12 years...

12 years...it seems like so long ago. Over time this day has become a happy day, not because we've forgotten, or because it hurts any less, but because we've chosen to enjoy each day and live like Grandpa would have wanted us to. For us, Mom has made it a day where we celebrate Grandpa in ways we can understand, and the best way we know how to celebrate him is by eating ice cream! This year is especially important because we need to catch Maxwell up on all things Grandpa Wayne. First and foremost, he needs to know that ice cream is one of the major food groups no matter what anyone else tells him. There was no argument on his part, just squeals so loud that we have no doubt Grandpa could hear him all the way up in heaven. We enjoyed every bite while listening to Mom share stories and answer questions about Grandpa. The only thing that would have made the day better would have been to have Grandpa Wayne there eating ice cream right along with us!

Maxwell - Seven Months

7 months old, but who's counting?!?! Maxwell continues to grow before our eyes and this past month has been no different. He is wearing 9 month clothes and with the way he eats he'll be in 12 month clothes in no time. He continues to enjoy everything Mom puts in his mouth, and we still have yet to find something he refuses to eat. His favorites are Mom's homemade applesauce and a zucchini/pears/peas mixture. He is sitting up without support now and finally rolling consistently from back to front. He pushes up on all fours as well, but hasn't figured out this is the first step to freedom of movement which Mom is secretly grateful for. He has discovered that if he pushes hard enough though he can move backwards...although not efficient, it sometimes is just enough to get the job done! He is sleeping great during the day now and down to two, sometimes three naps. At night he goes down like an angel, but he still wakes for about two feeds. Lily and I participated in the "cry it out" method to remedy this, but Mom has not ventured there yet due to the fact that he would wake the whole house with his screams. He is starting to display some signs of stranger awareness, especially with men, but when we walk in the room he smiles from ear to ear! He also loves Harley, and makes sure to acknowledge him as he comes down the stairs each morning. He continues to enjoy singing and he will do anything for things with buttons (i.e., Mom's phone and computer). He communicates with squeals and grunts, and has started learning sign language. He has yet to produce any signs, but he recognizes it whenever he sees it and squeals with delight. Maxwell just keeps forging on and he is making huge waves here in our world!

Shopping in Chicago

We finally made it down to Chicago to visit the American Girl doll store and the Lego store. The selection was enormous and it took forever to decide what we wanted, but we were both more than satisfied in the end. 

Carnival

Tonight was our annual school carnival and Lily and I played Mom and Dad's favorite games (insert sarcasm) and won! Meet Bud (nickname: Flushy) and you'll have to trust me when I tell you that Lily's cookie cake was delicious!

Keep On Rollin'

Over the last two days we have come to realize that Maxwell just isn't that little anymore. He now rolls or pushes himself backwards to get what he wants, and his chubby little feet are now hanging off the end of his cot. Not that this bothers him in the least bit. We're pretty sure he may still be sleeping in that thing when he's 18 because he likes it soooooooo much! As for the rolling, watch out! He'll do it when you least expect it, and of course everything is done in style with the tongue hanging out - because wouldn't you?!?!

Meet Washington

We stopped by Mr. Dav's and Ms. Jude's house today to meet baby Washington. Maxwell was enamored by him, or just confused as to why Washington was sleeping in his cot or one that looks exactly like his.

Snow Rats

A foot of snow on Sunday/Monday and some 40 degree temperatures today resulted in a little fun in the snow for all of us. Max got to try out the sled Santa brought him, and Lily and I teamed up to try and make the world's largest snowman only to realize that we couldn't lift the second ball onto the bottom one to make the body because we had rolled them so big. That plan was scraped quickly and we moved onto plan two...snowball fight with Harley. That only lasted for a bit as well as every snowball we threw at him he ate. Plan three entailed Mom and Dad taking Max and Harley inside while Lily and I made forts and dug tunnels. This plan was a success and we all managed to enjoy our time outside!

A Day in the Life of a Six Month Old

What does Max do all day...eat, sleep, and play. There is also an occasional bath involved because, yes, even little people get stinky!

Shopping

With less than a month to go until we are off on our next adventure, this time to Captiva Island in Florida, Mom had us go through our closets. Much to her dismay, much of what we own for summer didn't fit. Apparently we are still growing like weeds, and this resulted in our Saturday being spent at multiple stores looking for shorts, shirts, shoes...you name it, we needed it! Max even got in on the action and was quite a trooper as we tried hats and sunglasses on him. All of that shopping made us mighty hungry though, and we just happened to find a place that offered free ice cream for kids too...bonus!!!

Buddies

These two have grown into little buddies which is what we all expected being that they hang out together all day, every day! Harley is still having trouble understanding why Maxwell won't play fetch with him, and he sometimes forgets that he is four times larger than Maxwell, which sometimes gets him in trouble. Maxwell doesn't seem to mind though as he smiles every time he sees Harley. Good thing he is so loving because Harley came in at just over 70 pounds on Thursday when he went to the vet, and he is not done growing quite yet!

"A" for Effort

We had parent teacher conferences today where Mom and Dad sat and listened to our teachers explain how wonderful we are! Shocking we know! All of our hard work and good effort resulted in Mom and Dad treating us to lunch at the Milwaukee Public Market and then we got to indulge in some dark hot chocolate with chocolate whipped cream at Red Elephant Chocolate. The hot chocolate may be incentive enough to work just as hard next quarter!

Pinewood Derby

Today was the Pinewood Derby, and although I didn't win anything for speed, I did walk away with a trophy for second place for design in my Den (my car is the one on the far right-Night Rider). I also took second place for speed in my Den, but my little car wasn't fast enough to make it into the top 12 for the whole Pack. My performance definitely topped last year's though so hopefully next year I'll be even better!