Well, well, well lucky readers, are you in for a treat! To make up for my being remiss in blog posting, I have not one but TWO entries for you to read today! First of all (drum roll please) I’d like to introduce our first ever guest blogger, the wonderful Shani! Shani came to visit for a week and we had such a wonderful time. I’ll let her tell you all about her experience:

Notes
from an outsider…a guest blog…

Greetings
all! Keri has been kind enough to allow me to guest blog here, so
I’ll try to make this at least mildly entertaining (FYI, I’m her
cousin Shani from Michigan). Sitting in the SeaTac airport, I feel
rested and happy to have spent a week with some of my favorite people
(yes, that means you Keri, Jeff, and Max!). They treat you well in La
Casa de Moore- I’m still full from the homemade cinnamon rolls and
pizza we gorged on yesterday (courtesy of famed Greg “the doughboy”
Moore, who made a whopping six pizzas despite his pesky case if
Nintendonitis)**. I would have taken some pictures of the spread, but
what’s the point if you can’t actually eat it? It simply wouldn’t
be fair to you as the reader.

You
know every parent is going to think their kid is the cutest ever, but
I must attest that I agree with Mom and Dad WagenMoore on this
one…Max is undoubtedly delicious. Max agreed to let me care for
him on Monday and Tuesday while Jeff and Keri worked. Understandably,
there were a few brief exchanges of concern between Max and Jeff as
they modeled the diaper and sleeper routine the first night and I
pestered with a few dopey first-time caregiver questions (hey, when
one is in the presence of such parenting greatness, one becomes aware
of doing the best she can!). Of course, I needn’t have worried as
Max and I became fast friends. Now I won’t bore you here with each
and every moment that Auntie Shani and Max spent together, but there
are a few things I think you should know about Jeff and Keri that
they might not tell you themselves.

First
off, they have rules. But as we all know, rules are made to be
broken, most specifically by aunties and grandmas (basically, it’s
Grandma Barb’s fault as the rule-breaking instigator). Upon leaving
for work on Monday, Keri left me a detailed note on Max’s naptime
routine (i.e. “go up the stairs, turn right, left in to Max’s
bedroom, reach for the light and turn it on, smile and coo at Max
three times”…etc). This is a slight exaggeration, but you catch my
drift. Part of the directions indicated to read Max one story and
sing him one song before settling him in his crib. At Grandma Barb’s
encouragement, I broke that rule every time I put Max to sleep.
There’s nothing like a cuddly kiddo in your arms as you read
together, and nothing like the way he cozied and calmed in my arms
when we were singing. I don’t have one of my own, so it was my
attempt to soak up as much of this time with him that I could (word
to the wise though– “Silent Night” is not his favorite).

Second,
they just can’t get enough- you’ll see what I mean. Just before
getting into bed on the second night of my stay, there was a light
tap on my door. Jeff announced in an excited whisper that they were
going to go “watch Max sleep”. I could tell that this wasn’t
the first time they had done this, and I believe they admitted that
this was an every night routine. The procedure involved using a flashlight covered with a t-shirt, so as not to be too bright to
wake Max as they peer at him in his sleep. Naturally, I was thrilled
as we crept into the room and gazed silently while he dozed (words
that came to mind… angelic, adorable, peaceful ).
Nothing short of precious (watching the boy sleep, and watching the
parents watch the boy sleep). Clearly, this kiddo is not short on
love.

Okay,
there is more I could tell you, but my time is up. Thanks Jeff, Keri,
and Max (and Grandma Barb) for a great week- I’m so glad we’re
family!

**Please
note, nickname coined due to his superior and time-tested skill in
making bread, pizza, and melt-in-your-mouth cinnamon rolls.

Thank you Shani for the guest entry!

We had a great time with Shani and only wish she could have stayed
longer! Max had a wonderful first Thanksgiving at his great-grandma’s
house. He’s still a bit young for turkey and cranberries, but he loved
the potatoes, both regular and sweet. As usual, there was a houseful of
relatives and we even had sunshine! Greg, Leah and Emma journeyed over
from the other side of the mountains to join us. As always, we loved
having them here and Max had no shortage of attention!

We are still waiting for the appearance of a tooth, but would not be
surprised to see one any day, as Max is showing lots of signs of
teething lately. I’m not sure if it’s teething-related or something
else, but he’s been waking up during the night again these past few
days. I’m hoping that’s something that fades away quickly, as I have
really enjoyed being well-rested! We can tell that Maxwell is becoming
more aware of his environment and of his individuality. He’s started to
play a back-and-forth game with us wherein Max will shake his head back
and forth, then Mama or Daddy has a turn, then Max…so cute! And he’ll
get mad now if you have to take a toy away, definitely more of a “Hey,
I want that back!” then the previous “Huh, where did that toy go?”
attitude.

Can you believe he’s 8 months old already? Let’s do some pictures!

Fun with Aunt Shani:

Thanksgiving dinner:

Max’s cousin Kendra is just one month younger than him. We took some pictures of the two of them together. This one is blurry but it’s so funny I have to share. I think Max is trying to eat her hair:

Family Thanksgiving pictures:

Max was way too interested in grabbing Emma’s hair to look at the camera for this one:

Max and Uncle Greg:

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!