He's 6 months!

Can you believe Max is 6 months old??? Yeah. Me neither. I mean DANG, that is OLD!! We are so in love with and proud of the little bugger it's ridiculous. But that's just the life of a parent I guess. Especially when your kid is as cool as Max ... it's a little hard not to get caught up in it all. ;)

So I took Max to the doctor out in Utah yesterday, just a couple of days after his 6 month birthday, and the doctor said he is one of the busiest, most active 6 month olds she's ever seen. Yeah ... no kidding. I can't believe I am already chasing after him at this age! He is into everything, and if he wants it he will get it. He's just that determined, and he's also that strong. He's been "crawling" for a while now ... started with the army crawl and now he's got his feet into it. He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth but doesn't yet take off from that position. Probably just a matter of days.

And with mobility comes injuries. Booo! Max has already had his share of head bumps, but luckily no black eyes yet. My parents have two steps that go up from the family room to the kitchen and this morning he had crawled halfway up the second step before we grabbed him to keep him from crashing down on the tile ... and then he did it several more times with supervision. Starting to climb stairs already? Are you kidding me??

(Update: about an hour after I posted this Max successfully climbed both stairs and started off across the kitchen. Oh DEAR.)

So here's where he's at:

17 lbs 2 oz (50th)
26 1/2 inches (50th)
44 cm head (50th)

People always think he seems big, but obviously he can't be that big! He's just SOLID. Here are just a couple of recent pictures ... I'll hopefully post some better 6 month shots later on.

Here's a little more about what Max has been up to:

* Started solids - oatmeal, butternut squah, sweet potato, and a little rice cereal. He did ok a first but the past few days he's been less and less interested - just leaving it on his tongue and starting to gag. Maybe we'll wait a few days and try again.

* Sitting much better - though he can still take a hard topple if he looks over his shoulder.

* Sleeping a little worse than when we left Maryland. For while he was up more than twice a night to eat, now it's back to two times. (A lot of times he does another wake up before 11 but we just let him cry for that one.) Naps are 3 times a day, but usually are just 30-60 mins.

* Still LOVES to be outside. He tries to eat the grass, leaves, and woodchips (well, anything, really).
* Loves to squawk at us and shower everything around him in spit.

* His hair is starting to really grow in ... turning him into Mohawk Max (Joe says it's almost time to start styling it).

Six month Max is just a riot and a handful. I never thought I could love him as much as I do. It's insane!!! And kind of funny to know that Joe and I are the only ones who feel quite this strongly about Max, but that other parents feel the same way about their own kids. What JOY.

Here are a couple of videos for your viewing pleasure!!

This one is funnyyyy.

Max shows off his crawling!

Goodbye

What a month! I don't even know where to start. Let's see .... Joe finished his residency at the end of June, and 1 week later we left our beautiful home behind and made the cross-country drive to Salt Lake City, with extended stops in Memphis, Denver, and Grand Junction to visit friends and do some interviewing (in Denver). More on that later!! Since trying to catch up on everything seems a little daunting at this point, here are a few very sad pictures to get me started: Max and Reese on the day before D-day.

(Sorry I didn't get out all the red eye ... I hadn't planned on posting so many but then at the last minute decided Lori would want them.)

Gotta love the bug eyes.

Needless to say, these kids are as cute as they come. I am so sad that we had to move just as Max was starting to get more mobile and interactive ... he and Reese could have had some really good times. But, I am VERY glad that we got to live by each other for the past 3 years! After a couple of years on our own it was fun to have family around. First we got to bond as two of the very few couples we knew without kids, free as a bird to come and go as we pleased. ;) And then we got to go through the crazy/awesome experience of being pregnant and having babies! (Luckily I went second so Lori could empathize every step of the way.) Now we have these two little bugs in our lives and it's all about them now (in a good way!!!!!).

I'm so glad we got a few downtown B'more pictures before we took off. Thanks Lori.

Great picture, huh??

Oh, and it never hurts to have family around when you're moving so that there's someone to start throwing the remaining odds and ends into boxes (Joe and I are way too OCD to pack like that, which is why packing took us FOREVER) as well as someone willing to scrub your toilets and finish up the cleaning you just couldn't get to. Thank you again!!!! Can't wait to see you guys out West in a few weeks :)

We take it back

So remember that last post I made?




RETRACTED.




Back to the drawing board!!

Westward-bound

Yes, I have been purposefully vague about the whole moving thing. We've known for a while that we were moving, but the big question was where to? As recently as last night we were throwing ideas around (AZ? CA? WA?) but we are thrilled to finally be able to make it official.

DENVER HERE WE COME!!!

What an awesome city. We took a short trip out there in May and loved what we saw. Now we'll be getting to know the place a little better! We head out in less than a week.

Things will still be a little crazy for a while as we look for a place to live, so we can get some more of Max, the hotel baby.

But on our last trip one of the things I loved most was not having to worry about Max spitting up all over my bed while we played/cuddled/nursed. As long as we are homeless I can get clean sheets every day if I want! Niiiiiice.

5 months :)

Today is Max's 5 month birthday. I'm not sure why I feel compelled to blog about each month of my child's life, but I do. At least I'm not the only one! I guess if nothing else it will be fun to look back when I have more kids and compare what they were up to and when and to remind myself of what to expect. Right?

I actually took these pictures a few days ago but they are adorable - I had to post them. And things are getting crazier around here by the day since we'll be heading out of here soon so if I don't do it now it may never happen!

This is the love of my life (well, one of them):

It has been too hot for walks lately which makes me sad because Max loves his walks! So we still do a short one or just spend a little time outside in the shade. I guess I could do them at 7 am but seeing as I basically feel like I've been hit by a truck at that hour I don't think it would go so well.

So here are a few things I want to remember about 5 month old Max:

- Sitting up! He's definitely not an expert at it yet but can do it for a little bit.

- Loving all his toys, especially the jumperoo (thanks google, for helping me out on the name) he is borrowing from Reese. Seems to like things that make music. Chews/sucks on everything.

- Much too cranky/whiny during the day. Why Max??

- Smiling more, still giggling only a little.

- Still eating twice during the night.

- Usually takes 3 naps a day, and usually 2 of them are over an hour.

- Still is a very strong and active baby, already wiggling away during diaper changes so we practically get into a wrestling match. I can't imagine what this kid will be like when he can crawl!

Happy 5 month birthday to my Maxbug!! Dang it I forgot to sing. :(

This is the perfect baby

..... and he belongs to ME.

Day Trip to Arlington National Cemetery

Now that we are so close to moving we are faced with the sad reality that we never got around to doing all that we wanted to while living out East. But with 2 people in grad school plus full time summer jobs it's a bit hard ... so it's actually impressive that we did get out and about from time to time! We really wanted to do one last DC excursion, plus it was high time that Max visited his nation's capital and learned some patriotism ... so we decided to finally visit Arlington National Cemetery. And with traffic, Max, and lunch thrown in the mix, it pretty much became an all-day adventure. Max wouldn't have liked museums anyway!

I was smart (for once) and decided to put Max in his little umbrella stroller which we'd never used before. It was waaaaay too hot to be carrying him around in the bjorn. We walked all around the grounds and of course saw the Tomb of the Unknowns and the changing of the guard.

You simply can't help but feel immensely patriotic in such a place. And you're reminded that we're still a nation at war with many men and women continuing to sacrifice for our country, even though we don't always think that way.

With about 3 layers of sunscreen and a cute hat Max did well in the heat. And we learned that our baby can fall asleep in a stroller if he really has to (much to my surprise), even if it is right as you're about to leave.

Too cute

These boys. Oh they are cute!! I am so in love with both of them! And I just couldn't let the day go by without saying something about Joe on Father's Day. Joe is an awesome dad. I had a feeling he would be, and it is pretty great to see it actually happening. Nothing makes me happier than seeing how much Joe adores his boy and how Max is starting to reciprocate. I'm glad we could get Max to crack a smile for the camera on Father's Day. I said before that even though he's been smiling for quite a while he isn't super smiley yet, but I notice him smiling more and more each day. (Especially for the mirror ... that one never fails.) He save lots of his smiles for seeing dad at the end of the day as well.

This Father's Day wasn't anything spectacular, but I was excited to get to celebrate Joe as a Dad. Life is good!