Max continues to impress us with his skills. He can now sit up by himself! Just a week ago he was just starting to do it, we could take our hands away for a few seconds at a time. By today he can sit for several minutes by himself, though we still stay nearby in case he tips. He hasn’t yet figured out how to roll from his tummy to his back, which proves problematic when he rolls from back to tummy in the crib and then gets stuck. Hopefully he’ll master bidirectional rolling pretty soon. He continues to love solid foods and has added carrots and broccoli to his repertoire. This last week has slept great at night….we’re talking 12 hours at a stretch several nights this week! Unfortunately his naps are not going so smoothly, he is only sleeping for 30 or 40 minutes often and will then still be tired but not interested in napping. However, I would much rather deal with challenging naps and have good night sleep than the other way around. Hopefully the naps will normalize a bit here soon. Max will be starting day care a week from Tuesday. We found a home day care close by. We really like the woman and are glad to have found a place for Max, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be very hard to leave him there…of course I will be worried about how he will do, will he take a nap, etc….we are very lucky that my job is three days a week and my mom is able to do one day, so he’ll be in day care on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

My friend Justine is a talented photographer and she came over to take six month pictures of Max and family pictures of us last week. She’s working on editing the images for us, but she posted a few to her website. Check it out here, just scroll down a bit to the “Mr. M and Family” post. And if you are local and need a photographer, give her a call!

Max is now six months old, which is hard to believe…halfway to a year already! We have his official six month checkup on Thursday and are curious to see how much he weighs and how long he is now. Considering that he is wearing some 12 month clothes, I have a feeling he’ll still be in the upper percentiles!

Pictures, pictures, I’ve got pictures!

Six month pics:

Max’s Oma got him this cute train towel:

Showing off his sitting skills:

Starting to topple forward, but still happy:

Cute boys!

Yum, yum broccoli!

It’s been an exciting couple of weeks here in the Moore household. We enjoyed a visit from Greg, Leah and the girls over the Labor Day weekend. On Labor Day we met up with Fred so he and Max could meet. Those of you who were at our wedding will remember Fred, who played a very important role…yep, he’s the one who married us! Last Wednesday I had my oral surgery. While I can’t say it was a pleasant experience, it did go well. He was able to extract what was left of my tooth and go ahead and put the implant in, which was great. Now I wait for four months and then can get a crown. So far the most aggravating thing is I’m not supposed to chew on that side of my mouth until the crown is in. I go back on Friday for a follow-up visit and they’re going to switch out the abutment (?). Hopefully everything will be looking good and that won’t involve another one of those killer numbing shots to the roof of the mouth.

Last weekend was a busy one, on Friday Max and I journeyed to Bellevue for Jeff’s company picnic. It was held at a park in downtown Bellevue, and the weather was beautiful. This will be really fun for Max in another year or two, as they had one of those bouncy castles and all the ice cream bars you could eat! This year he settled for hanging out in our laps and taking in the scenery. We got lots of compliments on his cuteness and exclamations over how tall he is for his age. Then on Saturday we went up north for my cousin Sarah’s wedding. This was another outdoor event and once again the weather was most cooperative. This was Maxwell’s first wedding and he did very well.

The biggest excitement of the past few days is that Max is now rolling over! He did this for the first time last weekend. So far he only goes from back to tummy, and prefers to roll to his left. Having mastered this skill, he has shown no interest in repeating it the past couple days. My mom was here taking care of him on Monday and he didn’t once roll over for her. Thankfully we caught it on video so we can prove that we aren’t just overexcited first time parents.

Almost as exciting is Max’s first taste of solid (okay, semi-solid) food! We started on Sunday with baby oatmeal and have also tried avocado and sweet potato. So far avocado has been the biggest hit, but he’s eaten all three things. It’s fun to see his reaction to the new foods.

Whew! I think that’s all the news to share for now. On to the pictures!

Max and Daddy:

Reading stories with Elizabeth and Emma. No, that isn’t a midriff-baring jacket he has on, it’s just pushed up a bit.

With Fred:

At the picnic, more interested in trying to chew on his overalls than in smiling for the picture:

Family photo at the wedding:

Zonked out after the ceremony:

Revived post-nap and ready for the drive home:

First time eating oatmeal:

I’m not so sure about this, Mom and Dad…

Hmmm, still undecided but I’ll try some more…

Okay, maybe this isn’t so bad after all.

I have been remiss in my blogging lately, I apologize to my readers. If you’re dedicated enough to still be checking the blog, thank you, and I promise to try to do better! Max is 5 and a half months old already. How did that happen? He is so much fun. Thankfully he seems to have kept his easy going personality, hopefully that will stick with him for the long haul. He still hasn’t mastered rolling over, but he’s come really close to rolling from back to tummy a few times. That darn arm gets in the way and keeps him from going all the way over. He can sit up if he has a bit of support, and will stand briefly also (of course, not without us holding him up!). The other day we inadvertently discovered his new favorite game. Here’s how it’s played: I hold Max and walk up or down the stairs. Jeff walks behind us and Max looks over my shoulder at him. And it’s just that easy! We did it last night and Max was laughing. We’re not sure exactly what the appeal is, but we’re happy to indulge him, that laugh is the sweetest sound.

We’ve enjoyed some company lately. A few weeks ago we had Jeff’s brother Greg, our niece Elizabeth, Leah (Greg’s awesome girlfriend) and Leah’s daughter Emma come for the weekend. The girls really enjoy talking to Max now that he is a bit more interactive than when he was in that newborn “potted plant” stage. They are coming back tomorrow for the Labor Day weekend and we are looking forward to more time with them. Last weekend our friends Matt and Mandy came from Minnesota for a long weekend. It was great to have some time with them and to show them around Seattle a bit. Visitors are always welcome if any of you want to head our way!

Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers next Wednesday, September 9. I’ll be having oral surgery that day. I can’t remember if I’ve posted about it here, but I had a crown fall out, leaving a hole where one of my top teeth should be. To make a long story short, they can’t just put another crown in. So the oral surgeon has to take what’s left of the old tooth out and put an implant in. Sometimes this is a two-step process with a four month wait in between, but he is hopeful that he’ll be able to do both of these things on Wednesday. Then I wait about four months for the bone to grow around the implant, and then my dentist can put in a new crown. Whew! In the meantime my dentist made me a “flipper,” which is a fake tooth on a retainer-type thing that I can snap in and out for cosmetic purposes, but I’m not supposed to eat with it and it makes me talk with a bit of a lisp, so I don’t wear it all the time. At any rate, dental work of any kind is no picnic, and I’m really not looking forward to this. I’ll be very glad when it’s over!

Pictures, pictures, I’ve got pictures! Let’s start off with a couple of Maxwell’s five month shots:

Here’s Max with his Uncle Greg:

With Mama:

Taking a rest from the hard work of tummy time:

Max”s Grandma Helen got him this cute outfit when they were visiting, and now it fits!