More Max

Its funny that I used to worry that, as my second child, Max's infancy would be less photgraphically documented than Hank's because, in fact, its the exact opposite. Hank won't sit still for two seconds to get his picture taken and Max is a much more cooperative subject, so the majority of my pictures these days tend to be of Max.
Max has lost all but a few hairs left on top and his new hair is almost growing in blonde!

As an update to my last post, we pulled out all the stops: relocating Max to his own bedroom, tanking him up with a bottle right before bed, and depriving him of his p.m. nap in order to encourage him to sleep longer through the night. Happily, he is beginning to sleep a little better. Three nights ago he slept through the night (I put him down at 10pm and woke him up at 6am because I was too worried about him to let him go any longer) but we haven't had a repeat since. Sleep is overrated anyways.

A Night in the Life of a Mom

Here is just a sample of what my typical night (last night) entails:

10:30 - Feed Max, lay him in bed. Goodnight!
11:30 - Hank wakes up screaming with a night terror, calm him, put him back to sleep.
1:00 - Max hungry, feed Max, put him back in crib.
1:45 - Max still hungry, prepare formula, give Max bottle, put Max back in crib.
3:30 - Max fussy, burp Max and rock back to sleep.
4:15 - Max hungry again. Feed Max and put back to sleep.
5:15 - Aaron wakes up, gets ready, leaves for work.
6:30 - Hank wakes up, then wakes Max up. Good morning!

Despite the fact that I work around the clock, I'm constantly sleep deprived, and the pay sucks, I wouldn't trade my job for the world!

New Tricks

Just a few of the fun things we've been up to lately:
Hank has stubornly refused to push the pedals on his bike, walking it on his toes instead, until yesterday. He finally grasped the idea that he can self-power the bike by pedaling himself. What fun! We celebrated this new feat by taking a bike ride to the park located a half block down the street. Hank would get so sidetracked by every leaf on the sidewalk or rock in the street that I had to nudge him along with my stroller to keep him pedalling. Every other minute I'd yell out, "keep your eyes on the road," "watch where you're going" or "stay on the sidewalk." What fun!

Some people call this wonderful contraption an Exersaucer, but I like to think of it as gold because this handy toy buys me a precious fifteen minutes of freedom to take a shower, do some laundry, or rest. Ha.

My favorite part is the view from the underside.

Bath Buddies

Running short on time to get the kiddos fed, bathed, and clothed before our doctor's appointment, I threw Hank and Max into the tub together for the first time. Even though I lectured Hank about not splashing his little brother, poor Max put up with Hank dumping cups of water all over him.
The doctor confirmed what I had suspected, Max is a mini-giant. At 4 months, Max is 17.1 lbs (90%), measures 28 inches long (off the charts, the nurse measured twice to be sure), and his head is 16.5 inches around (45%). At this rate, it looks like Max might not have to put up with being bullied by Hank for much longer.

Happy Birthday to ME!

Today I turned the big 2-7. All things considered, it was a nice birthday. Since today is Sunday, we celebrated yesterday with a full day of festivities. We woke up and got ourselves presentable because I had made an appointment to have our family pictures taken. I had imagined that having our photo taken would be a fun activity but between the lame-o photographer and my group of uncooperative boys, it turned into a major ordeal that left us all feeling haggard. I recooperated with some shopping therapy and a pedicure with my girlfriend. Later, Aaron and I enjoyed a nice dinner together and a movie afterwards. My 27 year-old self getting ready to enjoy my yummy birthday cake.

We have a tradition where Aaron attempts to make a birthday cake of my choosing each year. This year I challenged Aaron to make a cheesecake. This was the final product. Its not going to win any beauty contests, but it actually was delicious. Its the thought that counts, right?

My pretty pedicured piggies.

I don't know why people always ask, "how does it feel?" when its your birthday. Truthfully, it feels old. As each birthday comes and goes, I always feel the need to evaluate and assess my progress in life. This birthday I realized that I only have three more years to go before I reach the major milestone of year 30. I don't want to be 30 years old and have any regrets so, being the list-making, goal oriented girl that I am, I decided that I would make my own "bucket list" of sorts, and set a few goals to complete before I turn 30. I'm not talking about fluffy "see a shooting star" type goals, I mean real, do-able, life goals. I will add to the list as I continue to brainstorm, but here is what I've come up with so far:

1. Have another baby

2. Visit Europe

3. Run at least a 10k

4. Take a class...maybe intro to Italian, photography, parenting, design, creative writing

5. $$$ - figure out how to get some

6. Learn to ski and golf

7.

4!

Yesterday Max turned 4 months old! I can't remember what our family was like before Max joined us...he is such a special part of our family and I love him to peices.

4 things I love about Max: 1) his ear to ear smile that melts my heart, 2) his super chubby thighs, 3) his glass-peircing squeal that he makes when he is happy (which he is most of the time), and 4) the way his eyes light up first thing in the morning when he sees me (even after a bad night).

4 of Max's favorite things: 1) his yellow ducky toy that Dad dropped in the water and now makes a disturbing whining noise when you squeeze it, 2) his fuzzy brown blanket, 3) bathtime (and just being naked in general), and 4) FOOD! Max loves to EAT!

4 things Max can do: 1) roll-over, 2) smile, giggle, laugh, and babble, 3) play with toys and put them in his mouth, 4) hold a sitting position for a short time. Nope, not sleep through the night:(

We love you Max!