Finishing out August

I don't want to blog.  I just want to go to bed.  I am tired!  However, I am so tired of how far behind I am on the blog (Today is Nov 26 and I am blogging about the end of August.  Good GRIEF!).  So, I am going to quickly wrap this one up.

Here's some pics and videos from the end of August.

Steak (on our grill!) dinner

Begging food off of Aunt Brittany

If Max gets some, then Landen has to have some too

I still try to take a picture of Max during the day when I visit him at lunchtime.  I then send those pictures to Peter.  This week I switched it up and tried to capture some short videos to send to Peter.  Enjoy - - Grumpy Max and Happy Max.

Video - Grumpy message to dad

Video - happy message to dad

Here's some pictures of Max playing.  I enjoy how much the way he plays changes from week to week.

Max trying so hard to get up on the couch by himself.  He's getting close and he sure tries - reaches up on his tip toes and lifts the other leg so high.

A few things I want to remember about Max this week:

• On the 27th I stopped pumping.  I had reached my goal of going until Max was 1 year old and it was really frustrating to pump 3 times (total of 1 1/2 hrs) and only get 4 oz.  So now I will nurse Max 3 times a day - early morning, lunch, sometimes after dinner before bed.  The rest of the time we will supplement with formula geared toward Toddlers.  My Pediatrician said cows milk is fine but I can get the formula free at work so why not use it?  I am a little sad about stopping pumping - not because I will miss the time it takes, or clearning all the parts, or the stress the lack of milk production brings.  I will miss getting to take the breaks twice a day at work to focus on something for Max.  I am sad to have his dependency on me shrink a little bit.  I really like the knowledge that something I am doing is so good for him. 
• If you give him a washcloth/diaper wipe he will wipe his high chair tray or whatever else he can reach.  He likes to be a helper and wipe things down.
• He has started fighting with Landen over toys
• On Aug 30 he took a single step a few times!!!

Then on August 31st...

We took a blanket outside to hang out and enjoy our back yard.

We got a huge treat!  Max was crawling around a little bit in the grass (he's getting better about not avoiding grass).  Well, all of a sudden he stands up all by himself without pulling up/holding onto anything!  Maybe the long grass helped him balance better?  I don't know exactly what the magic was about being outside in the grass but it worked great.  He kept doing it over and over and over.

Video - Here's Max showing off his new big boy skill of standing on his own (and then clapping for himself).