The day after Christmas

On the day after Thanksgiving Max made it up to the first stair, and pulled himself up to standing.
The day after Christmas, Max made it to the top of the stairs!

4 minutes ago he was in the living room, 1 minute later he was in the kitchen having conquered all six stairs!

Wow, what a day.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Kotoe's Photos

Our friend Kotoe was over this week and took a few photos of Max. Some turned out so great we wanted to post them here. Thanks Koto-bomb!

Big Boy

What a big boy! Wow!

Update

30 minutes after the last post (Max on the first stair), Max crawled up to the couch and pulled himself up to standing. It is now pretty much all he's interested in doing. He stands in his crib when he should be sleeping, sneaks up on the cats (who now have to find new "safe zones") and is getting into everything he possibly can.

He has used his two new bottom teeth to carve some substantial grooves in his crib, and will occasionally bite his own hand so hard it makes him cry.

He's also properly crawling now, no more "dead-leg drag". It's pretty robotic and funny to watch. Hopefully I'll get video up sometime soon.

He had his 9 month doctor appointment on the 25th (his actual 9 month birthday). He weighed in at 19 pounds 6 oz. and is 28.25 inches tall.

Enjoy the hectic weeks ahead. Christmas and New Year's will be here and gone before we know it.

We're screwed!

This picture was taken 15 minutes ago:

We're in a lot of trouble now!

Toofer

We've got a tooth coming in. Max is thrilled.

Video Day!

I uploaded two videos I took over the weekend.

He's "crawling" now. We call it his "Dead Legs Crawl", and it may not be a full-fledged crawl, but he's completely mobile and getting stuck everywhere he shouldn't be.



Here's another video of him in his jumperoo. He appears to have an issue with always jumping to the right (his left). Perhaps his right leg is too long.
As you can also see in the video, he's a very calm and quiet kid.



Have a great week!

A night to change the world!

While I try to keep my political opinions off of this blog, what happened last night must be mentioned.

Though Max is too young to understand the immense importance of the election of the first black president, it is a event that will shape our country and change the world that Max will proudly grow up in. Last night, before going to bed, I went into Max's room to say goodnight. As I held him, the enormity of the situation hit me. We have truly changed the world. And we did it for him.

Regardless of politics, I think we can all agree that what happened last night is an enormous step in the right direction for us, Max's generation, and the generations that will follow.

We are extremely proud to be Americans! Continue to make us proud Mr. Obama.

Uncle Matt came to town

My brother Matt surprised us with a weekend visit. It was good to spend some time with him, and for him to spend a bunch of time with The Bean.

And, as an added bonus, he even mowed my lawn.

Happy Halloween from The Bean!

Sitting Bean

I've been working on that update, but just can't seem to get it finished. I'll keep working on it.

Last Saturday, when I woke The Bean up, I brought him downstairs and sat him down on the floor. Every time I tried to get him to sit he would immediately flop over, but not this time. Since that day, Max can officially sit.

He's been working on his crawling and has a pretty serious "army crawl" down. We had expected he would be crawling by now, given the rate that he was developing, but we expect a full crawl any day now (I'm sure it'll happen on the weekend when I'm watching him). I'll make sure to let you know when it happens.

In need of updates

It's been almost 2 months since our last update. Things have been very busy (and with crawling looking to be only days away) things are only going to get busier.

I've been working on a long post and hope to get it up by the end of the week. To tide you over until then, here's a picture of "The Chicken-Bean".

Catching Up

This is a post I was working on posting, and have come to terms with the fact that I'm not going to finish it. Here is what I had started, I'm posting it here so as not to lose anything I've worked on.

It's been a long time since my last blog post. A lot of the reason has been how busy I've been. Some of the reason is that I'm kinda lazy. It takes a lot of time to put these posts together, but after a few emails reminding me that it has been a while since an update- here you go!

Max is great! He's over 7 months (less than 2 weeks from 8) and pushing 20 lbs. He still doesn't have any teeth, doesn't crawl, and doesn't talk. He's doing a lot of other exciting stuff though.

His personality comes out more every week. He's a playful little kid, stubborn, and happy. He likes to get into things he shouldn't (he was trying to get the electrical outlet covers off yesterday). When you haven't been around kids before, you think they become mobile only when they are able to crawl. Max can roll faster than I ever thought possible. When he's playing on the floor he'll roll from room to room, under and behind things; wherever he wants to go-he'll roll there.

He's learned how to smile on his own. He's been smiling for a long time, but that was always a natural reaction when he was happy. He now smiles when he wants to. When he sees the camera-he smiles. It's pretty funny looking (at least we think so) but we'll let you be the judge.



This last weekend was my fourth weekend of being "sole care-giver" for Max. Bobbie Jo's new weekend overnight shift is going well. It's a considerably busier hospital, and she's still working on getting used to the odd schedule (I don't think she'll ever get used to it), but she's really enjoying the time with Max during the week, and for the most part I'm enjoying my weekends with him. Some of the days he's been an absolute nightmare (not wanting to nap and whining all day), but the days that he's good make it more than worth it.

With the new schedule it's been very difficult to get things done, as you can tell our blog hasn't been updated in two months. We're still working on figuring out how to get around to everything, but I have no doubt we'll figure it out sooner or later.

He's been waking up anywhere between 7 and 8:30, has some cereal and then some formula. He takes a nap around 9 or 10, and between 3 and 6. He usually takes one short nap (about an hour) and one long one (around three). Bobbie Jo has been trying to keep him busy with walks, shopping trips, and a weekly "Little Kid Library Time" on Tuesdays.

He's eaten just about everything available in the "Mushy fruit and/or vegetable category". He seems to enjoy everything we give him. He eats his three meals a day, but still drinks a lot of formula.

6 months

It was six months ago today that we met Max. He weighed 1/3rd of what he does now. He didn't stay awake for more than 30 minutes at a time, he wasn't even "The Bean" yet. We had read a lot of books, and gotten a lot of advice, but we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.

He's more mobile now, and has loads of personality. He loves us. We love making him smile, and giggle, and laugh. He used to have trouble holding his head up, now he can hold it up as long as he wants. He rolls and jumps. He's on his fourth size of diaper. He's starting to notice the cats. He wants to play with certain toys, and when he drops them he tries to find them.

It's been an awesome 6 months. We had no idea he'd grow so fast. There was a lot we had no idea about.

We've still got a lot to learn....and we're looking forward to it.

Thank you Bean, we love you.

A Big Change

Since she went back to work, Bobbie Jo has had trouble with Max at daycare. We had discussed her working part time, but there was no way we were going to be able to make it work. She applied for other shifts to make things more "ideal", but due to her low seniority, she wasn't able to get any of them.

Today Bobbie Jo accepted a job working Midnight-Noon, Friday and Saturday nights. The shift and the pay will allow us to take Max out of daycare and he'll be able to be at home with mom during the week. On the weekend, he's mine.

It was a really tough decision to make, and we're both a little apprehensive about what it will be like, but being able to have Bobbie Jo at home will make it all worth it. We don't know that we'll stick to the schedule forever, maybe he'll head back to daycare in a year or two, but for now this gives us the best of all worlds.

Bobbie Jo starts in late September, we'll keep you posted.

Water Weekend!

The Bean got introduced to water in a big way this weekend. He had is first bath in the bathtub (he's quickly outgrowing the sink), and on Sunday we took him swimming.

He seemed to enjoy the water, he kicked his feet, and when encouraged to splash he smacked at the water with his hands. We'll definitely try to get him in the pool a few more times before the summer is through.

Jumping Bean

We just got back from our short weekend excursion to Cedar Point for our 5th Anniversary. It was a lot of fun, though a bit of a pain being there on a Saturday. We rode a total of 6 rides (all coasters), as the average line time was just about 2 hours.

It was great to get away together for a few days, and even though our hotel was a dump, we enjoyed ourselves. We missed Max, and were very happy when we arrived at Bobbie Jo's parents' house to claim him (Thanks again, Steve and Sharon!).

The Bean has been really mobile lately. He's rolling over a lot now. So much it almost makes things difficult. He has a bit of an "army crawl" down, and is covering small distances once in awhile. While he's always liked standing, he found something he likes better - jumping. The Bean is now a "Jumping Machine" (there's a song there somewhere). We got him a jumparoo thing that he took to much quicker than expected. When he's in it, it's as though he has to jump. He'll jump so long, he'll start to cry, and continue to jump, acting as though he's being forced.

Now, when we let him stand on our laps, he'll jump there. This kid is going to be moving in one way or another, soon. He demands mobility!

Weekend Update

It's getting late on Sunday night, and it's been a really busy week, but I wanted to get something posted before another week goes by.

Max started going to two days a week of daycare at a friends place this week. The girl who takes care of him and Rebecca is great, and Max seems to be in great spirits when he comes home.

I had a week from hell, we had a website that was supposed to launch in two weeks pushed up to Friday. It was buggy, and as expected it crashed 2 minutes after launch. I may be new, but I know you've gotta test these things before you put them out, but the client gets what the client wants.

Friday, as soon as I got home, we packed Max into the car to take him over to my Mom's place so she could watch him for the night. We went out to dinner, and then to see NEIL DIAMOND!!!! It was awesome! After the incredible show, we hit a new bar here in town, picked up Max and went home to bed. It was an outstanding night to end a rough week.

We started Max on Juice and beans (not mixed together) within the last few weeks. He's not "supposed" to start real food for a month, but he's been enjoying it. Against his mother's wishes I let him suck on a piece of pineapple tonight during dinner. I've never seen so much enjoyment in his face, until he sucked the chunk out of my fingers and into his untrained mouth. Without missing a beat, Awesome Dad reached into his goopy little mouth, and removed the pineapple before he could choke. I'm not allowed to feed him anymore. But, it was cool while it lasted.

It'll be a busy week, we're going to Cedar Point this weekend, leaving Max with Bobbie Jo's parents Friday and Saturday night. We're a bit anxious, but it's our Fifth Anniversary, and we'd like to get away, even if for only a few days.

Oh...and HEY UNCLE MATT, THANKS FOR THE DONKEY!!!!

Max's Noises

Max has started making some great noises, and giggles quite a bit when we do something he deems "funny". Here's some video I took last week, I sound like a tool, but he's pretty darn cute.

Sorry about the commercial in the background, I've gotta stop taping these things while I'm watching the news.

Five Month Update

Friday, the Bean hit five months. A lot happens over five months. It's amazing to think about where we were then, and where we are now.

He's been doing great, I'm really enjoying him as I can actually play with him now. He likes being thrown around, and I love seeing the smile on his face when we play. He's eating well (he's currently being treated for reflux, which could have been the cause of a lot of his fussy eating), and will start on juice sometime today.

We're not entirely sure why he needs juice. The doctor said that babies get thirsty, but the kid's food is liquid. Neither of us can figure it out, but we'll just give him some juice from time to time, and see what he does.

He's starting some new daycare. Two days a week he will be going over to our friend's house. They have a nanny at their house and we felt that the more personal attention, and the ability to make a friend (a girl, a year his senior) would be good as well. We think it should be really good for him.

I can't believe he's almost 6 months old. This is going by way to fast!

The new job

It's been three weeks at the new job, and I'm really enjoying myself. Everyone who works there is great, we have a lot of fun, but still get a ton of work done.

Technically we're a marketing firm, but really specialize in Sales, Marketing and Promotional Strategy, we like to help the client answer why they need something and what will give us the most successful launch and future life of that tactic. Most marketing firms are just Ad Agencies, they make ads and websites and logos that their client feels they need. We try to set ourselves apart by helping the client get to that decision.

If all of this sounds confusing, it is. We've been spending a good amount of time working on our brand, and how best to communicate what it is that we do, without putting to fine a point on our expertise, or making the company too much of a "we solve all of your problems" thing that just makes us sound like we have no idea what we do. I have been given a lot of responsibility to get this moving and have been spending a lot of time working on it.

I was given one customer when I started, and if all goes well, will have three by the end of this week. I'm keeping very busy, but love the environment and really feel like I can shine here. People listen to my opinion, and I think that my knowledge really brings a lot to the company. It's a tremendous feeling.

We've just started looking at offices in Grand Rapids. I expect that we will probably be here (and I won't have to commute anymore) by October or so. Next year, I'm getting a new scooter so I can scoot to work.

I haven't had much time to let everybody know how the new job was going so I thought this was a good place to put it. I'll try to add more as I have it.

-j

Captain Adorable

By day, he's mild mannered Maxwell "Bean" Reinhardt.
But when bedtime comes, he's CAPTAIN ADORABLE.
Armed with his Power Keys, he's...well.....adorable.

Huggies Commercial

Those of you who had boys will appreciate this Huggies commercial "Geyser"

Weekend Update

We're not sure if he's started teething or not, but everything goes in his mouth now. The doctor warned us about putting his toys in there, but just about every chance he gets he crams his whole fist (or a majority of hi fingers) right in his mouth. The kid is producing more drool than I though possible, but apparently this is nothing compared to when teething really gets going.Funny story-a few days ago Bobbie Jo was changing Max. When she changes him, she always puts a wet wipe over his dingus, to keep him from peeing in his face. As she was doing some detail cleaning she looked up at Max, and he had grabbed the wipe, and crammed it in his mouth. Priceless.
He's also started standing, not on his own of course, but he loves it when we hold him up so that he can stand. He'll giggle and blow "rasberries" and the occasional spit bubble. It's been a lot of fun, he really enjoys it.

This is my last week of Summer class, I'm really looking forward to it being over. The new job is going great, I'm loving it and really feel like I contribute around there. It's been an awesome change.

Until next time.

-j

Our trip to the E.R.

Yesterday Bobbie Jo called me (I was at the coffee shop working on homework), and asked me to come home. Max had been SCREAMING bloody murder for about an hour, and she wasn't sure what we should do.
Max has been such a good baby, we're not used to this. Even with two bad ear infections, he never cried this severely.
We called his doctor, and the doctor wanted us to take him to the ER to have him checked out.

We packed him into the car and headed off to the hospital. We were quickly checked in, and put in a room to wait. By this point, Max had calmed down and was quite happy.

To make a long story short; After a two hour wait, we learned that Max has another ear infection. We've got another new antibiotic to give him, and will need to get him in to see his doctor at the end of this week.

Quite the eventful Sunday.

Catching up

I'm sitting at my usual coffee shop the morning after "the great rainstorm of 2008". It's pretty busy and there are loads of people here charging their laptops and cellphones as a good chunk of GR is without power this morning. We are lucky to have power, but we did get a fair amount of water in the basement, a cleanup I am not looking forward to.

My last day working for The Holland Group was yesterday and I start my new job on Monday. I'm excited and will be doing a lot of new things at the new place. It's a Marketing Firm in Saugatuck but I know almost all of the people who work there, and I'm fully expecting it to go very well.

Max started eating rice cereal on Sunday and he's done pretty well. His ears are completely cleared up and he's eating a ton. He's been a lot happier, and a lot less fussy. Its been nice.

The next month is going to be extremely busy as my class is finishing up, I have to finish up a few projects with the old job, and get started figuring out everything that my new job entails. It's going to be a lot of very busy hours, but I'm sure it will be well worth it.

Tomorow I think we'll take Max to the parade and maybe the fireworks. He may not know what's going on, but I think we'll get a kick out of it.

Have a great 4th of July!

Four Month Appointment

We had Max's four month appointment today (exactly four months since the day he was born). He weighed in at 14 lbs and is 24¼" tall. His ear infections are clearing up nicely, and the doctor was happy with everything he saw. We were given feeding instructions for the next few months and will be introducing cereal via spoon in the coming week. I'm sure there will be great pictures of that adventure.

As you can see in the picture he's doing a great job holding up his head. He's growing even faster than we expected.

New Video

Nine (out of Ten)

After what seems like months of extra fussy eating, Bobbie Jo took The Bean to the doctor yesterday. While his ear that has been being treated since the last appointment was now at a "two" (on a scale of 1 to 10), his other ear was now at a "nine".

He's been given some stronger anti-biotic and we hope it will help him fast. It can't work quickly enough for our (and Max's) sanity.

Rollin'

The Bean rolled over on Saturday. To prove it wasn't a one-time feat, he repeated it moments ago.

We expect he will be walking soon.

First Father's Day

Dad, Son, and Gramps
Father's Day 2008

Mortality

When Ben called today to see if I had heard the news that Tim Russert (NBC News Correspondent, Host of "Meet the Press") had died I was stunned. As a long time fan of Meet the Press, a part of my Sunday morning routine, I felt as though I had lost someone I knew well. 58 years old, what appears to be a heart attack killing him while he was at work.

I began thinking about him dying at that young age (I never thought I would consider 58 young), and Bobbie Jo's two acquaintances who had heart attacks in their 30s (the 32 year old dead, the 35 year old recovering). You really start to contemplate your mortality when you have a kid.

Over the many hours of coverage/remembrance of him, there was constant talk of the family man, the father, and the incredible friend he was. Someone with so much success and so much fortune, his family and his son were the real joys of his life.

I may never become the moderator of a major network news show, but I don't think that's what mattered to Tim Russert. I can continue to strive to be the best son, husband, father, brother, and friend that I can be. That I can do.

Ear Infection

It seems like Max has been sick since the first day of daycare. Sniffles, cute little coughs, all of that kind of stuff. He hasn't run a fever yet, and hasn't had anything really serious.

This weekend he started refusing his bottle, and would cry when we would try to feed him. Bobbie Jo took him to the Doctor on Monday morning and he does have his first ear infection.

I really feel for parents whose kids cry and there is nothing they can do to stop it. We've both now had a few times with him screaming his little head off, and outside of waiting it out, there's nothing we can do to ease his pain. I think we caught it early on, and it hopefully won't last much longer.

It's so terrible to see him in pain, and not be able to help. It just breaks your heart.

Getting used to things

Being woken up by my wife holding Max was the best way I could imagine to start my birthday. It's going to be a good day.

It's been really tough getting used to all of the new responsibilities we have. Trying to get all of the stuff we used to get done is a lot more difficult when you add in the responsibilities of taking care of The Bean. When I bring him home from daycare at 5'ish he usually wants to eat and play until Mommy comes home. Bobbie Jo will then be with him until his bath at 9, and then put him to bed around ten. Usually the time that he doesn't demand attention we choose to be with him anyway. That leaves us about 3 hours a day to do all of the things we used to have plenty of time to get completed (Make that 2 1/2 hours once we clean his bottles and get his stuff ready for "school" the following day. Trips to the bank, paying bills, mowing the lawn, doing laundry all vie for those precious few hours we have to ourselves.

We've been lucky and gotten to go out a few times in the last few weeks. We saw Tom Petty last Friday, and last night went to see CAKE at Fredrick Meijer Gardens. One of my favorite bands playing a great show the night before my birthday was pretty sweet. My Mom has been great coming over on short notice when we need her to help out and watch him.

I've taken today off to catch up on some stuff, maybe get some videos up, and try to organize the litany of pictures we keep taking of the quickly growing little dude. Maybe I'll get a haircut.

He's growing so fast. He smiles a lot, he's an incredibly happy baby. He laughs from time to time, and loves to talk to us, or any inanimate object that he thinks might want to hear what he has to say. He eats well, sleeps for about 8 hours straight at night, and has become less fussy. He's ben grabbing at things, he has a little blanket with a giraffe head he likes to rub on his face. He spends a good deal of time trying to figure out how to get both of his chubby clenched fists in his mouth at the same time. It seems like there is something new every day.

It's been a blast. And really, who gives a crap how tall the lawn gets anyway. He's only going to be this small for a little while.

Max Speaks!

At only a few weeks over 3 months, Max has spoken his first word.

That word, is "glue".

Being that we are pretty sure no one around him has said this word before, we think he might be reading his books while we aren't looking.

Or surfing the web.

8.64 diapers per day

After buying what seemed like a "lifetime supply" of diapers and wipes I thought I'd take the above picture. I figured when we ran out, I could do the math and post it here.

Here it is. That's a lot of diapers!

Midday Bath

Max usually gets his bath at 9:00 pm or so. Today, however, as his mom was checking the detailing job she had done on his bum (after a especially nasty "monster"), he peed in his eyes, hair, and ear. Everything was thoroughly soaked enough to warrant an early bath. This picture was taken between the changing table and the sink/tub. I thought that leaving his socks on was a nice touch.

I'll add this to the "Display at Max's Wedding" album.

A day to remember

Imagine going to see the Rolling Stones when Keith Richards comes on to the stage and announces that the Beatles will be a surprise opener. Tonight, that happened for me.

Tonight over 12,000 people showed up for the Barack Obama rally in Grand Rapids. Obama came on stage and apologized for not campaining in Michigan, and that he felt we deserved a special "treat". Tonight John Edwards (my original candidate) endorsed Barack Obama (my current one), in front of my very eyes, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

I had hoped to bring Max along, but the logistics proved too tough. He'll hear about this day many years later though, when his Dad tells him how he was a part of history.

Daycare - Day 1

Today Bobbie Jo went back to work. As Max is unable to care for himself, we had to drop him off at daycare. It was tough. Real tough.
We've done the math, we've tried to figure out how to keep Bobbie Jo home. We can't. Not now. For now he goes to daycare.
We arrived an hour early so we could spend some time with him, and make sure the place was up to snuff. We played with him, and fed him before Bobbie Jo walked across the parking lot for her first day back in eleven weeks. She was able to take a break and visit him at 2:00, and I brought him over to see her when I picked him up at 5. We missed him all day, but it was great to see him when we got home from work. It's going to take a long time to get used to it, but that's the way it's going to have to be.

Hopefully tomorrow won't be as hard.

What a Mother's Day it was

Max had a fever and gas yesterday.
Mother's Day.
Bobbie Jo's first Mother's Day.

We've said time and time again how incredibly lucky we are to have a baby that fusses as little as Max does. He almost fusses "zero". Not yesterday. His gas was so bad, the blood curdling screams could probably have been heard down the block. And when he wasn't farty, he was incredibly cranky.

For her first Mother's Day, Bobbie Jo "got" to sleep in til 10. Went to Meijer's. Finished a few loads of laundry, and got ready for her first day back at work. Her fancy dinner was takeout from Big Bob's (the remainder of which she eats as I type this).

It's a Mother's Day she'll never forget.

Happy Mother's Day!

To nobody's surprise but her own, Bobbie Jo has proven that she is an incredible Mom, someone Max and I are so enormously proud of. Max and I appreciate all that she does for us and we hope she knows how much she is loved.

To our Mom's - we now understand better than ever before your incredible love for us. Max's arrival has helped us to understand, even better, how much we love you and how much you have done for us. We owe you more than we can ever possibly explain.

Thank you so much. We love you!

Progress Report

The boy is sick.

He caught the cold that both of us had, and has been very plugged up for the last 3 or 4 days. He's been real good, but he's kind of a mess when we wake him up in the morning. Bobbie Jo took him to the Doctor today. They confirmed that he had a "cold" and that we could count on 15-20 more of them in his first year of daycare. They weighed him, and he's just shy of 11 lbs.

He's sleeping really well, most nights he makes it 7 hours before he needs to be fed. After that 4 am'ish feeding, he sleeps until 8 or so. He's become very happy and even more interested in what's going on around him. His progress in some areas is astounding. I don't see him as a baby anymore, he's a little person. He makes noises that are obvious attempts at communication. He smiles at us when we wake him up. He's really ticklish. Up to now we would "play" with him for our benefit, it's obvious that now he enjoys it. He will smile at us, and watch us, but doesn't yet interact with us. He's not grabbing on to anything yet. We talk to him all of the time and while he may not be a fan of all of the awesome songs we make up for him, they sure make us happy -♫ "Whose feets are these? These are the bean's feets!"♫.

One thing is becoming very clear. Parents don't get many opportunities to do chores. We had Grandma Camille over on Sunday to "babysit" for him on Sunday so that we could get some things done. She sat in the driveway with him for 3 hours and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Bobbie Jo went to Meijer's to get groceries, and I vacuumed and did a lot of the little things that we had been neglecting. We could probably come up with the time for all of this stuff if we really wanted to, but it more fun to spend time with the kid. Family first.

Bobbie Jo goes back to work on May 12^th (this coming Monday). I'll be taking the day off so that we can both drop him off in the morning. We're both pretty beat up about it, but Bobbie Jo is taking it really rough. While she is excited to get back to work, she has been caring for the little guy for the last 10 weeks, and it's going to be extremely difficult for her to turn that over to someone else. We're terrified to think of the milestones that we might miss, and the bond that will be created between Max and his daycare folks. I have no doubt that the time we spend (and have spent) with him as his parents far outweigh that, but it's still scary as hell. We'd love to have Bobbie Jo go back to work part time, but unfortunately it's not in the cards right now. It's definately something we'd like to work towards, but who knows if we'll ever be able to make it happen.

Next week is going to be a big week. A really big week. We'll make sure to let you know how it goes.

Bad Parenting

Is this considered bad parenting, or do I get credit for playing together?

March for Babies 2008

The March of Dimes "March for Babies 2008" was held this morning. After 13 straight days of temperatures above 70° (a record) temps last night dropped to the lower 40's. When we arrived at the Walk the windchill was a frigid 21°. We packed Max tight with blankets, free t-shirts, and sweatshirts and kept his wind guards closed. He was toasty warm, we froze. We quickly made our way to the end of the walk and came home.
Thank you so very much to everyone who sponsored us for this year's walk. We raised $640 -our best year yet!

I've been feeling pretty sick, and we've been so busy lately we decided we'd spend the rest of the day sitting on the couch and watching movies. We've finished all of the Indiana Jones movies, and now we're going to work on the stuff we have from Netflix. What a great day.

On to our next dvd....

Two Month Checkup

I was right! 10 pounds, Zero ounces. He sure is packing on the pounds. He's also up to 21¼" long.

Max's two month checkup was today and things went well. The doctor is pleased with his growth and all of his talents (on a side note, the Doc smiled every time Max farted, so even the "well educated" think that baby farts are funny). He's still a bit behind for his age, but the Dr. explained that technically Max is only 1 month old, and that by 6 months he will have caught up with any 6 month old that was carried to term. We had lots of questions to ask, and the Doc spent a good amount of time answering them. He's a really good guy.

Unfortunately, Mr. Max did have to get his first round of shots today, it was either 4 or 5 total, and he screamed louder than I had ever heard out of him. He's a pretty tough kid-outside of having his blood drawn when he was born I've never heard him scream or cry out of pain. He cried for a few minutes but was remarkably well composed just 2 or 3 minutes after his shots. We were pretty proud of the little guy. He's a trooper.Tonight he gets his bath, and we'll all watch the Pistons. Tomorrow, the Walk!

Growin' like a weed

Damn he grows fast!

Seeing him everyday it's not obvious how fast he's growing. But clothes that fit him on Tuesday, don't fit him on Thursday. He's now outgrown his "Newborn" clothes and is finally up to 0-3 mos stuff. He doesn't fit in the "hammock" part of the baby tub and now has to sit in it like a big boy (one who takes baths in a little blue plastic tub). He's growing an awesome little Buddha Belly.

He's doing pretty good at night, most of the time. He's even had a few nights where he slept for 5 or 6 hours straight. He's awake a lot more during the day, even getting in some "playtime" with Mom before noon. He tends to be fussy right around the time that I get home from work until he goes to bed. He can be tough to feed at these times, but we make it work.

He's becoming more and more aware every day. He's noticing things around him more and more, and his smile is becoming more and more frequent. He likes it when we play with him, and can even hold on to his little baby keys.

Tomorrow Bobbie Jo is bringing him by my work to meet everyone, and on Friday morning we have his 2 month appointment (he was 8 weeks on Monday). I'm thinking he'll weigh in at over 10 lbs, mom thinks he's not quite there yet. We've got a notebok full of questions to ask when we get there. Saturday we'll be taking him on the March of Dimes walk. We've been trying to get him out for a walk every day, so we think he should do fine. He likes his walks as he turns his head from side to side to get in as much as he can.

Tonight the three of us are watching the Pistons. We'll post again after our doctors appointment.

The Many Emotions of Maxwell

Click the video to see Maxwell as his displays his many emotions.
Confusion
Happiness
Boredom
Farting
Pride
Grumpy
Tired
Angry
Hiccuppy
Misery

A few videos

Here are a few videos of Max that I finally got around to putting up.

March 30, 2008 (Sorry for the background noise, Bobbie Jo is putting away dishes upstairs)


April 4, 2008 (Max making faces while he poops-he's going to kill me for this when he's older)

What a difference a week makes

Its been a busy week. Things have been going well, and he's feedings are getting much easier. He's been sleeping three to four hours after his feedings at night, and spends more time awake during the day. Its been a little difficult figuring things out when he's awake, as we're used to a simple "when he's awake he eats" schedule.

We've had a few really exciting developments. He's outgrown his "Newborn" diapers. The diapers that used to go up to his nipples, were now stretched, and crunched under his ever growing belly. Bobbie Jo had him at the doctor this week (she was worried about a cold-he doesn't have one) and he weighed a little over 9 pounds. HOLY COW-NINE POUNDS!!! He's also starting to push the limits of his "Newborn" clothes, we'll probably start him in some of the 0-3 mos clothes in a week or so. On Wednesday we met with the day care people. It looked like a nice place, and the people were very friendly. Bobbie Jo is terrified about leaving him there when she returns to work. I'm not terribly thrilled about it either.

The two most exciting things that happened are his noises and his smile. Less than an hour ago Max smiled at me. We had thought he had been smiling before, but seeing this one it was obvious, this was his first. He shortly followed it up with an encore so his Mommy could see. It was a pretty exciting Sunday morning. He's also started to make "communication" noises. They aren't the usual grunts and pfffffts that he has been making since birth, these noises are different. We can tell that they are something he is doing on purpose.

It's been an awesome week. They just keep getting better.

In case you haven't seen it, this is the birth announcement that our photographer put together.
He did great work, we'll post some of the individual shots here once we get the digitals from him.

If you're in need of a great photographer, give him a shout, or check out some of his work: Terpstra Photography

Outside

After Bobbie Jo and I got back from Big Bobs (quick pizza and a beer) we took Max for his first walk yesterday. While he didn't walk (we pushed him in the stroller) we think he enjoyed it. He slept most of the way.

We also put him in his little car seat thing and put him on the deck for a few hours while Bobbie Jo and I worked in the yard and cleaned out the garage. What a beautiful day. We're really looking forward to consistent warm days.

The good and the bad

Max will be 6 weeks old on Monday. It's been interesting.

We have a lot of fun with him, but it can also be extremely trying. He's a great baby, but has been very slow to eat. We know that he's too young and small to get him on a schedule, but he seems to always be eating, and there's no rhyme or reason to it. Sometimes he'll eat 4 oz. and go to sleep for 3 hours, but that's not the norm. Usually he'll eat a bit, fall asleep for an hour, wake up, eat more, fall asleep again, and so on. What we consider one feeding can take up to 2 hours, at which point he will then usually sleep for 2-3 hours. We're trying everything we can think of to get him to eat more in one sitting to no avail. We try to make sure he's good and "angry" so he'll eat in one shot, but it doesn't often work. We've tried darn near every bottle and nipple on the planet and have high hopes that the one we picked up yesterday will do the trick, so far so good.
We've heard that any feeding over 30 minutes actually burns more calories than are going in, so obviously any feeding beyond that isn't necessary-but that doesn't change the fact that he's still "hungry".

Things are getting a little tense around the house, as neither of us are getting the sleep we'd like. We are hoping that Bobbie Jo's Mom (who's stopping by tonight) might want to watch him for a few hours so that I can take out the wife and get a few beers in her.

That's it for the bad, it's tough, but so worth it.

Now for the good - Max is pretty awesome. He's putting on a lot of weight, and outgrew his preemie clothes a few weeks ago. He's almost too big for his "Newborn" diapers. He watches us a lot, and is very curious about all of the things he sees around him, he finally noticed the various mobiles that hang over him. He has a great smirk. He spends more time awake. He's really strong and has a great grip that hurts our fingers when he holds on. He can lift up his neck quite a bit when he's on our chests or on the floor. He likes the baths we give him every other day. He gets cuter every day.

He's been a joy, and is really such a good baby. We think about how tough it is for us, and then think about people who have babies that cry for no reason, or real issues to deal with. Our hats go off to them.

Uncle Ben (not the rice one)

My brother Ben came in a while back from Scottsdale, AZ to meet his new nephew. He was quite taken by him.
Ben was only in town for a week but he stopped by as often as he could to spend time with the kid. Max christened Ben's sweatshirt with spit-up, and made one of Ben's sweaters stink (we hope not permanently) like baby farts.We know that Ben misses Max now that he is back in Arizona, and expect that he'll be back sometime soon.

One month ago

As I write this, I'm sitting in my classroom, waiting for my 6:30 class to start. Mondays are tough, leaving at 7 in the morning and not getting home until 10. That's a lot of hours I don't get to see the kid. I'll be leaving early Wednesday morning to go down to Louisville for a few days. I'll be back late Thursday but I know it's going to be really hard, being away from my family for the first time since Max arrived.

The month has been spectacular. He's been a great baby. He cries when he's hungry or cold, but those are easy things to fix. He's very peaceful and calm. We're so lucky to have him. We love the time we spend with him, even the tough times.

One month ago, Bobbie Jo and I hadn't met him yet (she was in the middle of her epidural), and had no idea how our lives would change, no idea of the size of love we we have for the little guy we would meet six hours later.

My mother gave Max the book "Guess how much I love you" yesterday for an Easter present. Being unfamiliar with the book, I gave it a quick read. The story involves a conversation between a rabbit and his/her child. As the young rabbit responds to the question of "Guess how much I love you?" with his answers "this much", "that much" etc. the parent is always able to one up him. The story ends with the young rabbit coming up with the biggest thing he can, "From the earth to the moon". The parent agrees that is very far, and the child dozes off to sleep. The parent walks away thinking to himself "I love you from the earth to the moon, and back." The story quickly brought a tear to my eye, and is difficult to write about even now.

Who would think that a 5 inch square cardboard book could express something that so many others could never put into words.

Max, we love you from the Earth to the Moon and back, and then some!

Mom and Dad

Due Date

Well, today, March 20th, is Bobbie Jo's due date.
We've gotten to spend 24 wonderful days with our awesome little dude. 3 weeks that have gone by so fast, and have been filled with so many wonderful moments. We're so happy that he was able to join us so much earlier than we were expecting.

I'm growing to love coming home every day from work, grabbing him from his mother's arms (or his bouncy chair), plunking him down on my chest and getting in a little father/son nap.

Bobbie Jo is proving to be a wonderful and selfless mother (as I knew she would be) and is taking care of Max every weekday night. She definitely doesn't have these 10 weeks "off". She works her butt off all day but I know she loves being able to spend all day with him. I take a break at work to look through pictures a few times a day.

It's been a lot of fun, and we're learning a lot. We're already dreading the thought of dropping him off at daycare, and the thought of dropping him off at school, him driving a car, or going off to college terrifies us. I think it's best we just take everything one day at a time - it's much less scary that way.

Photos

Mom (Camille) wanted some more pictures posted, and we really don't have that many more taken. I've added a slideshow to the sidebar on the right, and it will be updated often.

Any time you want to see the newest crop of pictures we've taken, click on the slideshow to be taken to our Picasa Web Album.

Here's an extra cute picture of Max to appease Grandma Camille.

March of Dimes

For the last few years Bobbie Jo and I have been participating in the March of Dimes "March for Babies" (previously "Walk America"), this year's walk is on April 26th. We look forward to walking it with Max in tow.

From Wikipedia:
"Today in the USA, March of Dimes funds researchers are working in biochemistry, microbiology, developmental biology, genetics, pediatrics, and many other fields. Along the way, it has helped support special neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) designed to treat sick babies; drug treatments to replace surgery for babies with a common heart defect; and folic acid education and food fortification to prevent neural tube defects, among other advances."

We have had a few friends whose children were born extremely premature, and they credit the March of Dimes for helping their children become perfect healthy little babies.

We hope that you would be willing to sponsor us by clicking on the banner to the right, or the following link: www.marchforbabies.org/reinhardt. It's extremely easy. Payment can be safely made through a credit/debit card through our page at the March of Dimes site, or a pledge can be made and a check/cash can be mailed or given to us. We have set a low goal of $500, but have raised between $800 and $1000 in previous years. We really appreciate all of your help.

And of course, in case you forget, I'll be sending out periodic emails begging for sponsorship as well.

Thank you so much!

-James, Bobbie Jo and Max

Uncle Matt

Max's Uncle Matt (my brother) came in from his adventurous life boating in Florida/Bahamas/Cancun to visit his brand new nephew yesterday. It was great to see him, and we're excited to have a few weeks with him before he heads back to the open sea.

Matt (like Bobbie Jo and I) isn't very familiar with babies and it was awesome to see how quickly he took to little Max. It was interesting to hear his questions, many of which Bobbie Jo and I couldn't have answered 9 months ago.

So, does he, like, have muscles?
Does he eat food, or just milk?
Does he have teeth?

Matt has been so excited for us through this entire experience, checking in on our blog almost daily. We're so lucky to have him in our lives, and know that Max is going to learn a lot from his Uncle Matt!

A First!

10 minutes ago, my boy peed on my face.

That is all.

-j

Two Week Dr. Appointment

We had our two week doctor appointment this morning. I hadn't planned on going, but someone (who shall remain nameless) kept his mother up all night and we thought it would be best that I drive the both of them to the doctor.

Max is doing well, he is up to 5 lbs 14 oz now which is awesome. They are happy if he's only up to his birth weight by the 2 week appt, but I think he's growing a little faster to make up for his low birth weight. He was also packed full of poo, having not made #2 since he did it on the changing table at 10am yesterday (That has been remedied now, and we have a full load of extra-nasty laundry to get done).

Bobbie Jo liked the doctor and is now home trying to get a nap in. She's earned it!

I can't believe it's been a week

We've been really lucky, Max has been a great baby. He only cries when he needs something (warmth or food), and sleeps through the night except for the 2 or 3 times when he needs sustenance.

He's seems to be enjoying living with us.

I've been so busy with Max and work that I haven't been able to keep up on the blog like I wanted to, but really wanted to get a bunch of things written. This is going to be a long post.

We came home Thursday night to a nice clean happy home. We were so thrilled to be in our home, our new family, the three of us. In only a few hours, the house was trashed and we realized how much work we had ahead of us. Feeding, pumping, changing, wiping, and laundry was kicking our butts in the first few hours.

Because of Bobbie Jo's c-section I made her stay on the couch to get some rest. For the first few days I handled as much of these new responsibilities as I could. It was overwhelming. Thankfully she is much better now, I don't know how I could do any of this without her.

The hospital was worried about jaundice, so I took Max to the doctor first thing Friday morning. Because Max was so much smaller than we had expected we didn't have any clothes that fit him. I took him to the doctor (in the middle of a snow storm) in a diaper, a tee shirt we stole from the hospital, and a hat. We bundled him in a bunch of blankets as I took him out to the car I had been warming up for a half hour. Bobbie Jo pleaded with me to make sure that the doctor didn't call social services and take our baby away. Everything went well at the doctor, we were told to get another blood test on Saturday, and we headed home. After dropping him off with his mom, I went out and bought him a bunch of preemie clothes. The rest of Friday was spent getting our bearings on this parenthood thing. We gave him his first bath, which he hated, and he rewarded us by crapping in his fancy little baby tub. And peeing on the kitchen counter, and the floor, and a little on my backpack.

Saturday morning my sore throat was really acting up. Bobbie Jo gave me some cold medicine, and I took Max to the hospital for his daily blood test. The women at the lab were great, and all of the old ladies in the waiting room gushed over my cute tiny baby. The lab results came back good, the jaundice was going down- no more blood tests. We returned home to our wonderful wife/mother who was doing better, but still needed to recooperate for a few more days. I was beat. This parenting thing was killing me. I straightened up around the house and fell asleep on the couch, Max on my chest. One of my buddies called me up to see how things were going, "I don't know how I'm going to handle this" I said. I can't remember ever being so tired. My sore throat was getting worse, and the medicine didn't seem to be helping. It was an early night in bed.

Sunday morning I woke up in time to watch "Meet the Press", got my coffee started and went to the medicine cabinet where Bobbie Jo had been getting my medicine. As I pulled the pills from the box I noticed the moon icon in the lower corner with the words "Nighttime Formula" printed neatly beside it. I had been taking sleepy medicine all day Saturday, I wasn't a bum, my wife had been drugging me!

Tuesday was quite eventful. I went back to work. Bobbie Jo's mom came over to help out (she had been with us on Monday as well). Max's umbilical cord started to bleed, giving us quite a scare (but perfectly normal). He developed a fungal infection in his mouth (also incredibly common). He was given another bath (and did not poop in it!). And at 8pm we packed him up and took him to our friend Dan's to get his baby pictures taken. Dan does great work (check him out at www.terpstraphoto.com), and Max was great. He was well behaved and extremely cooperative. He, and I, got tired and the three of us came home around ten. We've seen a few of the photos and are very pleased. We'll share them all very soon.

We've had lots of visitors and have loved seeing everyone and getting to show off Max. We appreciate all of your friendship and love so much.

It's been an incredible week. We've learned a lot. We're getting the hang of things, and are much more comfortable with this than we were on Thursday night. We're ready for this. We'll be great caregivers, we're still scared about the parent thing, but we know we are fully capable of feeding and caring for the little guy.

As for Max, he's pretty cool. He's cute. He can pee really far. He hates his hiccups (which he gets often). He likes to fart a lot (like his pop), and he seems to really love his parents. Something about him changes when we hold him. I can't explain it but I think he connects with us too. It's awesome.

We're loving this. It's pretty cool.