4th o' July

It's been a long time since there has been something new up here, and Max has been a busy boy. Just today, he had a tooth pop through on the bottom (yay for more bottom teeth!), and he has 3 more (another on the bottom and 2 more up top) coming in. As usual with teething, we've had a it of a rough time the last 2 weeks-a little extra whiny and some biting. But hopefully, that will all be over once these other teeth make their appearances.

Max also had his first pool experience, and it didn't seem to go over well. This was the week that Clint spent in the hospital and Max was a little upset at not having seen his Papa, and all of the strange goings-on. He clung desperately to me in the pool, and he accidentally stuck his face in once or twice and didn't like the results. It took a while afterward to get back to being able to take a bath without screaming...We'll keep trying-I'm hoping he'll get used to swimming and enjoy it, or we have a long road of hot summers ahead of us!

We have had a lot of fun recently going to the grocery store. Max loves all the color and things to see, but he is really enamored with all the people he gets to flirt with, talk to, and otherwise charm. He has this little attention-getting laugh (used only when flirting) accompanied with a wide grin that always seems to rope people in! He cracks me up!

There's much more to tell, but I have other things I have to get done today...more on what Max is up to, soon. And I promise it won't be a month, this time!

Working Our Way Back to The Usual

We have been slowly heading back towards 'normal' after our dramatic week last week, though Clint is not yet back at work. Max has been very glad to see and spend time with his Papa, again, and he is back to his happy-go-lucky self. We went swimming for the first time in deep water (deeper than the knee-deep stuff in the Llano with my folks) at the hotel Mimzy and Pappy were staying at last Saturday, and Max wasn't too certain about it. He was very clingy (esp. for him!), and didn't want anything to do with anything that was not IN MY ARMS. Of course, he had just had a very odd week, and was in a strange place with a new experience. He did warm up to the idea of being in the water a little bit, and I think he will be a swimmer before too long.

I will hopefully have more updates and pictures, soon, once life slows back down a bit more.

At Home with Papa

So Max's school called me on Thursday around 11:00 to tell me they thought he had pink eye...GREAT. So I went to pick him up and brought him home to spend the afternoon with his Papa, since Clint wasn't at work, yet, and I had just started my new job. Clint also stayed home with Max on Friday... Max learned how to say 'poo poo' (and does that honestly surprise anyone?), how to eat a whole apple (not in it's entirety, just whole), and they (um, Clint) built a 'fort' out of the many extra boxes we had around the house. Pictures, below. I didn't get a picture of the fort before Max destroyed it (in less than 24 hours)...but he had fun!

Poor red eyes...Clint said this actually looked good compared to what it looked like when he got up from his nap...but he is loving that apple!
Mmmm!
"Oh, Hi Mom...Um, nothing. I'm not doing anything..."
It's hard to see, now, but the long piece to the left was a tunnel, and the part Max is sitting in was actually on the top, where the big hole in the box is at the top of the picture. So, it was a long crawl tube with a spot where Max could stand and look out at the end. I could tell Clint had so much fun making it and showing Max how to use it. It just wasn't sturdy enough for him to climb on. Oh, well. There will be plenty more boxes!

Max's eye infection cleared up pretty quickly, so he'll be back at school tomorrow!

Movin' on Up

Today Max moved up to the next classroom on his way to world domination. Really, it's only the second classroom amongst maybe hundreds that he will see in his lifetime, and maybe he knows this because the change didn't seem to phase him much. He was all 'Sweet! New Toys!' and got right to the business of playing. There were empty diaper boxes to push around! He was having great fun as I left, and doing about the same, 'driving' a truck upside down, when I came to pick him up.

In his new class, they get to go outside in the mornings (and sometimes in the afternoons, if it's not UnGodly hot...), and he only takes one nap! On a cot! I am so not ready for only one nap...Apparently he did pretty well not sleeping in a confined space. His teacher said he only got up a few times, until she went over to pat him to sleep. I think she was being nice. I know that kid. My bet is she meant 'sat' on him, and I just misheard her...

Anecdotal

On the way to drop Max off at school yesterday morning, I heard a lot of babbling from the backseat. At a stop light, I turned to see what all the chatter was, and Max was pointing out the window and 'talking' about what he saw.

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Max has always loved our cell phones, mostly because they light up and make noise when you push the buttons. But, recently he's figured out what they do. When my phone rings, Max will hold his hand up to his ear and say 'hi!' He's even started talking into the phones, themselves, and when he plays with them, the first thing he does is hold the phone to the side of his head (he even did this with my parents' portable phone in Mason). I've even noticed that when he wants one of our phones, he will hold his hand up to his ear and look in the direction of the phone in question.

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Max's word of the moment is 'shoes.' He know what shoes are, what his shoes look like, and which shoes are Mama's. He even says shoes, pronouncing it sort-of like 'shus.' At our small group on Wednesday, he found Holly's shoes and started playing with them, and even tried Emily's on.

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He can also say 'dog,' 'woof-woof,' 'ball,' 'balloon,' 'book,' 'bird,' 'mama,' 'papa,' and 'pa-paw.' He has his own word for 'glasses,' which is 'gah.' Today he pointed to the cup of milk in one of his books when he was thirsty, and I find that he is finding other ways to communicate to me his wants and needs. It's so exciting to watch him figure out how to tell me things!

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Max loves music and loves to dance, but his favorite music is hip-hop. I'm guessing because of the very distinctive beats. Sometimes he will dance to other types of music, but if hip-hop comes on, I know he is dancing away in the backseat. His little Ray Charles-esque groove has been refined to a more distinctive head bob. Sometimes, if he's standing, he will bounce. And I've even noticed what I think might be a bit of singing...He's even starting to get the clapping with 'If You're Happy and You Know It.' Not in the right spots, but he knows that he claps.

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Our little guy has finally gotten the hang of how to get off of things (the bed, the couch, chairs) by flipping onto his stomach and shimmy-ing off feet first. It's really cool to watch him do this! I also noticed that he can reach forward and pull himself onto things, if they are narrow enough for his arms to span (like a bench or a chair that's lower to the ground and not too deep)!

Bark-a Lounger

A boy and his mom's friend's dog...Miss Chaco and Max, being buds. She really is so good with him.

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y

Max is FINALLY sleeping through the night! This event has occurred every night this week. Can I get a 'hallelujah'? Wait, wait...I don't want to celebrate too much, for fear that word will get back to him that Mom might like this (despite the fact that he does wake up between 6:30-6:45 every morning)...now if only I can get used to sleeping through the night, we'll be set.