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.