ChildhoodCompendia

Max Kalman Robinson

Thursday February 2, 2012

• Max is a storyteller in the best sense of the word.
• Scored 25/25 on his first reading test.
• Brought 100 Hershey Kisses in to school yesterday for the 100th day of school

Monday January 23, 2012

• No school due to the Lunar New Year, so we went ice skating - Max's first time. He isn't a natural but went from screaming loudly to not wanting to hold a hand or the wall, so yay. He definitely got better and I'm looking forward to going again.
• He is so chatty with strangers: I'm learning to pedal! I've never had training wheels. I just went ice skating! Want to see my ID? Do you know my middle name? Did we just meet? I'm being helpful! And more and more and more.

Saturday January 14, 2012

• More pedal bicycling! Training wheels: never had them, never will. Muhahahaha! I am so proud of him I almost cried. He is so cute on his little red pedal bicycle.
• Max asks, "Does tricky mean interesting?"
• Did I mention he is already playing with different stylized signatures? His current favorite is to write the M with an extra N shape at the end, then cross that with a line to make the cross bar for the A and the down stroke for the X in one line. I'll try to record him writing it. Really cute and reminds me of the Q cat that Ramona Quimby makes in the Beverly Cleary books.

Sunday January 8, 2012

• Max pedaled on his bicycle today! We switched out his pedal-free bike a few weeks ago. Today on the way to the beach he actually pedaled some. Woo! No training wheels ever!

Saturday January 7, 2012

• Max solved for X. He is quite proud.

Wednesday January 4, 2012

• Max watching the sunset: "It looks like the sun exploded."

Friday December 31, 2011

• Max says "I don't want to play chess, I want to play Go."
• Saw the Muppet Movie (2011 version) in the theater. He was quiet through the whole thing. A family from our birthing class was there too.
• The entire annex building at Max's school is lost as far as everything in it. The building is okay. 6 classrooms, art rooms, aftercare rooms, library, office, cafeteria, auditorium. Very sad. School start from winter break is delayed by a day.

Friday December 23, 2011

• First time drinking milk straight from the carton.
• Last night: first time tissue paper caught on fire from the Menorah
• Yesterday: 5 alarm school in the buildings adjacent to Max's school! The school sustained some damage, though we are unsure how much. 3 students lost their home. (Wow they had a great commute.)
• Me: Are you watching a cartoon or a regular show? (Meaning a non-cartoon show) Max: A cartoon regular show. Me: Which is it? Max: It's a regular cartoon show. (This goes on for a long time until I realize the name of the cartoon *is* The Regular Show. Doh.)

Saturday December 17, 2011

• "It tastes like unicorn meat." - while eating rainbow sherbet

Friday December 16, 2011

• "Do you know what's funny? Most kids in my class don't celebrate Cookiethon!"
• Last day of Kindergarten for 2011

Tuesday December 13, 2011

• "Is it true that when your teeth fall out you put them under your pillow and they turn into something else? Or is it just fictional?"
• Fictional. That's a long word. "I know what it means." Did you learn it at school? "No, it's just something that Brooke told us." (nb: Brooke is Max's teacher.)
• What did you think of Cookiethon? "Well, sometimes it was hard to find my parents."

Friday December 9, 2011

• I love that the way we interact with the world and words means that Max doesn't have a clear idea that Cookiethon is any different than Christmas. I mention Christmas cards, and Max asks where the Cookiethon cards are.

Monday December 5, 2011

• Max wisdom for your Monday night.
• On St. Nicholas being a she: "Because moms are so kind and dads are not."
• On a new pair of sneakers that he's been wearing that have kind of clunky bottoms: "Hey, these sneakers are awful for sneaking." (This led to watching videos of tap dancers.)
• On getting dessert after dinner: "Don't show me the dessert until my dinner is all gone or I'll be too tempted!"

Monday November 28, 2011

• Boy I forget to upload this a lot.
• Went to Lassen National Park Nov 11-13. He touched a chicken.
• Went to Petrified Forest National Park and Austin, Texas Nov 18-27
• Max had a sleepover at "Uncle Elizabeth"'s place without any other kids and without Lala and Babo
• Max is willing to take big kid showers sometimes
• Max was in his first "race"! He walked a mile with me in the Austin Turkey Trot. No complaints, no asking to be picked up, woo hoo!

Sunday November 6, 2011

• Recent Max quotes:
• Me: what're you doing? Max: just dicking around.
• Max, upon seeing that I hid his candy under his carots: That's a good strategy. Me: Do you know what strategy means? Max: No. Me: It means exactly what you think it means.
• On planning to not bring his car potty with us on the long drive to Texas: "I only have one backup plan and that's to wet my pants and that's not a very good plan."
• Also, I convinced him to go with a fauxhawk for photo day at school. I wonder how it will look.

Friday October 28, 2011

• Regarding the song about the old lady who swallows the fly, Max says "That's a food chain."
• Did a fantastic job with his kindergarten class leading the school assembly.
• Field trip to a pumpkin patch! Two busses there, two busses back.

Friday October 20, 2011

• Max was playing video games in his jammies this morning because he thought that today was Saturday.

Monday October 17, 2011

• Parent-Teacher conference. Max is basically a genius at math. Great at reading/sounds too, but off the charts with math. Brooke is putting together a group of kids to work on their anxiety issues. She says Max is probably on the cusp of the group, but would help the group dynamics, so we said sure. She'll also be putting him in the advanced readers group. No close friends yet, but he is liked by everyone. Still finding his way within the big group. Sometimes won't volunteer an answer even if he knows it. Doesn't like taking risks, even safe ones. Still wants to hold Brooke's hand when they play tag, even though it is non-competitive tag. Brooke will get him a special grip for his pencil to help with that... his gross and fine motor skills both need honing. Most of this is typical for a new five year old. Max needs to get comfortable with failure so that he'll try hard stuff and not just stuff he knows he is good at. Was a natural leader teaching the other kids how to play chess. Potential good play date mates: Jasper and Sean.
• And like mom, he's going to have trouble with over thinking on simple tests like at the DMV... the class was cutting out drawings of the life cycle of trees and they were numbered, and the kids needed to put them in order. They were told to cut out 1 and glue stick it down... Max cuts out the tiny number 1 and nothing else =) Literal kid is literal.

Sunday October 16, 2011

• First paid ride on Muni

Tuesday October 11, 2011

• First chess club meeting

Sunday October 2, 2011

• Max is 5 years old!
• Max weighs 39.2 pounds (39th percentile)
• Max is 43 inches tall (3.58 feet - 51st percentile)
• Max had asked for an iPad and the Statue of Liberty for his birthday but seemed happy enough with what he got, which did not include an iPad nor the Statue of Liberty.
• Max did get: a book about juggling and some juggling balls, socks and Lego desk supplies, a Lego alarm clock, a Lego boombox, two pairs of Carhartt pants, blocks with his initials on them, Paul Frank jammies, glow in the dark stars and a lava lamp, an animal experimentation lab that isn't as scary as it sounds, and a piggy bank that looks like a furry bear.

Wednesday September 28, 2011

• For Rosh Hashanah, Max wanted his apples and honey with yogurt and cinnamon. He's so California in his love of fusion: for Halloween now he wants to be a crayon and the statue of liberty. Body of the crayon, Head and hands of the statue.

Monday September 26, 2011

• Max, discussing dressing up as a crayon (again) for Halloween: Then I can be things that can draw me.

Sunday September 25, 2011

• Max: I want a the biggest statue. The Statue of Liberty. (Mom: What would you do with it?) I'd look at it.

Saturday September 24, 2011

• Combination block party and Max's 5th birthday party. Dozens of children. I didn't take a single photo. Max had a great time. After the party he played on his iPod for a few minutes and passed out. No crying, no tantrums just go go go and then asleep. That is a great party. I always want to combine these two parties.

Tuesday September 20, 2011

• Max: You're making me can't cry.
• Max: What's that big splut? Why is it brown mustard?
• Max: (telling a story) Yesterday or Friday or I don't what day so I'll just say someday.

Monday September 19, 2011

• Kindergarten /StoryPlay

• Me: What did you do in school today?
• Max: Well, today is Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Friday September 9, 2011

• Camping weekend! First time?! Rob Hill in the Presidio of San Francisco with the SF Scooter Girls.
• His glow sticks lasted a long time. Max says "They are still glowish. That's an awesome word."

Thursday September 8, 2011

• Max says, "Ghosts don't have bedtimes because they need to stay up and scare people. I learned that from Scooby-Doo."
• On the 10th day of school, I forgot to pack milk in Max's lunch. I hope not to have a 10% failure rate for the remainder of the year.

Monday September 6, 2011

• Labor Day. Went to Ocean Beach with Heath and another 11 year old just the three of them!! I was nervous. They had a blast. I was picturing potentially awful things happened but of course didn't think at all about the real awful thing that happened: sand everywhere! In hair, ears, nose, shoes, house... Not so awful, but quite messy.

Sunday September 5, 2011

• Flew down for a weekend with the cousins. Went to the LA County Fair; touched sheep, went on a sky ride, ate ice cream, said it was too cold, only ate the cone. Went swimming Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday he said he didn't want to go swimming but then he did and he said "you should not have believed me."

Tuesday August 30, 2011

• Me: Have you taught any other kids to play chess yet?
• Max: They probably all know how to already. They're in *kindergarten*!

Monday August 29, 2011

• Max's afterschool teacher says he is great at Tic-Tac-Toe. I said wait 'til you see him at chess. She said he's great at finding patterns and predicts he'll be good at math.
• Max promised to eat ham if he gets carrots instead of broccoli in his lunch. I'm skeptical.

Monday August 22, 2011

• The house wiki site was accidentally destroyed. A year of updates, firsts, and cute quotes has been lost. But then I discovered that Google had a cache of the page from August 3rd, 2011. Much better! So, a few weeks lost. Not too shabby!
• Of course, those few weeks were very exciting:
• We spent a week in Glacier National Park with Nana and Apa
• and Max started Kindergarten!
• Will detail those out soon.

Sunday July 31, 2011

• Max is better at chess than hide and seek.
• His swim teacher says he's ready for the next level.
• Went to a new K kids playdate.
• "Knights can move in a straight line. That's a lower case L."

Wednesday July 27, 2011

• Clean bill of health from the ear doctors! No tubes. Perfect hearing.
• His favorite color is "every light color except purple."

Monday July 11, 2011

• You're 4 and 3/4. "Yes but when I was at camp was I 4 and 2/3?" Yes. "Yes! I knew it!"
• He plays chess about as well as his mom.

Wednesday June 29, 2011

• While discussing what people do for a living, Max asks, "And Heather colors her hair. Is that why she's called a painter?"
• When Max finds the pictures from the back of Baby Bug he makes video game achievement noises.
• I said "Hi Potato" to Max and he replied "Hello Sushi" to me.

Monday June 27, 2011

• “Max, what do you want to do in Kindergarten?”
  • “Play video games.”
• “What do you want to learn in Kindergarten?”
• “Well, I already know how to play video games.”
• “What do you want to learn to do that you don’t already know how to do?”
• “Juggling. Throwing it up and catching in the other hand. Jumping high. Running faster than Heath. All the things I don’t know how to do. All the things I like so much.”
• Max says, "People aren't special. Treats are special."

Thursday June 23, 2011

• Heart bursting with joy moment of the day: Max's camp counselor thanking me for sending Max to camp because he is so sweet and wonderful and amazing. Wow! How humbling.
• She also said he has amazing pattern recognition skills. Knew how to layout a chessboard after seeing it once.

=== Friday June 21, 2011 ===

• Frenulum snipped successfully!!! Good hospital visit. Brave kid. Brave mom.

Friday June 10, 2011

• Preschool graduation!
• Long bicycle ride on his pedal-free bicycle including street crossings and hills
• Still eats ham

Monday June 6, 2011

• Max ate a piece of ham the size of a piece of Trident gum. He said he liked it. I cannot recall the last time he ate meat. Years?
• Frenulum snipping scheduled for June 21st
• Preschool "graduation" scheduled for June 10th
• He survived my being gone 5 days, home for 18 hours, gone for 5 days trips.

Tuesday May 3, 2011

• Max's hearing is better. The liquid behind his eardrums is gone. No tubes. Followup exam in July.
• He fell off of the scooter yesterday. Not my fault!

Monday May 2, 2011

• Max says "yeah" in this long drawn out way that is adorable. (See Flickr for the video.) His teachers are trying to get him to say "yes" instead (more polite and all) so now when he remembers to say yes he sounds completely enthusiastic! "Do you want some milk?" "Yes!" It's wonderful.
• Spend the night on Angel Island. Walked down to the Coast Guard beach and Max had a blast playing with the water and some sticks. He tried to carry some wet sand back to where we were staying but it did not work out so well for him.
• He is having a great time at his swim lessons. He can float on his back and dunks his whole head underwater fearlessly.
• Tomorrow is his follow-up hearing test.

Thursday March 24, 2011

• In a picture book, Max was counting the clouds: "One fog, two fog, three fog..." I told him in other cities people call fog clouds, but I think it might have less to do with living in San Francisco and more to do with playing Plants vs Zombies.
• Had his frenulum examined. The doctor is willing to cut it under local when he's 6. If he needs to go under for general for ear tubes, we'll do both at the same time.
• He's been eating a lot of cottage cheese, carrot coins, and french toast at home.
• Coming up on spring break. Jim and Heath will be gone for 4 days. I hope Max and I have fun and don't drive each other nuts.
• He received a dream catcher after describing nightmares he's been having.
• Got accepted into Creative Arts Charter School for kindergarten!!! Will be in the same school as Heath until Heath goes to high school. I'm stoked.

Tuesday March 15, 2011

• Boy these updates are getting spreadout.
• Life in Kidland: the teachers felt sorry for us scootering in the rain, so they gave Max a ride home. As soon as he got here he took off his jacket, got his bicycle, went out in the rain and around the corner where I couldn't see him.

Sunday February 27, 2011

• Max asked what being married means and I explained it so poorly that Max said he wants to marry me. Actually, aren't boys supposed to go through a phase where they want to marry their moms?
• Max had a hearing test (more on that later) and when he heard the beeps he was supposed to say "ice cream." After a few minutes of that they suggested changing the word and asked what his favorite food was. After much thinking he said pasta, which surprised us. Then after saying pasta quite often they asked what he wanted to say the next time he heard the beeps. He thought a moment and said, "How about I say 'I hear it.'" Practical kid.
• Then they offered him stickers and he said no thanks because they can lose their stick and blow away. They said they were super sticky stickers and he still said no. (He turned down stickers at Trader Joe's a while ago too.)
• The hearing loss his from water behind his ear drums - not nerve damage. If it doesn't drain in 8 weeks, they might suggest tubes in his ears to drain the water. If they do that, it'll be under general, and we'll have his frenulum clipped at the same time. He has an appointment in March to visit someone who might clip his frenulum under local.
• QOTD: My eyes need some screen time.

Friday January 21, 2011

• With curls too long (though cute) and no time to get to the real barber, Max is sporting a dorky Super Cuts hairstyle. His last haircut was almost exactly 5 months ago, so I'm hoping betting counting on his hair being back to cute and curly by May for preschool graduation photos.
• QOTD: I'm not grumpy. I'm tired.

Wednesday January 19, 2011

• Max calls one type of peanuts "robot peanuts." None of us know why.
• Dad knows why: Max was being fussy about food and I looked at the Planter's jar and thought .oO { that guy looks sort of like a robot } and so asked Max "how about some robot peanuts?"
• We went to Angel Island on Monday. I saw a small-ish boat and asked Max if he thought we'd be taking that one. Max asked, "Can I drive it?"

Thursday January 13, 2011

• First dental checkup. No cavities!

Saturday January 1, 2011

• Recent Max quotes:
• (Regarding a woman in a long skirt) You look like you have bell feet.
• Everyone has a throat.
• Can you pause a newspaper?
• Max: They are happy about it. Mom: They are. Are you happy about it? Max: No, I'm excited about it.
• Too fast! Too fast! Go medium.

Thursday December 9, 2010

• Me: I saw two horses at work today. Max: What were the policemen's names? (That's my logical little guy!)

Sunday November 21, 2010

• Another year, another roadtrip to Texas. I see I need to change the above photo too.
• Recent quotes:

• Mommy: We're going to Glacier National Park. Max: Am I going too? Mommy: Yes. Max: Is there WiFi there?

• Mommy: We don't know if you're allergic to walnut. Max: You mean the ones in Plants vs Zombies?
• Max (upon seeing no cars in front of us driving through west Texas) We're first! We're winning!
• Max: Look, I can make an R with my legs. (He then crosses his legs, like an ASL R)

Sunday October 31, 2010

• Mommy: Max, don't eat all your candy or you'll get sick. Max: But I'm already sick.
  • I think the only thing he'll recall about the World Series is me telling him to be quiet.

Saturday October 2, 2010

• Doh! I forgot to take a photo of him on his birth moment - 16:20

Sunday September 27, 2010

• Birthday party today! It was a sea of blonde haired boys. Very chill - Lego's, K'nex, and the rocket launcher. The photo above is from his 3rd birthday I think. He sort of looks the same to me, so I'm looking forward to taking a new picture and comparing them.

Monday September 13, 2010

• Max is very cute on the bicycle and scooter - he puts his hands out to stop the cars when we cross streets.
• I was out on my scooter rally and Max was home with Jim and Amy and I got this text from Amy: "Max wants to send you a text: He wants to stay in his jammies and watch TV and play Castle Crashers, but Daddy won't let him and is making him get dressed first." So I sent Amy a message that said: "Max needs to be dressed to come meet me and my scooter friends." And I got back a message from Amy that said: "Max says he wanted to say something else: Max can play Castle Crashers before getting dressed and Daddy doesn't get what he wants."
• We made the kids turn off the TV and Max said "Let's play Castle Crashers!" and Heath and Ada said "We can't - the TV has to stay off." Max said, "I mean with kids!" So they role played Castle Crashers.

Thursday September 9, 2010

• Max burst into tears when Noemi dropped him off at school today. I thought we were done with that! Wah!
• Best swim lesson ever!!!
• Instead of saying "a long time ago" he says "a long day ago."
• When Noemi picked Max up at school today the kids were sitting in boxes all in a row so she asked "are you in a train?" and they said "no, we are making a Spanish movie parody."

Friday September 3, 2010

• Max was home today because we thought he had pink eye, but the doctor disagrees so far. Oops.
• We did laundry together and in the middle of it he said "thank you for doing my laundry, Mommy" and I totally melted. Then he said "these are some of your favorite jammies. That makes you happy." He was so sweet. Now I'm going to pull him out of school and quit my job and we'll just do laundry every day.

Sunday August 29, 2010

• I asked Max if he wanted to see where the recycling truck came from, and where it goes after it picks up our recycling. He said, "I can just go to the porch and show you."
• We were going to the mall and his teacher asked him if he would bring her a present. Max thought and then said, "There are no presents at the mall."

Sunday August 22, 2010

• Bicycled to the SF Zoo and back. It was awesome! Max was hysterically amusing and impressed with everything. He mimicked different animals and used his zoo key and said stuff like "a real live bear!" and when he saw the see-through bee hive he said "that's too many!" We rode the train and avoided having our lunch stolen by the bold gulls and obtained many smushed pennies.

Saturday August 21, 2010

• Max got another professional haircut - this time by a real barber. Shortest hair he's had since he was born. Now he looks much more like a kid than a toddler.
• He knows what rhyming is. Damn preschool, you teach him everything!

Thursday August 19, 2010

• On the way to swim lessons, Max said, "This is the way we went to see the parade where they had guns and they shot them" and we was right! Memorial Day Parade!
• He was crying before swim lessons so I taught him the sign for "I love you" and it totally worked - he signed it to me in the water, and I signed to him right back, and he smiled.
• He hated the lesson. I did too. The teacher was worthless. So I got in the water with him and he loved it and didn't want to get out. Might stop the lessons. Sigh.

Thursday August 12, 2010

• First swim lesson! Presidio YMCA. He "manned" up. I feel bad that I haven't gotten him into lessons earlier.

Monday August 2, 2010

• Guess I'm too busy to post much. Max went to preschool every weekday in July.
• He hasn't gone in August yet because he is sick. He took to everyday preschool well.
• Took him to see Despicable Me yesterday. He sat through about half of it.
• Max sometimes calls the movie "Despicable Me" and sometimes calls it "Despicable You" and occasionally "Despicable Mommy"
• I cannot believe he's going to be 4 in two months.
• Max has definitely grown from "capable of being annoying because he's a baby" to "capable of being annoying because he's the younger brother."

Monday July 5, 2010

• Max started 5 day a week preschool today. I'm really looking forward to it. Developmentally he is way ready for this. His social skills are leaping and bounding, just like his physical skills.
• In the car, the soundtrack from Haunted Mansion (yes the Disney ride) and Max went berserk with delight and lack of ability to express his joy with coherent words.

Tuesday June 15, 2010

• Max said "My energy hurts. I need to watch TV."
• Tomorrow we drive to Legoland!

Sunday June 6, 2010

• Max goes around singing "What do you do with a drunken sailor?"
• Mommy says "I am mad at you" and Max replies "But I like you."
• Rode a lion on the carousel yesterday.
• Max gets his gender pronouns mixed up all the time. We never correct him. It amuses me to hear him say something like "I went with this guy" and point to a girl.
• When he talks about scary stuff he uses a "deep" gravely voice.
• Max still has this urgent intensity when he is trying to be the first to answer the door.

Sunday May 16, 2010

• Max told a great story today with suspense and a conclusion and everything.
• Lately he's all "I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to [name of person he is talking to]."

Sunday May 8, 2010

• Max QOTD: "Sea Monkeys don't say thank you."
• Max still thinks that giving a hug and getting a hug are actions that cannot be accomplished at the same time.

Friday April 30, 2010

• Max's hands fell asleep and he told me "I have sand in my hands."

Tuesday April 20, 2010

• Max asked why his Granny Patty died. I said because she was old. Then he asked if I was old. I said "not that old." Then he asked everyone else in the room in turn if they were old. And they all said the same thing. Then he asked if he was old. I asked what he thought. He said "not that old." It was sad and sweet.

Saturday April 17, 2010

• First gymnastics lesson.

Wednesday April 8, 2010

• Caught Max's finger in the seat of my scooter. =( Gave him a ride on my scooter for the first time. =)
• Max thinks the chocolate easter eggs look like footballs and actually asked, "What are eggs?"
• Two nights in a row of sleeping in underwear and staying dry.

Sunday March 28, 2010

• Max: Can I watch Family Guy? Mommy: It's not really appropriate for children. Max: But it has children in it!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

• Max says, "My boogers are green for St. Patrick's Day."
• We went curling.
• Max played air hockey.
• Max can spell up, off, on, and words like that, plus count to about 30, and sing the alphabet song. Plus he can type. With one finger.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

• Max says, "I'm bigger than me. Know how I know? Because I can touch the top of my head."

Friday, February 26, 2010

• Mommy says, "Aww, Max didn't get into this preschool. They don't have room 'due to an unusual number of siblings'..." Heath replies, "One isn't an unusual number of siblings."

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

• Max is still obsessed with Valentine's Day. And Jingle Bells.
• Max asks, "Can we watch some Olympics?" Mom asks, "What kind of Olympics?" Max says, "On the tummy." (He likes the Skeleton.)
• We're watching pairs skating. Mom says, "Wow, did you see that? Wasn't it beautiful?" Max says "Yeah it was beautiful. It wasn't good, but it was beautiful."

Sunday, February 21, 2010

• Max asks, "Does the newspaper come from the sun?"

Friday, February 12, 2010

• Tomorrow we leave for Vancouver for the Olympics. It'll be Max's first trip out of the country.

Thursday January 21, 2010

• Max will now give an item it's name in both Spanish and English, if prompted. Before he wouldn't speak any Spanish unless you only spoke Spanish to him.
• Max put himself to bed tonight and didn't want jammies or a diaper or stories.

Monday January 18, 2010

• Bought a 2001 Eurovan. It has heated seats, antilock brakes, airbags and shoulder straps in the back. Now Max can ride in a booster seat and face forward for the first time in three years.
• Tried on his snowsuit for the Olympics. It fits, but is going to make getting to the potty quite the challenge.
• Heather is getting a new dresser. Heath will get her old one. Max will get Heath's old one. Then we'll finally get rid of the Pack N Play. We still use it to store stuff and we still change his overnight diaper on the little diaper changing basket that sits on top of it and is rated to something like 15 pounds. He is 33.8 pounds.

Friday January 15, 2010

• Oh my gosh. Totally forgot to move this bookmark to my new computer and I haven't updated this in forever! But today's talent was math: Max wanted a cookie and then he said we should bring one to Heath and Ada and so actually we would need to buy three cookies. Math!
• Good road trip - 32 hours in the Vanagon to Austin. No accidents, even when sleeping in the car seat.
• Got Where the Wild Things Are book, movie and stuffed animals for Xmas. He says "these are my wild things" and hugs them. When he watches the movie he says "that's my boat! I'm sad. Why am I sad?"
• Made his parents Xmas presents at school. Awww.

Tuesday December 8, 2009

• Max potty trained successfully over Thanksgiving weekend. He only wears a diaper to sleep.
• Noemi is in Colorado for work and we video chatted over Skype. Out of the blue Max said "I have something else to say. I love you, Mommy." It was heart burstingly adorable. Then he listed everyone else he loved which was cute too.

Thursday November 26, 2009

• First poop in the potty. He was totally casual about it.
• We are basically staying home for 4 days to potty train Max.
• Heath is in Orlando with the flu, possibly swine flu. Hopefully Max didn't get exposed.

Wednesday November 25, 2009

• I wiped away Max's tears and he said "no put the tears back" and grabbed my hand and made me put them back on each cheek.
• He has had an upset tummy (well, butt) since starting traveling, even though we came back on Monday.
• Max now sings the "manamana" song with me.

Saturday November 21, 2009

• Max's Granny Patty died on Monday. Patricia Ruth Berg Robinson: 15 December 1932 to 16 November 2009.
• I am heartbroken for Max's loss. I was proud that he had four living grandparents and thought he would for some time. Patty wrote the most amazing letters and was the best gift giver I know... she found the most personal tiny trinkets, instead of big gaudy plastic stuff, and always wrote letters with the gifts. I'll try to write up more about her later. She was fun and sweet and a most excellent grandmother.

• Her body was donated here: http://www.txstate.edu/anthropology/facts/

• The Robinson clan is hoping more of them will donate their bodies there, because studying relatives is actually rare and cool for forensic anthropologists, but they only pick up from funeral homes within a 100 mile radius. It's comforting to know how much Patty will do to help researchers and law enforcement for decades to come. We toured the lab today. Nifty stuff.

Wednesday November 11, 2009

• Max still bawls when Mommy drops him off at school.
• Max: (endless play by play chatter describing everything he can see from the car.) Mommy: You sure have a lot to chatter about. Max: Yeah, I know. (Or maybe he said "yeah, I do." He says those two phrases a lot.)
• Max says his argyle sweater has kites on it.

Wednesday November 5, 2009

• Max heard the theme to Hawaii Five-O on the radio today and immediately shouted "KITTY CAT VIDEO!!!!" because that is the soundtrack to the world's best kitty cat video, which Max loves to watch.
• Max is an a fantastic phase right now where he is enthusiastic and sincere about everything.

Monday October 26, 2009

• I asked Max, "What sound do dinosaurs make?" and Max replied, "I want my binkit!"
• Max read Blue Hat, Green Hat by Sandra Boynton to me today.
• This past weekend we went to Vegas, leaving the kids with Alicia. Everyone had a good time.
• Max will be a firefighter for Halloween.

Tuesday October 13, 2009

• Worst mommy in the world nomination: Sunday morning, 0400, Max on the floor, crying as he reaches through the cat door calling out "Mommy, don't go to work."
• When I was back home and changing, Max asked, "Can I have a nurse?" (I'm guessing he meant breastfeeding.)

Tuesday October 13, 2009

• Max was walking in circles and said "I'm making the floor dizzy."
• Max has yet to poop at school.

Saturday October 10, 2009

• I love this: When we read Goodnight Moon together and get to the old lady whispering hush part, he touches my nose.
• I love this: I say "Guess what?" and Max says "Chicken Butt" and then I say "and I love you" and then he

starts it.

• I love this: Max played on the piano very non-bangy and was singing "I love to play" at the same time.
• This morning he spent almost an hour looking at the digital clock and being so thrilled at every new number that showed up, and a little bit sad at the ones that were gone.
• He typed his name on my computer while texting with Debbie.

Friday October 2, 2009

• Max is three!
• In the morning Max says "I'm not 3, I'm 2 1/2" but by the evening if you tell him "you're not three" then he'll say "I am 3!" with the most adorable indignation. This indignation is addictive and we are now constantly telling him untrue stuff just so he can contradict us.
• We had his party on Sunday 9/27, but we did gifts and more cake on 10/2

Sunday September 20, 2009

• Instead of napping, Max climbed up his dresser and then it fell on him.
• He is missing school tomorrow because of his cough/cold. He hasn't been there a full week in over a month I think. This is partly why we signed him up for school - germs - but sheesh.
• His school keeps some of the kids' artwork and photos in a binder. When kids leave after 2-3 years, the parents get the binder and get to see how their kid grew. I'm sad that Max will only be there a year. I'm so not ready to throw him into a big school. Maybe I should research some smaller ones? Also, not ready to pack him daily lunches.

Friday September 18, 2009

• Late season baseball reminds me of being in labor.
• Max was so sick that snot was coming out of his eyeballs. Ew.
• Noemi has laryngitis. When she whispers, Max whispers.
• Max has started telling Noemi about his dreams. He said a bus came up the stairs, but it didn't hurt him.

Thursday August 27, 2009

• And today I got a hug - like with his arms around me. My standoffish baby is getting social!

Monday August 25, 2009

• Max came up to Noemi today and said "Guess what? I love you."

Sunday August 24, 2009

• Max continues to sleep in on weekdays, and be up at 0530 on weekends.
• Max said "I love you" today to Noemi. Awww.

Sunday August 16, 2009

• Max is naked after his bath, running around jumping up and down while holding his penis and saying "boing-a boing-a boing-a"

Sunday August 2, 2009

• 2 years 10 months old - catching up on "old" memories.... some from when he was tiny.
• Max was pulling on his penis and asked "take off penis?" and Noemi said "you can't take off your penis, it's attached" so Max said "unleash penis!" (as in his toy leashes we use in the car and on the bicycle.
• Max's nanny, Dilcia, lost his Lala over a year ago, and the replacement Lala has been well accepted, but I keep thinking that original Lala will show up.
• I don't remember when, but a long time ago Max stopped nursing just so that he could say "KFOG"

• Max and Dilcia can be seen in the window of our house using Google StreetView. The Vanagon can be seen at both our house and Daddy Jim's house.

• What did kids play with before there were buttons to push? Best toy ever. I love watching him play with anything, especially when he doesn't know I'm watching.
• It is so impressive how willing he is to flop about and use head, face, and whole body to help him achieve his goals.
• I wrote down that 11/18 was the first time he climbed out of the crib, but I didn't write down which year. Maybe it should be obvious?
• Oh and the Sunday of President's Day Weekend when Max and Heath and Jim visited Noemi at the Grand Canyon, Max saw his first theater movie - the Grand Canyon IMAX experience.
• And I guess he was just over 1 on the Christmas where he got a wooden spoon and put it so far down his throat that he puked. That was special.
• When Arlo first met Max, Robin wasn't with him, and he described Max this way to Robin during a phone call: He looks like he belogns in the sky because he has stars on his jammies and a moon on his hat.
• He is a complete cuteapotamus.
• It is hard for me to appreciate his new baby smell because he is around me so much, that's just what the world smells like.
• I am delighted about every sound he makes, even the ones that would embarrass an adult.
• My love for him has facets - from adoration, to the wonder of having a piece of me out in the world.
• Even when tiny he had many smiles - the "Happy Baby New Year" of tv specials smile, the pure bliss smile, the coy smile, and wow, how can someone without teeth look so good?
• These days the smiles are almost all impish.
• Did I also forget to write about the time I lost him at the library because I was texting?
• His logic and English are increasing impressively every day.

Wednesday July 29, 2009

• Max's first sick day. He picked up a cold from his friend Sam. Dilcia will watch him. Hopefully he will be better by Friday.

Friday July 24, 2009

• Max has been to preschool once in a Vanagon, once on an electric motorcycle, once in a Prius and the rest of the time by bicycle.
• On Fridays after school sometimes we go to the Boudin bakery and bring home bread.
• Monday of this week it was announced that his school would close in May 2010.
• This is devastating news, but now there is talk about finding another place.
• Also on Monday of this week, Noemi got a promotion. Yowza what a week.
• It is so heartwarming to hear Max say "I colored this" about a scribble. So cute!
• School has helped him be interested in the potty.

Monday July 20, 2009

• First ride to school on a motorcycle!
• Max brought Jim a red box and asked to have some raisins. The box was full of those firecracker "Snaps" - eek!
• He's been enjoying preschool a lot! Playing, eating, using the potty, and not wanting to leave.
• I can't believe I forgot to write this, but last week we had our first call to Poison Control! Max came in and asked "more candy?" and I asked "what candy? where did you get candy?" and Max said "Mommy's room" so he showed me, and lo and behold, there was 1 or 2 of my thyroid pills gone - argh! Can't believe I left those out. Turns out they are very much not poisonous though, and he's fine. Phew!
• We bought Max a balance bicycle. He likes it. It is tiny.

Monday July 13, 2009

• First day of not crying at school drop off, because Heather dropped him off. He has been settling in though, and getting more social.
• First time of forgetting his bike helmet. Noemi gave him hers.

Monday July 6, 2009

• A better day at school for Max. He cried when Jim dropped him off, but actually ate and played some. After school we hung out at the library until it closed then biked the rest of the way home.

Sunday July 5, 2009

• Yesterday, after a toddler power struggle, we left for Fort Mason just before Max's naptime. Instead of being cranky, he ran around outside with other kids for hours. He was cheerful the whole time. At fireworks time, Jim set up the Vanagon so Max could sit inside and watch out the open door. He liked them, then hid for a while, then liked them again. While I was cleaning up (we were at Ft Mason because I had to work) he fell asleep in the van. He didn't wake up when Jim moved him to buckle him up. Today we had a couple toddlers visit and Max was good about sharing and talking. Tomorrow is his second full day of preschool. This time Jim is dropping him off, and Babo is already packed.
• Also, he drew perfect H on the Magnadoodle.
• We bought a harness so that Max can ride on the scooters when we don't have time to bicycle him to preschool. (2 years 9 months!) Not sure if we'll do that in the rainy season or what. It might be totally illegal too, because passengers are required to put their feet on the passenger pegs.

Saturday July 4, 2009

• I can't believe I haven't updated in a month!
• First day of preschool: Sadly, Noemi had to drop him off at preschool for his first day. He said he didn't want to bring Lala or Babo, but halfway there he changed his mind. I had tried to hide one on the bicycle, but he caught me. Doh! So we had none. When I left, he cried, and I held it together until I got out the door and then I burst into tears. I felt sick to my stomach the whole day. When I picked him up I kept it all casual, and he seemed to be doing okay. He didn't eat anything but cookies for them, and was rather timid the whole day. In the afternoon there were only a few kids and they went outside and he did better there. I felt better just being with him... it reminded me of when he was in the NICU when he was born and I just didn't feel right until he was in my arms. I'm sure in a few weeks he'll love the place, but it was a really awful day for me. I wish the transition could have been more to my crafting.
• Trip to Ohio: Max and Noemi flew to Ohio for a week at the beginning of June. Max burst through his diaper on both flights. Sorry, Continental! Note to self: put him in the next size up on flights. Also, I ran out of diapers on the way back. Anyway! Max turned from an independent non-cuddly brave little kid to a super clingy one! I now know that clingy is not the same as cuddly. Noemi's parents babysit him while Noemi attended her 20th High School reunion. This did not go very well at all. Sigh. But Max is the prince of transitions, and has been back to sleeping in his own bed and returned back to his home routines easily. It was good the trip was spread out far enough from the start of preschool on July 1st (visit) and July 3rd (full day.)

Tuesday June 2, 2009

• Max has been sleeping in his room, all night since the first time. Wow.
• Also he is 2 years 8 months old today.
• And tomorrow I'm going to let him spend the night at the Nanny's. His first night away from both parents.
• Thursday we meet another family for a potential nanny share.

Saturday May 30, 2009

• Max spent last night in his bedroom - the whole night, no problems. Wow!
• He took a three hour nap in his room. Then we went to baseball.
• It's getting harder to steal the kiddie baseball give-aways from him. Hopefully I have passed on my love for baseball.
• His use of pronouns grows mighty. And he is still way cute when he uses courtesy words.

Monday May 25, 2009

• Max starts pre-school on July 1st. Eek!
• Max's new bedtime routine involves waiting until the grownups are out of the room and then turning on the lights, gathering toys, and tucking under the covers.
• First roller coaster ride yesterday! Some kiddie whale ride at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. I think he was only somewhat terrified. He enjoyed playing in the sand. I let him get a bit sun burnt. Sorry, Max!
• We finally put his two year measurement on the wall - 34.5" - he's about two inches taller than that now. Heath's first wall measure in this house was when he turned four.
• Friday we went to great picnic at Middle Harbor Park in Oakland. It was sooo cold and windy and there were hundreds of Canada Geese and goslings (and their poop.) Max had a blast.
• He uses some Spanish around me. He says eight and bicycle in Spanish more often than in English.

• He is addicted to YouTube videos.

Sunday May 17, 2009

• Sometimes Max still asks to nurse. I think he's kidding.

Wednesday April 29, 2009

• Max sees me in my towel after my shower and asks, "New clothes?"

Thursday April 23, 2009

• Max likes using the blocks to build garages and roads. He presses an imaginary garage door button and opens the garage door for the car. He adores the real garage door button too.
• Longest sentence I've noticed: "I can't do it, it's too hard." Excellent use of pronouns!
• He turned off the UPS. Just like Heath did at this age. Sigh.
• When fussy, he sometimes picks a random thing that will calm him down, like he needs an excuse so it doesn't look like he's self-soothing.
• Oh and I registered him for a 3 day per week preschool. Aiee!

Sunday April 19, 2009

• Max went to his first movie theater movie! Monsters vs Aliens in 3D. He tried to pet the 3D images. He was very quiet, though a bit squirmy about half-way through

Thursday April 16, 2009

• Max asked me to sing Linger. I love when he does stuff like that.
• He is learning his letters. He likes a letter that is for something... M for Max is his favorite of course. It's been pretty natural learning. Him asking "what's that" non-stop.
• We extended "you are the apple of my eye" and stopped when we got to "you are the sorbet of my spleen."
• Max pointed to his hand and said "kiss it. make it all better" so I did and then he said "didn't work. not all better." I can't believe my kisses lost their magic touch already!

Monday April 13, 2009

• We are back from Texas!
• Some notes:
• When the lights went out Max says: Can't see Babo! Mom says: But you can feel Babo. Here are Babo's feet. Max: No shoes! Babo has no shoes!
• He ate almost nothing.

• He looked at the box of SunMaid raisins and said "Dilcia?"

• Oh! Max got accepted to a pre-school! They wanted a $1000 non-refundable within 48 hours. We gave a soft no. So now I'm freaked out all over again.
• He got in the habit of recognizing gas stations and saying "Gas station! Gasoline! Heath go pee!"

• And whenever we passed a McDonald's he said "M for Max"

• We hung out with a really big dog and whenever Max pet him Max would say "Hi nice doggie"
• He was a really good kid during the whole trip, long car ride and all.

Tuesday March 24, 2009

• It amuses me that Max knows the word epilogue. He likes the word epilogue. His pronunciation is impressive.
• He is also a world class bedtime-staller.

Saturday March 21, 2009

• Max has gravity defying curls.
• Max is an expert at using the track pad.
• Max has the Going to Bed Book memorized.
• Max is outgrowing some of his 2T clothing.
• And apparently he likes to stand up and pee into the toilet, but no one who lives in this house has ever seen it.

Sunday March 15, 2009

• Max just got out of his bed, went to Noemi's room, got two Ugly Dolls, took them back to his bed, added them to the huge pile of stuffed animals already there, and tried to find room to sleep. This is why even a small child needs a big bed.
• Max has a slew of books he will read along with me. It is wonderful and fun and adorable. Though because he wants to set the pace as "bed-time stalling mode", it can also be annoying.

Thursday March 12, 2009

• Max is in a big boy bed! So far so good. Yay! It's a little cot next to our bed. Eventually he'll move upstairs to the futon in his own room. If nothing else, it is easier to put him back in to the bed when he gets out then it was to put him into the co-sleeper.
• Max call the letter C "cookie C" and today he got upset that he couldn't close a C to make an O.

Tuesday March 10, 2009

• After lights out I told him to close his eyes and he covered them with his hands, Snoopy style. I told him Dinosaur's Binkit, and he mimed out opening and closing the flaps and said "the end" at the end. I almost cry when I think about how fast the time goes, how so soon he'll be grown and gone, but then he does an equally heartbreaking adorable thing like this and I just melt.
• I said it was Sam's birthday and he asked to "Skype baby Sam" and we did. We also watched videos of Girl Scout songs and You Are My Sunshine.

Monday March 9, 2009

• Max is miserably molaring mightly.
• He asked me to sing Linger. We haven't sung that in a long time. It was nice to get a request.

Saturday March 7, 2009

• Noemi is home again!
• Max can sing the C is for Cookie song and can do assisted somersaults.
• If you ask him to do something he doesn't want to do, Max will say "nahryno" which means "not right now."

Monday February 23, 2009

• Noemi is in WV/DC for 15 days - mostly work. Longest she's been away from Max. There has been video chatting via Skype every night, huzzah. Tonight Noemi held a cookie up to her camera and Max leaned in to bite it, and upon failing said "too far"
• He wondered if Noemi was with Nana and Apa because they are on Skype too.

Wednesday February 11, 2009

• Max speaks in sentences, often, but not always.
• Likes to drag his grown-ups to where he wants them.
• Last night he woke up screaming, and refused any comforting. He settled himself down after a while.

Saturday February 7, 2009

• Visited a pre-school. Max liked the monkey bars and other outdoor toys the best, but also played inside some.
• Still wants to wear a hat all the time. Luckily it's cold out!
• Wants to do everything himself, and in a very set order. OCD boy.

Friday February 6, 2009

• Max just tried to nurse, but forgot how. He was all teeth. Had a look on his face like "I've seen babies do this. How silly."
• Noemi will be in DC from 2/19 to 3/6. Longest she and Max have been apart!
• Max is playing his banjo in duet with Alicia on the piano.
• Max asks what different letters are and can spot some sometimes. When I called a letter an O once he corrected me and said "the O" because I had been saying "that's the letter O." He asks "who's that?" by covering the letter with his right thumb. He is working on the difference between who's and what's.
• Max can count to 10

Friday January 30, 2009

• Max says, "Bye bye, two birdies"
• Toured Pacific Primary. In my top 2 schools, with The Neighborhood School. I've toured 7 now. The whole process makes me want to puke.

Tuesday January 27, 2009

• Max was up all night with a horrible, awful, painful cough. We all finally fell asleep, and then the alarm he set on the iTouch went off at 0547. Sigh.

Monday January 26, 2009

• One month since Max last nursed. He has officially weaned.

Friday January 23, 2009

• First haircut! It broke my heart to cut off Max's sweet, beautiful curls. But he loves hats so much, and they were starting to get tangly. I feel like I could have kept at it, but I also wanted him to have less pain, more freedom. I meant to read up on toddler haircuts and tie him down under good light. Instead, I chased him around a half-lit porch. It looks pretty good though! He looks more "boy" and less adorable baby, and I'll miss that, but I suppose it's time.

Tuesday January 20, 2009

• Max spends the day saying Obama! Obama! Obama!

January 14-18

• First visit to Yellowstone!

January 8-13

• Nana and Apa visited!

Thursday January 7, 2009

• First visit to Muir Woods
• Has been remarkably social and talkative lately.

Friday January 2, 2009

• If I had to pick today, these would be Max's top 7 picks for Kindergarten: Alamo, Argonne, Sherman, Lafayette, George Peabody, Yick Wo, Creative Arts Charter
• Max asked to nurse this morning. I tried to convince him not too, but he insisted so I gave in. I tried to think that it might be the last time. He only nursed a second on each side, and then said "all gone." I think he is weaned, but just wants to make sure he is still in control.
• His "big boy" cot arrived.
• We booked a trip to Yellowstone for just before MLK weekend.
• Walked 2.5 miles.

Thursday January 1, 2009

• I meant to start this when Max turned 2, but I'm a few months late.
• Went on a 4.5 mile walk today.
• This will have the most recent information at the top of the page.

• See the BirthBlog for what happened before now.