Valley of Fire State Park

We went to the most gorgeous park the other weekend. Valley of Fire State Park was the first State Park of Nevada. The rock coloration there is unbelievable, there are petroglyphs all along the hikes and several movies have been filmed there. We enjoyed hiking there and plan to return at least once more before the weather turns hot as it gets very hot there in the aptly named Valley of Fire - usually around 120 in summer.

16.5 months

Well this post is officially very late and will be very lame. I'm kind of burned out on keeping up with the blog now which is sad because we do so many things to blog about now and Miles is increasingly entertaning to be around.

For instance, he loves putting on our shoes and walking around in them. Here he is, pure joy as Norris put his boots on Miles and let him try to walk around in them.
We've also been doing a lot of fun things with him. Here we took him to see Thomas the Tank Engine Show with his friend David. The child did not blink for minutes at a time during that show.

He also hosted his first playdate last month and had a blast. We had about 6 little boys from ages 4 to 9 months come over and play. We made edible fingerpaints and they had a blast fingerpainting. The recipe is simple if anyone wants to try. Just mix 2 tablespoons flour with 1 tablespoon water and add food coloring to make the desired colors. Look for neon food coloring also. Miles was the youngest of the fingerpainters and the only one to dip a cracker in the paints and eat them.

Things he can do this month:
Can eat with a fork - baby fork

Can drink small amounts from a cup

Can drink from a squeeze bottle

Good at throwing a ball

Can walk up and down hills of moderate incline

Helps rub lotion on himself after bath

Not immediately putting everything he sees into his mouth

Went poop in a potty once

(Pooped on the floor twice though)

Helps put his toys away

Can identify dogs, cats, fish and frogs in almost any book

LOVES, LOVES watching Animal Planet's Pet Star. He and Bella both get right up under the TV and he screams with delight while Bella whines and gets excited.

Says Mommy, Daddy, Da (dog or duck), occassionally will say other words (Pace - our cat, dirty)

If I say something is dirty he will scrunch his noes and make a face like something smells bad

Loves going to the park, and can now throw bread to feed the ducks.