Basketball, skating, and other late season items....

So if you want to see how much progress has truly been made...

Here is the game from Dec. 6. Very, very different from the first.

Go Angry Birds!

Plus, thanks to several generous contributions from some family Santas, Max got this for an early Christmas gift. 

Wooo hooo! I see several long summer nights in the driveway in our future. 

In downtown Lawrence, we now have a synthetic ice rink. It's cool because we don't have to drive all the way to Crown Center to skate and it's only $3, including skates. The uncool part is that it's super slippery and it's really hard to get any kind of grip to push off. But, Max and I still tried our best and had fun! 

He tried the walker for a bit.

Then he decided he was a big kid and didn't need it! Boom!

We'll rock the ice more as the season continues! 

Some funny stuff from Thanksgiving: Max and Dex decided to rock the Turkey Leg this year. AWESOME!

Nooooiiiiiiicccceeee!

And the boys have told us their favorite band. 

I feel like Benny had something to do with that madness.

Buddies at Walts after work.

Just a cute picture of Grandpa Joe and Max.

Lastly, Max likes girls. We all know that. Here is what it looks like when Max Facetimes with a girl he likes. She's an older woman, so I'm not sure how much hope there is, but it's still pretty funny.

Makes himself right at home in the Dugout. 

That smile cracks me up! 

A final funny picture.

Ahhh. This kiddo! More to come! 

Oops! Now that Christmas is rolling around, let me update with Halloween!

 So for Halloween this year, Max wanted to be a dinosaur, specifically a scary T-Rex. Well, if you've been shopping for children's Halloween costumes lately, you'll note that they don't make scary dinosaurs in a boys small.

Cue crafty Susan. After several web visits, hardware store visits, and time cutting, painting, taping, and sewing, we got the finished T-Rex.

Here are some shots from Paul's office.

Quick video of Max "performing" for Allison.

Dino still likes the ladies, especially the coeds in go-go boots. 

Dino vs Jedi

Here is Maxie with his pumpkins this year.

He looks so old in this picture. Sigh.

#BeRoyalKC

Paul retweeted a picture of Max's costume to the Sprint Center in KC as they were having a contest for their Walking with Dinosaurs event. And guess which little dinosaur won? Saurus Growl himself.

So Max got to take his friend Bella for a date night with dinos! Yippee!

Awwww!

Max's prize package dinosaur, Max, and Bella Boom!

Eric, Bella, Max, and Paul
Love these kiddos! 

A Man for All (Sports) Seasons

Just a little post of pics and videos I'd saved of Max with some swimming and our newest effort - basketball. 

He's made such great strides in swimming. If you'd have seen him in early 2014 vs now, you'd note that he's lost a lot of fear and gained a lot of enjoyment. I'm guessing by next summer, we will have a real little swimmer on our hands! 

Here are some videos from his last day of lessons. He's the one in the goggles and Darth Vadar suit.

I really like this next video because Max would NEVER lay back on his head before. He's gotten so much braver! So proud of him! 

Max also started playing basketball for the first time! And yes, 5-6 year old basketball is everything you'd hope. It's pretty funny, but hey, we all have to learn somewhere. Most of us aren't born LeBron. I'm really proud of him for trying a team sport, for trying really hard to learn the rules, and for not getting grumpy in practice or in the games when he doesn't get playing time or something. I've been assured that most kids basketball pretty much looks like this until 2nd or 3rd grade. Ha! Just glad the kiddo is trying stuff out. 

Practice shots.

Dribbling in practice.

Looks like a baller, right? Ha!

Some action shots from the first game. By the end, he was pretty solid on knowing the difference between offense and defense. A little better at playing on the defensive end. And don't worry - we have a 529 in case Bill Self somehow forgets to give the kid a scholarship. Ha! 

A little video. It's really too funny, but like I said, we all start somewhere. :-) Also, he does have his hands up on D. Just saying. :-) 

Homecoming and Hawk Day school presentation

Last weekend, we attended the KU Homecoming parade. While Max enjoys the parades, the noise still bothers him a bit. But it was a fun thing to do on a fall night.

This video is just my own indulgence in putting the fight song on the blog. But then Max sees cheerleaders. And he likes those. Discovering that there were boy cheerleaders made him happy. He thinks he's found a way in. Hahahah. 

A frat boy gave Max his party hat. So Max wore it proudly.
Everyone told him happy birthday, so we just went with it. 

Remember when he used to be scared of Big Jay. 

Today, Oct. 2, was also Max's Hawk Day at Hillcrest. In lieu of show and tell, each kiddo gets a day to talk about themselves and their interests. They are supposed to bring things to put into a display case, and then they give a little talk about it.

Paul went up to have lunch with him, and I met them in the hallway for the presentation. I wish I'd thought to videotape it all. I only got a piece. But this kid killed it! Holy cow. We didn't practice or anything, but he was MONEY. Like, he's going to be on stage or Bill Rancic kinda money. Paul and I were both tickled and proud to see him so excited and so comfortable talking to his class.

One item had to be handmade. Of course, he picked a train that we'd all worked on. He told the crowd about bogey wheels,
driving wheels, pistons, the different perspectives of the dinosaur he drew to drive the train. Crazy.

Here's part of his talk covering the dinosaur book, pressed pennies, a little drawing, and Mixels. The cooler for the water fountain kicked on at the end, so I stopped recording. But it's a pretty good bit.

Discussing a snow globe from Chicago and naming all of the buildings.

 You should've seen the Q&A. He was calling on people, giving thoughtful answers. Seriously crazy. So proud of our little Hawk.

Deserving of its own post: Max Borchardt - superstar!

While Max was in the shower last night, we heard all of this. A Christmas song. Of his own creation.

And then, before he put on jammies, we had this rendition.

Lordy, lordy.

Fall 2014 - Off to a good start

So far, Max loves school. He often complains about getting up (he is my kid after all), and then he wants to stay home with Daddy (he's Paul's kid, too), but when he realizes that Daddy is going to work, he wants to get right to school and never leave (my kid again).

Seems like he's growing up in so many ways. Even today, he told me he could walk to class by himself. *Sigh* Love his independence. Even if it isn't fun sometimes, it is a great attribute in the long run. 

Here are some shots from "lately."

Our last afternoon walk before he headed off to the big house, I mean, school. 

First day hamming it up! 

In the classroom with his teacher, Mrs. Baggett, and at the table with new friend Heidi.

The weekend after school started, KU held an open practice and autograph session. It's the only time we can really see KU play well (hahaha), so we went. Max and Dad enjoyed some time on the field.

Paul, after the QB Max hands off the ball.

Kicker?

Tackle!

On the weekends, we also found that Max likes to recreate all of his work from school at home.

Even before he was out of his PJs, he wanted to practice writing his "home name" - Saurus.

On Labor Day weekend, we took an impromptu trip over to Leavenworth, where my mom grew up and I spent so many weeks in the summer with my grandparents. And quite a few weekends in college with my grandmother, too.

Had to get a bite at Homers. The burgers, rings, and malts are still as good as ever.

 Now, there is a little park by the Landing. Max was fascinated by the art, though he argues it is actually a real buried train. :-)

On the way home via 24/40, we happened upon the fabled sunflower field in full bloom. I'd always seen pictures, but I'd never seen it in person. It really is incredible. I didn't do it justice.

The tiny cocoon that only Max would notice in a giant field of sunflowers.

After school, he likes to draw.

Koala that he learned to draw at school. He did it all by himself.

Pile of food he brought in the office after school for a snack. And yes, he did eat breakfast, lunch, and snack at school as well. What can I say - he's growing. A full 2 inches since his February 5-year doctor visit. Yikes! 

A drawing of Han Solo and Princess Leia. Duh.
He likes to put letters in boxes, I think, because that's how worksheets look at school.

On a trip to Costco over the weekend, he brought a bag along with him in the car. Said he needed what was in it. While Paul was pumping gas, I turned around to find this little ensemble.
He is tooooooo funny sometimes.

Note: the car is stopped at the gas station. I don't drive and take pics.

Doesn't every kid has an engineer hat, train whistle, and spare train to take on the drive to Costco? 

This kid. I tell ya!