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.