Milo Ashby-Jackson Clark

October...20 out of 350 pics from the month

2009-01-10T19:12:00.000-08:00

I have no idea why this month was worthy of 350 pics...but these are the best of the best...

We started the month in my home town of Franklin, IN at the Heritage Festival and parade with Uncle Matt and Auntie Jill...it was a good time for Milo..but a few too many marchers and not enough fun fire trucks etc. He was still recovering from a scuffed nose sustained in an "incident" on the pontoon up at the lake. Lets just say that baby noses and astroturf don't mix.

Milo also began learning to feed himself., which is a little sad for me...he is getting so independent now, and it is amazing how fast it is all happening. But enough of that. Here he was slamming Ranch dip...he was supposed to be dipping his cucumbers in the Ranch, but he forgot to eat the cucumbers....he enjoyed the Ranch too much. He is also a BIG yogurt fan...and was working on his spooning skills.

He is also perfecting his block stacking. My favorite part of this picture is that you can see the reflection of the beautiful fall leaves in our backyard in the fireplace.....

October also brought our friends the Anderson's back to Cincinnati...Milo was so glad to see his buddy Evan. We made a trip to the Newport Aquarium... and took the opportunity to take some WONDERFUL family pics. It was so great to catch up. We miss the a lot and hope to see them again in March....such a bummer to have such great friends live so far away.

One of Milo's new favorite places is the Children's Museum here in Cincinnati. In fact, after one visit we decided that we would get a membership for the family and make that his Christmas present. We are holding off on the big extravagant Christmas gifts until he really understands what is going on. That will give us time to save up for the gifts right? Anyway...we try to make the trips to the museum center a once a week event, and we often meet up with some of Milo's friends from our Hypnobirthing class. Milo and his friend Josie have a specific affinity for the Grocery store. Milo really has a knack for shopping.

Time with dad is still one of Milo's favorite times....He is truly a little mini-Ben and I LOVE to watch them together. Ben is an amazing dad. He never too tired to play games, and is really good at making Milo laugh with that wonderful, carefree belly laugh of his that seems to make even the worst, most stressful days better. It is funny that we are the ones that are supposed to be helping Milo learn the ways of the world, but there are so many days when he is the one teaching us....

We had held out as long as possible, and finally this month we had to close up the cottage for the winter. We were hoping to get back for a couple of visits during the winter, but it was a sad day. Even our dog Oliver was depressed. The cottage is an amazing place for Milo to grow up in the summers. He get to be close to all of his cousins, and has such wonderful adventures. I already can't wait for next summer!

At Halloween, one of Milo's clearest words was "Cracker" so we thought it would be funny for him to be a parrot. Conveniently my aunt had given us a parrot costume that was my cousin's before, so his outfit was a given....Though the black eye was not supposed to be part of the fun. Milo and the coffee table had a run in a few days before. Ben and I on the other hand had to get creative. After finding two leather vests at Goodwill, we actually scavenged our closet for the rest of our pirate outfits...including Ben's PJ pants seen here. He wore the riding boots I bought last year to be the Pumpkin farmer, and at the end of Trick-or-Treating (which was all of three houses for Milo) we had to cut them off of him, and retire those boots.

Halloween night was also the annual Sweaters and Cider party at our neighbor's house. This was Milo's second appearance at the party, and as usual he looked great in his sweater. Ben and I really got lucky with our sweaters. Ben's sweater had men in bikini's on it, and mine had HAND BEADED ice cream cones on it....these went down in the history book of the party, and we were winners of the most disturbing sweater for a second year in a row!

First Steps in September!

2008-11-05T18:16:00.000-08:00

This year we were lucky enough to be able to spend some extra time up at the lake since my classes at UC don't start until the end of September...Labor Day was a fun filled lake weekend to end the season for a lot of the families there....

Milo is a BIG vegetable guy! He ate cucumbers like popscicles and probably had enough corn to last a lifetime...but how can you say no to that smile!

This is one of the greatest pictures of all times...we have blown it up and it is in our bedroom at home...how classic!

On September 2nd Milo decided to walk...and that is exactly how it happened...one day he was cruising around using furniture to get everywhere, the next day he decided to take a couple of steps in between the furniture, and then he TOOK OFF...here is a little video...he was really in rare form here showing off ALL of his tricks. (Movie to come....)

We also took a GREAT trip out to San Francisco to see my aunt, and Milo's cousins, Brooke, Matthew, Sammy and Will...

Our first step was In-N-Out burger...they are the GREATEST burger...and Milo had his first....what a wonderful moment for our family. I had about 8 of these during my 6th month of pregnancy with Milo while I was out in California for a conference..so I guess if that counts he has already had a few.

We got to spend a long weekend out at the beach house at Stinson Beach....It was BEAUTIFUL weather.

Those new walking legs were not always 100% on the sand...and his first touch with the ocean was with his FACE! I probably lose the "Mother of the Year" award for taking a pic first, but it was a little funny!

And if you can believe it Milo also got to have his FOURTH 1st birthday party...he had a great time with his cousins, and was a professional with the cake by then.

The Clark family took a trip back to my home town in Franklin, IN to celebrate all the September birthdays in my family, including my 32nd...before the party on Saturday we went to the Heritage Festival, and Milo saw his FIRST parade...

On Sunday, my brother Matt taught Ben to change brakes...and Milo was QUITE the helper in the process....it was one of the cutest father/son moments ever.

Milo also went through an interesting phase of needing to walk with something in each of his hands, and while at his grandma and grandpa's house he decided he could get yet ANOTHER item in his MOUTH! That is my lipstick!

At the end of September, Ben participated in an art show with his pottery here in Cincinnati called "A Fair of the Arts." He took the Best in Show award. Milo had a great time playing in one of his pots. He was yelling into the pot to hear his echo...what a little comedian.

August......The BIG 1

2008-10-09T20:13:00.000-07:00

August was a big month in the Clark family...with Milo's first birthdayS...we had one party up at our lake cottage. That party was a double party with Milo's cousin Reese, who turned one on August 3rd....

they look so much alike they could pass for twins! The party was wonderful and Milo really enjoyed himself. His Aunt Jill and Uncle Matt drove from Ft. Wayne, and Papa and Irene drove all the way from Southern Indiana....His Papa Clark was there from Indianapolis and brought Milo his first BIKE! It was wonderful to have both sides of the family there together.

Papa and Irene brought Milo a spring horse, since I did some SERIOUS riding when I was little...he was afraid of the horse initially but has since taken quite a liking to it...

The second birthday party was the next weekend at my mom's house in Franklin, and we had a great turn out. By that point he had really figured out the cake thing, and really dug in.

In addition, he pulled out the old cucumber telephone trick which was a big hit with the crowd!

We had a pool at the party that Milo only wanted to see from out of the water.

Milo was quite the watermelon hog this summer, and enjoyed 6 PIECES during his birthday party at Grandma Cindy and Papa Larry's.

We also had a wonderful gathering in Richmond, IN with all of Ben's family, where Milo and his other cousin Maggie got a chance to hang out. He finally got to meet his cousins from Oregon...His Great Uncle Tim made it in some pics with him

NOW...back to the Summary

2008-10-07T19:24:00.001-07:00

I left off in June...and it appears there was a picture EXPLOSION in July.....

JULY: At the beginning of July, Milo got to meet his British Grandparents .....Mum and Da.....and a visit from his Nana Jane

We spent a lot of time up at our lake cottage...and Milo spent quite a bit of time in a plastic bin....which we use as his bath tub! Classic pics!

Ben spends a SUBSTANTIAL amount of time playing video games in our garage/family room...and Milo has really taken to "playing" with him...though he is unaware that the controllers are not plugged in.

Milo also sported a fabulous organic cotton pair of what can only be referred to as underoos....only...who is the super hero? We call him...."Captain Beige"

Fourth of July was a GREAT weekend...with AWESOME picture opportunities that really speak for themselves.

Just after Fourth of July we made another trip to Florida to visit Milo's Great-grandma...he also had a chance to visit his Great-Uncle Jack.

Another great past-time for Milo is vacuuming....not in the conventional sense...but boy does he love it!

We babysit for Milo's best buddy Wes, the their favorite game is the ride/push the firetruck....once Milo started walking there a lot more of an argument about who would ride.

At the end of the month we made a trip to Mooresville to visit Milo's OTHER Great-Grandpa in Mooresville, IN.....this is four generations of Clark's in this picture!

July brought first haircuts and manicures for Milo too!

Milo is quite the comedian, and has even learned to entertain himself....which is infectious to everyone around him

January/February Flashback

2008-10-07T18:49:00.000-07:00

JANUARY: Two major events occured in January...the first was the annual Clark trip to Sanibel, Florida...the weather wasn't wonderful, but we had a great time!

The second was Milo's discovery of his toes....both were a great time.

FEBRUARY: This month brought the introduction of rice cereal and baby food....the initial response was not great...but as you can see from the AMAZING amount of weight Milo has packed on in the six month since the introduction of foods...Milo has REALLY found his calling with the eating deal....

Swimming lessons also started this month....they didn't really turn out to "lessons" as much as they were free swims, but he LOVES the water....

Milo also began to master sitting up in February....

Revision to the missing months

2008-10-06T19:15:00.001-07:00

How sad to realize now that I have actually missed the months of January and February...and with a big FL trip in January...and great time in February we will have to step back and get those in there too....

7 Month catch up....pt 1

2008-10-06T18:02:00.000-07:00

Well, life seems to get in the way of this blog...and rather than continue to feel the guilt of having not posted to this thing for 7 months AND feeling the dread of taking the time to sit and post 7 months worth of pics...I am going to compromise and do one GIANT post that is a quick summary of the last 7 months to get everyone caught up. I will then hope to post about once a month from here on out....we will see how that goes.

So here we go.

MARCH: Our big even was a trip to North Carolina to visit Milo's friend Evan....he scooted for the first time and we really thought crawling was just around the corner...little did we know that he wouldn't crawl until the end of MAY!!!

Milo also experienced his first french fry back in March

Milo attended his first wedding.....and slept right through dinner...I thought I might actually get to do a little dancing, but as soon as the DJ got on the microphone it scared the daylights out of Milo....so we had to check out early.

APRIL: April was short in the picture department, but did include Milo's first time on a swing...and that was a great day.....in fact swing is one of the first words that Milo recognized and would respond to.

I also decided to do another little photo session to try to get some pics of Milo in our little field of Daffodils in our front yard. The first sign of his first spring....turns out I put him down in a BIG bunch of poison ivy...luckily he didn't get it...but another lesson learned by mom. He also greatly enjoyed eating the mulch....and since he only just started eaching baby food that type of fiber was a little out of his league.

We also had our first experience with the Johnny Jumper....not really a lot of excitement...but a milestone nonetheless.

MAY: Another month short on pictures....but it was big on events....this month MILO CRAWLED for the first time. I had a conference to attend for work, so Ben and Milo tagged along....we went to the aquarium, and to the IMAX about Hurricane Katrina. Milo actually made it through almost the entire IMAX movie and loved the aquarium. I have video of his first crawling...but it is mixed in with a lot of VERY embarassing baby talk (by me), so I will spare the audience....but it happened. It was hotter than H-E-double hockey sticks in New Orleans as you can see from Milo's rosy cheeks...and we had to lace his water with juice to make him drink it..but he enjoyed the breaks in the park with a nice tall one.

In addition he ate real food for the first time....the video is short but sweet and to the point.

JUNE: We have a picture EXPLOSION because this month started our trips to our lake cottage in Angola, IN...Milo had not been there since he was a month old. I recovered from my C-section there when he was first born....The first big milestone of life at the lake is to have the FABULOUS Tom's Donuts...and organic food be damned he got one...

Milo also scored his first shiner this month.....yet another mother-of-the-year award for me....he fell out of a high chair and hit his eye on a stool...NOT a shining moment in my short motherhood career...but he really seemed to pull off the tough guy look....

His first wheelbarrow right was also a highlight this month

We also made a trip to Grand Rapids, MI where Ben's Aunt Kathy and Uncle Tom live. Milo helped Ben and I run a pottery workshop for blind teens. He had a great time, and the kids LOVED having him there...but it was tough work. He had his first taste of Ben's FAVORITE hot dog at Yesterdogs...where we discovered his love for sauerkraut of all things...who knew.

Milo's cousin Reese is only one week older than him, and they really had a great time reconnecting...the reality is this was the first time they actually acknowledged each other's presence and they had a great time crawling after each other.

At around 6 months Milo really started to pack on the pounds, and no picture really shows that poundage quite as well as this one showing his cheddary chest physique.....

All in all June was a wonderful time at the lake and really got the summer kicked off well....

Looks like even the quick summaries are not as quick as I would like...so I will have to post the other 3 months some time tomorrow.

Finally, Christmas in February

2008-02-25T18:48:00.000-08:00

It is funny what happens when you have too many New Year's resolutions....none of them happen.....so I am going to chip away at the events I still haven't posted...one being Milo's first Christmas. It is funny, but I had ideas of Milo playing with wrapping paper and having such a great time, but in the three present opening extravaganzas that were this Christmas, Milo was asleep for all of them.....but we do have some festive pics of the holidays this year

Milo is quite intellectual...he loves a good debate or discussion, and has lengthy discussions throughout the day.......mostly with his HANDS! But these events provide us with hours of entertainment.

2007-12-31T20:36:00.000-08:00

The Sunday after Thanksgiving, Milo was baptized at the church where Ben was baptized when he was a baby, I was baptized when I was 21, and the same church Ben and I were married at...it was a beautiful ceremony...and again it was a chance for the entire family to be there....including his GREAT grandparents...

Heather, Evan and Matt move to South Carolina

2007-12-31T19:15:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of December, we were sad to have to say "See you later" to our friends Heather and Matt, and their son Evan.....Heather got her DREAM JOB in South Carolina....we had a going away party for them.....to give the babies a chance to say their good-byes...

Milo's first Thanksgiving

2007-12-31T18:42:00.000-08:00

In our family, in order to avoid conflict, my mother moves the holidays.....so we end up with two completely separate sets of holidays...it makes everything much less stressful...and makes the holidays seem that much longer.....

For our first Thanksgiving....at my parent's house, the big event was that my step-sister Brandy held Milo for the first time...and we FINALLY took an entire family picture.....

On the actual day of Thanksgiving, my parents come over the Ben's parents house, and we have the ENTIRE family there...my favorite dish is brussel sprouts...and just for those of you that might be worried.....Milo did NOT eat the brussel sprout....

Ben's mom Mary Jo also organized to have pics of ALL of the cousins...although Milo screamed throughout the big group pics, he took some WONDERFUL individual pics

October leaves fall

2007-12-31T18:34:00.000-08:00

I waited two weeks for the PERFECT time when the two HUGE maple trees in our front yard drop all of their leaves...I knew they would make a PERFECT backdrop for some WONDERFUL pictures...so I threw the Boppy in a pillow case, covered it in leaves, put Milo in two layers of clothes and we ran out for the pics.....15 pics in about 6 minutes...with a wardrobe change in between!
This first outfit is hand knitted and are a gift from Milo's Nana Jane's parents.....it has a wonderful sweater with matching knitted pants!

And this outfit was underneath!!!

Meet Milo party

2007-12-31T18:20:00.000-08:00

When Milo was 4 weeks old, Ben and I went to a wedding...and we stayed the night at my mom's house. As any Grandma with her first grandchild, my mom set up a MEET MILO party......so he was able to meet three great aunts.....

G-Aunt Anna Belle G-Aunt Joyce G-Aunt Anna Mae

and his other Great-grandpa Clark.....there were four generations of Clark's represented (yes...it is Clark because my maiden name is ALSO Clark....so he is carrying on both of our family names).....

His second bath was MUCH more enjoyable for him while he was at Grandma Cindy's

And at the end of the day.......he was EXHAUSTED!!!

Growing up at the lake

2007-12-31T17:36:00.001-08:00

After a two week recovery at home, we took off for a month to our new lake cottage in northern Indiana....Ben had four weeks of paternity leave and he wanted to take the whole time there....and it was a wonderful place to BEGIN learning how to be Milo's mom and dad.

.....we got to hang out with the whole family.......all of Milo's cousin's.....including his cousin Reese, who is only a week older than he is.....three babies in 4 months....a population BURST in the Clark family

Grandpa Boat (Ben's dad)

This is Great Aunt Kathy
Great Grandpa and Grandma came for a visit to see how Milo had grown.....it was wonderful!

Milo's birthday (back in August)

2007-12-31T16:36:00.000-08:00

One of our New Year's resolutions for this year is to get ALL of the 2007 events posted on this blog before it becomes 2008....and we are now down to 4.5 hours..so these are going to be coming fast and furious...and in order to accomplish this we have to go back and re-cap some early events in Milo's life...namely his birth.

Milo was born BEGINNING on August 9th at 2:00 in the afternoon, and ending at 6:13pm on August 10th.....after 26 hours of medication free labor....things were not progressing and we had to go on to alternate plans.....and eventually needed a C-section to get this guy out....but he is QUITE worth it.....I have included a small (or not so small) library of pics to remember the event.....

It was a mad house in the room after Milo's birth....there were 13 people in the room...and it was WONDERFUL

Great-Papa Benjamin

Proud New Daddy Great-Grandma Reenie Aunt Kara Mary Ellen (Krista's co-worker)

Uncle Matt......very emotional

Toya Nelson-Hageman....friend from Kansas

Aunt Alison

Grandma Cindy

Papa Larry

COMING HOME......we spent 3 days in the hospital and we were VERY happy to come home.....on the night we came home, Ben's sister and brother in law, Aunt Alice and Uncle Kyle came with Milo's cousin Maggie, who was 4 months old at the time...it was great to have another first time mom in the house to answer all of the questions that were STREAMING through my head.....My mom also came to stay with us and she was UNBELIEVABLE....she is an RN and answered every question I could think of....

Spots and Dots

2007-11-05T17:20:00.000-08:00

Milo's newest favorite past time is "reading" his new favorite book Spots and Dots....though there are no words in the book...it is a gift from Bill and Mary Nick Harvey who live next door to Ben's parents in Richmond. He can stare at the book for MINUTES at a time....and likes to spend time with his dad during book time...NOTE: this book does not make Milo's eyes turn red like the devil...that would be freaky...

Sweaters and Cider

2007-11-05T17:00:00.001-08:00

This weekend we went to the annual neighborhood party, "Sweaters and Cider" at our friends Annie and James' house....the idea of the party is to wear the craziest sweater you can find! It was easy to find our sweaters, and we thought we had found a wonderfully disturbing sweater for Milo, but it turns out his cuteness is so overwhelming, that he is even able to pull off a polar bear, butterfly collar sweater, with matching stocking cap and socks! As you can see by picture three, he didn't last all night...but he was quite the hit at the party....

Happy Halloween!

2007-11-05T16:26:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful night of trick-or-treating. Milo was in charge of handing out candy for the neighborhood, so he didn't do much collecting.....he did have a wonderful "My First Halloween" outfit from Auntie Jane....and a beautiful pumpkin hat (and pumpkin socks you can't see) from Auntie Amie and Uncle Alex....He was quite the cutie, and got LOTS of compliments on his outfit....

San Francisco Treat

2007-11-03T13:38:00.000-07:00

When Milo was only 4 weeks old, we took our first plane trip. We came home from our three week recooperation at the Lake Cottage, and the next day we were off! Grandma Cindy came with us, and was our right hand woman...we couldn't have done it without her....we had selected shorter flights with short lay-overs, but apparently life had a different plan. We took off from Dayton, and our first stop was supposed to be Dallas...but about 45 minutes before our projected landing, the pilot announced we would be in a holding pattern for atleast 30 minutes due to storms in the Dallas area...so we waited...30 minutes later the pilot was back on to let us know that we had been given another hold, but we were not going to be able to wait. We were running out of fuel, and we would have to turn around and land at a SMALL airport in Longview, Texas, to get fuel. We landed on what HAD to be the shortest runway on EARTH, and we ended up waiting on the ground for 2 hours.....VIDEO attached....

We finally took off for Dallas, but when we ended up in Dallas for

5 more hours....so we FINALLY ended up in San Francisco about 8 hours late.....

The trip was wonderful! Milo met his four cousins, Brooke, Matthew, Sam, and Will, and his ANTI Angie and Uncle Dave.....

Milo's First Nature Hike

2007-11-03T13:23:00.000-07:00

Today is November 3rd, and for our first November event, we decided to take the WHOLE family, canines included, on a hike. It was a wonderful day outside, and the hike was beautiful...we found a scenic overlook, and took a moment for a photo op...Milo loved the walk, and LOVES to look at the leaves on the trees. He is really learning to LOVE his hands, and spends a big part of the day sucking on his fists. Until of course he tries to jam the ENTIRE fist into his mouth, gags himself, and then looks at his hand like it just tried to kill him! It is hours of fun!

Uncle Paul comes to town

2007-11-03T12:04:00.000-07:00

I am two and a half months old and this might have been my biggest weekend ever. Uncle paul from chicago came to visit and meet me for the first time. All I know about uncle paul is that at one time he peed in my grandma's shoe. When he got here we all went to a bar. This was my first time in a bar and I thought it was nice enough except for the fowl smell. Everyone I met seemed to love me so things are good. The next night uncle paul helped my dad put me in to a pumpkin costume and we went to a big party. Mom, dad, and uncle paul were pumpkin farmers who had a sparce year with only one pumpkin (award winning though.) I hung out with my buddy Wes who dressed up as elvis. He was confused all night because his dad dressed as a woman and he couldn't tell which parent was his mom. Overall we had a great night and I saw lots of girls in very small costumes. My favorite was Kate who came as a sexy cow. (she thinks I'm cute) After the party we hit the hay and spent sunday snacking while we watched football and nascar. Uncle paul made me laugh and then gave everyone presents before he drove home. I can't wait to go visit him in chicago after the new year. Until next time, this is a very sleepy milo saying "good night, and good luck."

To Great-Grandma's house we go

2007-10-30T03:26:00.000-07:00

On the 12th of October, Milo has a day FILLED with firsts. My dad, Jamie, came from Saudi Arabie, and his wife Jane came from England, to fly down with us to Florida so Milo could meet his Great-Granny Reynolds....it was the first time he met any of them.
We flew out of Dayton, and Milo and I met my dad, and Jane at the airport. Although we had planned to have a leisurely "getting to know you" lunch, traffic in Dayton resulted in my dad meeting us in the parking lot, throwing the luggage on the cart, and us RUNNING to the bag check counter...and with 3 MINUTES to spare, we got our luggage checked, and boarded the plane...and THAT is were he met Grandpa Clark and AUNTIE Jane.

Now because Milo had already flown to see his ANTI Angie already, an entry we will have to enter retroactively, he was a pro on the flight. All went smoothly, and Great Granny Reynolds was thrilled to meet him....it was a whirlwind weekend, but we had a wonderful time...

WE DID IT!

2007-10-23T17:24:00.001-07:00

I have FINALLY started Milo's blog...we are OFFICIALLY bloggers....what a momentus occasion.....for now this is as far as we are going to make it...but very soon this site will be FILLED with the exciting days of Milo's life....