It was awesome to have Kimberly and Kaitlyn here for the holidays. They were here for a full 10 days! (Sadly, that still isn't enough for me. MOVE HERE ALREADY!) Tyler chose to spend the holidays at his Grandma's house so we didn't get to see him but we missed him. Apparently lots of video game playing trumps playing with a baby for a 9 year old boy.
Britt, Max, and I went to pick them up from the airport in my car. I still wasn't driving yet so Brittany drove. She was nervous but did a great job - especially since it was in traffic. Then Kimberly drove home. We were starving so we all went to Mooyah for dinner (Peter, Joe, and the boys joined us). Good burgers!
Naughty Auntie - threatening to give Max some fries
Kimberly was a huge help while she was here and would come pick up Max and take him over to Brittany's so that I could work at home. Then, everyone would find their way over to my place in the evening and we'd have dinner and hang out.
Have I mentioned how much Max and Peter love each other? It's so much fun to watch. Peter adores Max and Max adores Peter. Peter is a better dad than I could have ever hoped for. Here's a super cute video with Max talking back to Peter.
Max hanging out with his dad. Look at that double chin!
Holding his dad's hand
On Dec 23rd neither Peter nor I had to work so we headed to the mall to do some last minute Christmas shopping!
Peter and Reindeer Max ready to head out in the cold
Max was super tired so we drove around the mall until he fell asleep - then we went in.
Doesn't this face just beg to be kissed?
So cute!
After we shopped, we headed to the Cheesecake Factory for some well deserved lunch. Cruising around the mall on my knee scooter sure wore me out!
Later that evening, we met up with my sisters and all our kids at Frisco Square to look at the lights. It was cold so we stopped on our way and got some hot chocolate - perfect! It was fun to look at the lights. They even had some snow machines making it seem like it was snowing.
Kimberly, Kaitlyn, Hayden, Brittany, and Peter (Landen and Max in the strollers)
The reindeer is a bib but you can't really tell that in these pictures. He wore the bib for the pictures and then it came off. The only other time I have put him in a bib was when we were going to go get his 3 month old pictures taken and I didn't want him drooling on his outfit before the pictures. I just am not a fan of bibs until he starts eating. I know that means his clothes get wet from his drooling but hey, his clothes are too cute to cover up and they can be washed. :) (Drool/spit up stains come out no problem compared to baby poop - why does baby poop stain regardless of how I wash/treat it after?!)
And another video so you can enjoy listening to him.
He's great at holding his head up and does really well with tummy time on the Boppy pillow.
His half grin
He had his 4 month check up with the doctor right on his birthday. We were put in the same beach room as his first visit to the doctor.
My chunky monkey - interested in my necklace
He's happy at this point...
Look at those rolls! (not mine)
Once he figured out that the paper on the table made noise, he started kicking up a storm.
Here's an after picture of his poor legs with the band aids from his shots. He ended up being in a lot of pain that night and cried anytime his legs touched anything or were in certain positions. It was awful to hear him scream like that and not be able to do anything about it. It wasn't this bad last time and I hope next time is better than this.
Here's his stats:
Weight: 14 lbs 3 oz, 36th percentile
Height: 23.25 inches, 3rd percentile
Head: 41.5 cm, 30th percentile
He's my chunky, SHORT, baby. :) Hopefully this doesn't indicate that he got my height. I am hoping for a serious growth spurt to hit sometime. His doctor wasn't concerned though. She said he's healthy and it's okay. I asked her about his head and if it was too flat on the back. She took a look and said that she wished she could take a picture and show it to other parents as an example of how good their baby's head could look. I was glad to hear that because I've been focused on making sure he doesn't spend too much time on his back and end up with a flat head (Peter would never forgive me if our son was one of those poor kids that had to wear a helmet to help their head form correctly). That's my boy - a shining example for others!
His doctor said that he's almost big enough to start on solid foods - we'll know he's ready when his sleep habits change at night and he sleeps for shorter amounts of time. That hasn't happened yet, but when it does, I'm not going to give him food. I am pretty committed to waiting until he is 6 months old. I've read about too many studies that show the importance of exclusively breastfeeding until your baby is 6 months old. I know that other parents have started before that, and I don't judge them. But for me, I'm going to wait until 6 months. At this point, we are doing good - Max hadn't had any food or formula, just breastmilk. YEAH!
Here's some of Max's likes at 4 months old:
his dad
computer screens
looking at the TV
Christmas tree lights
listening to himself talk
blowing out of his diapers
cooing at the toys on his play mat
being naked
getting his diaper changed
waking up in the morning
standing up
being sung to or hummed at
baths
his white noise machine
the swing at Brittany's house
being swaddled when he sleeps
he likes falling asleep on our bed with me next to him and his face touching my head - it seems to be the only way I can get him to sleep anymore so I do it and then move him to his pack-n-play in our room once he's asleep (Peter can still get him to sleep by holding him and swaying with him)
being a part of the action - sitting on some one's lap while everyone is eating
being held upright
sitting in his poop chair - this is the bouncy seat that we leave in our bathroom so I can put him in it while showering. It's got lights and plays music while vibrating. I call it his "poop chair" because nearly every time he's in it, he poops
holding onto mommy's clothes while nursing
Some of Max's dislikes:
tummy time
being in the car /car seat
clothes being pulled over his head
being left alone in a room
the Baby Bjorn (baby carrier) for the first 5 minutes
being rocked to sleep
going to sleep
going to sleep outside of his particular habit - this kid is super particular about how he wants to be put to sleep. I swore that I wouldn't have that picky baby who would only go to sleep a certain way. Unfortunately when mommy/daddy is tired, it's easier to just do what works and perpetuate the problem.
when hats cover his eyes
The middle of December was pretty calm and quiet. Not much happened since I barely left my bed.
We did go to Peter's work Christmas party. I really enjoy the people he works with and had a lot of fun. Also, now that I know everyone better, I enjoyed myself much more than last year. (It wasn't bad last year but because I didn't really know people I just sat there quietly.) I just sat on the couch with my foot up while everyone brought the food and goodies to me. We re-gifted the white elephant gift we got last year. It's a smaller version of the leg lamp in "A Christmas Story". I've held onto that thing all year and kept the box where I wouldn't see it frequently and not forget about it. When we took it, I was a little worried that people might think we were totally lame for bringing it back and re-gifting it. However, when it was opened during the game, it got a good, long laugh - SCORE! The gift we took home this year was great. We brought home some lights that go on your fingers. Max is going to love watching those on our fingers.
Since I was unable to do it, Peter was now in charge of bath time. Up to this point, I was always the one taking the lead on Max's bath time so it was tough to pass the baton. :( This broken foot has caused me to miss out on many of the things that I used to do with Max. I know it's not going to be that way forever but for the first couple weeks it was really hard on me because I felt like I never really got quality time with Max other than when he was nursing or laying on my bed (which he didn't like for very long). So even though I was around him, I missed him a bunch.
Max getting his first bath from only dad. (I had to sneak into the bathroom and watch - I couldn't bear to stay in the front room away from the action.)
All clean!
Have you met my chubby baby? :)
Max hanging out on mom's bed
Peter all ready to take Max to Brittany's since I couldn't take him over there (I wasn't driving at this point) but also couldn't take care of him while I worked from home.
Britt and Joe were great about coming over to visit since getting up to their apartment on the second floor wasn't in the cards for awhile...
Maxwell and his uncle Joe
I just love this face - especially his dimple!
Sweetly sleeping
We had some cold days so it was fun to break out the "winter" clothes and bundle up Max.
It's been fun to watch the difference in how Max plays as he gets older. He's now a pro at grabbing onto the toys when he's on his mat. He likes to bring them to his mouth, of course. He still doesn't like the mirror very much and he ends up crying if he looks at it too long (he doesn't like looking at the mean baby in the mirror). He's also started liking to keep his legs in the air with his feet together. Here, you can watch it happen...
Hayden loves Max and always wants to give him kisses. He shows concern for Max and is a great cousin.
Max loves Hayden right back
Here's a video of Hayden playing with Max.
Max finally grew too big for the Size 1 diapers so we moved up to Size 2.
Before I broke my foot, I had plans to have a girl's baking day with a couple co-workers just like we did last year - you can read about it here. After I broke it though, I thought I'd have to cancel. When the day came, I decided to just make it work. My friend Jana wasn't able to come so it was just me, Lori, and her family. Lori wanted Max to come too so Peter drove me over there and then Lori got Max. I was nervous about how he'd do, especially since I wasn't able to walk around with him or do much with him if he started getting upset. Overall he did well - he enjoyed having the kids sing Christmas songs to him and handing him his rattle. He watched a little football with Lori's husband and Lori rocked him to sleep when he got tired (with her oven vent fan on, of course since my boy is so dependant on that white noise). Since I had my crutches, we weren't as ambitious as last year with what we made. I sat at the table and dipped pretzels, cake balls, and decorated mini cakes while Lori made some snickerdoodles.
Max and Lori's son, Austin
I had a great time, and loved getting out of the house after being cooped up for a week, except for the one trip to the doctor's office. Plus it was fun to see Lori's family coo over Max and play with him. I'm glad he's getting bigger and less fussy.
Once I was out, I wanted to stay out, so we tested my scooter out at retail. We hit Babies R Us and it was certainly better than using my crutches. I could cruise around quickly and the scooter was pretty nimble as long as I didn't need to make any sharp turns or turn around. I also felt good that I was able to get a little of Christmas shopping done.
Max is sucking on his fingers/hands all the time. This 3-finger version makes me laugh.
Another fun thing Max has started doing is he likes to make noises while we are singing to him. To me, it seems like he is trying to sing along. It's super cute. I tried to capture it on video but of course once the camera comes out, Max stopped doing it as much. I got a little bit though - - -
Wife, Mom, and Career Woman. Trying to succeed at all three. Enjoy cruising, time with friends and family, and sleeping. Busy life doesn't leave time for as much fun as in the past but that's okay, it's still a good life.
