and the winner is? Max with a head butt!

There is nothing Max loves more than wrestling on the floor with Daddy! Sometimes, Max even wins …. even if it’s a low blow head butt at the end of the game.

Art from cousin Kendyll

Cousin Kendyll made this great picture for Max! He LOVES it!! We hung it on his bedroom door. Thank you, Kendyll! We love and miss you. Can't wait to see you at Christmas!

North Idaho for "pool"

I think we might start playing the wash board and spoons over here soon!

Memorial Day 2009

What a perfect weekend! The weather was warm and sunny and all was beautiful in Sandpoint! We got a lot of stuff done around the house and did some relaxing and playing too.

Max got the chance to try out the cool bike trailer that a friend loaned to us. He was a little hesitant about the helmet, but seemed to enjoy the ride, even on our bumpy dirt road. I think he'd really dig a cruise along a nice smooth bike path. We're gonna need to invest in a bike trailer for ourselves.

The helmet is black with flames...very cool! And, because Max has the biggest head in the world, it's a helmet that is for a 5 year old! We tried on 3+ and it was too small for his melon! So, the next size was 5+! He's gonna be so smart!

Bookworm

Max is at such a great age. He makes us laugh all the time. He’s always got some new thing that he’s fascinated with. His latest is how much he loves books. He’s got two that are his favorites: “Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?” and “Where is Baby’s Belly Button?”. He will come running up to you with one of these books in his hands and make you read it over and over again. He knows it well enough that he knows when it’s time to turn the page. He also has a part that he’s not so fond of that he tries to skip every time. It’s so cute; I can’t stand it. Our marvelous Max!!

Thank you Auntie Cindy and Shannon and Diana for the great books!! :-)

Springtime in Sandpoint!

Spring time has finally hit Sandpoint! The grass is green, the flowers have their buds starting and all the natives have pink skin because of sunburn and being exposed after the winter hibernation!

Max is so enjoying running around in his yard. Late yesterday afternoon, he was running around, no pants and barefoot. He loved the cool grass on his feet! I think we just need to let him run even more so that he crashes hard and bedtime is easier! LOL.

The Stair Master

Max is the Stair Master!!! He just LOVES to turn the light on and off …over and over and over again!!! That is generally followed by him scooting up the stairs with extra squeals of delight if you’re chasing him. Then, he lays flat like a board and slides all the way down. He could do this for hours if we let him!

How did he get so big?

WOW! I just look at Max and wonder how he became so BIG! It seems like he’s growing every day; I just can’t stand it! He’s grown so much and has more energy than I have ever witnessed in my life. I have a hard time keeping up with him sometimes.



We’ve been watching Fergus for Uncle Brian. Max has become very comfortable around him. We’re trying to teach him that “patting” the dog is different than taking your hand and slamming it on him over and over. Luckily, Fergus is very sweet and tolerant. Max also has a hard time resisting pulling on Fergus’ beard. But the funniest thing is how Max watches Fergus’ nub (tail) wag back and forth. He’s fascinated with it! He stares at is and starts shaking his head in time with the wags … just before he reaches out to grab it! I think Fergus will be very happy when his daddy gets home!

Making new friends

We had fun making new friends yesterday. Val came over with Dallen and we had a great time playing and getting to know each other. Dallen is 1 year old today; happy birthday Dallen! So, Max and he are very close in age.

At first, Max was a little hesitant and was a bit clingy to mama. But he warmed up pretty quickly as he saw Dallen diving into the toys and have fun! Dallen knows how to party, where Max has to overcome a bit of shyness. It’s really good for Max to branch out and start hanging with other little kids. It’s good for me to make friends with other Moms too. So, I think we’ll all end up being very good friends!

Max videos

Some fun videos.

Peanut butter!

Max has finally experienced the finer things in food ... PEANUT BUTTER! Yes, Mommy's favorite has been passed down to the next generation. I'm really happy he likes it, because it's probably one of the better things I can make to eat! LOL! The menu is slowly growing! Yay!

Signs of spring

There are finally signs of spring! The snow is all gone in our yard and the grass is green, at least where Tommy has de-thatched. It’s warm enough to hang out in the back yard and play after work. And Max has found two new, very interesting activities: Playing with the grass and opening and closing the sliding screen door! That one is a HUGE hit! But then again, anything that opens/closes, opens/closes, opens/closes …. Over and over again is always a big delight for Max. He’s got this new loud fake laugh that he’s busting out too. Makes it all even funnier! It’s going to be a super fun spring!

Easter Egg Hunt

Max had his first Easter Egg hunt today at Memorial Park. He was more interested in watching all the other little kids that picking up eggs. He picked up one egg, and wanted to give it away to a little girl. Such a flirt! It was small town fun at its finest, even though it was all over in about 10 minutes.

Saturday ... in the Park ... I think it was the 4th of July ...

Ok, not the 4th of July ... the 4th of April ... and I'll stop singing now.

Spring is finally in the air! Finally! We went to the park today to enjoy some of the sunshine. It was a beautiful day and it was fun to get outside and play. Max got some swing action going and really enjoyed himself. He's got such a great giggle! (video to come) I can tell we're going to have a blast on all kinds of adventures this Spring/Summer.

Max also had his maiden voyage on the slide! The milestones are everywhere. :-) He wasn't sure what to make of the slide at first, but after a couple of times going down, he was totally diggin' it!

Max and Daddy ... BFF! :-)

*click on pictures to enlarge

Walking like a drunken sailor.

Max is practicing his walking. He’s getting really good, although, at times, looks a bit like a drunken sailor. It’s sooo much fun! Now that the snow is just about gone (minus the random dustings just to tick me off), Max is going outside and practicing his walking too. Makes me nervous when he falls on cement.

Anyway, as you can see, he’s on FIRE! Doing great! I have visions of him running around the yard this spring! God help us! Hee hee hee!

MAX IS WALKING!!!!

WOW! MAX IS WALKING!

He’s been taking a couple of wobbly steps here and there, but when we got back from CA, he busted his move! Of coarse, the cameras were all still in the luggage … but I got this last night. He’s doing a great job … and he’s soooo proud of himself! We’re tickled too!

California Dreamin'

We had a wonderful trip to Ventura! It was so great to be back in a “hometown” so to speak. Just awesome to see great friends and share laughs. Max traveled very well … although he was sick a bit and was fighting a fever. We think it’s probably teething. Considering, he was a trooper!

It was great that Amy let us stay at her!! What are best friends for? Loved hanging with her and Max’s Godmother, “Auntie Becky”. We always look forward to sharing time with our close friends. It was a bit of a whirl wind, trying to get a visit in with all the folks we love and miss. But we did our best!

As much as we loved the fine weather, killer food and wonderful company of friends … it’s always the best to come home. And we have reaffirmed, we love our little town of Sandpoint!

Max Stats

Max had his one year doctor's appointment yesterday. 24.7 lbs (75%). 32" tall (95%) and the noggin? Still above the 95% at 19.5"! All in all ... a very happy and healthy little boy! That's right, little boy ... or toddler ... he's not a baby anymore!

*photos from http://www.jax-creations.com/

Getting ready to walk

Look at the little man go. It's gonna be just a short time before he's running circles around us!

Max and Jax ...... Creations

WOW! So Max is one ... 1!! We're still not used to that. So, it was time to go to Jax Creations to finish up our "baby package" and get Max's 1 year pictures. It's always awesome to see Jackie as she is just a lovely person to be around. She also never disappoints when it comes to her photography. It could help that I love her subject matter so much ... But seriously, he work is amazing; she does a great job of capturing Max's personality.

She posted a sneak peak at the photo session on her blog. There are going to be so many cute pictures, I'm going to have a hard time choosing!

Thank you, Jackie! We love you and can't wait to meet you new baby, "potato" in June!! :-)