9 Month check-up

Miles had his 9 month check-up today! He's healthy - finally! The wheezing has been gone for nearly a month now. I couldn't be happier!

Miles weighed in at 19lbs 12oz, putting him in the 45% for boys his age.
He was only 28.5 inches long, putting him in the 55% for boys his age.
His Dr. said this wasn't a big growing time for him - his energy is going to development instead of growth.
I could have told her that. Miles is super mobile, very smart, and gaining in coordination every day! What a stud - he'll be starting pitcher for the A's in no time.

Miles didn't have to get a shot today. He's technically due for the Hep B booster, but the Dr. said that he could get that booster at 9 mo or 12 mo - she prefers to let him have a happy 9 mo appointment and to put all of the "hurt" into one. I'm totally OK with that!

I'm needing sleep. Shots would have made tonight a long night. Miles was up most of last night-screaming and sweaty. Our air conditioning wasn't working all day yesterday and most of today. A cooling tower went down, so the entire South tower (all 22 floors) was without A/C on the hottest couple days of our year so far. Being on the first floor on the side of the building facing the north tower, we don't get much air circulation at all. Our apartment hovered at a sweltering 95 degrees with nasty humidity for a very long time. Miles was angry - and rightfully so - but he did sleep with his own personal fan. Neither Nate or I got that!

Luckily - as of 7 pm tonight, the A/C is up and running again, but at 50% capacity. There are 2 cooling towers for our building and one is on order for arrival sometime next week. Let's just hope the 2nd tower doesn't go down, and if it does, let's hope for cooler weather!

Oh yeah - for your viewing pleasure - here's a video (taken tonight in our dark living room) of Miles laughing during his dinner time. I'm still not sure what was sooo funny!

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Posted in: 9 months,Miles

Trying to enjoy the outdoors tonight...

Just a few pictures of Miles playing outside tonight after we got home from work/daycare. The sun was out - it was just too nice to sit inside the rest of the night.

Riding around on the truck

a gentle breeze through Miles' wild hair

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Posted in: Miles

Lazy Sunday

Today was a 'sit around the apartment' day.

Nate spent a large majority of his time working on his 3D model for studio, and Miles and I played on the floor.

We ate pancakes this morning - which Miles loved!! He tried some orange juice too. We played with some stacking toys and read some books. We watched Charlotte's Web and wrestled with Cooper. Nate took a break to share some milk and oreos with Miles. Now we know why dad is Miles' bestest friend!

In the afternoon, I took Miles outside to enjoy a pedialyte popsicle. His teeth are still bothering him, I thought cold might help a little. Miles thought the popsicle was a great idea! I let him play around in the grass for a while too! After the outside time, Miles and I spent about 30 minutes walking/riding the red racing truck in the long hallway of our building (thanks for sending the toy, Gma and Gpa!)

For dinner, Miles ate lots of frozen peas (again, for the sore gums) and he even at some steamed broccoli and pork chops! He made a mess-which made the transition to the bath quicker than usual! Miles didn't really mind since it's usually the highlight of his evening with mom. The picture below is proof that I brush his hair after a bath ( since some of you have questioned)- however as soon as it dries, it will return to the usual wild style. I do have to admit it looks a little ridiculous combed over....

Miles trying to get dad to take a break before bed time.... But.. just when he thought that his day couldn't get any better, dad and Miles had one more bonding event before bed-holding onto dad's little hairs for dear life!

Miles loves his dad and is really going to miss him these next few weeks as the end of the semester creeps up quickly.

To slow back down and get ready for bed, Miles and I read a couple of stories and said good night, sweet dreams!

I love family fun days.... and can't wait for studio to be over with - but at least Nate was able to be at home instead of at school this weekend. :)~

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Posted in: Miles,Video

Miles is 9 months old today!

It's hard to believe that just nine months ago, Nate and I were hanging out in a birthing suite in Ames, Iowa - alone for the first time with our new little man! We had no idea what the next few months would look like or how much our lives would change (for the better, of course). Life since October 2008 has been incredible!!
After spending equal time breathing air and not breathing air, Miles appears to be a big fan of the outside. His curiousity gets the best of him most days. I can only imagine life inside gets boring. The same exact thing happens everyday. His personality is fun loving and mischevious. He loves to laugh, loves to move, and loves to cuddle.
Miles is changing sooo fast! Everyone tells you 'not to blink when raising an infant or you'll miss something!' Oh my - is that true! I never would have believed it until I had lived it! Miles was unable to move one morning, and was rolling across the floor by the afternoon. He was limited to rolling for a few weeks, and then he was crawling. The next day he was pulling himself up with furniture and now he's on the brink of walking. He's incredible and so smart already!

To try and capture how fast our last 9 months have flown, I've put together a little show! Enjoy!

So, to celebrate the big occasion, we went on Miles' first bike ride. He had a blast :) He was very intrigued with Nate's bike tires. What was he learning?!? I would love to know how his mind works. Unfortunately, I failed to get pictures of the bike event in action, but the last few pics in the video above are of Miles in his helmet just after we returned. We'll be better about documenting the ride next time. Promise!

Oh.. and to help Miles fit-in on the East coast, I gave him a partial haircut. I just trimmed around his ears and got rid of ALL 3 RAT TAILS!! This is only his 2nd haircut ever! Don't worry, ladies - I didn't touch the poofball on top!

Yeah for Life. Yeah for Miles !

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Posted in: 9 months,Miles,Video

Smart Cookie!

Miles has been able to recognize who his mom and dad are for a long time. He knows our voices and our faces well. His new daycare made posters of family pictures for the room. Each kid in the "little panda" room has his/her own laminated 12x12 poster.

The posters are along the low cabinets in the room. The day they were posted, Miles went straight to HIS poster! He kept ripping it down, sticking it in his mouth and crawling away. He likes to use his mouth as a third hand to hold things while in transit - so its almost as if he's trying to take us along on his journey across the floor. Today was the 2nd day the posters were up. Miles continued his new little game of pulling down our family's poster. He has yet to bother the other posters! I spoke with his teacher and we have a little experiment planned. Sometime next week, when she returns from vacation, she is going to hide and/or move our family poster to see if he continues to seek us out, or if he'll bother the other posters..


I think its fun to see how his little mind works! Sorry, that kind of rambled! I'm just super excited that Miles can pick us out of a crowd!

Miles is on the verge of a new skill - I promise to keep you posted as he develops mastery! I've been working with Miles a lot, to learn to wave bubbye. Today, he showed me that he's at least paying attention. He started to do a little of the "hand bending" type of wave (as opposed to the whole hand shaking kind of wave.) His hand was low and not really in plain site of the person we were leaving, but we are getting there! I'm excited that he's such a smart little cookie! The other skill we are working on is trying to blow kisses. That's a ways off yet... But it doesn't hurt to try, right!?

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Posted in: Miles

Home Sweet New York??

After a nice little break from our New York reality, Miles and I are home. We missed Nathan way to much to stay away any longer!

Our trip east started about 8am central. We hopped in the truck with my parents and headed to the Madison airport. We arrived shortly before 10am. We were able to hang out in the visitor's lounge with them for about a half hour before beginning our trek through security.

While playing in the lounge, a super nice lady made a few sweet comments about my little prince charming and headed on her way. While walking around our gate, we learned that the nice lady was about to be our flight attendant! She informed us that the captain loved kids and really missed his grandson. The captain invited us on board more than a half hour before everyone else was allowed to board. Miles got to play in the aisles, climb on seats, and hang out in the cockpit for a while with the captain. Miles was having a great time! I was really wishing that my camera was in the bag I brought on board......

Our layover in Cleveland was packed with Miles finding new obstacles, discovering new hiding places, and making new friends. He was able to really tire himself out and slept a majority of our final flight back to NY.

Once back in NY, we hopped a bus to the Harlem-125th Street train station for the Metro North Line. We bought our ticket and watched for Nathan to meet us there! Miles was soooo excited to see his dad again! We rode the train back to White Plains-the whole time Miles hardly even knew that I existed. He and his daddy were in their own little world! I welcomed the little break and was super pumped to see Nathan again too!

In one day, Miles rode in a truck, a couple airplanes, a bus, and a train! He's taken his mobility to a new level! Though its sad to leave our families in Iowa, its great to reunite my own little family.

Today, we're back to work and daycare - Nate's still doing the school thing. Daycare squealed about how happy they were to have Miles back (he's every one's entertainment_I'm loving his personality) and my lab mates mentioned how boring the lab was without me. I guess I've made a good impression. Nate's schedule will continue to get tougher these last few weeks of his semester. We cannot wait until his break in August... We are surviving NY!

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Posted in: Kelly,Miles,Nathan

Big Red Race Truck

Miles got a new toy in Iowa!

Below is Miles showing off his walking skills with the Little People Big Red Racing Truck!
[ Sorry-you will have to turn your head to the side. There is no way to rotate a video on here :( ]


The truck even comes with 2 little cars and 4 "little people". They are all so fun. Miles enjoys putting the little people in his mouth - along with everything else!

Thanks G*ma and G*pa for helping Miles find a whole new level of mobility :) Little guy will be walking on his own in no time !!

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Posted in: Miles

Flying with Miles

Flying with Miles was much easier than I had ever anticipated. Less the drama of actually finding the correct terminal with enough time to board the plane, we had a very easy trip to Iowa.

Miles was fed a bottle during each take off and was sleeping during each landing. The feedings matched up perfectly with his schedule!

Our first flight was from New York to Cleveland - Miles and I had the whole back row of the plane to ourselves. Miles took about a half hour nap on the seats!

Once in Cleveland, we walked, crawled, and played for the entire layover in hopes of wearing out the little guy. The only one exhausted by the time we boarded was me! Miles made lots of friends-people from San Diego and a Dallas Cowboys football recruit. He has no fear. Size does not matter to Miles!
Miles loved smacking the windows trying to get the airplane's attention.
Getting to Madison was a great relief! We met up with G*ma and G*pa Banwarth and Emily. They helped carry the big guy and all of our stuff! My arms needed a break!! The drive back to Iowa was short and sweet - and our time in Iowa, so far, has been wonderful! The Klinge's and the Banwarth's really know how to spoil and love that little boy!

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Posted in: Miles

Big Monday!!

So... I finally gave into my paranoid mom tensions and took Miles to the pediatrician today. She said that he does have a cold, but it is not (yet) affecting his ears. The mild fevers are most likely caused by that fact that his gums are rather swollen again. Apparently 8 teeth aren't enough. Is this borderline selfishness?? However, the teething issue does explain why he hasn't been sleeping very well either. I was sooo hoping to get a little break from the teething frenzy!

Diagnosis: head cold and teething - give him Motrin for swelling/fevers. Good to fly!

Oh well.... On the bright side, we were home super early today. After going to the grocery store to get Nate his 'bachelor foods' (for while Miles and I are in Iowa), we came home, grabbed Cooper, and went on a super long walk. We broke out the big jogger stroller, filled up the cup holders with Kix, and we were on our way. We walked in an area of White Plains we'd never ventured before and found a sweet side entrance to the Bronx River Parkway... Yeah for my commute! So after our 1.5 hour power walk through Southern White Plains, we returned to our apartment complex just in time to see a firetruck and a motorcycle cop. Miles loved the lights. Apparently a car in the underground parking lot had spilled gas - they were just the clean up crew).

Miles got to shake hands with the big muscly, tattooed cop on the motorcycle, and smiled his pretty smile at the firetruck to get them to flash the lights, honk, and squeal the siren a little. Though little guy was startled, he smiled and clapped as they passed him. It was super cute and I was bummed that I didn't take my camera on our walk!

When we entered the apartment, we saw on the mail room TV screen that we had a package! Yeah... the three of us (Miles, Coop and myself) hauled across the building to the concierge in the other tower. She gave us our package! Miles' bike seat finally arrived!! Nate and I cannot wait to take him on a ride... now we are just waiting for the helmet to arrive (scheduled for tomorrow!!)

So.. when the excitement of the bike seat wore off... I took an opportunity to record Miles' favorite disobedient activity.. Watch below: He already broke one bowl... and he's fixing to break a second...

Ahh.. the beauty of little boys....!!

PS... Only 3 more days until we are in Iowa to see G-ma's, G-pa's, Aunts, and Unc's! Yeah!

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Posted in: Miles

6 days and counting....

Miles and I will be heading to Iowa for a very quick trip in 6 days!! We are super excited to see family again - though the trip is a little bittersweet since we have to leave Nate behind.

As most of you remember, our vacation to Philly last July was a bit of a tragedy, but we did manage to get a $250 voucher towards the purchase of another continental airline ticket... The ticket expires on July 25 and Nate's still in school until the end of August! We couldn't let the voucher go to waste, so Miles will be flying for his first time ever in less than 6 days. Nate will have some quality time with his design while his favorite distractions are 1600+ miles away :)

I'm debating on taking him to the doctor, even though he's not really sick, just to make sure he doesn't have the slightest of ear infections. I really don't want him to scream in pain the entire time we are airborne, and then be sick during our whole trip! We have lots of kisses and hugs to squeeze into a very short time. Am I a crazy, paranoid mom?? Oh well... no matter what you think, I'm still going to call his Ped and looking into getting his ears looked at. This trip is to important to mess up!

Miles is excited to show off his clapping, high five, mama, dada, crawling, standing up, and walking with a little support skills. WATCH out FAMILY!! Here he comes... Ready or not!

We really cannot wait! Love you all!

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Apology

8:42am Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Nate's columbia post keeps jumbling..
I'll work on it. I promise.....

11:26pm Tuesday, July 7, 2009
ok... you'd all be so proud of me. I actually managed to edit the html code in a way that the post looks a little better... well, as good as its going to get! Yeah! Enjoy.
In case you're curious, I've included the site where I found the code! I'm so tech-y that I'm on a whole new level of nerdy!

http://tips.blogdoctor.me/2007/10/tips-on-pictures-in-blogger.html


Have a lovely rest of the week!

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Columbia University

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Nate Klinge

Some pictures to let you know where I spend a lot of time……

Main entry to campus from Broadway






Studio @ 9:00am. (architects don’t get up early.)






My bed away from home







Avery Hall, my home away from home






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View of main plaza and Barnard Library





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Outside of campus, looking south on Broadway

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Posted in: Columbia,Nathan