My Favorite Things Milo Says...
- Wow cool.
- Uh huh, I do
- Relax mommy (means he wants to snuggle
- Aparatus
- Machine (and machine noises)
- Smooch
- Love jew (love you)
- It's tiny ( In a high-pitched voice, usually referring to his otterpop).
- There it ares (He hasn't quite figured out when are/is is appropriate, so he mixed them).
Big Accomplishments This Year...
- Crawling. Yes a year late, but finally he crawls. After fishing him out of a tube at McDonalds, while 9 months pregnant, I realized how important crawling is.
- Textures. In the spring, I was so ecited to play outside with Milo. Until we discoverd that he hated nearly every texture. Dirt, rocks, sand. He would stand at the edge of the playground and cry because he didn't like the feeling of the ground, and couldn't get to the big toy. It was sad. But happily now my boy runs down the road barefoot. Digs in the dirt being daddy's helper, and loves park time.
- Eating. We struggled for so long with food. Finally Milo is getting to the point where he likes to eat. He is still picky, but doing better. On his birthday he ate a whole kids meal, half a hamburger, and a go-gurt. I was so impressed. He loves popsicles, pancakes, asparagus, goldfish, chicken nuggets (but only from Wendy's), and corn sadies (that's what he calls corn dogs).
- Talking. Milo will talk your ear off. He says so many things for being two. He is so smart and can remember peoples names, places, and key things that happened. He also know where to turn to go to the library, walmart, and grandma's house.
I Love it When He...
- Dances. He dances the best to "All About Airplanes). It is so spastic and SO cute. The other day we were doing yard work and Milo was bopping around the yard. We had not seen him for a little while so we started looking for him and found him in the garage turning the stereo on and off. Every time it would turn on he would do his classic dance moves.
-Swims. He loves the pool! He can jump into the pool without floaties and surface. He talks about going "under" all of the time. He also loves the "fans" which are really drains at the bottom of the pool. I think we probably went swimming over 50 times this summer. I am already excited for next year.
- Plays with Taya. I always used to think, "How in the world will I handle two kids?" Now I always think, "What in the world would I do without two kids?" Milo is the best big brother. I have never once had him get angry at Taya, or cry because he is jealous of the attention she is getting. He wants Tay to sit with him, pretend to jump, and he is always asking her to chase him. When I leave Taya in the car to carry in groceries or if she's in the house while I get him strapped in, he gets so concerned and will cry for "Taya come".
- Snuggles with dad. Chris and Milo are adorable together. It is obvious that Milo is crazy about his dad. He loves for Chris to put him to bed and all day long Milo asks me, "Daddy come back?"
I Can't Wait For...
- Milo to ride a bike.
- Feed himself.
- Halloween!
- Do his own laundry :)
It's hard for me to think of anything else, because I absolutely love this stage. I thought that 0-1 was great, but 1-2 ROCKED!
Below are the pictures from his 2nd birthday party. We had so much fun, and it was so fun to share this day with all of our family and friends.
Milo has decided that Taya is the coolest toy ever. Recently wants to hold her and snuggle her all of the time. He'll say, "Hold me, hold me." So I'll go to pick him up and he'll go, "No, hold er Taya". He loves giving her cuddles... and suprisingly, she seems to like it too. 
Potty training has begun.
8: 58 a. m. . . . First success 
After being alone for over a decade, Hotts married Charlie. It is obvious that they are both head over heals. They act like high school kids. They blush just talking about each other. 
I love my grandma SO much and I am thrilled that she has found someone to spend the rest of her life with. 
Walking down the isle:)
They held hands, shared dessert, and beamed at each other all night. 
Smores taste just as good in your backyard as they do in the mountains. 
Manly bonding happens anywhere there is dirt.
When you burn your dinner on the campfire. you can have a nice bowl of ice cream after and then throw your dishes in the dishwasher.
This guy gets to have the time of his life without having to spend money or drive a long way. 
Fire is fun anywhere!
No one is in a hurry to get "camp" set up when it's in your living room. This leaves more time for:
Jumping on the tent like a tramp and having a bumb war while yelling "ouchewawa"
Running like a maniac on and off of it
and finally setting it up for peek-a-boo. 
When bedtime turns into a dance party, and the adults realize that no sleep is actually going to happen, you can throw your kid in their real bed and sleep in peace.
Things I love about Taya...
She is a people person. Tay isn't picky about who is holding her. As long as they hold her out facing the world, she is a happy little bug. 
But, the thing that I love the very most about Taya, is her smile. I have never seen a baby smile so much. She smiles when you say her name. She smiles when Milo laughs. She loves the song "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns & Roses. The mom version or the rock version gets her beaming ear to ear. She even smiles while she falls asleep. Her eyes will be closing and she'll flash you one of those grins, then when you smile back, she's got to smile again! She melts my heart with those smiles. 
