Our 4 month old :)

Despite what it looks like, we do more around here than simply watch Max get older. This past month Max and I went on a two week trip involving 3 states and 4 flights (Joe was with us about half the time). Then we came home and started to think about getting ready to move in a few weeks. Given how stressful it is just to think about it, I'm guessing actually doing it is going to be a whole lot of fun.

Still, the one thing that continues to consume our lives is our little Max man. It can be slightly frustrating once in a while, but overall we couldn't be happier about it. How can I put it into words?? The kid is awesome. He loves life and we think he loves us. And we seriously love him to pieces. It's just .... wow.

Anyway, today Max had his 4 month check up (closer to 4.5 months actually). And we learned that Max is now:

15 lbs, 3 oz (50-75% ..... or 43rd from my trusty internet source) Same as before.
25.5 inches (50-75% ..... or 58th) Either the doc was generous or he has really grown!
43 cm head circum. (50-757% ..... or 59th) Right on track from before.

Okay, so what else is Max up to these days?

* Rolling in all directions! He finally figured out the back to stomach roll last week and seems pretty pleased. I can't believe how far he gets just by rolling and rotating around.
* Grabbing everything and shoving it in his mouth. He has made real progress here ... finding his target instead of just banging himself in the face.
* Still loving to blow spit bubbles everywhere, especially in mom's face.
* Still spitting up a lot.
* Drooling.
* Gnawing on and mutilating things to the best of his ability, especially hands and fingers.
* Making lots of adorable sounds ... and lots that aren't.
* Smiling a lot, but he's still not a super smiley guy.
* Giggling, especially when we chomp on his cheeks. ADORABLE.
* Loving his walks and just being outside or anywhere with new things to see.
* Taking better naps sometimes, but not consistently.
* Waking up at least twice a night to eat.

Max is just full of energy ... he kicks his legs furiously and squeals with delight as soon as we go get him in the morning. We think he's a nut. But in a good way. Kind of. Check him out! (Pictures were taken in Utah by my mom 1 day before his 4 month birthday.)

Seriously, who is this kid?? How is he so dang cute?!

We didn't put Max in the flowers, I promise. He rolled there on his own and it was too cute to pass up.

I like this one cuz it's a funny little face that Max makes once in a while.

And the rest are of me and my boy. I just love playing with him and could do it all day long. Oh wait, that's what I do.

Oh it is great to have a baby boy. Maxbug you're maxnificent!

Strawberries :)

Last year we missed strawberry picking since we were living it up in Cancun on our graduation trip. Well, nothing quite so exciting was going on this year so there was no way I was going to pass it up! Hanging out in a strawberry patch all afternoon eating as many strawberries as I possibly can = heaven. (I was also dreaming about putting them on some waffles and crepes with whipped cream ... which I did later and it was also heavenly.) Little Reese was in heaven with the strawberries for a while, too! And then she wasn't. But Nate & Lori probably didn't want to be feeding her strawberries the entire time anyway. :)
Maxbug was a gem like usual thanks to the baby bjorn. Love that thing!

Joe of course acts like he does this all for me but I'm pretty sure he enjoyed himself as well. We just love to tease Max ... what mean parents!

After the picking we had a little fun at the petting zoo. We'd never gone to that part of the farm before since it's for "kids." Max is still a baby, not yet a "kid," but I think he had fun. Trying to grab a goat by the horns ....

And making friends with a little lamb.

Maryland is gorgeous. I'm going to miss it.

Fortunately cherry picking is just a couple weeks away. I'm soooooooo stoked.

Max is 3 months!

I can't believe this crazy kid is 3 months old. Isn't he supposed to have life just a little bit figured out by now??? Ohhhh, Max my love, I'm just kidding. You'll figure it out soon, won't you buddy? And until then, you just keep spitting up all over mom, refusing to take good naps, and waking up way too much at night. I'll just keep hanging in there!

Despite the fact that things don't seemed to have calmed down much, life is fantastic. Max is so much fun most of the time. He really seems to know us now and gives us the most amazing smiles. Max's smiles are pretty much the greatest thing ever.

Mr. Max doesn't want to miss out on anything, and so he fights hard to keep those eyes open and to keep the party going. I think he knows that if he is smiling and talking to me there is no way I will put him to bed (it is much easier to swaddle the heck out of him when he's cranky). He doesn't know how to fall asleep on his own, and since he's not ready for cry-it-out I just nurse or rock him to sleep every time (and given how short his sleep intervals can be and how many times he wakes up 5 minutes after going down .... that is a LOT of times). Ahhhhh.

Max and I have so much fun together. I love our deep conversations in baby talk and our bubble blowing contests. Max's bubble blowing has now evolved more into just spitting really loudly, so I usually end up with a face full of saliva. It's still cute though. He does it ALL the time. I also love taking walks together. It is the perfect way to get out of the house without the stress of actually going somewhere and to get a little exercise as well (since I'm too tired to do anything else). Just put Max facing forward in the baby bjorn and the kid is in heaven! Bathtime is another favorite. I don't think Max has ever been fussy during a walk or a bath.

As for new skills .... Max has gotten a lot better at grasping objects. He can even pass things from hand to hand, although he has room for improvement. He is still rolling from front to back. And he basically is just getting bigger and stronger all the time!

Enough talk, on to some pictures of the (big) little guy.

About to roll ....

And he did it!

Thanks for checking out our cute kid. If I had anything else to blog about I would ... but I definitely do not!

Our little parcel

So Max has been breaking out of his swaddle like crazy as of late. No matter how tight we get it, he always has both arms out and up next to his head when we go get him in the middle of the night, and sometimes we have to re-swaddle him multiple times just while getting him to sleep. More than a little frustrated, the other night Joe decided we needed to tie his arms down, and this arrangement was born: Isn't he just the cutest little parcel ... too bad he still gets his arms out though! But, I am still convinced it is a good idea because it at least helps keep the swaddle together while I am rocking, nursing, and ssshhhing him to sleep (yes, yes, I am still doing that .... it is less than ideal but Mr. Max fights sleep like crazy and I am not ready to deal with hours of crying just yet .... sigh).

On an unrelated note, spring has definitely hit Maryland! This is the tree in front of our house in all of its glory:

And a little Max-sized tree down the block!

Two months and counting

Yes, we have ourselves a little two-month-old. In fact, he turned 10 weeks today! But, his 2 month Dr's appt was last week and here were his stats:

12 lbs 3 oz (50-75%) (Internet: 43%)
22 1/2 inches (50%) (Internet: 15%)
41 cm head circum. (50-75%) (Internet: 59%)

As you can see, my Dr. doesn't give much info with the percentiles, so I do my own research. :) I guess Max might be a little on the short side, which makes sense since his clothes fit everywhere except in the legs, which are a little long. But we think he's perfect! Here are a few cute photos that Lori took to document the two-month mark.

With cousin Reese ... they are totally staring each other down.

Little half-smile from Max. Or maybe a grimace?

Love these looks ... to me it looks like they're saying "Come on, you can't seriously think I'm going to be friends with her [him]." Well, too bad, kiddos!!

And it always ends like this, doesn't it? Ah, for some reason it makes me smile ...

A little bit about Max's accomplishments at two months:

* Rolling over from tummy to back

* Smiling - first real smile was at 6 weeks but he was pretty stingy with them. Now we are seeing more and more!

* Blowing lots of spit bubbles

* Starting to bat at toys, not grabbing yet

* Making lots of cute sounds

* Still crying a lot ... in fact just as much as he did at 6 weeks

* Sleeping worse than he did at 6 weeks

* "Standing" with someone to hold his hand for balance

* Spitting up like crazy some days

This little guy is a hoot and a hollar. I am still waiting for him to get "easier" ... it is almost as hopeless for me to get anything done besides taking care of him as it was when he was a newborn, although not quite (I have been known to get dinner on the table from time to time). But, playtime just gets more and more fun, which is pretty great. It is so exciting to watch him do things he couldn't do just a few days beforehand. I love it.

I guess I thought I would have this being-a-mom thing all figured out by the time he was 10 weeks, but ... not so much. With the constant changes, though, you never really get it down all the way, right? But at the same time, I think back to 10 weeks ago when we really didn't know what we were doing, and realize how far we've come. Things like diaper changes and baths which were such a big deal the first time are now second-nature. (I would like to add nursing to that list, but it really doesn't belong since he seems to forget how on a daily basis ... one of the problems might be that he thinks that he should be able to move his head all over the place while he looks around and have the milk come with him ... another might be that he is slow to realize you can't eat while you're screaming.) I'm really not trying to give Max a bad rap, though. Although he struggles with naps, when it's time to be awake he is typically so happy and fun. I LOVE his little sounds, and can't get enough of his smiles. Basically, I just love this boy and don't know what I'd do without him.

Baby's First Easter

I was really looking forward to Easter this year ... putting together a basket for Max, decorating eggs with Joe for the first time (I was always studying instead), watching General Conference, and just having a nice relaxing time. While we did indeed have a nice Easter, relaxing probably isn't the word I would use! With Max running the show, you never know quite what you are going to get, and lately we've been getting a lot more crying and less napping than one would hope for. :)

But, that all doesn't seem to matter much when you've got the cutest little bunny to cuddle and play with. This kid is still as adorable as ever. Grosi sent him his cute Easter outfit, and it was perfect for lounging around in Easter morning.

We tried to make the most out of showing Max his basket. I think he liked it.

Love the bunny tail ...

Here's the 6 eggs we decorated. Joe:1, me:5. Oh well. At least we went for it.

Here's a couple views of the egg I made for Max.

We got to enjoy the second Sunday session up at Nate & Lori's, and Lori took some cute pictures of the kiddos, which will be coming up soon!

And that's our baby's first Easter. It's hard to imagine how different next year will be!