Helpful Baby

Max really likes to help. He likes to carry in bags of groceries from the car (as long as you have a nice light bag of non-breakable groceries). He likes to help carry the bags to the car in the morning when it is time to go. Yesterday he decided to help Mark bring in the little trashcan.

Mark had taken the little trash can outside to poop-scoop. He brought the empty trashcan back in the house and set it down inside the back door. Max picked it up and walked over to the two steps up to the kitchen. He put the trash can down on the first step, walked up the steps, and then leaned over to pick up the trash can again. He carried it over to the big silver trash can and tried to put it on top. He's too little to actually reach, but he definitely knew where it went and he was willing to try to do it himself.

He's such a cutie!

The Backup Baby Sitter Won't Let Him Wear Clothes

Or maybe he had just "demanded" a new set of clothes but was too adorable to not photograph. You can decide. Krista's hope was to get a photo of Max and Duncan together, but they were too wiley for her. But at least she got this cute photo of Max and sent it to me. :) Max had a great time at her house.

In Which Max is a Very Busy Boy

Max was very surprized at the return of his brothers last Thursday. He enjoyed seeing them but didn't appear to initially understand that they were going to stay. He is now back on track with assuming they will be around. He loves to try to play with Nik and he loves to follow Julian around. He loves to draw on the easel in Julian's room. And he loves to dance to the "music" from Julian's birthday cards. Spongebob singing Happy Birthday is equally dance-worthy as the Star Wars theme. He's just happy to dance!

Max still very much loves his bath time. He isn't a fan of getting his face wet, but he does love everything else about a bath. Yesterday he fell in!!! He was playing with the bottle of soap and it went in farther than he could reach. So he stretched. And went right in face first! He was very surprized! I got him right out and got him stripped down and he got back in the bath and had a wonderful time. The question is if the shock of falling in the water will be enough to prevent the allure of the water from causing him to fall in again! And this is why he is never left alone with the bath for a moment when it has water in it. He still likes to help get the bath ready and is happy to trot around to our bathroom to get his towel. After my shower he also wants to help me get my towel too.

Max also also now learned how to flush the toilet. He is very excited about this. And we are not! Not only is there the potential for him to flush the toilet while we are in the shower, but this also means the risk of toys being flushed is increased! The rules about the toilet seat being down and the door to the bathroom being shut are in effect!

Max is very excited about his little baby forks. He has been using a fork at Spartans to eat pancakes. I cut them up into little bites and then he stabs them with the fork and gets them into his mouth. And that is with an adult sized fork. At home he has his small forks and that is even better for him. This week he had wagon wheel pasta with tomato sauce and that worked out quite well. The tines of the fork went in the spokes of the wagon wheel. Yesterday we had spiral pasta with cheese sauce and he used his bender fork to spear them. He is very excited about having his own little bowl and using his fork.

Max still loves Little Einsteins. When he hears the theme song he comes running to watch it. And when it is time for the mission he runs to me to sit in my lap so we can pat his lap to help Rocket take off. Don't worry -- he's still a fan of the Daily Show and the Colbert Report! But now he also likes a show that is geared to his age range! :)

MyGym Maniac!

Max went crazy last night at MyGym. He was doing everything! He went in the ball pit. He climbed up all the slides and then slid back down them. He even went on the trampoline! For the first time! He didn't really have the hang of it, but he was excited to try. He climbed over one of the vinyl covered foam things and managed to get inside it to have his own little space. It took a couple of tries, but he kept going and figured it out. He walked through the sideways ladder thing and totally nailed it. I was so impressed with him. And he was also able to somewhat hang from a wooden bar and dangle with his feet just off the platform. And to climb back up to get to the top of another slide. He also walked up a set of stairs and then looked like he wanted to climb up a ladder like thing. He also spent a little bit of time just walking around, kicking a soccer ball, or dancing to the music. He had a great time.

We went home, ate some tacos, took a bath, and he was asleep within 5 minutes of crawling into bed next to me!

Car Grooving...

Brown Eyed Girl was on the radio this morning as I drove Max to Krista's house. I'm pleased to report that Max shares his mother's love of the song. He was doing his little baby dancing while I drove. I snapped, and he tried. He was putting his fingers together and then looking at them and then looking at me as if to see if that would explain why my fingers made noise and his didn't. He knows how to clap for applause, but me showing him how to clap with music was a little more confusing. He did manage it a little, but I could tell he wasn't sure that he was doing it right. So he went back to waving his feet and waving his hands and bouncing up and down. He was, as always, totally adorable.

Max knows not to be without his towel

Shannon got Max a lovely Winnie the Pooh hooded towel as a baby shower present. Max loves it. On Wednesday night I put the hooded part on his head and he wrapped the rest of the towel around him. I was so proud! And then, being Max, he admired himself in the mirror. He was awfully cute! Can you blame him?

Last night after his bath I again put the towel on him. And he wrapped it around. And I was struck by the resemblance. So I took him down to show Mark. I put Max down and he wrapped the towel around himself (something Mark hadn't seen). And I said to Mark, "Doesn't he look like Yoda Baby?" And Mark had to agree. :)