Another Month, Another Chair Pose

Every month on Max's "birthday" we take a picture of him on the same chair to see how big he's gotten......

Here he is at 3 months old:
And 2 months old....
And a month old....

This month, Max graciously shared the spotlight with a few friends...

Hey guys....just smile, like this, and my mommy will take the picture!
Ahhhhh, thanks for being such a pal Curious.....wanna take a nap?

Welcome To My Crib

Daddy worked REALLY hard on my room, and I wanted to share the finished product with all of you! He did all of this ALL BY HIMSELF....and he even used a nail gun and a big saw! Uncle Scottie came over to help him with the chair moulding.....Mommy took a deep breath of relief when they both walked out of my room without any nails through their hands!

Do you see my picture of Wrigley Field on the wall? Daddy says that's where his favorite team plays baseball, and that when I'm bigger he'll take me there.

Here's my bulletin board and my bookshelf. So far I have my birth announcement and Jack's birth announcement. Mommy is going to put Lev's up soon, and I'm saving three more spots....one for baby Nathan (WELCOME baby Nathan........Mommy will be posting more about your arrival soon!!!), one for Caleb's little brother or sister, who won't be here until February, and one for Tiffany's baby, who will be here soon!!! Don't worry guys, I'm keeping the board open for ya!
Here's my crib.....I totally sleep in here now, because I'm BIG!
Daddy painted this mural on my wall.....
Hah Hah....just kidding! They're decals....but they're cool, huh?! Check out my name hangin' out on the shelf....
Well folks, that's it for now. If you ever need someone to decorate YOUR pad, just call my dad!

Roll Me Away

You're not going to believe this....

Max celebrated his 3 month birthday today with an enormous milestone.....

It was 9:30 am and we were letting Daddy sleep in. Max was practicing tummy time on his blanket downstairs. He had lots of things to tell me, and he wanted to make sure that Butterfly was listening closely too. In case the video (above) wasn't enough, Max asked me to document everything with photos just in case anyone doubted Mommy's story....

Hey Butterfly! Pay close attention to what I'm about to do, OK? Seriously....keep your eyes on me....
Are you watching? Here I go!
Hey Mommy! Get this action shot!!
Oooof. That was kind of a rough landing.....
Ah, Butterfly? If I kick my legs like this, do you think I can get back up?
Seriously Dude. I'm stuck. Any ideas?
Whatever Man. We'll just chill here for a while. Or at least until Mommy picks me up so that she can watch me roll over AGAIN. Seriously Mom. I know I'm talented and all, but you've seen this show five times now. Can I just rest here for a while??

Three Months Old!

Dear Max,

Happy three month birthday my beautiful boy! You've been celebrating this big milestone by doing some very big boy things....

Two nights ago, you had a bottle around 9pm and then slept until 4 am. Last night you had a bottle at 7 pm, fell asleep at 7:45, and then woke up at 2:45 am to have your next bottle! That's almost 8 hours between bottles, and 7 hours of sleep in a row! That's pretty impressive, especially since we took you out for sushi from 8-9 last night while you were asleep! Then you woke up again at 7 am, and I just gave you another bottle.

We were rocking in the rocking chair together around 7:30 am, when you nuzzled your little head underneath my neck. I looked down at you, and you gave me the biggest smile, nuzzled into me some more, and fell asleep. You are such an affectionate baby....you grab our hands to hold them when we're feeding you. You wrap one arm around my neck when I'm holding you against my chest. You give us a big bright smile when we walk into the room as you wake up.

You're also starting to use your hands so much more. Your tight little baby fists have opened up to busy little boy hands. Your fingers are wide open and exploring, and you like to grab anything you can find. Mommy's hair, Daddy's shirt, the burp cloth that you are leaning on, and even your toys! You're starting to reach out and grab toys, and bring things toward your mouth. After I saw how you responded to the colorful scarves and toys at music class last week, I brought out a sheer blue scarf for you to play with at home. You quickly became very busy holding it, tasting it, and feeling it between your fingers.

Daddy helped you to grab the ring that was above your bouncy seat, and you held on tight! The picture is a little hard to decipher, but that's you behind those toys, holding on for dear life! You can see your little hand gripping the red toy...

The only problem was, you couldn't figure out how to let go....so you got a little upset! That's ok....we're still working on concepts like cause and effect....and "release"!

The other day you were such a big helper when I was changing your diaper.....you grabbed your onesie and lifted it up for me! Unfortunately, by the time I could grab my camera you had lowered your little shirt already (you had pulled it up to your chest all by yourself!), but you can still get the idea from these pictures....

Little Max, every day is a new adventure with you. Daddy and I love to cover you with kisses and listen to you babble to us. We love watching you explore and watching you grow and change every day.

What a happy, happy three months this has been my son!!

Love,

Mommy

Tummy Time Part 2

Hi Everyone! Mommy finally figured out how to help me prop my arms so that I can really catch some air during tummy time! Who knew that I could lift my head up so high? For some stupid reason, Mommy thought she was being helpful by putting my arms out to the side...and then she couldn't figure out why I spent so much time on my face! She's a rookie, that Mommy! Good thing she finally helped me to move my arms in front of me! Now I can chill out with elephant on my blanket....

And even practice reaching for him......

Mommy LOVES how I look like such a big boy when I'm in this pose!

I know, I know....I am SO damn cute!

I've got this tummy thing down, don't I??!

Whooooah!!! Maybe not! Mommy laughed pretty hard when I fell over, but if I had just had a little more momentum, this would've been a ROLL over. Yeah, take that people! I didn't just eat it, I was practicing rolling over! Duh!
Ummm......Mommy? Can you help a boy out here?????

La La La!

Max had his first music class with Mommy yesterday! There's nothing like a room full of 14 other babies, all babbling and "singing" along with a VERY energetic teacher! Max and Mommy both learned some very interesting things at music....like:

1. Three month old babies need a little time to get used to this "music class" thing. We were sitting next to our new friend Baby M., and her Mommy and Daddy. Baby M is only one day older than Max, and they were the two youngest in the class. Many of the other babies were sitting up, crawling around, or standing. Which meant that they could easily make NOISE with all of the instruments! Drums, bells, and maraca shakers definitely took Max and Baby M by surprise at first. Suddenly Baby M started to wail, and poor little Max took one look at the baby chaos around him (13 crawling, cooing, toy-throwing, instrument-playing babies and one screaming baby sitting right next to us, plus a big smiley teacher with exaggerated gestures and a very happy singing voice) and he completely turned his body away from the class and attempted to bury his little face in my shoulder. All of a sudden it became VERY clear that I was learning an important mommy lesson....as I looked down and saw his little bottom lip stick WAY out and start to tremble. I had never seen this reaction from him before! Poor baby was scared and totally overstimulated! Immediately Baby M's mommy and I said to each other "I think they're a little young for this class!". I brought Max in close to me, and turned him around so that he could only see me and not the rest of the class. I was ready to stand up and walk away from the noise, but he slowly started to calm down. I kept him really close to me, and I could see him relax and start to explore with his eyes. I sang softly in his ear, and when he started to move his arms and legs with excitement, I turned him around and sat him in my lap. He even gave the music teacher a big smile when she walked by, singing and banging her music sticks together. Pretty soon, Max was laying on his blanket in front of me, looking around at all of the commotion.

2. There are lots of ways to introduce Max to different textures and sounds. He LOVED the song with the scarves, and grabbed at the scarf each time I brought it close to him. He got very quiet as the scarf brushed his face, and smiled as it tickled his arms. He even held on tight to the bell that we had, and helped me to shake it along with the music. I was so proud of him! We played with cotton ball "clouds" and felt how soft they were against his feet, his cheek, his fingers. And we learned so many new songs that we can sing at home.

3. Max's music teacher is one cool chick. She paid close attention to the names of all of the babies, and sang different songs using everyone's name! At the beginning of class, she goes around the room and asks each Mommy to introduce their baby and say how old they are. For instance, "Hi, I'm Kim, and this is Max. He'll be three months old on Saturday". Then the entire class responds "Yay Max!" and claps for him! You can imagine how funny this is when it happens 15 times....it's like a baby AA meeting...."Hi Max!"

4. Music is a very popular class. So popular in fact, that they now have THREE classes on one day, because it's such a hit. Apparently they turned away 9 mommies from one class last week because it was too full. What does that mean? Well, we had to get there about an hour early to sign in and reserve our spot. Even then there was only one spot left in the parking lot. As we were arriving and unloading the stroller from the car, other mommies were frantically unloading their babies and yelling to each other...."I can't talk now, I have to go sign in for music class!" There I was, trying to get Max's stroller situated as fast as possible so that I could race the other mommies to the door to make sure that we'd have a place on the list! It's a tough world out there.....I even went in and threw our blanket down to reserve a spot on the floor before I headed out to grab a quick lunch at Starbucks!

5. Mommy is a show-off. Max has been doing so well with tummy time, that I wanted to give him a chance to see Music class from that perspective. Once he had calmed down and was feeling more comfortable, I put him on his tummy so that he could have a good look around. And maybe to show everyone else how advanced he is....he heh he!

We will definitely be returning to music class next week! I think Max might like a tambourine or a drum instead of those darn bells though!

Tummy Time Part 1

You better watch out Mr. Elephant....I'm comin' for you! I may not be able to move now, but you just wait! Don't make another move Elephant Man....I can kick your butt in a staring contest any day!

Yeah, that's what I thought Elephant! Scaredy Cat!