Swiming to Clarksville

Ok so the title is a bit stupid, but it is hard to come up with something creative and jazzy every time.

Anyways this past weekend started bright and early in the pool at Patterson Park.  Max LOVED being in the pool!  He did great!  Still kicking away, jumping off the edge, and even grabbing toys under the water.  When the instructor held the toy under the water in front of Max not only did he grab it he put his face in the water too.  The instructor said that he was brave!

After we got home and ready off to Clarksville we went to visit some of my family.  We hung out at my Uncle Donnies then went to the Blackhorse pub for some yummy pizza(they apparently also have great beer!).  My dad and Vicki also drove up so they met us there.  After lunch we went to my Great Aunt Katye's.  She is 93 and the family historian.  She can tell you anything about the Shelton side and can trace any member back as far as you want her to go.  This was Max's first time to meet her.  After visiting we high tailed it back to the boro so we could get ready for the Eagleville FFA banquet.

Hey guess what I am a member of the Eagleville FFA Alumni!  LOL! I still think that is funny!  Me and farming and tractors...ha!  Never done it but I will support all the kids in which this program helps.

9mo Dr Visit

Yesterday Max had his checkup.  He is weighing in at 18lbs 6oz and is now 27 inches long!  He is still in the 10-25th percentile but now at the bottom edge of that.  I contribute that to his no longer eating milk out of a bottle or sippy cup, and on day's I am home is isn't nursing as well.  Dr. B wasn't concerned though.  He said if Max falls off the curve then we will worry.  Dr B does want us to push the Milk factor in the sippy cup.  No more water.  He also said I can stop feeding him all night along if I want.  I now have the Dr's permission I was wanting to just rock him back to sleep or let him cry some when he wakes up 3-5 times a night.  Scott has been telling me this all along, but I wanted the Dr to tell me :)

We also asked Dr B what foods Max can not eat.  I have read a lot of different things on what foods are DO NOT FEED UNTIL A YEAR OLD.  Here is a link to a AAP article. Dr B said the only foods at this point Max can not have are honey, eggs, and peanut butter.  If he is going to have an allergic reaction, he will, it does not matter his age.  By delaying the foods you are just delaying the reaction. So we are gonna start introducing some of those allergen foods(such as strawberry's).  Dr B also said that if Max weans himself from nursing before our next appointment we can start him on whole milk.....however I have a freezer full of BM so he will have to go through that before we start him on whole milk.

Max has met all of his developmental milestones and at his next appointment should either be walking or close to it.

Max didn't have to have any shots this appointment(but will with his 1 year checkup), but did have blood work done.  They were testing him for anemia and lead.  Dr. B called me a little while later and did tell me that Max's Hemoglobin was 10.5 and he wants it above 11 so he was calling in a multivitamin with iron and fluoride.

Cheking out his bandaide after having his finger pricked

Mothers Day weekend

The weekend started out with Max's 1st swim lesson.  We are taking them every Sat morning in May at Patterson Park.  He loved it!  Our first lesson consisted of me pulling him through the water, playing in the shallow end, laying him on his belly and getting him to kick, laying him on his back and getting him to kick, and trying to get him "jump" off the edge of the pool into the water(my arms).  Max was a pro, not a single cry.  He was kicking and "jumping" into the pool!  Scott was afraid he would hate it, but Max loves a bath so I thought he would be just fine.

After we got home and Max got his morning nap I headed to Columbia to the Maury County Park so Max could ride the trains. They usually come once or twice a year and it is free for the public to ride.  We met up with my dad, Vicki, Kristen and the kids.  Luckily my dad has a few connections and we didn't have to wait in line to ride :)  About halfway through the ride(about 15-20min) it started to rain...I felt like mother of the year with my baby in a onesie and shorts out in the rain.  It didn't start raining really hard until we got off so we lucked out.  After the park we all went to cracker barrel for a little bite and then Max and I headed home.

Sunday morning(Mothers day) while we were getting ready for Church Max gave me my present.  I got a little charm for my mom necklace with his birthstone(exactly what I picked out...good job Max).  After Church we just had lunch then hung out at the house until Scott's mom came over and we had Toots for dinner.  Toots gives mom's a free piece of cheesecake on mother day :)

I truly enjoyed my first mothers day!!

9 months old!

These last few week have gone by in a blur and I am making myself sit down and do some blogging so I do not forget!  Max turned 9mo old on May 3rd.  I am so amazed in what a little stinker he is becoming.  Now that he is crawling  scooting, he is everywhere!  He hasn't pulled himself all the way up yet but will pull himself up to his knee's. 

Max loves to open and close anything, cabinets, drawers, doors.  So far he hasn't gotten into what is inside the drawers, but it is coming!  He also loves a string or cord(and has for a while now), however now that he is mobile- lamps beware!!  We have for the most part baby proofed, meaning there are still a few places he can get into that we don't want him to.  For example the China cabinet- I do not want to put the door stopper things on the bottom cabinets so we have pushed the dining room chairs up to it to deter him.  We have been telling him no when he goes where he isn't supposed to and for the most part it is working.  I like to say to him "Max are you sure you are supposed to be doing that??" and he will sit there for a moment and then scoot off.  I realize that will not always happen, but am enjoying it for now.  We will also say to Max come on, follow us, or we are in the kitchen....and a few minutes later here he comes.  We also get a laugh when the oven beeper goes off, no matter where Max is he yells.  He will keep yelling until we go to the oven.  I like to think he is telling us the oven is done---or he is imitating the sound.  Oh and the newspaper...I think that is his favorite toy!  Ripping up the paper makes his day!

We have been doing a few words in sign language for a while now and Max has finally started doing some of them back.  The one he is best at is "all done".  He even is trying to say all done(well he makes a noise that we think sounds like it).  We need to start doing a few more signs.

Max has also become a self-feeder!! Well not his baby food, but puffs, yogurt melts, and other little pieces of food we give him.  We have really been working with the sippy cup and he has finally started to drink from the take and toss kind.  They are not leak proof and he can't hold it and drink from it by himself but it is a step in the right direction.  We have tried 3 other types of sippy cups and he just will not suck from them.  We will try again once he has this kind down pat.  The only thing he will drink from his cup is water(he loves it!)....rarely can we get him to drink any milk from it.

Not sure if I mentioned in his 8mo post or not but Max's fav word is da da da da da da da....he will say it all day long.  I try and say ma ma ma ma ma...but no luck yet.