Max turns 8 months on Saturday! 8 months just seems so old for our little man, but then when I see him with younger babies, I am reminded of how far he has come during the last 34 weeks of his life.
Since last week, we survived our week without Luke while he was traveling for work. It definitely wasn't easy, but for the most part, Maxwell is a fairly mild-mannered little boy, so I just made sure to make the most of being close to him ever moment I was home. Honestly, the most difficult part was trying to make sure that my needy dogs were cared for, loved, and given attention as well. Lucy and Kale were probably even more excited about Luke's homecoming than Max and I were!
This week is spring break. Normally, I wouldn't have really found the time to update, but I still have to teach night school tonight, so since enrollment is down, I can continue to take some time to write while my students work. Since I am off from work all week, I have decided to treat this week as a bit of a staycation, and give Max a chance to experience a few of the fun things we have to offer around the Twin Cities. I am thrilled that I am able to spend this week with my son. I've missed spending every day with him. It saddens me to think that on any given weekday, I only get to spend about 4 hours with him after getting home from work before starting the bedtime routine. We still co-sleep after his first wake-up (sometime starting around 9 or 10pm, while some nights it's closer to midnight), and it's mostly for selfish reasons. As a nursing mother, it is SO much easier for me to just flop out the boob and let Max dream-feed when he stirs instead of having to wake up, walk downstairs, get him out of the crib, fight to stay awake while feeding him, put him back down, and find my way back to bed. The other selfish reason is that I miss him a lot during the day. I like having him near. Luke has even admitted on nights where we've attempted to have him sleep in the crib that he misses him when he's not in bed with us. In order to make things a bit more comfortable for all of us, we are going to attempt the IKEA hack where we'll adapt the IKEA crib to become a co-sleeper crib that will bump right up next to my side of the bed. I'll update on how it's going once we get that project completed!
Anywho... that co-sleeping part got a bit long, and I shared more about it than I had planned... I always feel like I need to defend or be embarrassed about the fact that Max is in bed with us more often than not.
Back to the staycation: This wbreak has been fantastic so far. On Saturday, I had a baby shower to attend, so I dropped Luke and Max off at Luke's parents' house for a few hours. Max had a blast playing with his cousin Lily, and then enjoyed going out to dinner. The next morning, we had a playdate set up for Max, Irene, and Emmett. It was fun to see all of the babies from my high school friends so far! Emma's baby will be joining us sometime in May, so once she arrives, it'll be nice to have them all meet up again. Crazy to think that we all will be experiencing first days of kindergarten, prom, graduation, etc., all around the same time. We'll all be able to lean on one another as we ride through the emotional roller coaster of motherhood.
Luke took Monday and Tuesday of this week off, so were able to meet with a lawyer to finalize our wills/health directives/powers of attorney. It's a pretty huge weight lifted off our shoulders. Should something happen to the both of us, it makes me feel good to know that we have a legal document stating where Max should go, and who will be the trustee for the estate. After the depressing discussion of events upon the occurrence of our deaths, we booked it down to the Mall of America to take Max to SEA LIFE. He really enjoyed seeing the fish moving around. The jelly fish exhibit was a big hit, and he did very well going through the different parts of the aquarium. I forgot how expensive that place is- next time we'll make sure to get some discounted tickets, but it was worth it because they gave us passes to use another time because the ray pool was closed. We'll definitely be taking advantage of that!
I'm looking forward to the rest of this week (we've got big plans to go to the MN Zoo again, dye eggs, celebrate cousin Ade's baptism, spend time with family on Easter), and getting into the homestretch to the end of the school year!
***I'm going to attempt to post once more this week with Max's 8 Month Update (though, let's be honest... there's a good chance that won't get posted until next week)***
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
A Day in the Life...
This week, I'm getting a taste of what it might be like to be a single working mother. Well, a single working mother who knows that she only needs to endure this for 4 days...
Luke is out of town (lucky guy is travelling through Florida and Georgia), so this is the first time I have had to be 100% responsible for the well-being and life of my child while working. Luke travelled once before since Maxwell was born, but that was back when Max was only about 6 weeks old. At that point in his life, I could place him on a blanket on the floor or on his play mat, leave the room for a couple minutes, and expect him to have not squirmed off the blanket. Now, I can't leave the little man alone for more than 30 seconds before he's getting himself into trouble! Back in September, we spent hours cuddling on the couch, still getting the hang of nursing and learning about each other. I had Netflix on constantly, and made it through more seasons (plural!) of Sons of Anarchy during those 4 days than I would like to admit... I could make dinner easily, and eat over him as he ate and slept. I was home all day, so I didn't have to get ready for anything. I never had to put on real clothes and make myself look presentable, and a quick trip to Target for some real-world experiences and a decaf latte didn't require any more energy than the brain power it cost to dress myself in yoga pants and a sweatshirt. This time around? Definitely not so easy.
I wish I had done a post like this back during those first 6 weeks. The days of my maternity leave have gotten pretty hazy, and I regret not writing down more.
5:05- Head downstairs, make sure the coffee pot is ready to brew, turn on sound machine and soothing projector light. Change Max's diaper if there wasn't a middle of the night diaper change.
5:10- Make sure pump is ready- grab parts if they are still on the drying rack. Begin pumping. Start the 20 minute countdown.
5:11-5:31- Pump while simultaneously nursing Max from the other side. Hope that he falls back into a deep sleep (at least long enough to let me have enough time to get ready, please?!). Max has picked up a new habit of attempting to kick the pump off my breast. Hope that I don't spill any milk. Suffer through silent jealousy as I hear Luke wake up and get out of bed to shower at about 5:20/5:30. That extra half hour of sleep would be amazing...
5:31- Release myself from the pump, and (on a good morning) lay Max in the crib. This should buy me at least 10-20 minutes before he wakes up.
**If Max is awake, I do the following with one arm/hand until Luke gets out of the bathroom**
5:32- Clean up pump parts, put milk in fridge, pull out lunches, make sure the coffee is actually brewing, double check bottles for the day, pull out pouches/containers of solids for my mom to feed Max.
5:45- Run upstairs to get dressed, find clean clothes pile, make sure there is no spit up/poop/drool on the outfit. Look in the mirror, sigh at my soft mom belly, decide that I hate every piece of clothing I own (nothing does anything to help the pouch look better), but realize that I have no time to change, or anything better to change into. Maybe I should rejoin Weight Watchers next week... they are adaptable for nursing mothers... maybe next week.
**If I have Max, usually I plop him in front of the sliding mirrors in the bedroom so that he can flirt with himself. It's a race to see if I can get dressed before he becomes interested in trying to fling himself down the stairs. I dance like a crazy person while getting dressed to help keep him entertained**
5:55- Brush teeth, throw hair into a ponytail, put on deodorant, decide I look acceptable, and wonder if there will ever be a day that I wear make-up to work again.
5:57- Mom will be here within 5 minutes. Within 5 minutes, I need to be ready to quietly, but sternly tell the dogs to shut the hell up. Every.Single.Morning. They know that my mom is coming. I think the anticipation makes their excitement even worse.
5:58- Dogs THINK that they hear her car pull up. Kale woofs, Lucy woofs and books it to the front window. Tell the dogs to get back, come get a treat. Wonder if a shock collar would work to keep them from barking. Remind myself that I do not agree with shock collars and would judge the ever-loving shit out of myself if I ever tried to use one on my dogs.
6:03- Mom actually pulls up in front of the house. Luke has got the dogs calmed down enough, we use our bodies to physically block the dogs from charging and and knocking over my mom out of excitement and love. Remind mom to bend her knees! Perhaps we should get them back into obedience classes... who am I kidding... there's no time!
6:05- Mom is settled in and the dogs have calmed down enough to finish their breakfast.
**If Max wasn't up already, this is about the time we hear him start to cry**
6:05:30- Go into Max's room, and can't help but smile when I see that he's pulled himself up using the crib rails, and is waiting for one of us to come get him. Pick up his warm little body, give him a few quick kisses and head to the kitchen.
6:09- Chat with mom about the weather, traffic, how Max slept that night, interesting gossipy tidbits from the family while making sure I have my entire lunch, have my pump parts packed in my tote bag, and pour coffee. I should buy a larger thermos... I'll probably end up stopping at the gas station to get another coffee to make it through the day.
6:15- Make sure mom has everything she needs to get her through the day- show her the solids she can give him.
6:20- head out the door. Stop. Where's my god damn phone? Every single freaking day. Oh, it's in my pocket. Or in my pumping tote. Or in my work bag. Got it! Run out to the car, and start the commute to work, listen to KDWB like I have been since 2009 (I'm a teacher- I should listen to something more educational. I like MPR, but it's too early to use my brain...)
6:55- Stop at gas station for coffee... and who am I kidding, I'll grab a donut. This is why I'm a bit squishy in the middle. Blerg. But I'm so dang hungry.
7:00- Arrive at school, go into my room, lock the door, pump for 30 minutes, get ready to start my day.
Luke is out of town (lucky guy is travelling through Florida and Georgia), so this is the first time I have had to be 100% responsible for the well-being and life of my child while working. Luke travelled once before since Maxwell was born, but that was back when Max was only about 6 weeks old. At that point in his life, I could place him on a blanket on the floor or on his play mat, leave the room for a couple minutes, and expect him to have not squirmed off the blanket. Now, I can't leave the little man alone for more than 30 seconds before he's getting himself into trouble! Back in September, we spent hours cuddling on the couch, still getting the hang of nursing and learning about each other. I had Netflix on constantly, and made it through more seasons (plural!) of Sons of Anarchy during those 4 days than I would like to admit... I could make dinner easily, and eat over him as he ate and slept. I was home all day, so I didn't have to get ready for anything. I never had to put on real clothes and make myself look presentable, and a quick trip to Target for some real-world experiences and a decaf latte didn't require any more energy than the brain power it cost to dress myself in yoga pants and a sweatshirt. This time around? Definitely not so easy.
I wish I had done a post like this back during those first 6 weeks. The days of my maternity leave have gotten pretty hazy, and I regret not writing down more.
A day in the life
The 5am-7am edition
5am- Alarm goes off. Max had finally just fallen back to sleep about 20 minutes ago after 30 minutes of attempting to get comfortable. He used to be a log, and not move from the moment we brought him upstairs to the moment it was time to get up. As long as he was right at the boob, he'd stir enough to get me to help him latch, and then he snack and fall back to sleep. Now? He flops all over the place and whines in his sleep. I try to offer the boob, but he refuses. Sometimes the paci helps. Sometimes, he just wants to sit up, and then lay sideways on my stomach. Maybe tomorrow he'll sleep through the night.5:05- Head downstairs, make sure the coffee pot is ready to brew, turn on sound machine and soothing projector light. Change Max's diaper if there wasn't a middle of the night diaper change.
5:10- Make sure pump is ready- grab parts if they are still on the drying rack. Begin pumping. Start the 20 minute countdown.
5:11-5:31- Pump while simultaneously nursing Max from the other side. Hope that he falls back into a deep sleep (at least long enough to let me have enough time to get ready, please?!). Max has picked up a new habit of attempting to kick the pump off my breast. Hope that I don't spill any milk. Suffer through silent jealousy as I hear Luke wake up and get out of bed to shower at about 5:20/5:30. That extra half hour of sleep would be amazing...
5:31- Release myself from the pump, and (on a good morning) lay Max in the crib. This should buy me at least 10-20 minutes before he wakes up.
**If Max is awake, I do the following with one arm/hand until Luke gets out of the bathroom**
5:32- Clean up pump parts, put milk in fridge, pull out lunches, make sure the coffee is actually brewing, double check bottles for the day, pull out pouches/containers of solids for my mom to feed Max.
5:45- Run upstairs to get dressed, find clean clothes pile, make sure there is no spit up/poop/drool on the outfit. Look in the mirror, sigh at my soft mom belly, decide that I hate every piece of clothing I own (nothing does anything to help the pouch look better), but realize that I have no time to change, or anything better to change into. Maybe I should rejoin Weight Watchers next week... they are adaptable for nursing mothers... maybe next week.
**If I have Max, usually I plop him in front of the sliding mirrors in the bedroom so that he can flirt with himself. It's a race to see if I can get dressed before he becomes interested in trying to fling himself down the stairs. I dance like a crazy person while getting dressed to help keep him entertained**
5:55- Brush teeth, throw hair into a ponytail, put on deodorant, decide I look acceptable, and wonder if there will ever be a day that I wear make-up to work again.
5:57- Mom will be here within 5 minutes. Within 5 minutes, I need to be ready to quietly, but sternly tell the dogs to shut the hell up. Every.Single.Morning. They know that my mom is coming. I think the anticipation makes their excitement even worse.
5:58- Dogs THINK that they hear her car pull up. Kale woofs, Lucy woofs and books it to the front window. Tell the dogs to get back, come get a treat. Wonder if a shock collar would work to keep them from barking. Remind myself that I do not agree with shock collars and would judge the ever-loving shit out of myself if I ever tried to use one on my dogs.
6:03- Mom actually pulls up in front of the house. Luke has got the dogs calmed down enough, we use our bodies to physically block the dogs from charging and and knocking over my mom out of excitement and love. Remind mom to bend her knees! Perhaps we should get them back into obedience classes... who am I kidding... there's no time!
6:05- Mom is settled in and the dogs have calmed down enough to finish their breakfast.
**If Max wasn't up already, this is about the time we hear him start to cry**
6:05:30- Go into Max's room, and can't help but smile when I see that he's pulled himself up using the crib rails, and is waiting for one of us to come get him. Pick up his warm little body, give him a few quick kisses and head to the kitchen.
6:09- Chat with mom about the weather, traffic, how Max slept that night, interesting gossipy tidbits from the family while making sure I have my entire lunch, have my pump parts packed in my tote bag, and pour coffee. I should buy a larger thermos... I'll probably end up stopping at the gas station to get another coffee to make it through the day.
6:15- Make sure mom has everything she needs to get her through the day- show her the solids she can give him.
6:20- head out the door. Stop. Where's my god damn phone? Every single freaking day. Oh, it's in my pocket. Or in my pumping tote. Or in my work bag. Got it! Run out to the car, and start the commute to work, listen to KDWB like I have been since 2009 (I'm a teacher- I should listen to something more educational. I like MPR, but it's too early to use my brain...)
6:55- Stop at gas station for coffee... and who am I kidding, I'll grab a donut. This is why I'm a bit squishy in the middle. Blerg. But I'm so dang hungry.
7:00- Arrive at school, go into my room, lock the door, pump for 30 minutes, get ready to start my day.
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
7 months, 2 weeks
Every once and awhile, I struggle. Today, I felt as though I have broken my child. Luke made a comment about how we need to figure out a way to get Max to nap without either nursing or a bottle. I don't know what else he tried, but it made me wonder if I have damaged my child's ability to sleep? Max then nursed to sleep (I felt a tinge of guilt the whole time), and I felt the need to prove that he didn't need to sleep on me. Of course, as soon as I put him down in the crib, he woke up and wanted to cuddle. I cried silently while he snuggled, thinking over whether or not I've made bad parenting choices for the last 7.5 months. After having a good sob, I realized that I've done the best I can, and that's exactly what Max needs.
No, Max may not sleep in his crib for more than 4 hours in a night. I may bring him into bed when he wakes up after 10pm. Max gets to nurse whenever he wants, and naps the best on one of us. He might use my boob as his lovey, but none of this is going to be long lasting.
Over this week, Max has started adding more and more ounces of solids to his daily routine! On average, he is sucking down between 7-9.5 ounces of solid food a day. He went from not really caring whether or not he ate anything other than breastmilk to going absolutely nuts over it. He tried greek yogurt mixed with apple/strawberry/beets, and gave us a lovely surprise in his diaper (who would have known that beets would cause his poop to come out bright red!). He also enjoys the broccoli/pears/peas combo pouch. Tonight, he tried a couple smushed black beans, and really liked them. It's been fun to let him try tastes of the foods we have on our plates at dinner time!
Anyway, that's about all I have for this week. My night school is on spring break, so I quick threw this all together, so I apologize for how out of sorts this post is. It more of an emotional dump....
No, Max may not sleep in his crib for more than 4 hours in a night. I may bring him into bed when he wakes up after 10pm. Max gets to nurse whenever he wants, and naps the best on one of us. He might use my boob as his lovey, but none of this is going to be long lasting.
Over this week, Max has started adding more and more ounces of solids to his daily routine! On average, he is sucking down between 7-9.5 ounces of solid food a day. He went from not really caring whether or not he ate anything other than breastmilk to going absolutely nuts over it. He tried greek yogurt mixed with apple/strawberry/beets, and gave us a lovely surprise in his diaper (who would have known that beets would cause his poop to come out bright red!). He also enjoys the broccoli/pears/peas combo pouch. Tonight, he tried a couple smushed black beans, and really liked them. It's been fun to let him try tastes of the foods we have on our plates at dinner time!
Anyway, that's about all I have for this week. My night school is on spring break, so I quick threw this all together, so I apologize for how out of sorts this post is. It more of an emotional dump....
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
7 months, 1 week
It's been a strange, roller coaster of a week in the Lorenz household-
Pretty much everyone who reads this know that Luke works for a large Fortune 500 company that houses its HQ in Minneapolis (think red & khaki), and if you've been keeping up with the local news, you know that today they announced that they were laying off 1,700 people from their Mpls and Brooklyn Park HQ campuses. Last week, we found out that big layoffs were imminent, but we didn't know just how close to home this would hit. Luke has survived other massive layoffs over the years, but this one has been the most terrifying for our family. He had to watch all of his upper management get laid off throughout the last few work days, not knowing what his future was with the company. He spend the majority of the weekend updating his resume and his LinkedIn profile. We would joke about how it was our last weekend with any money to cope with the stress of potentially being down to just my income until Luke could find something else.
Fortunately, we found out today that Luke's position is safe (for now), but who knows what will actually be in store for his team. Any continued positive thoughts regarding Luke's employment would be greatly appreciated.
While having the stress of not knowing whether or not Luke would have a job by the end of today was difficult, Max and the lovely weather made things tolerable. Through all of this, Max has made us smile, and has helped relieve tension. Despite losing an hour of sleep on Sunday due to DST, having more sunlight at the end of the day has improved our dispositions, and has allowed us make sure we get more walks in. Our dogs have been a bit stir crazy, so it's been a relief to either wear Max or throw him in the stroller while we walk. I can't even begin to describe how much I have missed walking. right before Max was born, and until I went back to work, I was walking at least 3 miles a day. When it got dark and cold out, it became very difficult to motivate myself to move around. Now, I'm back to walking, and I've signed up for Zumba on Saturdays!
Another positive thing from this week is that my dad has had a chance to see Max much more frequently. He's been over the last two mornings to switch vehicles with my mom, so it melts my heart to see the pictures my mom takes of him reading to Max, and the stories she tells me of him feeding him his pear/cinnamon oatmeal, or giving him his bottle. My dad never had a son to raise, so I'm happy that I've been able to give him the chance to help raise his grandson.
I can't actually think of many new developments in Max's world from this past week. He's now working on mastering the art of pulling up on EVERYTHING. He's learned that if he puts his palms on a glass surface, he can lean into it and manage to still "pull" himself up vs trying to pull himself up using a wall. He also has started to enter the world of separation anxiety, especially when it comes down to sleeping in his crib. Little man doesn't realize it, but in just a couple of weeks, it will be spring break, and we are going to make a real attempt at sleep training. He sleeps great when he's in bed with us, curled up in the crook of my arm, sometimes from 7pm-5am (with one or two dream-feeds), but the bed is quite full with him, us, and the 180lbs worth of dog that weasel their way in nearly every night.
Max attended a staff meeting last week for my night school, and he did a great job being passed around to all of my coworkers, and even spent some time being held by my boss while he finished his presentation. The only time he made a peep was to alert me that his diaper was wet, and when he was hungry. I was very proud of him!
I'll try to do a photo dump sometime this week, so be on the look out for a picture post soon!
Enjoy the lovely weather this week!
Pretty much everyone who reads this know that Luke works for a large Fortune 500 company that houses its HQ in Minneapolis (think red & khaki), and if you've been keeping up with the local news, you know that today they announced that they were laying off 1,700 people from their Mpls and Brooklyn Park HQ campuses. Last week, we found out that big layoffs were imminent, but we didn't know just how close to home this would hit. Luke has survived other massive layoffs over the years, but this one has been the most terrifying for our family. He had to watch all of his upper management get laid off throughout the last few work days, not knowing what his future was with the company. He spend the majority of the weekend updating his resume and his LinkedIn profile. We would joke about how it was our last weekend with any money to cope with the stress of potentially being down to just my income until Luke could find something else.
Fortunately, we found out today that Luke's position is safe (for now), but who knows what will actually be in store for his team. Any continued positive thoughts regarding Luke's employment would be greatly appreciated.
While having the stress of not knowing whether or not Luke would have a job by the end of today was difficult, Max and the lovely weather made things tolerable. Through all of this, Max has made us smile, and has helped relieve tension. Despite losing an hour of sleep on Sunday due to DST, having more sunlight at the end of the day has improved our dispositions, and has allowed us make sure we get more walks in. Our dogs have been a bit stir crazy, so it's been a relief to either wear Max or throw him in the stroller while we walk. I can't even begin to describe how much I have missed walking. right before Max was born, and until I went back to work, I was walking at least 3 miles a day. When it got dark and cold out, it became very difficult to motivate myself to move around. Now, I'm back to walking, and I've signed up for Zumba on Saturdays!
Another positive thing from this week is that my dad has had a chance to see Max much more frequently. He's been over the last two mornings to switch vehicles with my mom, so it melts my heart to see the pictures my mom takes of him reading to Max, and the stories she tells me of him feeding him his pear/cinnamon oatmeal, or giving him his bottle. My dad never had a son to raise, so I'm happy that I've been able to give him the chance to help raise his grandson.
I can't actually think of many new developments in Max's world from this past week. He's now working on mastering the art of pulling up on EVERYTHING. He's learned that if he puts his palms on a glass surface, he can lean into it and manage to still "pull" himself up vs trying to pull himself up using a wall. He also has started to enter the world of separation anxiety, especially when it comes down to sleeping in his crib. Little man doesn't realize it, but in just a couple of weeks, it will be spring break, and we are going to make a real attempt at sleep training. He sleeps great when he's in bed with us, curled up in the crook of my arm, sometimes from 7pm-5am (with one or two dream-feeds), but the bed is quite full with him, us, and the 180lbs worth of dog that weasel their way in nearly every night.
Max attended a staff meeting last week for my night school, and he did a great job being passed around to all of my coworkers, and even spent some time being held by my boss while he finished his presentation. The only time he made a peep was to alert me that his diaper was wet, and when he was hungry. I was very proud of him!
I'll try to do a photo dump sometime this week, so be on the look out for a picture post soon!
Enjoy the lovely weather this week!
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Pumping fail.
I made it 7 months without forgetting something to breastfeed or pump. At 7 months, 1 day, I forgot to restock my lansinoh milk storage bags, and reached into my tote to find one remaining bag after my first pumping session of the day (with 2 more to go). Thank god for there being a Target across the highway, and in-store pick up. I ordered a box of them, and during my lunch will run over to pick them up. I'll be about 15 minutes late to pump #2 (which means I'll have to pump in the storage room instead of my classroom), but I'm glad I don't have to scrounge up a ziplock bag or something...
Gah.
Gah.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
30 weeks (6 months, 4 weeks)
I lied. I said I would update last week's post with photos, but life's been busy! I've now added photos to that post, so feel free to check them out here.
Tomorrow, Babyman turns 7 months! On Friday, we have to take him in to get the second dose of his flu shot, so I'm guessing that they'll at least weigh him before poking him, so hopefully I'll have an update on how big he's getting!
Something that I have found myself thinking about is how much more independent Maxwell has become. Sure, he'd still wind up killing himself if I keep my eyes off of him for too long, but I can leave him to his own devices for quite awhile now! We got this great LeapFrog play table secondhand from a coworker, and he freaking LOVES that thing! He'll crawl over to it, pull up, and play at it for 10 minutes at a time. Then, if he's feeling brave enough, he'll walk himself around the edge of the play table, and then use the dogs' toy bin to continue to move around.
Stranger Danger is a real thing now. Max understands when the person he sees isn't familiar (so, pretty much anyone but Luke, my mom, and me), and will be okay for a fraction of a second, and then he'll panic and cry. It's heartbreaking to see him throw his head around looking for me! Once he gets his snuggles in, and can look at the person from the safety of my arms, he'll be fine with them the next time they try to hold him. We saw this happen on three separate occasions this weekend, so we're learning to adapt so that he feels secure before we hand him over to friends and family.
This weekend was a very social weekend for Max. On Saturday, I met up with my Mom's group at the MN Zoo to walk around a bit, despite the frigid weather. Max's buddies, Cooper and Mila, were born within a week on either side of him, and even though he cried immediately upon seeing the moms, he had a lot of fun looking at all the animals!
That night, we celebrated Luke's uncle's birthday (where again, Max cried when Luke attempted to pass him off to Uncle John pretty early into our visit), and were reminded about what it is like to have a newborn, while seeing Ade. While there are sometimes I really miss the snuggly, sleepy, mushy newborn phase, I must say that this 6-7 month phase has been my absolute favorite. I don't really remember the first 6 weeks anymore, but watching Ade get gassy and upset brought back the memories pretty quickly!
On Sunday, there was Zibby's birthday lunch, and after the initial freak out after waking up in a strange place and being placed in a strange lap, he was fine being passed around my large family. It makes me happy to see how much my family wants to see him, interact with him, and spend time with him. Max has a lot of great aunties, and I am glad that he has all of them in his life!
Tomorrow, Babyman turns 7 months! On Friday, we have to take him in to get the second dose of his flu shot, so I'm guessing that they'll at least weigh him before poking him, so hopefully I'll have an update on how big he's getting!
Something that I have found myself thinking about is how much more independent Maxwell has become. Sure, he'd still wind up killing himself if I keep my eyes off of him for too long, but I can leave him to his own devices for quite awhile now! We got this great LeapFrog play table secondhand from a coworker, and he freaking LOVES that thing! He'll crawl over to it, pull up, and play at it for 10 minutes at a time. Then, if he's feeling brave enough, he'll walk himself around the edge of the play table, and then use the dogs' toy bin to continue to move around.
Stranger Danger is a real thing now. Max understands when the person he sees isn't familiar (so, pretty much anyone but Luke, my mom, and me), and will be okay for a fraction of a second, and then he'll panic and cry. It's heartbreaking to see him throw his head around looking for me! Once he gets his snuggles in, and can look at the person from the safety of my arms, he'll be fine with them the next time they try to hold him. We saw this happen on three separate occasions this weekend, so we're learning to adapt so that he feels secure before we hand him over to friends and family.
This weekend was a very social weekend for Max. On Saturday, I met up with my Mom's group at the MN Zoo to walk around a bit, despite the frigid weather. Max's buddies, Cooper and Mila, were born within a week on either side of him, and even though he cried immediately upon seeing the moms, he had a lot of fun looking at all the animals!
That night, we celebrated Luke's uncle's birthday (where again, Max cried when Luke attempted to pass him off to Uncle John pretty early into our visit), and were reminded about what it is like to have a newborn, while seeing Ade. While there are sometimes I really miss the snuggly, sleepy, mushy newborn phase, I must say that this 6-7 month phase has been my absolute favorite. I don't really remember the first 6 weeks anymore, but watching Ade get gassy and upset brought back the memories pretty quickly!
On Sunday, there was Zibby's birthday lunch, and after the initial freak out after waking up in a strange place and being placed in a strange lap, he was fine being passed around my large family. It makes me happy to see how much my family wants to see him, interact with him, and spend time with him. Max has a lot of great aunties, and I am glad that he has all of them in his life!
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| Pulling up, and grabbing toys out of the drum set |
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| I made Max a taggy minky blanket last weekend! |
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| I hid in the front room, and Max crawled over to find me! |
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| This is what we do all the time now... |
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| Mmmmmmm.... Puffs! |
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| Grandpapa |
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| How a baby finds his way out of an open box |
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| He's my kid! |
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| Twins! |
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| love. |
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| Playing with Auntie Zibby! |
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