Wordless Wednesday - 18 weeks!

Robin June, 4 month stats

Height: 25 1/4" - 75-90% (No change from last month, but last month was probably over measured)
Weight: 14lbs 9 oz - 75% (Yes, 1 lb 10 oz in one month. )
Head circumference: 43 cm - 95-97%.  (and I think the nurse didn't measure the widest part.)


 At any rate, the girl is a growin!

Magical Dr. Auntie Tina

My good friend Christina stopped by on her way to moving to NYC.  She earned the title "Baby Whisperer" (no connection to the book) by calming a crying Erin when babysitting for us when Erin was about 3 months old.  She proved it again by being one of the few adults that Erin totally horsed around with, cuddled with, and generally felt totally inhibited.  We were so glad Auntie Tina could come visit!

Where the junk goes to die

After a moderately successful garage sale and a dismal response from the freecycle community, I bit the bullet and took a load of stuff over to the Goodwill drop off center.  It took a few days of me staring at the neatly lined pile of McMiller flotsam baking in the sun to realize that really, it was all just junk. (I'm writing this on Tuesday but will be back-dating it to Sunday....)  It now dawns on me that I was looking upon the mounds of stuff and seeing every item as I used, enjoyed, and valued.  Not as it appeared to others gazing on it for the first time: used linens, mismatched glasses, bags of screws and doorknobs, a broken subwoofer, a manual typewriter.  A typewriter for goodness sakes!  So off the girls and I went to the neighborhood Goodwill drop off center, where probably even they will reject 75% of what we "donated".  But at least I didn't have to do it. We've one more load to take, and it does feel good to get this stuff gone. Maybe I'll even try to purge a few closets.

Oh, and I did keep a few things to try to place in loving homes again .... anyone want a manual typewriter?

Garage Sale

When we moved from PDX it was in stages.  There was the junk cherished unused items in the basement that quickly was boxed and put into storage.  Later, to stage the house, there were the rarely used items that were, again, boxed and stored.  Then, just before the move, we frantically boxed and moved the daily, always used items.

Then we got here we unpacked.  And unpacked.  And unpacked.  And still we had a garage full of boxes.

Guess which pile they came from. Yup, all that stuff that gets carted around from house to house, sometimes without ever opening the box.  So, today we unpacked them, made snap decisions stay or go, and voila!  Garage sale!

Needless to say, we didn't make all that much money on the sale.  Turns out everyone else has the same flotsam already in their garages.  But it was a lovely, calm way to spend the day and meet some of the neighbors.

And our garage... well, it's still full of junk.  But a lot less junk.

Fashion Friday!

Jammies: Carters

Cozy blankie: Petunia Picklebottom






..... sorry, couldn't resist the gratuitously cute sleeping baby shot.

Robin, 4 months

Well, her stats will come in next week, when she has her checkup.  But if the chub on her legs and arms, and her not fitting into anything smaller than 6-9 months is any indication, the kid is growing well.  She's quite animated these days and likes to sing along with us.  The world is such an interesting place, naps are already becoming passe. She sticks her tongue out, blows bubbles, babbles, belly laughs, loves roughhousing (as much as one roughhouses with a 4 month old) and generally charms everyone she meets.

Hair color: still undetermined. But does have some red in it.

Wordless Wednesday - 17 weeks!

Stunt Double

Everyone should have one.

Here's a Hero

Today, the girls and I met up with a friend .  She's in the area because her husband is donating bone marrow.  He's doing the donation as I write this.  It's not every day that you meet someone doing something so heroic for a stranger.

I'm on the bone marrow registry, Erin donated her cord blood to the bank.  Robin would have too, if her arrival hadn't happened so quickly. Dear readers, I encourage you to check it out.  If you're not on the registry, think about joining.  Most people don't get matched, but the more people in the registry, the more others have a chance at a cure for what ails them.  If you're pregnant, consider donating your baby's cord blood.  It's free to do, and if your baby ever needs bone marrow/stem cells, you'll likely be getting it from the bank anyway.  Come on, people.  When was the last time you saved a life?

Happy Father's Day 2010

Erin: Mama, are you married?

Me: Yes, sweetheart.  I'm married to Daddy.

Erin: Mama, I want to marry Daddy.

Me: You want to marry Daddy? Why?

Erin: Because I love Daddy.  Because I like Daddy.


I am so happy I can say I married a man like my father.  I am so happy that one of my biggest wishes for my girls is that they find a partner like their father to love and share their lives with.

Happy Fathers Day everyone!

Daddy Dinners

For an early Fathers day tribute I would like to share a story.

Sometime during my youth, my mother was climbing the school administrative ladder and my father took over some night duties.  So he'd be in charge of making dinner.  These dinners were creative, never our "normal" fare of meat, starch, veg, salad, but always fun and interesting.  They were dubbed "Daddy Dinners" and were balanced meals of whatever he could put together - raw veggies, canned fruit, maybe some olives and cheese....

... so the other night I channeled his culinary skills and presented the family with this: bean and cheese burritos, baby carrots, kalamata olives, and a dab of goat cheese.

Thanks, Dad, for instilling in me the gift of creativity in all parts of my life!

Fashion Friday!

I'm swiping this great idea for posts from the ever creative Strippy Longstocking.

Shirt: Cheetah from Gap
Jeans: the Gap
Shoes: Robeez purple butterfly
Accessory: Oddball.  This season's must-have!

I just love the Cheetah shirt and will be sad when she out grows it.  And little baby bluejeans are just too cute for words.

L-I-B-R-A-R-Y!!

The girls and I went to story time at the local library.  It was great - they had one geared towards 0-1 year and another for 2-5 years.  We went to both.

Turns out they have a great summer reading program for both age groups.  For the babes, we do 16 "reading ready" activities such as sing a song, clap to a rhyme, and talk about what we're looking at.  The reward is a new board book.  In two days we're already done!  For the 2-5 age group, it's reading time.  20 minutes per chunk.  45 chunks.  Ummm.... correct me if I'm wrong, but that's 15 hours of reading.  Man, things get tough when you're not a baby! We're already on hour 3 though, so it shouldn't be a problem.

One thing the director was saying was kids need to be read about 1000 books from birth to when they start kindergarden to be ready for school.  I did a little math, and Robin should be ready by age six months.

Robin Week 16

This week has brought new awareness of the world into little RJ's life - all great because the world is an interesting place.  But it makes her not want to eat.  Because eating means she can't look at stuff, and hey, there's so much stuff to look at!  So she's taken to eating all night long.  Yup.  Mom's cafe is open 24 hours a day and lately the night-owl blue plate special is the best.  All I gotta say is I heart co-sleeping.

Oh, and you may have noticed a change in Mama's appearance. Two words: postpartum alopecia.  The hairs that didn't fall out those 9 months were all falling out at the same time. 2 drains clogged so far.  So I took matters into my own hands and went back to the cute summer cut.  Now I won't notice the fistfuls of hair falling out, nor the sprouts growing back in within the next 5 months.

2 bullet point quick post

• At the Cousin's house this evening, I watched Erin and Robin's cousin J (the one that share's Erin's birthday + 12 years) eat canned cranberry sauce with a spoon.  Teenagers are way cool.  The other two cousins, S and B, were also awesome at keeping our little Erin quite entertained. Oh, and happy birthday B!  (That really should have been 3 bullet points.)
• I've got a new little side project.  Keep your fingers crossed it'll blossom. 

Crazy first day of Summer.

Erin is done with preschool for the year.  She's going to "summer camp" at her school.  (The same thing, only with less circle time, more water table time.) However, for the first day of "Summer" it was just us girls.  There's lots that happened today that I could blog about.  We went to an awesome story time at the library.  Erin had a super fun playdate with a school chum where they spent half an hour trading turns on the potty.  But the funniest part of today was her lunch.

As a treat we stopped by a ubiquitous fast food restaurant for take-out. We brought the bounty home and spread out the burgers and fries on the table. Erin declared all the fries for herself. And she ate nearly all the fries. That three people were going to share. I warned her she was going to get a tummyache. Sure enough, when all but a small handful of fries were gone, she said her stomach hurt. That's right: the first time my child overeats, it's on Mc D's french fries. I actually don't know whether I should laugh or cry.

Dear Summer,

We are ready for you. Bring it. 

Love, The McMillers.

Now I believe we live in California

Gonna need a lot more popsicles.

Rollin' Robin

Here you have it, folks. Robin rolling belly-to-back for the very first time. I grabbed the camera because her turtling was so awesomely cute. Then it looked like she was going for it. Then she did it! Then (off camera) she did it again!!!
then she was tired of Mama making her do all these tricks. Not bad for a 3 1/2 month-old.

Place holder

This is to remind me to write a real blog post in this space at some point. (doing a month-long blog challenge and haven't thought of anything yet today.)

Robin 15 weeks

15 weeks?  Really?  Where does the time go.



For this week's update I report something not so much related to Robin's development as to Mommy's Sanity.  I took out the jog stroller this week. It was Robin's first time in a stroller.  We ran 2 miles.  She loved it. Really loved it.  She spent a good 5 minutes giggling, looking up at all the sun-filtered leaves floating by.  Then she fell happily asleep.  I got a good jog in, she got good stimulation and a nap. It was win-win.

In other Robin news, we're fairly certain the teething process has begun. She drools like it's going out of style. chews on everything in site, and is miserable in the afternoon.

Earn more sessions by sleaving

The lyrics to a popular children's song, according to Erin:

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the train
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Like a buttered tree.

Rockin' Little Baby

So,we got one of  these to us to celebrate Robin's arrival - GnR done with xylophone, harps, cricket and froggy sounds.  The first run through was kind of annoying. But it's now a staple at the McMiller household.  The girls love it, and Dr. A hums along, happily singing the not-child-appropriate lyrics in her head.


Double thumbs up.

Props to Diane & Matt.

Happy Birthday, Uncle Jim!

Uncle Jim had a birthday milestone earlier this week.  We got to celebrate doubly - once at a delicious restaurant with family and again today in the Delta. Boating, BBQ, and fun was had by all. And there were pictures*!

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

*Photo credits go to Grandma Carol

So good it hurts

In the ongoing quest to create delicious, healthy, fast dinners with the least amount of cleanup possible, McMiller household has now turned to the BBQ.  Last night: grilled chicken sandwiches.  This has a lot going for it.  Sundried tomato marinated chicken breasts, mozzarella, crusty roll, thin layer of mustard/mayo, tomatoes.  Zero pots/pans to clean, no utensils, add in a handful of chips and dinner is ready!

However, it's nearing 11 A.M. the next day and I'm still full.  The term Gut Bomb comes to mind.

Cousin Communication

Aunt D and Cousin C came over last night for a quick dinner. Cousin C, nearly 13 months, loved pushing our Miss Erin around in the wagon. And I think they developed their own language.

Now with more decadence

Meet the newest member of the McMiller Household:

That's right, folks. We now have ice cream making capabilities.  The inaugural run was a simple batch of vanilla, but I'm quickly interested in branching out.  Apparently it also can do sorbet and slushy drinks.  I see a party theme in the near future.

So, faithful McMillerPDX readers, what is your favorite ice cream recipe?  Or if you don't make ice cream, what is your favorite flavor combination?  

Robin 14 weeks

New this week:

Dog piling Dad. Always a hit.

Actually, since this is the closest thing to a baby book Robin will ever have, here are some more things about this week:

She's super alert now, and spends most of the day drinking everything in with her eyes, practicing getting things into her mouth, and laughing a lot. Sometimes now she's even too busy to eat.

She's really strong, and can lift her head up completely upright.  We predict expert rolling over soon.

She's nearly completely outgrown her 3 month clothes.  I'm having fun now putting her in things people have sent her.  Hopefully the 6-9 month clothing will fit her for longer than a few weeks.

She had a 3-month checkup and here are the stats:

Height: 25 1/4" (97%)
Weight: 12lbs, 15 oz (75%)
Head circumference: 42.2 cm (90%)

Current bathroom reading

Sitting near the commode:

• Running Times Magazine
• Sunset Magazine
• The Hungry Caterpillar