12 November, 2012

Dear Max,
It has been far too long since I've written about you.
You have made so many changes it's amazing.
You started walking on March 27th 2012. We had been trying so hard to get you to walk, but you just wouldn't. Then all of a sudden you just did. You acted like you had always been doing it. It was so cute!
You had your first birthday party, which I'm sure I went overboard on. But I couldn't help myself. I wanted to celebrate you in the biggest way possible. We had a pinata, a hulu hoop game, pin the tail on the donkey, and I made a giant cup cake just for you. I know you probably couldn't have cared less about any of it. But you deserved a big celebration because you are worth celebrating!

At every check up we are told you're advanced in some way or another. At your 15 month check up you were said to be at an 18 month old level. At your 18 month check up you were said to be at a 2-2.5 year old level! You say 35+ words, you can jump off the ground and have since about 15 months. And you throw a ball like a pro! You are also able to put two words together saying things like "All done" and "Where'd it go?" and "Dadda's pillow".
You say some very funny things. You can make your finger be a #1 and sometimes you hold it up and say "Woo!". You also call your grandpa "Marky" instead of anything else. You really love him and always get excited when he comes home.
You still think "No" is both "No" and "Yes". Sometimes we say things like "Max, do you want a cookie?" and you answer excitedly "No!" It makes us laugh.
One of my favorite things we taught you is we ask "Max, who's a cute boy?" and you answer "Me!". You are a cute boy!
You do this hilarious thing where you hold your arms behind and you and run at us to give us a hug. Though sometimes you fake us out and turn around half way.
You love shoes and love wearing them. Especially big people shoes.
You got to play in the snow the other day and loved it! We bought you snow pants and snow mittens, though the mittens you hate. But you love to look out the window and shout "Snow!"

You had your second Halloween. We dressed as The Incredibles. You were so good about wearing your mask. You went trick or treating with your cousin Vivian. She was a little fast for you, so sometimes we skipped houses and snacked on candy while Viv ran up to the next house.
You do this hilarious thing where your eyes get big and you open your mouth and gasp. Sometimes I think you do it to distract me when I'm telling you to do something you don't want to do.
At our last check up, your doctor said we can't give you bottles any more. I knew it was coming, but I'm not ready for my baby to grow up. We're working on it, but it's tough. In the night you cry a lot and say "Mama, bobba". We usually give in. I think it's because your K-9 teeth are coming in. You're normally very good at sleeping through the night.
Or maybe it's that darn time change! You used to go to bed at 9:00, sleep until 6:30, have a bottle, then go back to sleep until 8:30 or so. Now, not so much. I know you'll find your groove again.

I read somewhere recently that when you're older I won't know things about you because you'll only talk to your dad instead of me. That makes me sad. But I guess that's why I write this blog for you. I know you're going to grow up and not need me some day. But I hope you know that you mean the world to me. I never knew happiness until I met you. You give me a reason to keep going and be happy even when I don't want to. I couldn't care less about things I don't do any more since having you. I don't want to do them any way. I would much rather spend my time with you than go out with friends or to a movie. I feel guilty when I'm away from you. I hope you know I'd be with you all day every day if I could.
You're such a sweet, amazing boy. I can honestly say that you are a good person. You don't hit and take toys and act mean like most other kids your age. Sometimes other kids will push you or hit you and your face looks so sad like "Why would you do that to me? I just want to be your friend". It breaks my heart. I know some day you will experience much worse from people. And knowing how sweet and sensitive you are, it makes me worry even more for you. I never want you to hurt in any way.
Thank you for choosing us to be your parents. My life would have been incomplete without you. You mean everything to me.
I love you!

Love Always,
Mom

6 March, 2012

Dear Max,
You are now 10 months old. You continue to learn new things all the time. You have learned how to bite, and bite me almost daily. I try and tell you "No!" but you just laugh and keep doing what you're doing.
You are SO close to standing on your own, but you just won't give in yet. You still have to have at least your hand slightly touching something as "support" in order to stand. But man can you move! Your dad will chase you and you practically run using the couch as support and squealing and laughing the whole time. It makes us laugh so much.
You are becoming a better sleeper. For the past two nights you only woke up once for about 5 minutes, then slept all the way past 6:00! It makes me so happy.
You like to "help" mommy fold laundry by taking all the clean clothes out of the hamper and putting them on the floor, then taking the folded clothes and putting them in the laundry basket.
One of your favorite things to do while we are getting ready for the day is stand in your crib and take all of your toys and drop them one at a time onto the floor. If I put them back in, you immediately start dropping them again.
You are quite a hand full! A real busy body. You are constantly trying to put things in your mouth that you shouldn't. I will tell you no, but you know I'm going to take away whatever you want to eat so you put it in your  mouth as fast as you can. Then I'm stuck trying to get it out before you choke, all while you are biting me as hard as you can.
You also enjoy spending time taking all of the dvd's off the shelf and spreading them all over the floor.
You are definitely my little shadow. I used to be able to block you into the living room and let you play with your toys, but now you insist on going wherever I go. I don't mind, except that some places have too many things for you to put in  your mouth or that will hurt you.
For example, one day you opened a drawer in the kitchen and pulled the plastic wrap out as far as you could. It was funny, but you could have cut your fingers. We now keep those things up high.
You continue to amaze me all the time. Though you are definitely a boy and enjoy burping, getting into things, and often hitting, I still love every bit of you.
You make me happier than anyone ever has. I know you were meant to be our son. And I love you so much. I hope you know just how much you are loved.

Love Always,
Mom

26 January, 2012

Dear Max,
You are now 9 months old! Where did the time go? I'm already getting so excited and planning your first birthday party. I don't care what anyone tells me, I want it to be a big deal!
You have changed a lot in the past several weeks. You now can stand up by pulling yourself up with the help of the couch, a chair, or whatever is near enough to you. You have two top teeth! You wave bye-bye, give high fives, clap your hands, and occasionally blow kisses. And you now even give kisses by either licking our cheek or leaning in with your mouth open and putting your mouth on our cheek.
The day after Christmas you got sick with Hand, Mouth and Foot disease. Since it gave you a sore throat I let you have Otter Pops. You LOVED them!
Sadly, at the same time you had a diaper rash and you were teething. You were one miserable little guy.
But you finally got better. Then a week later you developed bronchitis! You've had a rough go lately, but it seems you're finally doing much better. You have even started sleeping better (much to my relief).
You've never been overly interested in television, but the other day I turned on "Sesame Street" for you and you loved it. You kept bouncing and smiling.
You had your very first Christmas! You really liked unwrapping presents. In fact, for the few weeks before Christmas I finally had to give you your own wrapping paper to play with otherwise you would tear the paper of the present I was trying to wrap.
You got a lot of presents! Santa brought you a toy that is designed to help you learn to walk by standing and holding on then taking steps, then turns into a little car for when you're older. You refuse to walk with it! Instead you love sitting on it and having your dad and I push you around. You're so silly!
You love food! I mean real food. You eat baby food and take bottles just fine, but whatever we're eating you want! You enjoy cheese, noodles, ice cream, and pretty much everything else on my plate.
You're now a speed crawler too! I will put you down, and you're off on a mission. Most likely a mission to make a mess. You spend a lot of time taking movies off our shelves, books from the book shelves, and opening the cupboards and taking out the contents.
You are still such a happy little guy and such a joy to be around. Lately I've really felt sad that I'm not able to be home with you. I miss you all day when I'm at work. My favorite part of the day is when I leave work to get you. You always greet me with a big smile and put your arms up for me to pick you up.
You have a little friend named Eli at day care. I wasn't sure if you liked him much at first since he's a few months older and sometimes scratches you. But after being gone from day care for two weeks, you squealed with delight when you saw him. You love having a little friend to play with and he's doing much better sharing and playing with you.
I can't believe how many new things you've learned in the past few weeks.  You never cease to amaze me. You are an amazing,  bright, loving little boy. I'm so glad I have you. You make every day so much better by being in my life. I love you so much.

Love Always,
Mom