We made it to the tulips! Last year at this time Max was a newborn and we were in the midst of that crazy 90 minute feeding routine, followed by sleeping for 90 minutes, and repeat….I’m still not quite sure how I survived it, but suffice it to say I was in no state to get up to the tulip fields last spring. This year I was determined to go, and Jeff really wanted to get there also as he has never been. Due to our mild winter, the tulips bloomed earlier than usual. We had to wait for cooperative weather and a healthy Maxwell, but finally everything fell into place and we made the drive north to Mount Vernon. Traffic getting up there can be crazy, so we went first thing in the morning and got there as the farm opened. We had sunshine and warm weather, and the tulips were as beautiful as we had hoped they would be. I can’t put into words how amazing it is to see all those colors in rows and rows of blooms. We’ll definitely be making this an annual event!

Lots of pictures to share, and this is just a selection from the many we took. Enjoy!

Getting in touch with his Dutch heritage in front of the windmill:

Max’s new favorite thing is to do “nose beeps.” Much as you might guess from the name, this involves touching someone’s nose and having them say “beep.” We do it to Max, now he does it to us. Here are Max and Jeff giving each other nose beeps amidst the tulips:

One more…

Yes, yes, I know. Max is not even 13 months old, and I’ve missed my first birthday goal to update the blog every week. In my defense, in the past couple weeks I had a nasty cold that turned into a sinus infection. I then shared said cold with Max and my mom. Max kicked the cold and then developed his first ear infection, in both ears no less. Top it off with his molars coming in and a minor leg injury, and he was one unhappy Bug. He wanted to be held by Mama all. the. time. Knock on wood, I think we are through it all and he seems to be pretty much back to his cheerful self. I last blogged the day before Easter, so I now have actual Easter pictures to share from our trip to Maxwell’s Great-Grandma’s.

But first, a couple from Max’s first visit to the Pacific Science Center. We went with three friends and their little ones when Max was done with the cold and the ear infection was probably brewing but we didn’t know it yet. Max’s favorite thing was the water table in the toddler area. It was just the right height for him to stand and lean against it and splash his hands in the water. Heaven! Of course water went everywhere, including all over his shoes and socks, but oh well. Here he is playing with some bones:

And driving a race car:

On to Easter pictures! In addition to the family Easter festivities, we did a joint birthday celebration for Max and his cousin Kendra, whose birthday is in April. They also have a cousin Madison who is just a couple months younger. It is really fun to have three babies so close together in age. I love having cousins my age and I’m happy that Max will get to experience that as well. Here is a picture of the three babies together:

Then we went outside for some pictures. Max was not so enamored of that idea:

Here we are with my grandma:

Watching the big kids look for eggs:

Showing off his finds from the egg hunt:

Opening presents:

If the weather cooperates tomorrow, we’re going to try to get up to Mount Vernon for some pictures at the annual tulip festival. The tulips bloomed early this year so I think this weekend is our last chance to see them in bloom. Hopefully I will have some good pictures from that to share next time. Now I’ll sign off as it’s bedtime for Max.

Happy Easter! We are looking forward to celebrating Maxwell’s second Easter tomorrow. Normally we go to my Grandma’s house for Easter dinner, which we will do tomorrow. Last year, we had a teeny tiny newborn and were extremely sleep deprived, so we stayed home and my mom was kind enough to bring Easter dinner to us. It will be fun to celebrate with lots of family tomorrow, and we will also be doing a birthday celebration for Max and his cousin Kendra. Max definitely won’t get the egg hunt concept this year, but if the weather cooperates we can at least get some pictures of him amidst the eggs. Max the bunny would like to wish you a wonderful Easter holiday:

We had Maxwell’s one year checkup on Monday. He is weighing in at just under 23 pounds, which is right in the 50th percentile. He’s still at the top of the charts for height and head circumference, no surprise to us. Our pediatrician said that he is doing great cognitively and is doing some things that are more on an 18 month level in that department. Physically he is a little behind for his age, so she referred us to a pediatric physical therapist. She emphasized that it was to help him catch up and reduce his frustration that he can’t get to what he wants, not a sign of a major problem. The physical therapist will do an evaluation and give us some things we can do at home, and then if the eval results warrant ongoing therapy, they will make a plan for that. We also will be visiting a pediatric opthamologist to check Max’s eyes. He has a slight “lazy eye” where his eyes don’t always track exactly together. This runs on my dad’s side of the family, so we want to get it checked out. Sometimes it resolves on its own, and sometimes some intervention is needed. That appointment is May 6.

On a totally different topic, many of you know that I have a great love for the color blue and for stripes. Not surprisingly, I especially enjoy blue stipes. Witness our diaper bag:

When my dad was visiting recently, we went shopping for new clothes for Max as an early birthday present for him. The other day I washed them all and as I was folding them to put away, I thought “This shirt looks familiar….” I went to my closet and sure enough, I have one that is almost identical. Perhaps I will pass my love of blue stripes on to Max:

When I lived in the Midwest, it wasn’t unusual to have snow on Easter. We don’t quite have snow here this weekend, though they did get two feet in the mountains, but it is really cold. My fingers are crossed that it at least doesn’t rain tomorrow. I’m sure Max will have his share of egg hunts in the rain, or bundled up in a jacket and hat. Given the beautiful winter we’ve had, I’ll take a chilly Easter. As long as I get to celebrate it with my two favorite boys, it’s a success in my book.

Our boy is one. I can’t believe it’s been a year since we welcomed him into our lives and changed our world for the better forever. Can you believe he was ever this tiny?

We were talking the other night about how tiny and squishy and wonderful he was then, and how we are loving the stage he is now so much. It is so much fun to see him learning things and figuring out how the world works. Max says “Dada” but no “Mama” yet. The other day he started signing “milk,” it was like the light went on…I had just given him a sip of milk with dinner and he looked at me, did the sign, and then looked at his fingers as if to say,”Did I just do that?” We haven’t seen any other signs yet but he does do the motions to “Patty Cake” and yesterday he started attempting to do the spider motion for “Itsy Bitsy Spider.” That one will probably take some time to master. Maxwell loves to wave…bye-bye to us, at cars driving by, at people in the store…it is so cute!

We had a birthday party for Max last weekend. It was wonderful to celebrate with friends, and Jeff’s family was able to join us as well. We’ll do another celebration with my mom’s side of the family up north soon. Max enjoyed the cake, he didn’t eat a lot of it but did have some frosting. He tried really hard to push it over the edge of his high chair tray but couldn’t quite get it. My friend Justine (she of the fabulous J. Shelton Photography) took pictures of the party for us. There’s a sneak peek of a few here:

Max has his one-year checkup on Monday, so I will report stats after that. He is officially on one nap a day now…for several weeks he has been battling the afternoon nap and would be up in his crib for an hour, rolling around and talking, and not sleeping. So I finally gave in and moved the morning nap a bit later. He still gets tired pretty early in the evening, I am hoping that we can gradually move the one nap a bit later so it’s not such a long haul until bedtime. However, you won’t hear much complaining from me because he still sleeps 12 hours just about every night. I hope I haven’t jinxed myself by posting that publicly.

Justine also took one year photos of Max and some of us as a family. She did a great job as always. Here are a few:

Max had a great time with his Oma and Opa:

Remember last month I wrote about how hard it is to take the monthly Max and Chester pictures? Well, thank goodness he is a year old, because it is just about a lost cause now. There’s no way that Maxwell will ignore his good friend Chester sitting right next to him. Oh no, Chester must be hugged,chewed on, and tossed off the couch. Here’s the best one I could get. I know you can’t even see the number 12 sticker and it’s a bit out of focus, but I love his smile and his cute crossed legs:

And here’s a cute one that shows the 12 month sticker. He likes to tuck his hands under him like this when he’s sleeping too.

Happy Birthday, little bug. Daddy and I love you so very much!

Yes, I’ve been a slacker blogger lately, I’m sorry. My goal for Max’s next year is to post something once a week, even if it’s just a picture or a brief anecdote. We’ll see how that goes. Max is one year old next Friday…I don’t know how it’s possible, and I’ll no doubt write a nostalgic first year post in a week or two, but for now at least I’ll get something new up here, including Max’s 11 month pictures. We had a great visit with my dad this past weekend. After his initial “Um, who is this guy in my house?” reaction, Max warmed right up and he and Grandpa had a great time together. The time went by too fast as it always does when family is here.

Max has four teeth now and a fifth just poked through this morning. He has been refusing his afternoon nap most days, which leaves him a tired fussy mess by late afternoon. He does still take that afternoon nap at day care, so I figure we will get through the Daylight Savings adjustment (whoever came up with that idea certainly didn’t have kids) and the first birthday and then work on moving the first nap later and officially going to one nap. Maxwell definitely has opinions about what he wants and lets us know, which consists of a lot of “Unh, unh, unh” and reaching for the object of his desire. He is figuring out how the world works; tonight after his bath I brushed his hair and then handed him the hairbrush and he reached it up and moved it around on his head. Smart kid! Still no crawling here but he loves to stand and play with things. He can’t stand unsupported but does well leaning against a table or standing on the floor and holding on to the bars of his crib.

We entered Max in our local paper’s “Cutest Baby” contest. The top 15 vote-getters will advance to the final round, where a panel of judges picks the cutest. The winner gets a $100 gift card to a craft store plus of course, bragging rights. You don’t have to live locally to vote! Go to The Everett Herald Contests

and click on “Cutest Baby.” The annoying part is you will have to register but it just takes a couple of minutes. Then click on “Vote Now” and search for “Maxwell Nicholas.” The picture of Max on the heart backdrop should pop right up, then click to vote for him and then “Save Vote.” Thank you!

Taking the 11 month photos was quite the challenge. Even with Jeff there to help, there was no way we were getting a shot of Max sitting next to Chester. Here’s the best one of the bunch:

Most of them look more like this:

Here are a couple cute ones sans Chester:

Here he is showing off his standing skills:

The boys on a walk:

Max with Grandpa, showing off his “cute head tilt” move:

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.

Well, I did warn you it might be a while before I did another blog entry, but I still apologize for the delay. In contrition, I offer you lots and lots of pictures. We have had a busy and wonderful past few weeks. The Moore clan was here for Christmas, and we had a great time with them. As usual, much delicious food was consumed and there was plenty of oohing and aahing over Max’s cuteness. I even got to finally try the famed chocolate-peanut butter-Ritz cracker concoctions (there’s a family legend with those).

Next, we headed off to Florida to ring in the new year with Dad and Helen. Despite waking up at 3am and only taking two half-hour naps all day, Max was a trooper on both (very full) flights there. He did well on the way home too, there was a little more crying on that trip but also more sleeping. We were blessed with very nice people in the aisle seat on all our flights, and heard several comments about how adorable and well-behaved Maxwell is. We really enjoyed our time in Florida, it wasn’t warm enough to swim but we did have a day that had good beach weather. While we were enjoying the beach, a group (pod?) of dolphins came and was swimming really close to shore, maybe 10 feet out. They went back and forth, playing and swimming all in a row, for maybe 10 or 15 minutes, swam away, then came back again a bit later. While we weren’t actually awake to ring in 2010, it was still very special to see it in in Florida with family. We also got to spend an afternoon with my friends Kevin and Amanda. We met at Calvin and I hadn’t seen them in 5 years, way too long.

Max’s first tooth made an appearance on his 9 month birthday! He is really enjoying solid foods now and is none too impressed with the baby food purees these days. He loves to wave and started clapping while we were in Florida. So cute! We had his 9 month well child check today and he weighs 20 pounds and 12 ounces, which is about the 55th percentile. He is still at the top of the charts for height and head circumference.

Many of you know that my wonderful family surprised me with my heart’s desire for Christmas, a Nikon DSLR camera! I was so surprised and excited and am loving taking photos with it. So, on to the mother lode of photos, enjoy!

Max in front of the tree:

With Oma and Opa:

Me, Denny and Elizabeth in our Christmas Eve popper crowns:

Family Christmas picture:

Max and I both received some University of Michigan gear for Christmas. Go Blue!

Max’s 9 month photo:

A couple with Daddy:

So cute!

Before you can go to the beach, you have to get your sunscreen on:

On the beach in Florida:

What is this stuff?

Beach baby:

Dining al fresco, Daddy showing how it’s done:

Out for a walk:

Dinner with Grandpa:

At the Tampa airport, waiting to fly home:

Just one blogger again today, dear readers. Alas, Shani had to return home to that little piece of paradise we call Michigan, though we did our best to convince her to move out here. We are having fun with Maxwell’s first Christmas season. He helped us pick out a tree (we didn’t chop our own this year, that will be more fun when Max knows what’s going on) and he loves to look at the tree when the lights are on. We also made an inaugural visit to Santa. Max did very well. The Santa was great, Jeff stood by him for a few minutes holding Max so he could warm up before the big hand off. Once Max was in Santa’s arms, all he wanted to do was stare at Santa and taste his suit. We raised quite a ruckus and eventually we did get him to look at the camera and were rewarded with a very cute picture.

It’s much easier to take Max out to eat these days, now that he’ll sit in a restaurant high chair and look around at all the people. He loves to share whatever food we happen to be eating. He hasn’t mastered feeding himself yet, he will grab the pieces of food we put on his high chair tray, but getting those pieces into his mouth remains an elusive challenge.

We’re hearing lots of “talking” these days. It’s usually “Da da da da da” though that isn’t specific to Jeff yet. I keep putting in a plug for “Ma ma ma ma” but so far we haven’t heard that one. Max does seem to be learning how to wave. He doesn’t always do it, but several times now he waves in response to one of us waving. SO cute!

We’re looking forward to the Moore family’s arrival on Saturday. It will be very special to celebrate Maxwell’s first Christmas together. I’ll try to do another post before the 25th, but if I don’t make it, wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Here’s Max helping us pick out the perfect tree:

Playing in a box. It really is true what they say about kids preferring the packaging to the toy:

Random cute picture:

We’ve had quite the cold weather here the past few weeks. Thankfully the unseasonable cold brought it with crystal clear skies (hello, mountains!) and sunshine, so we’ve been able to bundle up and get out for some walks. Here’s Max all cozy in the stroller:

You may remember my friend Leanne, she of Tiny Toppers

Well, she is making knitted Santa hats for the Christmas season, so of course I had to get one for Max:

And finally, the official 2009 Santa photo:

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!