Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Hello friends and family! We hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas! We were able to see and celebrate with my (Megan's) side of the family already, and are off in about 10 minutes to see Matt's family and continue the festivities. Having a baby really reminds me of how helplessly Jesus entered our world. The King of King and Lord of Lords...completely dependent! The story really takes on a new meaning in light of our new experiences these past few months.

Some new things from the past week or so: Miles is batting at toys, smiling even more than before, putting himself to sleep for most naps (I still let him fall asleep for the night during his last feeding), and possibly teething (it seems early, I know, so we'll see). He is now over 17 lbs, and just turned 4 months old on the 28th.

Before we leave in a minute here, I wanted to post some pictures from the Christmas celebrations we had with my family (notice the difference in picture quality--we got a Nikon D50 for Christmas from my parents. Thanks guys! These are just the first of many memories we will capture with such a thoughtful gift!):

Enjoying Grandma's tickle games

Men's edition of the grab-bag game at the big Visser Christmas party (we rent my childhood school's gym, play volleyball/basketball/etc., eat a potluck dinner, visit with a ton of family that we wish we could see more often, and open presents).

Great Grandma Stob is happy to see Miles!

And play dress-up with Miles using her scarf:)

"What just happened to me?"

The next day we had the Stob-side Christmas party at my parent's house. Aunt Charity tried to soak up as much Miles as she could before going back to Alaska!

My brother Nate couldn't get off of work for long enough to make it out for Christmas, so my mom found a dessert recipe for "Orange Alaska", which we ate "in memory" of him. It consists of an orange sherbet/yogurt/juice mixture on the bottom of a frozen organge-half, topped with meringue, and broiled to a brown which makes it look like mountain-tops. We guessed that is where it got the "Alaska" part of its name.

Matt and my Dad went out for a morning of experimenting with cameras while all of the ladies got together for coffee at my Grandma's house. Here is one of our favorite pics that Matt took.

Blessings to all of you in this New Year! We pray especially for those who have spent days or nights alone during this season, and for those who have lost loved ones around this sentimental time of year. We thank God especially right now for the years we were able to spend with our sister-in-Christ Shari, who went to her heavenly home just a few days ago to celebrate Christmas with Christ himself.

Thank you for the important role that each of you play in our lives! Thank you for all of the great times we will have been able to spend with many of you over the holiday season! Oh, and many of you are reporting that you can't post comments on our blog. We'll try to check into that once things slow down again. Thanks for checking faithfully, and let us know if you are trying to post and can't.

Miles Got ran Over by a Reindeer

I was thinking what gift I could get you and I think I have just the thing... a new post!


This week has slowed down quite a bit from the busyness of the last few weeks. All of the students (for the most part) have gone home, and Megan is on break. That doesn't mean there is nothing to do, with Christmas just around the corner we are just wrapping up our Christmas shopping, but all in all it has been a good week. We also have gotten a few feet of snow over the last week (literally) making travel a little dicey at times, but we have been safe so far and we hope that our travels to Chicago and Detroit over the next week are also safe (The Vibe seems to do well in the snow!)

Here are a few Miles pictures from our family to yours:

Miles really likes our bed. If I need to pick up in our bedroom, I can just sit him up in our bed and he is content for 10-15 minutes. Here is Miles listening to some of his favorite Christmas music while keeping his legs warm under the blankets...



Megan and I get very excited about little things that Miles does, in case you haven't figured that out yet. Though we are usually excited and encouraging about Miles' development, during our not-so-proud moments we actually mock, mimic or just plain make fun of the poor kid. One of our favorite things to make fun of is his obsession with holding his hands close to his mouth. This is probably something all babies do, but we find it funny/ridicules. This video is an example of what I am talking about...


Miles' New Trick from Matt Cooke on Vimeo.

Finally, here is a video we posted last time, but for some reason is inaccessible.... enjoy!

Miles' Fake Laugh from Matt Cooke on Vimeo.

All right, that is all for now. From the Cooke's we wish all of our blog readers a Merry Christmas and a very happy holiday season.

All right, a few quick notes and then a couple of quick videos... well, maybe not quick, but cute:

We are doing well. I feel that we have gotten into a good rhythm with our life with Miles. Like it usually is in December, life is very busy, but things are slowing down and soon we will be enjoying Christmas break!

The last week and a half has brought along a few changes in Miles, which we have caught on film.

The first video is not of something new, but it is funny. While talking Miles lets out a little toot. It is pretty hilarious.

Miles talks ... and farts... from Matt Cooke on Vimeo.

Video #2 is a good example of Miles holding his head up, not a new trick, but one that he is continuing to master. The problem is that he doesn't quite know how to use his arm yet to push himself up, so he overcomes that by using his legs as counter balance to his head going up (you can sometimes make out his legs in the background). He is making this whole situation very difficult, hence the grunts and so forth. However there is a trademark Miles smirk towards the end of the video as he catches sight of the camera.

Miles on his Belly from Matt Cooke on Vimeo.

Finally, Video #3 shows some great giggles and laughs from Mr. Miles. The beginning laughs almost sound like sympathy laughs, but he begins to really get into it towards the end.

Untitled from Matt Cooke on Vimeo.

So there you have it. Hope all of our faithful readers are well and we will post again soon.

A rich life!

Well, this has been a really busy week or two for us! We are excited to be home again and to find a slow weekend evening to" just hang out"...and blog again:)

We were able to go to Matt's parents' house for the Thanksgiving weekend. Miles enjoyed hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa Cooke, Aunt Laura and her boyfriend Stephen, and little Cocoa. He had a bit of a rough time sleeping, but overall handled the trip well. We took out a lot of the Christmas decorations throughout the weekend, including the Christmas tree(s). Here's Miles hanging his own ornament (the whole family has the same ornament with their name on it!).



After being home for just a little while, Miles and I headed off to Chicago to visit my parents. First road trip as just the two of us! We had a wolf run in front of our car on the way there, which was a little scary. The wolf was beautiful, though!

We stayed by my parents Tuesday through Thursday. It was a great trip; I think Miles was a little more used to being away from home. We stayed pretty busy, and Miles rolled with the punches better than expected. We visited a lot of people, had some people come visit us, went and got his 3 month pictures taken at a studio (a four and a half hour event including a mini-nap for Miles in the middle:-}), and did a few photo shoots of our own (my dad takes great pictures!). Here is Miles visiting his Great Grandparents:

Great Grandma and Grandpa Visser (my Dad's 'rents)




Great Grandma Stob (Mom's Mom)

So Miles has been itchin' to sit up on his own, which he cannot do yet. This seat was a present from the VanderLaans, and it is perfect! Miles sits right up in it, and the seat can go anywhere! We pulled this out after getting home from Chicago, and he's been enjoying it ever since!



On a different note, Matt and I got a babysitter last night and went to the Rosie Thomas concert. It was great! It was downtown at the Ladies Literary Club, which is a gorgeous venue. The music was great, the company was great, and the night away was SO great (it was a surprise from Matt)! Rosie's singing voice is so rich...and so different from her speaking voice (for those of you who also went to the concert:))

We look forward to a week that is as low-key and boring as possible. Matt is finishing up evaluations with his RA staff, and I am beginning to study for my LD endorsement test, but besides that we hope to chill quite a bit.

Thanks for checking in on our lives! We hope you are all doing well, and are enjoying the Holiday season. We thank God for his grace and love, for his son, and for his forgiveness.

The last three weeks

Hey blog fans! Milestones is back and full of new adventures and observations about our new life with Miles. So let's get started!

New Observations:

Keep Your Head Up! - As many of you know, Miles is gifted. I say this with a wink, but one way that Miles does seem to be quite strong in is his... well... his strength. For instance, when he was having tests in his first couple of weeks, the doctor would struggle to hold on to a foot to draw blood, or when early on we would put him on his belly he would lift his head up. Over the last few weeks we have gotten to the point where he doesn't need any support to hold his head up. Now, I don't know how unusual this is for a 10-12 week old, but it sure has been fun for us.


Miles holding his head up... from Matt Cooke on Vimeo.

Miles Smiles! - This also has been a Miles specialty. He has great smiles and is becoming more and more generous with them.

Curious Miles! - Miles has also been a lot more curious recently. Perhaps it is because he can see better now or that his neck is stronger, but I like to think that he is becoming more aware of his surroundings. He has been known to watch Megan or I as we work across the room or follow us as we walk past him.

Social Butterfly! - We have had a number of big events over the last few weeks - the annual Beaverdam auction, many KE events and RA meetings, and his baptism. Over this time we have noted how well he does with new people. In fact, he seems to enjoy other people very much. During our time at the auction, for instance, he was handed off to another teacher early on and neither Megan or I held him again for another 2 and a half hours. The whole time he was calm being handed from parent to teacher to students.

Like I said above, Miles had his baptism last weekend. This was a joyful time of celebration of the work that God is doing and will continue to do in his life. Not only was the service great (Madison does a really nice job with this), but the symbol of what the day means is the most moving. And if that isn't good enough, Megan and some of her friends made a great dessert spread that we all were able to enjoy afterward.

On to the pictures and videos...


Miles Survives the Fire Drill from Matt Cooke on Vimeo.

A video of Miles in the bath (don't worry, it is rated "G"). He has always enjoyed the bath event, but this is a fun video of him discovering that he can kick.

Miles Kicking in the Bath from Matt Cooke on Vimeo.


Miles and Megan playing with a new toy... mirrors!
We call these pictures the "couch shoot"
Back in the bath...
Miles showing his Calvin pride!
Miles loves his family...

Happy Voting!

Well, we wanted to introduce Miles to the voting process as soon as possible. Today he walked with us to the Woodlawn Ministry building, waited in line, rolled up to the booth (in his stroller), and even got an "I Voted" sticker.

Here he is in great anticipation of leaving to go vote.

Matching stickers

Happy to realize how easy it is!

We also wanted to post a few pictures of our little pumpkin. Calvin's optional junior-senior housing (where we now live) hosts something called "Light in the Night" every year on Oct. 31st. The public is invited to bring canned goods as an entrance fee, and then trick-or-treat around the apartment buildings in a fun and safe environment. Each apartment has a different theme, and decorates/dresses up according to that theme. Miles visited each of the buildings (8), and got a lot of attention in his pumpkin outfit. Matt dressed as a punk rocker (other guesses were Billy Idol, a rock-star, or Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day). It was fun to see all of the kids (and their parents) in some very creative costumes!

Miles with his friend Eli Wise

Family pic

Where's Miles?

Awwwww!

Waking up after a little snooze.

Lastly, here is a video that we recorded while waiting to hear the results of the Presidential Election. Miles loves hanging out on Dad's lap. Fun always abounds...

Miles' Dance from Matt Cooke on Vimeo.

Happy Miles-o-ween!

Hey folks,

Our little guy just celebrated his 2 month birthday yesterday and he continues to change at a rapid speed. He has gotten very comfortable smiling now (especially on the changing table... seriously, he loves to have his diapers changed) and in his baby-bathtub. He also has started to laugh along with those smiles. Over the last few weeks he has begun to get out a little bit more including trips to a few restaurants, a short hike, and a couple of Calvin events (pumpkin carving in KE and the dedication service for the new dorm on campus).

Another big change this week was Megan's first trip back to work. Megan has gone down to one day a week at her school, which still gives her plenty of quality mom-time with Miles. However, starting this week, every Monday will consist of Megan going out to Hudsonville, and me "staying home" with the young guy. This works well because I work where we live (literally my office is right next to our apartment) and I can put the video-baby-monitor on my desk so I can work when he is sleeping, and easily do other odd jobs in the apartment when he is awake.

Anyway, this week was our first attempt at what is going to become a typical Monday. Things went very well, Megan had a good day, and Miles and dad had some good hang-out time.

I will conclude this post with shameless pictures of our cute little guy, with helpful captions. Enjoy.

His shirt says it all.

There is that award winning smile!

Miles isn't typically so worried when wearing his sweet sweat-suit. He probably thinks the camera-person is eying his bouncy seat.

Miles before one of his favorite activities... bath-time!

Yeah, he is pretty cute! (hanging out in his ring-sling from our friend Jodi)

To Schedule or Not To Schedule

So, in case anyone is wondering...parenting is not easy! :) Getting pregnant demanded our trust in God; a safe, full-term pregnancy demanded our trust in God; now raising our child(ren) will demand our trust in God. God is the reason that all of our petty parenting foibles are ok...Miles has a perfect Father who will never make mistakes or let him down. Now, God is not deciding whether to use cloth diapers or when to introduce solids. There are lots of decisions that parents make in the hopes that they are serving their children well.

One of the first questions we get from other parents, and one of the first huge parenting-style decisions Matt and I have had to make, is whether or not we are going to put Miles on a schedule. There are many books supporting scheduling, and many books supporting demand-parenting (watching and responding to your baby's cues). So far this has been an easy decision for us because we are not very scheduled people. It would stress me out to watch the clock all day. We love being able to leave the apartment to run errands, go out with friends, or enjoy the Fall weather without needing to worry about how these things fit into Miles' schedule. What we have started to do, however, is get Miles into a bit of a routine. We didn't discover this routine (I forget which book(s) it is from--thank you Sarah for the suggestion!) until a few weeks ago, and until then we were always guessing at what Miles needed when he started to cry. The routine has helped us to really get to know Miles' cues, and we rarely have to question his needs anymore. (Part of the "ease" is due to the fact that he is getting more expressive as he gets older, and the fact that Miles seems to be a pretty easy-going baby.)

The routine is this: eat, play, sleep, repeat. If we stick to this, we know that when Miles wakes up he will be hungry. We also get to enjoy Miles being happy while awake, since he'll have just eaten. When he starts getting fussy again, it's a pretty good bet that he's tired. This is no science; we have a lot to learn yet, and his cues seem to change as he grows, but we wanted to share some of his cues with you:

(Two disclaimers: First of all, don't watch video three if you don't like watching babies cry:) Second of all, we apologize for the quality of the videos. We are currently using our point and shoot camera to catch these short clips, and they usually end up really dark.)

At this point, we rock Miles to sleep for a few minutes and then put him down in his swing for his naps. He usually starts getting tired about 1.5 - 2 hours after waking up last. Often he'll start yawning, and his eyes will look somewhat red. He also seems really confused, and goes in between happy and sad a few times. After a few yawns, I went to get the camera, and caught the confusion:

When his cry doesn't really stop, but gets quieter/louder/quieter/louder, he is usually uncomfortable in some sort of way. Here he is hating his car seat as we stop for gas on the way back from Chicago:
For almost every need, there are early signs, middle signs, and late signs to let us know. When Miles is hungry, he starts with sticking his tongue out over and over, as you'll see here. If I don't see this, or if I don't get around to feeding him right away, it turns into rooting. He starts trying to eat whatever is in front of his face (blanket, his hand, my arm...). Missing these signs ends in the late signs: crying with high-pitched screams peppered throughout!

A picture extravaganza!

So, another big weekend for the Cooke Family. Miles is becoming quite the world traveler... or at least a Midwest traveler. After an eventful trip to Chicago two weeks ago for a baby shower, there was another (and final) baby shower for young Miles. This trip brought together some great moments with folks who are near and dear to Megan and I, and hopefully to Miles.

Miles with Uncle Chris. While Chris isn't my brother, he is like one to me, and he has earned the title of Uncle.
Miles was also able to meet two more of his Great Grandparents (He already met Great Grandma Stob and Great Grandma & Grandpa Visser when we were in Chi-town), and we got a couple of "four generation" pictures. The first one is with Great Grandma Cooke, and the second is with Great Grandpa Jack.
Speaking of Grandparents, Grandma Cooke got a lot of Miles time. Here is a shot from their photo shoot together.
So, that was a few photos from this weekend. Miles is beginning to smile more and more. He also has shown signs of wanting to suck his thumb, is even more alert each day, and continues to grow big and tall. He will be seven weeks old on Thursday, and we are shocked at how fast it has flown by. Miles is also surprised at how fast it has flown by...

A day in the life of...

The following pictures take you through Miles' day yesterday. It was quite a busy day for the little guy:)



First, since Miles' jaundice is still lingering, we place him in the sun (through the window) in nothing but a diaper for 10 minutes twice a day. Usually he sits in his bouncy chair and lounges as if sunbathing at some expensive resort. Yesterday the sun was more sparse though, and the only patch of light was right next to the door. The poor guy had to lay right next to the glass (brrr), but loved it and stayed content the whole time!




After a nap and a meal, it was playtime once again (what a life). One of our new favorite toys is this playmat. Miles loves looking all around him at the colorful walls and hanging toys, as well as listening to the nature sounds option. The flower in the corner there is a mirror....he laid here and stared at himself for the longest time! I think he just wanted to make sure he looked good for all those baby girls on our family outing...




...to Robinettes, a local apple orchard. This was our first destination outing (besides to a store or a friend's house). We went on a hay ride (Miles slept the whole time), shopped in the cutesy store (Miles continued to sleep), and ate doughnuts with hot apple cider (surprise, surprise, Miles slept through that too). He got lots of oos and ahs, and lots of people wanted to get a close look at "such a small baby". His biggest fan was a little girl, about four years old. Her big brown eyes studied him so intently. Very cute!




You just can't go to Robinettes without taking a picture by the huge apple. Apparently Miles had heard about the famous landmark, and woke up for the excitement.




After another nap and satisfying meal, Miles got to talk with his Uncle Nate on "skype". Using this format, we can talk to and see each other at the same time-- all on the computer. We took the opportunity to take a picture of the two of them together. Miles was more excited about this than he is showing in this picture:) He was just sad to have to say goodbye:(


Well, that's one day in the life of Miles Matthew Cooke (we left out all of the poopy diaper parts). Matt and I cannot reiterate enough how much joy he brings us, and how blessed we are to share his days with him!