Like father, like son...

I had Craig put Max down for a nap while I made dinner....this is an hour and a half later.

How do you NOT take a picture of this?!

Sweater Pants!

When we go out, Max always wears pants. When we get home, I pull them off, because they aren't great for crawling around in...too restricting, or too long, or too big around the middle, SOMETHING, that always seems to get in the way. Well he doesn't have to go pantsless anymore! Behold the sweater pants!

Perfect for lounging around, playing his 'new' $3 Fisher Price Xylophone that I picked up at the thrift store where I got the sweater from! (Don't worry, I bleached the heck out of the toy before giving it to him!)

I actually started out seeing some cute sweater pants on etsy, and thought, "I need to learn how to knit!" So I bought a skein of yarn and a pair of needles, learned to do a knit stitch and a purl stitch...and just knew I'd never be able to make pants...So I looked up a few tutorials, and found out you can take an unwanted or thrifted sweater and turn THOSE into pants! It took a few tries, and lots of quality time with a seam ripper, but in the end, they worked! They fit! I love them! So cozy! So funky! And he loves them too!

This is when I know it's time to do laundry:

View from under Craig's desk. LOL! (I think he actually wore these out somewhere that day too!)

Nine!

It's been NINE months, but I feel like I've known you forever...

21.5 lbs, 27 inches, 50% height, 75% weight, 100%+ head size!!

I'm bringin' home a baby bumblebee...

Happy Halloween! Although we didn't do a lot this year for Halloween, we couldn't resist getting Max all dressed up for the first time. Max's Bee costume came from eBay, and Craig's and my Beekeeper costumes came from Home Depot and the thrift store! Well, okay, and the craft store. I made them the day of our ward's trunk or treat.

We took Max around to ALL the trunks and got a bunch of candy and even more compliments! We were the hit of the night! We even made it onto the front page of our ward's website, which is actually how I found out that our ward HAD it's own website! LOL!

Sweet as honey :)

Out of the costume, and into the candy! Too bad he doesn't have any teeth yet! :(

Wait! You don't need teeth for a sucker! YUM!

Dallas Day 2

Day 2 in Dallas was just as much fun as the first! We started with pizza from a local eatery, then opted to go to the Dallas Aquarium. We got to the entrance, saw it was $22 per ticket and thought twice about it, I mean...for an aquarium? But since we had nothing else on our agenda, we paid and went in.

It was SO much more than fish! There were birds everywhere, most in cages but some just soaring overhead, (Craig and I actually got pooped on!--not fun) Everything from toucans to flamingos to penguins! Of course there were fish of all kinds, sharks, other water creatures like crocs and otters and seadragons and turtles...and a MANATEE! I'd never seen one, and it was probably my favorite!

Oh and that's not even mentioning the Jaguar and the cutest little monkeys! Beyond 'aquarium.' So if you're ever in Dallas and like this sort of thing....highly recommended.

Dad and baby

Mommy and baby :)

Freaky!

More Monkey piggy-backs. So cute!

I'm feeding a blueberry to a Toucan

Craig can't resist anything small and cute like these unusual Coke cans...they cost more than a beer did! And see that wet spot on his sleeve? Yes, that's where the bird got him. (In case you were wondering, the bird got me straight on the head!) Thank goodness for baby wipes!

This was Dad and my favorite monkey. He had a long white handlebar moustache and was surfing down this huge palm frond!

What is this strange animal?

I'm trying to get Max to hold his own bottle. He's not catching on very well.

Dad saying hello to a huge fish...don't know species....

Sea Dragons! Hey haven't I seen these before in a Baby Einstein video?!

So beautiful! Just waking up...

The Gentle Giant....the Manatee! AKA Sea Cow. So neato!

This guy gets the WTF award.

Dallas Day 1

Dad came to Dallas for a work training/conference, and we traveled the 3 hours to meet him there! I had a BLAST! The combination of spending quality time with my dad, him spending quality time with Max, and of course adventure made for one of the best getaways ever! We drove up on Thursday afternoon and Dad left Saturday morning, so it turned out to be very short, but very sweet.

Us at the Omni Hotel

We arrived Thursday evening, and since no one was too hungry, I suggested we go to Zero Gravity, a place I had found online while researching "things to do in Dallas." Here is their website. I just HAD to open my big mouth! As soon as we drove up, I recanted and suggested maybe we go eat after all. It is a "theme park" of sorts, but there is only 5 rides, and they are all EXTREME! I definitely don't consider myself a thrillseeker or adrenaline junkie, and bungee jumping definitely was not on my bucket list. However, after seeing the ride options, and seeing that the Bungee was, at 7 stories high, the 'shortest' of all the thrills, I decided to do it.

Well first, I said there's no way I'm doing any of it, and Craig tried to get me to do the Superman, considered the mildest of the rides. When I was adamant about not going near it, dad bravely said, "I'll do it." He did! Craig and I had different reactions to it. Craig saw him do it and said, "See? It looks like fun!" I saw it, and said,"That settles it, I'm NOT doing it!" I was doubly sure when Dad got off and his first words to me were: "You're going to hate it."

I'll get a video/pics up when I find the disc they're on.

Anyway, I finally consented and said I'd do the Bungee. In my mind, it was the least scary. The guy working said I'm the first one to wuss out on all the rides, especially the 'mild' Superman one, but to do the Bungee. He said most people back out at the last second. It was the scariest thing I'd ever done. But I did it!

I did end up doing the Superman with Craig, and to finish off the evening, Craig did the 16 story freefall. Yes, I said 16 stories! This is the cage that took him and a few others way way WAY up into the air, they put them into little contraptions that made it difficult for you to move too much, lowered them through the hole in the 'floor' and just *snap* unhooked whatever was holding him in. Freefall, no ropes, no bungees, nothing, down into a huge net 5 or so stories off the ground. Crazy.

Clearly, Max had a great time.

Peek-a-boo!

Sick and Tired

Not a lot to report on this last week. Max turned 8 months yesterday (woo-hoo!) and he's been SO sick! Poor thing! This is the first time he's ever been sick, and although he was in a good mood through the whole thing, it sounded like he was trying to breathe through a gallon of water and mucous! He had a hoarse voice for days...(we called him "Lola," as he sounded just like her!) and so after a bad night Sunday night, I took him to his first Sick visit to the doctor on Monday. She looked at his ears, nose and throat, and checked his lungs and...it's a cold. Thats it. It will run its course. Til then, he gets saline in his nose, and lots and lots of mommy time. He hadn't been throwing up, or feverish....and then this morning as I was feeding him and he was going down for his morning nap, he started choking. I sat him upright, and he SPEWED milk everywhere. It was literally gushing out of his mouth soaking him, me, the chair we were in, the floor around us, the boppy he was on, and he projected about 3 feet. Let me tell you, it was impressive! He seemed to feel great afterwards though, so thats a bonus! Here he is, after the bath, after cleaning up....zonked out. Batman just couldn't resist.

Happy October!

October is here! Where did the year go? I've been wanting to try my hand at applique for awhile now, simply so I could make Max some cute tshirts/onesies. Well I finally bit the bullet, and it was way easier than I had imagined! The hardest part was finding blank tshirts in his size. Anyone know where I can find some? I got this one at Hobby Lobby, and it is a size 18 months, and it JUST fits. So yeah, their sizing is a little bit crazy. Anyway, a $3 tee and a scrap of fabric shaped like a necktie, and maybe 20 minutes later, I had this! I had to make him model it for the blog, of course!

Guess What?

He is officially (army) crawling! We've been practicing with him, trying to get him to crawl forward, but he usually gets frustrated and collapses into a roll. He can get to anywhere he wants to this way, by rolling, sitting up, then rolling again...but today we finally found what motivates him. The vacuum hose! Yes, he is fascinated by this thing. Craig attributes it to the phenomenon that is a boy and anything that resembles a sword. Here is the proof!

Lock up your daughters!

He's not even 8 months yet, but the kid is already bored of rolling around (not really crawling, but he gets where he wants by rolling) and now he wants to walk! Or at least stand. He tries to pull himself up onto everything...unfortunately, most surfaces he tries to stable himself on are less than sturdy. A rolling chair, his little mirror that isn't attached to the wall yet (the green thing in background), his bouncy chair...but if he does get up, he loves it! Here he is steadying himself on Craig's shorts. Also not very secure. This is his: "Wow I did it! Mom look! Oh wait, I'm getting nervous, This isn't very sturdy, I've made a huge mistake, I'm going to fall aren't I?" look. Or something to that effect.

Kool Aid Bomb!

Check this guy out:
THAT, folks, is what a tiny packet of Kool-Aid looks like after going through the washer and dryer.

You know those days that you know you HAVE to do laundry, or else the next day everyone is going naked? When every last sock and stitch of underwear is in the wash, every towel, and now its time to do the bedding too, so the pile is even more daunting that usual? Today was that day. No question, it HAD to get done. So this morning I took the entire pile downstairs, put most of it save a blanket and a few towels into the wash, and started it up.

When I went to go put it in the dryer, I saw a single tshirt with red streaks on it. Maybe it was because I was in a hurry, but I looked at it, and thought, that's strange, but hey, its only one tshirt, I'll dry it and figure it out later. BAD IDEA!

At the end of the dry cycle it looked like blood was spattered over everything! EVERYTHING! After the shock, I thought there must have been a pen or marker in there! But wait, no, what's that smell? So I ask Craig: Did you have some candy in your pocket? He looked confused. No? Oh wait, I didn't wash anything really with pockets...then it hit me. I know that smell! That's Tropical Punch flavored Kool Aid! I keep the extra Kool Aid packets on a shelf above the washer (adjacent to the kitchen) and it MUST have fallen in when I was loading clothes. AGH!

So they are in the wash again to see if I can get any of the color out, and Craig just sadly informed me that as per his Google research, Kool Aid isn't washable. Crap.

So its off to buy new garments, socks, pillowcases, towels, hand towels, white tshirts, bras, a sheet, I think Max's single dress shirt was in there...burp rags, you get the idea. Either that, or a big bottle of bleach. Its a mess.

Slacker

I was just reading Mel's blog...so cute! and it reminded me of how much I don't blog when I think I should. I get overwhelmed with it at times. One such time was last Sunday, when Max officially turned 7 months old. Yes, SEVEN months! I really haven't been writing down the milestones he's been hitting, and now I can barely remember what he was like at 3 and 4 and 5 months old and what he was doing. Sad! I don't want to forget these things!

At 7 months, Max is not crawling, but you can tell that he wants to SO bad. From a sitting position he'll maneuver into a crawling position, and from there will either roll onto his back or faceplant into the ground. I used to lay a blanket down for him to play on and he'd never stray, but now, if I look away for a minute and look back, he could be ANYWHERE! He just scoots and turns and flips and rolls until he gets to...well I don't know where he thinks he's going...

I just bought him one of those long skinny mirrors from Walmart that I positioned long-ways just above the baseboard in the office/playroom where we always are...he LOVES it. Whenever we walk into the bathroom or through the bathroom, he'll catch a glimpse of that 'cute baby in the mirror' and grin as wide as he can. So I got him his very own. For under $5, it's an inexpensive 'toy' that he adores! He is so vain!

Another big milestone...he eats! You know, food! For the longest time he was disinterested in anything that wasn't a bottle. He'd take ONE bite and seal his mouth shut! I would give him one bite of whatever (rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, babyfood, mooshed up adult food, etc) a day, just to get used to it...and one day...just one random day a week or so ago, he decided to eat! (and eat, and eat, and eat!) He eats once a day now, and still takes a bottle afterward, but I'm happy about the progress! His most favorite thing is yogurt.

I'll sit with him on my lap while at the computer, and I always have headphones in one of my ears. He is fascinated with the cord coming from my head, and he always grabs it away! I tried giving him a spare set to hold onto and look at, but of course he wants the one I'm using! He also loves to reach out and slap the keyboard around! He's already taking after his parents!

Oh, I almost forgot...he also sleeps on his tummy! In fact, most nights he insists on it! We woke up either last Saturday or Sunday and he was laying on his tummy...we freaked out a little, until we saw that he was just fine, and now we still put him down on his back, but at some point I'll hear him shifting, moving, turning...and when I look up, yep, he's on his tummy! So cute.

He is fascinated by his hands. He loves grabbing anything, and moving it back and forth, and moving it from one hand to the other. Doesn't matter what it is. And we just caught him the other day doing the funniest thing, I'll have to try to get a video of it. He chews on his hand until its super slobbery, then looks at his hand and squishes it into a fist and it makes a sqeaky noise. Craig and I couldn't stop laughing at this new trick of his!

I think that about sums our Max up in a nutshell for this month at least! We just love him so so so so much.

Max loves his celeb gossip-- He's always wondering what Suri, Shiloh, and Zuma are up to. So of course, I put him down for one minute to discuss something with Craig at his computer, and when I look back, I see this.

Whoa, did that really happen? I feel like I was just packing for our trip to WA, and now its all over! That was fast! I didn't even get a picture of Max, Ava, and Delsie all together. What was I thinking? Or a pic of all the wedding cakes we baked. Again, what was I thinking? Just too busy I guess.

I don't really want to rehash everything we did...just suffice it to say that it was so fun and busy! My favorite times were meeting Delsie and hearing her cute cry...meeting Ava and seeing her signing, and eating bananas...everything she does is just too cute!...Eating cake in the reception hall's kitchen with Rania and Mel after we had served everyone else....seeing so much family from out of town (sheesh, EVERYONE WAS THERE!)...the scary dirty alley in Pasco where we got family pics done...the barbecue in Dad's backyard and the HUGE plate of nachos...hearing Grandpa Boneck's elusive stories about his childhood...the mouse in our room...you get the picture. We had a blast.

Max is taking in the grandeur that is Mount Rainier on the very first plane ride of his life.

Cheese! "Oh hi Delsie, nice to meet you. I've heard so much about you!"

"I may be smaller than you, Max, but I'm older, and I'm the boss, and you're in my space!"

Us. That's our baby in the background in the brown and blue stripes.

Which one is Buddha? Which one is Max? The world may never know...

Great Grandma Della meeting the chubster for the first time!

The woman of the hour, surrounded by the cutest midgets ever!

Craig doesn't like his picture taken, but he told me to make sure I got one with him and Lola before we left. Your wish is my command. Of course it all shadowy, and they are squinting into the sun. My photography skills are nonexistent.

Sweet Wittle Ava-kins! I think that's the sign for "These glasses are coming off in 3...2...1..." either that, or she's showin' pride for the West Siiiide!

Little Ladies in red...representing their gang in dirty Pasco!

Sunny Sunday Fun

Craig and I suggested to the family that we have a picnic today (Sunday) after church, go to the park, eat, frisbee, and have a good time. I offered to 'cook' so last night I made chicken salad for sandwiches, and bought rolls to put it on, and chips. Leah provided the cantaloupe and lemonade. I think it was good that we did it on a fast Sunday, because everyone really pulled together to pack up quickly (because everyone was hungry!) and get to the park. We broke our fast with a YUMMY meal, but after a few minutes, even in the shade, he got the reddest cheeks! I kept him cool with an ice cube in a napkin, and he drank a few ounces of water. He seemed to cool down a lot after that.

(This is his new thing...sticking his tongue out!)

So Craig, Shannon, and Matthew played frisbee while Lolo and Lola watched Max, and I ran through the fields with the dogs. After eating we didn't stay as long as we planned, because it was just TOO hot for Max, so Craig took him to the air conditioned car while the rest of us packed up.

Even that little bit of time really pooped the dogs out, so we all fell asleep on the bed that is right underneath the air conditioning vent. Oh it was so nice! After cooling off we dispersed a little bit, dogs on one bed, humans on the other. But we all slept for a couple of hours. Max usually just cat naps, but not today! I did wake up to feed him about an hour in, and thought he was going to be up for awhile, but he fell back asleep after the bottle! Oh man, it was so nice. I love Sunday naps.

We finally woke up to the scrumptious smell of monkey bread baking in the oven. Craig's been on his dad to make this for awhile now, and it was worth the wait! Yum!

It was a great day!

All Safe and Sound

What a week! More like what a crazy 12 hours! I believe it was (late) Friday night, Craig and I were getting ready to go to bed after watching an episode of Chuck, and I called the dogs to come in to bed. Guy and Girl were already in bed, but Batman was nowhere! I hadn't seen him for a few hours, but didn't think anything of it because he's usually curled up in a corner somewhere. Scouring the bedroom led to looking through the rest of the house, and then our search expanded to the yard. I started getting worried that someone else in the house may have accidentally let him outside. I mean, he IS tiny and sneaky! 35 minutes later, I went upstairs to be with Max while Craig took the car out to search the neighborhood. I was convinced that he had gotten out and someone had picked him up. I thought we'd have to post LOST signs in the morning. I went to the office to get my phone, and on the way back to the bedroom (through a bathroom), it HIT me! I had been cleaning the bathroom that day (yes, cleaning. Shocking, I know.) and had the bathroom cabinets open for a short while.

I thought maybe he had wandered in. (If you think that's a weird thought to have, then you don't know Batman!) I opened the cabinet and...cleaning supplies....and back in the corner, BATMAN! Curled up on an extra bathroom rug that I had folded and was storing in there. I couldn't believe it! He didn't seem too interested in coming out, either, so I called Craig, and when he got home, I told him to open the cabinet and see for himself! We were so happy to finally get to sleep, without worrying where he was. I was praying that we would find him, and that wherever he was that he would be safe and warm...and sure enough!

OK, so one crisis averted.

So we have 2 queen sized beds, pushed together into one big giant bed, and Craig and I sleep on one, and I put Max in the middle of the other one at night, because we don't have a crib. So Friday we got to bed very late, and woke up to a thud and a scream. Craig and I both sat straight up and looked over and didn't see Max. It took me maybe half a second to get to him. He was sitting on his bum, legs out, but then he had his head between his legs, like when he falls forward from a sitting position. I scooped him up, and it took him about 10 seconds to calm down and stop crying.

I took his PJs off to see if he was visible hurt...he had a small red mark on his head, and that was it. Craig was getting ready to take him to the ER, but I told him to wait, and lets see...since he seemed fine. He called the emergency pediatrician, and told her what happened, and she said, "Welcome to parenthood!" She was really easygoing about it, saying that it happens a lot, and to just monitor him to see if he acts out of the ordinary. Since he was acting fine, even happy, we just talked to him, played with him, had him watch a few minutes of Baby Einstein while we just watched him react, etc... I tried to take a picture of the red mark on his head for reference, in case we did take him in (that thankfully wasn't swelling into a bump at all) so I pointed the camera at the top of his head, but before I could get a good picture, he kept looking straight up to see what I was doing, so I got more of his face than his head! He kept doing that, looking at the camera...so cute, and so good to see him so alert and reactive. The mark was fading fast, so I never did get a good picture of it.

What I THINK happened is that he rolled/scooted/stretched/flopped around til he got to the edge, and went over feet first, slid down, landed on his bum, and then bent at the waist, head on the ground. Judging from the position he was in, I just don't see another possibility. Thankfully he didn't land on his head, bump it on the wall or frame, etc. And THANKFULLY he is ok!

I guess he's at that stage where you don't think he's very mobile, because he doesn't roll over very often, and he sure doesn't crawl, but he CAN scoot/shift apparently. So now he's sleeping in his ever shrinking bouncer seat until we can get him a pack n play, or crib, or SOMEWHERE for him to sleep that has sides to it.

I'm SO glad my little family is safe and healthy! Craig and I just love Max to the max! We still tell each other to "look!" when he's doing something cute (which is always), and we are STILL in awe with him! It's amazing to see his big personality emerging more and more every day as he learns to control his new little body and express himself. He already has his own opinions on what he likes (sitting up, looking in the mirror, staring at lights on the ceiling, watching the dogs play, music) and doesn't like (baby food, laying down when he's not tired, waiting too long for a bottle, when mom gets boogers out of his nose!). It's so fun to see him do something that TOTALLY reminds me of Craig, how everyone comments on how much he looks like an exact clone of Craig, how Craig kisses him even when he's drooling everywhere, and the silly songs Craig makes up to sing to Max! We regularly reminisce about his birth day and how we really didn't even KNOW this little guy that was given to us, and how we feel that we are getting to know this little spirit who already has attributes and characteristics that he brought with him...I could go on for hours. Lets just say, we love him!