Maxwell - 12 Months

My baby is now a toddler! In the last 5-6 weeks he has grown up so much I can't really say he is a baby anymore. Check out his skills at 12 months:

• Maxwell is loving being able to communicate by using signs. His vocabulary seems to grow by the day and by his needs. His current signing vocabulary includes: more, want, eat, drink, up, book, help, and please. He even strings 2-3 signs together and will say 'want more please'.
  
• Maxwell has starting saying words. Yes, my 12 month old is talking. I couldn't believe what I was hearing at first. His vocabulary includes, but is not limited to: 'a done (all done), hello, hin (hi - not sure why he puts an 'n' at the end but it is cute!), hat, up, bye bye, ites (lights), Okay, hep (help), bite, and ba (both ball and book). When he says 'hi' when he is greeting you after a nap or when you come into the room he does it in a sing-songy way. At his 12 month appointment, the doctor was AMAZED at his skills both in communication and motor skills. She said 'I wish I had a camera for this. I've never seen it before! Show me more!' As she was checking out his tummy he kept saying 'a done'. He'll say he is all done when he wakes up for naps or in the morning, when he is done eating etc and he means it! Really, Max will try to repeat a lot of what we say and understands so much of what is going on. Absolutely amazing!
• Max is still in diapers but I have been sitting him on the potty a few times a day. He loves this routine and asks for a book right when he sits down. We'll read a few and then he'll say he is done when he gets uncomfortable and tired of sitting. He has gone both types a few times. YAY!! I am hopeful training will be a breeze (I REALLY hope I am not jinxing myself by saying that!)
• Maxwell likes to repeat animals sounds. He moos like a cow, hisses like a snake, roars like a lion, and neighs like a horse. He knows where his nose is and likes to point to his and our noses. He knows where his toes are and whenever he sees toes (no matter whose they are...) he 'ttatatata' tickle tickle tickle's them. He also likes to pretend his is snoring 'haaasshshshs'
  
• He loves the dishwasher and any toys in his hands will go flying when he sees it is open and comes to 'help'. He also likes to close the dishwasher door and other doors/lids. I've had the washer lid shut on my hand as well as the microwave door shut on me as I am trying to get things in or out.
• Max prefers to drink from the straw sippy cup. He has only used the other kind a handful of times.
• Maxwell is a tease! For example, he'll get McKay's shoes and bring them to him. He'll hold them out to McKay and once he starts to reach for them, Max will turn and run away laughing, only to return and repeat.
• Max brings me books to read to him and toys to help him play with (things that are hard to turn or to get to make a sound).
• Max started to refuse his pacifier just after he turned 11 months. He's only ever used one for soothing at nap time or bedtime at our insistence. He has made it very clear he is DONE with the pacifier. He is also toying with getting rid of his morning nap. I've had full weeks where he has only taken a nap in the afternoon and then I'll have a few days where he'll take a morning nap again. At 12 months?!? (McKay dropped his morning nap at 15 months.)
• Max is very affectionate and free with his cuddle hugs and kisses. His hugs are usually accompanied by an 'ahhh'. So sweet. He loves it when McKay gives him hugs and kisses , including nosey kisses and 'i love you ' whispers before nap time. They they wave and say 'bye bye'.
  
• Max LOVES to take a bath and splash all over. When it is time to be done he says 'all done' and 'bye bye' as he waves bye bye to the tub and McKay.
  
• Max can walk and kick a ball or toys across the room, step, kick, step kick. He is very coordinated.
• Maxwell knows that light switches turn on the lights and loves to point to the lights wherever we go.
• Max is fascinated with McKay's belly button and whenever he sees it he takes the opportunity to examine and poke it, which always brings giggles from McKay.
• Making dinner can be quite the process because Max begs the e.n.t.i.r.e time! Eat! want! more! please! He is impossible to ignore too. I've tried. He won't sit and watch a Baby Einstein either while I make dinner. Anytime anyone is eating Max wants some. Just plan on it. He eats well and (it feels like) all the time so I'm not too concerned that he was 28 inches tall and 18 lbs 2 oz at his 12 mo check up, right at the bottom of the (darn) growth chart. Even when he acts like he can't eat another bite and he yanks off his bib because he is 'a done', once he is down from his chair I STILL can't eat in peace because he comes and begs for more bites.
• Max repeats things McKay laughs at even though he doesn't have a clue why it is funny. I love love love it when my boys laugh together!
  

I love his curls. By the end of the day, his hair is curly all over.

Laughing with McKay.

Running just.like.his.brother.

Maxwell loves the park and gets so excited to go down the slide. The park is way more exciting (for Max) now he can walk!

He put McKay's apron on his head and walked around the house saying 'hat!'

We do most of our shopping at Henry's Farmer's Market and McKay always asks for a free balloon. These boys love balloons!

Begging for food.

Maxwell loves to empty my tupperware cupboard and my zip-lock bag drawer. Sigh. If I didn't love it though I guess I would put locks on the cupboard...

He walks all over drinking his water. Both boys are good drinkers, especially on hot days.

This was when I discovered he knew how to and likes drinking from the straw cup. McKay reads books during quiet time and Max found his water next to the bed.

HAT!

Max likes to play with the magnetic letters and will stretch up on his tippy toes to reach letters McKay has put up higher because he has spelled a word or something.

Easter was fun. We had grass everywhere!

Maxwell loves to look out the window.

This video of the boys laughing was taken May 10, 2011. I don't think they have any idea what they are laughing at!

Happy Mothers Day!

McKay made these flowers for me out of cookies & gumdrops in primary today. He said 'Happy Mothers Day Mommy. I hope you will share with me." Of course buddy!

The primary sang a couple of songs today in sacrament meeting for the first time since McKay has been in primary. He went up and was the youngest one by at least 4 years (not sure what happened to the others). He was so sweet in the front of the small group of kids that several members of the ward came up afterward and told him he did a good job and they loved seeing him. Our Bishop and one of the councilors mentioned how impressed they were both to McKay and to me. He said he 'knew the songs but not really good so I just hummed.' :)

My boys bring me so much joy, I love being a mommy!

I am in the introduction phase of potty training with Maxwell meaning I am trying to incorporate sitting on the potty into his routine. He likes it except when it is just before bath time. Then his little body can't get to the tub fast enough he is so excited! This is how Jordan found him this afternoon after church. Silly boy!

Maxwell - 11 Months

I can't believe it has almost been a year since Max joined our family. What a joy it has been!

(click to see the big picture)

These days, Max is:

• Max is WALKING! He took off on his own on the 17th and loves to practice; he rarely crawls. He'd been practicing a little here and there, walking between chairs and toys etc but anytime we'd try to get him to walk between us, he'd get too silly and didn't do it for long. We were teaching Sunday school (16-17 yr olds) and he took off across the room, totally interrupting the lesson. :)
• Max loves to drive cars around and play with the little people farm animals. He likes to say 'maaoooo' like the cow.
• Peek-a-boo is still a favorite game and can be quite the distraction to those around us at church.
  
• Max loves to comb his hair after his bath (he actually even gets some hair with the comb sometimes) and says 'ho' when he holds the phone up to his ear. If someone says 'hello' to him, he uses his hand as phone and says 'ho'.
• He loves to clap his hands and recently started signing 'more' and 'want' and waving 'bye'bye' accompanied by a 'ba, ba'.
  
• Max loves to be silly especially when encouraged by giggles from his brother. These two love to laugh together and can do so pretty much on demand.
  
• When Max wakes up he says 'Aaahhh' and I know I'd better get in there or he'll just get louder and more insistent. He also throws his pacifier across the room when he is done sleeping. I know I have to go settle him back down when he hasn't slept yet and I hear the pacifier hit the floor.
• Max's tone when he says 'ahhh' makes it obvious what he is saying. "what?"
  
• He loves to look out the windows and knock on them. He also knocks on the door when he wants in or out.
• Maxwell likes to point and frequently mimics others when they point and even copies their tone of voice with his 'aahhs'
  
• Max loves to go and gets so excited (insert Max's excited sound) when we go through any door, particularly the garage door. He starts getting excited when he sees me getting our things together, especially the keys.
  
• He is such a tease! He crawls in the opposite direction as fast as he can when we try to stop him from eating something he's found somewhere (nothing gets past Max) and sometimes it turns into a game of chase around the couch. I LOVE those giggles. So pure. He even LOOKS at us as he goes to put something in his mouth to see if we will stop him. Sometimes he hands it to me and other times he doesn't even put it in his mouth as he starts off in the opposite direction.
• He thinks it is the funniest thing e.v.e.r. to take off his socks. He looks at me with a huge grin as he pulls it off. Of course I playfully scold him so this game may never end...
• Max likes to 'give five' and will often turn our hands so he can give us five.
• Maxwell likes to hand me things. After I take it from him and say 'thank-you' he holds out his hand and signs 'want' for me to give it back to him after which he gives it back to me. He made this fun game up all by himself.
• Max recognizes Nutella and cheese and yogurt, among other things, and won't stop asking for some until we deliver.

I love that these brothers play so well together!

Max loves to help with the laundry by handing me things to fold. Oh so helpful!

Pan lid on the tile floor = loud noise. Max loves it. That is one thing Jordan can't sleep through...

Max loves wearing McKay's hat. This is the only hat I've seen him try to put on by himself and keep it on.

Playing hide and seek. I think they found me...

Max loves to climb on the lion so McKay can give him a ride. What a nice brother!

McKay loves that Max is finally old enough to play with. When Max was a baby, McKay kept asking when he could play with Max.

He can hear Daddy & McKay outside and is knocking on the door and calling to them.

In this video Max shows his silly eating skills and signs 'more'.

Laundry

Laundry Helpers

This was too cute not to post.

(Click on the link to view the video. It was too big for blogger.)

San Diego Zoo

Monday we decided to celebrate the end of tax season by going to the zoo. We bought passes in February and haven't been able to go yet. The only day Jordan isn't (usually) sleeping during the day is Sunday, unless he happens to get Friday night off, which has happened once. So it is looking like while Jordan is working nights the first half of Monday will be our time to go play. We just have to make sure we are home in time for Max and Jordan to get their naps!

The zoo is incredible! It was like we went to another world. It wasn't as warm as we would have liked but we were just happy to be out! Every time I ask McKay what his favorite animal was, he tells me something different so I'll stick with his first answer which was this peacock. He liked showing off his feathers and did it for us a couple of times. He kept moving around though so it was hard to get a picture. I'm sure he just wanted to give everyone a chance to see his beautiful feathers. :)

McKay said he wants to go back to the zoo every day. He liked the pigs in the petting zoo (it didn't break my heart that he didn't want to touch them or the goats or the sheep...) and the Zebra as well as the peacock. "Three favorites."

Jordan's favorite was the rattlesnake we watched eat a mouse from start to finish. Sorry, no pictures. Even if it HAD worked through the glass, we don't need a picture. I am sure Jordan, McKay and I will never forget it!

My favorite was this magnificent black panther. He was beautiful! It was hard to get his picture because he was pacing. He reminded me of Bagheera from Jungle Book. I also really liked the hummingbirds. And the koalas.

Max enjoyed seeing the zoo from Daddy's shoulders and then FINALLY gave in and took a nap for a while. Someday he'll enjoy the animals at the zoo too!

Article of Faith #3

Last Sunday McKay was asked to give the Third Article of Faith in Primary today. His initial response was 'No thanks'. I told him I would help him so he sort of nodded 'okay'. Just before reading scriptures almost every night this week we practiced saying the third article of faith, me telling him what to say. We practiced me whispering and him talking loud, pretending Daddy and Max were the whole primary, etc. He said it probably 2-3 times each night. By Friday night, he started saying the next part before I told him what to say. And now, one week later, he has article of Faith #3 memorized. He will be 4 three months from today.


My favorite part is his grin when he finishes it.

When we got to primary they asked him to sit in the front of the primary with the others who had the prayer, scripture and talk. (The scripture and talk were supposed to be given by McKay's two classmates in Sunbeams but they were too scared.) McKay didn't want to sit on the big chairs; he wanted to sit on his small chair that 'fits me just right'. So I sat where he was supposed to sit and then went with him up to the front when it was time for his part. I could see he was a bit nervous. I lifted him up to stand on the stool and pulled the microphone down as far as it would go but he still wasn't tall enough so I lifted him up on my knee. I couldn't have been more proud as his sweet voice said it perfectly, with no hesitation at all!

Way to go McKay!

Next I think we'll do the first article of faith. :)

Legoland

We found a deal to get tickets for two visits to Legoland for a fraction of the cost so we decided to take advantage of it. McKay absolutely loved it. We haven’t done many day trips since Max was born in May so it didn’t break my heart that the park hours were 10-5.

Our first visit was in December so the park was all decorated for Christmas. This picture cracks me up. McKay is working on getting his thumbs up like Daddy.

This slide was FAST!

We enjoyed watching the lego-Marching band as well as the other 'action' lego displays.

(Click to enlarge)

McKay DID NOT want to be in that lions mouth! The Lego Santa is the only Santa's lap McKay got to sit on this year. Our ward didn't end up having a Christmas party.

We traveled the world!!

3D show!

Daddy & his boys on a boat ride around the world.

My boys with the Lego Christmas tree & presents. It is really amazing what they can build with Legos!

The rides aren't too exciting for us but McKay loves it!

They have 'driving school' for the kids divided up by their age, preschooler & older. Jordan gave McKay a quick explanation about pushing on the 'gas' and steering and he was on his own. One of the workers was by him almost the entire time getting him back on track when he crashed etc. When he was done, I told him he did a good job. He shook his head and said 'but I wasn't really good at it though'. No he wasn't. We decided that would be our first stop when we returned in March.

Our second visit was in March. The extra couple of months helped Maxwell (and us)enjoy it more.

Maxwell's first ride. TRAIN!

McKay did MUCH better this time!

Notice no workers around him this time!!

Give Max a snack and he'll be happy!

McKay and I went on this slide a few times just before we left. fast!

Tired but very happy boy.