Max and the prairie dogs.

We took a short trip up to the Living Desert State Park. Max was mostly unfazed by everything, but he loved the prairie dog display. He and his cousins, Bo and Sadie, loved it when they would stand up on their hind legs and "howl".

Birthday Pics 2

I will try to count this as Max's "real" birthday party. We waited until we got to NM to celebrate it with family. Max got lots more presents and his first birthday cake, which he wasn't too keen on. I'm not sure he liked having the icing all over his hands. He only had two tastes and that seemed to be enough. I bet next year will be another story!

"Happy Birthday to you...."

"Ewwww. You actually expect me to eat this?"

Uncle Dave was showing Max how he is supposed to eat the cake.

Max is a quick learner... cake goes in Uncle Dave's mouth!

He still managed to get some frosting in is ear!

Birthday Pics 1

Here are a few pics from THE DAY of his birthday. We didn't do too much on the day, and in fact we had a down right dismal day. Max has certainly become willful and he and I have had some rough spells. However, he enjoyed his presents and we had a second celebration which turned out MUCH happier.

Here comes the birthday boy!

Our good friends were wonderful to remember his birthday. Thanks for the book Fred and Nancy!
Grandma and Grandpa sent lots of fun balls to kick and roll!

And chew on?

Max and Dada are playing cars.

Finally, an update!

Hello everyone. I am going to try and bring you all up to speed on Max and his many accomplishments in the last few weeks. Of course, this is very appropriate since he turns ONE tomorrow. Yikes. It's hard to believe that this time last year I was in labor... fast forward one year and we are out to dinner trying to get him to eat anything, right across from the hospital.

So what is Max up to now. Well, I'm sure most of you saw the walking video. He has been taking two and three steps for a while now, but last Monday he just decided it was time to really give the walking business a try. At this time, crawling is sill preferred but daddy can usually convince him to walk. He still loves to grab his walker and cruise around the living room, mainly chasing cats to and fro. The cats are going to be mis-er-a-ble when Max really gets going.

The sleeping issue is going much better. It takes some effort to get him to sleep (rocking, singing, and back-rubbing) but once he is down he stays down all night (yay!). Napping is not as easy. I will rock and put him down in the crib, but he will only stay for 30-40 minutes and then wakes up grumpy. However if I hold him through the nap he will sleep for a couple of hours. so its a toss up in my mind. Have a very short amount of time to get stuff done or let him sleep so he has a better day.

Eating has gotten a little better, but things are going to get a little harder come Friday. We have a great routine where I get him up in the morning, then we grab a bottle and lay back in bed while he sucks it down. After that we visit, play and cuddle for a few precious minutes before getting up and facing the day with breakfast coming an hour or so later. I know that we will be taking him off of formula (and his morning bottle) in the next day or two and it makes me a little sad to lose our routine. We will also lose the bottle right before bed that helps Max to settle down for the night. Another routine that will have to change soon. However, Max seems to be eating solids a little better in the last couple of weeks. The trick is to keep him distracted and his little hands busy with something while we shovel the food in as quickly as we can. I hope this won't last forever... I'm sure when he is 15 he will eat dinner without the smoke and mirror routine. Haha. I am nervous about making sure he gets all the nutrition in food. I wasn't as worried about his eating habits (or lack of) knowing that the formula would provide necessary nutrients. Now it is all up to us. The one food he loves is noodles so that is what we will have tomorrow night for his birthday dinner.

A lot of people have asked us what we have planned for his birthday. Tomorrow not too much. This is a hard time of year to get folks to get together for his birthday. So we will celebrate with just the three of us tomorrow. We will have a bigger party when we get to NM for Christmas. That's where we will let him have his first cake and all the fun pictures that come from that. Be looking for those little gems later in the month.

All in all, Max is still a very sweet and very mild little boy. We are beginning to have some moments where he is willful and throws a tantrum, but this is all a normal part of his growing process. He especially hates being strapped down like in his car seat or high chair (another reason he may not like eating). He loves to spend time playing with his toys (the more simple, the better he likes them) and playing with Curtis and I. Books are read sometimes... but are mostly eaten or ripped up. He LOVES bath time. Very often the water will be totally drained out and he will still be playing with his toys in the tub.

The separation anxiety has subsided some over the last few weeks. He seems to enjoy spending time in the church nursery and at Parents-Day-Out. He also likes being with his "friends" and it is fun to see them interact with each other. I know that babies don't really play with one another, but I am always proud to see him interact with other kids his age. He and Jasmijn were very cute the other night and I wish I had a video camera. They were crawling around her nursery very quickly, then they would crawl to each other and lean their heads together. It was so very cute!

Ok, so I have rambled on about Max long enough for one night. Needless to say, I am smitten with this boy... we both are. This last year has been the most amazing year of our lives and I now realize that our family was not complete until Max joined us. Thanks to all of you for your support, advice and friendship during the first year of his life. Here's to many more!

Walking!

My big, little man is walking! Broke my heart and made it swell with pride all at the same time. Update is still coming!

BIRTHDAY COUNTDOWN: 3 Days!

New Video clips

I promise, promise, promise a large update is coming. I am finally done with school for the semester (woohoo) and will have a little more time on my hands... I think. Anyway, these clips are to remind us of how Max crawled. He never did the normal baby crawl, he did his own thing and it works wonderfully. However, his is starting to take steps now, so crawling will be a thing of the past soon. I also included a clip of Max and Alex (our parrot) doing a little inter-species communicating. I think they understand each other perfectly, as you will see. Enjoy and check back soon.

BIRTHDAY COUNTDOWN: 4 DAYS

New Pics!

Sorry it has been a while. My semester is coming to an end which means papers, projects and posters! In another week I will be free!! And the best news of all, I'm taking next semester off of school! Woohoo! I will be teaching (hopefully) but not having all the added pressure of juggling classes and taking care of Max. I hope it will be great, but not too great. I hope to get back to school in the summer.

Max and daddy at the Heritage Homestead farm.

Happy Birthday Nona! Can I have the cake?

One of his teachers at Parents-Day-Out knitted all the babies hats. I think he looks like Rocky's trainer, from the early movies.
Papa and Max at Heritage Farm. I love the outfit... sent by his Grandma and Grandpa.

Headed for the Baylor football game. We had a good time, too bad we lost!