Spring Has Sprung (At Least For Now)

Max was all dressed in green for St. Patrick's Day today. We were a little matchy-matchy. Oh well - it is a new mothers prerogative, right?? At the grocery store today, the checker asked me how old Max was when I "got" him. I am frankly pretty surprised that this is the first time (at almost 10-months old!) that someone has (out-loud) mistaken him as adopted. He still doesn't look much like mama.

When we turn on music now he bounces and dances along with the beat. Too cute.


We have been really enjoying getting out and getting some exercise (me) and some fresh air (both of us) during this wonderful spring warm-up that we have been having the last week or so. Max has been really good in the stroller - nothing like last summer when he just cried. And in fact, ever since our trip to Michigan, he has been pretty great in the car too! A major (and wonderful) change. I took him to the park for the first time this week and put him in the baby swing. He was not too impressed by the whole experience. Maybe next time he'll get excited.

We are still figuring out his new schedule with Daylight Saving Time... He is now sleeping (most of the time) until 6:15 rather than 5:15 (MUCH more reasonable) and is up long enough that we can all have dinner together. We can also now get a walk in before his first nap in the morning or after lunch. It is amazing what a difference one hour makes to a schedule. It has been a big adjustment, but so far so good.

We are having to guess what he wants less and less these days as he is pointing to everything, and in particular what he wants to eat. What a surprise! We know where he gets his appetite and love of food from! The other night at dinner Mike discovered that Max would point to what he wanted (broccoli in one dish, ground beef in another, or kisses from Mike). He's still not too into the sippy cup, but does love drinking a little bit of water from a regular cup.

I don't know how he did it, but even with pajamas and a bib on he still dripped blueberry juice all over his belly and onto his diaper. Bathtime doesn't usually happen at 7:30 am, but this week it did.

After one small incident today, I am looking forward to the day when Max knows not to put his hand in the toilet. Yuck.

I think we are expecting snow next week, but at least for now we have crocuses blooming in our yard. It is so fun to see what comes up this year - the first spring in our new home.

Happy St. Patrick's Day. Happier Spring!!

Road Trip!

No posting last week because Max and I took a roadtrip! Mike was away for another whole week, so we packed up everything we own (or that's what it felt like at least) and headed to Michigan. Lucky Max got to see all five grandparents in the span of a few days. We stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Purdy, spent the day Friday with Grandma Wood and then celebrated Bachan Yone's 90th birthday in the Detroit area along with Grandma Alyse and Grandpa Vic.


The drive was way less painful than I had imagined. We timed it just right and got both naps taken care of while we drove. Over the whole time we were in the car, we probably had only 20 or 30 minutes of baby-freak-out, which was a major accomplishment considering the number of hours we spent in the car.

Max found a special hiding spot at Grandma and Grandpa Purdy's - his own little Max-sized fort.

When we got back he surprised me by climbing into this laundry basket all by himself. This kid has no fear. He also pulled his piano table over on himself today and didn't even cry.

He's pointing like crazy at everything and also waves (when he feels like it) when he hears "bye-bye". We don't even have to wave anymore to get him to do it. I told him to splash in the bathtub last night too and he did it. He surprises us with how much he understands!

No, Max, YOU DA MAN!

Sweet happy baby!

Lunch, or an entire weeks' food for other babies

Today for lunch, Max had:

3 Baby Mum-Mum crackers
1 handful of cheerios (some went on the floor of course)
1/4 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup plain yogurt with blueberry puree mixed in
1/4 cup pureed sugar snap peas
1/2 carton of raspberries

And I think he still would have eaten more.

Holy wow.

Yummy yummy raspberries.

And oh yeah, my house is a wreck. Gotta get cleaned up before book club tomorrow.

9 Months!

Tomorrow Max is 9 months old!

He is finally getting some teeth. In fact, all four front teeth are coming in at once. No wonder the kid won't sleep. Hopefully the poor baby will be able to get some sleep soon after they all come through. (And then mama can get some sleep too...)

Thanks to his hearty appetite, he gained almost 3 pounds in 3 months - going from the 15th percentile to the 25th in weight and now weighing in at a whopping 18.2 pounds and 27 1/2 inches long. And once again he had three needle pokes and didn't cry. But then cried and screamed all the way home because he didn't want to be strapped into his car seat. Crazy kid.

He has a new trick, which is climing up the entire flight of stairs to our bedroom. He is quite a daredevil. He learned how to do it really quickly! Literally one day he was inching his way up one or two stairs and the next he climbed the whole flight. I sound like an overly-proud mama bear. : )

Happy 9-month birthday kiddo! You have now been out in the world as long as you were in my belly.

Crawler!

Something just clicked for Max this afternoon, and now we are really in trouble!

Happy Valentines Day

Mike left for Switzerland yesterday afternoon, sadly leaving me home alone with Max for Valentine's Day. This weekend is also our 10-year anniversary of meeting. Thanks Diana!! : ) Mike and I went out for a date on Friday and I thought that was the end of our V-Day celebration, but these flowers arrived this morning "from Max".

Max and I had a relaxing morning with a trip to Target. He gave me the wonderful Valentines Day present of sleeping in until 6:15 am! Two mornings in a row of sleeping past 6:00 am. (Now that I have typed that, I am sure it will never happen again.)

I had to dress him up in red and white as my little valentine.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Growth Spurt

Max seems to have hit a growth spurt over the past couple of weeks - all of a sudden his 9-month clothes are getting too tight so I had to go to the bins and pull out all of his 12-month hand-me-downs. I am not too surprised considering the quantity of food that this kid eats - easily at least three or four times as much as other babies we know who were born the same day. So far I got my wish - a good eater. We'll see how long it lasts. And his hair is really starting to grow now too!

He still loves his bath, and we signed him up for swimming lessons starting in April, just to get him used to being in the water.

Here he is, about to steal Iris's toy (aka an empty play-dough tin).

We are looking forward to taking Max to his first White Sox game this spring in Arizona during spring training.

He is not looking forward to wearing this hat in the sun.