the time has arrived - 18 months

Thursday marked Max's 18-months of life celebration. He celebrated by getting an immunization and being scared to death of the nurse and doctor. Poor thing! I don't think he's ever clung to me so much. The best part was that he survived and got a Dum-Dum Sucker.

Here are the stats for the record:
Height: 33 1/4 inches = 75%
Weight: 24 lbs 14 oz = 25%
Head: 48.4 cm = 50%

For Max there are 2 important changes with this age.

1: Nursery (yay for everyone! Just wish he wasn't clingy and need ma-ma all of a sudden.) Though today he did super - as his first official time. Jimmy sent him in alone and he didn't even notice we weren't in there. Hope it lasts!

2: No more bottles. I've quite delayed on getting rid of bottles only because we had a really hard experience transitioning Abe from formula to milk. Abe still doesn't like milk at all. So ... because of that, I let Max have milk in the bottle before nap and bed. Sigh... Max was not pleased yesterday when I tried to give him milk in a sippy cup. Now we have to figure out what to do now. Perhaps by the time I raise my last baby, I'll figure out how to be the best madre.

A few randoms about Maxwell:

(by Jimmy)
- He's generally a happy kid. Except when he's grouchy.

- He enjoys his freedom

- and doesn't like his freedom restricted

- Max is starting to develop a sense of humor. He thought it was hilarious yesterday when abe put on his Wall-E costume. Abe would hide inside the box, then pop his head out. Max laughed his head off. Today Max learned to say 'Wall*e'.

(by Heather)
- He really likes to go HIS way ... not MY way.

- He goes and goes and goes ... oh, and goes! Send me some of that energy Max!

- He consistently says about 10+ words. Ma-ma, da-da, hannah, abe (ehma), hi, baby, no-no, ni-ni (night-night), ghi (blankie), Wall*e, mo-mo (more). He also tries to say other sounds and words but isn't too consistent. He does a few signs and tonight when we were on our walk we heard lots of birds and he learned the sign for bird. So... not a huge talker, which seems to be the norm for boys in this fam.

- He loves to climb. Seriously ... loves to climb.

- Another favorite thing to do is dump all the toys out of every bin.

- He loves to close the microwave door in the morning after I warm up hot chocolate for everyone.

- He chews on his blankie. It seriously stinks!

- He loves when we sing "I am a Child of God."

- This morning he woke at 7:30 whining. I went in and felt how cold he was. I rocked him with his blankie and he curled up in a ball with my baby tummy as a pillow and slept for another hour. I loved watching him sleep.

- My favorite thing he says is "Me" (more like yells it) when we asks who wants something. He loves to be like the other kids.

- He still does his loud smack with his tongue (that no one else in the fam can do) when we ask if he wants a snack. He does it in nursery too when they pull out the food.

- I love when he will randomly rest his head on my shoulder. And his very rare kisses are like one big lick! I wouldn't trade them for the world.

- His favorite foods are popcorn, popcorn, popcorn, and lots of other things. He's been our best eater yet. He likes pickles, apples, tomato soup, quesadillas, grilled cheese, etc.

- His favorite movies lately (which he'll watch for more than a minute) are Monster's Inc. and Toy Story II.

This photo is a classic of Max. He has some awesome teeth and he is always so expressive with his mouth and eyebrows. People at church ask if he is always happy because he smiles so much. My answer is that he's generally happy in public because he loves to see new people and get attention... he has lots of big smiles to share with the world.


Oh - and his hair stayed combed for about 5 minutes - long enough to take about 5 photos.

We sure love our Maxwell.