Baby boy turns 10 months in just a couple of days, and we finally had our delayed 9 month well-child visit. As of last week, Max weighs 22.5lbs (86th percentile), and is 29.5" (80th percentile) long. I still find it crazy that my skinny little baby turned into quite the proportionate tank over the last couple of months!
I'm fairly certain that he's actually been directing "mama" to me when he says it. He is still giving me (and Grandmama) tons of kisses. I love that he's started to take my face in his hands and turn my face toward him to give me the kisses. Luke's been feeling a bit left out, but I remind him that it'll happen more often. Max has given Luke a few kisses, but he's not as free with them when he's around Luke for some reason. Babies are weird.
Max has also started to "answer the telephone." Grandmama taught him how to put the phone up to his ear and talk. I had no idea he could do it, until a couple of weeks ago, I gave him the little plastic phone, and he immediately put it up to his ear and started babbling!
This past weekend was a very social weekend for the Lorenz family. On Saturday, we met up with Penny (and Leslie) at the Children's Museum for a baby playdate. Max loved crawling around the HabiTot area, playing at the water table, and opening/shutting little cabinet doors. On Sunday, we met up with the Lupans for some fun at the Stillwater Art Fair. At one point, there wasn't a good spot to sit, so I successfully nursed Max while wearing him in the Kinderpack carrier, WHILE walking around the fair! I was super impressed with my super babywearing/nursing abilities :) Finally, on Monday, we met up with Xander and Cam at The Chatterbox Pub for dinner. Thank goodness it is a family-friendly restaurant. Our little screatcher was really into pointing out and talking to the lights in the ceiling, and was determined to have everyone hear him.
Tonight is my last official night of night school (I agreed to teach 4 nights in July), so I will have to find time to actually update over the summer. We'll have a lot of big milestones to cover, and I can't wait to share it with those few of you who read this little blog!
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
9 months, 4 weeks
Max is in such a fun stage lately. Every time he makes advances, I feel like I'm saying that it's my favorite stage yet, but it's true. As amazing as he is right now, I know that there are even better, more fun things to come (until he becomes a stinky teenage boy, eating me out of house and home... but even then I'll be loving how much he's learning and growing into a young man).
What he's doing now:
What he's doing now:
- Pointing to lights and going aaaa--iieeeeeeee!
- High pitched shrieking (for fun)
- Temper tantrums when we tell him "no" or we take something away from him
- Playing chase with the dogs
- Eating lots of big people food! He LOVES grapes. He will eat pretty much any meat we put in front of him. He's not the biggest fan of mashed potatoes. He also doesn't like pureed vegetables, but will eat them as a combo pouch meal. Yogurt and cheese are also big hits in the Lorenz household.
- Flipping over his walker and spinning all the wheels as they are up in the air
- Sharing his food with the dogs from his highchair
- Knocking over any tower we build
- Sliding and pushing around the dog dishes
- Crawling full speed to get to where he so desires
- He can stand unassisted, and even took a step! We think he'll be walking pretty soon.
- Likes interacting with other babies. He doesn't do a lot of baby socialization during the week, so I've been scheduling baby playdates at least a couple times a month so that he has a chance to engage and interact with kids around his age.
- Splashing during bath time!
- Smiling. He is such a happy baby.
- Falls asleep pretty consistently in his car seat. For those of you who remember what it used to be like for the first 6 months, it's really really nice to not have a screaming baby for the majority of a car ride. He's able to entertain himself more with the few toys we hand him in the backseat.
- Loves having books read to him (especially Little Blue Truck, and Curious Kittens)
- Playing by himself
- Grabbing his penis as soon as the diaper is removed. This kid is definitely a boy.
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
First Mother's Day
I had the most wonderful first mother's day. I couldn't have asked for anything better this year :)
At about 7:30, Luke took Max to run an errand, leaving me by myself in the house for the very first time in 9 months. Sure, I've gone and done things alone, but I had never been in my own home without Max being there. It was weird, but I'm not going to lie, it was really nice to take a shower without worrying that I was taking too long, or needing to relieve Luke from baby duty. I also got a chance to blow dry my hair and snuggle the dogs for a bit. Luke and Max returned with donuts from Mojo Monkey, and made me coffee.
Then, Luke showed me my mother's day gift. The man who has to be dragged to get professional photos done secretly took the day off on Friday and brought Max into the Target photo studio to have portraits done of the two of them together. It was the sweetest, most thoughtful gift Luke could have ever given me. I am waiting for our copies of the photos to arrive, and then I'll share them here!
After being surprised by Luke's gift, we met my family for brunch at the Loring Pasta Bar. It's always amazing when we can get all 6 Kleinbergs PLUS significant others all in the same room at the same time! My mom even gave me a couple of lovely gifts (a coffee mug and a mother's necklace) to celebrate the fact that she gets to share mother's day now. Since Max was off his napping schedule, once he fell asleep in the car, we let him nap for a couple hours, while we relaxed/napped along with him in the grocery store parking lot before heading over to Luke's sister's house.
At his sister's place, Max got the chance to crawl around like a crazy man, chasing after Lily. Ade cheered them on in her own 3 month old way! We had a stress-free dinner, and just spent some time together as a family before heading back home.
I went into Mother's Day with only the expectation of perhaps being able to sleep in before heading out to celebrate our own mothers, so I was happy with what it turned into. I feel very appreciated by Luke (and by Max, even if he can't vocalize it yet!), and now I need to figure out a way to return the appreciation next month for Father's Day!
At about 7:30, Luke took Max to run an errand, leaving me by myself in the house for the very first time in 9 months. Sure, I've gone and done things alone, but I had never been in my own home without Max being there. It was weird, but I'm not going to lie, it was really nice to take a shower without worrying that I was taking too long, or needing to relieve Luke from baby duty. I also got a chance to blow dry my hair and snuggle the dogs for a bit. Luke and Max returned with donuts from Mojo Monkey, and made me coffee.
Then, Luke showed me my mother's day gift. The man who has to be dragged to get professional photos done secretly took the day off on Friday and brought Max into the Target photo studio to have portraits done of the two of them together. It was the sweetest, most thoughtful gift Luke could have ever given me. I am waiting for our copies of the photos to arrive, and then I'll share them here!
After being surprised by Luke's gift, we met my family for brunch at the Loring Pasta Bar. It's always amazing when we can get all 6 Kleinbergs PLUS significant others all in the same room at the same time! My mom even gave me a couple of lovely gifts (a coffee mug and a mother's necklace) to celebrate the fact that she gets to share mother's day now. Since Max was off his napping schedule, once he fell asleep in the car, we let him nap for a couple hours, while we relaxed/napped along with him in the grocery store parking lot before heading over to Luke's sister's house.
At his sister's place, Max got the chance to crawl around like a crazy man, chasing after Lily. Ade cheered them on in her own 3 month old way! We had a stress-free dinner, and just spent some time together as a family before heading back home.
I went into Mother's Day with only the expectation of perhaps being able to sleep in before heading out to celebrate our own mothers, so I was happy with what it turned into. I feel very appreciated by Luke (and by Max, even if he can't vocalize it yet!), and now I need to figure out a way to return the appreciation next month for Father's Day!
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Struggle
Most of the time, I love being a mom and everything that comes with it. Most of the time, I would give up my full-time job in a heartbeat and settle into the role of a stay at home mom until my kids go to school. Most of the time, I want to be constantly interacting with my child, and worry about missing "firsts" when I leave the room or spend the day teaching. Most of the time.
Then, there is that one night that makes me question everything I do and everything I am as a mother. I doubt my decisions, and feel as though I have made horrible mistakes. Last night was one of those nights.
Recently, Max has been on a "I want Mama to hold me and be near me all the time" kick. I know this phase makes some women want to tear their hair out, but I've enjoyed it. I don't get tired of holding, playing, talking, singing, bathing, feeding, changing Max. While some people look down on the fact that we've co-slept for the last 5 months, I have embraced it and found peace in thinking about the intertwined relationship co-sleeping has fostered between us. I'm not completely whole without my MaxJack, and he needs me to survive. Co-sleeping has kept me sane while being the sole person responsible for feeding Max at all hours of the night, and being able to roll over, latch him on, and fall back to sleep has gotten us all more sleep. Lately, it hasn't been that easy.
Max's "bed" in our room is a crib mattress on the floor (surrounded by 2 walls, our bed frame and a heavy laundry basket at the end to keep him contained), and I've been placing him on his bed to help start transitioning him out of our bed, but still keeping him close at the same time. Getting him to sleep has been the easy part, but last night, at 1:30am, he woke up and decided that comfort nursing was this only thing that was going to make him happy. I wanted to rock him to sleep, and give my poor nipples a break (he'd been latched on for the last 30 minutes or so without any signs of stopping). He won't take the pacifier when I'm around, so he yelled at me, he yelled at Luke when Luke took a 5 minute shift to let me regain my sanity, he yelled at me while Luke walked him around... I knew the only thing I could do was to let him try nursing back to sleep. Thank goodness it worked this time, but he still only wanted to sleep on me for the rest of the night. So, that's how I wound up sleeping, curled up on a crib mattress with my 9 month old using my shoulder as his pillow.
Some people would say, "Make Luke take a shift!" They don't understand the immense guilt I feel. I don't feel as though I can ask Luke for help in this situation because I am the one who pushed the co-sleeping. I'm the one who insisted that I breastfeed for as long as I am physically capable. I'm the one who created this monster who needs to comfort nurse and co-sleep to get through the night.
I shared this with Luke, and he helped me get through it. He reminded me that we've had many, many more awesome nights with Max than rough ones. When we complain, it's because our baby is smiling and laughing too much as we try to get him down to sleep. It's only every once and a while that we want to tear our hair our in frustration. We have to remember that as we transition, we're bound to experience more sleep deprivation, but it's okay. We'll get past this.
Then, there is that one night that makes me question everything I do and everything I am as a mother. I doubt my decisions, and feel as though I have made horrible mistakes. Last night was one of those nights.
Recently, Max has been on a "I want Mama to hold me and be near me all the time" kick. I know this phase makes some women want to tear their hair out, but I've enjoyed it. I don't get tired of holding, playing, talking, singing, bathing, feeding, changing Max. While some people look down on the fact that we've co-slept for the last 5 months, I have embraced it and found peace in thinking about the intertwined relationship co-sleeping has fostered between us. I'm not completely whole without my MaxJack, and he needs me to survive. Co-sleeping has kept me sane while being the sole person responsible for feeding Max at all hours of the night, and being able to roll over, latch him on, and fall back to sleep has gotten us all more sleep. Lately, it hasn't been that easy.
Max's "bed" in our room is a crib mattress on the floor (surrounded by 2 walls, our bed frame and a heavy laundry basket at the end to keep him contained), and I've been placing him on his bed to help start transitioning him out of our bed, but still keeping him close at the same time. Getting him to sleep has been the easy part, but last night, at 1:30am, he woke up and decided that comfort nursing was this only thing that was going to make him happy. I wanted to rock him to sleep, and give my poor nipples a break (he'd been latched on for the last 30 minutes or so without any signs of stopping). He won't take the pacifier when I'm around, so he yelled at me, he yelled at Luke when Luke took a 5 minute shift to let me regain my sanity, he yelled at me while Luke walked him around... I knew the only thing I could do was to let him try nursing back to sleep. Thank goodness it worked this time, but he still only wanted to sleep on me for the rest of the night. So, that's how I wound up sleeping, curled up on a crib mattress with my 9 month old using my shoulder as his pillow.
Some people would say, "Make Luke take a shift!" They don't understand the immense guilt I feel. I don't feel as though I can ask Luke for help in this situation because I am the one who pushed the co-sleeping. I'm the one who insisted that I breastfeed for as long as I am physically capable. I'm the one who created this monster who needs to comfort nurse and co-sleep to get through the night.
I shared this with Luke, and he helped me get through it. He reminded me that we've had many, many more awesome nights with Max than rough ones. When we complain, it's because our baby is smiling and laughing too much as we try to get him down to sleep. It's only every once and a while that we want to tear our hair our in frustration. We have to remember that as we transition, we're bound to experience more sleep deprivation, but it's okay. We'll get past this.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Dear Maxwell.
Dear MaxJack,
There really is no way to prepare someone for just how much they will love their child. Especially if it's their first. I wasn't ready for how much of an impact you were going to have on me physically, and emotionally. I think about you nearly every minute that I am gone. When you were sick for the first time ever this past week, I wanted to carry your sickness for you.
This weekend actually felt refreshing. With all the nice weather we've been having, we got to spend a lot of time outside, and took you on a walk to Lake Phalen with the dogs. You crashed ladies' night and tagged along as Papa and explored Stillwater for a couple hours. You nursed by the St. Croix, and had your first tiny taste of a chocolate banana malt. I got a bonus day with you yesterday while Grandmama was home sick, and it was lovely to stay connected with you. We took the morning to snuggle and play. I figured out how to take a shower with you playing in the tub. We snacked on whole wheat toast and guacamole. In the afternoon, we took a drive downtown and met Papa for lunch, and then you and I went shopping in the downtown Target (the lobby smelled like vomit, by the way...).
Having you as a part of my life has renewed my outlook on the world (in both good and bad ways), and has helped me really realize what is important. Here are the things that I find especially endearing at the moment:
Maxwell Jacob, I love you with an unceasing enormity that you will never quite understand until you are raising your first child.
I will love you forever.
Mama
There really is no way to prepare someone for just how much they will love their child. Especially if it's their first. I wasn't ready for how much of an impact you were going to have on me physically, and emotionally. I think about you nearly every minute that I am gone. When you were sick for the first time ever this past week, I wanted to carry your sickness for you.
This weekend actually felt refreshing. With all the nice weather we've been having, we got to spend a lot of time outside, and took you on a walk to Lake Phalen with the dogs. You crashed ladies' night and tagged along as Papa and explored Stillwater for a couple hours. You nursed by the St. Croix, and had your first tiny taste of a chocolate banana malt. I got a bonus day with you yesterday while Grandmama was home sick, and it was lovely to stay connected with you. We took the morning to snuggle and play. I figured out how to take a shower with you playing in the tub. We snacked on whole wheat toast and guacamole. In the afternoon, we took a drive downtown and met Papa for lunch, and then you and I went shopping in the downtown Target (the lobby smelled like vomit, by the way...).
Having you as a part of my life has renewed my outlook on the world (in both good and bad ways), and has helped me really realize what is important. Here are the things that I find especially endearing at the moment:
- The way you give us open-mouthed kisses
- How you love to share your food with us
- Your two little front teeth poking out when you smile
- The big belly laughs when we tickle your tummy
- Walking into your room to see you standing at the end of the crib, nearest the door, watching for one of us to come in and pick you up
- When you crawl to us when you want to be comforted
- How fast you can crawl when you're on a mission- seriously, you put your head down and charge to where ever you have determined you need to be
- You light up whenever you see the dogs
- Listening to you sing in the car
- Watching you eat big-people food
- Your ability to walk using the push walker
- How strong you've become!
- Playing hide and go seek- Mama or Papa walk quickly out of the room, and call your name. We hear the pitterpat of your hands and feet coming down the hall that signal to us that you understand that it's time to come find us
- Your fascination with everything in the world.
- Watching your hair flowing in the wind
- The way you talk all the time
- You've been mastering the art of blowing raspberries
- Your soft chunky rolls. Weighing in at 20lbs 4oz, you are roughly in the 50th percentile for weight. It's hard to believe you were every such a skinny little guy for the first 6 months of your life.
- How you wave now!
- Seeing the expression on your face as you experience things for the first time (and second, and third!)
Maxwell Jacob, I love you with an unceasing enormity that you will never quite understand until you are raising your first child.
I will love you forever.
Mama
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Video Dump :)
Ready for some cute videos?? It's been awhile since I've embedded any videos we've taken of Max, so enjoy!
Monday, April 6, 2015
8 Months
Milestones/Accomplishments: This month, we became an expert at crawling and at pulling up. We are firmly in the 6th Leap according to Wonder Weeks. He has learned that Mama and Papa can walk away, and he doesn't like that. I'm not going to lie, it is one of the most adorable things to turn around and hear him whining plus the pit pat of his hands and knees hitting the floor as he crawls to find us when we leave the room for a moment. He crawls up to us, and pulls up using our legs to stay close. While I wish he would recognize that we always come back, I love that he has put it upon himself to find us, and that it shows how much he loves/relies on us.
Eating: Max has picked up the habit of grunting/groaning/yelling pretty intensely when he wants what's on our plate, so eating our own food has become increasingly more difficult when he demands what we have. He still loves pouches (especially the Greek yogurt ones), but loves getting bits of what we're having even more. At Easter, he enjoyed broccoli/cheese egg bake, and ham. Almost everything winds up in his mouth, and he seems to be able to sense when something in our hand might be edible. On Saturday, we had dinner with the Lorenz/Lewis family after Ade's baptism, and I had a brownie in my hand, and Max on my hip. Without me realizing it at first, Max managed to grab a couple pinches of brownie and shovel them into his mouth before I could anything. Surprise- my kid loves brownies. When I took it away from him, he made it very known that he wanted more. The watermelon that followed those extra sugary bites was tart in comparison to the brownie, so we got to see him make the funny sour baby face.
Sleeping: Sleeping on his own is overrated. Sleeping on people (especially Mama) is where it's at. Max will still sleep no longer than a 3-4 hour stretch on his own in the crib. Once his head hits the sheets, his eyes will fly open, and then starts over the routine of rocking, singing, shushing. Since Max still nurses, it's been easier to just let him join us in bed part way through the night. We have also learned that when his napping schedule sucks, his overnight sleeping sucks as well. The last two days have caused him to not nap at his regular time, which then leads to a fitful sleep for everyone. I'm really hoping that my mom has managed to get him to nap well today so that we get better sleep tonight.
Discoveries: Max has discovered that he can make even more noises and sounds. These include the grunts when hulking out over food and the high pitch sounds that he makes when he's excited. "Dada" is one of his favorite things to say, and he says it over and over and over. "Mmm" with pursed lips is another common sound he makes. This is often times made when he's upset, but it seems to be directed toward me. He's also started singing in the car! At first we thought that he was just getting upset, but then we realized that he would do the long "aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" when music was playing.
One of my favorite stories from this week happened at Ade's baptism. Lily's Lewis cousins were all there, and Max was playing on the floor of the church while we were waiting for the baptism to start. The kids were all running around, and a couple of the Lewis cousins got close to Max. Lily saw this happen, and then ran over to Max, put her body between Max and the Lewis cousin, and refused to let them play with him! At one point, she even turned to one of the cousins and told her, "Max says Bye!" It's fun to see how protective she is of Baby Mahksh. I hope that they stay close as they grow up. My sisters and I used to be really close with our cousins growing up, so it was like have instant best friends. I'm excited for the day that there are more Kleinberg cousins as well, but my sisters are allowed to take their time on having babies :)
Eating: Max has picked up the habit of grunting/groaning/yelling pretty intensely when he wants what's on our plate, so eating our own food has become increasingly more difficult when he demands what we have. He still loves pouches (especially the Greek yogurt ones), but loves getting bits of what we're having even more. At Easter, he enjoyed broccoli/cheese egg bake, and ham. Almost everything winds up in his mouth, and he seems to be able to sense when something in our hand might be edible. On Saturday, we had dinner with the Lorenz/Lewis family after Ade's baptism, and I had a brownie in my hand, and Max on my hip. Without me realizing it at first, Max managed to grab a couple pinches of brownie and shovel them into his mouth before I could anything. Surprise- my kid loves brownies. When I took it away from him, he made it very known that he wanted more. The watermelon that followed those extra sugary bites was tart in comparison to the brownie, so we got to see him make the funny sour baby face.
Sleeping: Sleeping on his own is overrated. Sleeping on people (especially Mama) is where it's at. Max will still sleep no longer than a 3-4 hour stretch on his own in the crib. Once his head hits the sheets, his eyes will fly open, and then starts over the routine of rocking, singing, shushing. Since Max still nurses, it's been easier to just let him join us in bed part way through the night. We have also learned that when his napping schedule sucks, his overnight sleeping sucks as well. The last two days have caused him to not nap at his regular time, which then leads to a fitful sleep for everyone. I'm really hoping that my mom has managed to get him to nap well today so that we get better sleep tonight.
Discoveries: Max has discovered that he can make even more noises and sounds. These include the grunts when hulking out over food and the high pitch sounds that he makes when he's excited. "Dada" is one of his favorite things to say, and he says it over and over and over. "Mmm" with pursed lips is another common sound he makes. This is often times made when he's upset, but it seems to be directed toward me. He's also started singing in the car! At first we thought that he was just getting upset, but then we realized that he would do the long "aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" when music was playing.
One of my favorite stories from this week happened at Ade's baptism. Lily's Lewis cousins were all there, and Max was playing on the floor of the church while we were waiting for the baptism to start. The kids were all running around, and a couple of the Lewis cousins got close to Max. Lily saw this happen, and then ran over to Max, put her body between Max and the Lewis cousin, and refused to let them play with him! At one point, she even turned to one of the cousins and told her, "Max says Bye!" It's fun to see how protective she is of Baby Mahksh. I hope that they stay close as they grow up. My sisters and I used to be really close with our cousins growing up, so it was like have instant best friends. I'm excited for the day that there are more Kleinberg cousins as well, but my sisters are allowed to take their time on having babies :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
