Max's first trip to Utah!

We were both really excited to take Max to Utah and show him off to our friends and family there.  We planned to be there an entire week so that we would have time to see everyone we wanted to.  (And see them multiple times.  With Max's "schedule" you only get a couple hours of good Max time until he's hungry or needs to sleep.  It's not like you plan to be somewhere all afternoon and the entire time he will be happy, awake, and engaged.)

Man!  Packing for a baby adds sooo much more stuff that we need to bring.  Just planning out his clothes was a big effort.  I laid it all out to make sure I had a good mix of warm weather/cold weather clothes because you never know in Utah what the weather is going to do especially at the end of April.

Not only do you have to do more clothes but you need toys and books and blankets and burp clothes and bath stuff...etc.  The only thing we didn't bring was diapers and food for the entire time - we planned on buying that stuff there and making food for him there.

Max did great on the airplane.  We were pros after our trip to Vegas.  The only difference on this trip was that we just had 1 stop versus a layover.  It meant the total travel time was pretty short - 3 1/2 hrs but it would have been nice to have a break to get off the plane and let Max have some space.

I again nursed him during take off and landing.  And then we entertained him and fed him puffs the rest of the time.

Enjoying puffs

When we landed we headed over to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Blank.  It was hard being in Utah and knowing that we wouldn't see my mom.  She would have loved to have us visit and spend lots of time with Max.

Grandma and Grandpa Blank were so cute with Max.  He let them both hold him and was a happy kid.  I got some their toys for him to play with.  That was a little weird - - I used to play with some of those toys and now my son was!   I sure love my grandparents.  I feel sooooo blessed that they were able to meet Max and love on him.  They have been wonderful to both Peter and I and shown us so much love.  And they have been so excited about Max from the moment they learned we were pregnant.  I am their oldest grandchild but the 7th to have a child so they've waited a long time - patiently.  I never felt overly pressured even though I knew they would love for me to start having kids.

Max and his Great Grandpa

He was really entertained with the toys and played happily while the adults visited.

Max and his Great Grandma

Looking at each other.

Video - Max happy to be with Grandma

Before we left, they treated us to Oatmeal cookies and grape juice from grapes picked in their backyard.  It was a yummy treat!!!  Sorry Grandma and Grandpa for ruining your dinner - thanks for sharing!

After our visit at my grandparent's house, we headed to our "home" for the week - my Aunt Tammy's house.  Poor Max was so tired though after not really having his naps due to the travel and then the excitement of playing at Grandma's, he fell asleep in the car on the way to Tammy's.  We took a picture because this is a rare occurence for him!

 At Tammy's house they were excited to see us and to meet Max.  He quickly woke up and perked right up.

Maryn was ready to hold Max the minute we got there.  :)

Cousin Photoshoot

I thought it would be fun to take Max to go get pictures taken with his cousins - Hayden and Landen.  Max is now a pro at getting his picture taken in a studio so he was great!  Hayden had fun as well.  Landen....not so much.  Poor Landen wasn't having it at all.  And nothing would cheer him up.  We tried a bunch of things but nothing worked. So we ended up not really getting the great shots of the cousins like we wanted.  It ended up mainly being shots of Hayden and shots of Max.  I got some really cute shots of Max that I am going to use on his Happy Mother's Day card.

Photos from before trip to Utah

 Sweet sleeping baby 

 Crawling all over

 Sleeping in the swing at Brittany's.  Poor kid was tired!

 Pushing off with those toes.

 Hi!

Doing a good job of getting that belly off the floor.

 Cheesing it up with dad before a bath

 Kisses!

Serious faces

video - Max is getting better at eating finger foods.  Mainly we give him puffs now but he's figuring out how to do it.  It's fun to watch.  :)  I am so proud of him!

Some things about Max recently:
He has started to say "Hi" (sort of) when he sees you
He has a drum with a hammer and he has learned how to hit with the hammer
He babbles!
He has started to notice my hair and will pull at it
He keeps his legs up in the air when he's on his back drinking a bottle
When getting his diaper changed he has been putting his legs out straight
He DOESN'T like getting his diaper changed until the diaper is off and then he's good again
When nursing, he will look up at me and reach his hand up towards me and wait for me to kiss it - -I love that so much!
He smiles and laughs but rarely giggles.  However in those rare moments when he giggles he will sometimes do a hissing giggle just like I do.  :)

I love weekends

Why?  Because they can start out like this...

Yummy healthy smoothie that I don't have the time to make during the week (even though it takes minutes - those are precious minutes that can be spent sleeping, in the shower, or playing with Max)

And we get to do fun things like this...

We went on a walk to the park next door with Brittany and her boys.  Peter and Hayden played and rough housed together.  Max watched from his stroller.  We tossed the football around and I even moved faster than walking on my foot, which was nice.  Although I didn't chase after the football I failed to catch when it rolled down the hill towards the lake.  I thought that would be pushing it.

Then, after we are tired out from all that fun, we get to come home and play some more.  YEAH FOR WEEKENDS!!!

Video - Max is getting closer and closer to crawling for real

Playing

I mentioned how much Max loves Peter's computer.  I should have mentioned that he loves all computers.  I put him out in the front room to play while I got ready for work. I came out to check on him and here he was, playing on my laptop.  I guess I can't leave it laying around anymore!

All smiles during lunch

 Big boy standing at the couch

We had a great weekend!  On Saturday April 21st, we had a fun visit from my cousin Lindsey, her husband Brandon, and her cute son Jackson.  He's about 2 months younger than Max.  It was fun to see them notice each other and sort of interact.  Max looked so big compared to Jackson!

Uncle Peter helping Hayden play games on the phone.

8 months old!

Max turned 8 months old on April 19, 2012!

To celebrate, I let him suck on my slice of orange.  He, of course, loved it.  I never realized how sticky oranges are!

To celebrate how old he was, Peter and I took Max for a walk after work around the park next door.  We put him in the upright seat in the stroller (have I mentioned how much I LOVE my stroller?!) for the first time.  He was a little concerned at first, but once we got outside he was a happy camper.

Video - Max is 8 months old!  Here he is playing with one of his favorite toys, his turtle.

 We wrapped up this eventful day with a bath.

Things about 8 month old Max:

• He no longer tries to eat my jaw when he wants to nurse - now he pulls at my shirt and tries to suck right below my neck.  I preferred when he went after my jaw - it wasn't quite so obvious.
• He no longer likes his time on the changing table - he squirms a lot.
• He is a great eater of purees, big open mouth!
• He is mobile.  His typically move includes pushing forward with his feet and then rolling to the side.  He then rolls back and pushes forward a little more.
• He LOVES to watch Baby Einstein (we have Baby Bach and Baby Beethoven).
• He still has only had breastmilk, no formula!  It is a struggle though, my supply isn't what it used to be and so I have to be super diligent to make sure I'm pumping 3 times a day.  I tried this Mother's Milk supplement (tasted AWFUL) but it didn't really help.  I have also tried using basil oil (DoTerra!) topically and that help a little for awhile but nothing has helped the supply stay consistently up.
• He will "talk" on the phone to people.  He recognizes mine and Peter's voice and if he hears either of us on the other end he perks right up, smiles a lot, and starts talking.
• He loves Peter's computer.  If Peter would let him sit on his lap and watch the laptop all day, Max would be in heaven.  He likes Peter's keyboard especially because it is backlit.
• He doesn't pull you in for kisses as much.  :(
• He have had to watch him closely to make sure he poops at least once every few days.  Thank you DoTerra - their Digestzen oil has helped many times!
• He takes his baths in the bathtub with me in there with him.  He is always happy in the tub.
• He still likes to be swaddled when put to sleep but quickly after we lay him down, his arms escape and he goes to sleep.
• He sleeps in the pack-n-play in our room with the white noise machine going.
• He is happy in the car now but doesn't fall asleep but maybe once in a blue moon
• He likes reading books with you but is also happy to just hold a book and look at the covers
• He likes listening to classical music.  We listen to Mozart while he gets a back and we listen to the classical station in the car.  Often if he starts to get fussy in the car, I just turn up the music and he is happy again.
• Overall, he is a happy, calm, content, and very observant baby (who absolutely loves his daddy)!