Highlights

Okay- so I haven't posted in a long time because I've been continuously trying to load the same damn picture from Father's Day over and over again in an attempt to write a post about it. Sadly my computer is randomly cranky about uploading photos- I think it has to do with the connection- but I just got wireless so I don't know what else I can do. Anywho- in light of the picture disaster and all the stuff that's happened since I am going to just do a highlight reel type post- some of you are probably relieved. :) If some of the photos are wonky- so be it.

Father's Day- really nice wake-up in bed with 3 bears after Max and I do side by side feeding- Jack gets to play with Max in his adorable new jammies.

Jack requests pancakes, eggs and sausage for breakfast- it's really yummy. The pancakes are not from scratch- they are in a spray can like whipped cream- but they're organic and tasty and pretty convenient.

We pack up and go to my family reunion- which is really our Father's Day gift to our Dad- to have his girls with their babies in such a special place on such a special day. We also got him a yoga gift certificate.

While we're up there we get a cool pic with the other twins in our family tree (or at least the closest ones) Burt and Clay. Burt is now the proud father of three gorgeous little girls- one of which is being held here by her uncle Clay. Both of those girls are 2 months older than Max. My question is, are all boys a bit bigger or is Max individually huge?

The next day we got Thor professionally groomed- he had basically never done this before. We took him to a Grandmom and Grandpop operation in San Marcos, but she requested that Jack stay and help her with our overly large cocker spaniel and it was just not the same as an anonymous professional place without Mommy or Daddy there. It didn't go well and so for the next 6 years or so Jack and I always groomed him at home with some clippers we bought and scissors and stuff. It was quite the production and we never did a very good job because Thor was not particularily co-operative. So, you can imagine our surprise and delight to have the groomer at Petsmart declare Thor "one of the best cockers [she's] ever groomed." Yippee!!! I don't have to forcibly groom an unwilling dog anymore! We also discovered that A. Thor really likes those cow hoof chewies and B. He's fatter than we thought he was under all that hair.

Max turned 4 months old! He sleeps between 11 and 12 hours every night by himself and he has just recently started rolling over completely- he still sometimes gets stuck for awhile and frustrated but he generally works it out. He also likes to stand for a long time if you hold his hands for balance. His favorite games are peek-a-boo and when we pretend to eat him.

I amuse myself slightly at Max's expense when I discover that he'll leave this horse on his forehead for quite awhile- I have a million pictures- but this is one of the best.

I also amuse myself with his adorable little hat that Selah gave him because it goes with the outfit that is extra wide and does not fit her lean baby. While making fascinators, I stick a stray leaf on top for a little green apple effect- so cute. :)

Mine and Selah's 31st Birthday! We have in the past thrown many and huge themed get-together but with babies we take it easy and go to our Parent's house where Mum is making us dinner. I really cherish showers now that I'm a mama and I have this nice robe from my mother in law and these turbie twists for my hair and I feel so fancy like I'm in a salon in the 40's when I wear the matched set. I feel like Esther Williams.

We put Max-o in a little outfit that Grandma Cat bought him and sadly I think we waited too long as it is really difficult to get him in and out of and is a bit snug on his chubby legs.

But at least we get a few pics of it....

Before he lets us know that he would prefer nuditity for a little while. Yay Naked-Time! He gets this every day- usually in his diaper so he doesn't pee on us. Dicey likes to touch his head- it's very sweet- she seems fascinated by him- he hasn't particularily noticed her yet but if you lay them next to each other they'll sometimes hold hands like that video of the otters a while back.

This is my Dad's hand- not Jack's- Max tends to make funny faces when you squish his cheeks.

So, Father's Day=Good, Birthday=Good- I will try to do more frequent postings and ignore the occasional janky photo so I don't get so behind again.

New Stuff

Because Max-o is so good on his legs (holding most if not all of his weight if you balance him) we thought it was time for an exersaucer.
We bought one at Target that just happened to match our playmat- so that's fun. Jack put it together for us and Max plays in it a few times a day- he's not doing it for too long yet- but it's another option for him when he's restless- so that's cool. Instead of his feet touching the floor they rest on a bungee corded platform that has different levels that it can be adjusted to as Max's legs get longer- so that's cool- maybe he can use it for longer because of that.

Sometimes when I take off his onesie I leave it around his head and then when I pick him up again it stays there like a little turban- of course this cracks me up and I always want to take pictures- here he is having roll-around time complete with his fancy headgear.

As you can see he has recently totally "discovered" his feet and he now grabs them pretty much any chance he gets. Usually right after his diaper comes off because he's less hindered by clothing and such- that's when he generally gets moved to the floor so he can have a little workout. He's trying really hard to get those feet to his mouth but so far he generally grabs the tip of his toes and then his hand is in the way when he brings them to his face.

Also- had to post this cute pic. We give him a bath every night A. Because frankly if we don't all his little rolls get sweaty and can start to smell not so fresh and B. Because it's a great way to keep him calm and wind him down happily for his bedtime (7 pm). Plus it is a great tool to buy a little time in case he gets cranky earlier than normal so he'll still go down around 7- he sleeps about 11-12 hours every night and Mama doesn't like to wake up earlier than 6 :)

And now for something completely different.....

I got bangs cut for the first time since I was a kid- Selah and I grew ours out in 6th grade and have been all-one-length kind of girls for most of our adult lives. But now I'm very happy with my layers and new long side swept bangs. This photo is the first time I styled my hair from scratch on my own. I had to buy a bunch of stuff but none of it was too expensive and I'm pretty happy with my results. This may not seem like a big deal to very many people- but to go from a wash-and-wear non-hairstyle to something that needs to be "done" is a pretty major change. I'm cool with it though- still experimenting with all my options.

Visit with "Aunt" Kake and "Uncle" Leaf

It was Max's first car trip lasting longer than 30 minutes and he did rather well I'd say. I did end up crawling in the back and hugging the car seat so I could breastfeed while he was strapped in- but it was more preventative than out of desperation or anything- He napped some both ways and I didn't feel like I had to be in the backseat the whole drive or anything- so I view it as a success.

It was crazy to see how much San Marcos has changed since Jack and I were roaming the streets. Rivendell is no more *tear* and Paper Bear is downsizing! I never thought I'd see that day- I hope it is not a harbinger of things to come- those were/are two of my very favorite things about San Marcos. I was able to stop at Paper Bear and get a magnificent sunhat and a couple more charms that I'd been wanting for my bracelet- they are hard to find these days!

The endangered wild grass that grows in the river is now so prolific in one spot it's basically an island and yet people are still tubing around it. Maybe it's only me that has a paralyzing fear of underwater plant life.....

Anywho- I digress.

It's always lovely to visit these folks- I've known Kaite since 1993? (correct me if I'm wrong sweetie) and even though we have lived far away from each other a lot of that time every time I visit it's the same old friend dynamic no matter how much time has passed. I really treasure that.

We had a nice time catching up and playing show and tell- there's always so much to see and taste and admire at their home. Max had a great time- meeting new people and animals- he was very well-behaved if I do say so myself- he even took a regular length nap in our little foldable travel "bed" in one of their bedrooms- yippee! It's always a gamble as to where, when, if and for how long your baby will be able to sleep.

As always- the food was delicious- Jack and I are now big fans of grilled pattipan squash and will be making some as soon as we see it for sale at our HEB.

Pippi discovered the joys of licking baby feet and Max's feet were the main attraction any time they were within reach- it was pretty funny- he didn't seem to mind one bit.

I got to see all of Kaite's current "house" chickens- (they have more on some land nearby) and they were delightful as always- I love Saffron so much and the two ladies (Helga and Ursula) I'd not previously met were glorious.
I would love to post more pictures as I have a ton but it has been a really long time since my last post and I'm having picture uploading woes. I just got wireless internet- I don't know why this is happening. Poo.

In closing- I got to bring home 2 good sized boxes of eggs from Kaite's chickens! She was delighted that they were not taking up room in her fridge anymore (she had been stockpiling them- I guess for me?) but she has no idea how thrilled I am to get them. A bunch of them had been in there for quite some time and so I'm in the process of blowing them out- I'm keeping count so I know how many she gave me and how many get lost in the process. If anyone knows anything about letting eggs dry out inside their shells let me know!

Yay eggs! Homegrown ones always dye better than the lame store ones- their shells are so thin and inconsistent. I'm really looking forward to making a bunch more pysanky with these. :)

These are all the extra special eggs that were in the mix- oh the interesting details we are spared from by our homogenized grocery store society....

Max admires Helga (I think). It's always so fun to walk through a yard with chickens milling around- they're so much less menacing then geese.

Max met Paul for the first time and seemed reasonably unfazed by his boisterousness- which is good- but then Max is generally unfazed. It was great to see Paul and I was glad to have him meet the little guy.

This is Max looking super adorable on Kaite's beautimous fabrics/quilts with his own little gingham number thrown in the mix- he was being fascinated and charmed by Kaite when this photo was taken- she's the best Faerie Godmother a kid could ever ask for. So, a wondrous time was had by all (at least the members of my little family) and as always it was like a little visit to some amalgamation of a faerie palace, a petting zoo, Little House on the Prairie, some kind of fantastical factory and a tattoo shop. Thanks for having us! We hope to be back soon and often :)

Latest Max news

Okay- Mission:Unswaddle is still going strong!
First night he went down easy at 7:50 pm and then woke up at 4:20 am- which is a big improvement over the previous swaddled night (2:30 wake-up). So that was 8.5 hours, then he went down again until around 7:30 am- so that's nearly 12 hours with just a 20 minute break- yay!
Last night he didn't go down until 9 pm but it was a victory in my eyes because instead of being super close to sleep when we put him down he actually was fussing a bit- tired noises and complaining a little for just shy of 10 minutes- but he then got quiet and fell asleep by himself! This is a huge step toward self-soothing- yippee!

He's down for another nap now and we only had one failed attempt (putting him down, but he's not tired enough so he cries for 10 minutes then I get him up again) before he went down today which is an improvement too. Hopefully his nighttime soothing will get better and better.
Last night he made tired little complainey noises for nearly 20 minutes before he started to sound like he meant it and I went in and fed him. It really sounded like he might go back to sleep last night (of course he didn't) but it seemed like he might be able to in the future. Maybe that's wishful thinking, I don't know- we'll see. He may have other plans for me.

We had a great time when Jack's Grandmother and Aunt Judee visited- they were on their way to visit Judee's first grandchild and Me-maw's first great-great-grandchild! They stopped in for a short little visit and Max was in mellow-mode, which is his 2nd best mode for visitors so that was good. Judee even sent us a nice little thank you card really quickly afterwards and they both complimented my tiny cluttered home so that was nice. :)

Max let Judee give him "sugars" without getting upset about a complete stranger up in his grill- so I was happy about that too.

Also, Godfather Lee was in town that weekend too so he stopped by for a quick visit after his martial arts class and got to see how much sturdier Max is than the last time he saw him- (Easter). Pretty soon *hopefully* Max will seem strong enough for Lee to touch him with his whole hand (or even hold him!) instead of just his finger. :)



Because my little Meatloaf is such a bag of sand he is starting to be able to "tripod sit". We started letting him do this on our bed last night and I got some good footage this morning. It's fun to do this sit-up game on the bed where he can flop over and face-plant repeatedly and not be bothered by it. I feel better now about hopefully having him sit in a Bumpo chair at the restaurant when we all go out for mine and Selah's birthday later this month.

I also took him to a spa-party with loads of strangers and lots of laughing and talking and he did really well- I had my Moby wrap that my sister is kindly letting me use and he fell fast asleep in it on my chest, handsfree! It was real sweet. He charmed all the ladies and was pretty quiet the whole time- though he did chime in a bunch during the hostess' little ad-talk for her products- they were all cute happy sounds so I don't think anyone minded.

Frustration and possible resolution

Dr. Michel Cohen wrote a book about parenting and medical stuffies for kiddos and I really like it. His philosophy is real mellow-go with the flow-don't worry so much-type parenting. ANywho- he writes that by 4 months old if your baby is not sleeping through the night on their own (10-12 hrs. straight) that it is going to be a bit difficult and that you will have to go through a few nights of screaming because you will have to commit to not soothing your child in the middle of the night. I am all for this- as hard as it will be if it comes to it. I don't want Max to expect me to wake up at 2 am for any longer than he already has.
With swaddling however- this strategy becomes more complicated, because if he wakes up I wonder if it's due to his swaddle and then feel like he needs it redone to get back to sleep. For the last week and a half or so Little Guy has been sleeping closer to 7 or 8 hrs instead of his aforementioned 9 or 10. This was started (I believe) by his swaddle coming undone or loose and him waking up. Two nights ago he woke up at 2:30 am (after going to sleep around 9) because his swaddle was loose again and then last night he woke up around 2:30 again with a swaddle that in my opinion was not loose enough to warrant waking up. I believe that he is starting to expect me to nurse him at 2:30 in the morning again and I don't want to go down that road.

Today I started Mission:Unswaddle

1. Max nurses until sleepy- gets put down unswaddled.
2. After listening to 15 minutes of tired crying and determining that he wasn't tired enough I go and pick him and up bring him out of his room and into the bright living room
3. I hold him upright and am comforting but not doing my normal sleep-soothing remedies.
4. I nurse him again until he starts to drift and the put him down unswaddled.
5. He cries more energetically for about 10 minutes
6. I get him up and out of his room again and nurse him in the living room- he is very sleepy and a bit cranky
7. When he starts to fall asleep I put him down unswaddled again - he makes a few noises but is soon asleep!

He slept for a little over 30 minutes, which is totally standard for his swaddled napping. When he woke up we -played and ate and changed his diaper etc. Around 2 pm he got fussy again and I nursed him and put him down and there was NO CRYING! Yippee!!! He's been asleep this time for about 30 minutes so far again! Swaddling is officially history! Because once it's gone you can't bring it back even once because that sets up the dreaded "Partial Reinforcement" cycle- and I refuse to let that happen.

I'll let you know how the nighttime goes......