Life with the ZanderBarry's

Fall Days

2009-11-16T23:31:00.002-05:00

We are having a really beautiful fall. The weather is mild with random days that are still in the high 60s and 70s. Gotta love that! My mom has been here since the end of October and leaves the day after Dan returns from his trip. It's been nice having her here especially since I've been struggling with this virus turned something else nasty for the past couple weeks. Max just loves his time with Grandma and I love the extra hour of sleep!

I haven't taken nearly enough Grandma pictures but I do have a couple to post of our fall goings on. Dan sent another bouquet of flowers and these spray roses are so pretty it takes your breath away. The smell wonderful, too. Here's a close up. The photo really doesn't do the colors justice but it's what I've got.

These are the straw people we built with our friends, the Kenny Family. They've held up really well, especially considering the amount of rain we've gotten. The only real issue they have is that they lost their heads. Don't worry. I found some pumpkins. How do you like my pinhead?

A couple of the ol' Maximus out enjoying our new trees in the Fall weather. There's not stopping that boy. Constant motion.

Close Your Eyes, "NO!"

2009-11-09T17:24:00.005-05:00

Max has finally gotten to the point where he's able to put himself to sleep but it's not always at the pace you'd wish! He did not want to go to bed at all. He was all about reading stories and goofin' off but not sleeping. After his stories are read I pull up his blanket, give him a kiss, and tell him sweet dreams. My last words are something along the lines of "Close your eyes. It's time to go night night Max." Usually it works. Usually. Not tonight.

This is what I got after about the 10th time of telling him to close his eyes.

Followed by this...

...and this.

Then he faked me out and looked like he was about to cave.

I guess that paparazzi was too much so it was on to baby yoga.

Finally, after about an hour, he fell fast asleep with sweet baby snorkles.

I Love A Pretty Bloom

2009-11-09T17:21:00.002-05:00

I have to say I postively have the most wonderful husband. He's on a trip for about a month and communication has been a bit spotty but he brightened my day greatly with these beautiful flowers. The apricot roses are just perfect. I love the fall foliage mixed in. Dan, you're the best!

...and it's only taken me 5 days to get this post up! Happy Fall everyone!

The leaves are falling but we have new trees.

2009-11-08T22:24:00.003-05:00

We've been talking about planting some trees in the front yard since we first looked at the house. Dan went on a scouting expedition on one of his days off before his current trip and he found a greenhouse he really liked. They came and planted our trees on Tuesday. The look great. Can't wait to see them with leaves.

Trick or Treat

2009-11-01T23:27:00.010-05:00

All Hallow's Eve was really more of a All Hallow's week for us. There was a pumpkin carving contest at work and Dan and I plotted our entry on Monday and then carved and decorated on Tuesday. We went with Monster Mash as our inspiration and created a Pumpkinstein and the Mummy as pictured below.

We had a costume contest at work on Thursday. A few of the girls dressed up as swine flu. It was probably horribly inappropriate and insensitive but we got a laugh out of it. Not many people guessed what we were on first glance but everyone in the Allied Health and Nursing Programs did. They seemed to get a kick out of it. I have since discarded my pig nose. For the record, I don't know how anyone wears those respirator masks. I just about had an anxiety attack from the claustrophobic nature of it. Yet another good reason I am not in the medical field.

Thursday evening we went trick or treating with my friend Kristi and her girls, Sam and Chloe. The kids had so much fun!

Sam was a Brownie and she made her own badges. Chloe was a tree and Kristi made this wonderful costume with the help of her friend, the glue gun. I love the bird on Chloe's shoulder! Sam and Chloe christened Max "Little Darth Vader".

We were totally late getting to Smithsburg. Kristi sent me a text but I thought she canceled. Then she called at 6 when we were supposed to be there and asked if we were close. Uh oh. Max and I jumped in the car and headed out. The girls made the rounds around downtown Smithsburg before we got there but they were happy to go around again with Max once we'd arrived. The had so much fun with Max. They were very protective making sure that he didn't get bumped by other kids or wander into the street. They carried his pumpkin bucket since he thought it was too heavy.

There was a limited trunk or treat at one of the church's and Max got to trick or treat from Tigger. He thought this was so great! He still talks about it and seemed to think that he'd see Tigger every time he trick or treated. When we went trick or treating again on Halloween, he kept saying, "TrickTreat Tigger" at just about every house we went to.

Our little Darth Vader and his totally whack light saber. I forgot to get him a light saber until that night and when I went to the dollar store, this was the only one I could find that wasn't in two pieces. It was wedged in between a couple of gift bags and the saber was barely connected to the handle by a thin wire. In the spirit of Halloween's past I bought some glow sticks and a roll of packaging tape to reinforce the jacked prop. It worked and Max loved his light saber.

Sweetness.

Max's school had a pajama party on Friday instead of a costume party and you can see Max's very Halloweenie outfit. His skeleton arms didn't make it all day but they were awfully cute. And he is very attached to them. When I picked him up from school he kept saying, "My skeleton arms!"

He thought Pumpkinstein was pretty cool. He kept stroking his hair and saying, "Gentle." Then he wanted to kiss and hug the pumpkin as you can see in the bottom photo. He's hilarious.

Finally, it was Halloween itself! Max was pretty into the dress up thing by now and that was nice. I didn't have to convince him to put on his costume. However, I did have to go out and buy him a costume alternative to the fleece Darth Vader costume. We had a birthday party to go to on Saturday afternoon and I knew it would be way too hot for him to wear Vader. He would have burst into flames! I had to come up with a new costume and fast! Of course, it was totally last minute and the only stuff I could find were things he wouldn't wear. Finally, I found a costume that would work but I found totally offensive. It was an "Indian" costume complete with headband and feather. I decided to discard these, slap some tevas on the boy and say he was Grizzly Adams. It works, mostly.

Max had a great time at the party. The weather was beautiful so we got to play outside and inside. Cat, our hostess, dressed up as a Hogwarts Student. Can you guess which house?

Despite the fact that I never dress up for Halloween I decided to get a costume and get in the spirit because the invitation said, "Wear your costume". Apparently, that was just intended for the kids because I was the only adult dressed up besides the hostess. It was fun to do and Max loved the make up. He points at the picture and says, "Mama" so he seemed to get into it.

Here's another of Max and also one of the kids dressed up. All the girls were princesses and fairies. The highlight of the party for Max was watching a dumptruck dump a load of dirt on the neighbor's yard. He was mesmerized for about 40 minutes.

We rushed home after the party and had pancakes and waffles with Sam and Chloe before heading out for trick or treating in our neighborhood. Here they are with our straw people in front of our house. Once we got home they were so sugared up and giggly. They went crazy with Dan's zombie mask and each of them took a turn wearing it. I probably had the most face time as the zombie but I think this picture of the brownie zombie is pretty hilarious!

Even Hoover had a costume. Meet Elvis Herselves, the canine King. Cute, isn't she?

Poor Sick Boy

2009-09-17T21:50:00.002-04:00

Our dear little Maximus is not having a good week! He's really been struggling with a bad cough since last Thursday and it's just gotten to be too much this past couple of days. We went to the doc on Monday to no real solution. "He's sick, keep him hydrated. It's nothing serious but bring him back if he has a fever or trouble breathing." Fever came last evening and I was really fortunate to get an appointment with one of the doctors we have a lot of confidence in for first thing this morning.

It was a good thing we had the appointment. He had an AWFUL night. It seemed he could barely catch his breath and he barely got any sleep. The verdict: a bad upper respiratory infection with the possible beginnings of bronchial pneumonia. The RX: a kiddie version of Zithromax. I gave him the first dose today and he should be done in 5 days. Please keep Max in your thoughts for good health.

Despite his illness, we had some good laughs today. He had a lot of fun making a birthday drawing for our friend, Ann, and then drawing all over his arm, hands, head and belly. LOVE those washable markers! Two seconds in the tub and he was clean.

This mama will be happy when his daddy is finally able to come home tomorrow! It's been a long week for Dan and at and for me at home with a sickly Max who hasn't really slept through the night since last Friday. We both need to catch up on our Z's. Dan has promised that he'll sleep with the giant in the treehouse and I can have Mommy/Daddy room all to myself with the door closed. Isn't he the best?

Hope all of you are doing well. We'll be watching our second game of the football season on Saturday. Dan missed the first last Sunday night so it's kind of like our first game of the season. AND all of our Packer gear arrived on Tuesday so we'll be wearing the cheesehead, Max will be in his little jersey and we'll have on our vintage NFL gear. I am such a girl! I decide to be a football fan and my first actions are to go shopping for gear and plan menus for the games. I've just got one thing to say, "Go Packers!"

Accessories Rock!

2009-09-15T14:06:00.003-04:00

Despite have a pretty major cold and an awful night's sleep, Max was bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and ready to go this morning. His mama, on the other hand, was dragging a little. =)

I'm always amused by this boy. This is what resulted when I said we have to get ready for school. He did need a little help putting the goggles on but he brought them to me. Also, this is the sweetness I got when I said, "Smile". He loves his Paddington bear from Auntie Sarah. It is a genuine Paddington from the U.K. but Max has already Americanized it. He says, "Mah Teddy Bar". I missed the cutest moments where he was hugging and kissing Paddington and then having Paddington give me all sorts of sweet kisses. Max is the sweetest little guy.

The thrill of the goggles only lasted about 15 minutes and then he was on to bigger fish. He wanted his helmet but it was in the garage so he settled for Daddy's. He asked for help with the "ticket" by which he meant closing the clasp. Whenever he puts Max in the carseat Dan says, "Click it so we don't get a ticket." This weekend Max has started saying "Ticket" whenever we close a clasp. Hilarious.

I'll leave you with a shot from a couple of weeks ago. We're so blessed with our little fella!

Yay for Max ( and the 'rents, too)

2009-09-03T23:20:00.002-04:00

Just a quick post as a follow up to the earlier post about moving on up to monkeys. Today was our first tear free, cling free drop off and it was inside! I'm so proud of Max and so very happy to see him comfortable and happy with his room at school. This transition has been so difficult for him and I'm relieved that he seems to have come around an important bend.

On a similar note, I made an amusing discovery today on my way out of Max's classroom. There are kids art projects lining the walls at the child care center. The main hall is virtually an art gallery. On my way from dropping Max off I noticed a new art piece accompanied by some photos. The piece is a smudgy looking sheet covered with all colors you can imagine. I took a closer look at the photos and realized it was pictures of the kids dancing on the sheet doing a footpaint. Great idea. I half-heartedly looked for Max and he was right where I expected him to be: running hither and thither and dancing about 6 feet away from the sheet and the paint. Loving being nakend except for his diaper but wanting no part of that big ol' mess. Gotta love him.

Sing-A-Long

2009-09-01T22:48:00.002-04:00

Yesterday morning, August 31 to be exact, marked one of those unexpected firsts in Max's life. I was driving him to school and singing "The Wheels on the Bus" when he joined in and sang a few words. He sang along with "round and round" and "all..thru..town". A wonderful milestone for sure.

If I can only remember to keep singing...

Cha-cha-cha-CHANGES

2009-08-31T12:52:00.004-04:00

It's official. Max is now a MONKEY. He even has the uniform!

In case you are wondering what I'm talking about. Welcome to the newest episode in the wonderful world of parenthood where we all sound like blathering, braggin idiots all the time. Can't use universal terms like 18 - 36 month room. That would be too easy. It's Monkeys or Butterflies and MAX is a Monkey. Still confused? Me, too.

Max has finally transitioned to the next room up at child care about 3 weeks ago. The rooms are all named after animals and his new room's cutey moniker is Monkeys. The official room sign is pictured below.

We have waited a looooooooooooooooooooooong time for this transition. He was in the old room about 4 months longer than he should have been. There was some sort of logjam in the transitioning. I guess Max was born at a particularly fertile time of year in the Ft. Detrick area. There were 5 toddlers waiting to move up in his room and they were getting BORED. Boredom combined with small spaces at this age is not a good thing. The kids answer to this was pretty much hitting, biting, chasing and pushing. There were a lot of incident reports to sign for all of the parents.

But, he's moved up and he got to go with one of his good friends, Trey. Change is hard for Max, particularly when it involves a change in the people in his life. He still has a good amount of stranger anxiety so he's been trying to adjust to the new caregivers. It's a challenge for all of us but we're getting through and Max is doing well. At first he would come home and say, "No Monkeys." The first day he went to Monkeys he came back to the Pooh Bear room at lunch and said, "I back. No Monkeys. Trey Monkey."

He's gotten more comfortable since then. It helps that they spend a lot more time outside. He LOVES being outside. They have a lot of activities and he's totally intrigued by the potty training. He's gone back to the 15 minute nap and, hopefully, that will change once he gets more comfortable with his new peeps. Though the drop off is still hard each day, he looks forward to school and always says, "Monkeys?" with an excited voice as we are getting ready in the morning.

One of his favorite people at school is an on-call employee named Michelle. She was in his room a lot when he first starting coming to the center. She is now in Monkeys covering for a gal who's on maternity leave. That has helped Max a lot. He will pat the ground next to him in whatever activity they are doing and say, "Sit. Chelle." Very cute.

Another one of his friends from Pooh Bears has transitioned into the room and he likes that. He's also made a new friend, Liam. The other day I asked him who his friends were at school and he told me Trey, Liam and Morgan. I was so impressed. It's amazing to think that we can actually have little conversations now. I don't know about Max but Dan and I are thrilled.

I took a picture of one of his art projects at school. Slowly, he's becoming more comfortable being messy. He likes playing with crayons and markers and even ink pads or paint brushes. The fingerpaint is still too messy for him but he might squish it around one of these days soon.

I started with out serious monkey and I'll sign off with our cheeky monkey. See you soon.

Mr. Personality

2009-08-28T17:09:00.003-04:00

It turns out that Max is both charming and a hellion, which is actually a pretty good mix. It keeps us on our toes for sure.

Here he is being partincularly charming last week before we left for school. He loves to play with hats and it's fun to watch him entertain himself putting the hats on and off and then trying to get them on Havers.

The terrible two's which the politically correct child developmental crowd now calls "asserting the independent self" are fully upon us. I will elaborate more on that in a later post.

For now, I will be thankful that our little man is still every bit as sweet and adorable as he has been. The difference is that the sweetness has been condensed to be even more intense and serves as a buffer for the moments of flailing legs, arms and screams of we're not quite sure what.

He's hilarious in that understated, straight-man kind of way but he can break into a giggle fit, too. I think this photo is a good example of that. More is coming soon.

Early Morning Cuteness

2009-08-09T11:00:00.002-04:00

Yesterday morning when Max woke up he called for me as usual and when I went to his room he looked up and me and said, "All done. Sleeping. All done, Mama." Who can resist? I gave it my best effort as it was 5:30 am. I trudged out to the kitchen, got some milk, brought him back to our bed and wouldn't you know it, we were up by 6.

On a related sleep topic, he's pretty interested in snoring. I taught him the word and the noise while entertaining him on our drive to the Maryland Shore last weekend. It just so happened that I brought a book that ends with Peter Rabbit sleeping and a snoring sound effect. Max thinks that's hilarious. He often asks for the bunny, (who is) sleeping and then he does a snoring sound effect. Such a card.

Hershey Park!

2009-08-07T17:22:00.005-04:00

We just got back from our morning constitutional. Max is down for a nap so I thought I'd take a moment to post. A couple of weeks ago we went to Trogue's Brewery in Harrisburg, PA and Herhsey Park with some friends. The brewery tour was great but we spent most of the tour in the back looking at the tanks and an air pump. Max just didn't have it in him to sit still through the brewing process. To be honest, our charming tour guide lost him after about 5 minutes of the history of the company!

After the brewery tour we headed over to Hershey Park for the freebie tour and a stroll through the marketplace. Hello Hershey!

Max had a marvelous time! He is quite the live wire. Always running from here to there and some days you wonder how did such a little boy get filled with so many antics? The world is his playground if only we'll let him play. Here he is trying to climb the fence to the NASCAR, which I think was a Reeses Cup decorated race car.

Then it was off to bite the tables. I'm glad we've given up on being germ-phobe parents. We'd been out of our minds trying to keep him out and off of everything and he'd be missing out on all this fun.

Everyone else had milkshakes but I had a sundae. YUM! Vanilla ice cream with peanut butter swirl, hot fudge and peanut butter sauce and I almost forgot the most important part - reese's cups. A little bit of heaven. You probably won't believe this but I didn't eat all of the sundae or any of the whip cream and gave Dan 3 of the 4 PB cups. I must have been feverish.

Time for head stands.

Shaking the sign.

Run, be chased, roll on the ground. Good times.

They say curiosity killed the cat but it merely led our child to rummage through the trash. He pulled this shiny purple and gold ribbon from the trash can and across the room. Nice.

Jason, the top of Elli-Grace's head and Anna Claire on the chocolate facotry tour. Max was not INTO this at all. I think he was scared. He lightened up a bit once we got to the conveyor belts with all the chocolate bars but even then he was "allllll done."

Photographic evidence that we were, in fact, in Hershey Park.

Hugs from Elli-Grace.

Looking cute. (Duh!) One of the funniest moments of the day was at the end of the chocolate tour. The Hershey Rep says good-bye and offers you a snack size hershey bar. Max was still a little traumatized by the tour so he said, NO to the bar. Dan took one. About 10 yards later, Max looks at Dan and says, "Chocolate. Please?" So cute and Dan could not say no. He LOVED his chocolate bar and had a bunch of chocolate all over his face. He even managed to con a whole bar out of Anna Claire. Lucky for him she's good at sharing.

It's so funny how the language development progresses. As far as we know he hasn't even heard the word chocolate that many times and he certainly hasn't had it more than 5 or 10 times so how did he know what to ask for? Don't know but still we were amazed.

The after party was not nearly as much fun as the trip. He was a very grumpy smurf but the picture is still pretty hilarious.

Happy Birthday Grandma Christie

2009-08-07T17:12:00.002-04:00

Dear Grandma Christie,

I hope you have a very Happy Birthday and remember how much we all love you! Please don't be too serious on your big day.

Just kick back and relax. Enjoy what comes.

Don't worry if the candles on your cake start a fire. I'll be there to put it out.

And above all, don't let the monster get you!

All my love and then some. MAX

Summer Fun - End of June

2009-07-24T13:06:00.009-04:00

Goodness! It's been a while. The summer has marched on and left my photo behind. I'm still back at June with our family pictures.

End of June was a fun time for our family. After being in Paris through the first half of June, Dan was home and had a reasonable work schedule so we were able to get some nice family time together.

Hooray! Max loved seeing his dad so much.

One major benefit of Dan being home is that Max got to go swimming. (I didn't have a swimsuit until July.)

As you can see, Max loves the water. He loves to be in the little pool - the hot tub without the heat - and wade around the sides, kick his feet and jump to Dan or I.

He's gone from being quite shy of the water to comfortable enough to put his face in. He'll kick his feet and sometimes move his arms a little. He almost let me put him on his back the other week but he changed his mind. We hope he continues to enjoy the water as he gets older and learns to swim.

I have reconnected with a Chris, good friend from Mills, through facebook. Turns out that she lives right here in Frederick about 10 minutes from us. It's been over 10 years but it truly feels like yesterday. Anyhow, we've had so much fun with Chris and Peter and their four kids. I think I've posted a few things with them before. From youngest to oldest the kids are:

Sean

Michael

Rachel

Caitlyn

Max just adores them and so do we. Here's a few from one of our evening with the Kenny's.

Here's our little man on the last day of June being his charming and helpful self before school one morning.

It's amazing to see how much he's grown and matured in the last 2 months. He loves to help with whatever we're doing whether it's walking the dog, cleaning up or sweeping - a huge favorite. He has loved putting things in the trash for a long time but now he's strong enough to pick up bags. Oh to view fun in the eyes of a toddler.

He has changed from a very cautious baby into a pretty adventurous toddler. He likes noise. He loves to go fast and he really like to ride things. Here he is riding his skateboard inside. Dan and I push him back and forth across the living room floor. I see a future luge or skeleton competitor.

Whew! That's an extra long post. I hope to get another up tomorrow with the 4th of July.

Cannonball

2009-06-29T16:19:00.003-04:00

We spent a good part of this past Sunday with our friends, The Kennys. They are a fun and wild bunch. Max loves running around with their four munchkins and we love hangin' with the adults. The Kenny kids love to play in the pool and they think Dan is loads of fun. Cannonball seems to have been the word of the day.

If only I'd gotten a better picture of the splash. Maybe on the 4th...

All Done

2009-06-29T16:17:00.005-04:00

Tonight I am just enchanted with Max.

He's such a sweet and smart boy with such a big heart and gobs of personality. It amazes me that he communicates so well for someone that has relatively few words. Most of all I love that he's so interested in communicating with us. The last few days he's woken up and promptly started naming all the things he can see. Mama, Max, blanket, doggy, monkey, dot, cup, light, shirt, shoe, book - I think you get the point.

One of his sweetest moments tonight was going on a hunt for his skateboard. It's been almost two weeks since he played with it. Who knew he even remembered he had it? He did and he knew just where it was. Marched to the closet, pointed and insisted on opening the door.

Another heart-melter was when he ran from eating his beans to me for hugs and then back to eating his beans or when he sat on the front porch oh so patiently watching me unload the car. When I was half way through he patted the top step and said, "Sit. Sit. Sit." Of course, I sat for a while and then finished unloading the car. When I unlocked the door he shot off the porch and ran as fast as he could down the sidewalk toward the park. I had to run as fast as I could to catch up!

He had some funny moments with the dog, too. He wanted to go in the yard with her tonight. He seems fascinated with her toys and tries to bring them inside for himself. Tonight he got distracted by the birds. They were twittering away so he stopped what he was doing and started singing to them, "tweet tweet tweet tweet."

He has started to realize that we tell her what to do - and sometimes she listens. He seems most interested in "sit". When I tell her to sit, he comes over and sits like she does all the while saying, "Sit". It's so funny because he squats and puts hit hands down on the ground in front of himself just like she sits. Sometimes, he'll tell himself to sit and other times he tries to tell her to sit. She doesn't listen to him yet.

It's always sweet to see him with Dan. They love each other so much and have such a good time. Tonight he wanted to "Go high" as in ride on Dan's shoulders. He thinks it's so much fun. And tonight he wanted to stop periodically to get hugs and kisses from Mama before resuming his trek around the house "on high".

Warning: These pictures are not from tonight but I've been wanting to post them. I think they are about two weeks old - near the end of Dan's trip to Paris. Time flies. One way you can tell that these aren't up to the minute is that he doesn't have scratch marks all over his face. Pretty cute, though.

A couple cute ones of Hoover.

And now, like Max, I'm "DONE." Good night.

Daycare Can Be Dangerous

2009-06-29T16:16:00.002-04:00

It's official. Max is a resilient little trooper. Last Thursday he basically got attacked just about all day by one of his little friends in daycare. No one knows why but look at the damage done!

I was so shocked when I picked him up that I was literally speechless. There were 8 - count them - 8 big scratches with 2 of them quite close to his eyes. Thank goodness the eyes were avoided. Child care had called me twice to tell me that another child had scratched Max a couple of times but no way I was expecting this. Poor guy. We still can't figure out why they let it go on so long before sending the child out of the room (at 4:30) and why they couldn't keep the two separate.

I am amazed by how well Max took all of it. Physically, I think it bothered him for about 2 days. He would cry a lot when he woke up but otherwise he seemed fine. The next day I asked if he wanted to go to school and he was so excited to go and I asked if he wanted to see his friend and he said yes so hooray for leave the past in the past.

It's Monday now and we've had no further incident on Friday or today. Max seems to be healing well and has a bunch of shiny, neosporin dots on his face. Wee ones. They are amazing.

Not a Big Fan of the Bland

2009-06-23T23:08:00.002-04:00

We're discovering a whole new Max as we watch him explore and expand his palate. Lately he's been so adventurous with food and we're loving it. For a boy who took his time starting to eat "human food", he really has come so far. It's interesting and amazing to watch.

He loves to try what we're eating and it's always a surprise what he will and won't ask for "more" of. The most recent winners were:

*Garlic and Onion Shrimp (one of Dan's specialties and very popular with the little man)
*Feta Cheese - Say what? It's good stuff but I was surprised.
*Roasted almonds
*Spicy Barbacoa from Chipotle
*Goat's Milk Cheddar
*Extra Sharp Cheddar

It appears he's got a taste for sharp, tangy and spicy.

Fun and Games

2009-06-22T07:36:00.008-04:00

Max and I had a lot of fun on Saturday morning. He was starting to get sick - a little laryngitis if you can believe it - and it didn't slow him down a bit. He was eating breakfast and being quite the card playing a rather strenuous game of peek-a-boo. It's just divine to hear his giggle. Such joy and so pure.

Ah, those blocky little Barney Rubble feet.

I love how he was having so much fun that he started laughing in anticipation of seeing me on his way down.

What a great way to start the morning!

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T22:15:00.003-04:00

To all you dads out there - and to my husband who is the most amazing DAD - Happy Father's Day.

Dan had to work today so we celebrated father's day a little early and had a special menu for dinner and some good family time and a great evening with friends yesterday. These a two pictures from our day starting with a typical Max & Dan pose where Max asks Dan to pick him up and then orders him to "GO". Dan had just gotten home from work - a 24 hour shift - and he stepped right into Daddy duty as he always does.

Another classic Dan and Max photo...just goofin' and having fun. It's such a joy to watch them together.

Happy Father's Day to Dan. We both love you oh so much.

TV and MElmo

2009-06-19T14:21:00.002-04:00

Warning: These pictures are from the way back machine. April 2009 to be exact. I meant to post them but it just didn't happen.

So, this is in the first 10 times that Max has watched TV. He watched some on-demand animal shows with my mom one day when he was one sick with her but other than that he really hasn't been exposed to TV or DVDs, etc. Pretty much Elmo is like crack. Max loves him. Has loved him from the first moment he saw him on a t-shirt, in fact. As you can see, he is pretty much mesmerized.

We pulled up this episode of Sesame Street on PBS on demand expecting no drama at all. Little did we know that this episode would feature balls - Max's favorite toy in the whole wide world. He is drawn to the glowing box like a moth to flame but he doesn't fully get it yet. (Yay! I hope it's not a big part of his life for a long time to come.) The down-side to not getting TV is that he thought Elmo was throwing him the ball and then he couldn't catch it.

He was so sad and upset when the ball did not come to him. He kept looking at me and saying, "Ball? Ball? MElmo. Ball?" Poor little guy. Of course, he didn't want the ball I gave him either. However, once they stopped throwing the ball and moved on to other ball activities, he calmed down and enjoyed himself. The only picture I got of that was the back of his head.

Super Hero Swimmer

2009-06-19T14:07:00.003-04:00

Max's Auntie Bex and Uncle Keith got him a swimsuit for Christmas. Now that it's warm he finally has occasion to wear it! For the most part, we've been hanging out in our friend's pool. (Thanks Chris and Peter!)

After some initial cautiousness, Max has really warmed up to the idea of swimming and seems to show no fear of the water - as evidenced by flinging himself into the pool head first on more than one occasion. Thankfully, his daddy is always there to catch him.

Max's friend Michael says, "I like Max's swim suit. He looks like a super hero." We kind of think so, too. We get a kick out of how tiny his little tush looks compared to his hulking chest. HAHAHA. You can't see it really well in these pics but you get the general idea.

Michael has quite the swim get-up as well. Not only is he sweet as can be, he's outrageously cute. The goggles are our favorite part.

Auntie Bex also outfitted Max with some sunglasses last summer. He wanted no part of those! This summer he's warming up to them. He likes to wear them inside while he rides his pony.

Fun in the Morning

2009-06-19T13:54:00.004-04:00

Here is Max all ready for school earlier this week. Usually, he's a bundle of energy and a super happy guy in the morning.

This particular morning I actually managed to get up in enough time to go for a small walk before taking Max to school. You can see his little wheels of mischief just turning, turning, turning here.

Birds are a constant source of interest and amusement. He loves to sing to the birds and you can often hear him singing to the birds and saying, "tweet, teet, teet" as he's riding around in his buggy, swinging or walking around. Here he is showing me the birds that are flying above our neighbor's house.

Max absolutely loves to be outside. There are so many more interesting things to do out there! Sometimes it's a challenge to get him a) in the car or b) in the house. This was one of those days but thankfully I had a little extra time. There's a little catch me if you can moment going on here.

I'm hoping to get a bunch of posts up this weekend but if I don't, I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend!

SIT

2009-06-19T13:53:00.001-04:00

This is what happened when I said "Sit please." this morning. Looks like they both listened for a change! Ha!

It's funny because Max is beginning to realize that the dog will do what you say - sometimes. Right now the only thing he tells her to do is, "Go." Usually he wants her to go outside or go on her bed but sometimes none of us know where he wants her to go. Havers, for her part, either ignores him or looks at him with her head cocked awaiting further directions. Funny funny.

If I Don't Tell You Now, I'll forget.

2009-06-05T22:43:00.002-04:00

I keep forgetting to leave a record of so many of Max's firsts. They just get away from me. There are so many of them, after all. Anyhow, I so looked forward to the day that Max would start blowing kisses. Well, that day came and I went and I forgot to chronicle it. That's what happens. You get so busy with pick-ups and drop-offs and ear infections and crazy dog escapes that you just forget to write things down on the date they happen. Not so with this one.

Well, ok, so I don't know the exact day...but that's not the important part. Within the last week Max has started making kissing noises a.k.a. the pucker when he blows a kiss and even sometimes when he kisses you. He also starting meowing on Monday. This may not sound like a milestone but we've been working on this for months. It's pretty cute and actually more of a mew than a meow.

I'm sort of working on not too much sleep - if you couldn't tell. Have a good night everyone.

Yard Drama

2009-06-05T15:00:00.004-04:00

This is what I found on our door when I got home from work yesterday. It's a Cut Yer Darn Grass Citation with a big heart from Michael Brown with the City of Frederick. Nice duct tape on the door. Looks like our neighbot finked on us for having "too high" of grass.

This is what Max thinks of our citation.

Hoover wanted to check out what all the commotion was about.

She and Max are pretty much in agreement about the citation.

Enough about the citation. Here's just a cute one of our Max. He's doing his "Milk Please".

Max dressed himself today. Tree Hugger shirt and "socks" on his arms. Those are a pair of baby legs leg warmers (Flash Dance fashion will never truly die.) and Max has suddenly become obsessed with them over the last two days. "Socks" was the first word he said upon waking today. Little nut.

My 100th Post - Max's 1st Overseas Call

2009-06-01T23:49:00.002-04:00

Evening all. I can't believe I've actually posted 100 notes on this blog. It's amazing that I got beyond 25.

It seems that I'm going pictureless for a couple days. I've got no photos to upload but I do have stories to share and rather than stage re-enactment photos for each and everyone while waiting to post, I decided to go ahead and post sans photos then update later.

Yesterday, Sunday May 31, 2009, Max had his first overseas phone call. His pops is off glavanting around the world for work and the two of them had one of those AT&T moments where they just had to reach out and touch someone. The phone call was actually Max's idea. He had listend to Dan say hi the day before, smiled, grabbed the phone and promptly hung up on him.

We were just hanging out yesterday morning when he grabbed my phone from the hall table, opened it up and handed it to me while saying, "Daddy?". It was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen - even in my current cynical existance. I called Dan immediately. I got voice mail so I left a message. Dan called us back within 5 minutes and Max was so happy to hear his voice. He smiled, blew kisses and said hi. He really didn't know what to do while Dan was talking to him but he clearly loved knowing Dan was there. I suggested the only no fail, ongoing interactive conversation that I can have with Max any time, any where. It starts with, "What sound does an elephant make?" Max and Dan went through his whole zoo and then Max said, "Byeye", blew a kiss and off he went. Sunday sweetness.

Max Has a Rockin' Day

2009-05-31T00:08:00.002-04:00

Max was a little man on fire today. A ball of energy and like that darn pink bunny he kept going and going and going...

His mama did not get any pictures. Say what? Woman, you got to get on the ball! However, I did want to post a little update about his activities.

For a couple of weeks now the little man has been showing interest in riding the rocking animals but didn't actually want to do it for any length of time. He wanted to watch and maybe sit on the critter but no bouncing - except for this 40 year old metal turtle up the street that he rode for about an hour. Go figure. However, it seems the ice was broken today. He got up on his rocking horse at our house and had a great time rocking himself. He didn't even want my help but he did want me to sing. I have been singing the Bonanza theme song while he's been exploring the ins and outs of rocking animals. Today, when I stopped singing, he turned around and said, "More." Too cute.

Later in the day we headed to Smithsburg for Samantha's soccer tournament and to hang out with the Mills girls. There are a bunch of rocking animals there and Max decided he wanted to ride. He was so funny at first. He walked around and looked at each of them and even touched a couple before deciding on which he wanted to ride. I thought he'd pick the elephant but he picked the pig! Once he got his first ride in he wanted to ride almost all of the rest of the animals, too. He never did get on the frog or the duck. Wonder why?

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the coolest part of his riding the rocking horse is that this is the horse Dan and Rebecca had growing up. I think a relative made it. Anyhow, it still wears a band-aid that Rebecca put on when he cracked a rocker. Amazingly, Max has not removed the band-aid even though he is very interested in it. I'll have to get a pic tomorrow and add to this entry later this week.

Good night all.

Happy Memorial Day

2009-05-25T19:35:00.003-04:00

Memorial Day 2009 is drawing to a close and I feel such gratitude to the men and women who have served this country and especially to those who have given their lives that we may live freely. I am amazed at their courage, honor and selfless service. I finish my day reflecting on their greatness.

It is so easy to forget how lucky we are to enjoy the many riches in our lives due to the sacrifices of so many. What would our lives be like had the revolutionaries let tyranny prevail or had George Washington become the King so many wanted him to be? What if millions of citizen soldiers turned their back on the Union or refused to answer the call to fight Nazis, facists and also the war in the Pacific or the many conflicts our citizen soldiers have served in throughout our history? I do not even want to imagine. Their courage and honor in the face of discomfort, fearsome conflict and the horror of war is truly amazing.

MAX

2009-05-19T17:19:00.001-04:00

I'll admit it. Max started doing the sweetest thing on Mother's Day. The best part is it was totally unprompted and out of the blue. I'm so very glad I was there to hear it. He was lying on the changing table and started pointing to himself with both hands, saying "Max". He did it a couple of times then moved on to making animal noises. (Big surprise.) This was the first time he ever said his name and I got to hear it. Yee haw!

He's done this fairly regularly since then. Sometimes he does it when he takes the family census, where he accounts for all of us...Daddy, Mama, Doggy and Max. He does it at daycare and every so often he'll do it in the car while we're out driving around.

It is the most amazing thing to watch him discover himself. He's literally making realizations about who he is, what his body does and how he fits into the world each and every day. Blows my mind when I take a moment to think about it.

Pretty soon we'll have to start teaching him the intro for Hart to Hart. That's a classic.

Sweet Dreams, Sweet Boy

2009-05-12T16:28:00.004-04:00

Lately I've taken to watching Max sleep. I used to do this a long time ago when he first came home. I think I did it then because I couldn't believe he was home with us and also because I was paranoid that he'd stop breathing. (Go Hypochondriac Worriers!) Now I think I do it because it's so unusual to see him still and in repose. I wonder what he is dreaming and then I wonder at all he's done and learned in the day. Like a voyeur I snap his picture and try to save the moment forever.

April 26, 2009. Completely relaxed and peaceful.

Friday, May 8 - Ballet Boy

We had a most beautiful walk post rain on Monday night. I'm so glad we went out even though it was a bit chilly. He was perfectly content in snooze.

Tuesday night, May 12 - Frogger

Mother's Day

2009-05-12T16:23:00.006-04:00

It was my second official Mother's Day and I had a wonderful time with Max, Havers and Dan. I can't imagine a more perfect day - or weekend. We didn't really do any thing "special" but we hung out, got a lot of sun and enjoyed each other and the fresh air.

First up was a nice little sleep in. Dan got up with Max and they amused each other until I woke up around 8. We got our gear together and hit the road for a walk on the C&O Canal. A perfect day for a walk. We decided to check out a new section of the canal so we headed west and found the Cushwa trailhead/park. This is where the canal museum is but we decided to check that out later. Max was so excited to get going that he took a little tumble right outside the truck. His first knee scrape. He was a good sport about it and was up and ready to go in no time.

Check out his knee.

He absolutely loved being out on the trail. He is particularly enamoured with birds right now and we heard so many singing while we walked. Every so often he'd sing back, "Tweet teet teet teet teet." Tres adorable.

For those of you who haven't seen the C&O Canal, it's covered with a nice desciduous canapy and the trail is illuminated with the most wonderful dappled sunlight. Max really enjoyed looking "UP" and seeing the sky, sun, leaves, trees and occasional bird.

We probably walked about 4 and a 1/2 miles altogether. We passed a water pump about a mile down the trail and stopped to get Hoover some water. Here she is waiting while Dan pumps.

The funny thing was how excited Max was about the pump. It was the first time that he seemed to get the connection between water (the moving substance) and water (in his cup). We were giving Hoover water in the Dunkin' Donuts cup (as I forgot her foldable dish) and he marched right over to the buggy and got out his cup and put it right where Hoover's cup had been. The water from the pump was brown and disgusting. No way we were giving it to Max but Dan had a brain flash. He put the cup down and pumped water so it looked like it was getting filled. Max wasn't fooled. When we handed him the cup he put it right back where it had been to get filled. What a character!

Max walked some but rode in the buggy for the most part.

Once we finished with the walk we hung out and let Max play on a nice grassy patch near the parking lot and river. He had a lot of fun watching the dogs go by and running in the grass. He discovered rocks and drawing with sticks. We had so much fun.

We were pretty tuckered out after our walk and playtime at the canal. We drove home, took a little nap and Max drove his car in the driveway. He also played with his alphabet magnets in the ktichen while we fixed an early dinner. Here he is trying to stuff them in his pants. I think he was trying to put them in his pockets but didn't quite get the principle. Maybe he was just trying to stuff them in his pants. Either way, it was pretty hilarious and the pictures do not convey even a tenth of the humor. He had a look of complete and total concentration on his face. Too much.

He kept asking to go for a ride in the wagon so we took him on a walk to Baker Park in his big wagon. We had a great nap under the shade of a huge oak tree in the park and then headed to the playground for swings and slides. So much fun and then we headed home with our sweet red sunburns.

After such a busy day, you'd have thought Max would be ready to throw in the towel but he was still as playful as can be. He played hide and seek in the curtains while Dan got dinner ready. He just had a ball.

We headed over to Ann and Andy's for a quick picnic and visit around the fire after our game of hide and seek. Max finally gave up the ghost even though he tried valiantly to stay awake. The energizer bunny ain't got nothin' on Max Zander.

He wasn't the only tired one. Hoover was pretty much done for, too.

When all was said and done and we'd tucked our sunkissed selves in for the night, we had sweet dreams and a peaceful rest. Happy Mother's Day to everyone!

Boys Just Want to Have Fun

2009-05-07T16:52:00.004-04:00

Last Sunday Max and I headed over to Kristi, Chloe and Sam's. We had a great time. Max always has fun with the girls and whenever they part ways he is tuckered out and ready for bed. Sam and Chloe have an AWESOME dress up closet and they love to use it. Max has watched them play dress up several times but this Sunday he was tired of watching and wanted in on the action.

He came across the room with a tutu in his hand saying, "Help. Help." Like any good Mama, I did. He looked cute as a button and he was THRILLED. He had so much fun watching the girls, following them around and dancing just like they did. There were smiles and giggles all around.

I love this one of him dancing with the girls. It was so sweet.

In true toddler fashion it was over as quickly as it began. Max tired of dancing and wanted to hide behind the chair again. I hear a series of "Help. Help. Help." coming from the other room and there he is pointing to the tutu and saying help. He wanted to take it off because it was interfering with climbing on the chair and he couldn't fit in his super fab hiding spot.

Soemtime later he decided to put on bangles just like the girls. He's so darn serious. You should have seen him picking just the right bracelet and putting it on so carefully. Rearranging them to be sure they were in the right order. He's something!

He also colored with Sam. Look at her supermodel pose.

He helped Chloe put a puzzle together. Actually, he put every piece Chloe took out of the box back into the box.

He couldn't take his eyes off Chloe during dinner. I'm glad she ate as well as she did because he gobbled up all of his veggies while watching her. Aren't they just too much? Chloe has the sweetest smile here.

We hit a milestone in imaginative play as well. He started crawling around chasing Chloe and getting her to chase him all the while pretending he was a dog. Funny boy. We'll see what the next visit brings.

Words, Words & A Few Good Sound Effects

2009-05-04T23:46:00.005-04:00

Our little guy has always been a chatterbox. He was cooing up a storm and making all sorts of noises even in the first hours after he popped out and said, "Let me back in!"

Like most babies, his coos and giggles evolved into babbling and before we knew it, he'd say something to us and then look at us like "What? Are you slow?" There have been times where he repeats the same phrase over and over and we would trade nearly anything to figure out what he's saying but, alas, it's not meant to be...until recently.

His language has really taken off in the last month or so. He went from a vocabulary of five or six words to double digits. Most of his words are single syllable but he has a few doubles in there. Recent additions include flower and outside. His very first two syllable word was bubble, which he always said as a question. Too cute.

Before I make a big ol' boring list of his current words I thought I'd revisit his first words. I never did make it to the calendar to write down the exact days he said what but we have a general idea. I remember quite clearly that the first word I heard him say was light and that was around 9 months. Doggy and Daddy followed soon after though it's still hard to tell which he's saying at a given time. Thank goodness for context.

He babbled mama and mummummum a bunch when he was even younger. He went through a phase where he said "cocka" all the time and I'm quite certain he was trying to crow like a rooster. But it was Daddy that first really got his attention and ours. He said Daddy nonstop for probably two months or more.

Max's Very Voluptuous Vocab
Daddy
Mommy
dog/doggy
kitty
flower
bubble
outside
go
BALL
car
truck
up
help
more
light
bye
hi
cracker
cup (probably)
trash (definitely)
read (introduced for the first time this morning and all on his own without prompting. he brought a book to me and said, "read?")
diaper (i think but who knows for sure because it sounds an awful lot like dobby.)
key (The other day I said, "Now where's Mama's keys?" and the little guy went right over to the table, grabbed some keys and brought them to me.

That's the list of words I think he actually knows but there are so many more he'll say. We've gotten to the stage where we have to watch what we say because he'll repeat anything and everything. I guess this stage lasts for a while. =)

In addition to words, he has an extensive animal noises vocab. Max's Menagerie includes dog; bird; bear, lion and tiger all make the same noise; snake, elephant, duck and cow. We took a little video and I hope to heaven that it posts. See below.

I still don't know if the elephant or the bird is my favorite. They both make me laugh. Let us know which you like best.

GO MAX GO!

Where's the Camera?

2009-05-04T00:21:00.003-04:00

It's a rainy Sunday in Frederick! Max and I headed out to visit with Kristi, Chloe and Samantha this afternoon. We had a great time. Sam and Chloe have a great playroom stuffed with all sorts of fun toys - much of it pink. At one point during the day Max went to one of the large pink plastic barbie houses and took out a vanity with mirror. See below.

He was so intent on what he was doing that I became a little curious. I should have grabbed the camera because he spent about 30 seconds positioning the vanity just so and then backing up to it to sit down. Needless to say, it did not support him but he's no quitter. He managed to actually sit on it one time and he seemed quite pleased with himself while it lasted. He tried a couple more times. It was such a funny sight and I really wish I'd had the camera.

The funny thing is that it actually makes logical sense when you look at it from his perspective. It does look like a tiny chair and why wouldn't you sit on it? He sits on all sorts of toy chairs. I kept the camera in hand on the off chance that he'd sit on it again but this was the best I got.

The Last Weekend in April

2009-05-03T09:42:00.008-04:00

Happy Sunday everyone! I'm trying to catch up on my posts a bit. Last week was pretty hectic with work, Beta Sigma Phi, trying to keep a handle on our escape artist canine and Dan being gone.

Last weekend (April) Max and I had great fun spending lots of time with friends. We spent Saturday and Sunday nights with the Kenny clan. Here is Max with my friend, Chris, who is one of the top bananas in the Kenny family. I love this picture because it captures one of his signature expressions that always makes me laugh.

Max had so much fun with Caitlyn, Rachel, Michael and Shawn. I got a few pictures in the last post but I have a couple more. The kids had a great time playing outside and were all over the place. The rocking horse was just one of many fun activities Saturday night.

I don't know if you can see it but Max has a skinned knee. He fell on the patio and made a little noise then got right back up and into the thick of things. It's one of the many ways you can see his independence growing. A few kind words from us and a kiss or two is usually all he needs now for the little bumps and scrapes. What a big boy!

Here's Sean on the horse. He is a card. I'm pretty sure we'll see him on stage or silver screen one day.

Here's charming Michael. He is always so sweet with Max. Playing with him gently and playing the games Max wants to. Michael is the person who taught Max about digging rocks and sand. Max thinks Michael is the coolest!

We didn't have catch any pictures of the girls this time but we will soon.

Max had fun with Hoover on Sunday morning. They played fort. You should have heard the giggling...until he got stuck under a chair. The amazing thing is that I can now give him directions like, "Lay on your stomoache and scoot back." and he can do it to get unstuck from the chair. Go Max!

Did we have a good weekend? The proof is in the pudding. A great weekend shows on a TIRED, TIRED boy who was clearly kissed by the sun and just sacked out.

More later. Have a wonderful Sunday and Peace be with you.

Max as Oliver Twist

2009-04-29T05:08:00.006-04:00

I just want to start this post by saying, "Aagh. It's hard to live in a house with a noisy basement as night." For some reason our basement has been so noisy lately. It's probably just me though the critters do not help the situation - especially when my pirate cat runs up and down the stairs with his peg leg. =) Anyhow, said noises woke me up from a creepy crawly dream and come to think of it, that's not all bad. I dreamed that bugs were crawling all over me and now I can't shake the feeling even though I'm awake. It's those darn ANTS!

As long as I'm up I thought I'd share some photos of the little man and his quest for M&Ms.

Max had melty M&Ms this weekend and he LOVED them! He got so excited and kept asking for more. Finally, after 20 or so, I said no. At first this confused him and he looked at me like I had not heard him and then said again, "Mohr?" This is Max immediately post "Mohr?"

After another no he gave me his ol' but I'm so cute and they are so good look.

Then he seemed to think about it for a bit.

After a couple seconds there came a "Can I have some more please?" plea and he looked as if he might suddenly become the saddest boy in the whole wide world.

Then he just couldn't help himself and started giggling. Here's a sweet smile at some point in the giggles.

Finally, he decided it wasn't going to happen and proceeded to wipe his chocolately, melty M&M face all over the bed. I didn't get it on film as he'd opted for the whole let's see what happens if I give her a kiss and smear melty M&Ms all over her face move after that. He's a smart little bugger and darn adorable, too.

A Fun and Busy Day

2009-04-25T21:46:00.003-04:00

What a great day! The only thing missing was Dan. He is in an undisclosed location for work and we missed him but we had so much fun on our first hot day of the year!

He did get a bit of a farmer's tan. Here's a peek:

Things Max learned today:

1. Max *hearts* M&Ms.
2. Max will do just about anything for an M&M.
3. Havers is part racoon and can slip through a 3 inch opening in the fence.
4. Toast and Jelly is good as long as you can wipe the jelly on your shirt and pants.
5. People will bargain you down from a quarter to a dime at a yard sale.
6. Max *hearts* nacho cheese flavored doritos almost as much as M&Ms.
7. Sunscreen is important for pale people like us.
8. Don't stop playing with your stuff 'cuz someone will steal it and sell it.
9. People love to hear Max's impressions of an elephant and a bird.
10. Anita delivers our mail and she is super nice.

Fun at the Front Door

2009-04-24T17:15:00.008-04:00

Max is a busy boy! He goes a mile a minute and is very curious. He loves to explore and has become quite playful. It's really fun for the rest of us.

Dan is out of town and I took forever getting us ready to get out the door and on our evening walk. Two months ago this would have been so hard for Max but now he's more independent and able to explore a little on his own. He spent a good 5 minutes trying to put the car key in the front door lock. It was really amazing to watch. He was so focused and knew just where the key went into the door lock. He just wandered over to the "key table", picked up the key and tried to put it in the door. I was impressed by that but even more impressed by his determination to get the key in the lock despite the fact that it was a little too high AND his ability to keep calm even though it was the wrong key.

This is one of the reasons it takes me forever to get out of the house or get stuff done in the house. I can't help but watch him. I don't want to miss a minute and it all happens so fast. I guess I wouldn't mind missing a couple of the tantrums. I'll trust Dan's recap on those. =)

One of his favorite things to do right now is play window games. He's on one side and someone else is on the other. Once he knew I was watching him he stopped playing with the key and started making all these great faces. He smushed his face right up on the glass and had a ball. You should have heard his giggles coming through the door. Such a sweet sound. This, of course, is a reenactment a few minutes later but he's still having a blast.

He absolutely loves to hide and have you find him. His favorite spots are the bedroom closet, the blue bathroom shower and any closet/doorway. This evening he decided to try the front door. Turns out it's a pretty good hiding spot but not quite enough room for a growing boy.

You found me!

Let's do it again.

You found me again! How do you do that?

Look at that face.

Hoover did not want to be left out of the action. She was nosing her way into the door and I managed to get a couple of good pictures before Max decided it was his spot and tried to push her back. Methinks it will not be long until we begin to hear, "MINE" chirped over and over.

1st School Photo

2009-04-24T17:12:00.003-04:00

Max's first school photo was the Friday before Easter - right after his haircut. He did a great job and loved playing with the GIANT crayon. Pretty cute, don't ya think?

Goose Egg

2009-04-24T17:04:00.004-04:00

Poor Max! He had a hard day on Wednesday (April 22). He took two big falls at daycare and they were within a couple hours of each other. The serious bummer is that he hit the same spot on his head each time.

We were pretty concerned but he seems to be fine. That was quite a knot on his forehead! It's finally going down and the bruise seems to be coming in now. Auntie Bex offered to bubble wrap him. That might not be such a bad idea!

Crazy Hair Day

2009-04-22T15:20:00.002-04:00

Today is crazy hair day at Max's school. We gelled up his hair pretty good. At first he wasn't too keen on the idea but once we had him look in the mirror he thought it was pretty funny and offered his head for more.

Maybe next year we can put some color in and get a really good stick 'em up hair product.

Pretty cute guy! I also love Dan's expression.

It's My Haircut and I'll Cry If I Want To

2009-04-21T17:44:00.004-04:00

Nax finally got a real offical haircut! It goes without saying that he LOVED it. Hahahaha. Good to see I haven't lost my humor even after 35 minutes of crying, squirming and general death wailing.

Technically, Max did have a haircut a few months ago. I managed to shear a few of his longest locks while he was sleeping. Yes - sleeping. We had tried to cut his hair while he was awake and it was not pretty. We opted to forgo the haircut and give him a trim while he was racked out. The cut was a little jagged but it worked for a few months. As Easter approached, I realized that I had to suck it up and take him for a do.

Where to go? Where to go? A couple gals at work suggested the barber shop up the street - Gentlemen's Choice. I NEVER would have gone here on my own or even thought they cut kids hair so I'm really glad for the suggestion. I only wish I had a photo of the exterior to share with you. You'd see what I mean.

Anyhow, I scheduled the appointment for the Friday before Easter. It was picture day at school so the timing ended up being pretty good. I also really wanted to get his haircut before he saw his Auntie Bex at Easter.

I think the pictures pretty much speak for themselves. I should add that the woman was AWESOME and very patient. She even tried giving Foxy a haircut. Max thought that was hilarious but it did nothing to endear him to his own haircut experience. The barber working the chair next to us was pretty great, too. They didn't bat an eyelash at all that hollerin'. Thanks to my mom for taking all of the action photos.

He was squiggling so much that I finally had to pin him in my arms. That worked for about 1 minute of calm and then the storm hit again.

As you can see we tried bribing him with cookies and while he held on to said cookie with a death grip, it did not distract him from his misery.

Suddenly, we're all done. The brush was more interesting than the scissors but still not something Max was interested in.

Finally, Grandma Christie rescued me. Whew!

Mama forgot to bring a second shirt to change into. He was bare chested at the end.

One thing I failed to catch on film is the charm of the barbershop. Taxidermy all around. Two bucks in the waiting room. Max was really interested in those handsome fellas. There was a squirrel jumping off the wall while smoking a cigarette above the chair Max was sitting in. I'd say there was a pretty decent man-room vibe going on.

Shoot! I forgot to bring his certificate to scan. Ah well. Thank goodness we made it through the experience. Let's hope his hair grows really slowly!

First Swim

2009-04-20T16:11:00.003-04:00

Whew! It's been such a long time since I posted. We've had a very busy 5 weeks and I can't begin to get caught up on just one post. I'll start with an easy one...Max's 1st swim.

We met up with the Zander Clan in Pittsburgh for Easter Weekend. We had a great visit with everyone and I'll tell ya all about it later. We've been meaning to get Max in the water for quite some time but it hasn't worked out. Dan was determined that he'd at least get him in the pool while we were on our Easter trip. We woke up bright and early Saturday mornig. (Gosh, what a surprise.) We headed right down to the pool. Dan in his swimsuit and me with camera in hand.

Max spent most of his swim sitting on the top step and that wasn't an instant success. Thank goodness for the kid-friendly life guard who handed us a little fish for Max to play with. It was just what he needed. He chewed on his fish and wiggled it in the water.

After a while he felt like splashing a little and then he let Dan take him for a little swim. He floats surprisingly well for a little guy that seems to have 0 body fat. At first he seemed to enjoy his swim.

Then he wasn't so sure.

But by the end he seemed ready to go again. This is his facial expression when we asked if he wanted to swim again. If you don't spend a lot of time with him you probably wouldn't know that he is actually saying "Yah!" in his photo.

We'll have to get him back in the water again soon. Looks like I might need to get a bathing suit. Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Bedtime Giggles for Mr. Chocolate Pudding Face

2009-03-08T21:52:00.005-04:00

These photos were from last Sunday - March 1st. Bedtime for Max is either a crash and burn situation or a long ritual full of much clowning around and attempts at avoidance. We're still working on a smooth transition.

This is an example of bedtime avoidance. Here he is rolling in the hallway but not a bit tired. Can't you tell?

Dan is running the bath and Max is trying to convince us that we've got much more important stuff to do...

...like play ball.

OK. OK. I surrender.

Just rolling around the hall while I wait for my bath...but I'm still not tired.

You can't undress me if I duck and dodge.

He gets so ticklish when he's tired. Those belly laughs are the best noise ever.

Bathtime = Lots of singing, splashing and throwing balls

If you enlarge this picture, you can see how BIG his molars are.

Concentrating on figuring out this brush. Dan brushed Max's hair and then Max wanted to brush Dan's. Every so often he'd take a break to examine the brush. I love how his tongue is sticking out.

All done and ready to get wrapped in a towel.

Now it's time for a story and singing and some milk and cuddles and then night night.

Climb Every Mountain

2009-03-07T22:40:00.004-05:00

Until last week Max had been quite a cautious boy. He was always sure to observe and assess every situation before taking a go. This held true for the various skills like sitting, crawling, walking, etc. We never really saw him practice. It was like he observed until he thought he knew what to do, tried it a few times and *voila* he could do it.

Last weekend all this flew out the window. Our little man threw caution to the wind and started climbing his little heart out. He has no regard for danger, height, falls or any of it. He just loves moving and seems to see all objects as a challenge to be summitted. I managed to catch a few of his antics on tape. Look at me - photographing when I should be saying, "No, that's dangerous." We're more likely to say, "Be careful." Even so, it's so darn fun to watch him feeling more confident and taking a more active role in exploring his environment. He is just having so much fun.

Here he is climbing his chairs (and table!) that we just got for him at IKEA.

As you can see, he uses the table for leverage to get up and over the couch.

He will also push his little chair around as a means to midpoint between the floor and a seemingly unattainable height like the hutch in the dining room. He's a thinker that boy.

Finally, one of his more impressive moves involves the acrobatic required to get up on our dining room chairs.

He puts his feet on the bottom support rung then flings himself over the arm and slithers onto the seat while on his stomache.

Then he rotates and stands up while trying to shimmy up the spindles of the chair back. Smart and determined. We better watch out.

February 15 - That was good!

2009-03-07T05:21:00.001-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day - A Little Late

2009-03-07T04:01:00.011-05:00

We had a great Valentine's Day! I knew Dan was going to be in Chicago for work so I decided to host a little get together with the girls and a couple of our cuties. Our Valentine's Visitors included Kristi, Sam and Chloe; Brenda and Drew and Sarah.

Here are all the kidlets gathered up for a photo in the beginning.

It was nigh on impossible to get everyone looking in the same direction at the same time so we thought this was pretty good. Sam and Chloe were ready to go as soon as they got here. Max and Drew spent a few minutes checking each other out and then ZOOM they all got moving.

Chloe

Sam

Drew

Max and Chloe

Chloe and Sam brought Valentine's Bags for the boys and Max thought he needed both! Drew was very understanding. Eventually Max surrended the 2nd bag to Drew, its rightful owner and contented himself with his own bag. Sometime during the afternoon he found the real treasure - Brenda's pink bag! He carried that bag all over the house. He hung it on his arm as if he were shopping at the market.

Chloe and Sam had a great time with the exercise ball.

Max rode the zebra and spread goldfish cheer ALL over the living room. Drew got in on the goldfish action and even Havers came out of hiding to have a few.

Storytime

We had a nice dinner where the girls ate many, many cresent rolls - their favorite and Max and Drew played with their food and each other.

Brenda and Drew left after dinner but the rest of us decorated cupcakes. The creativity and dedication to using every drop of icing and speck of sprinkles was outstanding. The girls had a lot of fun and Max enjoyed watching. He didn't exactly jump at the chance to decorate but he had a ball destroying his cupcake. He even got a little icing in his mouth!

Auntie Sarah Comes to Town

2009-03-04T22:44:00.006-05:00

Dear Miss Crumb came to visit mid-February while Dan was on business in Chicago. It was so great to see her. It had been such a long time since we'd last had a visit. She had lots of catching up to do with Max, but he had to wrestle with Hoover for her attention. Hoover, like most pooches, loves Sarah. She was, as you can see, in heaven.

We spent the days hanging out with the critters and the Max Factor and we talked until the wee hours of the morning. As often happens, we both needed a vacation from Sarah's vacation so that we could get back to "real life".

Max had a lot of fun playing with Sarah. They read books, horsed around, built stuff with the blocks and generally had a good time. He thought she was pretty hilarious.

We had a chance to visit Chris, a Mills friend, and her family for dinner one night. Caitlyn and Rachel loved Sarah and had a ball playing Princess Concentration among other noble games. Here she is in her crown and with the girls.

Michael and Max playing together.

Chris and Sean

Michael

Finally, it was Valentine's Day and we had a whole house full of kids and grown-ups playing, eating and making mischief all day. (More V-Day pics later) Here is Sarah with Sam and Chloe who were having a ball on the ball.

Sarah with her cupcake creation. The didn't actually turn out that great and no amount of sprinkles and brightly colored sugar crystals could make them yummy. (Believe me when I say that Sam and Chloe spared no amount of decoration on their cupcakes.) So sad...But Sarah is no quitter and she ate the whole thing.

Finally, it was Sunday and we were up bright and early to take Sarah to the metro. Max did not want her to leave but she had to be in New York for Amy's birthday!

Hide and Seek

2009-03-04T06:50:00.004-05:00

Max has long enjoyed a good game of peek-a-boo but lately he's taken it to a new level of hide and seek. He loves to hide behind a door and then get found or to hide between the bookcase and the wall in his room. He lets you look for him for a bit and reveals himself amidst lots of giggles. The joy on his face as he hides again is not to be missed.

A Boy and His Dog

2009-03-03T06:17:00.005-05:00

Max thinks Hoover is the best thing ever. She can make him laugh just by walking down the hall and jingling her little tag. His eyes light up when he hears it and he starts looking for her with so much excitement. He loves it when she comes in first thing in the morning with a quiet little whine which is quickly replaced by excited grunts as she noses her way along the top of the bed. He laughs and squeals and rushes fast as he can to shoot across the bed, slide down the side and run after her. He climbs right up on her ottoman.

And run she does, especially now that he's started a hitting phase, which is made all the worse when he runs off with the wooden spoon! But no matter where she goes...

...he finds her. She is infinitely patient with him and for that we are grateful. As you can see from the photos below, he does not grant her much space and is always up in her business. No matter what he does, she is patient and sweet and ready to give him many kisses.

For his part, Max is pretty good with her as well - aside from the recent hitting thing. He feeds her from his chair, looks for her under the table while he eats or when she's not out and about. When he hasn't seen her for a while, he points to the door and window to be picked up for a peek outside. When he sees her, he points and laughs. He manages to stay steady on his feet when she is running around super-excited. Watching him avoid or endure her energetic tail wags is a pretty hilarious site. He stands still, takes a deep breath, closes his eyes and squenches up his face. Trying to get a picture of that as well but she's quick!

Just yesterday (March 2) he started giving her hugs. It is the cutest thing. He walks up to her, opens his arms wide, lays his head on her, then his whole body and squeezes.

They are going to be inseparable in another year or two - unless she sees a squirrel.

Topsy Turvy

2009-02-09T13:05:00.005-05:00

We had a beautiful weekend here! Sunny skies and warm weather. What a treat.

Friday night we had dinner with the Kenny's - Chris, my friend from college, her husband Peter and their four kids: Caitlyn, Rachel, Michael and Sean. They are a lively bunch and we enjoyed every minute. I spilled the roast in the car so we'll see how that smells in a couple of weeks. It's OK now but I don't know what will happen when it warms up.

On Saturday Max and I went on a walk around Baker Park on Saturday with Havers and my friend Jan. The park was full of people just enjoying the sun and having fun. Kids building sand castles, swinging and chasing each other around. People watching the ducks and geese. Dogs a plenty! Jan was kind enough to drive Havers and I pushed Max in the stroller.

We stopped at the playland area for a little bit and Max stood in the sand though he was not too impressed with it. He did enjoy watching all the kids with their sand castles. Mostly he just wanted to wander around and swing. He loves the swing. It always gets him to smile and giggle. If only he would hold on...scares me to death that he just hangs out in the bucket with no apparent care toward self-preservation. Alas, there were no pictures of the park BUT lots of other pictures on Saturday.

the morning was very relaxing. It was so warm in the house that Max was wandering around in his drawers and t-shirt which he seemed to enjoy. He was up and down on the ottoman with Havers. She was just minding her own business trying to take a nap and he was not going to let that happen. She's so good with him and just lets him poke, prod, pet, pick and even bang her on the head with a spoon.

We also had fun with the top from his Grandma and Grandpa Z. He was finishing his breakfast and brought it out of the bathroom to play with. That sounds awful, doesn't it? Ah well, it was only toast and he kept it in his hand the whole time. It's impressive to watch him use the top. He concentrates so hard but he can get it to go. Imagine a top that spins without batteries. So rare these days.

The other great pleasure of the weekend was riding the zebra. Our friends loaned it to us and he loves it. Took him a little while to get used to it but now he loves to get on and jump up and down.

Here he is galloping with his cookie just before our walk.

Finally, a picture from a couple of weeks ago that I had to post. I think he looks a little like a 17 magazine centerfold here with his leaning pose. Remember Claire Danes talking about Jordan Catilano on "My So Called Life"? "I love the way he leans." That's our Max. How hilarious!

Is it really that hard to pay your taxes?

2009-02-03T06:45:00.004-05:00

I can't stand it one second longer. Why can't people, who profess to be public servants, do their part and hand the requisite number of pesos over to the gubment?

Not only have these people shirked their financial responsibility to our nation but they don't seem to have any real regret. It's all excuses and I didn't realize. Call me old fashioned but if you can't get your own house in order, I'm not sure you should try to right mine. A United States Senator cannot figure out how to pay his own taxes to pay for the legislation which he lobbies for and votes into existence. He doesn't even do his duty as a citizen to pay for the very social programs which he hopes to administer.

He says it was a mistake. He did not realize his car service was income and not a gift from a good friend. We should all be so lucky to be in this position - divorced from the reality of day to day life. Does he even have a clue as to the issues facing the population which he is nominated to serve? Somehow I don't think so.

I've become so disillusioned with our national government. Doing what's right has gone out the window for too many. I know that corruption has always been there as has the grab for power and influence. Is it just that they were so much better at hiding it?

It's difficult for me to watch an administration that I so badly want to succeed make choices that seem so business as usual. Where is the change? I did not get all caught up in the hype during the election cycle and I don't believe that any person is "the one". Even when I didn't hear a tremendous amount of sustance in the message, I had faith that it would come. I really hoped we would see change in the way things are done. I began to believe. I still believe because I need to but my faith is fading.

I miss Teddy Roosevelt. Not perfect by any means but a genuine reformer.

Max is up now so my rant is over. Here's a few recent pics of Max and one of Lyle.

Little Man, Big Gloves

2009-01-31T22:52:00.003-05:00

Last weekend we took Max and Hoover to "the farm" with our neighbor, Emily, and her dog, Gulliver. Max, Hoover, Emily, Gully and I all drove together and Dan met us up there. First of all, I forgot how to get there and went the wrong way not once but TWICE. Finally, I remembered how to get there and off we went. We arrived after Dan despite the fact that we left 15 minutes before Dan. I felt like a complete dunce but Emily was very understanding and that helped.

So, not only did I forget how to get there but I forgot to bring a coat or gloves or hat. It was MOFO cold and to my credit I did have a down vest and shearling boots. I always forget about the wind but I should have brought a coat. Thankfully, Dan brought a hat and gloves that I could borrow.

We waited in the yard for the owners to come fire up the coursing track but little did we know there was a small divet under the fence. *POOF* off goes Havers like a shot. I run after her, the owners are running after her and the rest of the party is left to figure out where all we've gone. Havers had a quite a tour of the barn, the horse pasture, the woods, the owners' house and their yard. Finally, we lured her back in with one of their vizlas. Thankfully, the allure of another dog proved stronger than the allure of horse poo. I can tell you right now that I'll always lose in Havers' eyes when it's a choice between me and horse poo.

We didn't get any good dog pictures but I got a couple of really cute pictures of Max and Dan. Note Max's gloves. They are actually Emily's gloves since I also forgot to bring hand gear for Max. Thanks for the loan, Emily.

Inauguration Day

2009-01-30T07:21:00.002-05:00

Inauguration is a great day for our country - no matter who is taking office. The celebration of the bloodless revolution is amazing and worth marking with great pomp and circumstance. In honor of this Max wore a snappy red, white and blue outfit to school. He looked pretty cute.

I stick my tongue out at you.

I watched this historic event at work. It was pretty exciting knowing that Dan was part of the celebration helping it all come together. I love my Inauguration lapel pin as well.

It would have been great to join the throngs in DC but it was not to be. My enthusiasm was not dampened a bit. I am looking to the future with hope. I wish our new President well in these most challenging times. The road ahead is difficult but I have much hope. My greatest hope is that we can come together in a new spirit of cooperation and build the future we want to see.

1st Cookie

2009-01-29T20:50:00.004-05:00

Hello everyone. Sorry for the long pause. I've been distracted but we've had such exciting developments these last couple days that I had to put up some pictures and words. Max had his first cookie...and he loved it!

It was truly hilarious because he actually asked for milk as I gave him the cookie. He squeezed his little hand and made the sign so I handed it over.

He had so much fun with his cookie that he kept forgetting to eat it. It took him at least an hour to finish it. We tried to put him down for a nap but he clutched the cookie in his palm so tightly we just let him sleep with it. Must take after his Mama on that one. It was too funny.

For anyone shocked that he hasn't had a cookie yet I just want to set the record straight. He has been offered many cookies but he just wasn't interested in food. In fact, he's looked so forlorn and envious of other's cookies while in bakeries and stories that more than 5 complete strangers have bought cookies for him. Never eats them. Just looks at them and hands it back. Then *poof* on Monday he decided that he wanted to eat and he's been eating reasonably well ever since. He loved his cookie and tonight he even dragged the whole bag of chips ahoy out of the pantry cupboard and brought it over to me. Too funny.

I love his tough guy cookie monster look.

Sleep? What's that?

2009-01-08T09:57:00.003-05:00

Here's our little night owl/insomniac yesterday morning after a tiny bit of sleeping over the past few days. I love this blue imposter western wear shirt. It came with a onesie that has a monster truck on it. How hilarious and odd is that combo?

We are so very happy that he's finally decided to start holding his own bottle. Whew! It's funny how you know little ones are perfectly capable of doing something and yet it just doesn't fit with their agenda until they say so.

He didn't get much sleep last night either but he's in a great mood and charming as can be when he's awake so that's good. Can you find him in the ginormous bed?

Kinda neat how our bedroom now looks like a dorm room with the bed off the frame and on the floor to avoid high flying toddler spills? Can't wait to get back on the frame like adults.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-06T10:18:00.003-05:00

Yes, we're totally behind on all the updates and recent photos. Gosh, but the last month has been busy. We enjoyed out trip to Alaska and the stop off in Seattle each direction. (More on that in a later post.) Dan and I are both back to work. Max is back to school and Hoover and Chubber are back to their mysterious ways. Here's a few photos of Maximus this morning. What a charmer!

Ghosts of Christmas Past

2008-12-12T16:12:00.006-05:00

We're in the holiday spirit but have no recent holiday photos to post so I'm going with a few from years gone by. Hoping for a Santa photo soon...but you see how well that worked out with Owen.

The Elephant Man

2008-12-12T15:43:00.004-05:00

We'll start off with what you really want to see - pictures of Max. Lately, he's been fascinated by his elephant towel. He plays with the trunk and the ears. It's pretty darn cute.

My, how time flies. It's been so hard to keep up lately and I've not done very well in posting updates. Such is life. Rather than try to cram in a huge essay I will just leave a succint update below and attach some photos.

* Max is walking again. He took some tentative steps a couple of weeks ago, then twisted his ankle and stopped walking altogether and then started trying again last week. Here he is below while on strike from walking.

He is a fairly cautious walker and seems quite proud of himself as he gets from place to place.

Thus far he does the Frankenstein and we think it is HILARIOUS!

* Havers has gained some weight back and is crazy as ever with twice the energy it seems. She ate part of a dirty diaper yesterday and shredded the remains which she then spread around the dining room. Note to future visitors: This is one of the reasons we recommend against letting her lick your face.

* Chubber has taken to sleeping in the baby papasan. Pretty cute.

* Work is good for both of us and kind of busy.

* We are really looking forward to our trip to Alaska. Mmm, grilled salmon salad at Orso and pizza at Moose's Tooth. Did I forget Kodiak Nut Brown Ale at Midnight Sun Brewery?

* I'm now addicted to Facebook.

* Max is addicted to balloons. He absolutely loves his balloon and will even carry it from room to room. Very sweet.

One day soon he'll be sitting round the campfire telling scary stories that make no sense. They grow up so fast!

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-12-01T03:19:00.007-05:00

Of course, the main picture features eating! Max actually did a pretty good job eating his solids on turkey day. He still doesn't like to eat food all that much but he's getting more adventurous in trying different things and really enjoys eating off my plate.

Sweet Thanksgiving Boy. We are thankful for our family and our crazy dog and noisy cat. Mostly, we are blessed to have this tiny person with BIG personality in our lives. We love you Max.

This is probably Max's craziest hair yet. It's in honor of the mayhem of Black Friday.

One of the best ways to get Max to eat is to let him feed you. Here he is feeding me both baby food and teeny tiny pieces of turkey and spit soaked veggie fries. Yum yum!

We took a walk later than night and night walking is not really Max's thing. He prefers the daylight.

Mmm. Left overs. So who cares if it's dog food? (And no it's not the raw food. It's the soundly rejected kibble.)

Pucker up! Here is Max practicing his pucker. It's so cute and he does it all the time - just not when he kisses you. The kiss is still a big wide open mouth with the tongue coming at you in a WIDE angle.

On an unrelated note - check this out! Yes, that truly is my total price to fill the volvo with super gas about 2 weeks ago. I had to use all my "fuel perks" to do it but you collect a bunch of those suckers when you buy formula and diapers every week! It doesn't hurt that gas prices have literally been cut in half in the last 6 weeks. Does anyone else think conspiracy and market manipulation now?

With love to all of you...The ZanderBarry's.

I MUST BE A PRINCESS!!!

2008-11-23T21:11:00.003-05:00

I must be a princessM. y dentist wants to give me two crowns! Isn't that sweet. Gold and porcelain. WOW!

Seriously, I went to the dentist last week and ka-ching more crowns. The sad thing or the good thing, I suppose, is that these will be the third crown on each of these teeth. Crazy, huh? At least I have a lot of confidence in Dr. Weakley and I think he'll do a fab job and I can put these teeth to rest - so to speak. That's saying a lot coming from me who must have put several children through college based on dental work completed. The thing that really gets in my craw (That sounds so dirty in a 1-900 sort of way.) is that both of these original crowns were ones that I had to pay for out of pocket when I didn't have insurance. They cost an arm and a leg and they sucked. Go figure.

Check out my new princess boots and festive prop.

That's about it for me. Oh, and I got peed on in a store (courtesy of Maximus), went to the dentist and realized that I had tiny snot fingerprints all over my jacket, got peed on twice at home Saturday, had green beans and peas flung in my hair this weekend and ear wax/pus drained out of Max's ear and into my hair while he was sleeping this morning. Parenting should come with a bodily fluids warning label. Still, he's pretty cute, and he's worth every ounce of ooze.

Call of the Wild

2008-11-23T20:55:00.002-05:00

Havers seems to be entering a new phase. It all started when...

We took her to the vet because she seemed to be losing interest in food and losing weight. Turns out she had lost 4 and a 1/2 pounds since June. May not seem like much but she's never been a chubber and has always been just the right sizs so we were concerned. She got the standard pat down, a big blood panel and a poo vial. Many moneys and no answers.

Off we went to the pet food store in search of new food ans some healthy treats. We tried new grain free kibble made with salmon and trout and some raw food medallions. The raw food is frozen and looks a little like ginormous hamster pellets. It was an instant hit. The kibble seemed like a hit at first but it turns out it was just the egg mixed in. Within two days she had figured out how to suck the egg off and spit out the kibble. Next I tried mixing in some soft catfood a dog delicacy akin to molten chocolate cake or finest cheese and crusty baguette you ever did try. Again, a big hit for a couple feedings and then *patouie* out come the kibble. I'm giving up on kibble.

The raw food was a much bigger hit! She loves it and generally tends to wolf it down. Of course, there were a couple of days where she picked at it and left a bunch in the bowl. Just as I was about to tear my hair out - I decided to try feeding her on the porch and she started gobbling it down. Go figure. She's gained 2 pounds and her energy level has gone through the roof since she started this diet. For those of you who have met her, you know this wasn't necessary nor desired but it is what we got.

It seems that her new found energy has led to some new successes with hunting. On Election Day she hung out at her friend Gulliver's house and caught a squirrel. Later that weekend she stuck her head in a tuft of grass and came out with a mouse. Another mouse the next week. Last week she almost caught a duck as we walked in the park so I decided to move to safer ground away from the pond. Not 5 minutes later she jumped in a bush, flushed a bunch of birds and then jumped in the air and caught one in her mouth. Creepy but impressive. I screamed, jerked her lead and she opened her mouth. The bird flew away but I'm not sure how far it got. We heard a pretty loud crunch.

The morning before that little experience, I had to go lasso her in the yard with a towel because she had treed two sqiurrels in the back yard. One squirrel in each of our trees. There was NO WAY she was coming inside until she caught one of those squirrels. Thankfully, I got her after just a couple of attempts. Dan thinks she may just want us to hang a deer carcass in the tree and let her pick at that until she's done. Our neighbors would love us. It will never happen but she loves us any way and has a pretty darn good life.

Here she is all tuckered out after a long day of playing with Gulliver and all the wonderful squirrels in his backyard.

Caught on Film

2008-11-19T10:33:00.008-05:00

Don't you love the digital camera? You can take a million terrible pictures and get rid of them later. You can take a tiny video with audio no less AND all for $350 or so. I love it! We were on a mission to catch Max walking on film last night and I'm happy to report: success. It's only a few steps but that's all we need. See below.

And another one...

It's funny because he shot out of the gate with a stroll of 6 feet or so and Dan was so stunned that he forgot to push record. I'll admit that it was pretty surprising. You never know what you are getting with the Maximus! Max also had a little dance party. Thanks to Jason, Anna Claire and Elli-Grace for the loan of the Leap Frog table. Poor Elli-Grace felt completely robbed as we took it out the door on Sunday. I'm hoping she's forgotten all about it now.

First Steps

2008-11-17T15:40:00.003-05:00

Exciting times at our house. Max has taken his first true steps!!! It's pretty funny to watch and he's thrilled. I tried and tried to get some photos of the grand event yesterday but no joy. Perhaps tonight.

Here he is hugging Dan right after he'd taken a couple "baby steps" yesterday. Go Max!

Unlike many kidlets who don't seem to know that they are no longer holding onto anything - he's completely aware that he's wild and free. He puts his hand in the air and starts walking. He took a couple of sets of 4 or 5 steps Sunday (11/16) and he's done it again today (11/17).

We knew it was just a matter of time. He stood on his own for the first time the Saturday before his birthday (10/26) and has done so semi-regularly since then. I didn't really think he'd take any steps for another couple of weeks because he just didn't seem that interested and he really hasn't practiced standing all that much. Shows how much I know.

It was exciting for us to see yesterday and heartwarming for me to see today. I had gone into the childcare to give Max his eardrops - lucky Max - and I put myself a bit away from the table, held my arms out and called to him. He walked right toward me with his arms outstretched. Total sweetness.

Bathtime after the big day of walking.

Call me Mischief! Max just loves picking at the fireplace tiles. We have to watch him like a hawk. Just when you've said no for the 100th time he gives you a big sweet grin.

Super-tired boy on Thursday!

Hodge Podge

2008-11-16T22:26:00.002-05:00

It's been a while so I'm putting up a hodge podge of photos and captions to go with them. Dan is home again. SA-weeeeet!!! He came home Friday afternoon which was an unexpected and quite welcome surprise. I hadn't gotten a ton of sleep due to certain dramatic events taking place in the ZanderBarry household mid-week but I digress. Onto pictures which shall be listed in a order that must have a reason but that reason has not made itself known to the author yet.

Here is Max with one of his birthday gifts. His very own pottery bowl. Very cool gift and one that he really liked. Max just loved eating out of his bowl. Somehow he could tell that this was "his" as opposed to the tiny fiesta ware bowls which are "ours". The artist, who is our friend Shane, said this present is meant to be used and broken. Guess what? It was used and broken. In fact, it broke with a bang.

Max with his walking car. He loves this little walker which also converts to a car. It's so funny to watch him manuver it though it's even more fun to watch him not manuever it. Sometimes he'll get to walking so fast you swear the thing has an engine and he stepped on the gas when he meant to hit the brakes. When he gets to going like that he veers in whatever direction the force of nature takes him and when he hits an obstacle it will either come with him if it's light enough or he'll just bash into it over and over until you turn him around - quite like he's doing with this rubbermaid tub.

Just a cute little fella minding his own bidness and stealin' Daddy's glasses in the sunshine. This is right after his birthday.

Max loves to hide and peek. Dan caught this wonderful shot the other week. For those of you who know our furniture, he's hanging out between the couch and the tower of vintage suitcases. He hasn't knocked them over yet but I'm thinking that tower will topple one day soon. Hoover better hope she's not in the way!

Max found a little spot to hang out that is just the right size. He must have climbed in and out of there 20 times one day and he's never gone in since.

Dan and Hoover. Couldn't be a happier pup.

American's Most Wanted Feline as of last Tuesday night/Wednesday. Tuesday night our feline friend just wandered off and disappeared. Now I've had this cat almost 12 years and do a kitty census every night. Come 11:30 and I do a head count but no Lyle. Havers is no help which usually she would be. I look through the house - NO LYLE. I do a quick run through the basement. No LYLE. I go upstairs and tear apart the closets, underneath the beds, pat inside the mattresses, look in the kitchen cupboards, the bathroom cabinets and still NO LYLE.

I find my phone and call my brother because I realize that I have to go look in the basement. You may wonder why I feel the need to call my brother for this and it's simple, I need to make sure someone knows I'm going in the basement. For those of you who don't know me particularly well, I'm terrified of the basement. I do not go in the basement once it is dark. I really don't even like to go in the basement when it's daylight and I'm by myself. When I lived elsewhere I called people to come over and accompany me to the basement so that I could get my laundry after the sun went down. The light is always on in our basement. I cannot believe I live in a house with a basement and now I have to go downstairs to look for the cat. I decided to walk the outside perimeter before looking in the basement. No luck and it's cold outside so clearly, I must look in the basement.

Before I headed downstairs I cracked open not one but TWO cans of food. Whistle, whistle, whistle for the cat - jingle kitty cookies in the bowl and NO LYLE. This cat always comes running when you crack the can even if he has just eaten and is cleaning his little mittens. Not that night. I looked in the basement for at least 20 minutes and NO LYLE. At this point I thought he was outside freezing to death. I was awake looking for him almost all night and hoped with all my heart that he would get up at 4 and howl for food until fed as he does EVERY MORNING. NO LYLE. I emailed a friend who helped me look in the basement for an hour before work. NO CAT. I went to work, made some LOST CAT fliers with the above photo, left at lunch to post the fliers but decided to check inside first and who do you suppose came sauntering up the stairs? That little minx, Lyle. And he came looking for food, too.

My theory is that he was sucked into a vortex and then spit back out once they found out what they were in for. What would we do without our critters?

Happy Halloweeeeen!

2008-11-06T16:55:00.005-05:00

I know it's a bit past Halloween but I thought you'd all like to see the costume. If you are wondering why this post is so late you can reference the picture below which Dan took right before he left on his latest work trip. We both think this photo sums up our life pretty well with Max flying in one direction and Havers in the other.

We had a really fun Halloween and Max went Trick-or-Treating twice. Some communities had the officially sanctioned begging for candy activities on October 30 and others observed on the day marked on the calendar - 10/31. This alternative day must be an East Coast thing because no one I know on the West Coast has heard of it. While I was initially down on the idea, the 10-year-old in me has made herself heard and argues for how cool it is. If you apply a strenuous Halloween work ethic to both days of trick or treating then you'd have LOADS of candy.

On the 30th we went to Smithsburg and did the rounds with Kristi, Chloe and Samantha. Samantha carried Max's bucket and did a good job collecting bits of sweets. As a thank you, Max left his candy to be divided between the girls. He managed to stay awake for the whole experience and seemed to enjoy it - especially the house across the street from the girls which is decorated as a haunted house. We thought he'd be scard of the life-size talking witch but he thought she was hilarious!

On 10/31 we exercised a little strategery and went around our own neighborhood hitting the houses of people we know. Max was dressed as a turtle and the level of cuteness was almost too much to bear. The little flippers were so cute as was the fact that Max's face disappeared when he turned his head and all you could see was this giant turtle eye!

Max didn't even make it off our street before conking out in his wagon.

Giant turtle eye and flippers. It's just too much...

After the candy rounds we had dinner with our neighbors Ann and Andy, who you can see below. Max slept in his wagon and didn't even stir for the 4 or 5 candy beggars who came to the door. Unfortunately, our street is not exactly a hotbed of halloween activity. Maybe 5 houses give out candy and the kids just don't seem to think it's worth it to come. They should rethink their position and stop by around 8:35 when they would make a killing. We start piling it in once it gets beyond 8:30.

Here's a few shots of Max with the Ernie pumpkin that Dan and I did for a contest at work. In case you are wondering, we won the contest and yes, we also did a Bert. Unfortunately, it was kind of warm where the pumpkins were roosting and Bert melted before I could take him home. He found a new home in the dumpster out back. The Bert melting was a little tragic but the sadness left us as we watched Max delight in stealing Ernie's nose. We couldn't even get one shot of him with the pumpkin. He went right for the nose. Funny thing is that he would take it and then tried to put it back on, which is what he's trying to do in the picture below. Looking forward to next year when he can actually toddle from house to house. I wonder what he'll want to be.

VOTE!

2008-11-04T08:57:00.004-05:00

Max says, "Get out and vote!"

It's the one day of the year when we all have a duty to get out in the rain, wind, snow or sunshine to cast our vote. Take responsibility for our government and by extension our everyday lives. It's easy to forget but this is both a RIGHT and a PRIVILEGE that so many people have given their lives to defend.

Let's all do our part. See you at the polls!

Monkey Love

2008-10-28T07:45:00.004-04:00

Meet Alex the Monkey. A gift from Auntie Bex, Dan's sister. Max loves, loves, loves this monkey and I do mean love. He started kissing up on the monkey before he was even out of the box. Things started to heat up a little later in the evening.

It started with one kiss.

One thing led to another and Max had tackled poor Alex and then wrestled around kissing him all the while.

When it was through Max's hair was a mess and Alex was covered in drool but Max was happy as a clam.

Happy Birthday Max!

2008-10-26T18:38:00.003-04:00

Our little pumpkin turned one today. Hard to believe we all three made it! I still can't believe they let us take him home from the hospital. Special thanks to all our friends and family who sent greetings, well wishes and/or stopped by the festivities. He is a popular little dude.

Here he is as we finished our preparations for his party and at the end of the day just having fun! Details to follow...

We love you Max!

Daddy's Home!

2008-10-24T17:24:00.002-04:00

We're going backwards a bit but I wanted to share some sweet photos of Max and Dan when Dan returned from his most recent trip. Max was so happy to see him even though he was tired and sickly.
Dan had occasion to facilitate the challenge of feeding Max. He's still not real interested in table food and seems almost resistant to baby food now. It's a crap shoot as to whether you'll get food in him or just on him. The process involves a lot of laughing, smiling and picking up and dropping of spoons and toys. I love this photo of my two fellas.

Feeling a bit better just getting outside and going for a walk. Max *loves* the outdoors.

Last Sunday we visited with Kristi, Samantha and Chloe. We had a lot of fun. There was popcorn, ball rolling and lots of crawling around. Max had so much fun with the girls. Doesn't he look so adorable in his 80s jersey?

A Cat and His Boy

2008-10-23T17:15:00.002-04:00

Max was home sick Tuesday and he had a lot of fun with Lyle a.k.a. Chubber Cat. Chubber, for his part, was quite amiable to Max. I think his desire to look out the window eclipsed his instinct to "run like h*ll". Even so, he was remarkably tolerant as Max tugged, yanked, patted and sat on him.

"Oh, oh, oh - the kitty!"

"This looks interesting."

"I got it."

"No. Please don't go."

Enjoying the view.

My First Fat Lip

2008-10-22T17:15:00.002-04:00

We had a family photo shoot with Max and myself two Sundays ago. Dan was out of town and Ainsley, the photographer is due on 10/31 so we didn't really have a chance to reschedule. Max was on the move the whole time. No sitting still and posing for our little guy. As such, we tried to work with him and get some cute shots on the go. We were successful; however, Max suffered a little fall in the tunnel and bonked his lip on a block. Thus, he was officially photographed on the day he got his first fat lip. Here he is in the bath. You can see it pretty well if you enlarge the photo. Still cute as can be. Shades of a hockey player to come?

My First Jack O' Lantern

2008-10-22T17:11:00.002-04:00

Despite a lot of shots and trips to the doctor, Max and I had a lot of fun this past weekend. On Saturday we helped out at a book sale hosted by the community service group I belong to. (Max is an unoffical member.) We raised nearly $300 for local food banks. Not too shabby. As a reminder, it's a great time to donate to food banks. They are always in need of both food and cash donations in the "off season", meaning the dry spells before and after the holiday season. Folks go hungry year 'round and demand is up with our current economy. I know I feel so blessed to be able to provide for ourselves and not worry about putting food on the table.

Max looking for books.

The sale was at Carol's house and she is ALWAYS up to date and decorated for every holiday. It is quite amazing. Not surprisingly she had her pumpkins already carved and on the porch. Max thought they were so cool.

Who needs apple cider donuts when you can eat leaves!

Ouch! Too many shots!

2008-10-20T09:47:00.003-04:00

Poor Max! He had quite a weekend. I had to pick him up from childcare at 4 on Friday because he had a high temp. By the time we got to the doctor at 6 pm it was 102.5. He was not happy nor was he doing particularly well. It's this darn ear infection which he still had despite having 3 sets of antibiotics over the past month and a half. They gave him ibuprofen to help the fever and it helped but he was not happy taking it. Then he got Rocephin injections for the ear infection. I don't know if you've ever had to do this but it's two shots given simultaneously in the thighs and it's a dose a day for three days.

Friday was the first day and he got his last shot Sunday. Poor guy! He did not LIKE the shot at all. He cried so pitifully it made me sad. By the time we got to the shot portion of our visit on Sunday, he was totally in the know. As soon as he saw two ladies in the room with us and they got out the cotton balls it was a sad, sad wail from Max. It is so awful to have to hold them down. I sure hope this clears up his ear infection. I thought it had gotten rid of the fever but he was still over 100 yesterday at his check-up. Hopefully, it will have totally kicked in with the last shot. His digestive system is kinda shot and I can't imagine how it will be if he gets ANOTHER round of antibiotics. We have a check-up on Tuesday and we'll see where to go from there. If it isn't cleared up by then, we have to head to the ENT and then the possibility of tubes in the ears is on our horizon. Ugh!

Think good thoughts for our little guy. Here he is after his shots on Saturday. The most amazing thing is that he's still such a good sport even with all the poking and jabbing. He must get that from Dan...

Notice the sweater. It's finally cooling down. Yeehaw! I love fall.

5 Words and an Em Dash

2008-10-12T23:13:00.001-04:00

I'm getting a cold - again.

The Lion That Wouldn't Be

2008-10-07T13:29:00.002-04:00

I saw this costume in a consignment store and for so many reasons I had to buy it against all better judgement. The primary reason being that Max would look so cute in it and, well, who am I to stop that from happening? Still, I tried to talk myself out of it. We already had an adorable costume from our friends - a turtle. Surely Max would look so cute as a turtle. I even managed to walk away but I came wandering back. Even when the size said, "3 - 6 months" I thought, "It looks big." I held it up to the boy and it did look like it would fit. Cha-ching. Sold.

I brought it home and later that night I tried to put it on. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. In fact, I pretty much had to wedge him in there. Poor Max. I may not listen to reason but I will listen to a lion roar.

About Halloween...I thought Max would look so cute as a turtle.

Little Rascal

2008-10-05T20:31:00.005-04:00

I was minding my own business taking a shower on Saturday when I started to hear all this gleeful giggling. Max had found the toilet paper and realized what fabulous fun it can be. This may not bode well for our future neighbors.

Max pulls up all the time now and is getting quite good at cruising. I don't know how long it will be before he walks but I think another 6 weeks or so and that's just fine with me. It's so hard to keep up with him and that's even more true since it's often just me with Max and the mini-zoo with Dan on the road so much.

Max loves this little drum my mom found at a garage sale. I love it too because it sounds way better than a metal pan clanging. =)

Just in case you're all wondering how the critters are - here is a shot of each. Havers is going a little batty because she's not getting out for walks that much. She did get a walk this weekend when a friend and I headed down to the downtown park. Havers was so wild for the ducks, geese and squirrels. She only got in the water twice so it was an improvement on the last walk in the park. A phrase that is redefined when it means taking Havers on a walk in the park. Chubber is still an ace napper.

That's all for now as both Max and I are still sick or shall I say sicker again and I'm getting so tired it's unbelievable! It's been a month and a half. This is getting old and I would like for us to have a healthy little home. Please think good thoughts for our health!

Wiggle Worm

2008-10-02T20:34:00.002-04:00

I love this series of photos of Max. I think he was practicing for the vice-presidential debate in the first one. The photos were taken over the course of 2 minutes and shows what a mover and a shaker he is not to mention how very charming. It amazes me how difficult it can be to hold onto him when he gets it in his mind to move. To think he's only 20 pounds. I can't imagine what it will be like when he's bigger!

Double G - We love you!

2008-10-02T19:47:00.005-04:00

In typical fashion, Grandma Della blew in and out in a whirlwind visit with us on her way to a Garden Club Convention in Providence, RI. We are so GLAD she came! Her arrival was eagerly anticipated by Dan and myself. We have missed her so much since moving from Alaska and we love the newish hair do.

Dan was supposed to be out of town for work but in a true spot of luck, his trip was cut short and he was able to come home for the first half of Della's 36 hour visit. What crazy lives we lead now traveling hither and yon. Dan was able to meet the train from Boston in DC's Union Station and the pair rode the Metro home. We were all so excited for Della to meet Max - the most recent great-grandchild. Here they are not too long after meeting. He is loving his gift - a stuffed duck from the Peabody Hotel in Memphis.

We packed a lot into our short visit: Take-out Thai that was so hot it almost blew our socks off. Delicious but WOW. Of course, the visit was scattered with political discussion - a Barry tradition. Breakfast at IHOP with a waiter who just couldn't stop flirting with my Grandma. Naps and other feeble attempts for me to get better and kick my maybe-cold-maybe-sinus-infection-maybe-black-death. A little cooking together which included some tomatoes from the house at Walla Walla and a spectacular Della creation to adorn the table for my Beta Sigma Phi meeting which we hosted together. Grandma, I couldn't have done it without you.

We had a longer visit 2 years ago and it's hard to believe how much has changed since then. During our last visit, Della attended Havers' obedience school graduation and joined us on a fiesty dog playdate. Her comment on Havers this go 'round was that she'd mellowed considerable. (She was here for the days when Havers would drag the table around the dining room.) Also, Owen was still with us and, of course, there was no Max.

Dan and Della

Great Grandma and Great Grandson. What a beautiful site!

These pictures were taken just minutes before we headed off to the Metro and our goodbyes. Amazingly enough I didn't get lost this time. You'd think I'd have it figured out after 3 years but I've gotten lost the last couple times I've driven to the Metro. Geesh! As ever, it's sad to say goodbye but so wonderful to have had the chance to say hello in person.

Hi Auntie Fari

2008-09-28T18:55:00.003-04:00

Max asked us to give a special shout out to his Auntie Fari. He misses her so much and wanted to say hi and show her some of the great stuff he's doing. Mostly, he wanted to say that he loves her and misses her and sends many big, wet, sloppy kisses!

Just pulled up on Daddy's legs. I can take a few steps - with help - now too. Can you believe I'm getting to be such a big boy!

Pestilence

2008-09-27T18:35:00.005-04:00

Poor Max. He's been sick for almost a month and a half. I suppose he had about a 4 day break in between illness but it wasn't much. Things seemed to have peaked for him on Thursday. I had scheduled a follow-up doctor's appointment being as he had a hacking cough that sounded as if he'd smoked 3 packs a day for the past 25 years. As fate would have it I got a call from the child care center around 11 on Thursday to come pick up the little guy with a suspected case of pink eye. Yup. Suspicians confirmed and more. Pink eye, ear infection, yeast infection (who knew?) and the persistent cough/runny nose. I snapped a couple of photos in the attempt to convey the misery but none REALLY convey the MISERY. The one below where he actually looks like a zombie comes close. Poor little man.

The zombie tries to break free to do his zombie thing but is thwarted by a quality storm door.

I feel like Max has this whole Elton John thing going in the photo. I may be about to pass out but I'm here for my fans. He *loves* his piano. I wonder if he'll be some sort of musician.

Amazing what one dose of antibiotics and a bath will do for a boy. Isn't he cute with his hair all combed and styled?

These two photos were from yesterday when Max turned 11 months. It's so hard to believe that he's almost a year. Anyhow, he is beginning to really like his sock moneky from Grandma Z. Here he is kissing the monkey and he was so enthusiastic that they both moved about a foot in the process as you can see in the second photo where he is coming up for air. Too funny!

Max early on Saturday morning. He's feeling so much better. Still snotty and coughing but the eyes are better and so, I hope, is the ear infection. As a side note, he has the cutest late 60s, early 70s hair. Very Monkees. Max is very happy because Dan came home for a few days. An unexpected visit and we're thrilled to see him. Max didn't get more than a couple of feet away from Dan for the rest of the day. So sweet.

The Make-out King

2008-09-22T11:55:00.003-04:00

It appears that flirting and kissing yourself in the mirror is an actual developmental milestone. Huh! Apparently, this is a social development in the 12 month range. Go figure, our little guy is ahead in making out with himself. Not sure what that says about the future...

To his credit, he is an enthusiastic kisser and he's not just interested in kissing himself. He just loves kissing. He'll kiss just about any thing you hold up to him and say, "Kiss?" or "Boos Boos?" It is actually quite adorable. Now if we can only get him to refine his technique so that it's a little less wet...

Bye Bye Grandma

2008-09-22T11:16:00.008-04:00

It's official. Grandma's gone back to Seattle. Max and I took her to the airport on Sunday afternoon. It was wonderful to have Mom for such a long visit. Max will never be the same. He loves, loves, loves his Grandma and they had so very much fun together!

Chubber also loves his Grandma and isn't about to let go of all those great pets without at least trying to go back to Seattle. On Saturday, he said "Take me with you." He was shooed out of the suitcase but wasn't easily deterred.

If I can't go in the checked baggage then you can mail me flat rate.

Mom tried to pull a fast one on Sunday morning. I came in to check my email and there she was just tucking Max in the bag to go carry-on. She can be a sneaky lady...

Saturday was Mom's last full day in town and we did a bunch of running around. We had a photo shoot in the morning to try to get some nice family photos. There seem to be a few good ones. There's an amazing picture of Mom and that on its own makes the whole shoot worth it. After the shoot, we ran a couple errands here and there and did some shopping. By the time we got home, ate and gave a bath, our little Max was the tiredest puppy you ever did see!

Well, maybe Haver's was the tiredst puppy you ever saw.

Mama & Max - Check out my new hair. Short and so much better. I still haven't quite figured out how to style it but I'm still me and that's not going to change any time soon.

The house doesn't exactly seem quiet since it is still our house and Chubber still yowls for food and Havers still clicks around on her toes through the hallway trying to sneak into the back bedroom. However, it is more empty and that's a bit sad. There's no Grandma peeking around the corner. Max now takes a "steam" in the morning while I take a shower. Hoover just wants to go for a walk. Chubber - well, he's just plain lazy and forlorn. He sits there on the edge of Mom's bed and look pitiful. Poor guy.

We're looking forward to our next visit together and to when Grandma Della and Uncle Jefferson come. Great Grandma Della will be here for a whirlwind visit in just a week. We don't know when Jeff is coming but hopefully, it will be soon. Dan will be home sometime in October and hopefully, I'll get a facial or a massage.

The Botanical Garden

2008-09-10T14:09:00.005-04:00

On Sunday we all headed in to DC to check out the Botanical Gardens. Max really enjoyed the experience. He was there before on Memorial Day but wasn't really into it. This time around he wanted to look at and touch many things. It's pretty amazing that he will sometimes look up or over when you point. He seems to love trees and flowers. I'm convinced that he makes the same sound every time he points to a tree. I can't exactly tell what the sound is but maybe one day...

Loved touching all the leaves and flowers. Below you can see him playing peek-a-boo with the enormous leaves on this jungle plant. I swear the leaf was almost as big as all of Max!

Max is also starting to have fun with water. He splashes in the bath from time to time and here you can see him splashing in the fountain which is part of the children's exhibit at the Botanical Gardens. He loved dangling his feet in the water and playing with the rubber garden tools. Those feet really started moving for a couple minutes and he got Mama pretty wet.

Here you can see Max all saddled up for one of our evening constitutionals. His arms are longer now and he can grab Dan's hair and shirt. He will also kick Dan with his little feet. Pretty funny.

Rain Rain Go Away

2008-09-06T14:25:00.005-04:00

Hurricane Hanna (misspelled by the National Weather Service) has sent some run off up our way. Lots of rain which is kind of a bummer but it's certainly not devestating and so we count our blessings. And speaking of counting blessings, it would be good if we can all send our best thoughts and maybe some money to bring some relief to the hundreds of thousands now homeless in Haiti.

Lots of rain equals indoor fun and Max has been spending the day with both parents, Hoover, Chubber and Grandma. There was fun with the exersaucer...and here you can see one of his newer skills - pointing with the index finger. He doesn't do it all the time and usually only uses his finger when the object is close. Most of the time, he points with his whole hand, but the index finger is getting more regular as a pointing tool.

He seems to be enjoying himself quite a bit.

There is also lots of crawling around, which has only recently morphed into rather amusing games of chase. I must confess that I've been looking forward to this particular game. It's just so much fun to listen to the squeals of delight upon chasing and capture.

He's also having fun playing with Hoover.

Max's most recent fascination is with opening and closing doors. This used to be isolated to the kitchen and dining room but now he seems to be developing a fondness for the bathroom. Go figure.

Loves his Grandma!

ch, cH, CH CHANGES

2008-09-04T16:36:00.005-04:00

When you have a kid everyone tells you how fast the time flies and how much they change. How much you'll miss if you even blink an eye and then they are born. That first 6 weeks feels like the movement of glaciers - so slow that you can't believe you'll ever have a minute to do anything but change diapers, feed, clean feeding stuff, change clothes, burp, feed, bath and soothe. You think, "Those people were crazy! What were they talking about?"

Then all of a sudden your little one can hold up their head, smile, laugh, move their arms, sit, crawl and you feel like it's all happening so fast. Now we get it. Seems like Max changes almost every day. Just when you think you've got him figured out. Surprise!

For example, from 7 - 9 and 1/2 months we could barely get him to eat more than 20 ounces a day and usually it was more like 12. Last two weeks - 36 or more ounces a day. 12 ounces in one feeding when he wakes up. A far cry from the 15 - 20 ml that he ate the first 3 days we had him. I remember thinking he was eating so much when he got through 1/2 an ounce let alone 36 of the suckers.

We call this the "Baby Goat".

So full and happy, which you can really see if you click on the photo and blow it up.

Now he's pulling up and taking a few tentative cruising steps on the furniture and a few practice steps when we hold his hands. It is amazing.

Pulling up.

Standing

He loves to stand on our bed in the morning. He also loves to grab things from the top of our headboard. He thinks it's so funny.

Did I mention that he's making phone calls now, too.

He seems so big now!

Very academic, don't you think?

That's all for now. Hopefully, I'll get some more pictures up later this weekend.

To Share is Human

2008-08-31T22:48:00.005-04:00

Sharing the love.

Our little Max started doing the cutest thing today! (Shocking, I know.) He started sharing his food (his favoritest snack, veggie fries) and feeding us. He takes a bite then gives you a bite and when you crunch down he just cracks up. It's not as funny to him as stealing Dan's glasses but it close. Stealing Dan's glasses can literally make him fall over laughing. VERY cute. Naturally, I didn't get any pictures but I can tell you that you'd rather catch him on the first bite of veggie fry than the last. I got the last bite and shall we say it was both wet and warm. EeeeeeeeeewwwWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

Little Max fast asleep in his new favorite position. Always makes me smile.

Lyle in the groceries.

Dripping dry and hanging with Grandma.

I adore his little curls in back.

Love my Daddy!

Look at those BABY BLUES.

Days Gone By...

2008-08-29T23:41:00.003-04:00

So, here are a few pictures of "Farmer Max" from the end of July. I think they are hilarious.

For those of you who've seen the truck, you know the very thought of Max behind the wheel of such a vehicle is just too much. Dan takes him out to the truck sometimes so he can "drive" and he just has a ball.

This little boy just loves his daddy and looking out the window/screen door. Looks like he's got a win-win situation here.

Look at those TEETH

2008-08-25T21:07:00.007-04:00

There's no doubt about it - he's a shark in a baby costume. He has multiple rows of teeth from front to back. One falls out and another just slides into place. Can you believe that such a tiny guy could have teeth so BIG. My goodness. And they hurt when they clamp down on your skin.

I guess this is why he was so cranky when they were first moving about. There is one thing I still haven't figured out. Where were those things stored before they broke through the gums? Seriously, these things are bigger than his nose. In fact, I might even say they are GIENORMOUS.

In all my attention on the teeth I forgot to mention that he can pull up and has even tried to stand on his own a few times. Go Max!

This is the first time he pulled up on the crib. He was not happy at being left to fall asleep. He started creating quite the ruckus so I went to check on him and quickly left to grab the camera to document the event.

Not too happy about the "night vision" camera and flash. Mean ol' Mama.

Then he realizes, "I'm standing. This is kind of cool..."

Here he is actually standing on the bed. It's pretty fun!

Olympic Fever

2008-08-25T20:37:00.003-04:00

Max did not want to miss out on the Olympic action, so here he is in his Team USA uniform with his coach, who is also his Dad, Dan Zander. You will notice that unlike the Men's 4x100m relay, he does not have a bib with the team name handwritten in Magic Marker.

Though he was only able to view a few Olympic competitions he is really quite the Olympic fan. The Men's Waterpolo final was by far the most significant, if not boring as whale snot, event Max saw. He really hoped to check out the Gymnastics and the Team Synchronized Swimming competition to see what all the fuss was about on the Spanish costumes. (I think the committee did the Spanish gals a favor by disqualifying those light up suits. Think about the misfortunes if a wardrobe failure were to occur.) Maybe next time...

Originally drawn to the Triple Jump, he ended up excelling in the "Glasses Steal." He really is a natural and when coupled with his days of training and hard work,

In competition...

The final and decisive move that clenched the Gold Medal.

Just realizing that he's done it. After days of thinking about it, Max has the gold medal.

Both exhausted and elated after the finals, Max is mesmerized by the raising of the American flag.

Waiting for his one-on-one with Bob Costas.

Grandma's Here!!!

2008-08-21T22:59:00.004-04:00

Exciting times at the ZanderBarry household. Grandma Christie is visiting!!!

It's been a challenging couple of weeks here with childcare issues, busy work for both mom and dad and a stressed out mama, sooooooo Barb's mom offered to come stay for a while. We instantly accepted her offer and are so glad to have her.

Boos Boos (Kiss in Farsi - at least we think that's how you spell it.)

Max is loving every minute with his Grandma Christie. They play peek-a-boo, drop anything and everything off the high chair and all sorts of games. Look at these ultra cool ducks Grandma brought for Max.

Trying to pull up.

When Max finally goes to sleep it's Hoover's turn to get in on the action. She's getting quite spoiled with walks and all sorts of lovin'.

Nap Time

WEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!

2008-07-31T21:39:00.004-04:00

Max got to swing for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Hard to believe that we hadn't tried it before then but those swings seem so big in comparison to his little body. He loves it! Watching him smile on the way up and down is so wonderful. I remember loving the swing as a kid - especially when you'd get the underdog. That is still a bit far in Max's horizon but something for all of us to look forward to. Of course, my eyes will probably be closed the first time it happens...

How nasty is this seat with all the cracks in it. I lined it with a burp cloth but it still seems kind of sketchy. Not nearly as hazardous as the 1960s teeter-totter. No kidding the park up the street has an honest to goodness teeter-totter that is as rickety as these swings and nothing but beauty bark to cushion your fall in an equipment failure scenario. Good stuff.

Though you can't see it in these early shots, our little fella is quite the daredevil. He doesn't even hold on any more with his hands. My heart leaps a bit but it's not like he's going to slip out. Still, I wish he'd use that kung fu death grip for something other than grabbing my lip and hair. =)

I Like to Move It, Move It!

2008-07-28T20:25:00.004-04:00

It's official. The boy's on the move. He thought about it for a long time but he was so excited about the sitting that he just wanted to savour that triumph before moving on. Now he's moved on and he is off like a shot!

He had a hard time figuring out what to do with that extra leg. On Thursday he developed a work around where he sort of dragged the remaining leg at a slight angle - see below.

How do I get to the train?

That'll work.

Now back the other way.

So far the train that both spits and poops balls and the cat's tail are the strongest motivators for movement. (In case you are wondering what sort of new fangled toy the cat's tail is...it really is Lyle's tail and he is none to keen on having it grabbed.)

On Friday Max figured out the leg thing. He was at work with me and he just scootched then crawled across the room and started pounding on the door. I guess he was ready to go. He's been moving since then and it's a whole new ball game.

This morning I left him in the living room while I went to get his food and fully expected him to try to follow me as per usual. NO. He decided to go for the dog's water dish and got there in less than one minute. I heard a huge bang and some squeals of delight. When I got in the living room, I found our little Max with the water dish that he'd dumped on himself. He was so happy!

Checking out the tree at work.

That joy continued all day. He was just smiling, giggling and laughing all day long. Moving from place to place and exploring all these cool new things. He had a ball and can't seem to get enough of that crawling.

Concentrating so hard but loving every minute!

Looks like we'll spend our weekend babyproofing. GO MAX!

What a sweet face.

"You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry"

2008-07-28T20:13:00.004-04:00

So, the other day I dressed Max in those handy snap t-shirts you get for newborns being as I could easily dress him in said t-shirts without having to lay him down. Well, faster than you can say Lou Ferrigno, that t-shirt was torn off and hanging. See below.

Seriously, look at those pecs...

On a side note, remember that rumor in Junior High about how Lou Ferrigno died of a heart attack while pumping iron. NOT TRUE. I just found that out. Where have I been? Not only is that rumor not true, but Lou has been the voice of the Incredible Hulk in both the Ang Lee bomb and the more recent Edward Norton version of said Hulk.

This is the first in a series of back logged posts. I hope to catch up in the next two weeks. They will be sprinkled between current posts like so much funfetti on a day old celebratory cupcake.

CRAZY HAIR, crazy hair

2008-07-26T21:46:00.004-04:00

Our little Max is starting to have the craziest hair! His growth pattern has a natural mohawk, which is pretty funny and then it's so fine and straight that it sticks up all crazy almost the whole day through.

I try to tame it from time to time with a little Burt's Bees apricot oil and that works for about 3 hours. Then *poof* back to crazy.

Looking at the man in the mirror...

Max has just about always loved the mirror. He thinks the "hallway baby" is quite funny and loves to say hello to him. Lately, it seems that he's grasping more and more about the mirror. He definitely knows it's Dan and I in the mirror but it's hard to tell if he's starting to understand that the baby in the mirror is himself. It might just be that he's more coordinated and can get into more animated conversations with the baby in the mirror. Either way, it's pretty fun to watch.

Sweet Dreams

Rub-A-Dub-Dub

2008-07-23T21:58:00.004-04:00

Two men in a tub...Bathtime is pretty goofy 'round our house. Dan gives Max most of his baths and Max just loves it! Dan makes up a new bath song for Max every night and it always cracks me up.

Lately, I've been so relieved that Dan takes on most of the bath duty because there have been several happenings. A few nights ago there was a "What's Grosser than Gross?" moment. As a side, for those of you who don't know me particularly well, I've never been that great about body fluids and having a baby has DEFINITELY resulted in some personal growth in that area. I think you know where this is leading, but let me be abundantly clear. I'm in the kitchen and hear an abrupt pause in the bath song which is quicly followed by a what's that in the tub? You guessed - bath time was over. Our little one left a little turtle in the tub.

A comparison shot from December.

Secondly, I SWEAR, the little guy is trying to drown himself. Either that or he's starting in early on his training to swim the English Channel. Suddenly, he'll go all limp and then woosh he swings himself outward and down in the tub. I hope he passes through this phase soon because he is one slippery fish and not so little either.

Post-bath Dance Party. You can see how red his sniffles have made his nose.

Max and I had a quick visit with the doctor today - checkin' on his ears and lovely runny nose. Picture of health but might be getting a virus was the verdict. Of course, that is not the noteworthy news...Max is 19 and a 1/2 pounds! He's getting so big. I know there are a lot of babies that are bigger at 9 months BUT they didn't start out at 5 pounds 11 oz. He's almost quadrupled his weight. It's so amazing. It'll be interesting to see what happens with his weight once he really starts to move. Will he lose his Buddha belly?

(Pictured here with Auntie Sarah)

Cover Girls

2008-07-17T15:48:00.003-04:00

Aren't we all the bees knees? From left to right, top to bottom: Alice, Cecily, Judy, Barb, Max, Annis and Cheryl. This picture was taken on the trip out west. We had such a great visit. It was wonderful to see everyone and get caught up AND Alice baked something fantabulous as per usual. Chocolate Chipotle Cupcakes. A little kiss of chocolate and little kick of pepper. Perfect.

The Maestro, Gerry Gaxiola, "branded" all of us former AAMC gals with his "cross over M" brand and stuck us on the cover of our very own special edition Mills Quarterly. Max was branded, too and on both sides of his onesie. As for the brand, it is registored with the state as Maestro's brand. It represents his belief that art is a religion not a business.

For those of you who haven't met the Maestro he's married to my dear friend Alice and he's an artist, who is pretty interesting to talk with and always has something new in the hopper. You should take a moment to check out his stuff. He's pretty amazing and wicked talented. Visit his blog: http://www.maestrogaxiola.com . You'll see lots of cool stuff. Gerry has a bunch of cool covers that he's done with the branding concept. I don't think they are on the blog now but will be later this year.

First in Flight

2008-07-15T12:42:00.005-04:00

You may be thinking that we headed to North Carolina but NO. Max took his first plane ride and it was a looooooooong one. He exceeded all expectations and was a real champ. A traveling pro!

There were three of us headed for Oakland, California on July 3rd for Janet and Jeff's wedding (July 5). Max, Barb and Max's Auntie Sarah, who was such a good sport to sign on for this journey.

We were a little nervous about how it would go but everything fell into place and we made it. Max made not a peep the whole trip. He did a little singing but it was definitely a happy noise and not so loud. Max thinks Sarah is the greatest because she lets him pull her hair and grab her nose and all sorts of fun things.

We had a several hour lay over in Seattle and both my mom and brother were able to come visit. It was great to see them and Max finally got to meet his Uncle Jefferson! Thanks for coming out Mom and Jeff.

Max meets his Uncle Jeff, who has a very cool toy with pictures of fish. Of course, Max was just as interested in tasting the phone as looking at it.

Here are some pictures of Max on the flight home.

He loved looking out the window and banging on it. He was quite a bit more lively on the trip home and let out a few shrieks. They were good-natured shrieks but shrill nonetheless. I'm sure the gal in front of us was thrilled to be wedged between Falsetto Max behind her and the crying baby girl next to her.

Asleep at last...