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!!!!