Max, 7 months!

Two weeks ago, Max turned 7 months. Holy moly. Time is flying by. He is just the sweetest and happiest baby. I'm going to call him a baby for probably five years. He's getting big way too fast. Literally and developmentally.

Here's a little timeline of pictures from last month....

All of a sudden, over the course of about a week, he went from a car seat baby to a grabbing, sitting up in a highchair, interactive baby. We are done with the infant car seat, bouncy chair, play gym and Bumbo. Sigh. Life is going to get very busy as soon as this cutie learns to get mobile:

He started baby food this month! So far he has devoured all veggies. Fruits are hit or miss. He's not a fan of oatmeal cereal (or any for that matter). He'll usually have 1-2 containers of food around our dinnertime.

I know Max will be so annoyed at me someday for this, but oh well. The girls are obsessed with Charlotte's Web. I tried really hard to get them to dress up last year, but they wouldn't. Once we had Max, Mallory had it in her head that she was going to be Fern and push Wilbur (aka Max) around in a stroller for Halloween. Morgan could be Charlotte. So, poor, sweet, go with the flow Max, wore this for Halloween:

I know. He doesn't look too thrilled. I have promised Brad that next year I will allow Max to be something really, REALLY manly:)

Max chomps on his thumb, sucks his bottom lip in and drools everywhere. We don't have any teeth yet, but we're thinking any day now.

I can't say enough how good Max is (other than sleeping through the night...ha!)! He was a trooper at Brad's conference tournament in Tyler. There was lots of car seat time for this guy. He slept wherever and whenever he needed to. Love him!

As I mentioned, Max is sitting up on his own. Occasionally, he'll tumble over...especially when his mom sets him down on uneven ground...or his sisters hug him a little too hard:)

We're also done with the mesh bath seat thingy. Max was way too interested in everything in the bathtub. He almost flipped himself out of the seat several times. So, we have now started real tub baths and wowzers, does Max loooooove bath time! When I start taking his clothes off and telling him he's taking a bath, he kicks his legs and smiles huge.

Morgie and Maxers. They are buddies for sure. When I was taking Max's monthly picture, I could not get a smile out of him! After about 10 minutes, I called Morgan in. She immediately made this crazy noise and voila! Max was cackling and smiling like crazy. So, so sweet. It makes this momma heart happy.

Of course Brad gets lots of smiles from Max, too. Apparently Mallory and I have to try really hard for people to smile/laugh at us:)

A sweet moment when all three were "playing" together. Max loves to be around his sisters and in the middle of the action, grabbing at everything and anything he can reach!

Max doesn't do tummy time too much anymore since he can sit unsupported now. But, when he does, he can totally lift his belly off the floor and reaches/scoots to get to things. Crawling is in the near future I'm afraid.

There wasn't much change in his sleep habits last month, unfortunately. He's still keeping us on our toes in that department. He had his first ear infection and that definitely didn't help. It was also an ear infection that took three different antibiotics to clear up. So, yes, we are tired. Very tired. Thankfully, during the day, he's on a very consistent routine. 2-3 naps a day and down for the night by 7:30.

Max, at 7 (and a half) months:

happy - snuggly - content - squishy - lover of veggies - grunty boy noises - fuzzy head

Max, 5 and 6 months

Tomorrow is the last day of October. Crazy. I knew the fall would fly by. Brad's regular season is over and the post season tournament starts Friday! So, needless to say, we've been busy around here. Max has been busy, too!

First trip to the zoo! I love that Brad has a son now! He's a great girl daddy, but I know he's excited about doing "boy things" as Max grows up.

Probably the #1 thing Max gets comments on, is his spikey hair. It still sticks straight up and is downy soft. I think he would get just as many comments if his hair looked like this (that's Aunt LaShay's hair on Max's head...hilarious!):

October has been unseasonably warm, so we've had lots of nice evenings to play. Max loved his first time on the trampoline...although Mr. Serious posed for this picture. Speaking of serious....Max takes after Mallory in this department. He gives smiles to familiar faces pretty easily, he'll talk and (almost) laugh while playing, he LOVES watching Connor and recently started smiling when I ask if he wants to take a bath. I think that last one is because we started "real baths" not in a bath seat. He kicks his legs and breathes fast when I turn the water on:)

We're officially rolling over! We're not sure how to get off our tummy, but we can definitely roll from back to tummy...fast! This puts a slight kink in sleeping/playing sometimes. In the last week, he's gotten better about chilling out on his tummy after he rolls. Kind of funny, coming from the "tummy time king" in the first few months.

Max is no longer swaddled at night. He's a side sleeper and loves his paci/blanket combo, just like his sisters. Sleeping all night is still an issue. I think we've "ferberized" three different times with this kid! At his 6 month check-up, I was complaining to my pedi. She suggested switching his night routine to feeding first, then bath. We did, and it worked! He slept from 7:30-5, without waking once, the first night. I keep joking that if I knew that would help, I would have done that two months ago!

Unfortunately, it only last five days. Max got his first ear infection (in both ears) and sleep has been hit or miss at night. Ugh. We're on round #2 of antibiotics. Seems the first round didn't knock it out.

Max is sitting up! Told you we've been busy learning new things! Around five months, he started sitting in a tripod position and now he can sit unsupported for a little bit. I can't quite leave him sitting and walk away yet, but he's close!

Max still adores his sisters. He and Morgan have a little bond. She will lay beside him watching Sesame Street and hold his hand. She's also crazy around him. Several times, she's made him cry from scaring him! I definitely have to watch her if he's in the exersaucer or bouncy chair. She loves to shake it/him and tip them over. That's always fun to glance over and see!

So, I always thought dressing girls was more fun than boys. 90% of the time, that is true with Max. I think he lived in polo style rompers all of summer. Anyway. I totally melted when I saw Max in a button down shirt with the sleeves rolled. How cute is this little guy?

I helped the girls make a canvas to hang in Max's room. I really wanted to do it before he was born, but didn't have a plan. I loved the idea of letting the girls just "go for it", but kind of thought we might end up with rainbows and flowers for his room. So, I "guided" them with taped off stripes and a box for Mallory to paint his name. They loved it, felt like they did it all by themselves and are very proud of their artwork. It goes perfectly in his room, too!

In true boy fashion, Max loves food. He started cereal at the beginning of October. I won't lie. I was going to wait until six months, but started at five in hopes of sleeping better:) It didn't seem to help. He's a big fan of oatmeal. Not so much rice or barley cereal. He's had green beans and sweet peas. He has finished a whole jar in one sitting! Right now, our routine is a feeding at five and then cereal/veggie around 5:30. He'll let you know when he's ready for it, too!!

A little sample of a day in the life of Max:

7am: wake up...most of the time happy

7:20: walk Mallory outside and wave as she leaves for school

8: time to eat and then play

9: nap (at home or in the car running errands)

11: eat again, play

12: nap again

1:30: up and eat again before picking up Mallory

4ish: catnap, around 45 min

5: eat again

5:30: cereal/baby food

6:45: eat again

7: bath

7:30: read books, rock, in bed, sleepy

From 8 on, it's a mystery most nights:)

Stats at his 6 month check up:

Weight: 21.5 pounds (95th %)

Height: 27 inches (75th %)

I can't believe his weight! He's the size the girls were...at one year old!!

Max is seriously such a content, easy going little guy. We love him to pieces!

Hand me downs

For obvious reasons, Max hasn't used many of the girls' hand me downs. But, there is one onesie that has now gone through all three of my kids. I "made" it for Mallory during Brad's 2nd soccer season. She was 15 months old and barely walking. I was 7 months pregnant with Morgan!

Morgan sported the onesie for Brad's 3rd season. She was 10 months old and I was NOT pregnant with anyone!

And now, Maxers. We've just begun Brad's 6th season at UMHB. Max is 5 months old, Morgan is 3 1/2 and Mallory is 5. Surely the (size 18 month) onesie has shrunk over the years. There is still plenty of room for Max to grow, but he already fills it out pretty good!!

Maxers is 4 months old!

Another month has flown by. Max is getting cuter and chunkier by the day! His current stats:

17 lbs 14 oz

25 1/2 inches

Rolls, rolls and more rolls!

Brown hair that still stands up straight

Blueish, greenish, brownish eyes

No teeth yet

Max means business. There is a time for play and a time for seriousness. Most times, it's seriousness. But, when he is playing, he's too cute. He is a very sweet, chilled out baby. We've almost got him laughing a couple of times.

He always smiles when: Brad talks to him, he sees the girls, we lay him down to go to sleep (you can see it behind his paci, so cute) and we sing to him.

He is always mad when: we change his clothes, stop in the car, burp him during a feeding or wait too long for a nap.

This picture cracks me up. This is SO our everyday right now. The girls cannot get enough of Max. I'm sure sometimes, he has had enough of them (like this moment)! Mallory is all about the kisses...every inch of exposed skin. Morgan likes to move him. As in, grabbing him by the ankles and dragging him around the floor. Yikes.

We have found our hands! Max has some part of his hand, or the whole fist, in his mouth the majority of the day. This started more when we "ferberized" him. So far, he doesn't have a preference. We'll see if he turns into a thumb sucker like his sister.

The kid loves TV. He immediately turns to it when it's on. He'll sit in his bouncy chair for an entire Praise Baby DVD. I'm not sure that is a good trait. But, unfortunately, the TV is on in the morning and afternoon at our house. It is good for his head problem (flat spot behind the right ear). I usually put him down so he will turn his head to the left...whatever it takes to (hopefully) keep the cranial band away!

Max loves his tummy time! I don't remember either girl hating it or loving it. But, Max will stay on his tummy for a long time, just watching all of us running around. Again, this is great for his flat spot. The girls now know to put toys on his left side and to sit on his left side to talk to him. I have to time it right or else we end up with a pile of spit up.

We hit a big milestone in the sleep department a couple of weeks ago. He had been doing great during June and July, going about 6 hours at night. And then, all of a sudden, started waking every 1-3 hours for his paci or to eat. The timing was perfect while the girls went to my parent's house, so we "ferberized" him. That kid has some lungs on him! Brad and I both had flashbacks of Mallory as an infant:) But, it only took three nights of crying it out and now he's sleeping 10ish hours straight. I feed him around 8 and then he's up for the day, between 6 and 7.

Each month just gets better and better with our little buddy! We're so thankful for a go-with-the-flow baby. With kindergarten and soccer season starting at the same time, he kind of has to be:)

For some reason, when I publish my posts, my spaces between paragraphs disappear. This is annoying and makes it really difficult to read. My apologies:)

Not the way we thought it would be

I think we may have to have a re-do of the first week of school for Miss Mallory. Poor girl hasn't been back to kindergarten since the first day! I knew she might have some sick days, but four in the first week is crazy!!

A little history about our first born. She's been having vertigo (waking in the middle of the night saying her bed is spinning) and headaches every three months for almost two years. Last summer, we saw an ENT doctor. She had a hearing test done (passed), a thorough exam (passed all the balance, inner ear tests) and we basically left, not knowing why this was happening. Over the past year, we've really noticed a trend with her vertigo, or "spinning" episodes. They come every three months, in the middle of the night and watching TV helps with the spinning/pain. Weird. Not your typical, lights out in a dark room, migraine. Since December, she's actually pinpointed the pain to the back of the head.

So, when August came, we kind of joked that it was time for one of her episodes, hoping to get it over with before school started. Sure enough, Tuesday around 1am, she woke up with a horrible headache and vomited. We layed out a pallet on the floor in the living room and did our usual...Netflix for several hours. She usually falls asleep for a couple of hours and then is totally fine for the rest of the day. This time, however, she woke up grabbing her head and screaming in pain. She also vomited again. For the remainder of the day, she had episodes like this. By dinner, she seemed a little better. She ate a sandwich and did her normal bedtime routine. Around 8:30, I peeked in on the girls. Mallory was sitting up in bed and then started with an episode. I picked her up and brought her into the living room. She promptly vomited all over me and her. I emailed our pedi and so began our night of fun.

Our pedi called in Phenergan. I gave her a dose around 10:30. She fell asleep about an hour later, but still woke with episodes of pain/vomiting. By 1am, she had nothing left in her tummy, but was still vomiting mucous, with blood in it. After a call to the ER, we knew that is where we needed to head. My very sweet friend, who happens to be my neighbor, came over at 2am to stay with Morgan and Max while they slept. Brad and I took Mallory to the ER.

We went right back to a room, saw a couple of doctors and told Mallory's history probably three different times. Through all of this, she was very drowsy from the Phenergan, but still waking with her episodes. She had a CT scan of her head, an IV, blood drawn and Zofran for the nausea. Everything came back normal (so, so grateful for that!) and the Zofran stopped the nausea and let her sleep. We were discharged home around 6am. She slept until 9 and then spiked a fever of 101.7. I emailed our pedi again and we determined it's probably a virus that triggered her headache episodes, and intensified it.

So, here we are on day #3. The nausea and vomiting are gone. She still has fever and a small headache...nothing like what was going on, thankfully! When I called the school office this morning, I didn't even have to give our last name, they immediately recognized her name, and said that they have had lots of kids out for the same virus. We are hoping she can go back on Monday. And, we're waiting for a referral to a pediatric neurologist.

It's been so weird having her home this week. I emotionally prepared myself for her to be gone, so to have her home (and sick) is so strange already. I'm bummed for her to miss all the fun stuff during the first week of kindergarten and missing out on getting to know little friends. I think Mallory's a little bummed, too. Tuesday morning, she asked, in a really sad voice, if I could call her teacher and tell her she was sick. Then, later she said, "I wonder what my friends in kindergarten are doing right now."

So, the first week of kindergarten didn't go exactly as we imagined. We're ready to be in a school routine and for Mallory to have some fun!

Her first first day of school

Well, we all survived Mallory's first day of Kindergarten. There were no real tears shed by any of us, and she wants to go back tomorrow. I'd say that's a successful first day!

Everyone was up and at it by 6:30 this morning. Mallory picked out her outfit, a teal ruffle dress. She also picked out my outfit. I was wearing this shirt the other day and she asked if I'd wear it on her first day of school. Great. She already is embarrassed by her mother, at the ripe age of five....or, she just has a thing for ruffles.

The five of us made it out the door (and completely ready) with some time to snap a few pictures. Our neighbor, Claire, started 1st grade this morning. She gave Mallory some pointers for posing.

Brad and I took two cars this morning, since I was staying for the "boo hoo breakfast". He was a little behind me and wasn't sure where to park the car. So, naturally, he called me on his cell phone. In the school zone. Right by an over-eager motorcycle cop. And promptly got pulled over and ticketed on the first day of school. With Mallory in the backseat! It changed the mood of the morning. Very quickly. But, we had to remind ourselves this was Mallory's big day and to put on a (fake) happy face.

I was so proud of Mallory. She walked right in, hung up her backpack, found her spot at the table and grabbed a cup of playdough. I gave her a kiss and asked to take a picture. She said "no" and then I knew it was time to leave, but I snapped a picture anyway:)

We walked in the gym to pick her up and she gave me the biggest hug. The tears almost came then. She had the best first day! Her favorite part was P.E. She made a little friend and re-connected with one from her preschool two years ago. My fears of her eating lunch by herself and playing on the playground by herself were relieved.

I'm so grateful that she loved her first day of real school. When I told her it was time to go home, she said, "I want to stay forever!"

Between three and four...

...is a fun stage for this girl:

When we found out we were pregnant with Max (before we knew he was a he), everyone said, "Oh, you need a little Brad!" I'm sure they meant a boy, but I always answered with, "We've already got one...she's just a girl!"

Morgan is hilarious. She for sure has Brad's sense of humor and keeps us laughing. Just fyi, don't laugh at what Morgan is doing if you'd like her to stop. Her speciality is to keep doing it over and over and over to make you laugh more:)

She is also a sweetie. We're pretty positive her "love language" is touch. The girl love for her hair to be played with, "spiders" on her back, to snuggle on the couch and has to touch some part of your body if she is close to you. She's been that way since she was a newborn. The first week she was home, Brad and I would take turns with her on the couch at night. We would lay her down (swaddled) next to us and every time she would turn her body in our direction to be closer.

photo by the talented melody clampet

Morgan has great potential for an imaginary friend when Mallory is at kindergarten. The girl is always in her own little world. Last soccer season, we went to dinner with the team. She had a little family of ketchup and mustard bottles, salt and pepper shakers and her milk cup. There is never a dull moment with her.

Dancing might be one of her favorite things to do (and ours to watch!):

One of my favorite things she does is change her mind. Not really, but what she says is too cute. If I ask her to make a choice about something, she'll tell me and then say, "Actually, I want..." It's way cute in person and makes me laugh everytime....well, most times. She also asks a TON of questions. I usually can't get through one page in a book without her asking something.

We are very proud of Morgan! This summer she started keeping her blanket in her bed after she gets up in the morning and after nap. This is HUGE! When she has her blanket, she sucks her thumb. So, with the new change, came less thumb sucking! She has been a champ and 99% of the time, only does it in bed. Supposedly, she's going to stop when she's four. She said that when she turned three and then that night said, "Actually, maybe when I'm 3 1/2." Ha!

If Morgan could wear one outfit everyday, it would be her "shaky skirt" and turquoise tank top. The girl loves to dance...and be naked. This could pose a problem in the future.

Morgan learned how to swim without floaties this summer! Back in June, she wouldn't even jump off the edge for $5 (Aunt Kelly was bribing the kids, starting with $1)! Now, she'll jump (sometimes before you're ready!) and swim underwater to the steps. I'm still not 100% comfortable letting her go on her own, but this is HUGE progress!

I wish everyone could meet Morgan, especially on a day when she's "in her element". She is reserved (usually) when you first meet her, but warms up pretty quick...and sometimes you wish she'd go back to being reserved:) I'm afraid she's going to be the trouble maker at school. She's already had to be scooted away from some boys in her Sunday School class. Her teacher said, "Morgan did great, but had a little trouble staying quiet with the boys." Yikes.

We love our little 3 1/2 year old. She makes us laugh, makes us smile and sometimes makes us want to pull our hair out! Life would be pretty boring in our house without our Morgie Porgie!

Getting the hang of it

Night #3 was good. We had small group, which meant we got home at a decent time and Max was in bed, asleep by 8:30. He woke around midnight and cried for about an hour, then again around 4 (not sure how long he cried), then slept until 7!

Yesterday, Mr. Max was a trooper! We were in Round Rock from 11am until 8pm. He did GREAT! Best shopping partner ever. I fed him before we left and then put him straight to bed when we got home. He fussed for about 10 minutes and I went in once to pat his bottom. I think he woke up sometime in the middle of the night, but by the time Brad went to check on him, he was already back to sleep. He slept until 8! Night #4 was a success! Now, that might be because of the long day we had, but I think the whole sleep thing is starting to click....hopefully:)

July, in a nutshell

July was fun for several reasons. We had a lot of family time, more swimming, a week to myself (and Max), "B Mom and Pop camp" for the girls, Brad's birthday, the circus with Mimi and Grandpa and some more lazy days at home.

We traveled to Burk for Brad's birthday weekend. We were glad to see Maw Maw and her new apartment! She is doing great since Paw Paw passed away in April. I know she still has hard days when she misses him a lot (us, too), but overall, she is doing really good. She has made some "dinner friends" and only lives 15 minutes from Larry and Sharon. It was a treat to see both great-grandparents this weekend!

Sweet Nanny and A.O. came down from Oklahoma. They got to meet Max (who is named after Brad's grandfather, Ed, who passed away 30 years ago). Nanny loves his name:) She is a sweetie!

We celebrated Brad's birthday! Can you see how old he is?

The girls love BMom and Pop! It's always a fun trip when we visit.

On the way home from Burk, we stopped at my parent's house. Mimi and Grandpa took the older kids to the circus. It's the 3rd year they have done this, and the girls were really excited! It also included a sleepover with Tate (while all the adult kids had a date night and sitter for Will and Max!). They got to swim together again the next day. Why are pictures of cousins in goggles so darn cute?!

In the middle of July, Brad had another week of soccer camp. So, the girls went to "BMom camp" for the whole week and I stayed home with Max. To say the girls had fun was an understatement! I have no pictures to prove it, but just imagine four cousins (almost like 2 sets of twins) playing and going, going, going for a whole week, ending with a family reunion together. I love that our parents are making such fun memories for our kids!

While the girls and Brad were away, Max and I got to hang out. At the end of our week, we had some visitors from Abilene! Kara and Micah came to stay two nights. We squeezed as much shopping, talking and eating into those two days that we could. I loved having her here and miss living so close to each other.

Max and Micah:

There were some lazy days at home, too. I know the girls enjoy those after being really busy. I got to sleep in a little one morning and came out to M&M swaddled!

Mallory and Bella got to celebrate their birthdays at the tea room in Salado. This is the 3rd year we've joined Karen and Kay. I noticed how big and grown up these two cuties are getting. There isn't much "baby" in their faces anymore!

Max took another dip in a pool! We went to a little pool in Salado one Sunday afternoon. We stayed for three hours. By the time we left, Brad had the girls holding their breath under water and touching the steps under water. This is HUGE! Back in June, they would barely even put their chin in the water! I'm proud of the girls. They have made a lot of progress in the pool this summer. Mallory can officially swim without floaties. Morgan is getting there, but still makes us nervous:)

Both of the girls had dentist appointments. This is Mallory's 3rd (or 4th) time to go. She showed Morgan the ropes first.

Morgan hopped up in the chair and got her teeth cleaned like a champ! It helps that we have one of the sweetest (and most patient) hygienists ever.

We're about to hit Max's four month birthday. I'm still just amazed at how much the girls adore him! I know it will change when he's crawling and walking (and knocking down everything they play with). I love walking into the room and finding toys set out "just for Max to look at". Morgan thought he'd like to see every McDonald's toy we have during his tummy time. Check out Max's cul-de-sac of hair! It's sloooooowly falling out.

I keep saying it, but I can't believe summer is over in one week. Life as we know it will change as we adjust to a school schedule and soccer starting up!