September 16, 2010
month one
>August 7-September 7
I can’t believe Miller is one month old! This month has flown by so fast! It is amazing how much he has changed in just one month.
Miller with great-grandma Betty. My grandma Betty came to meet Miller on Tuesday after he was born.
Miller in his cradle for the first time. The cradle was made by great-grandpa Jack and is in our bedroom. It is absolutely beautiful! Unfortunately, Miller only slept in the cradle for a few nights. At Miller’s first doctor appointment, the nurse practitioner suggested that we put Miller in his crib as soon as possible. So, we thought we would try it. We really wanted Miller to get used to sleeping in his own room. He seems to like it and has been sleeping in the nursery since he was a couple days old.
Miller in his swing. He loves sitting in his swing and staring at himself in the mirror or sleeping. There is a mirror on the toy bar that attaches to the front of the seat. In fact, he is sleeping in his swing beside me right now. He especially likes the vibrate feature on the seat. 
Mommy burping Miller. Look how much hair he has! This picture was taken when he was four days old. He has gradually been losing hair especially on the sides.
Grandma and grandpa with Miller. Miller is four days old. My mom stayed at our house for about a week after Miller came home from the hospital. She was a tremendous help with laundry, cooking and cleaning. We are so grateful! When Miller was one week old, my mom even watched him for a couple of hours so that Colby and I could go to dinner. This picture was taken when my dad came to Tulsa to visit Miller in the first week after he was born. My dad had a song for me and each of my sisters. So, he wrote one for Miller. Here are the lyrics:
Miller sleeping in his crib. He liked to sleep with his arms outside of the blanket. He loves to have his legs swaddled and will even sit with his legs folded up when he is not wrapped in a blanket. He looks like a cute little frog!
Miller after his first bath at home. He had a sponge bath because he still had his umbilical cord, so we were trying to keep it dry. He is wearing his adorable hippo bath wrap from Stephanie! 
Miller and mommy before going to visit daddy’s work.
He is wearing the cute tie onesie made by Emily Trout. He looked precious and everyone at Orchid was so happy to meet him.
Miller on his first stroller ride. It was pretty hot outside that day so we just went around the block. Miller slept the whole time. He really likes riding in his stroller and his carseat.
Miller with Adam Joosten.
Miller with Michelle Reagor from our Sunday school class. She came over to bring us dinner and meet Miller. We had so many friends bring us meals in the first couple of weeks after Miller was born. We are so thankful!
Miller with his frown. He also had this expression on most of our ultrasound pictures. 
Miller loves his daddy! Colby stayed home with us for two weeks after Miller was born. It was so nice having him around while we adjusted to our new responsibilities and tried to get settled into a routine.
Miller after his bath in his ducky towel. His umbilical cord came off on August 18 when he was 11 days old. He finally got to sit in his whale tub.
Look how long he is! We had to start laying him longways in his crib. He loves sucking on his pacifier.
On Miller’s one month birthday, my mom brought her friend Janet to meet Miller. This picture was taken by Janet. I love how he is looking up at my mom!
More pictures taken by Janet.
I love this expression!
Miller sleeping in his glider in the nursery.
Miller is one month old! He has grown so much and become so much more alert! He loves to play on his playmat and will track rattles and other toys. He also loves kicking his legs and is even smiling occasionally. He will lift his head up when he is on his stomach and tries to hold his head up when he is burped. Most nights, he sleeps for 4-5 hours at a time. He does fight sleep at night and we often find ourselves rocking him in his room listening to lullabies for an hour or two after his bedtime feeding. We usually try to start putting him to bed around 10 and it is almost always 12-12:30 before he goes to sleep. He will get better, though! We are so proud and love him more than anything in the world! We can’t wait to watch him grow and become more interactive!miller’s baptism
>Sunday, September 5
Because some of my family was in town from Kansas City, we decided to have Miller baptized over Labor Day weekend. Also, Colby was baptized at Boston Avenue Church on Labor Day weekend in 2008. We had some of Colby’s family and my family come from Ponca City as well as my parents from Bartlesville and my sisters from Stillwater. We were so glad that so many family members were able to come help us celebrate this special occasion. Miller did a great job and slept through the entire church service!
Boston Avenue United Methodist Church.
Me, Colby and Miller. Our happy family!
My entire family that came for Miller’s baptism.
My immediate family.
Colby’s entire family.
Four generations on Colby’s dad’s side of the family. Colby’s dad, brother and grandpa-Bill Dick.
Four generations on Colby’s mom’s side of the family. Colby’s mom and grandma-Annette Smith. 
Colby and his brother, Brian with Miller.
Miller with his great-grandma Smith.
After Miller’s baptism, everyone came to our house for a pot luck lunch. We had sandwiches, side salads, chips and desert. The food was amazing!
mcdaniel family visit
>Saturday, September 4
Over Labor Day weekend, my family from Kansas City and some of my family from Ponca City came to Tulsa to see Miller for the first time. It was so good to see them! We had a great time and are so glad that they were able to meet Miller! Thanks to Uncle Ray for taking most of the pictures!
The entire McDaniel family minus Alfred, Janet and the twins (who live in California) and Peter and Brett.
Miller wearing orange for the first OSU game of the season against Washington State. 
Aunt Patricia with Miller. Patricia, Ray, Merrick and Aaron came all the way from Kansas City.
Uncle Ray and Miller.
Cousin Merrick and Miller. She didn’t even get mad that he pooped on her white pants!
Merrick’s husband, Aaron.
Aunt Becky and Miller.
My grandma Ruby and her great-grandson, Miller.
My Grandpa Jack with his great-grandson.
Four generations.miller’s two week appointment
>Friday, August 20
We saw the nurse practitioner, Kathy, for Miller’s 2 week appointment. Miller did great! He weighed 9 lbs 5.5 ounces (more than his birth weight) and was 22 3/4 inches long. Miller had developed a blister on his upper lip and Kathy explained that it was from sucking and was completely normal. Miller’s umbilical cord had fallen off so Kathy checked to make sure that it was healing properly. She also checked his circumcision. Miller had some adhesion that she was able to fix and instructed us to use vaseline for a couple of days to keep it from adhering again. We were concerned that Miller always laid with his head to the left, so Kathy checked to make sure that he wasn’t developing more neck muscle on one side. She also went over the vaccination schedule with us and gave us some information to look over on the different vaccines. Miller is very healthy and our next appointment won’t be until he is 2 months old.
lactation appointment
>Monday, August 16
After leaving the hospital, breastfeeding continued to be painful for me and Miller was still having difficulty latching on properly. So, we called the hospital and made an appointment with a lactation consultant. The appointment was extremely beneficial and was the turning point for my successful breastfeeding. I had been very concerned with feeding a certain number of times a day for a certain amount of time. The nurse instructed me to focus more on Miller’s body cues and to feed on demand. She also assisted me with latch on and weighed Miller before and after feeding to ensure that he was getting enough milk. We were surprised to learn that he took 2 ounces in a very short amount of time. She also assured us that we were good parents and helped give me confidence that we were doing a good job. She stated that in her opinion it was fine to use a pacifier. She even told us that according to recent studies, the use of a pacifier at night can help reduce the risk of SIDS. This helped relieve some of my guilt about the pacifier. Miller had already gained some weight since his doctor appointment and was almost back to his birth weight. He weighed 8 lbs 14 ounces at this appointment.
miller’s first photoshoot
>Friday, August 13
The Friday after Miller was born, we took him to have his first professional pictures. We used Brenda Horan who also took my maternity pictures. She offers a “babycakes” package that includes 5 separate photo sessions-newborn, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month and 1 year. She did an AMAZING job and spent an entire afternoon with us to ensure that we got some great pictures. She was so patient with us and Miller and was willing to take the time needed to put him in some adorable poses. As a result, we got some awesome shots. We were so pleased!!
Colby and I had not given Miller a pacifier based on the advice and opinions of some nurses and even our nurse practitioner. So, when Miller became fussy during the photoshoot, we had him suck on Colby’s index finger. This worked for a little while but made getting a good picture difficult with Colby having to stay so close. In the end, Brenda had a pacifier that we gave Miller. I think Colby and I were both surprised at how much Miller liked the pacifier and how much it calmed him down. We were skeptical about using the pacifier at first, but after giving it to him at Brenda’s studio we decided that we would use it at home. There are times when he just wants to suck but is not hungry and we did not notice any negative changes with his feeding habits after introducing the pacifier. This did not stop me from feeling guilty about giving him a pacifier, however.
Although you can not see the entire photo session on Brenda’s website anymore, you can still see some of his pictures on her baby gallery. Go to brendahoran.com and enter the main site. Click on the “Baby and Belly Gallery” tab at the top of the page. Then, click on “babycakes”. The first picture of him is #5, although this is constantly changing.
miller’s first doctor appointment
>Wednesday, August 11
In his carseat on the way to the doctor wearing his cute bowtie onesie.
Me and Miller in the doctor’s office.
Miller did great at his first doctor’s appointment. We saw the nurse practitioner, Kathy, and we loved her! She took a lot of time with us and explained everything that she was doing and what she was looking for during her assessment. She even talked to us about breastfeeding and normal newborn behaviors. Miller weighed 8 lbs 9 ounces. He lost a little bit of weight from birth, but that is normal. His umbilical cord and circumcision were both healing well.
miller comes home
>Monday, August 9
Miller in his cute “going home onesie” made by our friend, Emily Trout.
Miller in his carseat for the first time.
Me and Miller in front of our house.
Miller in his nursery for the first time.
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