16 months old

I'm behind.  Again.  In just 10 days, Max will be 17 months old!  And I'm still working on the 16 month old post.  And this time it's been so long that I'm not even sure which of his new tricks he learned since he turned 16 months old. :(  I'm sorry Max.  Life has been busy.  Most of it has been fun...but we're also planning a big move and it's taken a lot of time.  And work...oh my...work has been so very busy that when I get home, sometimes I just can't really look at the computer anymore.  I will try harder sweet pickle.  I will.  

So I guess the biggest news is that Max moved from the infant room to the Chickadee room at school.  This happened just after the holidays and while the first few days of dropoffs didn't sound like much fun (read tears and Kenny having to have someone pry Max from his arms in the morning at school), it didn't take long before Max was feeling right at home in his new surroundings.  I'd hazard a guess that the playground has something to do with how much he loves it.  The babies play on a nice carpeted deck but the Chickadees have a playground with slides and sand and they get to play on the blacktop with balls and bikes.  So much fun!  I am also amazed, again, that he quickly learned how to nap on a cot and seems to be doing fine.  With both kids, I worry about the sleep the most.  But both have figured out the cot thing right away and taken to it just fine!  

We went on a few playground hunts in January too - since it has been a wonderfully warm winter!  We've had many days in the 60's and even a few in the 70's!  This picture was New Year's Day...and it was warm enough to not even need a jacket!  YAY!  Anyway, we picked a few playgrounds in the city and took off to see what they had to offer.  It was so much fun and at several of them we ran into friends from school!  Great minds think alike...

Anyway, back to Max...he loves books and animals and making animal sounds.  Books about animal sounds are the best things ever! His room looks like this pretty much every night.  

After a bath, and getting on his jammies, he goes through book after book after book.  Once I sit in the chair, he hops up in my lap and we read some more until it's time to snuggle.  He goes to bed wide awake and is usually perfectly content to snuggle with his baby (glo-worm) and rub the tag on his lion.  We don't usually hear from him until morning - 6:30ish usually.  Sometimes in the middle of the night he'll lose his paci and not be able to find it, but it's rare.

He has some words, but he mostly communicates with grunts and squeals.  I'm ready for words.  But he definitely knows what you are saying and will get his point across one way or another.  Not to worry!

He wants to do everything Jack is doing.  Everything.  I think he plays so differently than Jack did at this age, just because he plays like Jack does.  He gets out animals and plays with them.  He'll march them around and make their sounds.  It's pretty cute!  

He's a bit more rough and tumble than Jack too...even now.  Max will climb up things and fall and move on without so much as a second thought.  He's adventurous for sure!

They still really like being with one another. Jack gets upset from time to time if Max isn't doing something right or takes something that Jack was playing with, but it usually only lasts a few minutes and they are back to giggling together.

I don't think anything really changed in his diet this month and we didn't have any illnesses that I recall.  I've kind of given up counting teeth.  He's really turning into a big boy and losing the baby-ness.  Though he still loves his paci!  He is definitely less reliant on it than he was last month though.  I'm not sure he'd sleep without it, but he can survive awake time without it for sure. 

We're loving life with these 2 sweet little red-headed boys over here.  There are days where I really am in awe that they are mine.  

Thanks Max, for another wonderful month and for letting me be your mom!  Love you sweet pea, love you to pieces!

Christmas

Christmas!  It was wonderful...and I hope I can remember it all now that I'm 3 weeks behind!  


So Christmas eve we started our morning with our second year of making cookies for Santa and food for the reindeer!  Jack loves cooking and gets very excited to make treats for Santa and the reindeer.  

That evening we dressed up and headed over to Uncle Harold's for the annual Christmas Eve dinner gathering.  It's always such a nice time and so full of great food!  

This year didn't disappoint at all...it was lovely, as always.   The boys REALLY enjoyed this singing snowman!  They didn't give it a break all night.

Then it was time to get home and get into bed so that Santa could come!  But first...we had to leave the cookies and reindeer treats out...

It wouldn't be Christmas Eve without a reading of "The Night Before Christmas."  Max was clearly more interested in Rudolph but that's ok!  Jack's excitement throughout December really, was quite tangible.  He loved every second of the festivities and anticipation.  Christmas Eve was no different!  He was so very excited and we were not at all sure he was going to sleep.  Max however, had no idea what was going on or what all the fuss was about.  He was just his jolly old self!

Christmas morning Jack woke up before his sun (clock in his room that tells him when he can get out of bed) had turned yellow (it's blue at night and yellow in the morning).  I was also awake and suggested to Kenny that we just get up, but he would have NO part of it.  So we waited and waited and waited.  It was so hard for me, at 35, I know it must have felt like decades of waiting for Jack!  But eventually, that sun DID turn yellow and it was down the stairs with us to see what Santa brought!

Santa was good to the boys...

Though Max was more excited about finishing up the cookie scraps that Santa had left behind!

Since Max couldn't tell Santa what he wanted, we were thrilled to see that Santa brought him an MP3 player with buttons to push and songs to play.  Buttons that work and music are Max's 2 favorite things in life.  Nice work Santa!

Jack had a marshmallow jar the month of December where we'd put in a marshmallow if he did something really nice.  It was about half full on Christmas Eve, though in his defense Momma chose a really big jar and the marshmallows weren't as big as they needed to be, so it was taking a while to fill the jar.  The idea was that once full, we'd go do something special or get a really special treat.  Santa had been watching and knew how good Jack had been, so he went ahead and filled it almost to the top!

Jack's only request from Santa was for Superhero Legos.  Jack seemed to think Santa did a good job and played with the Batcave literally for days on end.  It went everywhere we did.  He still plays with it though these days he's more into making his own things with legos.  

After all the presents were open and we'd had a little time to play with them, it was time to go see what Santa left at Grams and Gramps' house!

It's a really good thing that Santa brought Uncle Aaron some new pants since his ripped Christmas morning while he was handing out presents! :)!  It is lots of fun to put a picture of your big brother's ripped pants on the internet! :)!  Love you Aaron!

We draw names...to cut down on the excessive amount of presents...and it clearly doesn't work!  

Jack was so into the batcave that he often snuck away to Grams and Gramps' room to play while the rest of us carried on with the present opening.  

Grams all decked out in her new Hokie Hat!

It also would have been my paternal grandfather's 100th birthday.  I never met him but I heard Grandma talk about him often and I know he must have been pretty great to have made these two men. We looked at pictures of him and I really wished I'd had the chance to meet him.  

Then it was time to celebrate Uncle Aaron's big 40th birthday!  It's on New Year's Eve, not Christmas Day but since he wouldn't be with us, we went ahead.  40 presents for 40 years!  Growing up I always wished that one day I'd be older than Aaron...but now...I'm thrilled I'm not! :)!

The cake was great - that black icing...

Turned everyone's mouths black!

We missed being with Fay and the O'Donnells but it was a wonderful day.  Jack loved every single second of it and Max, while having no idea what it was all about, had a great day too! Next year, will be even more fun, I'm sure!


The next day it was off to see the Lion clan.  We are always so glad to see them but it's extra special at Christmas because we get to see so many that we don't usually see throughout the year. 

Like cousins Lexi, Dylan and Owen!  It was really fun watching that house come alive with kids.  I'm not sure Jack even knew he had cousins his age to play with, but he was super excited.  Dylan is also into super heroes so that was a lot of fun for them.

We even got them to sit for  picture!

The week after Christmas we kept the kids home from school and Kenny and I switched off days and they went to Grams and Gramps' one day.  One one of my days home with them we got to spend time with Andy and Dillyn, which is always a treat.  Thanks for coming to play with us ladies - we love you!

Then...as if we hadn't had enough fun, we got to have Christmas with Grandma when she got back from FL!  It's always a lot of fun and this year was no exception!

We also got to spend a wonderful NYE with the Pearsons!  Who...by the way...are going to have a BABY in 2012!!  We couldn't be more excited for them and can't wait to meet the littlest Pearson! We had a little celebration with Jack and some sparkling cider before bed where we watched the ball drop and counted down!  It was a lot of fun! 

After all of the festivities, it was time to get back to reality!  We had a rough time getting back into the swing of things but we made it!  Hope your new year is off to a great start!