Max Kisses Gauss

As I've mentioned in previous posts, Max is sometimes a little too interested in Gauss! Yesterday he held Gauss' Nylabone for him while he chewed on it. If I'd had gone for the camera Gauss would've gotten up. I did, however, get a video of Gauss giving Max a kiss : )



http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=999291212100156947/l=388541540/g=124666915/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Max's First Memorial Day Weekend

What a memorable Memorial Day for Max! He visited the National Zoo in DC, played with his cousins and splashed around in his pool. http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=786271211889349105/l=388425925/g=124666915/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Big-Boy Shoes

Someone's Grandma Marlene bought them Big-Boy Shoes!! Click for pictures: http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=430221211453375458/l=388275085/g=124666915/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB
Max is doing so many things and awes me every single day. He will now slap Mommy five and hug his piggie. I sooo wish that I could be him for five minutes. Thanks for checking in on us!
~ Robyn

Max was visited by his Savta (Hebrew for Grandma) last week and he had so much fun. Savta and Max had a marching band and spent a lot of time learning to play nicely with Gauss. Poor Gauss, his days of peace and quiet are over. Check out our latest snapshots: http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=571191211231920542/l=385853939/g=124666915/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Max is getting ready for his first birthday by wearing his Korean Tolbok http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=750181211148763649/l=381310566/g=124666915/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB .
He's walking, walking, walking and teething, too! Lots of fun for Max. Lately he's been calling "Mama" a lot which makes me smile.

Mother's Day

My first Mother's Day was lovely. Max and David woke me with chocolate chip pancakes, smiles and giggles. I taught my two morning yoga classes and then hosted family and friends for a brunch.

This was the first Mother's Day without my Grandma Sophie and her physical absence did weigh on my heart but I was able to include her in our celebration at least symbolically by using her dessert bowls for the hummus! Her generation probably never even ate hummus!

On Saturday Max's friend from music class came over to play and that was so much fun! Max was very curious about his friend and insisted on a lot of physical contact. I'd love to think this was affection-driven but I suspect it had more to do with being territorial. Alas, we had a great time and here are the pictures: http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=580111210550557045/l=380639244/g=124666915/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

"The" Surgery.

On Wednesday, Max was circumcised at St. Peter's Hospital. He did great! As usual, he tolerated the delays and waiting a lot better than I did : )

The procedure took about thirty minutes and David and I were busy bringing toys to the Pediatric Unit during that time so time flew.

When I first saw him in the postoperative area he was crying/whimpering and seemed very disoriented from the general anaesthesia, but that didn't last too long and before we knew it, he was asleep in my arms.

We were then moved to a proper room in pediatrics (our room was called "The Blue House") where Max napped in the crib for about an hour. After he ate some Cheerios and drank his bottle we were set to go.

David and I accidentally put Max's clothes in the car so he was sent home in his hospital gown which was really quite cute.

Years ago when I imagined delivering a baby and bringing him/her home, I couldn't wait to learn how to swaddle my newborn in the standard white flannel hospital-issued receiving blanket that has the blue and the pink stripes (I tried to find one online to link to but to no avail). Having no tolerance for discomfort or pain, I knew that home-birthing wouldn't be an option! That blanket just seemed like the epitome of babyness and I pined for that time.

As we all know, rather than bringing my baby home in said blanket, I picked my darling son up at Newark Airport where he was dressed in a white, velvety warm up suit : ) So on Wednesday when we were departing the hospital and the nurse asked if I wanted a blanket to cover Max's thin gown with I immediately said, "Yes, please!" I had no idea what the blanket would look like, but it was "the" blanket... the white flannel blanket with the blue and pink stripes. So I got to bring my baby home from the hospital as planned long ago.

Max's Latest Milestones

Max is seriously maturing at record speed! His total presence seems a lot more mature than just last week and his motor skills and listening/response are really rocking! Max can clap "on demand," which is great because this means that he understands English! His walking is coming along and today he took 5 unassisted steps!! (http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=96951210024343092/l=378377594/g=124666915/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB ) He has learned to go to bed at night without crying and he's even learning to nap in his crib. This is especially helpful since he wakes up between 4 and 4:15 AM :( Starting tonight I'll wake him around 11pm for a bottle to see if that helps. Thanks for checking in on us!
Best,
~ Robyn

Milestones

Everyday Max does something new and it's such a joy to observe. Here's a tally of the last few days:

• Sunday April 27th, 2008: Max discovered that his pointer finger fits into his nose
• Monday April 28th, 2008: Max engaged in a game of passing the ball back-and-forth with me
• Tuesday April 29th, 2008: Max observed me placing the ball into various boxes and muffin pans and copied my behavior
• Wednesday April 30th, 2008: Max detected his first pattern - I passed the ball to Erin, she passed it to Max and he passed it to me and then we reversed the sequence and he got it immediately
• Wednesday April 30th, 2008: Max took his first complete steps without holding onto someone or something!

For his latest snapshots: http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=526301209601122195/l=378131755/g=124666915/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB