Maxyboy...half a year old!

Our big guy had his 6 month check up on Monday...and sadly, we found out his right ear is infected!  Ever since he had his double ear infection just before 4 months old, he hasn't been the great sleeper he once was.  Lately, he's been waking up in the night multiple times and will often squirm and arch his back and cry (though some of the times, he just seems to want to be held).  During every bad night, I became convinced something was wrong and planned to call the doctor in the morning...but then he'd wake up so happy and be wonderful all day.  His appetite didn't change, he never had a fever, he played happily, he napped well...ugh, kids are so tricky!  I feel terrible that he was enduring the ear infection but we've got an antibiotic now so he's on the mend!  And the doctor gave us some advice about sleep training once he's back to 100% - we need to get him out of our room and back to sleeping through the night (waking only once to eat)...

He weighed in at 18.75 pounds, putting him at 70%
He's pretty tall, too - 27.25 inches aka 76%

Look at this growing boy!

He was still able to get his immunizations despite the ear infection so he had three shots in his big fat legs - and he really wasn't a fan...(who would be?) - but he didn't cry long.  We could tell he was a little uncomfortable so we kept up with the Tylenol doses through the day after.  He was a little grouchier than usual, but no fever or other side effects.

He saw Dr. Brokaw Tuesday and he loved him!  Max was cooing and babbling up a storm.  The doc said second kids tend to be on the move a little quicker - trying to keep up with older siblings.  He asked if Max is sitting up (he is) and if he's gotten in or almost in a crawling stance (he has). 
He was impressed with all of his babbling and said he may be more oral/vocal earlier.  Any guesses on what Maxy's first word will be?  Lucy's was "duck" which was odd...but nice since it wasn't "mama" or "daddy" so neither Dave nor I could claim to be her favorite...I guess ducks were her favorite!  I'll bet "Lucy" will be his first word...

He loves watching her and she loves having his attention!  Sometimes she'll look over at him and exclaim, "He's so handsome!" or "Maxy just picked that toy up all by himself...good job, buddy!"  I love that!

He can sit up now...but he leans pretty far forward most of the time!

He loves being in the exersaucer and the jumperoo...Lucy liked them as a baby, but for fairly short periods of time - and she still liked to have our attention while in there.  Max hangs out in his for long stretches in his own little world...

At 5 months old, I had to start supplementing with formula...I just can't quite pump as much milk as this hungry hippo seems to require...I fought it as long as I could - drinking gallons of water, pumping 4 times a day at work plus in the middle of the night, taking vitamins that are supposed to boost production - but I had to realize that I wasn't failing him by not giving him 100% breast milk...I'd be failing him if I didn't give him enough to eat!  So on weekends and in the evenings he still nurses exclusively - but at the sitter, he has a little bit of formula mixed in here and there.

We've also introduced some foods...he's been eating cereal for over a month now and has recently tried some fruits and veggies...

"Stop taking pictures and start putting more sweet potatoes in my mouth!"



 

"Yummmmm...carrots!"

So far, he's had sweet potatoes, carrots, bananas, pears and a blend of corn, carrots and pumpkin.  He's loved everything!  He doesn't exactly get mad at me if I don't feed him fast enough, but he definitely gives me a look - and opens his mouth a little wider.  Last night, he tried green beans.  And last night, he learned he has the meanest mama on earth (aka, he did NOT like the green beans...there were lots of tears...)

Lucy lived in the baby swing...she took most of her naps in the swing and we put her in there at night a lot, too.  Max has always been an easy-going sleeper (except over night these last 2 months) and will nap anywhere so we never much used the swing.  Our house is over-populated with stuff anyway so we decided to pack the swing away to make space for the jumperoo.  Turns out, this guy uses the heck out of the swing at Ms. Shelly's house and loves it...oops, sorry, buddy!  We have been putting him in this little lamb infant seat more lately and he seems to be a fan of that.

This guy!  He loves sitting up!  Such a big guy!  I gave him a bath last night and had him sitting up so I could wash his stinky neck and he was splashing with his hands like a mad man!  He actually got upset when I laid him back down...until he realized he could make just as many splashes by kicking...

His hair is still reddish but it's in short supply these days...it has thinned out and disappeared on the sides but it's still plentiful in the strip in the center...so yes, his hair seems to naturally grow into a Mohawk!

We've been getting out more of Lucy's old toys, including this gem Lucy got from her Grandma...Max loves it as much as big sis did!

We also brought the high chair back up - he knows he's a big boy and he thinks it's pretty darn cool!

 

My new favorite picture of my baby guy...could he BE any cuter?!



Disney on Ice - Princesses and Heroes

We took our girl to Disney on Ice on November 9.  We didn't tell her anything about it - just that we were going on an adventure just for her (Max hung out with my parents) and that she was going to love it.  I told her she could wear her Elsa costume if she wanted and she was pretty happy to agree.

The Bengals were home that day and there was a ton of traffic in the area and we were sweating bullets as we just sat in traffic and time kept ticking away.  Finally Dave told us girls to get out of the car and head on in so she wouldn't miss the beginning.  She's been to US Bank arena twice before - once to see a Mickey show with me, Katie and Sam and once to see the circus but I wasn't quite sure if she'd remember the place.  When we were still sitting in the car, we saw lots of people heading in - and lots of little ladies in princess costumes.  I could tell she was getting so curious and so excited!

As soon as we walked in and had our tickets scanned, she exclaimed, "Are we at a show?!  I love shows!"  Too cute!  I had happened upon a 35% off coupon hanging on a bulletin board at my work which afforded us pretty great seats so Lucy and I headed on down...and Dave made it inside with over 5 minutes to spare!  Hooray!

Lucy didn't ask us to buy her anything at Mickey or at the circus...but almost as soon as we got to Disney on Ice, she spotted snow cones...and she couldn't get them off her mind.  She kept asking and I told her we could get one at intermission (or "the break," as I referred to it).  She was loving the show and was pretty captivated but every once in awhile she'd ask, "When is the break?" or "When can I get my snow cone?"  Finally break time - aka snow cone time - came...and that dang thing cost about as much as one of the tickets to the show!  But it was clearly worth it to her - she ate / drank every last drop!  And she has some cool souvenirs - an Ariel cup and an Olaf straw!

Happy Halloween!

These crazy kids had a happy Halloween...hopefully you did, too!
They each had a lot of Halloween gear to wear in the days (weeks) leading up to Halloween:

I realize this looks a little crazy but, hey, we like to be festive!
Max's stuff was handed down from his big sis, bought at consignment shops or gifted to him.
Most of Lucy's stuff was bought at consignment shops or on clearance after Halloween last year.  I was especially excited to get those pink Carter skeleton pajamas for her on clearance at Meijer last November for $2.80!

Big guy is always very curious about what the rest of his family is up to so he definitely got in on pumpkin carving:

Lucy was pretty excited about it this year, too:

We had gotten a pumpkin at both of the patches we'd visited in October but one of them had started to mold - before we could even carve it!  So on pumpkin carving night, Lucy and I headed up to Kroger to get a replacement - and one more pumpkin.  The pumpkins were out front in those huge bins...but little Lucy had very specific ideas about what she was looking for and made me take pumpkin after pumpkin out of those bins (and then put them back in) before she was presented with the perfect choices.

One of the pumpkins was quite plump...I kept eyeballing it as it sat on our table thinking I'll bet Maxy would fit inside of that thing...and then Dave cut the lid off pretty wide and I just knew he'd fit.  We all got a kick out of this:

Lucy decided she wanted Daddy to carve a giraffe (for her), an owl (for Max) and she wanted me to carve a scary face.  I think we did very well!

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I saw this lion costume at a consignment sale and couldn't resist it.  Turns out the boy had more than enough costumes but I had to stick him in it for a photo op!

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Halloween was cold and rainy and yucky - what else is new??
Early that week, we had 80 degree days, but come Halloween, we were back down below 50.  The weather sure couldn't keep my kids down, though!

We went to my Aunt Terri & Uncle John's house again this year so Lucy could trick-or-treat with a bunch of friends.  She was one of three Elsa's (Lucia and Ellen were also queens of Arendelle) and had fun with an Indian (Rose), a cowgirl (Lilly), Jessie from Toy Story (Ash), Mario (Sam), a monster (Evan), a dinosaur (Luke), a monkey (Troy) a storm trooper (Jarred) and a ninja (Nicholas).  Fun crowd!

I must admit, I tried to discourage Lucy from being Elsa just a little bit...first of all, the Minnie costume was so cute...but also, I knew there would be dozens of other Elsas (I mean, there were three in one house!)...plus I wanted her and Max to be something together.  When it became clear that she was definitely going to be Elsa, Max had to adjust.

We've had this snowman costume since Lucy was a baby and I challenged GranJan to transform it into Olaf...and she did not disappoint.  I cannot believe how AMAZING it turned out!

 

Frozen friends!



Max did go outside, but of course he fell asleep pretty quickly.  He was nice and toasty in his Olaf suit and was covered up in his stroller...Lucy was ready to go, though, and definitely didn't let the cold stop her!

She kept the wig on for a few houses but it was just as well when she wanted it off - because then I could put the winter hat on her!  Brr!



She was so happy!  And having so much fun!



Happy Halloween!