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!

Thanks Stacia!

Max in his playpen with his mozart music box toy.

Max dancing to techno with some help from Daddy. He's definitely a baby who likes music. And techo seems to match up with his strong desire to bounce. I'll have to put on Phish to see if he likes to bounce around the room..

He just loves to pose for the camera. How lucky is that for me? :)

Now that it is cooler at night, we try to dress Max a little more warmly at bedtime. We have some sleep sacks that are great since they are warm and fleecy and make for an easy diaper change. But he can't walk around in the sleep sack. Luckily he has two cute little fleece sleepers from Stacia.

Queer Eye for the Baby Guy

This weekend Max wore one of the outfits he got as a gift. He had a little white long sleeve polo onesie with a little red bear logo. He had a black and white shirt with a little red bear logo. And he had grey cord pants, also with a little bear logo. It was almost like the days of garanimals yet clearly he isn't to the point of picking out his own clothes, so the logos must be for me. :) I was pleased that I owned little grey socks to complete the ensemble. I know I am biased, but I'd say this outfit definitely made the MaxFactor at the high end of the cute scale!

Max Stands!

Max spent a lot of his weekend walking around. He managed a few moments of standing on his own. About 5-10 seconds before he grabbed onto something. He spent so much time walking around that his brothers had to help out before his parents became permanently bent over! He loves to walk around and he's walking fast fast fast. He even knows to lift up his food for the step between the kitchen and the living room. He can't manage the second step since it is full size, but the first step up is a little one and he can lift his foot up on to the step. He is very excited about walking around and would happily do it for hours. When we need a break he is also willing to spend a little time walking around inside the playpen, although he hasn't yet mastered walking along the sides where the "walls" are higher. He also likes to hold on to the playpen or our hands with just one hand, while he practices balancing. He's such a happy baby!

He is also very fast at rolling over on the bed, and is starting to get the hang of getting his feet/legs under him in a crawling kind of motion.

Photos to follow shortly...

Ma Ma!!!

This morning on the way to school Max said Ma Ma! And then followed it up with da da da da da. Qwagsie said he must have meant "Ma Ma is awesome" and I think that is a fair assessment.

Meeting Milestones at MyGym

Since yesterday was a holiday, the whole family went to MyGym for FreePlay. Mark gave Max two of the balls from the ball pit. Max figured out how to hold each ball with just one hand and was able to move them from hand to hand. He figured out he could hold one ball steady with his leg or with the other ball and then he was able to grab it with the other hand. He was, of course, totally adorable while doing it, but we were mostly just happy to see that he is meeting his milestones and progressing well. Other MyGym activities included bouncing on the trampoline (while I held him) which was a first and continuing to work on holding on to the metal ladder with just one hand while standing. :)

Weekends Are For Fun...

The ducky is fun AND delicious!

Smiling at the playground

He's such a ham!

He really loves to go on the swing. And I love little furry pants and jacket (with ears!!).

Max and his brothers.

Max had a good weekend, in spite of a mild sickness. He's had a bit of a fever and been a little on the cranky/clingy side. But he had some fun over the weekend even with feeling not so great. He played with his brothers and went to the park. And this afternoon he had a lovely nap on Wendy's lap at Tea Time Knitting. Life is good when you are a little baby...

Because Bob Complains..

Bob complains if the top photo of Max is one where he is making a food-tasting face. So here's the professional photo of Max as a monkey for Halloween.

Because it is all about Bob...

Max tries Banana

Do I really need to say anything more?

Costume Time!

Max in his Elvis onesie from my trip to Vegas...

Max in his Halloween costume!!

Making up for lost time...

I know it seems like it has been so long since I last posted with photos that Max must be in college... But he isn't. :) I've just had some computer woes. And then had about 500 photos to cope with... I hope the resulting cuteness makes up for the delay...


Max pets Gretel. They both seemed to like it.

Max in his JumpJump! Thanks Auntie for sending it over. He's a little too short to reach the ground so we put big plastic tubs under him so that he can prance and bounce. He totally loves it.

Max in a funny hat from Krista.

Max likes Daddy's beard.

Max with Matthew. It was a mutual admiration society for sure!

Max is ready for Halloween with his special shirt and bib. And gymnastics skill...

Max in his special sweater I knit for him with the giant hood. I love it!

Max loves his mummy and his mummy loves him!

Bathtime is fun time!

I have owned this snow suit for a very long time and I was waiting for Max to come along and be the right size to fit into it! He was very warm and snuggly!

My team got me balloons (and flowers and a card and a coldstone cake) for Boss's Day. Thanks team! You guys rock! This is Max and Nik playing with the balloons. Max is getting quite good at moments of standing up without clinging to the edge of the playpen.

Thanks Shelley for the cute zebra outfit and pants!

Thanks Bethany for the cute outfit with the bears on the feet! We all know I love the little feet!

Max modeling a sweater I just made for him. The first time I made it the neck wasn't big enough for his pumpkin head. I ripped out the neck and did it a second time. You know that is love. I never rip things out and do them over.