The Great Outdoors

Max loves being outside! No matter how upset he may get, if we take him outside he is all smiles. He wants nothing to do with the grass, so he always sticks the to the concrete. It hasn't taken him long to figure out that the concrete hurts his knees when he crawls. I thought this would motivate him to pracitce walking, but that has not been the case. Max has perfected a little monkey crawl that uses his hands and feet so that his knees don't touch the ground. It is pretty cute to watch!

Family Fun

We have had a very busy weekend! Yesterday we were able to celebrate our niece Paisley's third birthday. We are so excited that Max's cousins have moved back to Missouri . . . we are happy to have Mark and Kathy closer too, of course. Max was not in the best of moods for the party. He didn't want to be more than about a foot away from mom or dad. He is working on cutting four more teeth right now so he has been pretty cranky. He did play with his cousins a bit. It is hard to believe that Graham is going to be one soon! Don't they all look cute hanging out together?

Today we celebrated my cousin Anna's graduation from high school. Max was in better spirits today - he was okay being about five feet from mom or dad so that is an improvement. He was willing to pose for one picture, as long as he was in dads arms. I really can't wait for his teething to be over so we have a few pictures of him without a bib on!

Every time I look at Max I am amazed at how big he is getting. I feel like he is charging full speed ahead into toddler hood. I even see a glimpse of the terrible twos once in a while. Tonight he was all smiles getting ready for bed, so we couldn't resist taking a picture.

On another note, I set up an appointment with an ENT. We are going to see Dr. Hardeman at Midwest Head and Neck. We will be seeing him on the 11th of June, so more to come later!

14 Months Old

Doesn't my little boy have the most beautiful blue eyes in the world!?

It has been forever since I have blogged. I was out on maternity leave this time last year and I completely forgot just how crazy things are at school in May. At the end of the day I am ready for bed as early as Max . . . well almost.

Max had his 14 month 'birthday' yesterday. How did we celebrate you ask? With yet another trip to the doctor! Max was pretty miserable with a cold this weekend and yesterday he had an awful day at the sitters. I took him to the doctor yesterday afternoon. I always feel like I am over reacting when I take him to the doctor for a simple cold. Unfortunately, my fears were confirmed. Max has yet another ear infection.

We have asked the doctor about tubes before, but he was always hesitant to refer us to an ENT because Max's ears always seem to clear up in between infections . . . they just don't seem to stay clear very long. I am going to make some calls tomorrow to set up an appointment.

Other than his ears, Max is doing very well. He still isn't quite walking. He is standing more on his own yet, but just isn't comfortable walking on his own. He walks great holding two hands and he can walk holding one. He has also discovered cars - it must be in his little boy DNA. He will spend the entire evening crawling around the living room with his train or his fire engine in his hand. I am just waiting for him to add sound effect.

I had to tack this picture on. We just had new windows installed - had to take advantage of that Obama tax credit :) I think they look great! If you look closely you might just see my two favorite men in the window. I do think we might need to do something about those black shutters though.

Max's First Big Boy Party

Max went to his first 'big boy' party today. I guess it is funny that a one year old can be a 'big boy'. Our friends son, Nathan, will be four tomorrow so they had a party at this super cute little train place in Valley Park.

Max sat down in the circle with all the other kids, although he wasn't quite up to hitting the pinata with a baseball bat.

He also enjoyed some cupcake and then he got to play with the trains. I thought it might be over his head, but he really liked cruising around the track with his trains. His favorite train car was the Fed Ex one. I love the way his little tongue hangs out when he concentrates. He was happy as long as mom and dad were in eyesight.

Molars, toes, and grass, oh my!

What a busy couple weeks Max has had . . . I sure seem to say that a lot but it really is true. Yesterday we played peek a boo outside. He just gets more fun every day!

Max has finally cut two molars, I think he was working on them for three months. Now that they are through the drooling has slowed down lots - I think we only go through about two bibs a day now rather than six. The two that are through are both on the bottom, but I can also see one on the top that is just about to poke through soon. It seems like Max's teeth come in spurts, I guess his molars will be the same way.

The weather has be beautiful here the past few days. So nice, in fact, that Max was able to be a barefoot baby for the first time in quite a while just the other day. My mom came over to watch him for a bit so that I could go to the gym. When I got home she pointed out his toes . . . they looked awful! They were all red and raw and they were practically bleeding. I was shocked that I hadn't noticed this earlier! Although in my defense, the sore part is under his toes and Max is a master toe curler. It was so bad that I took him to the doctor on Thursday afternoon (we needed to get his ears checked to make sure he has recovered from his latest infection anyway). The doctor asked if he wears footy pajamas to bed, which he usually does. The doctor said that Max has a case of what he calls 'jammie toes'. I guess Max has some sweaty feet and since he likes to keep his toes curled the sweat was getting trapped and eating away at his skin at night - gross, I know. We have been putting Aquaphor on his toes twice a day and they are much better. As I type he is downstairs sleeping in a pair of foot free pajamas.

We have also done a bunch of yard work the last few days. Last night we tried to have Max play on the grass while we worked, but it turns out he doesn't like grass too much. I also think he was just sleepy, so he wasn't in the best of moods to begin with. Minutes after this pitiful picture, Max was taken in for bath time and bed. I think it was needed.

Ouch!

Max has had his first noticeable boo-boo. He was trying to climb on the little plastic rocking horse at daycare and he conked his eye on the handle. I know it isn't the best picture, but you can see his battle wound above his right eye. I am sure this is just the first of many that we will see over the next few months - or whenever her really decided to start walking!

Right now he has all the strength he needs to stand on his own and walk, but as soon as he realizes he isn't touching anything he falls flat on his tush. I am beginning to wonder if my little man will ever get there! He did great with cousin Bridget's push toys in CA, but he has no interest in pushing the similar toy we have here.

Max's new favorite thing is when mommy does the laundry. He gets so excited! He loves to play in the basket when it is empty and he finds it even more fun to pull everything out of it when I am trying to fold things. I turned around to get hangers and before I knew it Max had just about every single item strewn all over the floor! If only he could learn to put things back. . . now he is just obsessed with pulling things out. I am ashamed to admit it, but today he did the same thing with the trash can in his room. I guess I will be finding a new place for that!

We also had his one year check up before we left on our trip and I just realized I didn't update his stats on the blog. He was almost 32 inches (90th) and 22lb 14oz (50th). Our little man is long and lean! We have made the big switch to whole milk. Max has taken to it like a champ. I am still nursing once or twice a day, but I don't see that lasting too much longer. I think he is losing interest, so I have a feeling he will be finished within the next month or so. I still can't believe how much our little guy has changed. He never ceases to amaze me!

California Trip - Part II

Our vacation didn't end in San Francisco! We headed over to San Jose to spend some time with Brian's brothers family and celebrate our newest nephew's baptism. It was great to see the kids. Bridget is getting so big and Sean is so cute! Unfortunatly, we spent more time socializing than taking pictures, so we don't have much to post from this part of our trip. It was funny to watch Max try to play with her. Much of the time he wanted to do what she was doing. We have Bridet to thank for Max's new found ability to climb stairs. Unfortunatly, we weren't there long enough for her to teach him to get back down. . .

Max loved pushing her wagon and the two even took turns giving eachother rides! Too cute!