Independence Day!

Independence day came a day early in Sandpoint. We signed up to walk the parade with a bunch of other Creekers. Great fun for sure, but went by very quickly! I think it lasted, maybe 15 minutes. Just about the time Max was starting to get excited about it, it was over. We realized after that it was the kiddie parade the not the "big" parade.

Ollie (the dog), Ami, Hadli, Mama, Max, Val, Matt, Dallen & Chase, Necole, Chandra and Casey.

Uncle Brian got roped in for another parade! :)

We were excited to see Jennifer and Chloe back from vacation; Max missed his buddy. They were running just a few minutes late and missed the big hurrah!

Max and his VBFF, Chloe! It's so much fun to watch these two play and grow up together. They've been friends since they were about 6 months old. Nothing makes Max happier than being with Chloe.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

PLANES .....


Max is 100% boy and loves planes, trains and automobiles. This past weekend, our friend Robert, took us to check out his plane. It was super cool; Max dug it a lot. He got a little freaked out when Robert went to put him in the plane … I think it was because Mama was out of sight for 4 seconds. We didn’t go up flying… this time. But did have great fun putting our arms out and pretending we were airplanes and “flying” around Robert’s hanger.



TRAINS....



Yesterday, we took our first train ride. Our little town did a free train ride promoting train safety, etc. We went with some friends and really had a blast. Max was sooo excited about the train. He kept making Uncle Brian go look down the tracks with him as we waited for the train to come. He loved looking out the window, pointing out trees and cows while making his “wooo-hooo” train sounds. It was really lots of fun!







Automobiles .... see post below on playing in Mama's car. :)

Another boring story

I love when Max does something new that tickles my fancy and makes me smile ... then I realize that every other kid on the planet did the same thing and the silly stories are lame to everyone I tell them to. They're just smiling at me to be friendly.

Here is one of those stories: Max is suddenly facinated with playing in the car. The adventure of being in the car but not restricted to the car seat must be very liberating; he just loves it! He's in the driver's seat and is the navigator of our jouney. Pushing buttons, lifting leavors, putting cD's in and out of the arm rest, hazzard lights on/off/on/off/.... all make for all kinds of fun. We were in there for almost an hour the other day. I finally had to pry him out because he was sporting a poopy diaper. OK ... probably a little too much info in that story. heee heee heee.



And look at this kid ... how old is he anyway? I decided to save this picture so when he get's his license, I can whip this out and tell him that I still see him like this age! 2 1/2! Poor kid ... he's stuck with a crazy mama!

Aunt Becky's awesome giraffe

Auntie Becky sent Max this killer giraffe that she made for him. She's so talented; it's awesome. Max pulled him out of the package and instantly started hugging and kissing him. He's been dragging the giraffe around the house... hugging him and kissing him constantly. He also wants mama and daddy to give affections too. Pretty dang cute!

Growing

It's spring time and everything is growing like a weed, including Max. I can't believe how big he's gotten! He loves being outside and exploring the yard. No detail is too small and watching bugs is now a favorite past time. He gets excited to show you his discoveries ... a dead leaf, a rock from the drive way, an ant making his way across the walk. It's a lot of fun to see it all through his eyes.

And at the end of the day ... some dino slippers, a cold frosty milk and some Baby Einstein to wind down a great day of adventure.

Spring has Sprung

It's a beautiful day! The sun is shining and the breeze is warm. We're excited to be able to play in our back yard and enjoy such a lovely day. Max is happy as long as he can run around... and extra happy if he can push his trucks all over the place. And for Mommy and Daddy ... we just need to see our Marvelous Max smiling and laughing and we're filled with joy. Isn't it great! The best things in life are certainly free.

Healthy and Strong

Max had a great check up at the doctor yesterday. He's in the 90+ percentile in all his measurements. 36 inches tall. 32 1/2 pounds. 20 inch noggin. That is the 95th percentile. What can I say ... big brain.





Great weekend with time to play in the yard. Max love to run around his yard and push trucks or search for tennis balls to throw for the dogs. Another great past time is to stop and check out the train as it goes by. It makes no difference what activity is going on; it stops when the train goes by. We must investigate and give a shout out "whoo hooo!"

He's such a big, healthy boy! He is just more and more fun to be with all the time. We're so blessed.

Mom's a slacker

My dad actually accused me of slacking on my mommy duties and that I haven't been posting pictures of Max. This is the same man that told me that Max is the most documented baby on the planet! Well, things in Max land are great! What's not to love if you're Max? Days are filled with lots of play, walking dogs with Daddy, and every whim catered to. It's not a bad gig if you can get it.


getting ready to go outside and play.



Max LOVES to run his truck up and down the cement walk way in the back yard.

This is the look on Max's face as he charges after mama to jump on me and attack with tickles.

Look at that awesome smile! Max also has the best giggles I've ever heard!

Max’s 2nd Birthday – Part 2

Well, if you turn two, you should have two parties, right? We had a fun cupcake party with a couple of friends. Super mellow, but super fun just the same. Sure was hoping we’d get Max to dive into the cupcakes, but not so much. He absolutely loves the singing “Happy Birthday” part, and blowing out the candles. That’s great stuff that we can do over and over again if we indulge him; which we did. The cupcakes were interesting to him, and I thought he might go for it … but once he got frosting on his fingers, he was over it. Oh well, maybe next year!

Max 2nd Birthday - part 1

We had a great time for Max’s 2nd birthday. We went to Pan Handler Pies with Uncle Brian and went home for cake and his birthday present. The cake wasn’t that much of a success; the boy isn’t really into sweets. I guess that’s a good thing.

We got him a little drum like the one he uses in his Little Mozart music class. He knew exactly what it was when he opened it and was thrilled to death! Every other parent I know tells us we’re crazy for giving him the drum … but he just has a blast with it. Soon it will be spring time and he can play with it outside!

Happy Birthday Max!

Happy Birthday, Max!! 2!! wow... 2!!!!

These pics are from Max's photo shoot with Jax Creations. (http://www.jax-creations.com/) Our little baby is now a big boy toddler! He's so fast and strong; it's hard keeping up with him. But, he is, by far, the biggest joy of our lives. He makes me and Tommy smile every day and just fills our hearts!

Tonight we're going to PanHandler Pies for dinner ... followed by a small cup cake party on Sunday.

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

Countdown to Two!

Look how handsome I am!


Inspecting the creation.

The countdown to two is ticking away! I can’t believe our “baby” is 2! *blink* TWO! Max is so strong, fast, funny, inquisitive; loveable, smart … I could go on and on! Proud mama! Some Maxisms – his favorites things at age 2:

Lights, this has been a fascination all along, but now he can control them and that makes it all the more exciting. Nighttime ritual includes walking around down stairs and making sure all the lights are off. We get particularly excited over the swag hanging light that he has to be lifted up to pull the cord and the ceiling fan.

Coloring is another wonderful obsession. Tommy covers the coffee table with white paper and tapes it down for Max’s daily new canvas. Every morning when Max wakes up, he is completely excited to see the vast blankness and anticipates, excitingly what he will create.

Watching home movies starring… Max! Every diaper change involves Max checking out the documented adventures of his life. It’s the only thing that keeps him still enough to change him without making a total mess. As Grandpa always says, “He’s the most well documented kid on the planet!”

Pushing around anything with wheels including the tricycle he hasn’t figured out he can actually ride on. It’s a total bonus if he is strong enough to flip the object over and spin the wheels with his hands as fast as he can.

Favorite foods: Oatmeal with daddy in the morning, peanut butter and jelly, grilled cheese, broccoli, spinach, goldfish, and bites of mommy’s go lean bars. He loves and drinks tons of milk and enjoys making cow sounds whenever we take the carton out of the refrigerator.

Getting ready for night night is the best part of the day. Max and mama snuggle and watch Blues Clues before we make the rounds to turn off the lights. Daddy is in charge of making sure dino-blankie is heading upstairs with us. I hold Max’s hands and try to get him to actually walk up the stairs instead of just floundering his legs like a crazy man. Max then runs for the fan and picks it up like “strong man” and grunts and shows how strong he is. He gets one binky to suck, and one to hold for good luck. (I think we’re breakin’ the binky habit for our birthday.) Kisses for mama, kisses for dada, family hug and down he goes. Night time prayer and lots of love.

What a beautiful time two is! I hope we remember it forever!

Long time... no blog

I am sooo far behind on updating our family blog! It’s February and I haven’t even posted about Christmas! We had an awesome time visiting family back in Massachusetts. Max loved hanging out with his cousins and getting lots of special attention from them. We also had a blast visiting Auntie Lisa at the Little Gym. Max got to play with a bunch of little kids, which he loved. We only wish there was one close to home. We also went to the New England Aquarium with Grandpops Bob. That was a very special, great time. Grandpa Dave took us to a fun Christmas show with all kinds of mannequins displaying Christmas scenes … that was fun … except Santa scared Max. LOL

January has been a blur! Mama has a new job and it’s sucking up all kinds of time. It’s all good, just have lots to learn. Now that February is here … it’s time to start thinking about Max’s birthday party! He’s almost 2! Can you stand it?