20 February 2011

Birthday(s) - Max turns two!

So, I'm not usually one to wax on ... BUT... my little baby turned 2 on February 9, 2011. And frankly, it was like the blink of an eye from 0-2. In the beginning, I had no idea it would go so fast, but now, I know all too well to enjoy every morsel of time with our Max.

One was pretty exciting. Max could say he was one. He was a funny kid, but he couldn't walk yet and he was still a little baby. Now, he is 1/3 of the family. I can say we are a unit. The three of us take care of each other. We now have a little boy who tells us he loves us, who gives us hugs and cuddles, who tells us what is fun and what is scary, who listens, who learns, who returns 1000% of anything we've ever given him. And it is amazing. Sure - he tests us. I'd worry if he didn't. But he is generous with his love, his smiles, his happiness, his silliness. And that is so wonderful.

He is now 35 1/2 inches tall, 29 1/2 pounds, and has hundreds of words, expressions, talents. He sings, he dances, he runs, he whines, he talks, he cries, he laughs, he screams, he squeals, he hugs, he kisses. There are moments each day when I realize that I didn't know how full my heart could feel. And I know by Paul's smile that he feels the same way.

So our boy turned two. And in the spirit of our family, we've had 3 celebrations so far and a couple more to come. Max pretty much assumes now that Christmas through March is just one big holiday about him. And heck - why not?! Here are some pics of the fun thus far.

Birthday, Actual (2-9-2011)
I picked up some delish cupcakes at Cupcakes a la Mode, Max and I did messy Valentine's crafts all day, and Daddy came home for cupcakes and skyping with all of the grandparents.




Pretty sure that the following is the same look I get when in the vicinity of cake:



On Feb. 13, my mom and Joe came to visit, and that coincided with Grandpa B coming back from Europe, so Ron and Pam came over as well. Where 4 or more are gathered, well, Mommy orders a cake.(You are all welcome to gather; I will order cake.)


We had a mini-celebration and presents for Max. And I must tell my favorite story. Max took his nap that afternoon, and I got plates, napkins, and a table cloth at Target, then decorated quickly. When he woke up, he played for a while in our living room, then took a side glance to the dining room. And he got this little look of excitement paired with realization. He said, "Special. Surprise." It was AWESOME.

Pretty happy with the Thomas theme!

He really likes eating icing. Not cake. Just icing.




Presents: Max got some Hot Wheels, a flying monkey from Wicked, a tricycle, some Cars trucks and cars, some Thomas stuff, a sandwich kit to go with his BBQ, a McQueen pillow, and lots of other stuff. The kid really cleans up!





This past weekend, Uncle Rob and Aunt Sara came by and spent the day with Max. He was napping when they came, so Sara and I snuck off for some delicious treats from Cafe Europa - little cakes for us and a cookie for Max. Yum. Then R/S presented Max with this awesome Thomas pillow. Needless to say, Max sleeps with this guy now.


After our home celebration, we headed to Ward Parkway Mall to enjoy the new weekend-only Train Town, a whole space committed to just model trains. Rob + Max + Train Town = Love. Sara and I had so much fun watching our dudes enjoy the trains. It may become a regular date thing when Rob and Sara come to town.





So, we're still looking forward to celebrating with everyone else. Max is taking advantage of the fact that Dad and Linda brought his trike up early. He's been out having us push it every day this past week. Pictures to follow!

And good news. Nah - FANTASTIC news: my brother Ben and sister(in law) Jamie have received news that they will probably be having a little baby boy placed with them via adoption this June. It's not finished yet, but it is the best news. We are all so happy, and we cannot wait to welcome another cousin to the family. And have more celebrations. And you can count on me to bring the cake. :-)

Happy Second Birthday, Max!!
You are the best. Your daddy and I love you to the moon and back!

09 February 2011

Happy Birthday to You!

After smashing into his cupcake, Max decided to start in on his own rendition of Happy Birthday. I believe he learned the tune earlier at school today, and he really does love singing. So I really wanted to film it.



Cute. And the burp - just icing on the cake. Or cupcake. Which he didn't eat. Again. Happy Birthday, little dude. You bring us lots of joy!

Birthday Crafts

After school today and Max's no-napping, I decided we should do some crafts for Max's birthday. I'd picked up some wooden heart ornaments, markers, and heart stickers at Hobby Lobby the other day so that we could make Valentines.

And no - Max is not naked. His shirt is off for reasons that will be apparent if you study the pictures, namely the coloring all over his arms/chest and stickers on his body. So we turned up the heat and minimized the mess. :-)







And let me say that this kid likes crafts. He is particularly focused when coloring, making lots of circles then dots. Very interesting to watch and wonder what his little imagination is up to.

What a kid!

08 February 2011

Two years old....

Wow. I am amazed at my son. He is AWESOME. He is smart, funny, silly, challenging, curious, and loving. I am amazed that Paul and I are so blessed as to have a little man who is so great. Of course, I will post pictures from now, but here are some blasts from the past.






We love you more and more each day Max. Happy 2nd Birthday.

06 February 2011

Future Jeopardy Star

My mom got Max a subscription to Highlights magazine. It came with a kids calendar on which we can put stickers signifying holidays. We put on the holiday stickers for February last week, and Max has been really focused on learning what they mean. As a result, we end up with this sort of thing.



Smarty Pants.

01 February 2011

Christmas IV: Gattonorama

For our final Christmas stop, we visited my dad and Linda up in Hutch. We'd decided to have a laid-back day with Fuzzy and GG - pizza, wine, presents, play time.

Max started the day by deciding to be our official Santa.

However, he took Jamie's camera and decided he'd rather be the offical Christmas photographer.



After the exhausting work of taking our pictures, we had to stop for food.




I think part of the reason that Max isn't scared of Santa is that Fuzzy seems to look very much like the jolly old man! Max was testing to see if the whiskers were real.



Enough with the pregame, it's on to presents. And Max loves some presents!

The picture below sums up Max's life on the holidays. One boy, a few toys, and a thousand cameras!



Of course, it wasn't just the little boy that wanted to play cars...

Mom - why do those big kids keep taking my toys??



It was a fun day, and we even got some good posed shots out of it.
This picture of Paul is actually one of the pictures Max took on Jamie's camera. Such an artistic eye!



GG's smiling. GG's smiling!

The almost-never occuring family shot of all three of us looking at the camera. Kudos, Jamie!


That's it for Christmas 2010. And I actually got it all done before Max's birthday! Yippee!