Year 3, Day 46

Easter is never a big holiday in the Martin household, and if it weren't for the presence of Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs in my home I likely could've completely forgotten it's even happening this weekend. Jaclyn, however, really wants Miles to have as much of an Easter as he can given the stay-at-home mandate in … Continue reading Year 3, Day 46 →

Year 3, Day 35

When our friends from Europe visited last November, they brought Miles a farm animal matching game that allows kids to string together a series of animals and props to mirror sequences on a card. While he doesn't quite understand how to match these sequences, he loves playing with the figures, cards, and (weirdly) the instruction … Continue reading Year 3, Day 35 →

Year 3, Day 27

One of my favorite night-time activities, which I'm trying to turn into a ritual, is taking Miles out back just before bedtime to look for animals. Having seen a couple animals in the yard (a rabbit, an opossum, a raccoon, an owl) and knowing Miles is a big fan of all of them, I figured … Continue reading Year 3, Day 27 →

Year 3, Day 12

One of the gifts Miles received at his birthday party last week was an outdoor adventure set (and, if you're familiar with our group of friends, you can probably guess who was responsible for that gift). We opened it today and let Miles start checking out the binoculars, compass, and (surprisingly strong, honestly) flashlight. I … Continue reading Year 3, Day 12 →

Year 3, Day 9

As we were getting our stuff together to leave the house this morning, Miles noticed a book sitting next to him on the bench near the front door. He immediately reached for it. "That's daddy's book," Jaclyn said as she tried to wrangle him and finish pulling his jacket on. "No, mine," Miles said. I … Continue reading Year 3, Day 9 →

Year 3, Day 4: Miles’s Second Birthday (Party)!

When we decided to have a child, one of our pledges as potential parents was to never hold a birthday at our home. Observations and word-of-mouth over the years had told us everything we needed to know about in-home birthday parties, and I wanted no part of it. With this in mind, friends from far … Continue reading Year 3, Day 4: Miles’s Second Birthday (Party)! →

Year 2, Day 330

Miles is very picky about the...let's call it music we can put on while we're in the car. For instance, here's what we listened to on the way back from Wilmington last night. Notice that Miles is singing along. It was a...LONG drive.

Year 2, Day 321

After a few days of rain, we were finally able to get Miles out of the house and take him to the park today. It was like releasing caged animal back into the wild. While he loved the opportunity to just run around the playground, he gravitated towards two things in particular -- an animal … Continue reading Year 2, Day 321 →

Year 2, Day 305

Spending time at my parents' house and, more specifically, around my father, has allowed Miles to experience some things he doesn't get too much of at home. On Christmas night, we roasted marshmallows by the fire out back. Last night, Miles got to see a raccoon feeding in the backyard. Today, my dad insisted that … Continue reading Year 2, Day 305 →

Year 2, Day 229

Miles reads a lot of books about animals and knows most of the major animal sounds at this point, so today we thought we'd take his animal experience to a new level. We've taken him to an wildlife preserve before and his love of dogs is well-documented, but today we wanted to bring him a … Continue reading Year 2, Day 229 →