Seven Months: Scrunchy Smiles & So Much Fun

Guess who forgot to click the 'Publish' button. Whoops?!? Little late getting this one up (you were all waiting on the edge of your seats, I know).

Seven Months is a hard one for me to accept. We're officially on the second half of the 'baby year' and Max is starting to look less like an infant and will soon be looking more like a toddler. I'm not ready for that! As much as we're in the trenches I'm also trying to really cherish these fleeting months. Don't grow up too fast buddy!

Max's wellness checkup last month measured him at nearly 23lbs and 28.5in long. Off the charts! He's certainly a solid, strong, bouncing boy. I relented and we got him a Jolly Jumper which he thoroughly enjoys (I didn't want more 'stuff' but he was exhausting our arms). Max would bounce up and down or hold his legs up suspended in mid air in a sitting position all day long if it were up to him. Purchase well worth it. He's certainly refining his dexterity and likes to grab things, especially his older brother's hair! Thankfully Ben usually just laughs it off and is very gentle with his little brother (usually). Max is in fact a good eater but is picky, picky, picky! He will let you know what is good (apples, carrot, mango, pear) and what is not (rice or oat cereal, sweet potato) within the first bite. Glad to know he'll share his opinions with us!

Sleep, oh, elusive sleep. Let's just say this is not a strong point in our house and in addition to multiple wake-ups at night Max has now added 'early bird' to his resume. 5am does not mix well with his night owl of a brother. Like I said, trenches, but this phase will eventually pass. At least he usually wakes up happy with spitting blats and plenty of scrunchy smiles. Almost (almost) makes up for the rough nights.

This past month we took a road trip to visit Baba, Grandpa and Great Grandma. Max enjoyed the visit but did NOT like the long car(s) trip one bit. Lets just say there were literally hours of endless screaming (he lost his voice at one point but still kept going), temper tantrums and an angry vomit 10km away from our final destination (from the big brother who also had 'enough'). It was not pretty. This kid does NOT like facing backwards in his car seat away from the rest of us and the mirror on the back of the seat does not make up for that. Toys, songs and stops on the side of the road to try to settle him down are a wasted effort as well. I may be traumatized for a very long time. But, to get back to the point of the trip, visiting our family - that part was lots of fun. We are so lucky to have plenty of people who love these boys something fierce. Hopefully they'll come visit us next time, ha!

Apart from our road trip we've been keeping to the routine of things. Danny has been logging a lot of hours and has been on call a little more frequently than we're used to so I'm getting a lot of solo time with the boys. Max still goes to childcare once a week for an hour or so while Ben attends his Counting Class. We try to schedule playdates a couple times a week, and we've been making lots of park appearances now that it is finally getting warmer outside. Yay for spring!

I'm so in love with this happy, giggly boy. Apart from sleep and car trips, he's a very easy-going little man. I love watching his personality emerge as the months pass and am so grateful that we have such a wonderful little family. Here's to the next month Maxim!

A Trip to Great Grandma's House

First meetings * baking cookies * Kentucky Derby * warm snuggles

this is how we make memories.

A Family Frittatta

I tried this fritatta recipe after drooling over it for a couple of weeks. Lo and behold it turned out even better than I had imagined! We dug into it so fast that I wasn't able to snap a photo of the finished product until it had been generously sliced up and dished out onto our plates.  

Yum. Weekend brunch with the family is definitely a favourite and this recipe will certainly be part of our rotation.

Hoppity Hop

This Easter was pretty quiet. It was cold outside, we had no visitors and we declined all dinner invites because both boys were sick. Truthfully, we were all just hoping to catch up on some much needed sleep. Fortunately the Easter Bunny made a pit stop at our house and put a little hop into our step. Ben was pretty thrilled about his egg hunt and Max enjoyed playing with the big boys. It actually turned out quite lovely.

Happy Easter!

Six Months: Sounds and Solids

Half-A-Year-Old! This is equal parts impossible (how did you grow so fast?) and yet still questionable (haven't you been here forever?). I'm really glad I've been doing these posts so I can keep track of how things are constantly moving and changing; a great resource for looking back and remembering.

It's been a fairly steady stream of changes and developments and I can't complain because I'm so grateful for this normally happy healthy boy. He did wake up with a cold this morning but fortunately he doesn't complain too much despite all the ickiness involved. Max is rolling from back to front but still often gets stuck on his stomach. He's also pretty good at balancing in a sit position although I won't say he's sitting on his own quite yet. His coordination is always improving and he's very good at tracking things, grasping them and bringing them to his mouth. Speaking of his mouth, the drool continues but not teeth yet. I learned from Ben that this can be a really slow process so I'm not holding my breath despite all the 'signs' being there. The teeth can be shy and will come when they come. Max's voice, however, has been anything but timid. This guy is a shrill shrieker and likes to make his presence known! Some days my ears literally ring because his screams are so high pitched and loud. Usually he's just playing but sometimes he does it for attention too. Our boy doesn't always have to be centre of attention but he certainly loves to be right in the middle of whatever we're doing.

His six month wellness appointment is coming up soon but I'm confidant we've surpassed the 20lbs mark. Thanks for the constant upper body workout buddy! My arms and back have never been stronger. His hair is coming in a bit thicker and his eyelashes are growing again too. Perhaps all this growing explains why our sleep has regressed so much recently? Gah - he's up probably 6-7x per night and I'm pretty sure this is more frequent than his newborn days. He also fights his naps pretty hard which makes for a tired baby and a tired mom. Not ideal! Really hoping this is going to change by next month's post. Sleep! We miss you dearly!!!

The biggest milestone of this month has been the introduction of solid foods. Contrary to what we all assumed - Max is not a big eater! Mind you, he's only had like two days of 'trials' but so far he just grimaces and spits it all out! Totally not what we expected but likely to change over time. Go figure!

But with all these changes there are a few constants that I really treasure. Max still bobs his head forwards and back when he's nursing, something he's done since birth. He still likes to pat my chest or hold onto my shirt to stay extra close. He still is a mama's boy and likes to cuddle as much as possible. And he still has a wicked smile that makes my heart just melt. Love him so much!

Life wise things have been pretty status quo; the usual round of playdates and outings (which, unfortunately, still require us to wear snow gear). Winter will never end! A new cousin was born this month which means Max is no longer the littlest person on my side of the family. Amazing to be reminded how much has changed since those early days! Max also started going to child care once a week at our Recreation Centre while big brother Ben attends a one hour 'Counting Class' (often verbally mistaken as an 'Accounting Class' haha). No, I don't have my toddler in an accounting class just quite yet. We are desperate for more outdoor activities to fill up our days and hope to start our park rounds very soon!

A few pics of our sweet six month old.

Vegas with Babies (aka visual overload)

Even before Max was born I said to Danny that I needed to plan a vacation for our family. I needed something I could look forward to after what I assumed would be a long winter cooped up in the house with two little ones. Vegas fit the bill perfectly. Short flight. Plenty to do. Accessible for the grandparents who happily agreed to meet us there from their much sunnier climes (read: snowbirds). This trip turned out to be exactly what I needed and couldn't come soon enough!

Nothing like a change of scenery (and pace) to shake things up a bit.

Welcome to warm weather, Max, where you get to load up on sunscreen instead of layers upon layers of clothing to go outside. Palm trees, sunshine, baby giggles. Enough said.

Taking a few fun group shots while we waited for the Bellagio fountains. They didn't actually play as it was apparently too windy outside but Ben was thrilled to have Papa Ray's attention again…it had been a while since they last played together.

Exploring the butterfly gardens, also at the Bellagio, and taking in the sweet scents of the fresh flower gardens. How cool is that 3D painting? This living artwork puts my green thumb to shame... if you can even call weekly purchases of tulips worthy of a green thumb title. Yeah, not so much. But anyhow, the flowers here were stunning.

A much needed date night for Danny and I. First one since the baby was born if I recall. A delicious steak night at Mastro's Ocean Club followed by a walk down the illuminated strip.

Ben and the Grandparents riding the 'choo chop tram'. He still talks about this! My sweet boy loves planes, trains, and basically any form of transportation that will go-go-go!

Jean Phillipe - we meet again.

No shortage of things to see, eat and buy in Vegas. Our eyes were delighted, tummies were full and feet were sore.

Some fun family shots in our hotel lobby. If I could bottle the scent of Mandarin Oriental hotel and sell it I would be able to purchase one of their penthouse residences. Too bad that aroma is specially formulated exclusively for the hotel and not for sale (so I'm told). Guess we'll just have to keep coming back!

Brunch at MOzen bistro before heading home. It was tough to say goodbye to the grandparents and tough to say goodbye to the warm weather but what wonderful memories we could take home with us!

Five Months: Tasty Toes, Belly Rolls & Big Explosions

We are at the wonderful five month mark with our Maxim. I remember five months old being a really great age with Ben and I think we're in for a similar experience with Max. Routines are pretty stable, baby is happy and we're getting a bit more sleep. Yay for five months!

I had to look back at the four month post to see what sort of developments we'd actually achieved this month; it seems like there's been so much going on that something that happened six days prior is 'old hat' now. Max really likes lying on his back and playing with or nibbling on his toes. He also hoists his legs into the air a lot and then rolls to his side. Today marked the first time that he rolled completely over from back to front (and then proceeded to protest because he was stuck, haha). He still gurgles and drools and makes lots of funny squeaks and squeals. He's got a great belly laugh and enjoys when we tease him. One funny thing I noticed recently is that he will often make puffing noises when he wakes up. He'll fill up his cheeks with air, purse his lips, and then pufffffff! I think he finds it quite entertaining.

A couple weeks ago, Max had his wellness and immunization appointment and the 'little mister' weighed in at 19lbs1oz. Holy Moly! Way to go buddy! He's also 29in long which explains why we've once again moved on to the 9-12month sized pyjamas and are in size 4 diapers. Just to compare, Ben wears a size 5 diaper right now and he is two years old! Speaking of diapers (yup, I'm going there) Max has been exploding out of his diapers 2-3 times a day for almost two months now. I'm rather tired of changing his outfits multiple times a day and scrubbing out already ruined onesies. Serious power with that kid. We've tried everything short of full body saran wrap. Uuugh - can't wait until this particular phase has passed, haha!

We've been putting Max in the crib in the nursery a few times at night but he still usually sleeps in our room. Still very much a mama's boy and likes having me near by. He'll do a good five hour stretch and then wake up almost every hour afterwards until we officially get up for the day. The five hour stretch is nice and he's usually fairly easy to put down during the waking up phase, unless he's not, in which case I hand him over to Dad. Your turn!

This month we did our best to keep entertained during one of the longest winters in recent memory. We organized a few playdates with our friends to get out of the house and explore. Max likes the change of scenery but hates the car rides getting there. Max also took his first every plane ride when we went down to Las Vegas for a few nights to visit with my folks and break up the monotony of our day to day routine. I was so much less worried about traveling with a baby having done it before with Ben and not surprisingly it went pretty smoothly. The flight back was slightly more challenging as Max was way too distracted to remember how nurse (seriously?) but he didn't fuss too much and eventually fell asleep. Cannot complain. The next trip could be treacherous or wonderful. That's the joy of unpredictability!

As I alluded to before, we are so ready for winter to be over and spring to show its sunny face. I can't wait to get outside a lot more with the boys and enjoy playing around in the sand or grass. I guess that is also dependent on our yard being landscaped but that is scheduled to happen as soon as the snow melts so bring on spring!