Just a quick post, this is a non-Maxwell entry, advance warning that there are no pictures of him in this post. Last weekend I did a super-fun “Trash the Dress” session with a group of mom friends and a couple great local photographers. If you’re not familiar, the idea behind “Trash the Dress” is for a bride to go out after her wedding, put on her wedding dress and take fun pictures now that she doesn’t have to worry about staining that beautiful gown. We decided that doing a group session would be fun, and it definitely was. We went to Seattle Center, which is where the Space Needle is but also home to the Experience Music Project, a big musical fountain, and a carnival/arcade area. Lots of fun backdrops, and we finished off the afternoon by getting soaked in the fountain! Both photographers have some “sneak peeks” up on their websites. The first is Justine Shelton, our family’s fabulous photographer. See her Trash the Dress photos here . I’m in the group shots, of course, and the sixth one down from the top is me. The lovely Stacey Atkin also put her photographic skills to work and got some wonderful shots. See the peek here . The 8th and 9th ones down from the top are me, check out the double rainbow in the 8th one! Justine and Stacey were assisted by the awesome Katia Lines, who posted some of her own great pictures from the day here . Since I’m not in a fountain in these, I think it’s pretty easy to tell which ones are me.

This was such a fun day, I highly recommend trashing the dress to any bride!

I can’t believe I forgot to post this link yesterday! Here are the teasers the fabulous Justine posted of Maxwell’s 18 month session. We are in love with them, Justine has such a gift for capturing our family. Enjoy!

I don’t have a theme for this week’s blog entry, but here it is Sunday and I’m trying to stick with my goal of posting something once a week. I know the grandparents check eagerly for new entries, so here you go, folks: some random thoughts and photos from our week. Max is continuing to be on the move, walking all over the place and exploring everything. My mom signed the two of them up for a Kindermusik class and their first session was Wednesday. Max enjoyed the class, stuck pretty close to Grandma and waited until he got home to try out his wooden music maker (just as the teacher said the 18 month olds typically did).

Today is a special day in our household…not only is today the day Max is officially 18 months old, but it also marks six years since Jeff and I had our first date! It’s been the best six years of my life, I am so blessed to have these two men in my life. Maxwell’s official 18 month checkup isn’t for another week, so I’ll have to post his height and weight stats after that. Max currently says “Da Da” and his versions of: meow, woof woof, whoo-whoo (he has owl jammies so we taught him the owl sound), vroom-vroom, and he attempts to say “Down” and occasionally “Mama” (usually comes out as “Mmmmmmm”). He signs: More, All Done, Water, Milk, Apple, Banana, Sleep, Bath, Book, Bird, Eat, Airplane, Change (we use this when we change his diaper), Thank You and Please. Max can point to his: ears, head, hair, mouth, teeth, tongue, cheeks, chin, neck, tummy, belly button, hands, fingers, feet and toes. Eyes are funny, he clearly knows what they are and can point to our eyes, Chester bear’s eyes, or eyes in a picture book but if you ask him where his eyes are, he points to his ears. I think maybe it just feels funny to him to touch his eyes.

Max loves books and definitely has his favorites, and also has favorite pages. When we reach such a page, he wants to stop, or turn back if we’ve passed it, and spend some time looking at it and pointing to his favorite things while we name them. He still loves to swing at the park, and often holds something small in one hand. We’re working on using utensils, he still flips the spoon over before it gets to his mouth most of the time, but he has the idea. He has definite ideas about how things should be, and will let us know if something isn’t right, such as a light that should be on. Jeff and I were just talking today about how much fun he is, we love this age.

And now for some pictures! Here’s a couple from a play date we had with some good friends last week. This is my friend Leanne’s son Oliver with Max. Max is sitting in Oliver’s baby sister’s Bumbo seat. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Bumbo, it’s for babies to sit in in that phase where they want to be upright but can’t quite sit there on their own. We had one for Max but it’s been packed away for almost a year now. Maxwell thought the Bumbo was pretty cool and had to sit in it. Here he is consulting with Oliver:

Then Ollie tried to push him across the floor in the Bumbo, but it was hard to get up much speed:

The other day I came home from work and my mom showed me a couple things Max had done during the day. They invented a game where Maxwell sits on the first stair landing and Grandma tosses him a ball, which he then tosses back down. Here he is moving his arms and legs in excitement as he awaits the ball:

The other funny thing Max had done that day involved a blanket that Max decided he wanted to wear on his head. He had a great time wearing it draped over his head, walking around, peering out from underneath it. He decided that it should not be on his head when he was in his rocking chair, so he would climb in there and then take it off, then want help to put it back on before climbing down. He had the cutest grin while wearing the blanket. What a funny Bug.

Climbing into the chair:

Playing with Grandma:

So cute!

Last weekend we took Max to the zoo for the first time along with our friends Angel, Eric and Emmeline. The weather forecast was for showers, but the skies cleared and we had great weather. We saw lots of cool animals, shared a tailgating picnic lunch, and squeezed in a few more animals before Max was almost asleep on his feet. He zonked out before we got back on the freeway. We had a great time and look forward to going again! Here’s the picture bonanza, in a few of these you can see a small rock in Max’s hand, he held that through almost our entire visit.

These monkeys were making a crazy amount of noise that could be heard all over the zoo. Check out that huge balloon-like throat they have inflated!

Car picnic!

Max loves to be tossed in the air:

Signing “more” as soon as I stopped:

Happy boy:

We set the kids next to each other to take a picture. Maxwell sweetly reached over and held Emmeline’s hand. Awwww…..

Wait, what’s that in his hand?

Oh. He stole her snack.

I love the way you can see Jeff laughing in this one.

Max is walking really well these days. He looks so cute walking along, holding his hands out a bit for balance, self-correcting when he starts to tip over (most of the time) and standing up again when he does lose his balance. When we were at the zoo he definitely didn’t want to sit in the stroller for long stretches, but would much rather be out and moving. We had the fabulous J. Shelton Photography take Maxwell’s 18 month pictures (a week early) yesterday. I will definitely share those when we get them!

We took Max for his first haircut on Saturday. I took a gazillion pictures, no surprise, so be prepared for a picture-heavy blog entry. We went to this cute children’s salon called, appropriately enough, Bella and Max. They even have a cute sign out front that I forgot to take a picture of. Oops. I’ll get one next time. We weren’t too sure how Max would feel about sitting in the chair (actually, an airplane) for the haircut so we stopped en route to get a food bribe. Poor kid doesn’t often get sweets, so we got a piece of Starbucks’ pumpkin bread to use as a distraction. It worked well, when we first put him in the plane he started crying and reaching for me, but as soon as Jeff cracked out the bread, he was happy to sit there and kept signing for more. Here he is getting started, look how much hair he has in the back (he held his Duplo blocks the whole time):

The first snip:

Putting on the cape:

Here he is with a full mouth, beginning to sign “More” since the bread just can’t come fast enough:

Almost done!

Doesn’t he look so much older?

The salon gives a free ticket to ride the train when you purchase a haircut. So after Max got his new ‘do, we walked up the hill to the train, and the three of us went for a ride. Here’s Max and Daddy walking together, I love this.

Waiting to start the ride:

Max loved the ride. Much of it was over gravel, so it was really bumpy, and that was a big hit. Here he is enjoying the view:

In addition to the train, the shopping center has some other really fun things, so we checked it all out. They have birds:

And toys (yep, he’s still holding the Duplos):

And a play house:

Even a rooster named Bob!

Max thought this fountain looked like it would be fun to swim in, here he is attempting to climb into it:

All in all, a very successful morning! In other news, Max has gotten really good at walking just in the last few days. He can now walk much longer stretches, and while he still falls down fairly often, he has mastered getting up from the floor without any assistance. We have some recent video, so I’ll try to get that up with the next blog entry. Max still loves to wave…at us, at the kitties, at the garage door when it closes….the other day he was walking and passed the outlets on the side of our kitchen island. They have the safety plugs but he’s still not allowed to touch them. He stopped, looked at the outlets, gave them a wave, and kept going. So cute! He’s also learned how to get down the stairs by himself on his tummy. He’ll carefully lay down at the top of the stairs, then scoot back until he reaches the first step and slide down to the landing. Then stop, lay down flat on his tummy again on the landing, and repeat. It’s so much fun to see him learning new things all the time.

Wishing everyone a great holiday weekend! We are headed to the zoo with friends on Sunday (Max’s first visit!) so I’m sure I’ll have lots of pictures from that to share soon.

We’ve had a wonderful and busy weekend so far. Saturday Max went to his first concert! Our friends Angel and Eric introduced us to the children’s band “Caspar Babypants.” Their lead singer happens to be the former lead singer for the band The Presidents of the United States of America. They sing really fun, clever kids’ music that won’t make the grownups crazy when it gets stuck in their heads. Caspar Babypants was performing a free concert at a local bookstore and a few of our friends were going, so off we went. Here’s Max waiting for the show to start, enjoying a Starbucks breakfast sandwich (one of his favorite things):

The band, rocking out:

Then things really got crazy:

Enjoying the tunes:

Max’s friend Cambryn and her mom Kacie. The bookstore where we were has a big department of University of Washington gear, so Kacie had to represent for WSU:

Eric and Emmeline (and Angel in the background ):

After the concert Jeff and Eric waited in line while we let the kids play a bit. The flip sticks were a hit:

Then we got autographed CDs and photos with the band:

Then it was home for lunch and a nap, followed by more fun….we headed to Laura and Dave’s house for their famous shrimp and goat cheese pizza. Soooooo yummy. Before dinner we hung out outside for a bit. Max loved climbing up and down the deck stairs:

Taking a break with the ladies:

Maxwell discovered he could push one of the chairs around the patio. So much fun!

And sometimes you just need a Mama Hug:

A most wonderful weekend.

Max loves to have something small to hold onto. Riding in the stroller, eating a meal, or just playing, he can often be found with something in one hand. Often it’s a puzzle piece, fridge magnet, or small toy, but his most favorites are:

The Kitchen Utensils

Max looooves to have one of us take him to the kitchen counter so he can pick out a spatula, or wooden spoon, or whisk. Then he’ll hold said utensil, sometimes use it to feed one of his stuffed animals or for banging on the coffee table, but mostly it’s just nice to hang on to. Every so often I have to do a roundup of the utensils so I can get dinner prepared. I wanted to memorialize the kitchen utensil phase because I realize the day will come when they won’t be that cool, and I want to remember how much he loved them at this point in life.

We’ve had a fun couple weeks, and I have pictures to prove it! The weather here has been pretty variable lately. I’ll start with a shot from last weekend, when it was rainy and cooler. Max discovered that one of the playground slides had a puddle of water at the base just perfect for splashing. If you look closely, you can see the drops on his face from when he tried to drink the water.

Last weekend we had good friends over for dinner and playtime. Their daughter Emmeline has appeared in this blog before; it’s so fun to watch our two little ones together. Here they are checking out Max’s clock:

Max playing with Jeff and Angel (check out that tower!):

Emmeline loved Max’s new “Cozy Coupe” car. At one point Max was taking a turn in the car and Angel was pushing him. Poor Emmeline was walking behind them, arms outstretched, face crumpled up, as if she was saying, “Not only do I not get to ride in the car, but MY mom is pushing him!” It was pitiful and cute all at the same time. Thankfully, she was happy again once she got another chance to ride:

Mid-week Max and I joined some friends with little ones at a local children’s museum. Lots of fun was had by all, followed by lunch at Panera. Here’s Maxwell checking out the train table:

And the fish tank:

I’ll leave you with some “It’s a toddler in a cabinet!” pictures. Max likes to open and close this cabinet door and put toys in the cabinet. Last night he was doing that and while he turned around, our cat Pixel jumped into the cabinet. When Max saw this, you could see the light come on…”Maybe I could fit in this cabinet!” Indeed he did.

In Max’s swim class we sing the song “Hurry, Hurry Drive the Fire Truck” accompanied with various swimming motions. It’s one of his favorites, and he also loves the fire truck piece from a puzzle we have. Imagine our surprise when we stepped outside for a walk this afternoon to find a fire truck in our alley! Thankfully it was there for a good reason. Turns out one of neighbors (who has a different floor plan than us) has a smoke detector at the top of her two-story entryway, and she can’t get to it to change the batteries. I know, not the best design. The local fire department came out to change the batteries for her, and the firefighters invited the kids to check out the truck. Here’s Max in the passenger seat:

By the side of the truck with Daddy:

And ready to go for a ride on the back:

A couple weeks ago we were lucky to have a visit from our dear friends Doug and Donna. They moved to California right before Max was born and we miss them so much. They were in Seattle for a wedding and made the trip up here for dinner after the wedding and before beginning their long drive home. We really appreciated that they got up here to see us during their short visit and it was great fun to see Max with them. Here’s a photo of the three of them, Max is about to give Donna one of his famous nose beeps.

Max’s next physical therapy visit is Friday. He is making good progress on the walking front; he’ll now walk holding only one of our hands most of the time, and tonight he was stood up and then took a couple steps to Jeff, and then repeated that a few more times. Here’s father and son walking at the park:

If you’ve visited our house, you’ve seen the comfy glider chair we have in the living room. Lately Max loves to sit in it and play. He leans forward and back to make it rock, stands up and looks over the back, reaches his hand into the space between the seat and the arm, and can get down all by himself. Here he is in action:

And reaching in. He always reaches into the right side opening, I’m not sure if he hasn’t yet realized there’s also one on the left, or just prefers the right side.

We had a busy and fun weekend….so much so that I am just sitting down to write about it a week later! We started off with Max’s first swim lesson on Saturday morning. That afternoon we went to a birthday party for a friend’s two year old, and then celebrated our friend Oliver’s second birthday on Sunday. We were anticipating that swim lessons would be a hit, since Max has always loved baths, but we knew that was no guarantee. Thankfully it was a definite success!

Here’s Max checking out the pool…”It’s like the biggest bathtub I’ve ever seen!”

And then heading for the water:

Intercepted by Daddy, asking to go in:

I love my son enough that I will post pictures of myself in a bathing suit on the internet. Here’s when we first got in the pool:

And during the lesson:

Heading toward the steps to get out at the end:

The swim lessons are held at a local park, which also houses a petting zoo during the summer. After swimming we walked down to check out the animals. We’ve been working with Max on the concept of “one finger touching.” As you might surmise from the name, this involves touching certain things (our kitties, anything fragile) with just one finger. Max is pretty good at doing this and he did lots of one finger touching of the animals, as seen here:

Here he’s trying to feed a piece of straw to the goat. Please excuse my peeling nail polish, I did remove it that afternoon.

A double one-finger touch using both hands:

I didn’t take many pictures at Ishaan’s birthday party Saturday. Max had a good time walking around holding our hands, playing with the balloons and snacking. We did get some pictures at Ollie’s party on Sunday. Here’s Max and me with Justine (who has taken all those great pictures of Max), Kacie, Leanne and their daughters. The birthday boy is not in this picture because he was busy splashing in the kiddie pool they had out.

My friend Leanne, mom to the birthday boy, also has a six-week old daughter, Eva. Max did a great job of gently one-finger touching her:

And then oh-so-sweetly held her hand:

The big news here is that earlier this week Max took two steps by himself! He was standing near his new “Cozy Coupe” car and wanted to get over to it. I was holding his hands and let go, and he stood for a few seconds and then took a couple steps to get to the car! He hasn’t done it since, usually he won’t walk unless we are holding his hands. I think the key was he didn’t even realize he was doing it on his own. It was very exciting to see progress and we will keep working on it. It’s hard to believe Max will be 16 months old on Monday. He is learning so much, he now says “Da Da” and his versions of “woof” (when he sees a dog) “meow” for a cat and “vroom vroom” for a car or truck. He also signs more, please, eat, all done, bath, sleep, apple, milk and will wave, blow kisses and give five on demand. We have been talking about parts of the body and he can usually identify eyes, mouth, nose, head, hair, ears, teeth, hands, fingers, toes and feet. It is so much fun to see him learning new things and to realize how much he understands. Happy 16 months, Bug!

Max’s Grandpa and Grandma Helen left this morning to go back to Ohio. We had a great time with them as always and the days went by too quickly. Unfortunately, Max was sick for the tail end of their visit. He came down with a fever and cough a couple days ago; we went to the pediatrician this morning and thankfully his lungs and ears are clear, so it’s one of those wait-it-out-virus things. But for most of their visit he was feeling good and they got to have some fun grandparent-grandson time together while Mom and Dad were at work. Here are some photos from their time here.

At the park:

A few taken while they took care of Max…that favorite activity, swinging:

Giving Grandpa a kiss (which currently consists of Max resting his open mouth against your face):

Reading Goodnight Moon:

I’ve mentioned our friends Eric, Angel and Emmeline here before. We’ve noticed that every time we get together with them, one of our kids does something new (Emmeline climbed stairs for the first time at our house). Well, the trend continues, because we went over to their house for a yummy Mexican dinner last week and lo and behold, Max did some great standing. He used my legs to get up and down and then would stand on his own for a few seconds. He did it over and over and was so proud of himself! We’re all curious to see who will do what next time we see each other! Here he is in action, sporting his “Captain Awesome” t-shirt, appropriately enough:

I’ll end with a couple prime “messy face” pictures from this past week. One is after an enthusiastic yogurt snack, the other at the end of a delicious pasta dinner that Dad made, which Max topped off with some more yogurt.