Spring Scenes

Spring has sprung and a certain little fella' LOVES all the extra time we have been spending outside. Here are a few fun photos!

"Get off my lawn you crazy kids!"

"Portrait of a Toddler In Waiting" by Ben Lilly, Jr.

Despite Max's sad expression, he actually wasn't sad at all. Just playing with Daddy while waiting for Mommy to come home from Target! 

This was about as happy as Max was the entire carousel ride. He screamed and clung to me in terror the whole time. :-(

Mr. Cool practices walking a dog (or walking Grandmommy, as the case may be).

 Buddies...

Petting more farm animals! This time a tiny pig. 

This was an adorable moment... Mommy, Daddy, and baby walking hand-in-hand.... then Max lets go and stops smiling as soon as the camera came out. Typical toddler! haha

Fun with finger paint! 

I may or may not have had a mini-heart attack the first time he did this....

http://youtu.be/y9mZlfJc-1E

Easter 2014

Happy (belated) Easter! Max had so much fun with Easter activities this year. It's hard to believe that last year he still needed support to even sit-up. Remember this little guy?

Our neighborhood has awesome events for children and families all year long. The springtime "Egg-stravaganza" did not disappoint! 

"Mommy, why do we have to take a picture? There is so much fun stuff and lots of kids over there!!"

Petting farm animals!

Meeting the Easter bunny! Max didn't cry but he was a little unsure about this funny looking guy...

EGGS!!!!

Back to pet more animals. Sweet story: In the "petting zoo" area they had a bucket of brushes so the kids could brush the animal's coats. The little girl in the photo was brushing the lamb and asked me if I thought Max (who was petting it with his hand) would like to brush the lamb. I said something vague like, "Oh, he might..." and tried to make sure the lamb didn't step on his toes. A moment later the girl ran off and came back with a brush for Max to use! She was so sweet and showed him how to be gentle and brush the lamb. He loved it. :-)

Before we knew it, it was time for the egg hunt! Or "egg scramble" as I heard one mom say... the eggs were laying out in the field and they had it sectioned off by age. Max was in the three and under section and we were glad he wasn't going to get trampled by big kids. 

Tips to find Max in the crowd: We are toward the center of the pack and I am wearing a red shirt.

http://youtu.be/pp_ONZfnqC0

The Easter Bunny hand-delivered an egg to Max!

.... and one last trip to the petting zoo area. :-)  He looooves animals and was excited to hold a real, live bunny!

Poor Ben was dealing with a pretty horrific bout of poison ivy, hence the head-to-toe coverage on a warm day. :-(

Max got his first Easter basket on Easter morning! 

The Easter Bunny left a trail of eggs for Max to follow and find his basket. We have a cute video of him running in the room and shouting, "Eggs!" Unfortunately the video is realllllly long (and will take hours to upload) because he wanted to play with everything as he pulled it out of the basket. I'll post it another time after I've had a chance it edit it down.

One of Max's favorite Easter basket toys was a Slinky! It's light blue and a little hard to see in this picture, but he loved slinging it around.

Yogurt covered raisins! A big treat around here.

We thought we'd try dying Easter eggs with Max, but quickly realized he is WAY too young for this activity. We helped him color on an egg, then I did the rest of the project. At the end we let him stick stickers on an egg and called it a day. :-)

Max got sidewalk chalk in his Easter basket, but Mommy and Daddy probably had more fun with it... check out the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle!

Half-hearted Easter eggs...

Flashback Friday

Thanks to Ben for the fun idea of "Flashback Friday"!    :-)

Who remembers this little guy? Hard to believe it was about a year and a half ago!




http://youtu.be/ua8q7nn0zcE

Dear Max: 19 Months Old

Dear Max,

I had good intentions of writing to you a month ago, but we have been having too much FUN together to stop and sit at the computer. About 90% of the time you give off this infectious joy that makes our hearts so full (the other 10% of the time you're being a typical toddler and can throw a tantrum with the best of them!). There is so much I could write about what you are like right now, so to keep it simple I thought I'd highlight your "Top 5 Favorites" (also known as "5 Signs You Really are a Boy"... so much for not pushing traditional gender roles! haha). 

# 1 (by a landslide): Being Outside

I wish I could adequately describe how much you love to go outside. I'm not exaggerating when I say it is often requested within ten minutes of waking up in the morning (when it's still pitch black out), and you're sometimes crying and begging for one more trip out as we head to bed. You are obsessed. 

Sometimes if we tell you we can't go out you try and talk us in to it by sharing the things we need (socks "sok", shoes "shooo", hat "at at", a jacket "ack-ett", and the toy lawnmower "mow mow" are the usual suspects on your list-- occasionally bubbles "bah-boo" will make the cut, too). After you go through the list you always look so hopeful that maybe we'll have changed our minds!

#2: Dogs

We are very lucky to have sweet neighbors that don't mind you standing at the edge of our yard to watch and bark at their dogs! You love to watch those two dogs, and anytime we are out and see a dog your eyes lock in and you stare in amazement often pointing and whispering softly, "Doh!" as though you can't believe what you are seeing. When the dogs get within "licking distance" you get a little shy sometimes, but usually warm-up in a few minutes and practice petting them gently on the back.  

While this is all kinds of adorable, your love of our canine friends can get in the way of doing necessary things like eating and sleeping. If we're eating dinner and you hear a dog bark (there are lots of dogs on our street) you'll whip your head around to see if you can see it out the window and point and say, "Doh! Doh! DOH!" until we acknowledge that yes, there is indeed a dog somewhere outside, and no, we cannot see it either. Same thing at bedtime. You can be milliseconds away from being sound asleep, a dog will bark, and suddenly you raise your head up and sleepily say, "Doh! Doh!". While it's a little annoying sometimes, it's also kind of cute, I'll admit.

Probably dreaming about dogs...

#3: Dancing

If there is music playing it's a sure bet that you are movin' and groovin' little guy! Your trademark moves are bouncing up and down, spinning in circles, and doing this thing with your leg that sort of looks like a horse pawing the ground. Your favorite "adult" music seems to be Michael Jackson (or Jackson 5) and Red Hot Chili Peppers. We can be listening to other music and if one of those come on you suddenly start going crazy! It's so strange, and so funny at the same time.

Also, there is a "station" on an online music program that we play called "Toddler Tunes". It plays more kid-type of songs like "Wheels on the Bus", "ABC Song", etc. In the last week or two you suddenly started shouting "Toddler Tuuuuuunes!" when you want to hear some dancing music. It cracks Dad and I up every time you say it!

#4: Belly Buttons and Tickle Fights

Not only do you like to show us your belly and belly button, but you like to seek out pretty much everyone else's belly button, too. Dad and I usually don't mind if we're just at home, but unfortunately you've started to lift the shirts of a few unsuspecting folks who want to play with you!

"Bay-yee!" (belly) you cry as you jab that little index finger in to our belly buttons. Dad and I often feign over-the-top laughter which sends you in to a fit of laughter. Often we will (gently) grab you and roll you to you back and tickle your ribs and neck until you're breathless. When we stop you give us a serious face, but there's a look in your eye as though you're thinking, "Are you going to tickle me again? Please!" You love to wrestle back and try to tickle us, too. It's so fun to "play rough" with you! We all end up laying on the floor in a heap of giggles by the end.

Silly, wiggly Super Toddler!

#5: Cars and Trucks 

Really, the best illustration I can give for your love of cars and trucks happened just the other day. You and I went for a walk down the street and ended up sitting on the sidewalk by the main road in our subdivision watching and talking about all the cars and trucks for 45 minutes! The only reason we even got up was because I had to go get dinner started.

Ready for a run in the jogging stroller with Dad!

Many times you like to wave at cars as they drive down the road. The majority of the time people wave back if they see you. It's always funny when the big tough looking guys who drive trucks suddenly get a goofy grin and wave enthusiastically when they notice your wave. You sure do brighten people's day!

You fell face-first in to some mud and gave me this "I'm a tough guy!" look afterwards. Haha!

One thing you and I have in common-- we love Daddy's sweet hugs!

Even as a toddler you get excited about being worn in the baby carrier! We sure do loooove our snuggle time!

We have a fun summer ahead of us, I'm sure, and I can't wait to make more memories together. If you could slow down on how quickly you're moving toward your second birthday I'd certainly appreciate it. I love you so so so SO much sweet baby! You give the best hugs, the best kisses, and I adore being your Mommy.

Love,
Mom

Fan Mail

A few weeks ago we came home to find that Max had received a letter in our mailbox:

Envelope Translation: 
Baby Max
Silver Vista Court (our street name)
3530 (our house number)
OK!

Letter Translation:
Baby Max is so cute he makes my smile so bad that he is sooo cute.
Love, Sophia (our six year old neighbor)
3520 (her house number)


Already getting fan mail from cute girls at 18 months... looks like we're in trouble! ;-)