A belated Happy Halloween to all of you! Max’s first Halloween was lots of fun. We didn’t go trick-or-treating, but we did dress him up in his oh-so-cute dragon costume a few times, including one trip to Jeff’s office to show him off there. Max helped us hand out a little candy and then went to bed and slept through all the trick-or-treaters. We continue to have so much fun with him, he is starting to really babble now and it is so precious. His favorite place to “talk” is on the changing table, followed closely by laying on the bathroom floor post-bath. He’s sitting up really well now and can reach for things without falling over (most of the time!). I think he is starting to work on the mechanics of crawling, but hasn’t put it all together yet. He’s gotten very good at pushing up with his arms and will also stick his little butt up in the air, but hasn’t done both of those things together yet.

Max loves our kitties and is always interested when they walk by. Not surprisingly, he will reach out and try to grab some fur if they get within reach. We have been shocked to discover that of the two kitties, Dory is much more willing to be near the baby. Those of you who know Dory know that she is definitely more skittish than Pixel, to say the least. Go figure then that Pixel stays out of Max’s reach and Dory will let him “pet” and even grab her.

I hesitate to write this, knowing that I’ll jinx myself and it may go haywire again, but Max has been sleeping very well lately. He usually will take two naps of at least an hour each, which is a vast improvement over a month or so ago, and almost always sleeps about 12 hours at night. I figure this is my reward for those early months when I was only ever sleeping 90 minutes at a stretch! I am not so cocky as to assume this is a done deal, but I will enjoy the sleep while it’s here! I wasn’t sure how the whole daylight savings time switch would go, and am convinced that it was invented by a childless person. Thankfully we did okay and were able to shift Max’s schedule without too much trouble.

My cousin Jesse was in town from Maryland for a conference and was able to come over for dinner last night. Unfortunately Max was already asleep when he arrived, but we of course showed off pictures and video. It was great to see Jesse again and we look forward to having his sister Shani here in just a couple weeks! So I guess that means Mal, Anne and Don, you are next!

I’ll do pictures below, but first I’m going to attempt to post a video:

Maxwell talking following a bath. Jeff was getting an audio recording on his phone while I took this video:

Isn’t that just the cutest thing you’ve ever seen? Okay, now on to pictures!

The official monthly shots are a bit more challenging now. Max tried to pull the sticker off his onesie and preferred to eat Chester Bear rather than pose with him, but we still got some good shots.

“Stand back, Chester, I’ll protect you!”

“Mmmm….Chester Bear….”

“What?”

Our neighborhood has several parks and play areas. This one is very close to our house and has a baby swing. Maxwell took his first ride in it recently and really liked it. Note also his cute jacket from Grandma Helen.

If clothing gets near his mouth, the tongue will reach out to taste it:

Enjoying the ride

Max the Dragon!

Max is seven months old today! I haven’t taken the official seven month pictures yet, but I promise to post those next time. October has been a great month for us. Max continues to enjoy solid food and has eaten everything we’ve offered so far. Last night he tried butternut squash soup and that was a big hit. He is doing really well with sitting up and can sit for much longer stretches now without wobbling. While we have seen him roll from tummy to back a couple times, he seems to not remember that he can do that, and protests when he feels that he’s been stuck on his tummy too long. Yesterday he did about 15 minutes of tummy time and then had enough, so Jeff rolled him onto his back….whereupon Max promptly rolled back onto his tummy.

We have been taking full advantage of our local pumpkin patches and farms this fall. So far Maxwell has visited three different pumpkin patches this month! We went to the farm that’s really close to our house to take a few pictures one Sunday afternoon. Then a couple weeks ago, Greg and Leah and the girls came for the weekend so we could make our annual family trip through the corn maze at “The Farm” in Snohomish. Locals, if you’ve never been there, it is well worth checking out! In addition to the pumpkin patch and corn maze, they have all kinds of activities for kids, from a cow train to a hay bale maze to a giant bin of corn kernels to play in. Jeff’s mom was able to come out as well and it was really special to have her here for the fun. Finally, Max and I went to a pumpkin patch a bit south of here to meet up with some other moms and kiddos. All of these visits provided for plenty of photo opportunities and I made good use of the cute sweater that I purchased just for this purpose.

Max had his official six month checkup earlier this month. He is now 18 pounds, 13 ounces and 28 1/3 inches long. His height and head circumference are still in the very upper percentiles, and his weight is about the 65th percentile. The pediatrician said he looked great, we don’t have another checkup now until 9 months…after going every other month for so long (and more in that first couple of months!) it is a little strange to wait so long, but I know it will be here before we know it.

I’m expecting Max to wake up any minute, so I better get the pictures in here and get this posted while I have a minute!

This picture was a challenge to get, as Max was more interested in picking up grass and leaves and eating them than in smiling for the camera.

Cuddling with Oma:

The corn maze at The Farm is shaped like the state of Washington, with paths corresponding to the state highways and roads, and authentic landmarks. Here’s our group in front of the Grand Coulee Dam:

Mom, are you taking my picture in this sweater again?

Finally, one by my friend Justine…she’s the one who took pictures of us a month or so ago (visit her at www.jsheltonphotography.blogspot.com):

Max continues to impress us with his skills. He can now sit up by himself! Just a week ago he was just starting to do it, we could take our hands away for a few seconds at a time. By today he can sit for several minutes by himself, though we still stay nearby in case he tips. He hasn’t yet figured out how to roll from his tummy to his back, which proves problematic when he rolls from back to tummy in the crib and then gets stuck. Hopefully he’ll master bidirectional rolling pretty soon. He continues to love solid foods and has added carrots and broccoli to his repertoire. This last week has slept great at night….we’re talking 12 hours at a stretch several nights this week! Unfortunately his naps are not going so smoothly, he is only sleeping for 30 or 40 minutes often and will then still be tired but not interested in napping. However, I would much rather deal with challenging naps and have good night sleep than the other way around. Hopefully the naps will normalize a bit here soon. Max will be starting day care a week from Tuesday. We found a home day care close by. We really like the woman and are glad to have found a place for Max, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be very hard to leave him there…of course I will be worried about how he will do, will he take a nap, etc….we are very lucky that my job is three days a week and my mom is able to do one day, so he’ll be in day care on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

My friend Justine is a talented photographer and she came over to take six month pictures of Max and family pictures of us last week. She’s working on editing the images for us, but she posted a few to her website. Check it out here, just scroll down a bit to the “Mr. M and Family” post. And if you are local and need a photographer, give her a call!

Max is now six months old, which is hard to believe…halfway to a year already! We have his official six month checkup on Thursday and are curious to see how much he weighs and how long he is now. Considering that he is wearing some 12 month clothes, I have a feeling he’ll still be in the upper percentiles!

Pictures, pictures, I’ve got pictures!

Six month pics:

Max’s Oma got him this cute train towel:

Showing off his sitting skills:

Starting to topple forward, but still happy:

Cute boys!

Yum, yum broccoli!

It’s been an exciting couple of weeks here in the Moore household. We enjoyed a visit from Greg, Leah and the girls over the Labor Day weekend. On Labor Day we met up with Fred so he and Max could meet. Those of you who were at our wedding will remember Fred, who played a very important role…yep, he’s the one who married us! Last Wednesday I had my oral surgery. While I can’t say it was a pleasant experience, it did go well. He was able to extract what was left of my tooth and go ahead and put the implant in, which was great. Now I wait for four months and then can get a crown. So far the most aggravating thing is I’m not supposed to chew on that side of my mouth until the crown is in. I go back on Friday for a follow-up visit and they’re going to switch out the abutment (?). Hopefully everything will be looking good and that won’t involve another one of those killer numbing shots to the roof of the mouth.

Last weekend was a busy one, on Friday Max and I journeyed to Bellevue for Jeff’s company picnic. It was held at a park in downtown Bellevue, and the weather was beautiful. This will be really fun for Max in another year or two, as they had one of those bouncy castles and all the ice cream bars you could eat! This year he settled for hanging out in our laps and taking in the scenery. We got lots of compliments on his cuteness and exclamations over how tall he is for his age. Then on Saturday we went up north for my cousin Sarah’s wedding. This was another outdoor event and once again the weather was most cooperative. This was Maxwell’s first wedding and he did very well.

The biggest excitement of the past few days is that Max is now rolling over! He did this for the first time last weekend. So far he only goes from back to tummy, and prefers to roll to his left. Having mastered this skill, he has shown no interest in repeating it the past couple days. My mom was here taking care of him on Monday and he didn’t once roll over for her. Thankfully we caught it on video so we can prove that we aren’t just overexcited first time parents.

Almost as exciting is Max’s first taste of solid (okay, semi-solid) food! We started on Sunday with baby oatmeal and have also tried avocado and sweet potato. So far avocado has been the biggest hit, but he’s eaten all three things. It’s fun to see his reaction to the new foods.

Whew! I think that’s all the news to share for now. On to the pictures!

Max and Daddy:

Reading stories with Elizabeth and Emma. No, that isn’t a midriff-baring jacket he has on, it’s just pushed up a bit.

With Fred:

At the picnic, more interested in trying to chew on his overalls than in smiling for the picture:

Family photo at the wedding:

Zonked out after the ceremony:

Revived post-nap and ready for the drive home:

First time eating oatmeal:

I’m not so sure about this, Mom and Dad…

Hmmm, still undecided but I’ll try some more…

Okay, maybe this isn’t so bad after all.

I have been remiss in my blogging lately, I apologize to my readers. If you’re dedicated enough to still be checking the blog, thank you, and I promise to try to do better! Max is 5 and a half months old already. How did that happen? He is so much fun. Thankfully he seems to have kept his easy going personality, hopefully that will stick with him for the long haul. He still hasn’t mastered rolling over, but he’s come really close to rolling from back to tummy a few times. That darn arm gets in the way and keeps him from going all the way over. He can sit up if he has a bit of support, and will stand briefly also (of course, not without us holding him up!). The other day we inadvertently discovered his new favorite game. Here’s how it’s played: I hold Max and walk up or down the stairs. Jeff walks behind us and Max looks over my shoulder at him. And it’s just that easy! We did it last night and Max was laughing. We’re not sure exactly what the appeal is, but we’re happy to indulge him, that laugh is the sweetest sound.

We’ve enjoyed some company lately. A few weeks ago we had Jeff’s brother Greg, our niece Elizabeth, Leah (Greg’s awesome girlfriend) and Leah’s daughter Emma come for the weekend. The girls really enjoy talking to Max now that he is a bit more interactive than when he was in that newborn “potted plant” stage. They are coming back tomorrow for the Labor Day weekend and we are looking forward to more time with them. Last weekend our friends Matt and Mandy came from Minnesota for a long weekend. It was great to have some time with them and to show them around Seattle a bit. Visitors are always welcome if any of you want to head our way!

Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers next Wednesday, September 9. I’ll be having oral surgery that day. I can’t remember if I’ve posted about it here, but I had a crown fall out, leaving a hole where one of my top teeth should be. To make a long story short, they can’t just put another crown in. So the oral surgeon has to take what’s left of the old tooth out and put an implant in. Sometimes this is a two-step process with a four month wait in between, but he is hopeful that he’ll be able to do both of these things on Wednesday. Then I wait about four months for the bone to grow around the implant, and then my dentist can put in a new crown. Whew! In the meantime my dentist made me a “flipper,” which is a fake tooth on a retainer-type thing that I can snap in and out for cosmetic purposes, but I’m not supposed to eat with it and it makes me talk with a bit of a lisp, so I don’t wear it all the time. At any rate, dental work of any kind is no picnic, and I’m really not looking forward to this. I’ll be very glad when it’s over!

Pictures, pictures, I’ve got pictures! Let’s start off with a couple of Maxwell’s five month shots:

Here’s Max with his Uncle Greg:

With Mama:

Taking a rest from the hard work of tummy time:

Max”s Grandma Helen got him this cute outfit when they were visiting, and now it fits!

You probably heard about (or lived through) Seattle’s record-setting heat wave at the end of July. It happened to fall on the week Dad and Helen were here…welcome to the beautiful Pacific Northwest, where it’s hotter than it is in Southern Ohio. What’s wrong with this picture? They were real troupers even on the day it was 104 with a heat index of 107. Thank goodness for our friends Doug and Donna, who are letting us borrow their portable AC unit since they have central air in California. We put that in Max’s room so at least it would be tolerable in their for his naps and nighttime sleeping. I am very glad to report that our weather has normalized and we are enjoying upper  70s this week, which feels fabulous. We even had rain yesterday and today after 20 something days without any. We had a great visit with Dad and Helen and Max enjoyed being taken care of by his grandparents while Mom and Dad were at work. 

Maxwell is doing well, continuing to delight us every day. He keeps things interesting for us…this weekend he took a marathon 2 hour, 45 minute nap for Jeff while I was out and about, and then today he decided he was too cool to take an afternoon nap for Grandma while I was at work. I think he just doesn’t want us to get too comfortable! Skip this next section if you don’t want to read about baby bodily functions. Okay, if you’re still with me, I must share the other Max drama…a poop strike!  A couple weeks ago he went 6 days between “productions” which we thought was a long stretch, until this past week he managed to go 9 days (yep, that’s the number NINE) without pooping. We went to the pediatrician at day 8 and he was happy as could be. She said as long as he was eating (check), not in distress (check) and his tummy wasn’t hard (nope, nice and soft) we could wait him out and he was just using every single drop of milk! 

I’m still here! Sorry for the delayed update. Now that I am back to work the days really fly by and I know I am overdue to post here. We’re doing well, Max is now four months old! It’s hard to believe that four months have gone by already. We have his four month well baby visit on Monday, so I’m curious to see how long he is. He weighed 16 pounds last week, so he’s more than doubled his birth weight. It will be interesting to see where he falls in the percentages now. When we are out and about we get lots of comments on how long he is. He is holding his head up a lot more and has started rolling to the side from his back. I don’t think he’s figured out the logistics of moving an arm out of the way so he can roll all the way to his tummy. He is giving us some real laughs now, it is so much fun to hear that giggle. The other night he and Jeff were sitting in the glider and Jeff made Max laugh, which made Jeff laugh, which made Max laugh…it was so cute.

We have been blessed with some wonderful company lately. Right now Dad and Helen are here, they arrived Thursday night and will be here until next weekend. A couple weeks ago we had our dear friend Donna and her son Eric here for the week. Donna took care of Max while I was at work. Max had a great time with Aunt Donna and the week flew by. Not only did she watch Max, Donna also cooked and cleaned for us. It was so great to see them again, we really miss them now that they live out of state.

In other fun happenings, Max is a model! My friend Leanne is a very talented knitter and sells hats for babies and kids online. She needed a model for some of her baby hats and Maxwell was happy to oblige. Check out her website and see if you can spot him (you can tell if you got it right by the little scratches on his forehead and nose). Shhhh, don’t tell, but we also had him model a couple girl hats. Clearly he inherited Jeff’s acting abilities as I think he pulled it off quite well. If you need baby gifts, Tiny Toppers is a great place to shop! Here’s the link: Tiny Toppers

Yes, yes, I have pictures! Here you go:

These jammies are so cute, I love the monkey feet. And of course the Maxwell makes them all the cuter:

My mom, a confirmed book addict, got this t-shirt for Max. So of course I had to stage an appropriate picture:

Max is getting much better at grabbing things and everything goes to the mouth now. The other day he was bringing this rattle to his mouth and it fell onto his nose. We were cracking up at his expression as he tried to see what this thing on his face was, while moving his head around.

I mentioned above the scratches he had, this is a casualty of the little baby fingernails getting just a touch too long. Trimming them is such a tricky job, I confess that I make Jeff do it. We usually do it while Max is eating and somewhat distracted. Here are the scratches in evidence:

Here’s Maxwell with his adoring Aunt Donna:

And finally, four month pictures!

Maxwell enjoyed his first Fourth of July this weekend. We hung out at home and tried to stay cool during the day, and then went to see our friends Laura and Dave for dinner. Dave grilled some delicious salmon and asparagus for dinner, and we finished off the evening with a yummy blueberry lemon cake for an early celebration of my birthday. Max was such a good boy, just hung out while we ate, and Laura and Dave were properly impressed with his cuteness. At one point Laura said, “I know I keep saying how cute he is, but it’s just so true, there’s no better way to say it!”. We couldn’t agree more. We were a little apprehensive about how well Max would sleep with all the fireworks going off, as you can set them off in our neighborhood and it gets quite loud inside our house. So we closed his bedroom window and door and turn the fan as high as it would go. That definitely helped, you could still hear the fireworks in there but it was significantly muffled. Thankfully it didn’t seem to bother Maxwell at all, he slept through the show.

I returned to work this week. I was able to ease back into it by starting Wednesday, so I only had to work two days and then had Friday off. Jeff was able to take Wednesday and Thursday off to be with Max, which helped tremendously. It was still really hard. I missed Max a lot and was so happy to come home to my two wonderful boys. Many of you know that my job is uncertain, I still don’t know anything other than…my job is uncertain. I’m really hoping to keep this job, not only is it something I enjoy in my field, but it’s part time and close to home. It was hard enough returning to work knowing it was part time, but full time plus a commute to downtown is more than I can bear to think of. Of course the alternative of being unemployed is not good either. So let’s continue to hope I can stay where I am!

We are loving every minute with Maxwell. He has been giving really big smiles to Daddy the past couple of days. It is so much fun to see Max light up when Jeff looks at him. Sometimes his whole body wiggles with joy. Max’s that is, not Jeff’s, though it wouldn’t surprise me…we get such a high when we get a big Max grin or laugh. So, let’s see this cuteness, you say? Very well…

Sometimes at the end of a feeding the Tired overcomes the Maxwell:

Headed out for a walk with the shades and hat (disclaimer: I know my hat looks really dirty. I have washed and bleached it, and it’s just so well loved that I think it will never be white again):

Max is lucky enough to have two pairs of “Grandpa overalls” in two sizes. My Grandpa, my mom’s dad, was a farmer and wore these type of overalls every day to work on the farm. We all have fond memories of Grandpa in his striped overalls, working in the barn or taking a well-earned afternoon nap on the couch. We received Max’s striped overalls from my mom and from my cousin Jason and his wife Amy. I have been eagerly checking to see if the smaller ones fit, and now they do:

Here are some pictures from the 4th. This one shows Max sucking the “right” fingers….aka the same two that Jeff sucked when he was little:

Max and Mom with birthday cake:

And finally, one of the three of us. While I actually appear taller than Jeff in this photo, rest assured that it’s just an illusion. Hope you had a great holiday!

Max and I had a great time on our trip to see the family. Maxwell was a champion traveler. We lucked out on the ride there and had an empty seat in our row so we were able to take his seat on and with mom and me, we had a full row to ourselves. The ride home was just me and Max, and the plane was completely full. Thankfully the people next to us were very nice, and Max did great on both flights…minimal fussing for short periods, and he slept for a couple hours each time. When we were in the Seattle airport a couple people came up to me after the flight and commented on what a good baby he was on the plane. All in all, a successful first two plane rides! I can see it getting much more challenging as he gets older and more mobile and is not so happy to be confined for several hours. We enjoyed our time with family, Max charmed all the Wagenaar relatives and his Oma and Opa were thrilled to see him again. We also got to see a family whom I used to babysit for when I lived in Grand Rapids. Grant and Grace are so grown up now, I wish they lived closer to us so that they could babysit for Max. Dave, Lisa, Grant and Grace, it was great to see you and I miss you lots!

In other news, I go back to work on Wednesday. I will miss Maxwell so much! It helps a lot that Jeff will be home with him on Wednesday and Thursday, and then Friday is a holiday. Many of you know that we are in the process of layoffs at work and I am at risk of being bumped out of my position, so far we are still in wait and see mode. I am really hoping to stay in this job, it is part-time and a great fit for me. If anyone out there knows of someone who will just pay me (plus benefits, please) to stay home with Max, by all means let me know!

Max got an unplanned bath this morning after he peed everywhere not once, but twice during a diaper change. He seemed pretty proud of himself afterwards so we suspect maybe he was saving it up for just such an occasion. He still loves sucking on his fingers, he is much better at getting them in his mouth but hasn’t figured out that he can bring the fingers to the mouth, he usually tries to bring the mouth to the fingers…it’s very cute.

On to pictures!

On an airplane for the very first time!

Giving love to Oma and Opa and Grandpa:

The Grand Rapids family threw a “Welcome Maxwell” party for us, complete with cake. The picture below is with my cousin David, we were laughing that to those who don’t know us it will look like a family shot. Dave said maybe we could PhotoShop Jeff’s head in for his…he is about the right height!

Max doing tummy time in Anne and Don’s backyard:

With Mallory, Shani and Grandma:

Kisses!

We are back safe and sound from our trip and had a great time. I’ll post more about that (and pictures) soon, but wanted to get a few three month shots up. I took these right before we left last week. How cute is he???!!