But not as much as you, you see...

It is suggested that you toddler-proof your house as much as possible to keep from having to tell your child "No" too often. Sure, sure. We do that to an extent, but our phones aren't something we are good about keeping hidden. Max often finds our phones sitting around and quietly punches numbers into the unlock screen. It's when he is quiet that I know he is doing something he shouldn't be doing. He thinks it's a game when I catch him despite my stern tone. He's a tease like me. I kinda love it.

The Pool

Max enjoyed his first real pool experience last week. Our friends invited us over for an evening swim, pizza, and a movie. Although Max has seen both a pool and the ocean in Florida, it was too cold then for him to get in either of them. Being his first time in, I think he did alright. I mean... he whined the whole time and couldn't decide if he wanted to stay in or stay out. He just wasn't content. And then he fell and bonked his head on the concrete. It literally knocked some sense into him, because he cheered up significantly after that.

 

Max's Newest Doings

You love to have your own bowl of grapes to pull off the vine.

You love to run to Daddy when he opens his arms.  

You love to open the wooden chess board, set the pieces up randomly, then knock them all down.

You love to do calf-raises as part of your dance routine.

You love to lick your fingers when you have eaten something yummy.

You love to put your arms around Daddy's neck and take rides on his back around the house.

You love to pull the plastic slinky while Mommy holds it to see it shoot back to its original position.

You love "juice" - Reliv Innergize and water.

You love when Mommy walks the llama marionette around.  You give it kisses.

You love Mater's Tall Tales - dad-gum.

You love to hide in the closet while Mommy is getting ready and then jump out and surprise her.  You entice her to call you by saying "Ma..." so that she'll call back "Max."

You love seeing where we are driving now that you are facing forward.  

You love plugging in and unplugging the fans we have around the house.

You follow Mommy around when she vacuums.  When she is done you unplug the vacuum cleaner.

You love doing the surprise face - you become incredulous at everything.

You love chewing gum - a few times you have kept it in your mouth for hours.  Another time you combined it with your binky so we threw it away.  You will bring Mommy her purse when you want some.

You love saying "Um/Em" when you want something.  

You love throwing fits - you point, yell, fall to your bum, and then to your back if you don't get what you want.

You love to play with your nipples when your shirt is not on.

You love taking the A/C vent covers off and playing with them and magnets.

You do not love swimming.

You love to play the stink-face game with Mommy.  You make the face, say "Uh," then smile really big and laugh.

You love to put toilet paper in the toilet and flush it.  Mommy hasn't had to flush her own toilet in weeks.

New Words - "cuck" for truck, "calk" for chalk, ball, "eesh" for cheese, "shees" for shoes and juice (or something close to it), "dat" for that, "dis" for this, "I-dih" for I did it.  

You like mimicking Daddy when he takes one or two deep breaths.  

You like to have two sippy cups in your arms - one with juice and the other with milk.  You set them up on the couch and then play for a bit before returning to your beverages.  You take a sip of both.  Sometimes you put both of them in your red car and push it around.  

You like to throw all of your balls down the hall.  When Mommy tries to put them away you get them back out and throw them down the hall again.

You love to Skype with relatives.  Your dancing isn't as imaginative when they are watching, but you like to make them laugh and smile.

You love putting on your shoes because you know you are most likely going outside.  

When you go shopping with Mommy, you get grumpy when she puts you in the cart unless she gives you a treat.  You prefer it when she lets you run around the store.

You have upped the frequency of how much you say "ze ca-ca-cars."

You love getting your own diaper.  You get it out of the TV stand drawer and throw it at Daddy.

You love to look at and stack the DVD cases.  You really like the Home Alone case.

You love coloring with pens and pencils better than with crayons because they work better.

You love it when Daddy uses you as part of his work out.  

You love it when Daddy throws you in the air repeatedly and rolls around.  You have become a pretty good roller.  

You've been itching your dry scalp a lot.  It started after you got a heat rash.

You like pushing the same sound buttons on your toys repeatedly.

You like to shut the car door after you get out.

You clap when songs are over - even if it is during a musical number in Church. 

You like spitting out sips of your shake, juice, or milk.  On the carpet.

You love to pull up your shirt and show your belly when someone asks you "Where is your belly?"

You love to touch pointer-fingers lately as well (E.T. style).  Uncle Steve taught you.

You love to draw circles on paper or on your eraseable board.  

You now watch Sesame Street and Chuck the Truck.  

Love: Dad.

Mr. Cool

no drugs this time, please... i'm already tired.

It's after 9:30 am, and Max is still sleeping. I thought about going up to check if he is breathing, but instead I'm blogging about him still sleeping. Max has been teething for what seems like a full week now. They tell you to count sheep to fall asleep, but when you don't get sleep, it's hard to count anything. So I don't know how long it has been since I've had a good nights rest. I'm headed into that realm of sleepless nights that begins my experience with a new baby. It's starting earlier this time around because of Max, but I've learned to manage... for now. We'll see how it goes when I can no longer nap with Max during the day because there is another baby attached to me. Nate asked me if I remembered a particular detail from Max's birth that I had completely forgotten about. So much of that experience and the days that followed seem like a dream partly due to drugs and partly to lack of sleep.

I had an appointment last week. I met with a doctor to consult about trying for a VBAC (or TOLAC). I had previously met with midwives as I had with my first pregnancy. I guess I was still hopeful that they would deliver on their supposed reputations of advocating natural and hands-free births. Maybe they would have this time, but I'm sticking to this doctor now. Why? Because I've run the gauntlet of intervention, and the interventions saved me from... not the labor itself, but the midwife. When I told this doctor that Max's head was engaged, that my husband could see Max's hair, he asked, "Did they try forceps? Suction?" "Nope! It wasn't even mentioned. They just rushed me off to a c-section." And for the first time, I received a reply that validated my frustrations. He said, "That's strange. Was the doctor new? He must not have been comfortable with forceps or something. It sounds like you should have been able to have that baby." YES! Yes. I'm assuming the midwives with whom I had shared the details of my first labor and delivery didn't want to bash their colleagues. I would get blank stares and nodding heads. So this doctor gets my vote. He makes sense. He is engaging and obviously educated and experienced. He spent time looking over my ultrasound with me when I asked about my uterine scar. It's not enough for me to hear "everything will be fine! You are young and healthy!" Lovely sentiments, but I want facts now. I want numbers and research. I'm now a statistic with experience of my own, and I want a better experience this time around.

Rawr... Someone is grumpy this morning. As you now know, I didn't get much sleep last night. Max? Oh, he's still sleeping. And yes, Nate checked. He is breathing.

as free as the wind blows

Liz, Steve, and the kids were in town last weekend. Due to bad directions, they ended up a few blocks away from the park we were supposed to meet at only to find a new, better park. Serendipitous! Max and I spent awhile at the new park yesterday. He could run free and explore without the threat of busy roads. He particularly enjoyed the bridge and sand pile. He loves throwing and dropping things to see how they land. He ended up with sand all over his back from his wind-up. He also went all Peter Pan for a few minutes as he played with his shadow. He ran circles on the sidewalk to watch his shadow do the same. He would come sit down on my lap here and there to rest his chubby legs. It was a nice time, nicer than if there had been other kids around. I'm still not a fan of random park kids. It's more the dynamic with the mothers. There is this unspoken rule that you can't let your kids figure things out for themselves; you have to intervene if your kid is somehow disturbing another kid or vice versa. Anyway, I let Max run free and explore... because there weren't any busy streets or hovering moms.