(I know, this post is way out of order...Peter just got the pics scanned though - thanks Peter!)
Max's 3 month old photo shoot was a bust. I rescheduled the original appointment because it looked like Max was getting some weird rash on his face. So a week later, when his face had cleared up, we tried again.
I timed it perfectly so that he would be happy when it was time to take his picture. We left the house early...drove around until he fell asleep...then I nursed him in the parking lot before we went in...it was perfect! EXCEPT...once we got to JC Penney's it was a mad house. Everyone and their cat was there trying to get their holiday pictures done.
Max was super cute and smiley when it was time for our appointment. However, that time came and went and we were still waiting. Our window of happiness for Max faded away but I still wanted to give it a try. By the time it was finally our turn, he was tired and unhappy about being there for so long.
The shoot was nearly a total bust. The poor boy's eyes are all blood shot from crying and being tired. I did think 3 pictures turned out cute though. This is why we came back and did 4 month old pictures.
I am finally getting around to this post. In some ways its a hard post to write because of it's tie to my mom. In part of the last conversation I had with my mom, she had asked to Skype so that she could see the nursery. At that point it wasn't done (we didn't have the bedding, etc) so I, being my tired-easily irritated-pregnant-self, told my mom it wasn't done yet and I didn't want to show it yet to her (I said these words with a little attitude thrown into my tone). I completely regret how I handled her request and wish that I had just gotten off my lazy butt and showed her the nursery. It's one of the few regrets that I have regarding my mom and it is probably only a regret because of the part it played in my last conversation with her. I have wondered if the hurt, that I am sure my refusal caused her, played into whatever justification she used to make her final decision. My logical thought says that this was a minor thing and surely didn't have enough weight to push her "over the edge". However, my heart hurts because it could have been used as evidence in an argument that I believe played in her head around not being important/loved by/needed/wanted by those she loved.
So, I am sorry mom. I should have shown you the nursery. I'm sure you've seen it now but here's the transition that I blocked you from being a part of.
Here is the conversion from office to nursery:
Before: Our office - I didn't think it was overly messy and cluttered then however after looking at the pictures now I'm like - Kallie! TIDY UP!
After we had removed nearly everything except part of one desk and started moving in baby furniture
Peter starting to put the crib together
Still smiling
Crib's done - whew!
After: All Done! Since we live in an apartment and want to get into a house in the near future, I didn't want to decorate TOO much. Plus, I have found it nearly impossible to find any decorations/accessories for a nursery that fit my style. We splurged on the bedding (it was the ONLY thing we found that we both liked). And then my Dad and Marriann painted the animals on the walls based on a style I found and liked. I absolutely LOVE the paintings. Max noticed them immediately the first time we went into his room after putting them up. I love them because they are cute but also because they were made by his grandparents, with love. I treasure them and appreciate the time put into creating them.
Changing table/dresser (with the heated diaper wipes warmer that I LOVE)
Corner of the room
The never-slept-in-yet crib. (Why did I stress about getting the nursery done???)
I am happy with how it turned out and look forward to getting into a house so I can take it up another notch.
I don't know if you have noticed, but I'm not a big fan of the baby blue color. Max has very few clothes that color and I avoided it as much as possible when we were picking out the crib bedding/registering/etc.
However, I have backed off a little in how much I avoid it because I've come to realize that there are times that nothing is sweeter than my baby in some baby blue clothes.
The majority of what Max wears is size 3-6 months. However, there is still quite a bit of size 0-3 months that he can fit into, especially pants and jackets because he's a shorty (for now).
So I pulled this outfit (size 0-3 months) out of the drawer because it had been awhile since he wore it. I quickly realized after putting it on, that I should have packed it away awhile ago. Poor kid was flashing his belly all over the place all day.
See how he's playing with my air cast? It's become one of his close friends. Isn't that sad? :)
Also, see the cute Dr. Suess blanket he's laying on? My aunt's mother-in-law, who we enjoyed spending time with when we lived in Roseville, made it and sent it to us after Max was born. It is so perfect - all the contrast and colors. I love it.
Pictures of Max - - He just perks right up anytime you put him on the changing pad.
Look at those chubby cheeks!
He's doing awesome at sitting up.
I LOVE this picture - not only for his smile but also cute he's playing with his toes. It's so fun to see him grow and progress. I've been looking forward to the time when he realize he had toes and started playing with them. :)
I have waited to post this so that it would be in chronological order...but I wrote it on 1-19-12.
Max is 5 months old today. I am seriously amazed by that. I still can't believe that I made it through 9 months of pregnancy let alone that it's been 5 months since Max was born. He is awesome. I adore him. I crave him when I am away from him. I still check him multiple times a day to make sure he is breathing during his naps or at night. I guess that's part of my disbelief about the whole thing - no way is it possible that after so long of not getting pregnant that we are on the other side of it...maybe it's a dream and not real...
I got in the car the other day (he was home with Peter) and I smelled Max and instantly missed him. I didn't realize he had a smell but he does, and I know that smell.
I love watching him...watching him play...watching him sleep...watching him learn...watching him grow...even watching him cry...
I am a pushover when it comes to him. I can't let him "cry it out". His cries push me over the edge and I cave in.
With each new day he is a more happy baby. He is particular/picky about only a few things - how he goes to sleep and how you hold him (always upright - ever since the reflux he does not like being cradled). But other than that, he's easy going. He likes to be held but he also likes to lay on the floor and play by himself.
I am eager to see his personality come out more and more but at the same time I love how he is right now. I love how he lights up when he sees Peter. I love how lays his head on my shoulder (briefly) when he's tired. I love how he sucks on my cheeks and my chin if I haven't caught on to the fact that he's hungry. I love how he chews my fingers if I let him. I knew I'd love my son but man, I really love my son. I think he's just the most precious, perfect, lovable, and cute baby EVER.
Things I want to remember about Max at 5 months:
He sneezes in multiples - usually 3 or 4
He holds his feet together in the air
He is starting to giggle and laugh
He smiles all the time
His hair is starting to grow but it's light so you can't tell
You still can't tell what color his eyes are - sometimes they look blue, sometimes gray, sometimes hazel
He is starting to play and explore his activity jumper
He is starting to move a little, mostly turns, when on tummy time but by the way he's moving his legs I think some form of scooching is not far off
He can sit by himself for anywhere from a few seconds to 1/2 minute before toppling over - if you support him just a little bit like with the boppy pillow, he's good forever
He still no sleep schedule
He pulls his pouty face with his pouty lip when he's scared - it will tear your heart out to see it
I've put baby Einstein on a few times and he likes baby Bach more than baby Beethoven
He doesn't cry every time we are in the car anymore
He started doing a serious grunt sound
He drools a lot
He's great at taking his medicine
He is having more interaction with landen - he took a toy that landen brought him today
Hayden is starting to play with him - loves to give him kisses
He's fascinated with people eating and food
He talks, especially when he's laying on the floor
He arches his back when he wants to be picked up
He sometimes rolls from his tummy to his back
He has not yet rolled from back to tummy but he's good at arching his back and getting to his side
He doesn't often have gas problems anymore but can struggle to poop
He hasn't spent anytime in the baby bjorn since I broke my foot
He often wants daddy when he's fussy because he gets frustrated that I won't stand up and hold him
It is finally getting better about taking him out to dinner with us - he'll usually last for an hour
He would probably love to eat but I really want to nurse exclusively until he's 6 months based on multiple things I've read about the benefits of waiting that long to give him solids
He has yet to ever sleep in the nice, beautiful crib in his room
Likes:
Bedtime routine: turn on the white noise machine, read a couple board books, then I swaddle him, give him his Vitamin D, kiss him and lay him down in our bed. Turn the lights off and then I then lay next to him (close enough that he can touch noses if he wants) and either hum (one note, loudly), sing (Ahhhhhhh, again one note, loudly) or sign a made-up song to him. In rare instances, he's tired enough to turn his head and close his eyes and go to sleep without me making any noise.
He likes looking at the TV screen, cell phone screen, laptop screen
being sung to (and sometimes singing along)
playing pat-a-cake with Momma
vit d drops
the changing table - usually he smiles and talks up a storm
his play mat - he's a pro at grabbing the toys and bringing them to his mouth
tummy time - who'd have thought? he finally likes it and will now will go much longer before he starts crying
to read books and is now reaching out to either hold the book/touch the pages
eating the stuffed animals he got for Christmas
his Aunt Brittany
his Uncle Joe
Hayden and Landen
Dislikes:
getting his nose sucked out
when mom gets the camera out to take a picture/video - he'll usually stop doing whatever I wanted to capture
mom eating while he's nursing. it totally distracts him
the sound of mom coughing - it wakes him up,
waking up in the morning - used to wake up happy, now when he wakes up around 7:30/8:00 he wakes up crying and it takes a while to get him to come off automatic and stop the fussing
when he's hungry and not being fed - he can really scream!
Max all bundled up in the morning
Max and Momma during our lunch time visit
Time for bed
Here's a movie of Max on his 5 month birthday. He likes playing a game I call "up and down". He stands up only holding onto your hands for balance and then when you say "down" he sits down. You say "up" and he stands back up and so on... It may be hard to tell but he really is doing it all himself. It's so silly and makes me laugh each time because when he goes "down" he usually just collapses hard on his rear.
So over the past week or so Max had been fussy and not sleeping as well at night. I figured it was because ever since I went back to work after the New Year, I didn't seem to be producing as much milk. (Stress at work, anyone? Maybe I'll talk about it in another post.)
Here's Max in his cute jacket in the bumbo. He was happy for approx. 2 minutes and then had to be entertained with something else.
Max hanging out on the couch with the TV remote - another Peter posed picture. :)
This is a picture of us trying to distract Max from screaming when it was time to go to bed - - just turn on the phone and he is immediately fascinated.
Max has liked sucking and chomping on our fingers. And I have read that it's important for your baby's dental health before they get teeth to rub their gums before they go to sleep at night. So, on January 14th at night I was rubbing his gums and felt something a little different along his bottom gums than I had felt before. I had the fleeting thought - "it almost feels like a tooth is coming out" but dismissed it because Max wasn't even 5 months old yet.
Well, what do you know, I was checking Max's gums the next day and there was no doubt - it was a tooth!!!!!!!!!! (On the bottom, the front tooth on his right) I couldn't believe it! So my little, advanced, baby had his first tooth 4 days before his 5 month birthday.
Peter jokingly blamed all the extra calcium I was taking on the early appearance of Max's first tooth since the average time to get a first tooth is around 7 months old.
(Apparently when one teethes can be hereditary...I wonder when I had my first tooth, if my mom was here she'd be able to tell me. Now, there's no one to ask. It's not the type of thing my dad would remember. It's another thing I've lost with the passing of my mom - I've lost some of my history.)
He eventually fell asleep with his sweet little hand that he maneuvered out of the swaddle just enough to peek out. :)
I felt so bad because sure he'd been a little more fussy, woke up more at night, and was drooling a lot. But I had seen other logical reasons for all of that and teething wasn't one of those. So, I felt like a bad parent because had I'd known that he was teething I would have been giving him frozen teethers and other things to help him. :(
About the second week of January, it felt like we were getting back into the swing of "normal" life. Max was going to Brittany's every day while Peter and I were at work. Because of my foot, I couldn't carry the car seat up the stairs to her place. She, so kindly, came out every morning to get him from the car and then brought him down every evening when I came to pick him up.
I still am going every day for lunch (I think I've only missed 2 days since I went back to work) to Britt's so that I can nurse Max. I feel so blessed that she lives close enough to CROSSMARK that I can do that. Knowing that I get to see Max every day for a little bit in the middle of the day helps me not miss him so much. The HUGE added bonus is that Brittany makes me lunch every day. Let me explain how awesome this is. For those of you that don't know, Brittany is a great cook! She is creative with what she makes and has a skill for making yummy, HEALTHY food. My lunches, quite frequently, are my best meal of the day. I will take pictures one week and show you how great I ate for a week. It's pretty awesome, I am lucky! Not only do I get the benefit of Max being watched by someone who loves him and who I trust completely, but I get delicious lunches every day.
Everyday at Britt's, I try to take a picture of Max and send it to Peter so he gets to see his cute son in the middle of the day too. Here are some of those pictures...
It's great having Brittany so close. We also like to get together on weekends. Lately we've been going to Costco every Saturday to shop and enjoy the samples. I did Costco on my scooter, my crutches, and just walking in my boot. The scooter was definitely the best way to go!
Hanging out at Brittany's house. (I think this was a night that she made jambalaya for dinner - CRAZY YUMMY!)
Movie - More cute giggles...now that he has finally started giggling and laughing, Peter and I are constantly trying to make him laugh. It's just so dang cute. For whatever reason, every time he starts giggling, he gets the hiccups which then get in the way of the giggling. :)
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.
