We hosted a Super Bowl Party!

Max has been really interested in the iPad lately.  He is quite talented with it.

We went outside to enjoy some nice mild Texas winter weather.

Max helped me sweet the sidewalk.

The boys and their tech toys.

Now that the projector and screen were up in the media room, we had the PERFECT place to watch the Super Bowl so we invited Britt and her family plus our friends Andrea and Jeff over to watch the big game.  I was excited to play hostess and use some of our serving dishes.  I really enjoy having people over to my house.

Max still crosses his feet all the time.

He spent a lot of time on the iPAD today while Peter and I were getting the food ready for the party.  It was a good thing he was so entertained with this and wasn't interested in making a mess elsewhere.  :)

We had popcorn, chips, homemade salsa, guacamole, strawberries with nutella, crackers with cream cheese and pepper jelly, veggies/dip, and pretzels.

Mmmm...

The hot stuff - little wienies, pizza, velveta dip, firecracker appetizers, and a dessert I made.  I think it's either apple crisp or bread pudding but to be honest I can't remember.

Brittany made some yummy sliders and fruit salad.

Hayden and S. enjoying the backyard.

Andrea brought some yummy food too.

Max wore his football shirt for the occasion and loved playing with the kids while the adults watched the game.

It certainly was a big screen.

2nd row of seating

Max went to be while the party went on.  As I mentioned in my previous post, he likes his head in the corner even if it means he's scrunched up in order to do it.

I took pictures of my kitchen afterwards because everything was cleaned up (mostly thanks to Brittany).  I am bad about partially cleaning after people come over but not doing everything.  And then whatever didn't get done usually sits for a few days.  It felt great to go to bed knowing that there was nothing left to do in the morning.  Thanks Britt!

See?  Even the table is cleaned off.

Goodbye to January 2013

I know I am super far behind on blogging so I am going to go through this one quickly...

Max was playing with this toy at Britt's and pulled some pretty cute faces while he was doing that.

Playing it like a flute

Dad taught Max how to stack the blocks and then knock them over.

Max thought it was hilarious when he would knock them over.

He's coming in for the knockdown!

Standing on his tip toes to try and get into the pantry at Brittany's

I enrolled Max in a class at the kids gym for toddlers.  He was one of the youngest there and was extremely timid the first time.  He warmed up the more times he went but he still wasn't as adventurous as the other kids.  He's just very cautious and doesn't want to explore much, especially without mommy.  I feel like he's really strong in his language skills but his physical abilities are behind others his age.  Apparently that's normal for a child to be strong in one area but weaker in the other.  Eventually they catch up on the weaker one.  My hope was that by going to this gym class once a week it would help him progress physically.



Climbing up a rung ladder

Video - - After a couple classes Max was more willing to try the trampoline.  I love how he "jumps".

Enjoying the swings

Figuring out how to screw on the Tupperware lid.

Playing with Landen

Sleeping during lunch.

Couple things about Max at the end of January 2013

• His first incisor tooth has popped through on his top left side.  Thank Goodness because it's been drool city around here!
• He lay in bed this week jabbering for an hour in the morning before he asked to be picked up.
• We are able to pick out some words that he says like "uh oh", "ow", and "mama", "peter"
• He says his name but it sounds more like "Matt"
• When he sleeps he typically sleeps on his belly, his butt in the area, and his feet crossed.  He also likes to sleep with his head against the sides of the pack-n-play or in the corner of the pack-n-play. 
• He will finally drink regular whole milk.  For awhile we had to mix half milk / half formula because he wouldn't drink any whole milk on its own.

How fast can YOU climb 52 flights of stairs?

Me, Hayden, and Max's double chin - Ha!

Want to cheer Max up?  Give him some stickers.

Another lunch at Britt's where Max slept the whole time.  Don't you love his socks?

He finally started feeling better last night and that has changed everything.  It's HARD to have a baby who doesn't feel good.  It's hard on them and hard on you.  It's been so nice to have my happy baby back who smiles and laughs instead of cries and screams.

He can now point out eyes, ears, tongue and teeth on pictures of people and some animals.  He said sticker today - I had no idea he knew the word!

I have been taking him to a gym class for toddlers.  Most of the time it has been me pushing him to try things and he hasn't been very interested, adventurous, or independent however this week he finally started to get more engaged.  I look at what some of the kids his same age are doing, and he's just not there yet.

He is starting to be able to pick up some food with a fork.  Mostly scrambled eggs. And can use a spoon when eating something thick like yogurt.

If you bend down and ask for hugs, he will run at you full force with his arms outstretched and then when he reaches you, he will wraps his arms around you.  It's fantastic.  I love it!

You never know what you are going to get when you get kisses though.  Sometimes they are closed mouth kisses, sometimes they are open mouth kisses, and sometimes his tongue is there too.

He really follows directions well, which is nice! 

Silly faces

Everybody smiling!

Max cuddling into his momma

Max on the 23rd of January:

• Even though he's feeling better, Max isn't all just sweetness.  He has started throwing tantrums which include screaming and hitting.  Joy. 
• He calls me Kallie lately more than Mom/Momma/Mommy. 
• He is GREAT at letting me wipe his nose.  It's never an issue and usually he stands there waiting for it to be wiped.
• He has been sleeping until 7:20 am which means he's been sleeping for 11 1/2 - 12 hrs each night.
• I'm not sure if he's going to be left or right handed because he uses both of them frequently.
• He loves eating plain yogurt and also loves Oatmeal Squares cereal.

Don't those pants look so stylish? 

Yeah.  They aren't pants.  They're shorts. 

Being a big kid sitting on the trike.

Sweet boy, boring socks.

Silly!

Not quite sure why he was wanting to eat the furniture.  Teething?

I'm sure you are like, what does any of this have to do with the subject of this post?  It's doesn't other than these were some pics from that week.  NOW...to the fun part of the post.

Peter's work, Ivie, sponsored a race.  However, it's not a 5k race or anything like you are used to.  It's called the Big D Climb.  And it's 52 flights of stairs and 1,040 steps.  You can check out their website here.  It's done downtown in a really pretty skyscraper called Fountain Place.  Peter asked me if I wanted to do it with him but I was chicken.  I've never climbed 52 flights of stairs at once and wondered if I really could.  When we go on cruises we make ourselves take the stairs and if I have to do 7 or 8 flights, I'm huffing and puffing at the top.  How in the world could I do 52?!

So I wussed out but he didn't. 

The day of the race (1/26/13) was cloudy so when you looked up towards the top of the building, it got all cloudy.  In fact when we were driving in, we couldn't even see the top of the building because of the clouds.

Before the climb.  I couldn't get Peter and all of the building in one picture.

The top of the building (yup - he's going all the way to the top!)

We hung out in the crowded lobby waiting for his start time.

Because of tight quarters at the top of the building, you couldn't go meet your racer at the finish line.  You had to meet them back in the lobby.  So while Peter raced, we made him a sign.  We had no idea how long it would take Peter to do this so we came prepared to wait a while.

Peter was back before we knew it!  He finished in 12 min 13 secs!!!!!!

He smashed it!

Way to go, Daddy!

His whole group.  He's in the very top left.

I asked him how it went.  He said it was good until about flight 40.  At that point his legs were pretty weak and he, along with those around him, were using the railing to help pull themselves up.  I think what he did is pretty amazing.  52 flights of stairs!!!!  Nearly 12 minutes!!!  That's less than 15 seconds per flight!

After the race we went to a little cafe for a celebratory breakfast.  Max was a BIG fan of the homemade blueberry muffin.

Good job, Peter!  You are awsome.