fun in the sun

I haven't posted in a few days because Max and I have been having entirely too much fun!!! I don't even really remember what we did last week it was so busy. I do, however remember the news we got from the ENT. Max had a regular check up on Monday and we found one of his tubes was "clogged up." For 5 days we put peroxide drops in his ear to try and dissolve the blockage. Friday we found out that it was clear but there was tissue growing behind the tube in an attempt to "reject" it. Out came the tube. In the office. Max screamed. The good news is that his already scheduled surgery for next week will now be a dual surgery. Dr. T (the ENT) will sneak in the OR first, pop in some new tubes and then the general surgeon, Dr. S.P. will correct the hernia. More about that later...

This week Max and I have been to the pool almost every day. Monday and Tuesday we went to the YMCA:


















he enjoyed himself.

Yesterday Max's great grandparents were in town and wanted to spend some time with him. After a long morning, lunch with mom and dad:



and an appointment:



he was in for some fun napping. I think he did wake up in time to play and hang out with them for an hour or so. Thanks for the break guys! We love you and it was great to see you!!!

Today Max and I went to the park/pool with Max's cousins Cooper and Emma and Uncle George. It was great to see the kids and they love to see "baby Max." All of them had a blast at the pool. Max got a new floatie that allows him to sit more in the water, and with the shallow pool he could actually walk around. He loved it. He was so worn out today I couldn't keep him awake in the car much more than 5 minutes. He did take a nap when we got home but it only lasted a little over an hour. He was VERY cranky this evening.

Here is Max with his favorite new expressions (and his adorable new shoes)...





So, about his surgery. If all goes well (and no emergencies occur the morning of that would obviously take priority over our oh so non-emergent surgery) then both procedures will take place at the same time. When Max had his tubes placed in January he was taken in and basically just sedated for the quick procedure. In fact, we barely had time to get a drink, sit and get cozy when they called my name. This surgery will be minor, yes, but a little more invasive. This time he will have an IV, a breathing tube, and an incision. :( I am ready for it to be over. So, Wednesday July 1st: please pray for no emergent surgeries that will prevent both from being done, that Max does well with the IV, the breathing tube and the anesthesia meds, and that his recovery is fast with little pain and discomfort.

And now... Max finally said "dada!" In the car he acted like he had known how to say it for a while. He said it over and over and smiled and laughed. So precious!!!
Enjoy :)



By the way, we have been trying to get him to say this for a while, as he says "mamama" all the time. Every time we try to get him to say a new word he grins and says "mama." Well today after he learned dada he wouldn't say anything else... What a brat!

new look

Do you like the new look of the blog? The background was easy but I have spent over an hour working on a banner for the top... no luck... maybe another day. Maybe.

Max's birthday week ended with a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese's. I was skeptical about spending 2 hours there, but it was surprisingly fun. We actually didn't even leave until almost 8. Max had fun playing on the car...




And eating cupcakes...




Secretly he didn't eat any of the cupcake, Aunt Crystal helped him out by smashing it in his hair and on his face. He got cleaned up and changed into his pj's then proceeded to fall asleep on the way home. He smelled so good the next morning I could have eaten him!! Then he got a bath. In the morning. He smelled great, but was very sticky.

Max had a great weekend with daddy and I am glad to be home with him pretty much all week. We are looking forward to some sun and time outdoors!

Strawberries, avacado, banana. All 3 foods Max has started to eat in their raw, fresh form. He loves them! He put the banana in his mouth today, looked at me and laughed. Too stinking cute. Avacado gets a funny face, but he keeps eating and eating. And strawberries are hard to pick up so I put them on the spoon and have him get them off the spoon. Apparently this is hilarious. He laughed EVERY time.

Enjoy the new look.

birth'week'!

If you asked my dad he would tell you that when it comes to my birthday it is no less than a week long celebration. I mean, who needs to fit all the potential fun into one day?! Well, I plan on teaching Max all of my great ways, starting with birth'week'! Today we took Max to build a bear (see next post for our adventure!). We made him a dog that we named "Primo." It is pretty cute, and is currently sleeping well in Max's bed. He got to kiss slobber all over the heart and push the pedal to stuff the bear. Next we groomed and fluffed Primo before getting him dressed. We got him complete with a kennel (cardboard box) and a birth certificate. It was really fun and the pictures are adorable!

I don't know how I forget to mention some of the adorable things Max is doing these days... First things first, he says Mama. I am so proud! It's more like mommomm, but we all know what he means. He also says uh-oh, but only when we say it to him first, very cute! Next... ayayayayaya, kind of Indian like. It's my favorite because his face is hilarious. He shows his gums and crinkles his nose. Last, not really a word, but he can make car noises. Ok, well he is just sticking out his tongue and making raspberries, but he gets on the ground and pushes his cars around while making this noise. He has also been known to push other things around, ie: remotes, phones, tape measurers, etc while making this noise. Below is video proof:



And one last thing, Max has tooth #3. Finally. He is a slow teether. Forgive him.

And... because I hate pictureless posts:
Max in the morning, he probably thinks every morning is Christmas. I put all his toys away every night and EVERY morning he gets them out, laughing and smiling like he is seeing them all for the first time!

A whole day year older

This is where were one year ago today. Staring at this tiny baby and being so amazed that he had 10 fingers and 10 toes, hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, fingernails and healthy lungs. I still stand by the phrase "ignorance is bliss." If this weren't true I think I would have been very stressed and worried. However, we were not. We were mostly bummed that we would spend the summer in a hospital :). This year on this day we did things a lot different. For starters, I slept last night (Max tried to keep this streak going by being awake from 2-4 coughing), I didn't have to walk through a hospital to see him, he got to wear clothes (his 1st birthday shirt to be exact), and we got to snuggle and spend ALL day together!! It was great! He sort of slept in after his long night. We got up at 7, watched cartoons and then ate breakfast. After his morning nap we met Grandma Dee for a birthday lunch. We braved the pouring rain and went to the plaza. After a yummy lunch with a very well behaved little one year old we went and ordered Max's birthday cupcakes for his party on Friday. Recently (thanks to Nicole!) we learned about an amazing cupcake shop called Cupcake a la mode. We survived terrential downpour for this one, but it was oh so worth it! I ordered 24 cupcakes in flavors such as chocolate strawberry, pb&j, cookies and cream and chocovanilla. I might have definitely got some for Clark and I tonight. (yes, I planned on giving Max some but he decided to cough himself into yet another episode of "loosing his lunch" if you catch my drift). This cough I keep talking about is making me WAY more miserable than him. It sounds awful but he 1)doesn't have a fever 2)is playful and acting completely normal 3)is eating fine and 4)has not gotten an ear infection. So, he must be fine! It is almost as bad as the time we took him to the ER, though.

Some comparison from last year. This picture was taken about a week after we came home from the hospital, I estimate him to be about 7 1/2lbs here.



Here is Max with "monkey" now, at around 20lbs.



Max this morning when I told him it was his birthday!!



Lunch with Dee



After lunch and the cupcake store (and almost getting washed away in the flooding of downtown) I rushed home trying to keep Max awake. I wanted him to take a good nap in his bed. My hard work paid off, he slept for 2 hours!!! We ended up waking him up so we could run some errands. We got a baby gate and other household safety items. When we got home Max played with monkey on the floor while I got his dinner ready. He ate chicken sticks (basically baby hotdog, kinda gross really) and carrot chunks with a yogurt for dessert.







I love this kid!

Happy 1st Birthday Max!!!!!!

Pictures

Click here to get a sneak peek at Max's one year pictures. And to see the photographers blog. She did a great job and we had so much fun with Max!

Today was Uncle Darren's birthday so Becki planned a surprise dinner at Jack Stack BBQ. The food was delicious but Max was a brat. He was tired and that's pretty much all it takes. We thought we were keeping him occupied with goldfish until he choked a little and puked all over the floor. After that we tried very hard to entertain him without food, only to fail. He wanted to be playing or carried around. We ate in shifts and left promptly after. Sorry Darren we had to eat and run but Happy Birthday anyway. (and good job to grandad for actually keeping it a secret!)

A year ago today...

I can't believe that a year ago today at almost this exact time I was being admitted to the hospital for the first time. Who knew that in a mere 7 days I would be meeting this beautiful face?!


Well I will tell you that I plan on making this summer much better than last. Last year we spent countless days in a NICU room: washing our hands, reading charts, meeting nurses, waiting anxiously for the doctors to make their rounds, meeting other families, drinking the free mini cokes in the parent room :), getting excited over "good days" and bummed over "bad days," eating out every meal except breakfast (which I don't think I ate at all), enjoying moments of sunshine as we walked to and from the car, waiting on the slow elevator up to the 4th floor, watching all the "term" babies leave with their balloons and flowers, feeling like tripping the dad as he pushed the cart of flowers and balloons, making countless trips accross the city to see our beautiful and strong baby boy fighting so hard. As awful as it was, it passed, it is a memory, and it was SOO worth it!


Max is starting to stand on his own for 5-10 seconds. He will push his walker across the room, then get stuck under it...


I wish you could see his face, he was less than excited about being pinned.

Just a few more cute pics of playful Max...



One of Max's favorite people is his Grandad-E. He gets really excited to see him, flaps his arms, smiles and squeals. If he doesn't immediately get attention from him he's throw a fit, and believe me, he has mastered a "fit." Well, this summer while Grandad-E is out of school Max will get to spend a lot of time with him on Mondays when I am sleeping or thoughout the week when I am working. Today when I saw Max after 5 hours with Grandad, well... I had to laugh. Poor kid looked like such a mess and it was hilarious. I love him being a boy, he is supposed to get dirty, right?! He was covered in food from lunch and snot from his recent cold. I would never complain, he was fed and happy. However, I did clean his face and change his clothes :).




Max would like to wish his friend Hunter a happy 1st Birthday today!!!! Hunter was born at 27 weeks and we got to know his parent's well as the boys spent the first 2 months of life right next door to each other.


Enjoy the slideshow with pictures from the March of Dimes walk. Only a month late!