Photos this time

We had a lovely day a week or so ago so Max (who can now sit up, more-or-less in the stroller) and I went for a nice long walk on the Prairie Path near our house. It is 60-something miles of biking/walking/running trails that wind through the western suburbs. I think we are going to love it! He did pretty well until the end of the walk when he just wanted to get home.


He's not doing much better in the car, but has some good moments. God help us for the drive to Michigan! Not looking forward to that one. However, just in the last week we've made some major progress on the sleep front - he has been napping by himself and not on my lap (though on the couch, so still not ideal...) for the past few days and we've been able to get him into the crib, at least for an hour or a little more at the beginning of bedtime. It's not much, but for us it is major progress.

Yesterday while in the Bumbo next to me while I was washing dishes, Max pulled on of my measuring spoons off its hanger on the wall and decided to eat it. His coordination is getting really good!

And one more picture of his cute Halloween costume. The cutest Wild Thing!

First Halloween

Max dressed up as Max (King of All Wild Things!) from Where the Wild Things Are for his first Halloween. It was the perfect re-purposing of an adorable bunting that Aunt Ruthi gave him.

We stayed here and gave out candy to the very few trick-or-treaters that braved the no-sidewalk side of the street. Good thing I bought five bags of candy!

Grandma Wood made up a version of peek-a-boo that Max was absolutely loving.

Max's First Vacation

Max celebrated his five-month birthday yesterday. He is getting so big and so expressive.

We are all getting settled in to our suburban routine. Yesterday we raked leaves for the first time - definitely not the last time this fall alone! This yardwork thing is new for both of us in our adult lives. I guess that's what happens when you reach your thirties...

We have been walking around, despite the cold weather this fall, exploring our new neighborhood. Max still prefers the Moby or Bjorn to the stroller, but he does tolerate it for longer periods of time these days - especially if he is freshly rested and fed.

We took Max on his first airplane ride last weekend when we tagged along on Mike's business trip to Virginia Beach. He did great on the plane - slept almost the whole time both ways. He was good at the hotel too and at the party we were there for. He got lots of attention as usual - especially since he was the only baby there...

He loved the extra time with daddy!

It was too cold to dip his feet in the Atlantic, but we watched the ocean from our balcony.

He didn't enjoy his first swim much - I don't blame him though. The pool was cold (too cold for me too!) and he didn't like going underwater at all. He was pretty clingy in the water, but later on we took him in the jaccuzi tub in our room, and he liked that much better - even letting us hold him to float on his back.

Overall, we had a really nice and relaxing first vacation with the baby. I am hoping to do it again soon!

Whirlwind

Whew - what a whirlwind month! We have spent the last six weeks or so packing, garage sale-ing, check-writing, house-buying, moving, un-packing and settling in. Max got in on the action (oh- and that is the super cute quilt I made for him while he was in utero):

He has been remarkably happy and flexible through the whole transition. (Thanks in large part to Grandma Alyse who has magic powers to help him sleep.)

This is our cute new home out in the suburbs. Though it didn't when we took this picture, it does now have a house number, mailbox and doorbell. Still no phone jacks though. Very strange. All three of my parents were an amazing help at getting the house ready to move in to and also to do some projects (see above house number, mailbox, and doorbell as well as pantry shelves, drawer pulls and cleaning among other things that got checked off the project list) after moving.

We are mostly unpacked and settled in - bookshelves purhcased and put together, kitchen and pantry totally unpacked and organized. The only big thing left to do is buy some furniture for our living room.

Max has recently discovered the joys of bouncy toys - both this one and the Exersaucer that keeps him occupied for at least enough time to unpack one box.

He did his first tummy-to-back roll on September 20 after Grandma Wood arrived for a visit - to everyone's suprise and delight. Good timing Max! When we applauded and cheered he cried though. Maybe a little too much enthusiasm on our part.

Though I may be biased, I do believe he just gets cuter every day. Uhh, no, he definitely isn't watching TV in this picture. Definitely not.

This seems to be his favorite new face - sucking on his bottom lip. He just started doing it this past weekend - it is so funny.

We'll try to do a better job of keeping this updated now that we are settling into our quiet suburban life. Do come visit!!

Talker

I think Max is going to be a talker like his daddy.

Three Months

At three months Max can hold his head up while on his tummy (though he loses patience with this position pretty quickly).

He is just starting to grab at toys. This octopus that plays Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is his favorite.

He figured out how to get just one or two fingers in his mouth a week or two ago. But he still likest trying to shove one or both fists in.

He is alert and happy (when he is not being tortured by his car seat) and talks to us all the time - especially at dinnertime and when he is having his diaper changed.

He's still not a great sleeper, but I don't even care when I wake up and get to play with this little guy all day:

The Many Expressions of Max

Max is getting bigger and bigger. He has been enjoying his playmat and has lots of what Cousin Kevin calls "happy spazzems" while there. He also loves stretching:

He is starting to try to shove his whole fist in his mouth frequently and is drooling so much that we have had to start putting bibs on him. Here's a cute one from Cousin Matt:

Max woke up this morning (after a nice *extra* bit of sleep from 6:20 to 8:20 am that let mama get an hour extra sleep and get a few things done too) a happy boy even though he was soaked thorugh.

Hammin' it up:

Today is our four-year anniversary. How much changes in four years! How much changes in just one year! Last year at this time we wanted so badly to have a family, and this year we have a beautiful, charming, personable little almost-three-month-old baby. Like 2005 was for us, 2009 is a year of big changes. A brand new baby, I am trying out the stay-at-home-mom thing (and LOVING it), and now it looks like we are moving to the suburbs. We are on track to close in late September on an adorable home in Lombard near the downtown area and the Metra tracks (hopefully that will make it easy for us to visit our friends in the city). The perfect place for our new family.