Amazed

A week or two ago, on a whim, I asked Max if he could point to the "square" in a book of shapes. To my astonishment, he did. Same for the circle, triangle, and star.
He's been able to pick out Big Bird, Grover, Cookie, and all of the other Sesame Street folks, but this shape thing shocked me. Neither of us can remember actually going over shapes with him. It's obviously something he picked up while we read his books but not something we actively taught him.
We're trying more and more things, to see what he remembers. He's able to pick out quite a few items in his alphabet book, he can flip through the pages in his animal magazine and pickout various things. It's absolutely unbelievable. Bobbie Jo has equated where he's at right now to "I can't speak the language but I understand it". I think if we knew the full range of the stuff he understands right now, it would terrify us!

Mommy!

I taught Max to say "Mommy" a few weeks back, it was perfect timing.

The doctor said that kids usually go through two periods where they will experience separation anxiety. The first was awhile ago, and Max didn't seem to have any problems. The second time is right about now, and it's proving to be a bit of a pain (for me).

When I go in to get Max out of his crib, his first word is "Mommy?". When I come home from work and sit downstairs with him, he will throw a tantrum if Bobbie Jo isn't in the room. He doesn't want her to cuddle with him, he just wants her in the room.

I have no doubt he'll be over this in a few weeks, but it's definitely making it hard to take care of him.

Woof Woof

Max shows off his animal sounds.

Max's Tricks

Max has learned quite a few tricks. I've been meaning to get a "really great" video up, but realized If I wait for him to hit 100%, he may be nine before we get the video up.

Max can point to his (with varying levels of success):

• nose
• ears
• eyes (which he can say)
  
• hair
• head
• belly
• feet
• dink (Mommy will be thrilled I posted this)
• bellybutton
• and hands

He says "hi" and "bye" now, and does way too much cool stuff to list out. He's growing up too fast-I marked his height against the wall, and he was significantly taller than he was 4 months ago. I'm not a fan of this, but am still excited to see what it will bring next.

A trip North

The Reinhardt family doesn't usually get together around Christmas. This year's "Reinhardt Family Christmas" took place this last weekend.

The 3+ hour trip up to Uncle Jeff and Aunt Sandy's house in Northport (outside of Traverse City) was eventful. We traveled with no regard for his nap time, but he did pretty well. He doesn't like to be confined but he was incredibly well behaved, for a 18 month old boy.
It was great to see the whole family, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Sandy, Aunt Jane, and Uncle Denny (and Max the dog). None of them had seen Max since last summer, and they were all amazed at how much he's grown. Max (the dog) seemed a bit confused with Max (the boy) in his house but was, as usual, incredibly well behaved and very tolerant of this little monster running around. Max spent a good amount of time getting his Aunts to read to him, and Bobbie Jo and I tried to relax as best as we could. The three of us did some exploring of the 15 acres. Max ran alot, but there was a lot we didn't get to. He'll have a blast up there when he's a bit older.
Unfortunately, the stay was under 24 hours. We said our goodbyes, and piled into the family truckster to head back to GR. Max was incredible the entire way home. He did hit mommy with a small plastic golf club he had recently acquired, but didn't cry or fuss the whole trip-I'd say that's a win!Iit was a quick and busy weekend, but it was nice to get away. And I think Max had a blast.

Our Sixth Anniversary

I can't believe its been six years. I love you honey, thanks for picking me.

-James

Baby

We're starting to get a little sick of the "baby" thing.

Max thinks that lots of things are babies. Actual babies of course, small animals, and flowers to name a few. You have absolutely NO IDEA how many flowers and plants there are until your child points at every single one, and says "baby?" (there's an inflection at the end that seems to indicate a question).

On the upside, he is learning some new words ("light" and "teeth"), and he's frequently mimicking words that we say to him. In the last few days he's made a singular attempt at:

• umbrella
• spiderman (which made dad very happy)
• belly button

I'm sure there are others, but I can't think of them right now. I can tell you, it's getting more fun by the week.

Bellybutton

A few days ago, Max discovered his bellybutton.

We try to give him his "naked time" (diaper only) for 30 minutes or so every night before he goes to bed. He usually runs amok and tends to be even goofier when he isn't confined in his clothes. He started to bend forward, resting his head on the ground, twisting himself around in lots of uncomfortable looking positions. We figured he was just being strange (not uncommon). We realized he was trying to see his bellybutton.

Yesterday I asked him "where his belly button was". He looked down and started to tug at his shirt, a onesie, which he couldn't get off. He became quite frustrated. I think he believes that when he has a shirt on, he has no bellybutton.

17 months old, and never noticed it before. It's amazing all that he observes, and learns, and some of the things that he hasn't.

The Park

It's only a few blocks away, so we'll often walk up to Breton Downs Elementary School (my alma matter) so that Max can play on the playground. He has a blast running wild and eating woodchips. Here are a few pictures from today.

Disney Max

Thanks for doing this Steve!
I've always thought this picture looked like it needed this treatment.