Thanksgiving Weekend

What a Thanksgiving it has been! I think Motrin would be near the top of the Dull Family Thankful list this year. Max was one sick little guy! On Tuesday he developed a fever. Brian took him to the doctor and was told it was just a virus - it needed to run its course. So for the next few days Max was under quarantine. His fever finally broke on Thursday afternoon. He missed the Dull Family Thanksgiving, but he did make it to my parents for a little bit Thursday night.

On Friday evening went to my Aunt's for dinner. My cousin has a bearded dragon named Romulus. Max thought he was the neatest thing ever! He couldn't get close enough. He would have laid on the floor with his nose pressed to the glass forever if I would have let him.

Brian's siblings came into town for the holiday and while we missed part of the family due to our quarantine, Max was able to spend some quality time with his two oldest cousins. I love Andrew's funny face. I guess that I what I have to look forward to raising a boy.

Speaking of funny faces, I had to include this last picture. Max has the funniest little grin on his face!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday with family and friends. Even though our little guy was sick - we still have so much to be thankful for!

Leaves

We had to take advantage of this fabulous weather! After spending some time at the playground we came home to play in the back yard. Or at least Max played, mom and dad worked! There is only one tree in our neighbors yard and it is amazing how many leaves it has. Max could almost get lost in the pile.

Happy Halloween!

We celebrated by taking Max to a few places to show him off. First we were off to Nonna's house. She thought Max looked too cute in his little scarecrow costume. After visiting with Nonna for a while we were off to see Great Aunt Carm and Great Uncle Mike. Max did a pretty good job posing for pictures! Then we were headed home to pass out candy. So far we haven't had too many trick or treaters. We have had one pretty cute joke - What is a cat's favorite street? Pernod - what makes this so cute is that we live on Pernod. We hope everyone is enjoying their Halloween evening!

Boo at the Zoo

We were off to the zoo tonight to get into the holiday spirit. We went last year, and Max just kind of hung out in his stroller. He was much more into things this year. He thought the penguins were too fun, and he showed his excitement by doing lots of pointing and letting out an ear piercing shriek. I may be partial, but I think he had the cutest costume there. He even wore his hat without complaint. Some of the noises seemed to scare him and at one point he tried to climb back into his stroller to get away. We tried the carousel and he was less than thrilled with it. He was fine until it started moving then he made the sign for 'all done'. When that didn't work he showed me the sign for 'help' along with a "p" sound. I quickly rescued him from the animal, but we were pretty much stuck until the ride ended. He seemed to be okay as long as I held him. I can't wait to put him in his costume again tomorrow night!

Ms. Gina

Max loves his speech therapist, Ms. Gina. She comes to visit him once a week and he gets all excited when she pulls up in her Jeep. He sits in front of her on his little bottom and she can do no wrong. Everything Ms. Gina asks of him, he does. She has a bag full of fun that changes every week. Tonight there were farm animals, the bean tub, and his all time favorite the bubbles. These are not just any bubbles. These are the most amazing bubbles ever made - the last forever, but they don't leave any ickyness behind. Max kept asking for more and more bubbles. He has been making more and more sounds since he began therapy. I think today he was trying to say 'buckle'. Every time we go shopping he wants to be buckled into the cart. Tonight we went to Sam's on our way home and as I put him in the cart he grabbed the ends and said 'gugkle'. I asked if he wanted to be buckled and he kept repeating his word over and over. I am so happy with the progress he is making!

19 Months

Wow . . . we have been busy. I can't believe that Max is 19 months old. The fact that he is closer to two than one is just crazy. It goes so quickly! I haven't posted in forever - I have been too busy attempting to make Max a Halloween costume. Here he is modeling his scarecrow hat with daddy this morning. It only took me four tries to get a hat that looked decent and based on how quickly he took it off this morning I don't think he will wear it long at all!

We had his 18 month check up a couple weeks ago. He weighed in at 28lb 2oz and was 36in long - although we're not sold on that height measurement. I don't' think he is quite that tall. He is in the 95th percentile for height and 75th for weight. The doctor thought everything else looked great. The ear tubes are really doing their job, he hasn't had an infection since May.

Max has also qualified for services through the MO First Steps program. He now receives an hour a week of speech and an hour a week of OT. We are seeing progress in his communication skills. He has totally mastered the sign for 'help' and this is making life much less frustrating for all involved. I'm sure before we know it he will be talking up a storm. . . and I can't wait!

Today we met Brian's sister Kathy and her family at the pumpkin patch. A great time was had by all. The kids looked so cute in the wagon together. Max was much more interested in the pumpkins this year and even picked one our for us to take home. Max was very excited about the ponies, but after we paid our money and he sat on one, he lost all interest. I guess it was a bit scarier up close. Dad was just happy that they gave us our money back. All in all it was a very fun day spent with wonderful family. We are very lucky!

Apple PIcking

Max had a big day today! We went apple picking at Eckert's farm. Nonna joined us for the trek to Illinois. It was a fun time. We started off at the petting zoo area. Max treated the animals as if they were big cats. He wasn't scared at all and we even heard a real cow moo. The cow makes a better moo sound than I do.

Once he had his fill of the animals we headed to the tractor for our ride out to the orchard. Max thought that the ride was a lot of fun. He couldn't take his eyes off the driver the entire time.

I have never been apple picking before, and I was surprised at how cute the little apple trees were. Max didn't quite get the idea of picking the apples off the tree, but he loved putting them into the bags.

After we filled our apple bags, we rode the tractor back to the farm. Max sat with his Nonna and enjoyed the view.

Max was determined to take one look at the animals. This time he wanted to get even closer - he actually stuck his head through the fence. It was too cute!