Maxwell - 10 Months

Another month already?!? Yikes! Somebody slow down the clock! At 10 months Max

• loves to clap his hands. It is so cute!
  
• He also nods his head consisting of his chin quickly coming to his chest once. He knows it means 'yes' and will do it when we say yes to him.
• He says 'uh uh' as he very seriously shakes his head from side to side. He knows it means 'no' or something negative and will do it when we say no, or not or anything that has a negative sound to it. He also does it when he is doing something I've said 'uh uh' to him and moved him away from, such as playing on the fireplace, playing with the space heater in McKay's room, or putting something in his mouth that doesn't taste good. He picks up on the negative tone in our voices and immediately starts to shake his head and say 'uh uh'. Amazing.
• Max also signs 'more' sometimes. He always does it when McKay encourages him.
  
• Max wants to eat everything we eat and to feed himself, especially when he sees us doing it. I make sure I feed Max his lunch at the park before McKay and I eat ours or he won't eat because he wants to eat like we are.
  
• He has 8 teeth and they are sharp which makes swiping his mouth to get something he shouldn't have eaten rather painful. He may have more coming in because he is drooling all over the place and always has a finger or two in his mouth but I haven't been too determined to check it out due to the sudden clamping down of his sharp teeth whenever I insert my finger into his mouth. Did I mention they are sharp? :)
  
• Very often I am stopped at church or at the grocery store or wherever we are and told that my baby should be on a commercial because he is so cute. We were told that with McKay a lot too and still have people say both boys should be on TV.
  
• No matter how much Max protests that he is done eating, he no sooner hits the floor than he is off to pick up and eat the 'leftovers' he dropped over the side of his chair or left on his chair. It is also a way for him to let me know he is ready for the next meal when he heads to his chair to see what he can find.
• Max is very persistent. When something has caught his eye he won't stop until he has checked it out. I thought babies this age were supposed to be easily distracted??! Seriously though, I can distract him quite often but I get the feeling it won't last long!
• The strings on our pants or sweater are the first things Max notices when he sees us and as quickly as possible, into his mouth they go!
• Max gets giddy when the dishwasher door is open. He LOVES to 'help'.
• He is so close to walking, it could be any day now. He stands alone quite frequently so he can use both hands, even if it is just to clap them!
• Max takes his socks off and puts them directly in his mouth. Our tile floors are so cold I try to keep them on him which can be quite a task some days!
• He will wave his arm vigorously and say 'uh uh' to swat away the spoon when he is either done eating or just ready for a change. He also does it when we are trying to dress him, which can be a real chore sometimes, especially for his shirt.
• Max knocks on the door when he wants to come in. When McKay is in time-out is is more of a punishment for Max because he can't get in to play with McKay. So he sits outside knocking on the door and calling 'ahh!'
• Max also calls 'ahhh! Aaaahhh!' when he is ready to get up from his nap.
• He loves to play in our ceiling-to-floor curtains so I frequently have to tie them up out of reach.
• Max still gets so so excited to go through doors, especially outside. He looks like he will jump out of his skin. Makes us laugh every time.

Max is truly a delight. Jordan McKay & I have decided we can't remember life before he joined our family!

He loves to eat and looks up to where the cheerios box is on top of the fridge when we ask if he wants them. Of course he always does!

If Max's mouth isn't open WIDE he is either full or doesn't particularly like what he is eating because he is getting full. Sometimes it is so wide his nose crinkles.

He was standing up alone clapping his hands so I quickly grabbed the camera. Here he is on his way to the floor to come see me.

A ha! I knew I dropped a few cheerios for later!

Looking for more snacks...

His shirt has a monkey on it and says 'Bananas about Mommy' Jordan bought it for him. :)

McKay is getting pretty good at making sure he hangs things out of Max's reach but that doesn't stop him from trying!

Max (still) LOVES to play on McKay's bed or the couch or anything soft. In the next few pictures I tried to capture their fun.

Happy Happy boy!

Goin' for a run with Daddy

He turned this stool over and was having so much fun playing with it! I like this way of playing with it opposed to his usual pushing it across the tile floor=l.o.u.d.

If there is something to climb on, Max will. He loves to look out the window.

Where's Max?

Peek-a-boo!

Where's Max?

Peek-a-boo!
Anything will work for this game!
He assumes anytime anyone has anything covering their eyes, they must be playing hide and seek. This includes people sleeping in the pews behind us at church.

Another thing Max gets giddy about is taking a bath. so.much.fun!

I was trying to get video of him clapping his hands but he only does it for a second at the beginning. The saw you hear in the background is Jordan working on building a bed for McKay that will be part of bunk beds for the boys.

Night Work

Jordan officially starts night work this week. If I am sleeping at night and Jordan is sleeping during the day, when will my bed be made??

Artist

This talented artist

loves to paint

(his bedroom doors)
and has a flare for decorating!

the front door

my bedroom door

The back of the bathroom door and the hall closet also got a picture carefully hung on them. It has been interesting to watch his creativity evolve the more he paints... which is nearly every day!

It Smells Like

spring in my house thanks to these beautiful blossoms!

Happy Birthday!

My birthday day was pretty quiet and 'normal' but when Jordan got home, that changed. My boys spoiled me! Jordan is very good at paying attention to things I could use or would enjoy and that is exactly what I got. Lucky lucky me!

We love Perudo. McKay especially loves 'the dice game' and was excited when he discovered that that is what he had given me. :)

McKay offered to open my presents and give them to me. He was so excited for my birthday to come. When he came in my room in the morning I asked him if he knew what day it was. He thought for a second and then got a little smile and said 'your burfday! yay!'

We got a babysitter (!!!! - a 17 yr old from our Sunday school class) and Jordan and I went to Mimi's Cafe for dinner and then found some cute matching shirts for the boys on sale at Old Navy. It was so nice to get out kid-less! On Saturday (my birthday was on Friday) we had Jordan's brother Todd and Lisa and their daughter Karlie over for dinner and games. I had a delicious chocolate 4-layer dessert birthday cake that was gone way too soon! It is nice to be close enough to family to get together once in a while (they are about 1 hour away) and we got to break in Perudo too!

I got a laminator with the sheets that go with it, cutting boards (yay!), a cookie scooper, Perudo, and baby food freezing trays from my boys, earrings and photo album from Grandma & Grandpa Cardon plus the treasured card on my birthday (I don't know how she does it but it is always right.on my birthday). My mom and dad gave me a timer for my bed warmer (love it!) and wheat.

Jordan's birthday was on a Tuesday so we did most of our celebrating on the Sunday before since he usually gets home so close to bedtime for the boys. He ended up getting off work a little early on his birthday so we went to Texas Roadhouse Grill for dinner and I took the evening off of work.

He enjoyed his birthday cake last year so much that he requested the same one this year. It is a yellow cake mix, crushed pineapple, cherry pie filling, and butter. Y.U.M. This year we waited until it had cooled a little more before we put the candles in. Last year we enjoyed wax with our cake...

Have I mentioned that Max loves to climb? He never misses an opportunity!

Jordan got a new scripture case, a brad nailer, running socks, an Amazon music gift card, and toffee peanuts. My parents gave him a Stanley thermos and he got a nice card from Grandma & Grandpa Cardon.

Happy Birthday Jordan!

Brothers

These two are such good buddies and I hope it never changes.

I love that they love to play together! Hearing them together brings me joy!

They were matching for church and I wanted to get their picture but it wasn't McKay's idea so this is the best I could get.

I'll take it!

They love to roll around together on soft things like McKay's bed, or on a pillow on the floor. Must be a boy thing...

Making Memories

McKay LOVES family home evening. This past week he asked nearly every day if we could have family home evening. We try to play a game each time we have it and the last two times we have played hide and seek. McKay, Max and I will play during the day so having Daddy play with us adds a fun new dimension to the game. It has been fun coming up with hiding places, especially spots where Max won't give us away too soon. Other spots are so funny we all laugh and laugh together... the kind of memories I love to make.

Some of the things making us laugh:

McKay hiding behind the curtains... with his feet hanging out waving back and forth.

McKay running to the front door for his turn to count and not stopping in time so his head bounces off of the door. And it doesn't phase him one bit. The first time he did it Jordan burst out laughing and asked if he was okay. McKay started laughing hysterically and as he turned back around to count by the door, his head bounced off the wall. Too funny.

Jordan sitting on the floor in Max's room with a blanket over him. I saw him and was laughing so hard I nearly dropped Max. He was laughing so hard he couldn't hardly breath since he was doubled over (and because he had passed gas and couldn't breath, praying I would find him quickly). I am laughing now as I remember...

Me hiding on the floor in Max's room (his room is very dark...) half hidden by the shadows and a blanket and fooling BOTH McKay and Jordan.

Jordan sort of hiding behind and under Max's crib. He didn't have much time so as I said 20 I heard a thump. That was his body hitting the wall, and pulling the crib back over him.

I was the one looking and McKay came out of my bathroom holding his underwear out to me. I was worried they were wet. No, just inside out. He had been hiding in my shower and needed to go potty. After he was finished he said he had needed to go everywhere he had been hiding (imagine his arm quickly pointing to all the places he had hidden) and couldn't wait any more. 'You can find me in a minute, after I wash my hands.'

Jordan hiding on the floor in Max's room behind my rocking chair. McKay saw him and asked 'Can you get out?' Jordan did looked pretty tight.

Hmmm... I wonder where McKay is hiding?!

Things To Remember

2-28-11
McKay really likes the 'MeMs' in trail mix.

McKay was eating his Omega 3 little critter gummy vitamins and they happened to both be star fish. He said 'Mommy, the star is going potty in my mouth. Now the other star is going potty in my mouth.'

'You CAN call me crazy because I DO have crazy in my name...'

Max was eating something off the floor and McKay exclaimed 'this floor needs to be swept today' (wonder where he's heard that before...). I agreed with him. McKay got the broom from the garage and proceeded to sweep the floor. 'There you go Max'. Then he went the extra mile and pulled out the swiffer and did the whole house. I hope it never changes!


McKay decided he wanted to talk on the web cam to Nanna and Papa so he turned on my computer, clicked my name to log me in, minimized fire fox, double clicked on Skype, double clicked on Papa's picture, and clicked on video call. Nanna Anna answered and he was talking 'all by himself''. He is 3 1/2!!!

2-17-11
McKay knows right where to double click on my desktop so he can see 'whose online'. (skype)

2-16-11
When McKay needs to do something fast he pushes a 'button' on his shirt to 'turn on Buzz Lightyear' and then he can go really fast! "Buzz Lightyear to the rescue & Beyond!" (have I mentioned we don't own Toy Story?? *update: we found TS3 on sale for $9 at Target and decided it was time to get it.)

Jordan was trying to help McKay with bathroom etiquette and asked him if he had wiped since there was not any toilet paper in the toilet. McKay said he had so Jordan asked where he put the toilet paper. McKay replied that he put it back on the toilet paper. He MEANT that he put the roll back on the holder but we still had a hard time keeping a straight face.

2-14-11
McKay likes to get a pillow from the couch to lay on the floor... just like he saw Papa do many times in Arizona. NOTHING goes unnoticed with this boy (yikes!)

2-12-11
I was reading the comics my Grandma sent me with my birthday card and chuckled at one of them. McKay asked what was funny so I told him the comic was funny. He said 'oh' and proceeded to look at each one and chuckle like he had seen me do.

2-11-11
If you call McKay ANYTHING (good boy, helper, smart etc) he will correct you with, 'No! my name is Silly Buzz Lightyear McKay Cars Moser'. You have to say them in the right order too. He was Crazy until Papa McCleve called him Silly so much when we were visiting them that shortly after we returned home, he abandoned crazy (No Mommy, I am not Crazy anymore. Now I am silly) and adopted silly. I am still Crazy though. :)

"I'll open your presents and give them to you. Okay Mommy?"

2-8-11
McKay used a toy bin as 'Nanna Papas house' and had all his little people animals drive to their house on the firetruck to visit them. They weren't there though because Nanna had to tell Papa something in the guest house. David....
He had it all worked out.

1-28-11
"My favorite thing is making a snowman with David & Nanna" (McKay likes to talk about our favorite things when I am feeding Max, or just any time he wants to 'talk'. David & Nanna built a snowman with him when he was staying in AZ while Jordan & I were gone. He'll never forget it!)

1-23-11
'Chantelle Silly Moser'

1-20-11
After watching Nanna give piano lessons, McKay learned to start on one end of the keyboard and say the ABC's A-G then start over till he got to the end of the keyboard. Then He'd find all the 'M's (Nanna has her students find all the A's on the keyboard, etc). The first time he saw the students do A-G he kept trying to correct them since they weren't doing H-Z. :)

1-14-11
"Cookies are good for your body."

1-10-11
'I missed you Mommy' said to me casually the day after I got back from being away from him for a week on a cruise. It was sweet.

McKay typing an e-mail message.

McKay wanted me to take a picture of the tower he built.

Take my picture too Mommy!

McKay love practicing cutting with his scissors. He usually does it for over an hour and is very careful to make sure he picks up the paper off the floor before Max wakes up.

Another tower McKay built. We talked about having a strong foundation so he would have more success with his tower not falling over.

McKay is always anxious to help, especially when he needs to use his drill too. Here they are putting the crib together for Max.

Maxwell - 9 Months

At 9 months:

• Max Loves to play peek-a-boo. He'll get under the table when we are eating and poke his head out at me and grin. He also likes to hide under the towel after his bath and then take it off with a grin and 'ah!'
  
• He loves to play on McKay's bed and get off hands first. He got nervous about getting off on his own after he got a little carried away rolling & falling on the bed and fell off onto the floor a few times, and now either calls for help or gets off very carefully. He'll also sit with his head and back against the wall and hit his head on the wall.
  
• He is getting to where he is very adamant about expressing his opinion (shrieking) until you listen to him.
• Max must be part of the meal when we are eating and usually eats cheerios or bananas while we have dinner. He'll squawk until we hear him and put him in his chair with the rest of us.
• He likes to throw balls or other toys overhand and chase them to throw them again.
• Max loves to play with McKay (and vice versa). McKay doesn't like it when Max 'messes up' what he is playing with and Max quickly looses interest when McKay moves on.
• Max is a HUGE distraction at church. He says 'HA!' to everyone around us. One Sunday he made everyone around us giggle/chuckle with his spitting sounds. He is impossible to ignore, which makes teaching the 16-17 yr olds Sunday school a little interesting sometimes!
• He knows what he wants and he goes for it! It is obvious by the intent look on his face. One day Max could hear McKay & Jordan outside (the sliding glass door in the kitchen was open) and he didn't want to be 'left out' so he crawled over to the garage door (the door they went out through) and got my attention and looked at me asking to go out too. He is not about to be left out of anything!
• Max likes to be with us but will go into the other room to play if we aren't doing anything exciting.
• Max will lay flat on the floor like a snake and slide back and forth on his tummy on the tile.
• He pushes anything that will move across the room - the laundry basket, stool, chairs, toys, etc.
• He greets Daddy with hugs, kisses & cuddles after work. He is determined to get his time with Daddy.
• Max lays his head on the side of his chair and says 'ah' in his high chair.
• Max is fascinated with ears and when he sees Jordan or McKay's he has to touch! (and pinch too!)
• Max is generally a light sleeper.
• Max fiddles with my hair when I am holding him and/or laying him down for sleep.
• He mimics sounds McKay makes.
• Max giggles with excitement and anticipation. Things like reading the 'ABC & 123' book and going out to the garage are preceded by cute little giggles.
• When Max hears music, whether it is us singing, music playing, or a toy with music, Max starts dancing.
• Max has started getting into the cupboards and has found that my pan lids make a lot of noise when he drags them across the tile floor.
• He loves his cheerios and can position them just right to take a bite out of them with his front teeth.
• Max is really starting to enjoy reading books, as long as it is not just before nap time when he is too tired!

This such a fun age and we are really enjoying our sweet Maxwell.

Apparently he was done taking pictures...

He was holding the phone up to his ear just before I snapped the picture. Smarty pants!

The first time I saw him do this, it scared me. He is strong though and never fell getting off unless he had help (ahem). He fell off twice one morning when he was playing too close to the edge and now he is more cautious.

'Ahhh!' so sweet.

This boy loves to climb and explore. Y.I.K.E.S!

More 'ahhhs' playing on the bed with his brother.

Max loves to look outside.

Every inch of the house must be explored...