More fun pics from April. These are all from around the time Max turned 20 months old. I can't believe he's that old - 20 months old is closer to 2 yrs old than I am ready for him to be!
Loves wearing hats!
During a work trip to Toronto, CA we ate at a restaurant that had wine made by Dave Matthews (as in DMB!) I thought it was cleverly named "Crush"
I called Peter during the early evening on the day I had arrived and when he picked up Max said "Hi Mom!" It was awesome! And then he blew me a kiss over the phone multiples times when prompted by Peter. Then when I said goodbye he blew me a kiss on his own. It was soooooo stinkin' cute and sweet. It's hard not to be with my family when I am traveling.
Max survived while I was gone. Dad took good care of him. He turned 20 months old without me. Luckily, the month "birthdays" don't carry much weight anymore.
Video - They sent me this video while I was out of town. While I LOVED it, it made it harder to be away from home. (We try to Skype while I am gone but most of the time it doesn't work out because I usually have to go to dinner with co-workers/clients, etc. which happens right when Max is going to bed.)
That weekend, Max and I went to Kindermusik class like we always do on Saturday morning. However, it was a noteworthy day because he actually engaged during the class. Usually if we are clapping our hands or doing something else, Max just sits there and lets me take his hands and make them clap. Today though, he stomped when we were stomping, spun around when we were spinning, and mimicked the way we were tapping sticks. I was really excited because even though I know he enjoys the class, he is usually so shy and doesn't participate on his own.
This is during one of those rough moments when Max just isn't happy. Look at that good pout he's got going on with his lips. He also is great at getting tears out quickly.
Our couch arrived! The ottoman won't get here for a few more weeks. It's weird having furniture in the front room. I feel like I've taken Max's playroom away from him.
Video - Max is a pro at counting to 10. (Translation help - in the middle he says "You do it" because he wants me to count.)
It was time to pull out the winter flowers that were starting to struggle in the heat. I am really enjoying having a yard to do a little bit of planting in. It's not anything spectacular by any means, but I enjoy it.
Max had his shovel and was helping me. He didn't like it when it his hands got dirty. I like including him on any type of chore/activity I can. I just need to be better about remembering to include him even if it's just when I'm making scrambled eggs and he can help stir the eggs in the bowl.
"helping"
Ta-da!
Yeah, totally not impressive. But hopefully it WILL be. I planted some Vinca and some Lantana.
More flowers. (And the planter I got at Costco which needs to be filled with plants!)
Our lawn is looking really good. I am really proud of it and excited that it's finally green again after the winter. It's one of the greenest in the neighborhood and absolutely one of the most weed free. I worked hard for many weekends to get those stinkin' weeds that came along with the sod!
The finished product. I'll post a pick of how it looks when everything grows and flowers.
We love our neighbors - Chris and Mary Anne and their family. Max really loves their son Jared. He tends to be less shy with Jared than anyone else. It's funny because sometimes they will both just stand there and look at each other. I don't think Jared always knows what to think of Max. :) This night they threw the soccer ball back and forth to each other.
Pushing the scooter at the park
Double cousin trouble
Brittany told me a sweet story about the boys this week. So, Landen was laying on the floor and says "Max, I love you" and so then, Max went and grabbed Landen's blanket and put it over Landen. It's tender to see them love each other.
Video - Nighttime routine - reading books and practicing numbers and letters! (But really this is more about the best way to distract Max, let him see you holding either your phone or a camera)
Brittany took the boys to our city library and they enjoyed playing with the toys. (I still haven't even been to a library in Texas!)
Look at all that hair! I'm so relieved he finally had a head full of hair!
I am not ready for Max to sleep in his own room. It feels so far away. Plus he is scared of his own bedroom. I talked Peter into taking down the crib in Max's room and moving it to our room as the first step to transitioning Max to his own room. I figure if he can get comfortable with sleeping in his CRIB (since he's only slept in the pack-n-play) first, then we can work on getting him comfortable with sleeping in his room. But the simple truth is, I just am not ready to have him sleep in his room. I check on him multiple times after he goes to sleep and put my hand on him to feel him breathing. I love hearing him talk in his sleep and I love hearing him wake up in the morning and call out for either Peter or I. It won't be the same if I hear this on the baby monitor or have to walk more than 6 steps to be right next to him.
Don't judge - someday he'll be in his own room...just not right now.
So on April 26th, Max finally spent his first night in his crib! He cried when we talked about it before hand. However, when we put him down he only cried for about a minute! Success!
Waking up after his first night in the crib. He did great!
Video - I let Max play with my phone so I could sleep a little bit longer. I have a passcode on my phone that he doesn't know so one of the few things he can do is take pictures and videos. I found this video on my phone courtesy of Max.
Playing at the park
Climbing up a few feet
Things about Max at 20 months:
- He's been playing catch with his dad and sometimes he catches the ball
- At bedtime right after we finish cuddling and put him in his sleep sack, then it's time for kisses. So he gives kisses and then lately he's been saying "BYE" to whomever he doesn't want to put him down. For example, if he wants me to put him to bed when we finish with kisses he says "bye Daddy".
- Most of the time if you ask Maxwell a question instead of saying "yes" he will "oh kay" or instead of no he will say "nope" and shake his head
- After the first night in the crib, he has not had an issue with the crib and goes to bed without any problems
- We have been putting him to bed between 8 and 9 lately which is later than we want it's just that the nighttime routine takes so long with lots of books being read and lots of cuddling.
- On the 27th we went out to dinner at Pei Wei with Max and it was actually enjoyable. Max is doing better at restaurants and we are getting smarter about how to have it go smoothly too.
- Peter and I actually went out on a date to a movie and left Max with Brittany. I can't think of the last time we went on a real date!
