Naked Little Max

So Max was so completely coated in slime after today's banana rations that I could not even bear to carry him into the bedroom to remove his clothing and wipe him down. I nudified him in the living room, and the combination of sweet banana goo and public nakedness proved an elixer of joy that just had to be photographed. I know that he is going to disown me as his mother in about fifteen years for taking this, but it'll be totally worth it.

Max Eats Solid Food

So this event happened about two days ago. In the past few weeks, Chelsa and I have noticed Max has had more and more interest in solid food. Example: Max tried to eat my burger the other night, and almost succeeded in getting away with my Pelegrino. Whenever I am eating really anything, he gives me the big cute eyes that seem to say, "hey, that looks pretty good...got any for Max?". Anyway, Homeboy is ready for solid foods. This is a little video of his first non-breast-milk-based meal: smooth blended banana. I could barely stand to be in the room, it was just that gross. It's just one of the many milestones to fly by right now. More to come...

Our Little Alarm Clock

Back in his carefree youth, Max was a boy who enjoyed sleeping in. He would generally start stirring at around eight or eight thirty, grumble quietly to himself until someone tended to him, and then slowly display readiness to get up and face the day around nine. This coincided beautifully with his parents' schedules, as neither one of us is an early riser. We were, in fact, congratulating ourselves on the unique bond of laziness we all shared. Recently, however, Max has displayed unnatural tendencies to not only wake increasingly early, but to be ready to party immediately when he does. I have tried convincing him to nurse back to sleep, to snuggle back to sleep, anything and everything other than simply resigning myself to getting up. Max has countered with high-pitched singing, peeing the bed, and pulling on his dad's chest or armpit hairs. The other morning, I put him in his little bed to play for a while and tried to doze back to sleep. Through my stupor, I kept hearing this grunting noise, which I tried for a while to ignore. Finally, curiosity made me open my eyes, whereupon I beheld Max, freshly rolled over on his tummy, grinning at me. Look at the gleam in his eye as he learns that, once again, he is too cute to resist, no matter how early the hour.

Max has company

Max had a very busy weekend! We had a blessing ceremony for him on Saturday, and an army of friends and relations came to be with him. Here is Max getting to know his Grandpa Al (my dad from Canada). I think they like each other.


On Sunday, we finally got to meet Max's cousin Joseph, and Max got to spend time with the Tillmans. We all went for a walk to the duck pond by Ian's parents' house, and it was a nice break from the chaos of the week.


Max and his godfather share a deep love of shiny objects, and they are teaching Merritt (seen here with his mom Samantha in fetal form) to join in their appreciation.


Okay, Alyson, I'm very sorry that I a)took your picture and b) posted it on the internet, but you must admit that you are awfully cute!


Max and his cousin Joseph getting aquainted. Max seemed to enjoy Joseph in an eye-poking, head-grabbing sort of way. Joseph kept smiling at Max, which was extremely cute.

Play it again, Max

Well, Max is six months old now, and we figured it was high time we educate him in the arts. We expect him to be a true prodigy in music, literature, and sculpture by the time he starts school. He is already well versed in splatter painting with his own drool, and in singing in a high-pitched, scrabbly voice, so we do not think this an unrealistic goal.

Max got this swing for Christmas, but it needed batteries until about a week and a half ago. I included this picture because 1) it's really cute and 2)so Granny and Gramps, from whom the swing came, could see it in action. I know Max looks dubious here, but he does actually enjoy this contraption.

We are trying to teach Max that it is okay to nap by himself, and he seems to be agreeable, as long as he is put to bed in his mom and dad's bed. Edgar, who claimed this territory as his own long before Max entered the picture, sometimes feels a bit displaced. Generally, he is banned from the room if Max is sleeping, but he has gotten really bad about hiding under the bed and then appearing later, when our guard is down. I came in to check on Max and found, much to my surprise, that he had a nap buddy. They are even lying in the same position, for goodness sake! I let Edgar stay, and found things to do in the bedroom until Max got up. I felt too mean kicking him out when he looked so peaceful.

I know this is the second piano shot, but come on. Who could possibly resist these boys?

Teething and Hats

Max has begun the fine art of teething this month, and is chewing on any number of objects in order to get relief. His favorite things to gnaw/gum thoughtfully/moisten with baby drool include his own hands, various toys,and any part of his mom or dad that brushes past his mouth area.





Max is also becoming daily more mobile and alert. He is at a really charming phase where his brain has taught him that he is closer to the center of the action if he sits or stands up, but his body cannot yet do those things without assistance. He expresses his dissatisfaction with this discrepency by squawking loudly if placed in a lying down position to play. While we try to be there for him, and prop him up whenever possible, we have had to resort to artificial props (like the excersaucer, seen here in use).

When Max goes out on the town, he likes to be as unencumbered as possible (and hey, who can blame him?). When he goes out with his granny, however, she fears he will be too cold, and so we have to layer a bit more heavily than we might otherwise. I suspect that Max, like his mother, runs on the warm side, and he hates and fears hats of any kind. I sympathize, Max, but what can I do?


Okay, okay. I know I just put all the blame on Granny for hat-wearing, but this time it was me forcing the headgear on my helpless child. He is just too cute in this hat to resist a small amount of torture. (Of course, this hat was a present from Granny, so she isn't totally blameless.)






And yet another stuff on the head picture. Max is going to move to upper Yemen as soon as he is eighteen if we can't get our photographing embarassing moments thing worked out.

Max's New Trick

Max is learning a new trick this week . . . rolling from his back to his tummy. Here he is laying the groundwork . . .

commencing rolling . . .

he's got everything but the head and shoulders done, but this is where it gets tricky, folks. Is he going to make it?

Victory is Max's! He can now officially roll from tummy to back, and from back to tummy. Nothing left to do now but celebrate.

Ta-daaaa!

Too hot for the web!

If you have the time and energy, you should go back to our earlier (sometime in September or October) post of Max in his bathtub. Comparing the two pictures really lets you see how much he has changed. We used to be afraid we'd lose him down the drain of this tub, and now he barely fits into it! This picture had to be censored a little, because Max is growing all over, if you know what I mean.






Max and his mama post-bath. This towel has a pocket in it, like a kangaroo pouch, for putting wet babies into. Max no longer fits in the pocket, on account of the aforementioned growth.






I took this picture without the knowledge or consent of either subject, because its cuteness required documentation. Ian would like me to clarify, for those especially observant parties, that the clock reads 1:29 a.m. He wishes it known that he is not sleeping at 1:29 in the afternoon.


This is Max right after his four-month check-up on Tuesday. He looks peaceful, but he really gave us the business for the next 24 hours. He was feverish, and then apocalyptically crabby (apocalyptically can be a word if I want it to be) until he was really sure we understood that he did not care for the doctor in general and the shots in particular. The good news is that the doctor has confirmed what we have all long suspected -- Max is perfect. He is now 15 pounds, 3 ounces, and is twenty-six inches tall. Long. Whatever. He has almost tripled in weight since his birth, and is now in the 90th percentile for height and head size!

Max Takes Over the World

prepare to be overwhelmed with adorableness, everybody . . .
behold, the world's cutest being!
Max and Julia in an early courtship ritual.
This outfit is actually supposed to be for a twelve-month-old, but observe how our four-month-old son is busting out of it! What a burly man-baby he is!
Max and his granddad share a reflective moment (actually, Max is trying to see the television. He has become very interested in television recently, a development which disturbs his parents greatly, since they both have a TV addiction problem. We are trying not to watch it around him anymore, or to turn him away from the TV when it is on, but he is sly like a fox. His technique, seen here, is to overpower the adult holding him with the magnitude of his adorableness, and then sneak peeks at the television while the adult recovers. He is, predictably but disturbingly, smarter than any of us, and will inevitably conquer the world. We can only hope he is a benevolent ruler).

Just a few pics

Just a few quick pics of the last few days. This is Max's new skill...Reaching for stuff. That's right, Max can now reach for stuff upon ocation. He also makes lots of sounds...he is trying to talk. Won't be long now.

This is the Habanero Pizza I made as a special request for Chelsa's Mom last night. Those relations that like it mild...you know who you are...you might want to avoid this bad boy, featuring three sliced Habanero peppers, rated up to 350K on the scotville hot-ness scale. Jalapenos rate at like 10k. Thankfully, it rated tasty on the Mother in Law scale.

This is Mike and Sam with Max. If you look closely, you will notice he is holding a "type S" X-Box controller. I believe he is playing old school classic "Street Fighter II". Ah, the classics.

Anyway, just a quick round of pics for you people to look at. I will make more soon.

Max's Adorable Parts (Plus Breakfast)

Ian has been doing a lot more cooking lately, due to Max's constant breastfeeding and my constant need to be where the breasts are. He is becoming quite accomplished, and, with characteristic modesty, has taken to photographing his work. This piece is called "traditional diner breakfast", or "eggs cooked in a style that Chelsa would never, ever eat". (Ian's note...check out the cappuccino!)

Max is becoming really charming, and is getting more and more flirtatious. I was trying to get a picture of him in this t-shirt to send to my sister, who gave it to him, but the hamming it up for the camera was an unexpected surprise. Later, he can wear this t-shirt and eat the breakfast in the previous picture!

A woman I was talking to recently was telling me about this photography book that featured black and white pictures of baby hands, feet, ears, etc. I liked the idea, and I feel that Max's hands, feet and ears are cuter than anyone else's in the universe, so I thought I'd try some shots. These did not quite come out like the artsy, serious shots I was anticipating, largely because I was trying to hold Max's foot up and take the picture at the same time. You can, however, still get a sense of the cuteness of Max's extremities.

Pizza

More Max pictures soon, I promise. So with Max taking up lots of time these days, I have been doing lots of cooking. I just had to show off this piece of the pizza I made for Chelsa and myself tonight. Crust, sauce, all Ian. Oh yes, that is fresh basil on the top, thank you very much. And yes, it was tasty. More Max pics soon everybody. It's about midnight now so I suppose I should probably sleep.

Finally more Max Pics

Well, for those die hard magic number fans who have not completely given up on us yet, here is our new blog for the new year! Sorry about the long wait, but we were extremely busy preparing for, and then recovering from, Max's first Christmas.


Ian, while an avid Christmas tree enthusiast, is not a huge fan of decorating the tree, so I was very excited to have a partner this year. Max is kind of yawning and complaining simultaneously, but let's employ revisionist history and say that he was practicing Christmas carols.



Max is smiling and giggling frequently now, inspiring all who know him to make the strangest faces, noises, and gestures in an effort to get a grin. It is hard to capture a smile on film, because they tend to come and go, and to be accompanied by a lot of squirming, so this picture is as rare and valuable as a shot of bigfoot or the loch ness monster ( but way cuter).

My sister Dillen came all the way from New York to bask in Max's first yuletide experience. While she was here, we left Max with her and went to see King Kong with our friends the Lindsays. This was our first time leaving Max since we brought him home, and I found it highly traumatic. I struggled through bravely, and ended up enjoying the movie, although I may have shed a few anxious tears in the secret darkness of the theatre. We chose the Lindsays to share this outing because, having witnessed them leaving their kids with various relatives, we felt that we would not need to be embarrassed by any emotional outbursts.

Max is doing some intellectual expanding here, and is clearly soaking it in like the sponge of genius that he is.



We had to work hard to find a picture of Ian with Max that met with Ian's approval. This one doesn't really have a story attached to it, but it is fiercely cute.














This is Max the day after the final festivity concluded New Year's Day. I think the look pretty much says it all.







I know we have said this before, and we will probably have occasion to say it again, but we will honestly try to post on a more frequent basis in the future. We know that we are the only means that the world has to see Max pictures, and we take the responsibility seriously.

More Max Media

Max with his Mama and his Daddy

The better to see you with, my dear.

Max with Mama and Granny

Max with his Auntie Sarah

Max expresses his opinion of any activity that interferes with his feeding time.







We are all very excited this week by the much-anticipated arrival of Max's cousin, Joey Brooks. Joey was born on Saturday, December third, about a week after his due date. Although Max and Joey were due only four weeks apart, they each had their own ideas about timing, and are closer to three months apart. They are still close enough in age, however, to make travel for both sets of parents difficult, which means that Max and Joey have yet to meet. We can hardly wait to see our new nephew!
Max continues to be a delight to his parents, grandparents, and anyone whose life he happens to touch. I feel, as a totally objective observer, that he is among the smarter, kindlier, and more attractive people that the world will ever know. We are so happy that our family has grown by two such fantastic members!