Figuring out how to do it with 2 kids...(1 of whom is starting to read!)

On May 5 (cinco de mayo!) I ventured out with the two kids, by myself, for the first time.  It felt like a really big accomplishment.  We went to the bank.  Not IN the bank but instead through the drive through...baby steps here, people! :)

Both kids in the car!  

Sweet baby (yes, she's still in her pajamas...)

We got this darling card along with a cute outfit from my nanny Monika - so cute!!!

One sweet sleeping baby.  

(Notice he is laying the wrong way in his bed and is laying on TOP of his blue pillow.  What you can't see is under his head are his stuffed animals and other blankets.)

Sweet sleeping baby #2 - Binky never stays in while she sleeps, it pops out pretty quickly

One of the struggles we are working through is how I keep Max entertained and happy while I am nursing Emmalyn.  He always wants me to play with him and doesn't want to play by himself while I am nursing.  Today I was able to talk him into playing with his trains.

I have found that play-do will always work.  He LOVES playing with it and when most everything else will entertain him for 10-15 min, he can play for over an hour with the play-do.

I had mentioned earlier to my neighbor, Mary Ann that the late afternoons are the hardest because when Max gets up from his nap he's more needy/whiny and I'm completely wiped from trying to hold it together.  I watch the clock counting down the minutes until Peter gets home.  

She texted me a few days later and asked if she could came over to visit and help.  She was so kind and took Emmalyn and let me lay down for a much needed nap especially since my throat has been hurting and I feel like I might be getting sick (Max was napping too).  I told her to wake me up when Max woke up but she let me sleep and took care of both of them.  Then, once I was up we went outside and I held the baby while she gave Maxwell some soccer coaching.  I am so incredibly grateful for her friendship and support.  My kids are also lucky to be growing up next door to people who love them too.

  

Parental Bragging Time!

Max has been learning sight words for awhile now.  Hayden was learning them as part of Kindergarten and so Brittany would work with Hayden on learning these at night, after school.  Well, since Brittany watched Max that meant that he was a part of Hayden learning these words.  Max started learning them to and there were times that Brittany had to hold the flash cards so Max couldn't see because he would say the word before Hayden would.

So we have built upon what sight words he learned with Brittany and have worked on them with him as well as using sight word apps.  We also got some sight word books for Kindergarten and first grade.  He's doing a great job.  Take 3 minutes and watch this - I am pretty proud of him!  (He's not even 3!)

Video - Maxwell reading a book

Maxwell helped Momma water the flowers in the planter

Giving his little sister a kiss (Notice her awful baby acne?!)

Max is doing awesome at swimming lessons!  He's ready to move up to the next class but they won't move him up because the typical age range for the next class is 4-7 years old.  His coach, Coach Katie, thinks he would be okay being with the bigger kids but the manager of that location won't go for it.  So, we are stuck at this level until he's at least 3 years old.  It's frustrating because he's just doing things that he can already do but Katie is going to try to challenge him as much as she can until he moves up.  There are 3 other kids in the class so she isn't able to focus 100% on him but he still enjoys going so we are going to keep him in classes and try and challenge him when we start going swimming too.

Her baby acne keeps getting worse.  It's taking over her face!

This was a nice gift sent by my client contact at Perfetti.  It gets major points for presentation!

Video - Maxwell LOVES singing happy birthday.  Luckily we have lots of friends and family lately with birthdays who have given him the opportunity to serenade them.  This was for a friend in our neighborhood.  I stopped the video when he was in the middle of asking if she blew out her candles.  He's always concerned about that.  :)   

Max does great with talking.  He's usually very clear and has a huge vocabulary.  He amazes me with how often he uses difficult words correctly - like ACTUALLY and WHILE  (those just don't seem like typical words used by a 2 year old).

A couple of his commonly used phrases lately:

"supposed to, got to"  - He says this instead of saying just one of them.  For example, he'll say "You're supposed to, got to put your shoes on"

"That's a great idea..." - For example, "Ooh, Ooh I can eat some crackers?  That's a great idea..."

"Who's that little guy?" He refers to most people as "little guys".  (He has also called poop in the potty little guy - for example he pooped in the small training potty and when taking it to dump it in the big toilet, he looked at it and said, "who's that little guy?")

"What do you want" - This is the phrase that gets asked over and over again when he's playing pretend restaurant

"I don't know" - We are hearing this a lot lately.  It's his default, quick answer even though he may know.

Beginning of April

April is here!  I love springtime in Dallas.  Things are getting busy at work.  I am missing lunches with Max at Brittany's due to meetings.  That makes me really sad.  I am grateful though that I was able to do it for this long. It sure made my days go by faster, me miss Max a little less, and feel a little less guilty for choosing to work (even though I know that it's the right choice for me and my family, it's still hard to leave Max).

Sorry, Max.  You're too little for that big bike!

Happy kid that doesn't stay still for long.  Most pictures I take of Max are blurry.  I have to take like 10 before I get one that works.

This is his "blankie" for Brittany's

Faster than a speeding bullet...

Movie - Max and Landen love running across the room from the TV stand to the couch.  This is a common game.  They tend to be territorial and fight over who stands where.  I think it's really cute how in the video, Landen mimics Maxwell and stands with his hands behind his back.

Good morning cuddles with Daddy!

Notice the wound on his head?  Yeah, wounds happen more frequently now.  He is becoming more daring which means he sometimes gets hurt despite my best efforts.

Movie - I enjoy getting out and enjoying the weather by going on walks.  We brought Max's scooter on the walk along with the stroller because we figured he wouldn't last the entire walk on the scooter.  It takes work to ride his bike like this!  I think it's pretty cute how he pulls the handlebar right up to his belly.

Movie - We had to stop our walk to enjoy the puddles.  Max loves to splash.

I found this cross stitch when I was going through some boxes.  This was made for me by my favorite AUSTRIAN nanny, Monika.  I believe it was sometime around 1989?  Anyway, I still have it.  She made one for each of us kids.  I love that I have been able to reconnect with her through Facebook.  I was able to visit her in Germany when Kimberly was stationed there.  I really would like to take Max and Peter over there to meet her.

Wanting to climb on the table

Momma and Max!

Don't you just love that look of pure joy on his face? (or the double chins - which is what Peter noticed)

Pretty Cool Cousins

He's enjoying playing with cars

Here is an update on Max as of April 3rd -

• He is more cuddly and affectionate now than he has been in the past.  When you hold him, he will put his head on your shoulder.  When he gets a sippy cup with milk in it, he wants you to pick him up and hold him in your arms, laying down, like a baby. He will come up and hug your leg.  He will walk with me and hold one or two of my hands sometimes. If either Peter or I are sitting on the floor, he will come up to us and either sit in our lap, lay next to us, or if we are laying on our stomachs he will sit right under our face so he can be close.
• He gives kisses and cheek smooshes.
• Whoever is reading to him at night will be the one he will cuddle with.
• He is starting to say "love you".
• He gives hugs to Landen and Hayden, it's super sweet.
• He is really good at his Melissa and Doug vehicle and animal puzzles.
• He is always up to watch a movie or TV and asks frequently (we don't give in frequently). His favorite movie is Tangled.
• He enjoys playing with his blocks, reading books, and being outside.
• We have started giving him his liquid vitamins in his morning milk because his teeth were starting to get a grayish tint.  That can come from either the antibiotics he was on for his ear infection or from vitamins that have iron (which he takes).  So we followed his pediatrician's advice and diluted it in his milk.  We also rubbed his teeth with a baking soda and water paste a few times.  It worked awesomely but it was nasty so we had to hold him down and force him to let us do it.  :(  I was glad that the gray teeth weren't permanent!

Another update as of April 8th - 

• He has been FEISTY over the past week.  I don't know what is going on with him!  He has scratched my arm and my neck.  He has hit and pinched me.  He BIT me today!  Each time I have told him that it's not okay and made him tell me he's sorry, which he does.  I think we are going to have to figure out either "time outs" or how we want to discipline.