Happy Valentine’s Day! We had a wonderful first Valentine’s Day with Max. My mom got him a couple Valentine books (I know, we were shocked too) and his day care had a Valentine’s Day party (Jeff and I ate the candy for him). On the actual day we enjoyed just hanging out as a family. Jeff got a “magic shaker” toy as a Valentine’s gift for Max….he really likes it but his favorite part so far is, you guessed it, the box. I got a heart-print tablecloth at Target to use as a backdrop for some pictures, so we played around with that a bit. Max now has three teeth coming in, and we think there’s a fourth one trying to break through the surface. He continues to love table foods…last night I made some spaghetti sauce with beef and beans and mixed it with orzo pasta for him, and he ate an amount that stunned both Jeff and me! He is getting very good at picking up finger foods and getting them in his mouth. Sometimes Jeff will put something in his hand and make a fist, and Max likes to pry his fingers open to find the desired food. We have tried letting him use the spoon himself (with some guidance) but so far he just wants to drop it over the side of the high chair. If we try to guide it to his mouth, he promptly lets go of the spoon. Oh well, we will get there eventually, I’m sure.

I’m working on planning Max’s first birthday party, which is just over a month away now! We’ll be doing a farm theme and it’s been fun to find things that work with that for the party favors and decorations. It will be interesting to see his reaction to cake! We’re doing one year photos and “cake smash” pictures with my friend Justine (of J. Shelton Photography) a week ahead of time, so that we can have some pictures at the party. It will also be a good way for Max to have a chance to figure out the whole cake thing before the party.

Max loves to wave these days. He waves at everything…cars driving by, people in the store, even the washer and dryer! He loves to watch them when they are running, and anytime we walk by he’ll look in the laundry room and wave, even if there’s no laundry going. His fascination is helpful when I need to laundry, as he’ll gladly sit there and watch me move a load, or watch the machines going as I fold the clean laundry.

I guess that’s all the news from us this week. Here’s a few pictures.

Max in the cart outside Costco:

A couple with Daddy at the park:

Valentine’s Pics!

I can’t believe that I took ten month pictures of Max already! Jeff pointed out that as of Monday, we can say his birthday is “next month.” Ack! I’m not sure I’m ready for a first birthday already, it seems like he was just inside me not very long ago. I was at a baby shower last week and one of the guests had her six week old baby with her. She looked SO small and I was remembering when Max was a little squishy newborn like that, with skinny little chicken legs and those tiny wrists with extra skin wrinkling around them. Now he is our tall boy with a Buddha belly and a giant head who rolls all over and eats table food. We’ll be sending him off to college next week if this keeps up.

Max was sick a couple weeks ago, he has had a couple colds but this was his first time having something more than that. Poor kiddo had a fever, threw up once, and clearly didn’t feel good. Thankfully it didn’t last too long, it is so hard when he is obviously not feeling right and we can’t fix it. Not to mention I’m sure he was wondering why Mom and Dad wouldn’t get with the program and make him feel better already.

I went to an all-day “Understanding Your Nikon DSLR Camera” class at the University of Washington last Sunday with my friend Laura. I learned a LOT about my fabulous new camera that I can’t wait to try out. I used some of what I learned while taking his ten month photos, which was quite the challenge. Long gone are the days of propping Max up on the couch, placing Chester Bear just so next to him, and snapping away. Now it’s more like set Max on the couch, get as ready as I can to take a picture, put Chester in place, and attempt to take a picture before Max throws Chester to the floor or starts to eat him. Quite a challenge. I have decided that from now on I’m taking the monthly pictures when Jeff is here to help!

Max attended his first birthday party today, it was lots of fun to help a friend celebrate and reminded me that I need to get cracking on his party! I know my days of getting to choose everything for his birthday parties are numbered, so I will enjoy complete control while I have it.

Here are a couple photos taken at the playground right by our house. On the swing, which he loves:

We always get comments on his eyes, this picture shows why:

Oma got this outfit for Maxwell for Christmas. The shirt says “Little Heart Breaker”:

Another Christmas gift we gave him is a soft fish bowl with a few little aquatic creatures. Max took a liking to the starfish and will hold it for long stretches of time. Its little arms are also perfect for chewing on.

Max has learned to raise him arms for “So big!” when we ask, “How big is Maxwell?”

A cute shot from our ten month session, sans Chester Bear:

I finally had the bright idea to try a few shots outside, where he was distracted enough to leave Chester alone long enough for me to get a picture. My background unfortunately doesn’t fill the frame, but oh well, I’ll take what I can get.