I'll take a cold one!

Cold bottle of milk of course, what did you think I wanted?

Little by little Max is discovering different things. One of the most exciting things he has discovered over the past couple weeks is his hands. He sucks on them, stares at them, and waves them all around. He is very excited about his new found toys. I thought this picture was cute, it looks like he is waving hi to everyone!

Since Dad has gone back to work Max and I have been working hard to get into a bit of a routine. He is sleeping a bit better at night. He isn't quite sleeping through the night but he will get one good stretch in most nights. Last night he ate at 8:30 then went to sleep. He slept until 2:30 and then woke up again at 6:00. We have started working on a bedtime routine, which has really helped. He seems to get tired at around the same time each night. We have been starting our bedtime routine at 8:30. He gets a bath, we read a story and he nurses. After he eats he is ready for bed. All of the books say having a routine is key to getting a little one to sleep better and it has seemed to help, although I do look forward to a time when he can make it all the way through the night.

Two Months Already?

Well two months have come and gone. While it is amazing to see all the changes in our little one, it is also a bit sad. Brian headed back to work today, so I am officially on my own during the day. It was so nice to have him home with us and I know it is going to take some getting used to now that he is back to work.

Max also had his two month check up last Friday. Everything looked good! He weighed in at 11 lb 12oz and measured 23 1/2 inches. He is just growing so quickly. When I look at some of the earlier pictures it is hard to believe that it the same baby. At the end of the appointment came the tough stuff - the vaccinations. My poor little boy got four shots! Two in each of his little chubby thighs. I had tears in my eyes when he got them, it was so tough to watch! Luckily he didn't have any type of reaction to the shots. He goes back to the doctor again in July for his four month check up. Hopefully I will handle the shots a little better since Brian won't be there to be the strong one.

This past weekend Brian and I took Max to St. John's for a baby massage class. It was funny to see all these little babies getting massages. Max was the biggest boy there and he listened to the teacher very well. I just tried giving Max his first at home massage a few minutes ago and he loved it. He smiled and relaxed his little muscles. He looked so content. I will have to make this a common occurrence!

Now, that is a smile!

We are officially getting very big and beautiful smiles from our little man. Here is one that I was able to catch on the camera, sorry it is a bit blurry, but he doesn't sit still too well!! He smiles at us all the time - I seem to get the most smiles right before I feed him - I wonder why that could be. . .

It is hard to believe that Max is officially 8 weeks old today. I can't imagine people that have to go back to work at this point - I still can't imagine leaving my little man all day long. It is also hard to imagine going back to work when we are still getting up to feed him during the night. He as been getting four hour stretches in at night, but that still means I am up feeding him at around 2am. Hopefully he will master the whole sleeping through the night thing before I go back to school in August. Unfortunately Brian's leave is just about over. He will head back to work next Monday, so we are trying to make the best of his last week off. I am going to miss him so much! It has been so much fun spending the past two months together getting to know our son.

Max has been a bit congested and since I am a very concerned new mom, I made an appointment to take him to the doctor. We took him in last week and were told that he just has plain old new baby congestion. He did get weighed while he was there, he is now tipping the scales at 11 lbs. Way to grow little guy!!

Is that a smile I see?

Max continues to grow and amaze me every day. He has been giving us little smiles here and there and every once in a while I get a really big one. Unfortunatly I have yet to catch a real one on camera - not for a lack of trying, believe me. Here is the closest I have gotten. I think it is pretty cute, even if it isn't a real smile. He is just getting so big!

He did have another big first on Saturday evening. Brian and I took Max to 5pm mass at St. Ambrose. We usually go the 9am mass, but mornings are still so tough in our household that we didn't think that would work too well. He was wonderful the entire mass. I took him out of his seat for communion so he could recieve his blessing from the preist. It was a great experience and it made me look forward to his baptism even more!

Driving Miss Daisy

Call me Morgan Freeman.

Ever since we have left the hospital Sarah has refused to ride in the front seat of the car. She insist to ride in the back of the car with Max. I have tried to convince her to return to the front seat like most mothers do, but the fear that Max will need something has kept her in the back. She can really be a back seat driver.

I have thought about putting out a tip jar so she can tip me a few bucks for all the rides I provide her. We even make our weekly trips to church and the St. Louis Piggly Wiggly, aka Schnucks.

Considering I'll be returning to work in 2 weeks she better get use to riding in the front seat otherwise the two will be house bound while I'm working.

Field Trip!

Since I am on leave for the remainder of the year, I thought it would be fun to catch up with my kids on a field trip today. So, Max had his first trip to the zoo! Brian and I headed up the zoo to meet the kids for lunch and then we joined a group to walk around for a while. It was a nice day, but then it got pretty windy so we headed home a little early. It was fun to walk around pushing Max in his stroller - I felt like such a mom! Doesn't Max look cute in his new little sun hat?

All of the kids thought Max was the cutest thing ever. I think some of them were more exited about seeing Max than any of the animals! After Brian and I ate we fed Max a bottle, all of the kids were very intrigued. One of my students watched the whole time and let me know when Max was dripping. It was pretty funny. Max was a bit of a messy eater and I had to change his clothes in the restroom - I really need to get the hang of those changing stations things.

After lunch we took a walk through the rivers edge. Max slept through most of this - I think he was catching up on the sleep he didn't get last night. . . He was quite and sweet the whole time. I was a little disappointed that the hippos were not out but we did see a few elephants - or at least part of them!