Psych!

Miles has figured out that faking someone out is funny.  I have no idea where he learned this.  During their snack this morning, he would reach out his graham cracker.  He gave me a couple little nibbles, and then he started jerking it back right before I would bite.  Both he and Vivienne found this hilarious and continued to repeat it over and over.  Too cute.

Will the Real Miles Fox Please Stand Up?

Miles just stood up on his own for the very first time this morning!  I was sitting in the floor feeding them string cheese, when he just pushed himself up from my legs and stood up on his own.  He stood for about 3 seconds and then leaned forward for another bite and snuggled down in my lap.  I'm so proud of him.  Go, Miles!!

Overnight Trip to Wilmington

Last week while Jason's parents were visiting, we planned a last-minute overnight trip to Wilmington.  We went to a wonderful bed and breakfast near downtown Wilmington called the Verandas.  Jason found it online, and it was the perfect getaway for us.

We arrived on a Tuesday afternoon.  After grabbing some lunch at The Basics, we checked into The Verandas.  It is a lovely 8500 square foot mansion that is over 150 years old.  Our room was perfect, and the bathroom had a large soaker tub that I thoroughly enjoyed.

We explored Wilmington on foot for a while and then headed back to the B&B to get cleaned up for dinner.  Before dinner, we took a horse-drawn carriage tour of the Historic District.

 We ate at a wonderful little fondue joint called The Little Dipper.  We really enjoyed sipping wine, eating some delicious food and having some uninterrupted adult conversation.  Of course, we missed Miles and Vivienne, though.

The next day, we enjoyed a gourmet breakfast in the dining room.  It was fun to chat with the other guests - another couple who were having a night away from their kids.  After breakfast, we lounged around The Verandas and reluctantly checked out.

Next, we went to Airlie Gardens.  It is a beautiful botanical gardens near Wilmington with some incredible trees.  The grand "Airlie Oak" is over 450 years old.  It has been there since 1545.  Incredible.  This tree was enormous.  It was hard to actually capture the entire tree in a photo.  If you look closely in the bottom right-hand corner, you will see a little speck that is actually Jason standing by the tree.

We strolled slowly through the gardens and then made our way to Wrightsville Beach.  We have lived in North Carolina for almost 3 years, and we have never seen the Carolina Coast.  We walked on the beach for about an hour before heading back home.

Next time we go to Wilmington, we will have to plan better and see our friend, Jessica.  A huge thanks to Lila and Keith for watching Miles and Vivienne and giving us some much needed time away together.

Vivienne Is Walking Well

It's official.  Vivienne is "walking well."  At our church, the kids move up to the next room when they are "14 months and walking well."  We hit the 14-month mark, but neither of our kiddos were walking well yet.  Over the past couple of weeks, Vivienne has definitely moved to the walking well stage.  She rarely crawls anymore, unless the terrain is too uneven for her to walk easily.  She even tries to walk up and down the stairs (which is much less efficient than her crawling brother).

Miles is still a crawler.  His balance seems to be improving, though.  He'll walk someday.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was very low key this year.  I imagine next year we will be ramping up with full blown costumes.  This year, I decided to keep it simple and got the kids Halloween pajamas - a glow-in-the-dark skeleton for miles and a Halloween kitty cat for Vivienne (thanks, Grandma!).  We went to our friend Knox's house for a little get-together.  His mother, Dina, is incredibly talented at all things home decor/crafty/baking/cooking.  She amazes me.  She made pumpkin bisque shots, pumpkin parfaits in mommy and baby sizes, little mummy cookies and more.  I have no idea how she manages to do all this with little Knox in the picture.  I could only dream to be so creative and organized.

Here are our little monsters:

Temper Tantrums & Trouble Sharing

I think we have reached a more challenging phase with Miles and Vivienne.  They both seem to be getting their molars, which is making for some fussy toddlers.  I don't give them anything for their teeth yet, but I might try giving Vivienne a little Tylenol today.  We can see her two top molars coming in, and she has been sticking her fingers back in her mouth over the past couple of days.  I'm sure that they are bothering her.

The kids are also learning to share.  Sometimes they share very well.  Vivienne will pick up both lovies, and she will crawl over to Miles and give him his.  It's very sweet.  Other times, they don't share too well.  Miles will crawl over to sit on my lap, and then Vivienne will quickly crawl over to me, already starting to cry, and try to push Miles out of my lap.  This happens at least 4 times a day, sometimes more.  I usually just try to hold both of them and remind her that we have to share (though I'm not sure that she can hear me over her wailing?).

They are also having to learn to share their toys.  One child will be playing with a toy and the other child will decide that they want it.  They either snatch it away from the first child or they begin a tug-of-war.  Inevitably, these incidents end in a dual wailing session.  I just try to go to my happy place in my head so that it's not a three-way wailing session.  =)

I have also seen the beginnings of temper tantrums.  Miles wanted to play with my iPhone this morning.  I took it away from him, and he completely lost control of himself.  He was crying, rolling around on the floor, completely inconsolable.  I immediately decided to just put them both down for a nap.  I think that they are both tired this morning, and it is resulting in some cranky and emotional babies. 

So this stage of parenting is really honing my patience.  I want to try to prevent myself from getting too irritated or losing my temper.  That wouldn't help anything, and I think that that would just elevate the emotional response in Miles and Vivienne.  I'm trying to keep a cool head, saying a lot of prayers and help Miles and Viv learn to manage their emotions. 

Sneaky Little Guy

Yesterday, Miles was dropping his food on the floor, as he tends to do.  He does this when he's hungry, when he's done eating, when he's tired, when he's excited. It's his thing, much to my dismay.  I looked at him and sternly said,"Miles, NO DROPPING."  We had a stare down for a few seconds.  A big piece of tumbleweed rolled by.  Then, he slowly took a piece of food, put it under his high chair tray and dropped it on the floor from there.  I had to concentrate hard not to smile at that.  I guess he thinks that I can't figure out how he's doing that or he thinks I won't see it?  Sneaky little guy.  Let the games begin...