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.

Easter 2011

Max got his first Easter "bucket" in the mail a few days early.  We let him open it and he loved everything in it(Especially the card and yogurt melts)!  Thanks Grandma!

Easter morning began with Max playing with his new wagon(thanks moo moo!!).  After we got dressed for Church we let Max dig into his goods(the sliver egg once contained my engagement ring when Scott proposed).  Yes he did get a lot, not everything was from us, but hey GO BIG OR GO HOME!

After church we went to Neen's for lunch.  We took the traditional Easter pics outside and then ate a great lunch.  No Easter egg hunting this year. 

And he's off!!!

That is right Max is now a crawler!!  Well.....more of a scooter, but he is getting places!  Scott always calls me after he picks up Max and give's me a report of his day.  Well today I got news that I was happy about but also sad about.  Max crawled!  I was happy because he is growing up, but sad that I missed a first.  When I got home the first thing I did was try to get him to crawl.  I laughed as he scooted towards me.  He keeps his left leg bent in front of him and his right leg behind him to push as he pulls with his arms in a sitting position.....please try at home :)  In the past few days he has been all over the house and testing his limits!  One GREAT thing about Max moving about is he now follows us and doesn't scream if we leave the room.

Flat J

We had a little tagalong on our trip to NYC...Flat J...of as I called her Little J.  Here is her blog post from a friend from High School's blog.

8 months old!!

Our sweet Max is 8 months old!!  He is changing so much!!  He wants to crawl so bad...but isn't quite yet.  He has started with separation anxiety.  If we walk out of the room and leave he, he scream until you come back.  On this note he has also become very stubborn(wonder where that comes from...Scott), and he has a very short temper(yes that is from me).  Another habit he has developed is not eating out of a bottle.  The only way he will eat milk is if he nurses from me.  He locks his lips and shakes his head no when he sees a bottle.  We have tried a couple sippy cups, but he hasn't figured out how to use them yet.  I have been quite stressed about this because he needs the milk more than food.  Because he does not eat milk all day as soon as I walk in the door he cry's till I nurse him, and then he is up every 2-4 hours to nurse during the night.  Max loves patty cake and is a good clapper.  He loves his books but would rather open and close them, then let us read them to him.  Happy 8 months to our Max!!

Max's 8 mo pics will be taken the middle of the month, so hopefully we will have pic for the blog soon :)

Michigan trip

A few days after getting back from the city, Max and I hopped another plane to visit some of my family in Michigan.  Scott just had a week off of work so he couldn't take more time off.  My cousin Kelly had her first baby Feb 1st and I was so excited to go and meet him!  I was a bit nervous about flying alone with Max because Scott has become the baby whisperer when it comes to getting Max to sleep, and we all know a crying baby on a plane is no fun.



Max asleep in his carseat on the plane

Max did good!  A few screams but nothing major and the flight was a success!  However getting through security was a task!  I had Max, his diaper bag, carseat and stroller, and my pump.  Everything but Max and I had to go on the belt through the xray machine.  So I became the one handed wonder and got everything folded up and on the belt(including my shoes) and we didn't even have to be grooped, or scanned!  FYI- you can bring breastmilk through security as long as you go through the family line and let them know(they do some kind of test to make sure it won't explode...nothing major).

Once we arrived safely in MI, my uncle picked us up, and the visiting commenced.  Little Jack is sooo sweet!!  Jack and Max are 6 mo apart in age.  Kelly's bro and I were 2 days apart and were very close when we were younger.  I hope that even though they live hundreds of mils away they will still be close. 

 My mom drove down from northern MI and we stayed with her at a hotel for a couple nights.  We drove around a little and stopped in Hell(MI), for the needed tourist pics.  Now at one point in my life my dad lived just outside of Hell and when we stayed with him we cam to Hell all the time.  LOL it still cracks me up!  We also went to IKEA(yes I now have an obsession).  IKEA was a little rough on my mom due to her having to walk with crutches.  She broke part of her pelvis a few weeks before and is supposed ot be non weight bearing on her left leg.  They did have a wheel chair she could use but she was stubborn.

All together we had a great trip!!  I wish we lived closer so I could see Jack more often!

On a side note my mom did not have a safe drive home.  She rolled her car twice(thanks ice and snow).  She had an angel looking after her.  Her car was totaled and she walked away(after they helped her climb out the back of the car) with only a few scratches. 

A spoon full of NYC

Scott and I were just sitting here trying to decide on a title for this blog...An empire state of mind, taking a bite out the the big apple, send our regards to Broadway, New York New York, planes trains and automobiles...and so many other options....

Spring break for Scott so far has always fallen on our anniversary week and we love to travel so we planned a big trip this year....NYC!!  I have been to the city several times and Scott has been there now 3 times.  We both love it!!!  This would be our first BIG trip with Max(we went to FL in Oct) and his first time tot he city.  We decided to bring him with us first of all because I am still nursing, second that would be a long time to be away from him, and third we though he would be a good traveler.

We started our trip off with Max's first airplane ride.  I booked us a flight with a layover because I thought Max would get antsy on a long flight and a short one with a break would be better....I was wrong.  The first flight went well until we started to land, the pressure got to his ears and he was the screaming baby on the plane for about 5 min(puffs to the rescue!).  He did much better on our other flight and on the way home(we made sure to get him to sleep before we started to land).  Once we got to NYC(2hours late...thanks delayed flight) we got in the taxi.  Now in NYC a baby does not have to ride in a car seat while in a taxi or on public transportation.  This made us a bit nervous but Max enjoyed his car ride being help by mama.  After checking into the hotel(loved our hotel, great staff, free breakfast, good location) we headed off to Brooklyn to say hi to the Berry's.  That involved Max's fist subway ride!  In a matter for 24 hours Max experienced his first airplane, taxi, and subway train.

Our first full day we spent walking around(we stayed downtown NYC-Financial district...LOVE IT!) and we eventually made it to Times Square and had lunch then hopped on a double decker bus for a little sight seeing.  We went back to Brooklyn for dinner. 

The next day Scott and I went to see Mary Poppins on Broadway.  Max stayed with the Berry's.  Macy is like a little momma and sweet Hudson though Max was their new pet and kept calling him like he calls their cat.  Nikki said they had a great time and Max was super good for them.  Now Nikki always talks about how they go to IKEA(a furniture store) and eat.  I had to check this place out so Scott and I hopped a water taxi and headed back to the Brooklyn IKEA.  After eating dinner...yes I am still amazed that they have a restaurant in the middle of a furniture store, oh and it is good and super cheap, we browsed the store. I was also quite impressed that IKEA has a children's restroom that has a place in it for me to nurse!  I actually had privacy to feed him there!

Unfortunately we had a day of rain, plus 36 degree weather.  We decided to stay in until it got a little nicer so Max wasn't outside for too long.  We missed our lunch date at Lombardi's Pizza so we went for a early dinner.  So glad we did get to go, the BEST pizza we have ever had!  After dinner we made it back up town for some browsing on 5th Ave.  We went to Dylan's Candy Bar and FAO Schwartz.  At FAO Schwartz we saw them making Whatnots.  Whatnots are Muppet's...but not he real Muppet's.  We decided Max just HAD to have one so......Meet Bernie!

Our last day in the city we met up with Nikki and Hudson, did a little shopping, and a whole lot of walking.  It was actually a pretty nice day and we got to see a lot of our fav city.

Now Max did great!  He is a great traveler!  I was so proud of our little man.  He rode in a stroller great and just rolled with the flow!  I am completely over any shyness while nursing him...he was nursed on the plane, tour bus, airport, restaurants(in the booths), hotel lobby, dressing rooms.  If he had to eat I just fed him...oh well :)

We can not wait to go back...New York we miss you!