Max: 9 Months

I have like 600 posts started but not finished at the moment. So, let's just talk about Max, because that I'll actually finish. I hope. 

First, Max's stats as of 9 1/2 months: 

Height: 28 inches (25% percentile, was 20% at 6 month appointment)

Weight: 19 1/2 lbs (45% percentile, was 50% at 6 month appointment)

I'm glad to see his height and weight start to move toward each other, so we don't have a short and fat baby- ha ha! 

Can we even call him a baby anymore? Look how big and grown up he is: 

Max continues to be a happy guy, who loves being on the move. When I dare try to stop him to do something necessary like changing his diaper, I immediately become his least favorite person. The only way to stop the whining and crying is to burst into "Itsy Bitsy Spider" which is entertaining enough for him to sit still and enjoy the sweet sound of mom's off key voice. 

In addition to having a favorite song, he also has a clear favorite book "Little Blue Truck" which my mom, Eric and I have been reading to him since he was a little baby. It's to the point now where he pays very little attention to books at our bedtime story time, unless we are reading about the Little Blue Truck, in which case he will sit attentively. I wonder if I just say "Beep! Beep! Beep!" at the beginning of any book he would be fooled?

Max's other favorite part of story time is when I leave to go start his bath. He climbs up on Eric so he can see where I'm going and then thinks it's hilarious when I try to sneak back into the room. I then leave again to get his towel ready, come back in, Max dies laughing. I leave again to get his diaper read, come back in, Max dies laughing. Repeat. It's a pretty fun game. 

Max had his last swimming lesson the other day. He got a certificate which I tried to get a picture of below. Max LOVES swimming, splashing, watching me blow bubbles and even the slide into the water (with some help of course). But, we aren't going to do swimming next session. Our weekends have just been crazy and the kid needs me to not wake him up from every nap he takes, so… I'll wait until maybe he drops the morning nap entirely, or at least the time of it becomes more consistent and then we will do swimming again. 

Max's had some firsts this month including his first BC football game… well mostly the tailgate, but thats the best part in my opinion.

Tonight in his first Halloween!

Likes: giant water bottles (actually all water bottles), trying to pull the carbon monoxide detector out of the wall (don't worry, it's in a safe outlet and makes an insane noise when it is moved so he can't do too much damage), trying to pull things off the wall in general, dancing (rocking back and forth to the music), climbing… almost everything really

Dislikes: getting his diaper changed, getting clothes put on and off, staying still

Eating: Nursing 3x a day, getting 1 bottle of pumped milk, eating 4 solid meals. Yes 4. He loves almost all food, especially oatmeal, pears is still a favorite, yogurt as well. Enjoys the inside of dumplings at Japanese and Chinese restaurants. 

Sleeping: He goes to bed around 8:15 and wakes up between 6:30-7, if all is going as planned. This weekend we change the clocks so…. who knows when all will go to plan again! 

Thanks for reading about Max… I'll be back at 10 months! It's hard to believe how close to 1 he really is! :) 

Monday Thoughts

Oh hi, it's Monday. I have the day off, yay! Every weekend should absolutely be 3 days. I need 1 day to rest (read: recover from the week), 1 day to do something fun and 1 day to be productive. Or some combination of those things. We had a good weekend so far including Teddy's 2nd Birthday Party (where I took no photos… what?!), Max's swimming lessons and a trip to the Zoo. 

Since I have the day off, I get to take Max to his music class today. Then we are going to head over to my grandmothers to see her and my cousin and her baby. Then later today Caroline is going to join us for a fun "spooky" hayride at a nearby farm. Clearly I need every Monday off. Have I convinced you yet? 

Here are some random things I am thinking about: 

1. Some day I will do Project 333. But for now, I simply moved all the clothes I am likely to wear in the next few months to one section of my closet so I won't be searching through everything. It was about 50 clothes and this doesn't include my two pairs of jeans and any black pants. I currently hate all of my black pants so I don't think I'm going to get much use out of all those shirts I have hanging. I wonder if I can make it through a whole winter of only wearing dresses and leggings to work? 

2. We have recently made some changes to our kitchen. Well, it's kind of like the extension of the kitchen where we used to have a kitchen table. Now it's Max's play area and it has a newly clean wall space. I'm considering some kind of Instagram decor. But it has to be EASY or I'll never do it. Maybe this: 

or this: 

3. I have read some fun books lately so I owe you guys a post with some recommendations. My original reading goal for this year was 20 books and I just adjusted it to 45. It's nice to know I have one hobby that has not completely disappeared with motherhood. Ha ha. 

4. Goals for this week: finish another book and part with 10 more items of clothing. 

What's going on with you this week? 

Dear Max (8.5 months)

Dear Max, 

I stopped counting your age by weeks somewhere around month 2, but Instagram tells me that you are 37 weeks old. This is the type of completely ridiculous milestone that only a mom would care about but since you were born at 36.5 weeks, you have officially been out in the world as long as you were in my "tummy." I have liked these 37 weeks much better than those 36.5 and judging by your desire to get out early, I'm guessing you feel the same. 

At 37 weeks, you are a busy little guy. You got your first cold this weekend. You were super cranky and kept looking at us like "why are you two not fixing this?" You know how when adults get a cold you can tell in their voice? Well, when babies get a cold, you can tell by their cry. You also had a to miss swimming lessons, and stay home most of the weekend. You don't understand the concept of resting, so when we try to get you to relax and cuddle with us, you decided instead to use us as a climbing wall and grab everything in sight.

You are getting even faster with your special one knee down "Max crawling." You can pretty much get anywhere these days. I just ordered our first baby gate yesterday and more will need to follow. 

You can even crawl up the stairs, if you feel like it. Sure, it involves me putting something you really want just out of reach and then slowly moving it up the stairs as you crawl. But you can do it. 

We have implemented "family story time" every night, where the 3 of us get into our bed and read you a story. It sounds good in theory but you have no patience for books at night. You either try to eat the book, or ignore the book jump on the bed instead. You love jumping on the bed. 

You eat a lot more now and you love feeding yourself. You always open your mouth before you have even fully picked up the food you are going to put in, which I find hilarious. I give you bites of whatever I am eating. In some ways you are just like us: you have a sweet tooth and you love bread with olive oil. But tonight, you didn't like anything about mashed potatoes, so maybe you aren't related to us after all. 

The other night, you and Dad wore matching sweatshirts on our walk, but ironically the first unprompted stranger said that you look just like me. Yay! 

Speaking of walks, you are getting pretty heavy to wear on the front in the Ergo. You must be over 20 pounds by now. But it's worth the effort because whenever I walk with you, you grab on to my finger and we hold hands. 

You are finally less of a screaming nightmare in the car. When I pick you up from Nonna and Pops house, you pull on your toys and babble to yourself for the ten minute car ride home. This would've been unfathomable during the summer. I still don't think you enjoy being restrained in the car, but at least you tolerate it better in the right conditions (short periods of time, not at night). Thank you for that. 

You still love music. I now use it as a bargaining tool when I am trying to change your diaper which is your latest hatred. You started music class with Nonna last week and I am so excited I get to take you on Monday. I love watching you rock back and forth when music comes on. 

I think you may be really starting to recognize people. You give smiles to people you know, and stare in shock at people who are unfamiliar to you. They eventually get smiles too. You have always loved seeing people- you are a very social little guy. You basically make everyone's day with your smiles. 

Thanks for being the best baby. 

Love, Mom (or Mama, or Mommy, or whatever you want to say… unless you just plan to say Dada only forever ha ha)