My Baby's First Year

All of these pictures are in order, for your viewing pleasure.  Look how this guy has grown!

(all the things in quotation marks are from my journal entries over this year)

 

Theodore Leonard Miller

January 23, 2012

9:20 PM

8 lbs 2 oz  21 inches

(after he'd been born and I was resting alone in the delivery room) "I prayed and prayed thank yous to Heavenly Father who helped everything go so well, and who blessed Corbin and I with a perfect healthy little baby."

Things I remember from the first months:  Theo had crazy baby acne, cradle cap, goopy eyes, and I thought he was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

He was also the longest baby I'd ever seen!  He was (and still is) an excellent sleeper, and an all-around happy guy.

6 Weeks: First Smiles

I remember the moment I first thought he smiled at me on purpose.  I had just changed his diaper, and was carrying him from the bedroom to the living room.  I was so surprised and delighted!

"It looks like he's working really hard to make the biggest smile he can.  I feel like he does that since he can't tell me he loves me yet."

 I was also extremely paranoid that he would freeze in our basement apartment with no central heating.

April 22: Theo's Baby Blessing

It was wonderful to have so much family come that day.  I'm grateful that Corbin could bless his baby.  We decided to bless him in the YSA 16th ward where Corbin was serving in the bishopric, an event that probably doesn't happen very often there.

Helping Daddy celebrate his graduation from BYU

May 31: Rolled Over

Corbin and I were sitting on the couch, and Theo was chilling on the floor on his back.  He rolled onto his tummy, and both of us were like, "did that just happen?" So I flipped him onto his back again, and he rolled again!  Of course it would be his style to do back to front first, instead of front to back like other babies.  He's far too cool.

 

 

"He sucks his fingers quite a bit now... It's fun to hear kissing sounds wafting from his bed or car seat."

"We call his burpie cloth his best friend.  Really, it's because it was the first thing he could grab and play with. It's still really cute to see him grab for them and shove them in his mouth.  He's started grabbing for toys a week or two ago (in early May).  It's so fun to see him interacting with the world around him"

His SoCal blood serves him well. 

What a dashing fellow

July 2: First Tooth

We had just finished a 12 hour drive to California and Theo was acting fussy. Who wouldn't be after such a long car ride in a little baby seat? But, surprise! He was actually just popping out his first tooth. Luckily Corbin is a weirdo and sometimes puts his fingers in Theo's mouth just for fun, or we might not have found out for even longer.

 

This guy is a traveling champion.  80 hours of road tripping in only a couple months is no joke, but this 5/6-month-old did marvelously.

 August 13: Pulled Himself Up

We had just set up the crib in our new house, and I put Theo down for a nap.  When I came back in, he was standing at the crib side.  Too bad we hadn't dropped the mattress down!  My first reaction was to run over and grab him up.  My second was to praise him for standing all by himself.

 

He also got his first solid foods in August... and loved them!

 "He is definitely a  people person.  We went to the store today and he smiled really big at everyone who passed.  And if someone didn't look back, he laughed so they would look.  Goodness, it's cute."

 

 

 

Going on walks is really tough work.

Bring it on, Ithaca Winter!

The older he got the more I called him a "little stinker."

Once again, little stinker.

"Mommy's food is always way better than my food."

There's nothing better than watching your favorite program and eating cold pancakes...naked.

 December 11: First Steps

Theo had been standing on his own quite a bit lately. He came with me to book club and I was showing off his standing skills to all the ladies. Our discussion wandered from our assigned book to 50 Shades of Gray and Theo chose that moment to take his first steps.

 

Just within the past couple of weeks, he has started pointing at things he wants, signing "more" along with a few other words, demanding Patty Cake and the Itsy Bitsy Spider, and walking.  He's beginning his journey into toddler-hood.

January 23, 2013

One word that I have read repeatedly in my journal today is "blessed." He has been such a huge blessing in our lives and brought us more joy than I ever could have imagined.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, THEO!!!

Miriam and Obama Love Theo

For Theo's baby shower long ago, we played a game where each person adds one line to a story.  The trick is, they only know the previous line to the story, not the whole thing.  I just found them all, and I think it's about time I put up my favorite ones... on the eve of Theo's first birthday!


Once upon a time, Theo Leo had a favorite Aunt named Miriam who loved him very much.
Miriam would take Theo Leo to the Dino Museum, dog park, and even Mexico.
Miriam made Theo Leo so happy that he decided he wanted to marry her.
So he had to come up with a plan to pop the question.
He decided to do it during a fun mud pie date in the backyard.
He snuck up and BOOM!
He pooped out of shock of what he had seen!
He could hardly believe that his father had just defeated 6 angry lions with his bare hands.
But then, What Miller couldn't do that? The end.

Once upon at time, there was a little boy named Theodore.
He dreamed about wrestling alligators in Africa.
He Knew that one day he would make waterholes everywhere safe for all the antelopes.
That Theo was a conservationist, He was!
Besides that, Theo had always really loved Barack Obama.
And Barack Obama loved Theo too.
He brought him to all the White House parties to bring down the house.
No one even knew Theo was white, because he was such a good dancer.
So he grew up to be the next Cholo of the universe.  The end.

Before and After

I took this screen shot of a video and turned it into this... It's my first time painting with acrylics (at least something like this).  And in the painted world, I get red hair, tan skin, and perfectly white teeth.  I'm ok with that.