Spinning, Singing and Spelling

Max has been singing a little song at MDO about spelling red.  I caught him singing it in his room on morning.  I am also proud of his attire (or lack there of)!!!

Fun times with Eli

So most of you know that Max's best buddy from Mother's Day Out is Eli, and I have a feeling this won't be the last time I post a bunch of pictures of these two goofballs in action together.  We haven't been doing much lately except for going to the museum and zoo with Eli and his daddy, Mr. Ben.  Max and Eli have an easy friendship and it is such a joy for me to watch Max as he interacts with a real friend.  Most of the pictures are from the last couple of times we have visited the museum and the robots.  They act like it's all new every time we go... maybe it is for them.  It would be nice to have that kind of enthusiasm for life.

Looking at the little wind-up robots in the display.  They each had a favorite.

This picture is from a visit to the zoo last month.  Yes they are wearing t-shirts in January... ridiculous!

Trying to fool the facial recognition software with disguises. 

A little blurry, but they are inside of a bubble here.  They loved popping the bubbles as you will see in the follow-up video.

Popping bubbles with Eli

Conversations with Max

Snowing!!!

Yep, that's right... it snowed at Papa's house.  Max was so excited to see the flakes coming down.  He started screaming about how Santa could come now and bring the presents.  It may be a long year.  Anyway, he begged to go out and feel the snow, but I really didn't pack wintery/snow clothes, so we had to improvise.  I know this would NEVER happen at Grandma and Grandpa's house where they have snow suits, boot and gloves of every size and shape, but here in NM we use what we can find!  So that means one of Papa's jackets (with the sleeves rolled up) over his sweaty shirt, plastic bags tied around his shoes to keep them dry, and sock on the hands with latex exam gloves pulled over them.  Certainly not the cutest outfit he's ever worn, BUT he was able to get outside and play with Bo and Sadie... and help make a great snowman (mostly snow... but there is leaves and mud in a NM snowman).

 Going after Sadie with a snowball.

 Check out those hot baggie shoes!  Haha!

 Sadie chasing after Max with a giant snowball.

 Rosy cheeks and a red nose!

 There wash't a lot of snow, but it was good and sticky for making a snowman.

 Tasting the snow.  I had to get him to stop since there is only a little snow covering the potting soil in this flower pot.  I doubt that would have tasted too good.

Not a bad job!  Max rolled the head all by himself.  The eyes and buttons are orange golf balls, a carrot for a nose, and a piece of ribbon for his smile.  I am proud of their hard work!

No trip to Carlsbad would be complete...

without a trip to the caverns!  Max has a fixation right now on things that are "soooOOooky" which is his way of saying spooky.  I guess all little kiddos go through a phase like this and I was hoping a trip to the caverns wouldn't scare him (the Mayborn museum in Waco has a "cave" exhibit that made him a pretty nervous).  However, he was excited to go and see a big cave and having his cousin Sadie and his Papa along helped bolster his confidence.  He did say that he wished his friend Eli was along with his so he could show him a real cave! 

Slightly sunny on a Tuesday morning.  Say goodbye to the sun... for a couple of hours anyway.

The only rock you are allowed to touch!  For those of you who are familiar with the caverns, we just took the elevator down and walked the Big Room.  I didn't think Max could make the 3 hour trek down.

"Temple of the Sun".  I could have sworn they used to have red and orange lights illuminating it.  I guess now they only want to display the natural beauty using white light.

Love the chandeliers!    

Max didn't go far without holding a hand, either mine or Sadie's.

The "Caveman"

Apparently the sun was shining in Max's eyes even 750 ft underground.  Just kidding!  This is just Max's "cheese" face.

"Rock of Ages"

What a fun day.  I could have done a longer trek but the kiddos had their fill of the cave.  All of my favorite formations from when I was a kid are now on a guided tour that is held once a day, and we couldn't have waited for it without a big meltdown from Max.  When he gets older we will be able to do all the "big kid" stuff.

Santa Baby 2012!

Santa has come, and since Max has been a very good boy he raked in the goodies!!!  Actually, we contacted Santa and asked him to come a few days early since we were going to be ay Papa's house on Christmas day.  He was pretty agreeable, so long as we left out extra goodies for him and the reindeer!  This is the first year for Max to actually be excited about Santa coming to visit which made it fun for Mama and Daddy too!

 Max's man-house, not a doll house!  The firemen and policemen have a toilet, bunk beds and a basketball court!

 Woohoo!  A stocking full of goodies.  As kids, my sister and I always received a coconut.  My aunt Nancy told me that Santa always brought a coconut for her, my mom and their siblings.  We don't really know why but the tradition continues.

 Santa did not forget that Max asked him for a helicopter!

 A new set of alphabet letters for the tub.

 A few of the ornaments that Max made at MDO.  I wanted to take pictures of them in case they break someday down the line.  This was a manger.  On the day he brought it home I asked him where baby Jesus was born expecting him to say "A manger" (I also would have accepted a stable, a barn, or the smelly place where livestock are housed a night.) but instead he said "Bethlehem".  He has a good memory for such large words.  He will also tell me that the angel said "Do not be afraid!  I have good news!".  It makes me happy to hear him repeat the story about the birth of Jesus.

 I love the upside down hat!

 Oh!  He's awake.... and he went straight for the helicopter.

 Wow!  Monster trucks!

 A new spyglass for Max.

 Trying to drive his new car... he needs to work on his driving skills a bit.

Aaaahhhh! Stuck in Mama's new footstool.  Goofy kid!