and then ... Max suddenly grew up

Somehow this week Maxwell grew up... at least I finally recognized it. The boy is long, he's heavy, he's filling out, he's more independent. Sigh... he grew up... right before my eyes.
And then
... he wanted to put on his own shoes.
... he learned to be gentle with a baby doll and say 'bay-bee' in the sweetest Maxwell voice.
... he pretended to be cold by shivering and making a cold face.
... he pretended to be a dog by growling and panting and crawling around.
... he learned to practice whistling (seriously - he's the best 19-month old whistler around. He can do it quietly.)
... he learned to walk (not crawl) up stairs by himself.
... he knew he wanted to talk to 'papa' on Skype.
... he hid behind the curtain and waited for someone to look for him.

I think some of Max's favorite foods are spaghetti and pizza. He can eat so much of those things. He also chowed down on Grandma Nelson's Chocolate sheet cake last night. Max even gets much of his food in his mouth lately when he feeds himself. He's intent on being like everyone else and having his own seat, his own plate of food, his own utensils. I guess he's no longer a wee little squishy babe.

And then he decided he needed a few books to read. It was mighty quiet so I headed upstairs to see what mischief was brewing. But alas, he was content flipping through books and actually caused no damage.

Sooo - Maxwell is growing up.
I love his laugh.
I love that he loves popcorn.
I love that he still gives me lovies.
I love when he looks at me like he's trying to understand what in the world I'm saying.
I love that he's not shy about getting close and staring into my eyes.
I love when he lays on my leg.
I love when he gets so excited about an idea we have even if he has no idea what we're talking about.

I read this quote tonight and it reminds me to enjoy all these moments with my kids when they are little... and to spend time with them doing good things. I can't imagine I'd ever regret spending quality time with my tots.

"So frequently we mistakenly believe that our children need more things, when in reality their silent pleadings are simply for more of our time." President Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, May 1994, 62