BirthBlog

Monday's Child is Fair of Face

Max Kalman Robinson

• 4:22 pm Monday October 2nd 2006
• by Caesarean section
• 7 pounds 11 ounces, 21 inches
• right mentum posterior presentation

For just enough information (and much nicer pictures) see MaxRobinson

Below this line is probably way Too Much Information

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For those playing along at home, we expected the Nibblet to arrive before Monday, Oct 2, and started this blog as a way for people to keep track of how labor was progressing. We expected just to have a few updates to share. Here's how it actually went:

Backstory

Noemi was planning to birth at the Sage Femme birth center in the Mission in San Francisco. Despite the fact that first time moms generally have a longer gestational period than other pregnancies, the due date is still set for 40 weeks... Noemi's was based on ultrasound readings, and set for September 22nd. Midwife rules governing Sage Femme won't allow them to assist in a birth past 42 weeks, or 48 hours past the rupture of membranes. Tick tick tick.

The Nibblet, as he was known prior to birth, was quite content inside Noemi. At 41+ weeks, there were no signs of labor at all. And while Noemi and the Nib were content to wait, there was still clock/calendar pressure. So natural induction techniques were tried. At 41 weeks, Sage Femme requires antepartum tests to measure the amount of amniotic fluid and measure the heartbeat. Noemi's labwork and testing has all been at Kaiser, where she has out-of-pocket health insurance. The rest of her care has been at Sage Femme. On September 17, her work-sponsored health coverage via Blue Cross kicked in, but she currently does not have a member number.

Notes - to be added in later

Here are notes we made on paper - that will be added in where they belong when we have the chance.

• SF = Sage Femme, the birthing center
• SF tells me to schedule antepartum testing on friday, and then again on mon or tues at kaiser. made an appt for 2pm tues SF. SF tells me that i'm 50% effaced and 1/2 cm dilated - can't sweep but they wiggle
• Kaiser - BP with machine is 151/60 at the OB/GYN office - declined automatic internal exam - wanted to discuss risks and benefits first. later, i agreet to a sweep - because I'm trying to bring labor on so i can birth at the center - talked about my weight as a risk factor again - this is the doctor who earlier told me my weight was risk enough alone to avoid SF - mostly because she thinks fat ppl have more shoulder dystocia births - and she wants my BP retested during the NST (non stress test). she tries to do a sweep - cervix is too far back - hurts more than the "sweep" at SF did =( - i also scheduled an induction for wednesday because i can always change that

• induction actually scheduled for thursday. i'm supposed to call L&D at 7am - i'm supposed to wake up to call? i don't think so.

• upstairs. BP 157/? and then 138/80. they first test me on a machine they say sucks, then on the good machine. they cannot find a large manual cuff.
• amnio fluid is supposed to be between 7-24 (not sure of units). i'm at 16, which the tech says is the best she's seen all day.
• I'm measuring 39 cm

• NST people report my BP to the obgyn who then talks to me on the phone. she wants me to go to L&D for blood work - for pre-eclamp - liver and kidney functions. Should take 2 hours, which would mean missing out on planned dinner out for me, and also, once i am in L&D, would be difficult to leave if they want to induce. nst = 833-2537, 7 th floor of medical bldg. L&D on 3rd floor of hospital.

• jim says come home. alicia says come home. Sage Femme says go home, test BP at home, call iif over 140 on top or over 90 on the bottom. (my bp has always been fine at home or at SF, but not always at kaiser)
• i go home
• next nst set for 845 monday. no one wants me to sleep in on these last chance to do so days
• kaiser calls at 5pm to say they are booked (wtf?!!!) on thursday and ask if they can schedule my induction for tuesday. i say they can, but i won't be there. they say they may have to change it to friday or the weekend. i said fine. i'd rather go later.
• when my water breaks i call the NST people to cancel my appt. in a way i'm sad - the NST folks where the nicest i've met at kaiser
• 9/29 SF talks about home induction techniques - cotton root, red raspberry leaf tea, pumping - etc - castor oil at 2am to have it work when my hormones are high - walking - call them at 8pm regardless, and call when contractions are regularly at 3 min - better to call sooner than later - they need time to drive to the city. has me do bp and temp every few hours
• 1740 day of checking in - left hand IV too hurty - right wrist better - phlebotomy with butterfly - everything is going so slowly
• 2100 - dr blake at us agree to use pitocin
• 2110 - ultrasound - head down
• 21?? - noemi gets TB test
• kaiser calls thursday to schedule my induction. i say i don't need it anymore. they ask why not. i say "i have a baby"

Thu 28 Sep 2006

• 10:30 -- Called Kaiser, to see why I hadn't been called back regarding a requested Non-Stress Test on Friday, only to be told that I had an OB/GYN appointment scheduled for 14:30 and a NST for 15:30.
• 14:30 -- My BP was a bit high, but it usually is at Kaiser, partly because it is Kaiser, and partly because they don't do a manual reading. OB convinced me to let her sweep my membranes. Hurt worse than when the midwife did it on Tuesday. We scheduled an induction for Thursday, and talked about stuff. She wanted my BP tested upstairs during the NST.

• 15:30 -- Upstairs, to one of the nicest departments at Kaiser. NST went beautifully! The Nibblet needed between 7-24 units (not sure what units) of fluid in his sac, and had 16. Tech said it was the most she had seen all day, and gave me a prize: a picture of his boy bits. http://crayonbeam.com/next/2006/09sep/pictures-Pages/Image1.html Then it was on to the heartrate monitor, and again, Nib was just perfect. It was fun to watch. A nurse tried to walk me to the better BP machine, and was told to try the one right there. That one was really high, so they brought the good machine over, and that was fine. No one could find a large cuff to give me a manual reading. (Machine readings, in order were 151/?, 157/?, 138/80) OB really wanted me to go to Labor and Delivery to get more BP work done and blood work to test for pre-eclampsia. (I've been tested once, but it can show up anytime.) By now it's almost 4pm, and it was hard for me to trust their BP numbers when they couldn't find a manual cuff and the numbers weren't considered high enough for the midwife to be worried. The midwife, NST tech, Alicia and Jim all convinced me to come home and go out to dinner as planned. (We had planned a nice dinner out, because I was down that the kid wasn't going to come in September.) Just as I was heading out, Kaiser called to say they were full next Thursday, could they bump my induction up to Tuesday. I said they could, but I wouldn't be there. They said they might have to move me later, to Friday or the weekend. Fine, I was not at all impatient about the Nib. If my cervix wasn't ready for him, that was good enough for me.

• 18:45 -- Had a delicious wonderful dinner at Eastside West. After the bill was paid, I stood up and *GUSH!* my water broke!! It was quite exciting! I hope this happened independent of the earlier Kaiser sweep today - because then I can start a rumor that chocolate creme brulee will break your waters! Called the midwife, who told me to check my BP, have a good sleep, and call her in the morning. Water breaking theories include: 1 - Bad membrane sweep at Kaiser. 2 - Ate too much good food.
• 20:27 -- 131/83, sorry Kaiser: your machines/technique suck. Temp 98.1F - monitoring temp to notice if there is any infection from the sac being broken. Went to bed with a towel under me.

Fri 29 Sep 2006

• 07:50 -- Contractions all night, every 5-15 minutes, could not sleep much at all. I'm sure these were mild ones, but they had me groaning. They stopped for a while around 06:30, and came back a bit, but no where near as frequent or as powerful. Planning to walk around to encourage them. Temperature and fetal movement fine all night.
• 08:30 -- Made appointment to visit midwife at 10:00, to check the heartrate.
• 09:15 -- BP 126/86 - Not going to do it at the birthing center. No internal exam either, due to risk of infection.
• 11:50 -- Home from the midwife. Fetal position and heartrate all good. Planning a day of quiet, walking, drinking herbal tea. If the Nibblet doesn't get actively going by 2am, there may be castor oil in my future. Yuck! Nibblet, today would be a great day to arrive! But so far contractions are few and far between, though strong when they hit. Will be checking BP and temp throughout the day.
• 12:00 -- First dose of Cotton Root in Raspberry Leaf Tea. Temp 98.4
• 14:00 -- Second dose. 98.1 and 130/89. No good contractions. Will try the breast pump next.
• 16:00 -- Third. 98.5. More pumping. Not exactly the interesting part of laboring, but it's been nice to spend a quiet day with Jim.
• 18:00 -- Fourth. 98.2 - Not feeling like the Nibblet will show up today, but at least I'm doing all I can to get him to show up tomorrow. I get great contractions when I move from sitting to standing, but otherwise they are infrequent and irregular. Hormones are more powerful at night, and even though I am tired, I'm hoping to make good progress later. Pumping has been interesting. Heath and Alicia will be home soon.
• 20:00 -- Naked arm BPs: 144/81 at the end of a contraction, and 122/79 30 seconds later. Fun with BP! Thanks to Heather for the borrowing of her machine.
• 20:15 -- Baseball, pumping, and tea, as promised. Spoke with the midwife. She said if she doesn't hear from me in the middle of the night, she'll call me in the morning. She said I sounded cheerful. I am trying to be patient. Gave me the castor oil recipe, though I wonder if I should just chug it, since it'll be the middle of the night. Guess I'm actually going to do it aiee better work though! And some sleep prior would be dreamy.
• 20:30 -- Saturday's child works hard for a living. I was born on a Saturday. =) This kid is going to make me miss a baseball game, isn't he? That's it; we're not naming him Omar.
• 22:30 -- Stupid game. Going to bed. Think action thoughts for me. =) Would love to be unable to update this in the morning. Temp 98.1

Sat 30 Sep 2006

• 02:45 -- 98.2 - How many people, known and on the net, told me that the castor oil is miserable and doesn't work? But in the end I was more scared of not taking it - not knowing if I had tried everything before pitocin, and I gulped down 2 icky ounces. Like sucking the oil off the top of natural peanut butter. Seemed faster than making the castor oil milkshake.
• 04:20 -- Tossed and turned, brain on overdrive, waiting for the oil to kick in. Saw this time and thought, yeah... I could use some of that. Did some manual stimulation, and was rewarded with a few 10 minutes apart contractions.
• 04:45 -- Oil working. Wow. Only time will tell if my uterus joins the party. Lots of fetal movement though. Will have to work to keep hydrated.
• 08:00 -- 97.7! Great, powerful contractions... just not very often.
• 10:00 -- Plan to eat, drink, shower, dress. Just like a real person!
• 13:00 -- Planning to go to UCSF and meet the midwife there. Better to have paperwerk hell with them, than medical intervention hell with Kaiser. We think we'll have internet access at the hospital, and we'll try to give an update after getting admitted and settled in. I won't have my cell phone on most of the time. So, a hopsital birth is in my future, but at least he'll still be a San Francisco native. Gotta focus on the important stuff!
• 15:15 -- at UCSF, waiting for a room. Goal: pitocin sans epidural, rah rah rah. Watching the Giants in the meantime. No news, but we do have net. Told a room would be ready by 1pm, but it is not, so we go out for lunch. Noemi gets Chinese food and the fortune reads "You will soon be the center of attention." We end up getting a room at 4pm.

• 16:10 -- In the room, collecting vitals. The room is great and the view is fantastic! I can see GG Park & Bridge and the bay, it's just beautiful.

• 19:00 -- It's hard to be an introvert in a hospital. Tired of meeting people. Agreed to start some light pitocin. Told not to expect a baby in less than 24 hours - that if he comes before then, that's great, but not to set my expectations any earlier than 24 hours. That's a lot of time. Had a craptastic time getting an IV in, but otherwise nothing too too annoying has happened. Anyway, going to try and go focus for now.
• 21:30 -- Pitocin working. IVs suck. Monitoring sucks - even though the monitors are wireless, everytime I move a little they stop working. Bleh. Guess what? I can use Nitrous Oxide if I want! Yeah! Jim's been meeting my every need, which are many.

UCSF Address

• Perinatal Practice
• 505 Parnassus Ave.
• 15th Floor - Labor Room 1, then Room 1551
• San Francisco, CA 94143

Sun 01 Oct 2006

• 02:00 -- got in tub, pit still @ 8 milliunit/min
• 05:10 -- back in the tub, pit to 10 milliunit/min
• 08:45 -- noemi is sure the baby is never going to come out
• 10:40 -- pit at 18 mu/m, still contractions every couple minutes.
• 12:00 -- Visits from Heath and Alicia, and coincidentally timing-wise, Judi the midwife.
• 13:00 -- Baseball - rebroadcast of the game earlier today. This turns out to be a fantastic story telling technique for labor. I don't mind missing part of it, there were almost no commercials so the game went quickly, and there was no dramatic tension.
• 15:00 -- pit to 10 mu/m from 8, still laboring
• 16:40 -- vag exam, 2cm dilated, cervix ripe. we're going to rest and sleep and gear up for first stage labor tonight or tomorrow.

• 19:30 -- Met with doctors & nurses and made this plan:

  • Take an hour off of pit and monitoring to relax and bath and stuff, wire & tube free. Ahhh!

  • Monitor for a bit to see where contractions are - requires internal monitor.
  • Bit of Fentanyl for inserting foley bulb - this will be the first pain meds.
• 21:30 -- When the nurses went to put the Fentanyl into the heplocked IV, it blew out, so foley bulb catheter was inserted with no pain medication.
• 21:35 -- Doctors convinced us to try a foley bulb. This is where they insert a catheter balloon into the uterus, inflate it with liquid and provide a little traction/pressure, to encourage it to push down on the cervix from the inside. Because this is painful, it is often accompained by morphine, to help the patient relax, and usually sleep, not only to sleep through the contractions, but to rest up for the rest of labor. We have some concerns about the risk of infection with this, but Noemi is eager to try morphine.
• They try to give me a short-acting drug - Fentanyl - to help with the pain of insertion, but it just blows out the IV, so it is inserted au naturale. It KILLS. It is awful. But later, when I get up to use the toilet, the entire bulb, fully inflated, pops out - taking me from 2cm to 4cm in an instant. This is the most pain I've been in the entire time so far. I'm shaky and trying to cry and Jim helps me back to the bed, where at least they say I've dilated enough to not need a re-insertion.
  • too owey, removed
  • morphine
  • light pit
  • see where we are after some rest
• 21:00 -- telemetry monitors 'borrowed just for a bit', never returned
• 22:00 -- new IV, much nicer than original
• 23:30 foley bulb replacement finds cervix dialeted to 4cm
• 23:40 pit restarted at 1 mu/m
• I think there is some point in here where some has their hand inside me, and asks if I'm on any anesthetic, and gets told, "No, she's just tough as nails."
• notes for later -
• found a forebag, decided to rupture it
• trying to put in contraction monitor, doesn't want to go

Mon 02 Oct 2006

• 00:00 -- dreamy bathroom trips, gooshing, sleepyng
• 04:20 -- Jim hears Noemi saying "Bye bye, morphine". Noemi is sad to lose the delicious morphine, but tries to embrace the "contractions are bringing the baby to me" mentality.
• 05:00 -- Internal exam shows Noemi at 6cm.
• 05:30 -- No telemetry = no tub damnit. This is the worst part about monitoring the baby... everytime Noemi moves, the monitors get askew, and some nurse comes in to fix them. It totally sucks.
• 10:00 -- New shift is settled; New attending does internal exam and says Noemi is at 3cm, not 6. Noemi wants to kill this nurse midwife. Kill kill kill! Then they suggest an epidural, so that I can have some strength for pushing. Noemi is angry, and frustrated, but it does seem like nothing is happening, and everyone is exhausted and upset, so we decide to go with the epidural. Sigh. Just like the feared script: pit = epi = c-section.
• 12:30 -- Epidural wasn't as scary as Noemi thought it would be. Inserts easily and is working; Noemi is asleep.
• 13:30 -- Epidural stops working, much pain (especially in one spot on the left), during each contraction. This is overwhelmingly frustrating... to finally give in to an epidural, which Noemi really did not want due to risk to the baby (and herself), and then not have it be a magic carpet ride... Noemi is awash in woe and frustration and exhaustion and oh yeah, pain.
• 14:00 -- Construction noise from roof hugely loud in labor room. Feh.
• 15:00 -- Noemi is miserable. Begs Jim to kill her. Doctors flood the epidural with more meds, but nothing works. (At this point risk is far from N's mind, and relieving pain about all she cares about.) Meds from epidural make Noemi shake / chatter teeth uncontrollably. Jim says "you don't have the energy to fight the pain... relax." This works occasionally.)
• 16:00 -- Someone does an internal exam. "That doesn't feel right." Doctor Tania checks, says, "Those feel like eyes." Doctor Laros, who is like the quintessential doctor, could play one on TV, has written books, says, "Face presentation." Jim asks, "What are our choices?" Laros says, "Oh, there are no choices." Noemi asks about turning, but with this face presentation and position it's just not possible. We're off to the operating room.
• Pit is turned off. Finally, no pain.
• Jim is given a bunny suit. Noemi is wheeled into the OR to be given a spinal. It's nerve-wracking, but not bad at all except being told to keep still while someone pokes a hole in your spine and someone else pokes at your belly to monitor the baby... who is still doing fine.
• The spinal is delightful. Noemi's good cheer returns. Jim comes in to the OR just after Noemi is cut open. Jim takes photos with his phone.

Born

Max Kalman Robinson was born at 4:22pm on 10/2 via C-Section. 7 pounds 11 ounces. Mom is recuperating well, and so is Dad. Max is in NICU for slightly elevated temperature and white blood cell count, but looks to be doing just fine. We'll fill in the details as to how we got here soon. Max was trying to push out face first and looks like he got punched in the face, poor little guy. He's very cute though - with all the normal body parts. Light hair, very little of it. We'll be in room 1551 in the same building as before for 2-4 days, but will try to keep visitors to a minimum as Mom and Max recover. Thanks everyone! Look for the details later. =) Now that it's over, 4 days of labor doesn't seem so awful.

• Surgery photos at http://ratwerks.com/albums/061002.caesarean/index.html

Post-Partum

• max went to nursery then icu for antibiotics, makes it hard to visit and nurse
• max getting d10w to keep his kidneys perfusing for one of his antibiotics

• BabyLullabies

• KnockedUp

Tue 03 Oct

• 24:00 -- noemi to get more antibiotics, blew out her third iv, waiting for anethesiologist to come back and try a second time for a fourth iv

Wed 4 Oct

• 17:20 -- 4th IV blew out before the Clindamycin was in. This was somewhat dramatic. It had been leaking all day, and a nurse tightened and re-taped it. It was doin well until Noemi noticed a baseball sized bulge in her arm, where the liquid was going sub-cutaneous. IV was removed, and a lovely bruise developed at the site. Brief discussion about whether to sign an AMA and refuse another IV. Meanwhile, noticing no tubes attached, Noemi leaps into the shower!
• 1:00 am - New IV was ordered at 5pm, but was not inserted until 1am. A nurse tried twice and failed. James, who did Noemi's spinal came in, and got it on the -third- try. (What a saint Noemi is.) Third try got blood everywhere, but produced an awesome IV at least, and in a location where breastfeeding is easier. Yay.

Fri 6 Oct

• 1pm - Discharged!! Going home! Jim has been packing all morning. Finally we are free. Noemi calls Blue Cross and gets a member number just in time to get her Vicodin prescription. Phew. Getting in to the van is slow and hurty, but it still feel great to be outside for the first time in a week.

Sat 7 Oct

• 2:30pm - Milk is in!!!

Sun 8 Oct

• Noemi has lost 14 pounds of Ringer's since discharge.

Mon 9 Oct

• 10:00am - First fingernail cutting. We now have a third theory for my water breaking: Max broke his own bag of waters with his gigantic fingernails. Damn they were long.
• 12:00pm - Dipped Max's feet in the Pacific Ocean.
• 3:00pm - Planted Max's placenta under a new fig tree in the backyard. We planted a tree for big brother Heath too.

Tues 10 Oct

• Weights for Max:
  • 3495 Birth
  • 3315 Discharge
  • 3320 Sunday 10/8
  • 3450 Today
• To compare, Noemi weighed more at discharge than admission.
• Jaundice # was zero! (At UCSF it was 3.9, then 3.6. A number in the teens would mean a trip to the J-lamps.)

Thur 12 Oct

• Noemi weans from Vicodin.

Fri 13 Oct

• 4:30am - Noemi changes Max's diaper for the first time.
• 8:00am - Noemi 5lbs away from pre-preg weight. Not sure that's gonna last though!
• 12:00pm - Noemi removes steri-strips from the incision.

Mon 16 Oct

• 8:00am - Jim returns to work. =(
• 12:00pm - Noemi and Max have a big adventure: walking 7 blocks to the bank and 7 blocks back! Longest walk in over 2 weeks.

Tues 17 Oct

• 1:30pm - First peditrician appointment for Max, and 2 week post-partum checkup for Noemi. Will be Noemi's first time driving since the c-section, and first time out of the house alone with Max.
• 12:30pm - First nursing in public
• 3795 at the midwife, 3740 at the pediatrician

Weds 18 Oct

• Visit from Uncle Carl
• Got the hospital bill! Over $46,000 for Noemi and over $26,000 for Max. So far, all paid by insurance.

Thurs 19 Oct

• Max's SSN arrives

Mon 23 Oct

• First trip out of San Francisco county
• Noemi at pre-preg weight

Weds 25 Oct

• Nana visits

Thurs 26 Oct

• First bath
• Birth announcement sent to Cleveland Jewish News

Fri 27 Oct

• First trip over the Bay - Max made 3, and we used the HOV lane and didn't have to pay a toll!
• Blood draw for newborn screen

Sun 29 Oct

• Moving his head very well. Strong baby!
• Found online: Budapest, October 13 - Name day: Kalman - Kalman Male Hungarian strong and manly - The origin of the name Kalman is uncertain. It might have been adopted from Turkish many centuries ago and mean "remainder." It could also be the Italian form of the Late Latin name Columbanus, which was itself derived from Columba,"dove". Variations: Charlot, Kalle, Karel, Karol. KARL. The somewhat severe German and Scandinavian form of Charles, Karl, quite appropriately, means strong and manly. Translating it into other languages can have a softening (and feminizing) effect: KAREL in Czech, CHARLOT in French, KALMAN in Hungarian, KALLE in some parts of Scandinavia, KAROL in Poland. A sports hero Karl is Karl Malone, superstar Utah Jazz basketball player who was a member of the 1992 Olympics "Dream Team." And Karl Lagerfeld was its fashion rep.
• Max Male Latin the greatest - Variations: Maxim, Maxime, Maximilian, Maxwell. - MAX. It seems like only yesterday that Max was an unthinkably fusty, cigar-smelling old grandpa name, completely out of the question as a baby-naming choice. But then Max — like his pinochle-playing partners Sam and Jake — suddenly became hip, influenced, perhaps, by the Mad Max character Mel Gibson played in the early '80s. Max became one of the star baby names of the decade — chosen by such highly visible parents as Amy Irving and Steven Spielberg, Henry Winkler, Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker, Nora Ephron and Carl Bernstein, and Theresa Russell and Nick Roeg, to name a few. And, sure sign of its success, it made it onto a soap opera — One Life to Live. Its popularity has begun to fade among the avant garde, to be replaced by less ethnic classics such as Jack and Henry. But there is one arena where it's still on top — Max is one of the hottest names for dogs in both New York City and Los Angeles. A pair of more ostentatious forms are MAXWELL (chosen for his son by Andrew Dice Clay) and MAXIMILIAN (used by Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft for theirs). MAXIM/MAXIME is the restaurantish French version.

Mon 30 Oct

• 4 weeks old! But not yet one month.

Tues 31 Oct

• Look for Halloween pictures!

Thurs 02 Nov

• One month old!
• First trip on MUNI, first ran on his face, first trip downtown, first nursing in public at the Apple store
• Max's hair is falling out!

Weds 08 Nov

• Max seems interested in dangly toys
• Even Noemi notices that Max seems bigger now
• Cradle cap on the eyebrows ohno!

Sun 12 Nov

• Max drinks one ounce from a bottle for the first time! (From Dad, with Mom in the room. The next day he takes a bottle from Mom.)

Tues 14 Nov

• 6 week well baby check up (was supposed to be a one month check up, but we are running late): 10 lbs 14 ounces WOW!!! 22 3/4" long. Head is 18 3/4"? 10 3/4"? Hard to read the writing. And because he is precoious, he had his 8 week shots today. He screamed his head off! Had some infant Tylenol. (Yesterday he had some gripe water.)
• Breastfed in a National Park

Mon 20 Nov

• In a fit of alertness, Max lay on Noemi's belly for 45 minutes, wiggling and kicking and cracking up and staring at the rope lights. Then came upstairs and played with dangly toys. Wow!

Tues 21 Nov

• First protest and television appearance. Max and Noemi participate in the national nurse-in against Delta.

Sat 25 Nov

• Noemi cannot get her hand around Max's thigh anymore!

Tues 5 Dec

• Max touches Hopper's Hands http://www.hoppershands.blogspot.com/

• 12 pounds 11 ounces - 24.25 inches long - head is 16"

Weds 5 Dec

• Flying to Cleveland - perfect flyer - just eating or sleeping the whole time.

Weds 14 Dec

• Slept 6 hours in a row last night

Sat 23 Dec

• First stroller ride - he loved it!
• A very wiggly happy baby.

Sun 24 Dec

• Milk spurted out his nose.

Tues 26 Dec

• Drive to Los Angeles

Weds 27 Dec

• Drive to Austin

Fri 29 Dec

• Max slept 6 hours in a row again! On his own mattress.

Sun 31 Dec

• Max is up and drinking at midnight. Happy New Year!

Tues 2 Jan

• Happy 3 months! Max is really great at grabbing things lately.

Mon 8 Jan

• Noemi's first day back at work!

Fri 12 Jan

• Max presses the mouse button for the first time!
• 57 ounces in the freezer

Tues 16 Jan

• Hanging out with a 6 month old reminded me to mention things Max is doing lately. He likes to grab anything and hold on. Even while sleeping. He likes to knead me while he nurses. He drools a lot. He has been sleeping for crap for the last 2 weeks. We got a swing. He babbles a lot. He stays still during diaper changes, except for kick kick kicking!

Weds 17 Jan

• Max rolls from his back to his left side and gnaws at his left hand for a while, happily.

Fri 19 Jan

• Max drank 18 ounces while Noemi was at work!

Sat 20 Jan

• First visit to the ballpark!

Sun 21 Jan

• Fantastic thumb sucking action!!

Mon 22 Jan

• Noemi's first full day back at work.

Fri 2 Feb

• Max gets a high chair! A Svan. He loves sitting in it!!
• Max grabs two different toys - one with each hand.
• 4 months old!

Sat 3 Feb

• Max rolled from his front to his back!
• And he also had an exploded diaper that brought poo up to neck level.

Tues 6 Feb

• 4 month stats - 25.25" long - 15lb 8oz big - 17" head

Sat 10 Feb

• Max rolls from his front to his back often today! He rolls over and then holds on to his thighs with his feet in the air.
• Max still loves standing up. He's long, and he's strong, and he's got it going on.

Sun 11 Feb

• Max and Noemi fly to West Virginia for Noemi's job. Max goes to group day care for the week.

Sat 17 Feb

• Highlights from the trip: New states visited for Max, he sat "up" on his own, grabbing his pudgy legs and feet, came home with the snuffliest cold, and the day care was closed 3/5 days so life was interesting. We walked by a bald eagle nest near the Potomac on the way to the day care on the days we did go. It was closed due to snow, and that was exciting too. On the way home, we did not have an empty middle seat (first time flying without one.) Everyone told me what a good baby he was/is. He is. I am so lucky! Oh and he is drooling and chomping like crazy.
• Also, now Max is starting to sleep unswaddled.

Wed 28 Feb

• Noemi sleeps in a different room than Max for the first time since the hospital. Ahhh sleep!

Sun 11 Mar

• Max does a backwards push / Army crawl. Also, he's been awesome lately about being put into his co-sleepy drowsy, and falling asleep on his own.

Mon 12 Mar

• Max falls off of the sofa, so if he votes Republican in the future, now you know why.

Wed 14 Mar

• All 0-6 month sized clothing has been officially retired =( even the beloved fleece hat with the stars and moons on it.
• Max has been sitting "down" for longer and longer periods of time - not sitting straight up, still leaning forward, but not as wobbly.
• We've been very successful at having a bedtime routine that ends with Max sleeping in the co-sleeper without much fussing. We warm up the room and the co-sleeper, lotion him up (bit o baby massage), change his diaper, put him in his sleep sack, nurse, and then tuck him in.

Tues Mar 20

• Yesterday Max scooched all of himself, except his head, under the sofa and thought it was quite funny.
• When nursing, he's much more likely to pull off, look around, and then go back to eating now a days. And instead of keeping a tiny fist by his head when he's in his unrelaxed eating mode, he grabs and ungrabs whatever he can - mom's mouth, mom's face, mom's boob, mom's skin, mom's shirt, and sometimes a nursing necklace or blanket.
• Not even close to sleeping through the night.

Sun Apr 1

• Jim does not fall for the "I'm pregnant again" April Fools' Day joke. Noemi gets her period instead.
• Last night, Max scooched backwards across the entire kitchen!!! He did a baby push up, pushed with his hands until he went backwards so far that he was flat on the floor again. Then he lifted all limbs and wriggled them, laughed, and repeated.

Mon Apr 2

• Max is 6 months old!!! Bicycle helmet and bike seat for half birthday presents.

Sat Apr 7

• First baseball game: Giants v Dodgers

Tues Apr 10

• 6 Month check-up - 17 pounds! 26 3/4" long, 17 3/4" round head
• First food - avocado!

Wed Apr 11

• First walk in the Kelty backpack. Fell asleep very quickly, but before that had fun patting Daddy on the head.

Sat Apr 14

• Second food - rice cereal. A better reception.
• First bike ride!

Thurs Apr 19

• Third food - sweet potato. Favourite so far!
• Max has been sleeping very well... waking up once between 10p-1a and between 3a-6a, and then up at 7 or 8 for the day. And he's been settling himself down to sleep well too. Yay!

Sun May 6

• Fourth food - peas! He likes them!

Sat May 12

• Noemi's longest time away from Max for social reasons - and with no pumping to boot! Watching fireworks from a Coast Guard Cutter.

Sun May 13

• Happy Mother's Day!
• First fruit / fourth food - banana! In the safety feeder. Took a long time for him to get it in his mouth but then he liked it.

Mon May 14

• Seemed jealous of us at dinner, so I put some pork chop in the safety feeder. He was unimpressed and ignored it.
• He's been getting a "favourite object du jour" and freaking out when you take it away from him to change his diaper or put him to bed or whatnot. Developmental milestone!
• rolling and scooching very quickly. babbling with more purpose.

Mon May 21

• Max was up on his knees and hands, rocking, ready to crawl!

Thur May 24

• Max is scooting forward!
• and sometimes drinks water from a sippy cup!
• and had turnip yesterday

Sun May 26

• carrots!

Thu May 31

• Two nights ago Max woke up only once for the first time! He woke up around 0230. And last night he woke up only once again, this time just before 0400. Go baby go!

Sat Jun 2

• Happy 8 months!
• Max woke up only once in the night for 3 nights in a row. Then he woke up twice.
• I SEE TEETH! I SEE TEETH! I SEE TEETH! Two white bumps on his top gums. They are actually big enough that they may have been out for a while? Dunno. I'm think they're teeth. He doesn't like me pulling up his lips to peek. They seem so high up - like they're in front of his gums. But definitely teeth shaped.
• When Max cries after I put him down to play, I can get him to stop by giving him a Sigg or Nalgene bottle.

Thur Jun 7

• Max took himself from on his tummy to sitting.
• Cries any time Noemi comes in the room and doesn't immediately start holding him.

Wed Jun 13

• Peaches!

Fri Jun 15

• Max pulled himself up from sitting to standing, using Noemi's legs.
• He looks around the room if someone makes realistic meowing sounds. He is fascinated with the cats.
• Videos of him creeping / sealing around the room are up. He often gets up on knees and hands or feet and hands, but hasn't crawled yet. He does move fast and far and gets into all sorts of things.
• and he's very good at going from sitting to creeping about on his tummy.

Sat Jun 16

• First smile that shows teeth!

Tues Jun 19

• Broccoli - but he likes it! I added rice cereal to it, making it his first multi-food food, unless you count breast milk mixed in with cereal / avocado earlier.
• He is super fast at creeping around!

Wed Jun 20

• Max went to bed after 9pm and slept until 5:30am. (Sadly, Noemi stayed up until 11, and then couldn't go back to sleep after Max woke up, but it still felt nice =)
• Oh and his dentist (my dentist) says that getting top teeth first is unusual. Who knew?
• As part of his bedtime routine, I hold Max while I use the slide switch to turn on the rope lights. Then we go over to the pull chain to turn off the overhead light. As soon as I use the slide switch he looks straight up! We walk the few steps to the chain and he reaches for it. I put my hand around his, and we pull on the chain. Then I let him play with the chain a bit, because the light bulb is now off. I still worry about his staring at light bulbs. And in more light bulb news, when we walk down the stairs to go to bed, we count the nine light bulbs along the wall.

Fri Jun 22

• Growth spurt? 18 ounces plus sweet potato, broccoli, rice cereal, banana, and peach!!
• Max is cracking up during peek-a-boo games. His little baby laugh is so adorable.

Mon Jun 25

• Apples!
• First food that Max didn't get first from mom = multi grain cereal sometime late last week.

Tues Jun 26

• Pears!
• Yams!
• Two new foods in the same day the day after another new food!

Sun Jul 1

• Butternut squash
• It's very tempting to take his dadadada and mamamamama sounds as him saying Dada and Mama. Maybe he is. Maybe he's not. Who can tell?
• Sleeping is pretty consistently waking up about 1am and then 6am. Sometimes he doesn't wake up the first time until 4. Sometimes he sleeps until 8.

Mon Jul 2

• Puffed rice! First non-mush food.

Sat Jul 7 (07/07/07)

• Yow! Max woke up happy, crawled out of his co-sleeper and over to Jim to play for a bit, then crawled back in to his co-sleeper and went back to sleep. !!!!!!!!!! Yowza!!!
• Also, sometime earlier this week Max had his first oatmeal baby cereal.

Wed July 11

• Well baby check up stats: Weight: 18lbs 4 oz aka 8.295 kg, Length: 27 3/4 inches aka 70.5 cm, Head: 18 inches aka 45.75 cm

Sat Jul 14

• Beans! Garbanzo beans, pinto beans, and black beans.
• Max's paternal grandmother sang at Lady Bird Johnson's funeral

Wed Jul 18

• Cooked brown rice.
• Max has a cold
• His bottom teeth are coming in. The two center ones. The one on his right side has broken through the gum.
• Max got a letter from Arlo - first not-due-to-a-special-event personal letter?

Tues Jul 24

• Twice in a row Max has slept from 8:30pm to 5:30am, nursed, and then gone back to sleep. And twice in a row, NM and JR have failed to go to bed before 10:30pm, thus wasting a good long sleep opportunity. Also, NM has a cold.

Sun Jul 29

• First cauliflower!
• And first bad reaction to a food - hives! Eek!
• Yesterday had his first "train" ride at the Nut Tree.
• Also, first visit to Sacramento. His 2nd capital of a state visit.
• He had a lot of fun with a straw style sippy cup, and sucking on ice cubes.

Mon Jul 30

• Cantaloupe slices! Max took bites off of them.
• Max has 3 teeth. And he grinds them.

Thurs Aug 2

• 10 months!
• First American League game - Texas Rangers at Jacob's Field in Cleveland
• First puffed Kamut - that might count as wheat. He liked it.
• 4 teeth

Fri Aug 3

• First time in a swimming pool. Did not like. But we went back on Sat Aug 4 and he liked it much better. Kept dunking his face in the water - to get a drink maybe?

Tues Aug 7

• After much practice in Cleveland, Max is now traditional knee-crawling in San Francisco!

Sun Aug 12

• Peaches!
• Birthday brunch is planned for October 7th. With bacon! And after that eggs, dairy, sugar, the whole world!
• Max reached critical mass in the feeding himself department. I still haven't given him a spoon and let him go all out, but he will feed himself puffed rice now.
• Also, his soft spot still pulses.

Mon Aug 13

• First teething biscuit! No wheat, but it was a choice between cane juice and molasses. I went for molasses this time. Soooooooooooooooooooooooooo messy!

Sat Aug 18

• I keep forgetting to mention how expert Max is becoming at crawling (both real style and commando style), feeding himself, standing (while holding), cruising, and many other vital baby skills. His light hair has some long strands, and he's getting into all sorts of trouble lately. Very curious boy! The third Bradley reunion is tomorrow, and some babies in his birthing class have already turned one.

Sun Aug 19

• millet! and blueberries! and hummus!

Fri Aug 24

• At the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, while eating banana, Max said banana several times. Whether this was babbling or an actual first word is yet to be fully determined. Fun day though! Next time we go Max will be able to eat more than banana. Dilcia, the nanny, thinks he says "mas mas" (Spanish for more more) when he eats.

Sat Aug 25

• Two new teeth ready to come in on either side of his top two teeth.

Tues Aug 28

• Did I mention that Max can eat an entire banana? Yeah, he can.

Thurs Aug 30

• Quinoa!
• Also, banana is definitely his first word. He has said it a lot. While eating bananas.
• Sometimes Max SHRIEKS when he doesn't get his way, or if another kid wants his toy. I have to say, I'm kind of proud of this milestone. I'm sure that will wear off shortly.

Sat Sept 1

• Went to the Farmer's Market at the Ferry Building. Max loves waving at people! I bought a wonderful new stroller, and will now get rid of 3!!! strollers.

Wed Sept 5

• Max signs milk now, but not for Noemi yet.

Sun Sept 9

• Max got his first balloon today! At the first baby birthday party he's been too. At his first visit to Gymboree. He was overwhelmed and was clingy and when pushed not to be clingy he became shrieky. But otherwise a good time was had.

Thurs Sept 13

• First corn! In the form of organic corn puffs. Max is in love with these and shoves them by the handful towards his mouth. He also chipmunks them, instead of swallowing each one individually after sogging it.
• Alicia says Max likes to initiate peek-a-boo- and be the booer, not just the peeker.

Sun Sept 16

• First mashed potatoes - did they have milk or chicken broth in them? Who knows.
• First Spanish word - probably started saying this a while a go "mas" for "more".

Tues Sept 18

• Max can climb all the way to the second floor, and if you chase him he giggles and if you catch him he bursts into uncontrollable laughter!!!!

Sat Sept 22

• Mango! and more figs
• And have I mentioned how much he likes eating paper? Ewwwwww!
• BTW, this was Max's due date in 06

Sun Sept 23

• Watermelon
• Tonight Max turned on the light in Jim's room for the first time. Our bedtime routine is this: clean diaper, nurse, walk down a few steps and count the light bulbs (there are 9) then walk the rest of the way downstairs into Jim's room. Turn on the light by pulling the chain, turn on the room heater if it is office, turn on the infrared light, turn on the rope lights, then pull the chain to turn the light off. Max either helps me with this or plays with it afterwards or just watches. Tonight he watched then reached up and pulled it hard enough to turn the light back on. Then he goes into his sleep sack if he is not already in it, then into the co-sleeper and he gets his cheetah/jaguar/some big cat hand puppet to cuddle. Then I read him Where the Wild Things Are. Then I dim the rope lights and tell him about his baby day. Then I turn off the rope lights and tell him about tomorrow. And if he is still fussy I sing to him - usually Linger or You Are My Sunshine or the 'sweet sweet sweet little baby' song that I made up. Then I say night night sleepy baby and leave. For weeks now he's gone right to sleep after that - no need for Jim to go down and nush nush him. He is a sleeping rock star lately. Been waking up about midnight and then about 7am.

Fri Sept 28

• Had fava beans at some point this week.

Mon Oct 1

• Max will be 1 tomorrow! Look for new pictures. Guess I never did find the time to clean up this blog... yet.
• We made it to 1 year with Max being a vegan. I wish I had pushed the nanny to give him more breastmilk when he started really eating solids a month or two ago, but I know he still gets some milk during the day, and nurses well from me when I'm home. Not only has he not had animal products, but he hasn't had true wheat (he has had kalmut) and no sugar either. Oh, and no packaged baby food except for cereal. and almost entirely organic. I actually bought frozen packaged baby food recently, which made it hard to go a year - but I was determined. Now I'm looking forward to him being able to eat whatever we're eating! And to eat packaged foods. I'll still try to watch the sugars. I almost bought a package of Zwieback toast the other day, but the ingredients were just too weird. I know he'll eat freakish chemicals quite soon, but I'm just not ready to buy something I think is weird. Even though I eat crap all the time. Planning to give him milk tomorrow and pork on Sunday. Maybe egg on Friday. And then it's on to chicken! cheese! yogurt! hooray!
• Had dinner at Eastside West.
• First french fries! And lemons!

Tues Oct 2

• First cow's milk - he liked it!
• and cottage cheese!
• Max will stand by himself, but only if he forgets to hold on to something it seems like.
• He is hard to photograph with a regular camera because he moves so much - but he likes my camera phone because he can see himself in it.

Sun Oct 7

• First birthday party! He fell asleep halfway through. Loved the balloons.
• First meat! and first bread. He'll have egg and chicken and fish this week probably. All that's really left is sugar.
• I told him to crawl over and turn on a light - and he did!

Mon Oct 8

• First chicken, egg, apple sauce.
• Walked across the Golden Gate Bridge. And back.
• Very screetchy.

Tues Oct 9

• One year checkup! 19lbs 10oz - 29.5 inches long - 18.5 inch head circumference.

Fri Oct 12

• Max signed milk to me! While he was nursing. He did it a bunch of times. AWESOME!
• Noemi is done with daily pumping!

Sun Oct 14

• FIRST SUGAR! Last of the firsts. Except for nuts. He had sugar in the form of a fruit and custard tart - while Noemi was in the shower

• Too many other first to name now - he had hummus and tuna (just a bit) and salmon and cheesey potatoes - so bye bye first food lists.
• Max has been signing where too.

Thu Oct 18

• First tooth brushing.
• First fingernail to fall off. OOOOOOOOOOOGY! Ish!
• For a while now, whenever he sees the cats, Max makes cute gurgly noises. I can't tell if he is trying to call them over, or if he is trying to mimick them.

Tues Oct 23

• Max will stand up by himself. But he doesn't like it.
• He had shrimp last night. He did like it.

Fri Oct 26

• First bite of a doughnut. Krisy Kreme of course.

Mon Oct 29

• Max will find something if you ask where it is, using words or signs.
• He asks for Moo Baa La La La by name!
• If I sign milk to him, he will come over to nurse.

Sun Nov 4

• First sushi! Two California roll pieces

Sun Nov 11

• 6 teeth showing - 4 on top, 2 on the bottom
• Will stand up for a long time by himself, still doesn't like it
• Friday he had a blood draw for a lead test

Fri Nov 16

• All 3 preschools have cashed the application checks. Only one has sent any kind of communication.
• Did I mention Max has a savings account now?
• Max's lead levels are 0 on a scale of 0 to 10

Wed Dec 5

• Max will feed himself with a spoon now. Favourite food: cottage cheese.
• And he can take a few steps, but as always with new skills, does not like doing it!
• Enjoys throwing himself onto the ground to make his brother laugh, and then watch his brother do the same thing.
• And loves doing the downward dog yoga pose, and peeking at the upside-down world between his legs.

Thu Dec 13

• Walked on a boat! (The Eureka at SAFR) Max will take 2 steps before stopping.
• Road trip to Texas will be multiple days this year - not a straight shot! Will Max lose his awesome sleeping skills? Hope not. Will he live on french fries? Probably.

Fri Dec 14

• First ketchup and first Cheerios. But not together.

Thu Dec 20

• First time spending the night in a National Park last night: Joshua Tree.

Mon Dec 24

• Two more bottom teeth!
• Max enjoys walking while holding somebody's hand now. Or pushing anything.

Sun Dec 30

• Max has molars coming in!

2008 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fri Jan 4

• 31 and 3/4 inches long
• 21 pounds and 10 ounces fat, except not so fat, less than 25th percentile!

Sun Jan 13

• Update time. Max says up when he wants to go up. He blew bubbles in the water last time we went swimming. He liked being on his tummy in the water, but not on his back. He feeds himself with a spoon. He says light in Spanish. He also says no. 4 bottom teeth, 4 top teeth, 1 bottom molar. We're not good about brushing them. Max doesn't like to show them off.
• Max is an amazing walker! He went from just a few steps to walking across the entire room. Zippity!
• Tomorrow Noemi has to begin pumping again. Ugh.

Wed Jan 16

• Max says Heath's name. It sounds like niece, but with an h, or like miso, without the o, and with an h where the m is. He also says up.
• Online height predictors say Max will be anywhere from 5'7" to 5'11". Gotta make sure he eats some veggies and meat!

Fri Jan 25

• The other night Max was up from about 0300 to 0500 babbling and chattering to himself.
• Max says 'mote' for remote. He says light and book and moo baa lalala quack meow and other words, but all in forms that are not quite as spelled. More like 'mom can tell' type of words.
• Max has 10 teeth and likes having his teeth brushed.

Feb 6-7

• Noemi has a 2 day 1 night work trip. Good practice for next week.

Sun Feb 10

• Max recognizes even poorly drawn ducks and says "quack" at them. He quacked at a picture of Big Bird too.
• Jim says cookies. Max repeats cookie, and points to where they are kept. He will bring you objects that you name. Pants. Balls. Etcs.

Feb 11 - 23

• Noemi will be in the Grand Canyon for work. Will Max wean??? UPDATE! Jim and Max and Heath will visit Noemi in the Grand Canyon from February 16 to 18! HOORAY!

Feb 24, 2008

• Catch up time!
• While Mommy's away: Saturday morning, spent watching Byron play Bioshock. FUNNIEST freaking thing evah to watch the baby watching him play video games. When B would stop or pause the game, the baby would tap his face, point to the tv, and make a noise that we decided must be, "Play the DAMN GAME!"
• Max did NOT wean! HOORAY.
• Max says Heath, bye, duck, quack, mama, dada, apa, milk, up, mote (short for remote), light, water, aqua, beans, and some other words. He understands a lot more than that.
• He had a cold when he visited the Grand Canyon. But he did get to the Grand Canyon 35 years younger than I did.
• Has been very helpful when getting dressed - arms in the right places, etc. But hates to have his diaper changed - very wiggly!
• Almost never crawls anymore.
• I usually forget to brush his teeth.

Feb 25, 2008

• First whipped cream straight from the canister.

Mar 2, 2008

• Happy 17 months!
• Max repeats well - saying new people's names often.
• He waves bye bye to the duck at the end of the Moo Baa La La La
• Loves playing the hide the game of hiding his hand, signing where, and then showing his hand.
• Might ask about getting his tongue clipped - still very tied.

Mar 3, 2008

• Max now waves at the blinky light on the baby cam!!!!!!!!
• Also I think he has a freckle on his left leg.
• Applying to a JCC pre-school.

Mar 23, 2008

• First skinned knee today
• This week: applied to 4 more pre-schools. Max rode a tricycle. He's been into books a lot. Still into the TV too much, even though he watches about an hour total in a week - just loves the remotes, wants the buttons to do something. Had naked time today. Peed on his new monkey shoes. Loves to bear crawl and look through his legs. Likes to hide his hand and sign "where".

Apr 1, 2008

• 18 month stats:
• 32.25" long (hated being measured)
• 22lbs 9 oz (hated being weighed)
• 19" head (look at the brains on Max!)

Apr 14, 2008

• Max kicks the ball and says "goooooooooaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllll!"

May 1, 2008

• When you track time by months, it's easy to see how fast the time goes by.
• Last week my cell phone dropped between the freezer and the fridge. I asked Max to get it and he squatted down and reached, but couldn't get it. He has an awesome squat, by the way. He then ran out of the room. And returned with a broom! I was so impressed. My little tool using monkey. Or as my friend put it "He really is a primate! Or maybe an otter. One of those tool using mammals."
• Likes having a post it note placed on his forehead.

• Spent one night without his little guy. He calls the little guy LaLa, maybe because we read Moo Baa La La La every night.

• Signs "more" a lot - sometimes when we have to ask "more what?", loves music and dancing, brushing his teeth, and just in general is a happy child, though definitely headed into true limit pushing toddlerness. Bursts into tears if he doesn't get his way, but is distracted by shiny objects.

May 2, 2008

• 19 months!
• Max slipped down the stairs on his butt for the first time. ca thunk ca thunk ca thunk. Cute!

May 7, 2008

• Max may have eaten walnuts. Still trying to avoid nuts.
• Went down to my room without anyone noticing. Did not kill himself.

Saturday May 24, 2008

• Went down the slide by himself.
• went swimming by himself. But we picked him up and he did not drown.

== Monday May 26, 2008 ===

• First boat ride - ferry to Sausalito.
• Brought the book "My Aunt Came Back" over to me saying "aunt aunt aunt"

Thursday May 29, 2008

• Drank booze. Liked it.

Sunday June 8

• likes to read books to himself now

Sunday June 29

• Spent the weekend in Guerneville, on the river. Max didn't like the lifevest much. He got his first hard soled shoes - Crocs! And he is now in size 4 diapers. He is way into the classic terrible two's behaviour.

Sun July 6

• Quintessential holiday weekend! Fireworks (Max was mesmerized!), county fair (hot), and a National Park (visiting his mom at work).
• Max will see pictures of baseball players and say "Baseball!"
• First headphones. He's had gun muffs on before (concerts), but this time he had headphones on to listen to music. He took them off.

Weds July 9

• Max is growing freckles! On his cute cheeks.

Tues July 22

• Max survived Noemi going to NYC for the weekend.
• Max's latest trick is to walk upstairs silently when everyone else is asleep (or not)

Thurs July 24

• Max officially eats everything except peanuts. Other nuts, tofu, juice, everything. Though not a lot of those three. He's also had booze and coffee.

Sun July 27

• Yesterday Max climbed out of bed a few dozen times and came upstairs. We tried everything. Finally going to bed with him was what worked... 3 or 4 hours later.
• So tonight we moved the Pack N Play into Jim's room and put him in that, hoping he would take longer to climb out of that. He's in there now screaming his head off.

Thurs Aug 7

• Max sings the dum da dum da song from Jaws because that's the "gonna get you" song we sing to him. And now he sings it to us.
• Likes to play (whisper) SHOUT and then laugh.
• Plays "cut the pickle" tickle tickle tickle. Says pickle so cutely.
• We lowered the co-sleeper's "floor" and raised the "rail" and Max has been sleeping in it nicely nicely.

Sun Aug 10

• Max's passport arrived yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Today on the phone he said both Nana and Apa! I haven't even been coaching him! I was worried he was only going to say one, not the other. He was perfect!
• Dogs visiting the house. He likes the little one a lot.
• Went outside and said "Amy's car" and then pulled on the door and asked "Amy?"

Mon Aug 17 2008

• Max has officially weaned from his pre-bed nursing. Now it is only when he wakes up in the morning. I might not even need to wear nursing tops anymore.

Wed Sept 3 2008

• Uses mini sentences. "2 lala" and "cookie mess" and "no diaper"
• Also, he knows how to open the garage door.

Sept 17-23

• Flew to Cleveland, drove to Oxford, reversed. Max spent 5 hours in group day care Saturday night!

Thur Sept 24

• Max sang along with me to You Are My Sunshine, which I've been singing to him since he was wee. He is into repeating everything anyone says, but this was singing with me - sometimes ahead of me - out of the blue having never done anything like it before and now it was the whole song! He will also talk on the phone a little bit, and say goodnight to people without being prompted for everyone individually.

Sun Sept 28, 2008

• Second Birthday Party - yay! Much fun. We started with homemade Egg McMuffins, inspired by the latest issue of Saveur - the breakfast issue. Later we had a cheese tray and cake! Which I didn't take a picture of. Max played well and took a nap. Attending: HANJ+Heath, Max, Amy and her dad Bill, her brother Scot, his wife Irene and their four kids; Jason, Jodi, Harper and Charlie from next door (gave him a sorting train from Plan Toys); Dilcia, Emily, Sadie and one of their friends (gave him 3 outfits); Allan and Samantha; Gayathri; Byron; Minal; Gilbert; Noemi's Aunt Sue and Uncle Les (gave him a shirt and Matchbox cars that had a Park Ranger car); Robert; Alicia's friend Mikoto from Japan; Charlotte and her son Nicolas (gave him The Color Kittens - a Golden Book); Kathy and her son Sam and hopefully I'm not forgetting anyone.

• Starting a new blog after he turns 2 on 10/2/08

Weds Oct 15

• But until I do that....! Max goes up and down the stairs just holding on to the railing. When going down with just the railing, he prefers backwards.
• He's also been sent to bed early lately for throwing things.
• Not sure how to get him into his own bed. The room "for him" is upstairs, and if he wakes up, he'll just go bug Heath. Frustrating. Kind of frozen on that. Being lazy on potty training.

Tues Oct 21

• Two year checkup 34.5" and 27.6lbs - between 50-75% for both. I think his weight is due to a wet diaper.
• Got Hep A and flu shots
• Ate his first vitamins
• He likes to pile his Babo dolls and Lala into a pile as a makeshift pillow. He has enough to make a mountain he can climb on if he wanted to. Shh, don't tell him.

Sat Oct 25

• I continue to not make a new blog.
• Sometime last week Max ate peanut butter. I've decided not to fight it, but will wait a tiny bit more before offering it to him on a regular basis.
• He is in a throwing things phase.
• Starting to think about gently weaning him. I have 2 one week trainings out of state coming up in February or so, and I'd like to not pump, so will begin not offering, not refusing, although not offering means not waking him up, so it's not like he'll have a chance to ask unless he wakes up early, so not sure how I feel about that. We'll see. I will probably end up waking him up some nights but not other nights.
• When I turned the radio to NPR he said "no more KFOG? more KFOG!"
• He speaks in two and three word sentences often. Longer sentences sometimes.

• oh and I ordered a replacement LaLa for him. I'm crazy, whatever.

Mon Oct 27

• Max calls Moo Baa La La La "Boo La La La" (sometimes Boo La La) and when he piles up his stuffed animals to sleep on them like a precarious pillow, he says "Babo Lala Max"

Fri Oct 31

• Max was a bat for Halloween. We didn't get any trick or treaters!
• Max is of the age that when he is holding something at bed time that isn't part of his normal routine, like a Halloween glowstick, he will give it back to me. OMG can that last forever please?

Mon Nov 3

• I turned the light off and Max said "too off"
• I also forgot to mark in any way that Max turned 25 months old yesterday.

Sun Nov 9

• Max was trying to inhale too much to scream/cry, and he passed out.

=== Fri Nov 28 ===

• Max started to get a cold last weekend - Nov 16 - and he was like baby velcro all night. It was actually very sweet and snuggly. This morning he woke up at 0400 and said "good morning. good morning? good morning! good morning!" a hundred thousand times.
• Tonight he wanted to read Moo Baa La La La with me. He read it out with me eerily well. It was beyond cute. (And a little like reading a Passover Hagadah with someone who doesn't know all the words "quack duck neigh" but puts in all the effort and enthusiasm.) And with Knuffle Bunny he loves pointing out certain words and emotions that Trixie is feeling. It really is sweet.
• His vocab and pronunciation is gaining by leaps and bounds. He says goodnight to ever animate and inanimate object before going to bed.
• AND OH MY GOSH he is doing everything by himself! He says "by myself" and must do everything on his own. Sigh. 26 months and that's it - I have no more baby, just a little independent man. Sometimes he even closes the book we're reading and says "night night Mommy" - right in the middle of the book. Sigh.

Mon Dec 1

• When told to turn out the lights and say goodnight, Max put his head on the pillow and fake snored!!!!!

Thurs Dec 11

• Max went 3 days without nursing, then nursed a tiny bit this morning.
• When he tries to say San Francisco Giants it sounds like Cinco Giants.
• He is in to taking my hand and taking me to where he wants me.

Fri Dec 26

• Around December 22nd I realized that I couldn't remember when Max had asked to nurse last. I was was sad but excited and decided after two weeks of not asking I would declare him weaned. Christmas Eve I decided a weaned toddler was going to be my Christmas present... but no, I got irony instead. Max asked to nurse on Christmas morning. I told him it might be all gone. He nursed for seconds on both sides and then declared "all gone." On Boxing Day he asked to nurse again! He nursed for a while on one side, and just a second on the other. So we'll see what tomorrow brings. I am traveling for work in February and would like him to be weaned by then, but so far we're still doing don't offer don't refuse. I like that it is on his time-frame, but I might start doing more to encourage the weaning gently.
• Ordered a toddler "cot" for him. He has so outgrown the co-sleeper.
• Had a good Christmas yesterday. He enjoyed taking off an inch of wrapping paper at a time and handing it to someone. Very cute. He received many toys that have many pieces.
• He is also cute with the Hanukah candles. He makes blowing sounds and then says "no blow"
• Still not eating much more than carbs for me. This was the end of the first of four weeks without the Nanny.

Tuesday December 30, 2008

• Max last nursed on Boxing Day. Today while I was dressing he said "other side" which is his word for nursing and I laughingly offered him one side while we were both standing up (him on the bed) and I said "nooo.... nursing is for babies! you're not a baby" and he didn't nurse. I'm on a lot of drugs for my hurt neck, so I'm glad he took the firm suggestion.
• He emptied a milk crate to stand on it to get something but didn't turn it over... just got into it. That didn't work so he stood on the edge and fell over.
• Got a Christmas gift from Daddy Jim which we immediately tried to hide from him. It work, though he was clearly frustrated. Too many toys with parts! We need bins!
• Has been talking up a storm, new words and concepts every day. Totally awesome kid.

Wednesday December 31, 2008

• From this point forward you'll need to go to ChildhoodCompendia to read more.