Also...

Max is pulling himself up! He has primarily been using my legs, but today he used the leg of the table to pull himself up from sitting. He's getting more and more mobile by the minute!

Max is cruising!

After spending several days in NY having all of his family members helping him walk around the house, Max took his first steps while holding on to just the furniture! He is one happy baby.

He spent his 9 month birthday with ZZ, Grandma, and Marty. He has overcome his fear of Tucker the pomeranian and is now trying to pet Tucker while cruising. He has really been enjoying all the attention. Today he also wore his big puffy snowsuit from Bethany for the first time and was super cute and super cuddly in it. :)

Modeling Mommy's Latest Creation

I finished this little sweater for Max all but the sewing up a long time ago. And then I sewed the sleeves on and sewed in the ends. And more time went by. Last weekend I sewed on the Paddington Bear buttons and today he wore it for the first time. Lucky for me it looks like it will fit for a while, so my hatred of doing the sewing part of sweater creation didn't result in Max outgrowing the sweater. :)

This is Max waving to Matt and Wendy when they came over. He is very into waving right now. It has taken a while for him to figure it out, but now he responds quickly to other people waving and also frequently intitates waving at others. He's a ham. There's no doubt about it...

Thanks Granny and Grandad

Here is a rare serious expression on Max's face. Maybe because he is focusing on standing by himself! He does have one hand on the intellitainer, but he is otherwise standing on his own.

Max has been working on TacoTongue, but I think this is just me catching him in the middle of making his big open-mouthed smile.

And here he is, with his tongue in the thinking position, modeling his new tiny baby backpack. I detached the "leash" portion of the reins since he isn't yet able to run away from us on his own. But given how fast he wants to walk when we are helping him, I'm sure I will be needing the reins soon!!!

Happy Christmas!!!

Much has happened in the last week. The big news from today is that Max pulled himself up!!! He was sitting on the floor by my legs and he used my jeans to pull himself into a standing position.

Max had a good Christmas. He liked that Santa brought him some new pacifiers in his stocking and he got a toy o-ball to play with as well. And a little ornament that says Max's First Christmas. He has a variety of ornaments to celebrate this year and Mommy is delighted about that. :) Max's presents were all wrapped in tissue paper and he had a blast ripping the paper off and then ripping the paper into tiny pieces. Julian got him a workbench and Nik got him a popcorn popper toy. I got him a little blackberry, in hopes that he will play with it instead of mine! Granny and Grandad sent me a little tiny baby backpack for Max that doubles as reigns for when he is more able to walk. It is just too adorable being so tiny and so Winnie. :) Max was happy wearing it and posed nicely while standing by himself by the intellitainer...

Max enjoyed playing with Daddy and Mommy and his brothers and had some quality time with Matt and Wendy too. I'll load up some photos soon. I'm just working on downloading the hundreds of photos from the last week now...

He Crawls!

For Daddy's birthday, Max did his first real army crawling! I got it on video, so I will try to post it soon. I was very excited! :)

Sign Language Success!

This morning Max used the sign for milk when he wanted to eat. Or maybe he just used the sign and he always wants to either. Either way I am delighted. And we'll be trying to add more signs to our vocabulary so that we can teach him too. :)

He enjoyed his first celebration of Christmas. And he was a good boy for Granny and Grandpa so that Daddy and Mommy could go out alone together. :)

Another Milestone -- Baby's First Zerbert

Yesterday afternoon I was sitting with Max. He leaned over and put his mouth on my leg. Then he sat up. Then he leaned over again and put his mouth on my leg. He did this a few times. Then he sat up and blew a raspberry. He did this a few times. And then he put them together. He leaned over, but his mouth on my leg, and blew a raspberry. He was so proud of himself. :)

Thanks Jenn!

Max is the proud recipient of this sweater Jenn knitted for him. I totally love it. I think he looks very British. :) The yarn is very soft and it is a perfect fit for him. The sweater looks cute when he is sitting down but looks fantastic when he is standing up. And he spends much of his time standing up. But with me holding his hands, so I wasn't able to get the great photo I was hoping for. I hope this selection gives you an idea... Thanks Jenn! I love it!

See, the cute buttons are even on the back! :)

Max is getting festive for holidays...

I cooked some pear for Max and he is a big fan. Here he is trying a bite of daddy's pear and finding it to be equally tasty...

Thanks Karen from VT for the super cosy snowsuit! Mommy loves the hood tassle!

This highchair is great! It even comes with a footrest!

My Santa Baby...

Trying to make his WorkDaddy proud, Max points to his choice of margaritas at our local mexican restaurant...

8 months have passed in a flash...

Max likes to sit in Hayley's lap. :)

Thanks for the bottle Grandpa!

My Little Turkey, in his high chair for the first time.

Max almost lunged off his changing table to try to reach the hat, so I assumed that meant he wanted to wear it. :)

Max is looking stylish again... Thanks to gifts from people with good matching skills. :)

He's such a happy baby. This is right after his bath. He is sporting executive baby hair, although it is hard to see that from the photo.

I can't believe Max is already 8 months (and 2 days). He enjoyed his first Thanksgiving. He took a pre-meal nap and woke up just in time to join everyone at the table. He really seemed to enjoy sitting in his high chair. He had carrots and papaya for his Thanksgiving dinner.

Max also enjoyed spending time with family and with friends. Grandpa and Uncle Michael walked him around. Grandpa gave him a bottle. Uncle Michael put him down for a nap. Granny spent a lot of time holding him. Dylan gave him a nice kiss and tickled him a little. And then Uncle Russ came to visit! And he was also willing to walk around with Max to the delight of everyone, especially Mommy and Daddy who feel like their backs will not make it through this stage... :) Hayley and Wendy gave Max some good snuggle time at dessert.

But now Max's patience with the blog is at an end and he wants his mommy...

It's all in how you hold your mouth...

This is Max walking. He started sticking his tongue out today while he was walking. Because the trick to doing anything new and/or tricky is to stick your tongue out properly..

Like this!

Here he is in motion. Because it is really hard to get a picture of him that doesn't involve him walking. Because that is ALL he wants to do.

If anyone wants to come over and walk around hunched over, holding his hands, just give us a call. :) He's very straightforward about what he wants. He will take each of your hands and then he will take off!

He has mastered the stairs. Well, I say mastered. It isn't like he can move anywhere without help. But he puts his feet on the two stairs between the living room and the kitchen just like he will need to when he actually starts walking...

Obama Wins! Free Breakfast!

Since our breakfast was focused on the election bet, the kids wore read white and blue. Nik's shirt even has a flag on it, although that flag is behind Max.

Max believes that elephants should be cute and decorative...

Max hangs out with Wendy at breakfast. :) She's been the bottle giver at breakfast, but now Max has moved on to having a fruit breakfast in his high chair instead of having a bottle. But he still loves Wendy!

Thanks Shaw!!!

Shaw and Max.

And Max with Angie. :)

Many thanks to Shaw for paying up on his election related bet. And for posing for photos to commemorate the day...

Femmes Festivities

Baby Cole!!! And his mom and grandma too.

Wendy and Max have some quality time. And in honor of Jennifer's return, Max is wearing one of the doggie onesies she sent him.

Random Cuteness

Crashed out on Daddy. I love that he tucked his hand into Mark's sleeve.

This is what mittens are for...

Mark and I bought this little fleece hat and mittens set when we were in England before we got married. I think it was a Primark Special...

I was trying to get a photo of Max in his hoodie, but it was a day for props, apparently. Here you can see one of the "magic" pacifiers.

Max enjoying a self-portrait style photo shoot. His pants have a little froggy face on them. This is one of the outfits I got for him before we knew if he would be a boy or a girl.

Max in a hat. :) And a little outfit from Kathy B. Thanks!

Thanks Patty for making a sweater!

Standing in his playpen in his ducky sleep sack.

How could I resist a soft brown jacket with ears? It also has matching pants that have little feet on the bottom!

Max has fun with Daddy. And another hat! This one was from Krista. Thanks!