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!