Goldfish

I'm so handsome! Look at my cute roly poly tum.

Happy Memorial Day

It was a beautiful Memorial Day here in Maryland. We had a wonderful weekend and remembered those who have served by going downtown to the Mall for the National Memorial Day Parade. It was a great adventure! First off, there is just about no parking in the Mall on any holiday and today was no exception. However, Dan was brilliant and went just a little off the beaten path and we found a great parking space in the shade by a great little deli/market near the Eastern Market just a couple blocks from the Capitol. Sa-weet.

It was a hot sunny day but we had a nice walk. First we stopped in a side lawn near the Capitol for a little picnic. Post picnic photo.


After lunch we headed to the Botanical Garden. There is a great display on sustainability right now complete with the "Cool Globes," an exhibit of more than 40 sculptures of "whole-earth" solutions to the problems of living unsustainably. Max and Dan with one of the globes inside the building.


We headed back out to the Mall in hopes of reaching the WWII Memorial but didn't quite make it there. It was such a hot and sunny day and we were worried that Max would overheat, get sunburned or that I would freak out worrying about it. Option #3 was the most likely as I had slathered sunscreen all over Max.

We decided to just walk the Mall and take in all the parade participants lining up, getting ready and milling about. We saw many high school marching bands and flag twirlers not to mention quite a few people dressed in various period garb. It was hard to tell who looked the most likely to overheat. Of course, the people in revolutionary war uniforms made of 100% wool are always contenders and then there's the gals in the hoop skirts and silk jackets. The many marching band members in their black polyester and nylon uniforms did not look particularly comfortable nor did the flag twirlers in teh black spandex turtleneck leotards with sequin tops and leggings. Still, they were all happy to be there and we were fortunate to see a little battle of the bands between two high schools. We heard a lot of the Armed Forces Medley being played and they all did a pretty good job. I couldn't resist taking a picture of this tuba cluster.


It was so hot that we didn't see too much of the parade but we did stay through the American Indian Veterans. We also saw some Jr. ROTC, several bands, Gold Star Wives and a couple veteran groups. I'm really glad we went and plant to go back another year. Living here is such a great opportunity to experience so many great events.

Here is a picture of Max in his "motoring" outfit that he wore for the parade and a better photo of those new chompers.



The rest of our weekend was equally action filled. We took Max and Hoover for a 6 mile walk on the C&O Canal Trail yesterday (Sunday)and that was a lot of fun. The trail is perfect for both dogs and wee ones because it is under a tree canopy and even on really hot, sunny days dappled sunlight is the most you'll get. Hard to get a sunburn. Unfortuntely, I forgot a camera. It was a beautiful day. We all had a nice walk but boy was I disgusting after carrying him on my chest for 3 miles! He was in the stoller for the other 3. Hoover got many compliments on her backpack (as per usual) and her good looks.

We took another long walk on Saturday. We had to return some library books so we decided to hoof it downtown via Baker Park. It's about 4 miles round trip and, again, a perfect day for a walk. Havers had a fabulous time on the trip home. We walked through Baker Park along the canal and she dove right in. Combination swimming for the thrill of it and trying to catch some ducks. She wasn't actually any where near catching them or even harrassing them so please don't be horrified.




Settling down for the evening.




Have a wonderful week everyone!

1st Tooth!

They are finally here - Max's first two teeth. We've been waiting for a while for them to break through and there they were on Friday morning. You could barely see them on Friday but they get more visible each day. Even if you can't see them, you sure can feel 'em. Sharp little buggers.

I'm glad the waiting game is over if only for the hope that it will bring the little guy some relief. He's been a pretty good sport about it but you can tell they were bugging him for the past couple weeks. I can see why. They look huge in his tiny little mouth. Hopefully, they will start moving at a lightening pace and bother him no more...hopefully. He is loving the icy giraffe from his Auntie Faith. He was pretty miserable Saturday night and I finally thought to try the giraffe - fresh from the freezer. You should have seen his face light up when he saw it Dan's hand. Huge smile, quick grab and seventh heaven for Max.

If you click on the pictures, they will blow up bigger and you might *just might* be able to see the nubbins currently passing for teeth.


Can you see my teeth?


Teeth nubbins. They are in there, we swear.

We've had a great weekend out and about town. I'll post more about that later. For now, here's a couple more photos.


First day with the sippy cup. Likes the bottom better than the top but he will put it to his mouth and drink and he's having fun with it.


Love my yogurt!


Seems like bathtime is one of Max's favorite parts of the day. He just got a new tub (Thanks IKEA.) and has more room to manuver. He loves his fish from Anne and Andy and his little duck. He spent all 15 minutes of his bath with a fish in his mouth last night and was most happy with a fish in the mouth and duck in hand.

100% Hoover

For those of you who don't know, we call our dog either Havers or Hoover or The Hurricane. More often than not, she's Hoover. Dan spent quite a bit of time with her in the backyard today and, well, she had a ball. She is a very sweet dog, has more energy than you can imagine and she LOVES just about everything which makes her pretty darn lovable. Here she is in all of her nutter glory!

Poll Results, Allergies and Pictures

Well, the 4th of July Poll is officially closed. Thought you might be interested in the results. It was pretty close.

Stars & Stripes - 4
Uncle Sam Duds - 3
Recycled Bicentennial Wear - 3
Levis & T-shirt - 6 *Winner*
All Black - 2

I'm curious to know who voted for all black. Tell me. Tell me. We like the ninja look but think we might save it for Halloween unless, of course, we decide to go for John McEnroe.

Maryland pollen is kicking my butt!!! I have the worst allergies and *wow* allergies are no fun. If I ever downplayedd anyone's allergies (except Sarah's allergy to root beer), I am so sorry. I've had a headache for two weeks solid and it shows no promise of letting up. Tried the Claritin and jitters all around. Next stop Flonase (generic). People are just getting too high tech in their estimation of the ultimate weapon for world domination. I don't think you need nukes just a lot of pollen and poison ivy/sumac/oak. Did anyone get a twitch just thinking about a mass release of poison ivy?

Other than that, it's work and - gasp - a bit of reading. I'm reading The Known World by Edward P. Jones. I'm loving it though it's a hard read for the subject matter. I'll post more on that later. As an amusing sidenote this was the book club selection for last month and I didn't read it or even manage to get the book in my possession before we met. That didn't stop me from going to book club and enjoying the fine snacks. However, the discussion was so interesting that I wanted to read the book and I'm glad I am. I highly recommend.

Here are a few pictures of MMMMax.


In Levi's and a Flannel


Lovin' the bath.

Tummy Time

Our Little Rascal

Max's Auntie Fari took this picture. A little bit Alfalfa, I think. I'm beginning to realize that it looks like he doesn't own more than two outfits. Believe me when I say, he has plenty of tiny clothes. They seem to be in a constant state of rotation in and out of the washer, dryer and the dining room table.

And I took this photo of Max and his Auntie Fari last week. It was a little chilly so we had a chance to put Max back in some of his fab winter gear. I love this shirt! You'll have to pardon my perkiness. I had cake for lunch and am still riding out that sugar high.


Hope everyone is enjoying their spring. It's been raining on and off here so everything is green and lush with growth. Quite beautiful. There is a dogwood in front of the building I work in that is particularly beautiful. Maybe I'll take a picture tomorrow. Today is perfect with a blue sky, sunshine and high 60s. One of those happy to be alive days. 'Til next time...

Now They Lay Me Down to Sleep or So They Think

We finally moved Max from the bassinet to the crib a couple weeks ago when his head and feet were both touching the edges of the bassinet. Did I wait too long?...

We're trying to transition Max to falling asleep on his own rather than being rocked to sleep, etc. Here are a few pictures of Max putting himself to sleep this Friday. It's a pretty amusing process.





This is what he looks like when he's actually sleeping!

Another Blast from the Past

Well, the weekend has come and gone with ferocious speed. Where does the time go? We went all over town on Saturday to include a trip to IKEA, two attempts to test drive a car (both failures), dinner at Macaroni Grill and a trip to the Ft. Meade Commissary. There were also quite a few around town errands, too. We're helping Max practice for our road trip vacation in June. Any tips are welcome!

On Friday we spent a wonderful night with our friends, Fari, Morid and their children Yasmin and Christopher as well as their friends Mariam, Mamon, Shokoufeh, Nefti and their children. Fari and Morid prepared a delicous Persian meal and we ate ourselves silly. Max had so much fun meeting all these new people that he could barely sleep a wink and managed to stay awake almost the whole time - until we left at 11 pm.

One of Max's favorite things to do this past week is to "fake laugh" which then makes him laugh for real. I have a video clip of his very first giggle fit which I'm going to try to post. Fari and Yasmin took it one day a long way back...

Have a wonderful week!

SUSHI!

Max's bath tonight. He loves his fish just like his Papa.


1 of Havers' favorite toys - the downspout. Dan just loves that she rips these off the drains and scatters them about the yard. This is the only tube downspout we have but it is her favorite. Even so, she settles for relocating the more traditional "wedge style" drain.


Gotta love how happy she is...


Havers, the escape artist, thwarted at last.

It's been a beautiful day in Maryland. Hope all is well with all of you.

I LIKE TO EAT

Still catching up with the Max milestones...

Max started eating solids at 5 months (almost 7 months now) and while he was a little unsure of things at first, he quickly discovered that he likes real food - even if it is pureed. So far he loves applesauce and the apple/apricot mix. He also went wild for the frozen organic super greens mix (spinach, green beans and peas) a preference he clearly did NOT get from his mom who is vegetable phobic. The only thing he really like thus far is the beans and rice combo but who can blame him? It looks a little sketchy at best...Soilent Green is People...
Eating Pictures capturing the evidence of just how much he likes to "help" you feed him. Hello Messy Max!

Our 1st Post - FINALLY!

YAY! We're going live!!!! It's taken me absolutely forever but I'm finally getting our family blog up. It's only taken a month to get going from the account creation and yet I'm still feeling pretty good about it. It's been so hard to keep in touch with people the way we'd like to and let everyone know what we're doing and perhaps more importantly, what The Max Factor is doing.

This first post will be a couple Max Milestones that I started to write about a while ago when they happened. I'll try to start with the most recent and proceed from there.

*****************

FEET
Yes, it’s true, dear Max has feet and now that he’s found them what fun they are! He seemed to realize he had them about the first week in April and now he wants to grab them all the time. At first he’d pull on his PJ toes but we’ve now unleashed the feet so he can kick his legs up and grab those little piggies.

They seem to provide endless entertainment. I can’t wait to see how much fun he’ll have when he realizes he can get them in his mouth. (That happened a while ago and he loves sucking on his toes. Maybe because his big toe is SO BIG it's a lot like sucking his thumb. We went to Leesburg, VA this past weekend and he sucked his toe nearly the whole 1/2 hour drive. Of course, he couldn't decide left or right toe and kept alternating.) Those orange monkey socks were pretty wet by the end of the drive.

ALMOT SITTING (Mid-April)

Seems like he is close to sitting up on his own. He can sit in his bumbo. (Why do all baby accessories have to have SUPER STUPID names? Maybe it’s just us but we feel pretty dumb referencing a BUMBO in adult conversation though we are able to remain more straight-faced than when we referenced the My Brest Friend pillow.). Little Max can also sit pretty darn well in his boppy. (See above comment.) He can sit unassisted for a minute or so but then he does the slow motion lean/crash to the side and flips to his stomach. Six weeks ago he’d just slump to the side and was stuck. At least now he has a plan when he falls.

The funniest part of this whole learning to sit thing is eating. He started to eat cereal two weeks ago and was content to recline in his papason while impersonating a baby bird any time he saw the spoon. Not so content with the semi-reclined position any longer. Now it’s all about crunches and trying to sit forward while strapped into the papason.

It’s funny because he doesn’t really have control of his upper body yet and the momentum can get the best of him sometimes. He’ll be sitting there opening his mouth for cereal one minute and his torso starts flying forward the next minute while his head moves to the side. Much messier.

So funny to watch Max get acquainted with his body and the world at large. Every day brings something new and usually something pretty darn amusing.

As for the rest of us…Lyle sleeps and changes his position several times a day. He and Havers have a little face off every night at 9 pm, like clockwork. He is showing more interest in Max but not enough to stick around once Max shows interest in him.

Havers is still a little hurricane and has proven to be quite the escape artist. She can get out of the fence in less than 10 seconds and with no visible hole in the ground or disturbance in the fence. Part opossum, it appears. She now wears a shock collar in the yard so that if she leaves the fence, it starts beeping at her about 3 ft. out and shocks her if she goes further. Originally it was set up to shock her when she got to the fence but she got shocked twice and was terrified of the backyard. She wouldn’t leave a two foot zone near the house. Then we took the collar off and little Miss Smarty Pants knew that she wouldn’t get shocked so she shot out of the yard double quick. Now, we’re hoping she will see the yard as a fun playground but not the area beyond the yard. Thus, if she goes very far outside the yard – zap. She’s gotten out once since then but she paced back and forth in the 3 ft. no beep zone in the neighbor’s yard. Wouldn’t you like to be our neighbor?

As for Dan and myself…all is going well. We just got windows installed in the basement. It’s so much quieter down there now and you don’t feel that gust of wind when you get near the wall. Dan is getting ready to start finishing the basement, which is our major project for the summer.

We’re both working though we don’t really have late nights or early mornings for now. Dan is working on his abs of steel and I’m hoping to get started on abs of aluminum. In the getting fit column, I’ve started walking in the evenings with a gal I met through work. We both bring our babes in strollers and head out on the concrete path around post. Quite an enjoyable way to start the evening. Mostly, we are enjoying our time with Max. It amazes me how easy it is to just hang out and stare at him while he reaches, grabs, rolls, kicks, coughs, eats, coos, laughs and plays with his toys. It is really amazing.

Max and his MAN HANDS (End of March)
About 2 and ½ weeks ago Max began seriously contemplating his hands. After his early morning breakfast, he’d lay in bed with us and stare intently at his hands for ½ hour or so. Couldn’t seem to look at them enough. He would stretch his fingers and turn his hands from one side to the other. Look at one and then the other then hold them together.

They are pretty cute and we’ve yet to get a good close-up of them to share with friends and family and to document for posterity. We’re working on it and you can see the best we’ve got below. I’ll tell you one thing – the boy’s got MAN HANDS. He had the longest fingers when he was born and his hands have grown to match them in the months since.

He doesn’t just look at his hands; he uses them all the time now. It’s amazing to watch him concentrate on grabbing things. Most of his grabbing is directed at items we hold near him though he’s started to grab at things in his general vicinity. What he really seems to want but hasn’t gotten yet is a big handful of Havers fur near her ears. I’m sure he’d settle for an ear, but it’s her Farah Fawcett feathered hair right behind her ears that he eyes most determinedly. The only problem is that she is too quick for him with her long ol’ tongue. That thing comes flying out they moment he starts to move for her hair and she licks his fingers and tries to get his face, too. Maybe one day soon…

Monster post for our first one. I still haven't quite figured out the pictures yet. Hoepfully, we'll get better over time.