So, Max's bottom two teeth are still rising up and are definitely evident when he smiles. Meanwhile, check out the upper deck. This kid has the top 4, yes FOUR, teeth coming in. Max will have 6 teeth all within 1 month's time. And, 6 teeth by the age of 8 months. Poor kid.
Max is 31.5 weeks old. Max's initial reaction sitting in his tub seat was a slow wave of his foot underwater. When I asked him what he thought of his new bathtub (experience), he looked up at me and grinned. He likes it.
I remember not being able to style Evie's hair for a long time due to her not having any. Not in Max's case.
This new tub seat gives Max more control to do exciting bathtime activities... like grab his wiener more easily *sigh* "What?"
This is not a great photo (due to the "deer-in-headlights" effect from the flash... but it really shows the color of Max's eyes). Aren't they incredible? I really hope he keeps them, these eyes coupled with his dimples just make him such a complete and adorable package...
Grandma Ullman bought us a "Gingerbread Man" kit which was basically just a storage tin, cookie cut-out and recipe. I added a few other shapes (star and Christmas tree) to keep it interesting. We invited over D to help decorate. I knew this activity would have about 20 minutes (max) of entertainment value.... but was still a little surprised that after maybe 5 cookies each, they were over it. Oh well, more for me to decorate...
I treated the family to a new iPad after receiving a surprise Christmas Bonus this year. It didn't take long for Evie to not only figure things out... but to be addicted to the "games," as well.
Yeah, so, we're doing this. Evie's been in a couple of different programs at The Little Gym. We started somewhere around the age of 1 with some "Mommy & Me" type of classes. She hated it. She either cried the entire time or wanted to be held... the entire time. We took a break. Around the age of 3, I tried again with a dance class (she loved to "perform" at home to the song 'Dancing Queen' which she sang, "Dancin' ween...'). She didn't like the dance class and preferred the open gym that happened in the later half of the class. So, we took about 20 classes of gym. She stood there, inactive & chewing her fingers, for the entire duration of most classes. I would have stopped but she RAVED about how much 'fun' it was each time we got in the car. I was, essentially, paying for my kid to watch other kids play. Here we are again.... now at age 4.5. I signed her up for an hour long class (once a week) called "Giggle Toes." They do 15 minutes of tap, 15 minutes of ballet and then 30 minutes of the gym. And, most importantly, they dress like little ballerinas. At the first class, 3 weeks ago, Evie clung to me (I could tell she was testing my waters). I looked her in the eye, "You don't talk and you don't participate... then we don't ever come back." She raised up her eyebrows and gasped through closed mouth. I then watched through the window to see my tiny dancer cutting up a rug. We decided to join for the year... deja vu... At the end of the first night, they LITERALLY had to fool Evie to run outside and locked the door behind her. She was that into it and into interacting with all the teachers. Thatta girl.
Max meets Santa Claus this year! (He didn't know what to ask for so Evie suggested a teddy bear when Santa asked).
Sounds: Max started saying "Ma-ma-ma-ma" while in Ohio for Thanksgiving break. Up until this point he would just screech, make an "ahh!" sound (both of satisfaction to himself and as if it meant "hello!" from acres the room) or blow raspberries. Max's raspberries are a rather awesome sound - they are perfect. He sounds as if he's a well-versed raspberry enthusiast. Just watch out when he gets going during breakfast feeding time... you might end up with pureed peaches in your eyebrows. (sidenote: baby food peaches have a horrible smell... they make me gag, *bleech!*)
Choppers: Max started getting teeth! He's been drooling a lot throughout this month, so we knew something was in the works. I reached into Max's mouth while the family was out to dinner at Chipotle last week (December 5th)... I didn't expect the *chomp!* that I received! I was pointing out to Rob that I thought the lower front tooth, on our right (Max's left side of his own mouth), was due to pop out soon since his gums looked white in color... wrong! It turns out the three nubs were already poking out! We all took turns getting a bite from Max with giggles all around. I checked Max's mouth for a closer tooth inspection the following day. What I found was this crazy little number off-to-the-side on the top part of his mouth, see my post on December 6th. I asked the dentist and he didn't seem too alarmed. Of course, the dental office added that nothing could be done about it anyway so, just watch it and see what happens. We waited. As of today, here's what we are looking at [see photo]. The two bottom teeth are definitely up but not by much. His off-to-the-side top tooth is the one that is the most "in" right now with another front top tooth not too far behind! And, actually, front top tooth is coming in up way too high... it's no where near where it should be on the gum line. Ugh. What a mess! (I'm trying not to panic but I have to admit - am quite alarmed).
On the go (?): Max isn't really crawling yet, although, I did call Rob one night around a week ago to say he was... almost. He is starting to get up on all fours more lately. It started with him wriggle/rolling to places... not much with a purpose but just somehow ending up there. In the last 3 weeks he's been: first, much more coordinated to get up on his side and balancing... then, laying on his side evolved into getting up on one knee... and finally, this past week the one knee has been leading to him pushing off on a foot to gain some distance. So, all-in-all, Max can get up on one knee and push off ...once! He hasn't "put it all together" quite yet. I'm just glad he isn't totally discouraged or frustrated by anything so far. Not to compare, but Evie would be very upset and vocal for days leading up to her "break-through" into another milestone. I tend to notice Max's "break-throughs" less often since he seems to just do things and is rather content/unphased by when he accomplishes something. I'll be interested how these differences play out in his greater personality (like when he's in school or learning a skill/sport).
Temper: Still a rather easy-going baby (people have commented on this fact, too, so we know we aren't biased!). He seemed more frustrated when very little (under 3 months) but so far... he's still rather laid back unless one of the following occurs: diaper is too full, making a poop while sitting up, starving, tired at the end of the day and/or wants to be held (generally when tired). Max still loves "chaos". Large crowds filled with noise, talkative people and many things happening are somehow soothing to him. If not smiling throughout it all, he's totally content just sitting and watching. Case in point: I waited in line to see "Legendary Santa from 1:30PM until 3:00PM. Max stayed in his car seat... rather unattended for almost this entire time accept the last 15 minutes when he needed a change of scenery (so we held him). Again, kid is all around... easy-going.
Getting bigger: Max is certainly stretching the limits of his car carrier. The limit is 20lbs and I know he is over that by now (and if not, soon will be). Max seems to have thinned out significantly. He is getting longer but hasn't really up'ed his intake of food. Rob and I still seem to feed him the same amount of cereal/veggies/fruits as last month, which, surprises me. Max eats well but when he's full, he's full. Go figure.
Evie's been watching the Peanuts special, "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Shas been hearing the song at the end, "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," and trying her hand at singing it. She asked about what one of the words meant... mercimeld. I paused. I hummed the song and sang aloud: "...Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled." Evie listened a few times before singing again, "Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners wreck in style."
Evie also began this holiday season with hearing "Deck the Halls" either on the radio in the car or at home. She wanted to know the words but couldn't remember "Deck the halls with boughs of holly," because, let's be frank, who says things like this in general conversation. I broke it down and explained that what the line means is, "Deck the hallways with holly branches." She understood and sang back, "Dec-o-rate the halls with holly! Fa-la-la-la-la... la-la-la-la!"
During last night's dinner out at Chiptle, I noticed Max's lower front gums appearing more white on the one side. I told Rob, "Hey, it looks like he'll be getting in a tooth soon on that side [pointing to tooth #25]." I then reached in and ran my pointer finger along his smooth gums. Or, at least, that's what I started to do until he clamped down on my finger thus revealing my answer - its a tooth! You can't really see the tooth yet but the bumpy ridges are definitely finished poking through and are sharp, sharp, sharp! Rob reached in, "Ouch!" In true, stupid family fashion, Evie had to have a feel, too. [Finger reaching in], *Clamp!*, "Oh! He bit me!" Evie pulls her finger back giggling.
Today, during dinner (and after Max had a rather fussy day today), I decided to reach in and see if he was getting in any top teeth yet. Evie got all 4 teeth in within a 2-week timeframe and I was curious if he'd follow her pattern. I felt the top of his gums and felt a more pronounced tooth than what I felt on the bottom. WOW! Usually kids get them on the bottom first but he must have been working on the top tooth sooner. I let him eat a frozen banana chunk and gum some cold ice packs before pulling him into the living room. I looked again - what the???? I grabbed the camera. I pulled Max under the lamp. Is he getting in tooth ... #10?
