Max on wheels

 Max has been out in his Chariot bike trailer twice now, and both times have thankfully been successful! Despite all the work Tony and I put into researching bike trailers, searching craigslist for the one we wanted, finding a bike car rack to transport our bikes, and digging out and fixing up said bikes, we never stopped to consider that Max might not approve of this activity until we put his helmet on and he started crying uncontrollably. Uh oh! Luckily, he pulled it together once we started moving and even seemed to enjoy it!
So far, we've taken one short ride around the neighborhood before bedtime (hence the jammies in these pics), and a longer one on the canal in Pittsford. I'm looking forward to a long, beautiful summer with lots more rides ahead of us!

Mother's Day

Cards, flowers, and homemade waffles!

 I had a wonderful first Mother's Day last weekend! Tony let me sleep in (probably the best gift anyone could have given me!), then made delicious waffles and fresh squeezed orange juice for a special breakfast treat. Everyone took a nap while I got some alone, quiet time (another amazing treat!), and when they woke up we went to Eastview so that I could do some shopping while Tony wrangled the baby. We later went to King and I for dinner, but Max's patience with the day was wearing thin at that point so we had to eat and dash. Oh well, overall it was a wonderful day!

Max enjoying my Mother's Day waffles

Pittsburgh visit

While visiting Pittsburgh, we were busy busy busy as usual! We went out to eat many times (which Max finally learned to accept), went for walks, shopped, and visited the Children's Museum among other things. Max got to sleep with us several times in the family bed as he was being fussy at night, which we were finally able to do without fear of smothering him. It was pretty amusing how he loved to grab Anthony's face as a wake up call when it was time to let us know to get up.
It was great to visit family and Mommy's hometown. We hope to go back again this summer!

Big boy!

Max's new favorite thing is hoisting himself up on us so that he can get a better view of the world, like in this adorable picture. I can't believe my little tiny baby is now 11 months old!!

Other new things are, he now refuses to have baby food fed to him (i.e., the jarred purees or anything that involves a spoon, other than full fat Fage yogurt), preferring instead to eat finger foods. His favorites are clementine oranges, bananas, strawberries, avocados, and mozzarella cheese. Couple this with his tendency to play with his flowing, curly hair and this makes pretty much every meal time end in a need for a bath!
His sleeping has improved a ton since his terror days of being up 3-4 times a night, although he still usually gets up around 3am for a quick feed. He does well going to sleep on his own generally, although he does depending on a strict nurse, book, song, cuddle routine before going to sleep for the night.
Speaking of books, he loves to read stories and will sit very quietly and snuggle for stories usually 2-3 times a day. His favorites are "Goodnight Max", "Peek a who", "Andy Warhol's Colors", "Goodnight Moon", and "Where's Spot?". He especially likes books with actions, where he can pat the fluffy creatures, touch fabric curtains, etc.
I think he is saying about 3-4 words right now. These are "mama" (when i'm around, or when hes upset or sleepy), "dada" (a playful, good mood sound, or when daddy is around), "baby", and"doggy". He loves to babble and make lots of weird sounds during the day!

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!