ZOOmagination Station

We are making the most of our time off with Max. Today we headed out to the zoo to meet Ms. Gina for a 'community' speech therapy session. We met at the ZOOmagination Station in the Living World. We had a great time! It is a very child friendly, hands on, exhibit that is perfect for toddlers to explore. Max played with the Arctic animals at the water table. He also hung out with daddy in the bear's cave. I think the hit of the whole thing was the house. Max ran in and closed all the doors and shutters so no one else could come in . . . good thing it was a little snowy this morning and there was only one other child there. Max also put his creative side to work at the craft table. He colored, glued, and dotted a beautiful masterpiece that is proudly on display in our kitchen. Max loved squeezing the glue bottle, but I drew the line at the glitter. I'm sure we will be back again for more exploration soon.

Gymboree

Since we can't go to the outdoor playground we have decided to re-join Gymboree. We took Max this morning for open play. He had so much fun running around all of the equipment. We are going to try out a class next Saturday to see if we should officially join up. I think we will!

Merry Christmas

What a wonderful holiday it has been! We started celebrating at my Aunt and Uncle's house last night. There was lots of fun, lots of family, and lots of great food. Unfortunately, Max was not in a very good mood! He was an angry little man. . . I tried telling him that Santa wouldn't like that, but it didn't seem to have much effect. The piano perked him up just a bit and he did pose for a family picture in front of the tree.

Max was up this morning and ready to dig into all those goodies under the tree. Max had lots of fun opening his presents. He was most interested in the Lego's and his little train set. He plopped his bottom right in the middle of the track daddy made and was thrilled to make the train go round and round. Unfortunately, Santa picked up this train set at Ikea and it isn't the best quality. Max had lots of derailments and got a bit ticked off. I think daddy and I are going to have to find a much nicer train -and a table to play with it on - for his birthday in March.

After nap we headed out to the Dulls, where more fun was had by all. Max convinced his cousin Graham that that doggy crate is a great place to hang out. I think her boys were completely content in there for quite a while. Then it was time for the chaos of present opening. . . Here is Max climbing on top of his Lego table. I think he needs a little instruction on how to best use this wonderful new toy. All in all it was a fabulous holiday spent with our wonderful family. We are so blessed! Merry Christmas everyone!

Must Be Santa, Santa Claus

We have been listening to this song a lot in the car lately - Raffi can perk Max up no matter what! Tonight we made the trek to West County mall to visit the famous man in red. Last year he sat on Santa's lap happily and even smiled for the camera. This year was a different story. Max wanted nothing to do with Santa. I had to sit on the bench next to him and Max would only sit on my lap. They tried to cut me out of the picture, but you can still see parts of me. Maybe next year Max will be okay with Santa. We are so excited for Christmas with our little man. It is always one of my favorite times of the year, and as Max gets more interested the holiday just gets more fun!

Oh, Christmas Tree

It is officially the holiday season. The lights are hung outside, the nativity is on the mantle, and the Christmas Tree has been trimmed.

We took Max out last night to pick out that oh, so special tree. When we arrived at the tree lot, we were greeted by none other than the man in the red suit himself. We took advantage of the opportunity to get a family picture with Santa. Max was okay with it as long as Santa didn't touch him or look directly at him. I am hoping to take him to visit Santa officially soon, and I don't think it will be pretty.

We put the tree up after Max went to bed last night and he was very excited with what he saw when he woke up. I'm sure next year, he will an active member of the tree trimming crew. For now, he is just going to enjoy looking at the pretty little lights. I love Christmas!

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!

Our Little Reader

Our little man loves to read. When I brought him home from the sitters he must have brought me five different books to read. We sit in the rocker and read story after story. Max doesn’t say much about his books he just sits and listens. I think his favorites are the How Does a Dinosaur books. I don’t think they are too bad either. Max has even learned which way the book goes. If I hand it to him upside down he turns it right side up.

We also had our intake with a representative from Missouri’s First Steps program. She asked us lots of questions about what Max can do and what he cannot. She felt that his language skills were delayed enough that it warrants a screening from a speech and language specialist. They should be contacting me within the next few days to complete a formal evaluation of Max’s skills. Based on what the specialist finds, Max may or may not receive services. We will just have to wait and see. We just want to make sure that if Max needs help we get it for him!

Hair Cut/Cards Game

What a busy day we have had. Max has been looking pretty shaggy lately. His hair is still pretty thin, but it was getting long! This morning Max had his first appointment with Great-Aunt Carmelina. Nonno even came up to watch. Max was excited to climb up in the big chair.

He was not as excited when Aunt Carm tried to put on the cape. He wanted nothing to do with it. So we compromised, he sat there showing his belly to the world while Aunt Carm cut his hair. We had to bribe him with a Tootsie pop to get him to sit still. He didn't eat it afterward, though. I don't think he even realized it was candy. But it did the trick and kept him occupied while Aunt Carm did her job. He did a pretty good job, all in all. The finished product was worth it. He really does look like my little 'man' now! No more mullet - yea!

This afternoon Max had another fun first. I had the opportunity to get free baseball tickets through work, so we took Max to the game. We got there just as things were beginning. Max had lots of fun people watching for the first 20 minutes or so, then it began to go down hill. We were able to keep him entertained until the beginning of the fourth inning. We then said good bye to my coworkers and headed over the family area. Max had more fun running around there than he did watching the game. No big surprise there. All in all it was great day for everyone!

Labor Day

We had a very fun weekend with our little guy. It was finally nice enough today that we headed to the playground - one of Max's favorite places! Tonight we went to my parents for dinner. Max had a grand old time, playing ball with the dogs, throwing mulch, and digging through ice in the cooler - all things that would entertain any 17 month old.

When we got home we brought out the tricycle that we bought for Max on craigslist. It has a handle for the parent to push. We hadn't tried it out yet, but Max loved it! He couldn't reach the peddles, but that didn't seems to bother him. We rode up and down the alley for a while before heading inside for bath time. I still can't get over how quickly he is growing!

Story Time

Last night Brian and I were able to sneak out for a 'date'. Nonna and Nonno came over the spend the evening with little bit. Within minutes of walking in the door Max was handing Nonna a book and climbing up in her lap for some story time. It was too cute.

Max will go to the doctor in a few weeks for his 18 month check up. We are a bit concerned about his speech and language development. He still doesn't use any real words consistently. I spoke to the parents as teachers director at school the other day and she had some great suggestions. I think I will be contacting First Steps in a couple weeks to see if I can get him evaluated. Maybe we are over-reacting, maybe it is just the teacher in me, but we want to make sure that if he needs help we get it for him as soon as possible.

Another First

Max has his first official skinned knee. We were playing in the front yard waiting for Brian to get home, and Max took a spill. I felt like it happened in slow motion. Based on his reaction, I was convinced he was going to be bloody from knee to ankle. Luckily that wasn't the case. It was just a bit of a scrape. He was fully recovered with just a little love, and of course a cold cup of milk.

I think it is obvious by my lack of posts, but I am officially back to work. We started last week and it feels like we never even left. . . I sure am glad that I love my job. If I didn't, I don't think I could leave my little man each day!

Catsup

This has become one of Max's favorite foods. He has it with chicken, hot dogs, and dinner tonight it was all over his fish sticks. He loves it! You can guess from the picture that I don't love it quite as much - it makes a huge mess for me to clean up!

MO Botanical Garden

Since I am always on the lookout for the deals we headed to the garden this morning. It is free on Wednesday's and Saturday's before noon. Once again I recruited Aunt Anna to join us. Since nonna has been off work this week she joined us too. Max enjoyed looking at the flowers. He really liked touching them.

He also liked feeding the fish. All morning I had been talking to Max about feeding the fish. I think he was a bit disappointed. He was excited to throw a few pieces of food out, but then he climbed back into his stroller and tried to strap himself in. Safety first!

On our way home from Chicago this weekend, Brian and I stopped at Ikea. We picked up a few things including a book case to hide all of Max's toys and the cutest little child size chair. Max loves sitting in his little chair (so does the cat).