More pics from Baltimore

Stay tuned for pics from our upcoming trip to Pittsburgh!

In front of the Capital building

Sea captain baby!

Playing with Ashlynn!

Max's trip to Baltimore

Last week, we got to visit Aunt Stephanie in Baltimore for the first time since Max was born. As an extra special treat, Gma Gloria and Papa Pete were able to meet us down there. We were busy busy busy! We went to the Baltimore Zoo on Tuesday, where Max enjoyed seeing the Giraffe, Antelope type creatures, and Monkeys (as shown by his new thing, waving his hand up and down to indicate excitement and greeting things he likes) then, on Wednesday, spent the day in Annapolis where we toured the Naval Academy, looked at the water, and ate at an awesome baked potato restaurant which Max particularly enjoyed. (Since then, he has steadfastly refused to eat his jarred baby foods, preferring instead to cry and open and close his mouth while staring at whatever we are eating!) The ride back was a little rocky (9 hours for a  5 1/2 hour drive!), and punctuated by mama's occasional declarations that "I'm loosing my mind!", but now that we're home and rested, I can't wait to travel with the crew again!

Max's first Noodles and Company!

At the zoo

Why can't Sofie come out and play??

the Easter bug

Sadly, Max spent his first Easter suffering from his first significant stomach bug infection. The bug first made its appearance at church, when Max projectile vomited a lovely purple concoction down the hallway as soon as we got to Artisan. We explained it away by our rush to get to church on time (and subsequent force feeding of Max), but as the service went on he got more and more listless and grumpy. At home, we realized he had a fever of 103! The poor baby spent most of the day sleeping and whining, but at least he was willing to explore his Easter basket for a bit to provide us with some cute pictures!

(as a side note, Mommy, Daddy, and grandma all quickly caught Max's stomach bug and spent the next week in various states of GI distress. This is an Easter that will not be soon forgotten!).

Before the bug hit

Max's Easter presents!

Woo! Love the book, guys!

Max at the Conservatory

Sorry, Max fans, to be slacking on the blog lately but life has suddenly seemed to be very busy now that Max is moving around and eating 3+ meals a day of solids. Awhile ago, I promised some pictures from our Valentines Day trip to the Highland Park Conservatory (which we bought a family pass too this year), and now I will finally deliver. Max enjoyed looking at the plants, grabbing at the quails who run around, and being out in a warm place with Mom and Dad for a few hours. Enjoy!

"Why won't you let me touch it?!"

quails!

Happy Valentines Day!

Sorry its a little late, but Max wanted to tell everyone Happy Valentines Day in his own special way.

We celebrated by having lunch in the Highland Park Conservatory, where Max was astounded by the waterfall and quails running around. Pics to come!

Say Cheese!

A new Max trick we discovered is that he has learned to squint when the red flash light comes on before the flash itself can blind him. This is what most of the most recent pictures I've taken look like:

But sometimes, I can do a sneak attack to catch the cuteness after the squint.

This silly baby!

8 months old already?

Max turned 8 months old yesterday, and is finally turning into quite a mama's boy. He's started crying and doing a fake scream when I leave the room we're hanging out in, and has been giving me "kissies" when I ask for them (disgusting wet messes which involve sucking my cheek, but still adorable!). He's still happy to be dropped off the gym childcare and to hang with babysitters, but is always more than willing to come to me with open arms when I reappear. It's nice to (finally) feel wanted!

He's really into toys right now and loves things that move and make noise (basically the most annoying toys possible). He hasn't started crawling yet, but has figured out an odd, wormlike wiggle that gets him where he wants to go pretty effectively. He's still maintaining his high degree of extroversion, and loves playgroups and being around other children.

His sleeping has improved a ton since his two bottom teeth popped up on New Years Day. He's now only getting up 1 to 2 times a night for a quick feed before falling easily back to sleep, which is phenomenal compared to what had been happening before! He also takes naps very well, although he's still on 3 naps a day (which Dr. Dad is somewhat concerned about, but I'm happy for the extra time to get stuff done!).

I've been having fun making his baby food, and have been recording his reactions to my concoctions in a baby food diary. Despite all my work in buying and preparing tasty, healthy, organic meals, he still seems to prefer cheap Gerber puree's over Mama's hard work. He's a good eater, though, and likes to grab the spoon out of our hands to feed himself. Pretty soon we'll be starting finger foods. My little baby is getting so big!

Attempting to crawl

Gimme that spoon!

Who me?

Hanging with Lisa!

Naked baby time!