Day 7 - Caribbean Cruise 2015 - Day at Sea... Maxwell shows his timid side

It's our last full day on the boat, we are going to make the most of it!

Tawny tried to hold Emmalyn and give her breakfast but Emmalyn wasn't having any of it.  She did warm up to Aunt Tawny very much this trip.  :(

We went to story time with Dora

Here's me trying to get Maxwell to participate with all the rest of the kids.  No luck.

Emmalyn got to paint and do her hand prints

She did a little bit of painting but mostly liked to chew the brushes

It's been so great to be able to have Maxwell old enough to attend the kids club - Splash Academy!

(This is his cheese face) Maxwell and Jaxton

Willingly going right in!  All the kids were getting ready for their big circus performance!

While we waited for the circus, the adults and Emmalyn played some trivia

Tawny figured out Emmalyn's weakness - cheerios

Yeah!  We played trivia!

Boo - we lost

So all the kids that had been going to Splash Academy put on a circus for the parents.  There were jugglers, plate spinners, and other acts.  Tawny's kids all did an awesome job on their parts.  Lola was  part of a couple skits and balanced a peacock feather on her finger, chin, elbow etc.  Jaxton and Payton were plate spinners.  Well, the little 3 year olds all dressed up as tigers with tails and ears and face paint.  When the kids all walked into the theater, we saw Maxwell with his class but he wasn't dressed up and his face wasn't painted.  (He told us the night before that he wasn't going to dress up and we tried to bribe him into it but clearly that didn't work.)  Not only did he not dress up but when it was his time to walk up on stage and jump through the "ring of fire" with the other "tigers", he refused.  He wouldn't leave his chair and go up on stage.  The teachers tried to get him to do it and even tried to carry him up but he refused.  

I was so excited to see Maxwell up on stage for the first time but instead saw how stubborn he can be.  When this kid makes up his mind, he doesn't sway, doesn't give into peer pressure, can't be bribed.  I'm sure there will be times I will be grateful for that but dang, I wanted to see my little tiger perform.  However, Maxwell isn't a performer.  It's not his thing.  Oh well.  I don't even have a picture of his non-performance.

They did carry him up on stage at the end for the final bow and applause.  Here's a video - you can see how pleased he is about it (NOT).

Maybe when he's 4??

After dinner Maxwell got some another ice cream cone, the last one of the trip.

We headed to Dora's dance party where Maxwell wanted to watch for awhile.

Eventually I got him to dance a little bit.

Lots of Nickelodeon characters were there.

Family pic with Dora!

I tried to get Maxwell to go up to Diego and he refused to even look at him, let alone give him a high five. - - This shy and timid kid!

Emmalyn has really enjoyed the mirror right about the bed

Look - another baby!

She gave the baby kisses

Hi pretty (drooly) baby

Video - Emmalyn loving the baby in the mirror

Middle of April

I couldn't believe it - Max fell asleep in the car!  This never happens!!!

Video - Max is getting really good at his army crawl.  Here's him crawling at Brittany's (thus the cousins that want to get involved).

 Playing with dad on the couch

Oops - Now he's coming to get me!

Max thinks he's a pretty cute kid.  He has always loved looking at the frame photos we have of him as a newborn.  He also likes watching videos we have taken of him.  I have learned that a good way to get a smile out of him is to take a picture with him on my phone but to "switch" to the camera on the front of the phone so he can see himself (think of a mirror).

 He has spotted himself on my phone.

 Coming in for a closer look.

 "Man, that's a cute kid," he's thinking.

 Trying to grab the phone.

If you remember from a long time ago, Max didn't like seeing himself in the mirror on his play mat.  He would get upset at the baby in the mirror and I had to move the mirror to get him to stop crying.  Those days are definitely over.  Brittany sent me these pictures of him playing one day and really liking checking himself out in the mirror.

Here are some things about Max:

• He has started saying the "N" sound all the time
• When a stranger says hello to him or gives him some attention, he will give them a big smile and then turn to cuddle his face into my shoulder because he's shy
• We gave him water out of a cup for the first time on the airplane
• He's still having problems with constipation.  His little system just can't get used to the solid foods, I guess?  We tried a bottle of prune juice mixed with water in Vegas and it's been our go-to since getting home.  This is the first time he's had fruit juice.  Of course, he downed it (ew).I don't plan on giving him juice.  Our pediatrician doesn't see any real value in giving them juice and suggests water instead and I completely agree with her.
• He HATES getting boogers picked out of his nose or getting his face washed (I was disappointed with this because I tried from the time he was born to make wiping his face a fun thing/not a big deal.  That worked until he started eating solids.)
• He is a fantastic eater and opens his mouth nice a big for incoming bites.  There is no need to play "airplane" with the spoon for this boy.  After he swallows, he immediately opens his mouth big and wide for the next bite.  You know when he's done because he stops doing that.
• On the 11th of April his 6th tooth popped through
• When we got back from Vegas for about 5 days in a row he slept through the night.  It was awesome (and sad at the same time).  But, it didn't last and he was back to getting up 3 times a night.