Another fun day!

While Grandma & Grandpa are off enjoying the sun in Hawaii, we are stuck at home amusing ourselves. Unfortunately I didn't think to take any pictures while Auntie Liss & Brandon were over at our house visiting. It was a good visit, but Brandon had to leave to go nap shortly after Max got up and ate, so we went for an afternoon stroll on our own.

Deja vu on the pictures... Max is pretty independent and takes off, leading the way, whenever I let him. So, I get a lot of pictures of his back. But I really took these because I LOVE this outfit (and I think everything actually matches today). This is the sweater that Grandma knit, it has a matching touque (but it's way too warm for that today, in fact it's probably too warm for the sweater too). The navy cords still fit so far, but Max is growing so quickly, that they won't fit for much longer and/or the weather may be too warm for them.

I know, the next couple are the same, but he's so cute!

Oh yeah, here's what happens when Mum doesn't pay attention to what Max is actually doing while I'm trying to take his picture. I was able to put the top of the light back on... thank goodness.

This is the route we take to the park. We cut through the side of an apartment building so that Max can walk up the stairs with my help. These stairs are considerably shorter than normal, so he can actually step up them one-by-one instead of crawling up them on his hands and knees (provided I am holding his hands).



Since we spent such a long time walking and playing outside, we didn't plan or make anything in particular for dinner, so Dad decided that we were going to go out. Yay Dad! Vietnamese for dinner, mmm, so yummy! We often get take-out from this place, and Max usually really likes the food, so we thought it would be a safe bet for him to actually eat dinner. He's been teething the last few days, so I wasn't expecting him to eat much today but he surprised me by eating all of his cereal and 2 eggs for breakfast... all in about 10 minutes! Record time for him, breakfast is usually about 10-15 minutes with just cereal. Maybe we're going through another growth spurt.

We couldn't help but laugh at Max sticking his tongue out in anticipation.

Max really wanted water, which we gave him, but then he realized that I was drinking out of a different cup and he wanted some of my water. We explained that it was tea. To which he replied (signed) "more, please"! We asked if he wanted more water and he replied "tea", "tea, please". Hehehehe. Of course I let him try it.

Tea with dinner? Yup... oh boy... that's probably not a good-mum thing to do.

Bed time math equations.
Not really, this is Max climbing up on the stool after I told him not to.

and this is Max NOT falling off the stool. So far so good. I think I rescued him, I don't think we've practiced coming down from the stool enough times for him to remember how to get down, especially at the end of a really long day.

I'm going to cut this a little short, I have to get some things ready for work Saturday morning and I wouldn't mind actually watching some of Game 2. Canucks are up 1-0 at the end of the second period, yay!

Stepping out of his usual comfort zone at the Aquarium

Max actually stopped to look at something! Heehee this isn't that unusual, it's just the first "stop" we had after a little bit of a sprint through the Amazon display. That part, is normal for us.

Our second "stop" in the Amazon was to look at the birds and the turtle.


and a bit of a rest for mom, once we get to Clowfish Cove, Max was completely awestruck by today's musical family program.

and the for the first time, when we were sitting so close, did Max actually leave the comfort of Mum's lap to go right up to the front and stare at the seal. The staff are so great, they just go with the flow for everything and they do it very well!
Just some more fun.
Crawling around with a friend.
These are some of our favourite friends at the Aquarium, we see them almost every week. Sadie was entertaining Max with her bouncing. I wish I could have gotten a picture of the huge smile on Max's face, but I have a feeling that the next picture comes close to capturing it.
Max just knocked down his block tower and is having a fabulous time (just in case you couldn't tell).
I found Mum!
Just about ready to go, one more stop on the way... rock climbing.
Almost home, way past nap time.
Max grows so quickly every day. I LOVE it when he snuggles with me and cuddles and wants to be in my lap and my arms, but I know he needs to grow and explore and I like for him to do that. Today was one of the days that he wanted down and to explore everything. It was so great to let him spread his wings a little, there to hold his hand when he needed it and to cuddle and kiss it better when he fell. It was an amazing change.

We go to the Aquarium almost every week and the changes in Max from week to week have been huge.

This week, we shared snacks with our friends, as usual and sang songs. I can't believe how brave Max was, to go all the way up to the front of the crowd to see the seal.

Although he never stops talking when we are alone together, he is quite often silent around people he doesn't know well or in unusual surroundings. He has been getting more and more comfortable with our friends at the Aquarium and with the environment. I was able to take so many more pictures - again, can you tell?

I'm so proud of Max and all that he does every day. I would like to say that I can't wait to see the person he becomes, but I can and I do... every single day I wake up to a new little boy, with more words and actions than I can possibly keep track of. I did not think it was possible to love him more than I did the first time I held him, but every time I hold him, every time we do something like our trip to the Aquarium and he surprises me with new ideas and words and actions and still comes back to me, wraps his arms around me, and kisses me, I do.

Enough mush for now. I'm not feeling the greatest, so I'm going to go get some rest.

Grandpa's birthday!

Guess what we're staring at?
What could have possibly grabbed their attention away from their toys and each other (and at the SAME TIME)?!

It's Grandpa, playing his harmonica (apparently it's called a mouth organ). Old McDonald...
Happy birthday Grandpa, we had a great time!

Max and Brandon just stopped and stared. They were absolutely enthralled with it.

I'm so glad that we got to see Grandpa on his birthday (even though I got the date wrong and thought it was the following day).

Peas for dinner

So we tried a whole lot of stuff for dinner. The first few things didn't go over so well (you can see them sitting in the orange divided dish on the table): cauliflower, pulled pork tenderloin, potatoe and tofu curry. These are all things that he ate at lunch and/or the day before.

So, we moved on to the peas...
and Max finally gave up on the spoon.

Notice the peas all over the table too. I should have taken a picture of the floor.

All done?

No Max, there are still a lot of peas left in the dish and I need to clean up the floor!

All done? All done?

The whole eating thing is a work in progress and I'm sure it always will be. Some days are amazing and easy - as far as meal times go. Other days are difficult... Imagine:

Mom: Max, we should eat something.
Max: Trucks?
Mom: No Max, you need to eat something, you can play with your trucks after we eat something. Let's go take a look at what we have.
Max: No.
Mom: How about we go play hockey in the kitchen, and while we're there, we'll take a look at what's in the fridge?
Max: Hockey?
Mom: Yes Max, hockey. Get a ball and we'll take the sticks into the kitchen.
Max: Ball?
Mom: Yay, here's a ball, let's go!
Once in the kitchen...
Mom: macaroni?
Max: No.
Mom: Beans?
Max: No.
Mom: Cheese? Mmmm, yummy cheese!
Max: Yup!
Mom: Really? Cheese?! Here's some cheese Max!
he eats a piece and then...
More cheese Max?
Max: No. Nana?
Mom: Banana?
Max: Nana!
Mom: Whew, we have some. Here's some banana.

I'm sure you can imagine... it goes on and on from here. A lot of the time I can be seen stuffing spoonfuls of food into Max's mouth as he runs by or plays. Most regularly at the aquarium on Wednesday's and at Grandma & Grandpa's on Friday's.

I imagine it's not the best habit to teach him, but any other way and Max could care less if he eats most days. He honestly doesn't want to eat a lot of the time and it would not bother him a bit if we forgot a meal.

I guess I can relate... Anyone who knows me (before I was pregnant) know that I'm the exact same way. Poor Max! He's probably got his dad's super fast metabolism and his mom's really lame appetite. Occasionally he goes through a growth spurt and asks for all kinds of food and we wonder where he fits it all.

Snack time

So, Max is finally eating more easily and he actually asks to sit at the table and for a variety of foods. Here we are eating some meat and cheese on crackers. Well, kind of.

Here is Max trying to balance the meat on his cracker.

Taking a milk break.

Sometimes Max doesn't know when to stop filling his mouth.

So, it kept falling off the cracker.
If the food doesn't make it to his mouth,
he'll bring his mouth to the food.

What?

Success!
I really just wanted to remember some of the first times that Max started eating on his own... feeding himself (successfully).

In the past week (since Max recovered from pneumonia), he has been using his fork and spoon! He has fed himself everything we eat and it has been so much fun. I'll probably post some dinner pictures next.

Firsts

We have had some great "firsts" over the last couple of days. Unfortunately I seem to have forgot that we own a camera, so I don't have any pictures to go along with it.

first time sleeping through the night since he had pneumonia.
first time climbing up on the couch.
first time climbing up the bookshelf.

(are you noticing a theme here?)

first time climbing up on a chair in the kitchen.
first time calling a kitty ("smack, smack, kitty, kitty").
first time sliding down a really wet slide, getting air and almost beating mom to the bottom.
first trip to the cabin (just a day trip though).

It's late and I'm tired, so I'm sure I'm missing some more, but I'll add to it later.