This is a typical moment of playtime at out mommy and me class, except there is actually a girl in the mix! Not so usual....Please notice the birthday boy is wearing his birthday crown.

Mr. Miles, the three year old (wow!), with the top half of his new jammies on. He insisted on wearing it immediately!

Here we are at the birthday celebration at our mommy and me class with his "best friend, Daniela!"

Mommy and Miles at mommy and me class - birthday cupcake in hand.

At Miles' 3 year check up we were told that he is 37" tall and that he weighs 35 pounds. This puts him in the 40% for size and 75% for weight, I think! We also found a new doc to take Miles to that is really close by (yeah) AND combines both eastern and western medicines. Dr. Nancy, as she likes to be called by the kiddos, comes highly recommended, so we were happy to finally get in to her practice after literally months of trying. Miles' liked her, too.

A happy Miles on Christmas morning.....

Notice that Thomas the Tank Engine is not far from him - camera left, near to his little knee...

Miles loves to play trains!!! The request for a train playing partner is sometimes the first words from his mouth in the morning.

( Miles is resting up so that he able to help papa out with the crib to big boy bed transition)

The Big Change has come to the Linder household....

No, I have not gone into early menopause.....hee hee......We switched Miles crib into a Big Boy Bed. Oh boy, did Brian and I wring our hands over this decision, but our little Mr. Miles has taken to the switch over just fine - for now! It has been almost three weeks since the move up, and I have only dreamt that Miles got out of his bed to come find us. Whew! Now to figure out how Miles can keep his stellar record until he turns 18.....

Here is the crib, pre-upgrade (sniff, sniff)

Daddy and his protege working together.....

Miles lends a hand....



Ah - ha! Now I can escape! I'll wait until mommy and daddy are least expecting it......3AM sounds perfect!

But seriously - our little guys' nursery is now a full blown bedroom. No more crib. I guess the binkies go next, then the diapers. Ugh, next thing I know he'll be hassling me to let him take the car out to go see an R rated movie! Oh, the time - it goes by so fast.

It is a GREAT time to be a human being, that is all I will say.......

And the best case of bed head EVER goes to.........

Though it may appear to be windy in our dining area, this is actually the way Miles' hair looked all morning, sans breeze. That is what I get for putting him to bed with wet hair. I left it that way for his day at preschool too, hee hee. I bet people pay big $$ somewhere for this look, right?? Hmmmm, maybe be not.

For Miles' second award of the morning, he takes the gold in most adorable oatmeal covered face category - AGAIN. Seriously, I'll clean him up after breakfast and I'll still find oatmeal on his t-shirt, in his hair, on his elbow (how??) and, of course, on me. When deciding how to dress in the morning, I occasionally recall the wonderful advice given to me by my brother, Jeff, and his wife, Charlotte - wear easily washable clothes at all times when you can - cotton preferably! Some of the best advice given to me ever.

The first day of School!

Okay, so mama is a LITTLE behind on the photos here, but at least it is (barely) still September.....Oh, where does the time go??!!

In the photo below, Miles and Brian are posing at Miles' home away from home - the train table. We have one at home, too. Trains are Miles life right now. His previous obsession (after the initial train obsession) was for his trash truck and the fire truck, but now we are back to the trains, trains, trains - anything-train-related! Boys, eh?

This is my morning view that I see as I am departing his classroom. I get a quick kiss and hug, then he toddles off to the train table. I'll have to get a photo of his buddy, Marco, who is also frequently seen loitering around the same train table. I've been told by his teachers that Marco and Miles play together all day. I really like knowing that he has a friend that he looks forward to seeing. Actually, he likes to talk about going to see his teachers, too - Ms. Christine, Ms. Angela and Ms. Janelle (sp??). Ms. Janelle is in the photo below.

Here is the playground, where Miles is usually riding one the Flinstone-type mobiles (like the red and yellow car on the right bottom of the frame) when I come to fetch him. My little monkey literally squeals with happiness and breaks out a big smile for me, but then quickly saddens when he realizes that my arrival means that he has has to leave. This is good news for me because it mean that he loves his school. This is what I remind myself of when I am bribing him with fresh, cold juice and snacks if he will get in the car!!
This morning we were very happy to see (and surprised by) the proofs from Miles' first school pictures. Yes, his first school pictures! I was not thinking that he would get school pics this early OR that he would actually pose for them. But, the photographer worked miracles and clicked some wonderful shots or our little (fast growing) monkey. Now I can cross a few holiday presents off the list and it is only September. Fancy that - I am actually ahead on something. I love it!

This has got to be the MOST exciting moment in the two and half years of Miles life thus far!

To sit IN the fire truck with papa, wow, what a hoot. We only play fire truck/trash truck at home 30 hours a day! Or so it seems......Seriously, when he and I are riding around town we count the number of trash trucks, fire trucks, police cars and cement mixers that we encounter. To actually sit in one of these exciting and LOUD machines - well that is a toddler boy's (or at least my toddler boy's) biggest dream come true!

By the way - Miles is holding in his little pink hand, Percy the train, one of the Thomas The Tank Engine figures. As long as he is in possession of a toy with wheels, life is good. So simple, huh?