diaper or helping him get his shoes on, as soon as you were done he’d have a hearty “gink-oo” ready to go. It sounds much more like the real words now, and I always smile when I hear him say it to one of his friends or Qade when they hand him something. Another thing he’s been doing for some time now is to say “ess you” when someone sneezes! It’s his version of “Bless you” and he says it so fast after a sneeze that sometimes you can barely catch it, but it totally cracks me up!
We’re still working on both boys to get them to use words when frustrated or needing help instead of whining or throwing a fit. It’s a process for sure, but Myles seems to be catching on pretty well. Sometimes, I think, Qade would rather just throw a big fit, and that’s not cool. Myles though usually really does want whatever-it-is to be resolved so he is quicker to actually use his words and ask for help once we remind him. They are both making progress in their different ways and it’s interesting to me to see how they respond differently to similar situations.
The boys are generally buddies, and while they both like to push each other’s buttons at times (Myles gets a LOT of glee out of getting reactions from Qade let me tell ya!) they really are good friends and play well together. I’m very happy that they are close in age, and I’m hoping that having Qade there as his constant will help Myles through the transition of becoming a big brother. Neither of my lads has been very snuggly lately and I miss that! Myles will like to sit on my lap for short moments, but he doesn’t like to be snuggled. We’ll see how that changes once the little one shows up. I could do with a few more cuddles from both of my boys.
Here’s one of the most recent shots I have of Myles. He’s still a two handed thumb sucker when he’s tired. He uses the fingers on the “other” hand to tap on his top lip, and it cracks me up to watch him because he does alternate fingers till he gets through all but the thumb. Sometimes when I’m trying to put him to bed I just have to not watch because it makes me laugh! Believe it or not I’ve been VERY bad about taking pics since we’ve been home from camp, so this was right near the end of camp this summer. He’s a tired boy, can you tell?
My littlest buddy brings so much energy and joy to each day! I’m so happy to have him in our home and watch him grow and monkey around! Looking forward to seeing him become a fantastic big brother as well. He’s our life lover! Even though he does have stints of grumpies like everyone, most of the time he is a very happy lad, and he LOVES to make just about everything fun! I love that! If only I could be more like my Myles!
It’s a pretty place, full of fun stuff like DIRT for the lads to enjoy! Have a great Tuesday! Ta-ta!
