First night away from Max

November 12 - 16 was almost a normal work week...except for one thing.  I had my first overnight work trip on the 13th.  To this point I was able to keep my travel to day trips that allowed me to fly somewhere in the morning and get back that same day.  That wasn't going to work anymore. 

I struggled with whether or not to bring the pump with me and pump while I was gone.  I decided not to bring it since it was just 1 night away.  My trip was to San Jose, CA.  It was soooooo nice to be back in Northern California again.  Driving down the freeway in my rental car, I just felt home.  It felt so good to feel the California sun, breath the California air, see the rolling hills and eucalyptus trees.  I miss California!  It was fun to work retail in Cali again.  I was busy with my employees until like 6:30 which was good because I didn't have time to miss Max.  But the bad thing with that is that I didn't get a chance to talk to Max before he went to bed and then my phone ran out of juice and so I wasn't able to talk to Peter either.  In the long run, it was probably better because I would have missed them more if I had been able to talk to them but it was still hard. 

Luckily, I had a great friend to keep me busy!  I was able to meet up with my friend Shannon who now lives in San Jose.  We would have NEVER guessed years ago when she was coming to visit me in Roseville that eventually I would be coming to visit her in California!  We met up at a restaurant for food and lots of good girl talk.  She's one of those few, great friends that when you are together, it feels like you were never apart.  Hopefully someday we will live in the same city again. 

I slept awfully that night in my hotel room.  You would have thought that it would have been a nice fitful sleep since I didn't have to worry about taking care of my boys, but NOPE!  It was no fun.  I missed my baby and husband.  It was so nice to get back home again.

Here are the pictures from that week -

This is Max's "I'm still tired and shouldn't have woken up yet from my nap" look

He perked up though!

The boys playing in a fort.

My happy pirate

Brittany took the boys to the play area at the mall.  She sent me these pics of him playing.  I had differing thoughts about this...

#1 - oh my, I didn't think he was big enough yet to play at the mall!

#2 - bummer, I wanted to be the first one to take him to the play area

#3 - Brittany is awesome to take the boys and I'm glad he was having fun

I got home from California a little past Max's bedtime but Peter kept him up for me so I could see him.  He was happy to see me but immediately wanted to nurse.  Of course I gave in.  He lasted just a few minutes and then fell asleep.  I let him sleep for a long time because it was just so nice to be back with him and I didn't want to lay him down in his bed and have him away from me.  Look how sweet this little boy is!

Max went to hang with dad after his workout in the morning.

2 boys sharing Brittany's lap

Peek-a-boo!

I see you!

Max likes playing under the table at Brittany's.  My mom would have loved to see her grandsons playing like this under her table.

Max made a rare night trip to Costco with me.

Video - On the way home from Costco Max and I were singing Old McDonald and it was so cute I had to record it.  Just listen, there isn't really any video to see since I was recording at night in the car.  This is one of my most favorite recordings of Max.

Video - Max giving his dad some sweet kisses and then playing with the ipad.

1. Max had a new tooth break through
2. He tries to do the snake and bee sounds.  Sometimes he will quack for a duck.
3. Since Max started eating solids I have been prompting him to say "more Momma, please" accompanied with the sign language move for "more".  Peter also prompts Max with the "more" sign.  Max never really caught on to the sign.  He has been saying "more" though.  All of a sudden this week, he broke out the "more" sign.  I couldn't believe it!  I had stopped doing the sign for awhile because he never caught on.  It's so sweet because he will sign it while saying "moh momma eeze"

We love the weekend!!!

Friday's are the best day.  They are usually crazy at work but that helps the day go faster...and then, it's a weekend!!!

This blog is subtitled, "Techie Boy" and "Watch him play".

Hayden knows how to make Max happy - bring him a cell phone.

Working his magic

Showing Hayden what he can do.

Happy!

Video - Max learned how to unlock the iphone by watching us.  I think I sat there with my mouth hanging open the first time I realized that he was doing it.  It amazing the things he picks up by watching - I need to be more aware of what I'm potentially teaching him!

Lovin' his dad

He's getting big enough to climb onto his scooter, but not big enough to make it go anywhere yet.

He calls our cell phones "Hello".  It's super cute.  He will see the phone and keep saying "hello" until we give in and give it to him.

Maxwell being silly (ugh, Kallie - give him a haircut!!!)

One of the things that make weekends great is that we don't have the tight schedule of the workweek.  We can be a little more flexible at night and if Max is having fun, in a good mood, and wanting to keep playing then we can do that instead of shutting it down in order to get him to bed on time.  This particular night we had a TON of fun.  :)

Video - At night right before putting him to bed, we lay down on our bed for cuddle time.  We lay on our sides and Max lays down and rolls right next to us.  In this video, Max is teasing Peter by acting like he's going to cuddle.

Video - Max talking on the phone.

Video - Peter is a rock star for being able to do this yoga pose called crane.  He is a uber-rock star for being able to hold this pose while his little toddler crawls underneath him.

Video - The boys playing and more of that fantastic Max laugh.

Video - Max getting dad back for hassling him earlier. :)

Playing his favorite game on the ipad - it's an app that shows different animals and vehicles.  When you touch one of them, it says their name and then makes whatever sound that particular thing makes.  Did you know that a zebra sounds nothing like a horse?

Chowing down on bread at the Cheesecake Factory.  He loved the bread, the ceiling, and smiling at other people.

Video - Chasing Daddy. 

(Max LOVES these squeaky shoes, Peter hates them.  I like them because I always know where he is when he's wearing them.)

My notes from November 10th about Max:

• Words that Max says - mommy, daddy, oh no, ew, ow, ma, da, more, please, yes, moo, down, down, eyes, nose, and cheese.  I think that's pretty good for a 14 month old!
• He's good at identifying body parts.  He knows his eyes, nose, hair, head, tongue, belly button, and his toes.
• He can now get down off the couches by himself with no problem.
• He is super picky lately with what he wants to eat.  His tastes change from day to day.  Lately you have force the first bite into his mouth so he can taste it and then sometimes he will let you keep feeding it to him.
• He will beg food from you when you are eating but then when you offer it to him, he won't take it.

My son, the stud

These pictures are so cute they deserve their own post.  Maxwell is such a stud!

He loves reading.

Seriously?  How cute can one kid get?  Tell me - am I just biased because he's mine?

And then there's this side of Max.  Boy can he pull a pouty face! :)

Peter's pretty amazing!

Have I mentioned how awesome Peter is? 

How proud of him I am?

How impressive his resolve/commitment is?

This is what he saw on the scale on November 4th.  Less than 10 months from when he started focusing on losing weight and becoming more healthy, he had lost more than 150 lbs.  These are results up there with what people on "Biggest Loser" accomplish, even better than what some of those people accomplish!  I think it's just AWESOME!  I would have NEVER thought he could weigh less than 200 lbs.  He seemed to be one of those people with "big bones" that wouldn't be able to get that low.

The Good/Bad News about how he accomplished it -  Eating right, sticking to his eating plan, and working out regularly. 

Good news: It's simple and anyone could to it. 

 Bad news: There was no magic bullet.  Nothing special that made it happen.  It was all about just being committed to eating healthy and working out.

Sometimes I have to remind myself that he IS still my husband.  He doesn't feel like my husband, he doesn't look like my husband, and sometimes he doesn't act like my husband (turning down pizza?!  What?!).  There was a moment when I was flying for work and was sitting next to a larger gentleman.  For a second, (don't think I'm crazy) I thought about asking him if I could slip my arm into his and cuddle into his side.  Of course I didn't ask, I'm not THAT crazy.  But it certainly caused me to stop and think...  I love Peter's awesome results but there are moments, usually when we are cuddling on the couch, that I miss my old squishy husband.  He sure was more comfortable than this new, hard, husband.  :)  However, despite this small thing I wouldn't change it back to the way it used to be.  He's more playful, happy, and impresses me continually with his athletic ability not to mention how HANDSOME he is!  I'll take things things over a comfy husband anyday.  And I am sure with time, my new muscular, hard husband will feel "comfortable" to me too.

Super proud of you, Peter - you are a rockstar!

First week of November

The first week of November was beautiful.  The weather was great, Max was great.  It's a fun time!

Max and Landen enjoying some snacks.

Here's my smiley happy boy.

Since the weather was so great, Brittany took the boys outside.  She sent me pics - clearly Max is enjoying himself!

He enjoyed playing in the dirt.

The next day he slept all through my lunch break so this is all I got to see of him.  :(  I let him sleep but I

 really wanted to wake him up.  Spending time with him makes my day go better!

He pulled this box out and really wanted to get inside of it.

He forced himself in there

So proud of himself!

My Maxwell.  He's got a few bruises on his head but that's what happens lately.  He gets banged up as he becomes more and more active/mobile/adventurous.

Video - Max is starting to sing with me.  Here's him helping out with Old McDonald.

Trying out his new hat while he plays with his favorite toy - his airplane.

Playing with the velcro on his shoes.  Who needs toys?

He looks so grown up from the back in this outfit.

I can tell he's in the middle of saying "hat?".

Still crosses his feet all the time.

Big kid carrying a BIG truck!

He happily hung out while Landen pushed him around.

The light is hitting his cheek perfectly to highlight that dimple.

Brittany took the boys outside again in the afternoon to enjoy the nice weather.  When she sent me the pic I noticed that Max was wearing socks in the dirt again.  Whoops - I forgot to send him with shoes in the morning.  It's a new thing, needing to send him with shoes! 

I just LOVE this picture.  It makes me so happy that Max gets to grow up living minutes away from the cousin that is closest in age to him.  I would have never guessed that would happen.  These two boys love each other. 

Video - Max talks, talks, talks in the car on the way home from Brittany's.  Today he must have been excited to get home to his dad.  Since it's dark when we drive home, there's nothing to watch.  Instead just listen.

I had a work dinner to attend so Peter had Max duty all by himself in the evening. 

He sent me this pic in a text.  Apparently Dad decided that Max should watch Tangled???  He probably gave him ice cream, too!

What Max has been up to this week:

1. After he wakes up in the morning and we take off the sleepsack, he loves to use it to play peekaboo by putting it over his head.
2. As you can tell by the video, he says "E-O-E-O-E-O" a lot, whether or not we are singing "Old McDonald."
3. He says "No" but usually says it in such a sweet voice that you can't help but laugh.
4. He doesn't want to take his second nap in the afternoon at Brittany's instead he's been taking a really long morning nap from 10 am to 1 pm.
5. We are not having luck getting him to take naps at all at home.  Regardless of what we try, he just cries and cries and won't go to sleep.
6. He talks a lot and will carry on conversations in his baby talk.
7. He "sings" more and more every day with me, not on pitch yet but it's a start!  I sing to him on the way to Brittany's, on the way home, while changing his diaper, and at bedtime.