Teeth

Max has started grinding his teeth. Any suggestions? (It's like nails on a chalkboard!)

The no-pacifier is going well. He still cries when you put him down but usually not for more than 60 seconds. He cried for a few minutes (up to 10 or 15 minutes) the first few days we took it away. Day 4 was harder than any other day. I've tried to give it to him during the day when he's just being loud and he throws it back at me so I think we're done with it. I'm glad we did it now when he wasn't very attached. He had one nightmare since taking it away and it took me 20 minutes to get him back down instead of the usual 5 seconds to give him the binky, but that was okay too.

Pictures of Max

Chris's sister Erin took some pictures of Max for me last weekend while we were in town. They turned out so CUTE!!!

Max and Lyla had fun playing on the piano afterwards.

Max was even willing to try to give Lyla a kiss!

And these below are my absolute favorites.

Max is usually so smiley that you can hardly get a shot without a big, cheesy, wrinkled-nose grin. I had woken him up to do this shoot though and he was pretty mellow and wouldn't smile as much as usual. You wouldn't know it from these pictures though. Erin still got some GREAT shots and I think my kid is even more absolutely adorable.

Family Reunion Weekend

We went to Utah County this last weekend. Chris took work off on Friday so that he could go car shopping all day. He didn't have any luck though so we're still a one-car family. Oh well - hopefully soon. It was also nice to have the extra time to visit and make the trip extend a little longer. My sister-in-law took pictures of Max Friday morning (which are on Facebook and I will post some on here soon), we got to see my sisters on Friday night, Chris went horseback riding Saturday morning, we went to the family reunion Saturday night, and went to a double baby blessing Sunday night. It was a very full (but FUN!) weekend and I'm still tired.
My sister is due about 3 weeks after me. Chris took Max around on Magic. Max seemed to like it and smiled and giggled a few times. He wouldn't look at the camera for a picture though as he was too fascinated by the animal beneath him.

I got on and rode twice around the arena. I was surprised at how little I felt the weight of the pregnancy at first. The horses are Tennessee Walkers and have a very smooth gait. However, I started to feel it by the end of twice around the arena and was glad I hadn't gone on the ride. I remember trying with Max and it hurting too much to go far.

By the way - it would be cool if the horse was trained to raise its foot like that but it is actually stomping it in nervousness to go and Chris just happened to catch the foot raised in the shot above.

We pet Dancer afterwards. He was one of the horses we had with us in St. George for awhile and I really love that horse.

We took the dogs to the family reunion and the kids had a blast playing with them. They wore the dogs out too which was GREAT. My niece, Madeline, seemed to like Thatch especially.

Every kid had to have a turn walking the dogs too. Murphy will go with any child anywhere but Thatch had to be dragged away from Chris and me. He's kind of attached...

It was a beautiful park with a pond. Max loved feeding the ducks but we didn't get any pictures. Here I am below 30 weeks pregnant :) 75% of the way there!

Madeline and Max playing with Thatch and the dirt.

Max doesn't really like grass so he stayed mostly in the mulch and got very dirty. It was surprisingly chilly but Emily brought this sweater for Max and I think it's so CUTE. I now have one pair of pants for him and one sweater. It's hard for me to go shopping for long sleeves and pants when it's still 100 degrees outside! and will be for awhile.

During the second baby blessing Max launched himself at his cousin Tanner who was sitting next to him on the grass. Max isn't very shy and LOVED playing with his cousins. He especially liked his 21-year-old cousin Cody. He laughed at anything Cody did, played with him, sat on his lap, and "talked" to him. I wish I had gotten a picture.

Max also loved his cousins that were born just months before him. He's finally old enough to sit with them and was fascinated by these little people his age. I really need to find him some playmates down here. I wish Max could see his cousins more often. It's so neat to have so many cousins close to his age.

Pacifiers

We've talked to lots of different people about when to get rid of the binky. The majority seem to think around 15 months is best and Max just turned 15 months a few days ago. We're going away this weekend but when we come back we are going to try to get rid of it. Any suggestions??? He only takes it during naps and nighttime (and usually just to fall asleep) so we will probably start with naps first. Do I just let him cry it out? He already has a blanket and a stuffed bear that he falls asleep with so I can't replace the binky with something else soothing. Is it like potty training where I should try to wait until he's ready? I don't want him to get any more attached to it. Is there any sign that he's ready? Should I stop trying if he screams for a really long time or has major meltdowns or something? One of the main reasons I want to start now is that a dentist friend said it's better to get rid of the binky now rather than later.

My biggest fear is the middle of the night after a nightmare or while he's teething. It seems very soothing to him and calms him right down. What do I do then? He doesn't seem to be teething too bad right now so this may be a good time.

Here Come the Owies

A few of you commented on how Max will fall down A LOT while he learns to walk and I just want you to know that I believed you.

Max's head has been covered in bruises ever since he started crawling (sometimes he doesn't look up at where he's going) and I know it's just going to get worse. A few months ago a friend, who is a nurse at the ER, and I were talking about how some people may look at your child covered in bumps and bruises and may judge you as neglectful. Her comment was, "I'm usually watching right there as my child face plants, runs into the wall, coffee table, or does anything else. I just can't catch him!"
This is what happened last night. Chris was sitting right next to the tub and while Chris reaching for the soap, Max tried to stand up and slipped. He hit his eye just right so that he now has his first black eye.
Below: Last night within 20 minutes of the fateful fall.

As I've watched Max try to pull himself up on anything that isn't soft and cushioned, I've thought how easily he could slip and we could end up in the ER the rest of the day getting stitches. It just happens so FAST! But what do you do? You can't hold onto your child every time they go near a hard surface, can you? Well, I'm sure someone does.

We didn't go to the doctor for this eye. Chris called the instacare but I told him to just take a picture and email it to one of our moms. After 6 kids of her own, I know my mom knows a thing or two about head injuries and I'm sure Chris's mom does too. He talked to a medical assistant anyway, we checked for a concussion, watched him and within minutes he was smiling and okay. Chris felt bad though. When someone asked him my reaction he was dead on when he replied, "I think she was just glad she wasn't the one watching him." I know I'll have my turn plenty of times to come.

Below: Smiling after he realized the camera was out. He always smiles for the camera!This morning the bruise had moved to cover most of his eye and he's a little squinty now. Still happy though!

When he smiles, the eye almost completely shuts so here's a non-smiling picture of Max.

And another smiling picture because the camera was out :)

Chris is trying to teach him how to say "You should see the other guy!"