We were grocery shopping this morning and I picked up some fresh flowers to put in my new vase from my mom, who's coming to visit tomorrow. Max saw them and said, "HOLD FLOWERS!" and wouldn't let them go. I was trying to get a picture of him as we were walking out, when a woman in her 60s stopped us. She said, "Do you mind giving your phone to me so I can take your picture? He looks so cute sitting there with the flowers, I want to get a picture for you." I almost cried, it was so unexpected and sweet. Genuinely nice people, they're really all around if you stop and look. (at Whole Foods Market)

Max [21 months]

I can’t believe you are three mere months away from being TWO. I can’t say that I remember the blur of the newborn days like they were yesterday, but I still feel like you’re so little and not even nearly close to being two! That being said, you honestly are blossoming into such a little boy.

You have your own opinions on EVERYTHING, including what clothes you wear, if you take want your shoes off when we come back from being outside (“SHOES ON!”), if you want to change out of a shirt with stains on it (“SHIRT ON!”), or what you want to watch on tv (“One more Elmo!”). Feeding you is becoming a little bit more of a challenge with these strong opinions. You are always down for eggs and pancakes and fruit at breakfast and probably eat the most at breakfast time. Lunch is hit or miss, as is dinner. You’re a good snacker though and love any kind of dip, especially hummus and carrots and chips and salsa. We’re still nursing somehow, which you ask for by saying “Eat!” it “Eat some more!” Thinking we’ll gradually wean in the next few months before your birthday because although we both still enjoy it, I think it’s time.

You talk all the time and say the funniest things. You have a lot of your books almost all the way memorized. Some of your favorites are Little Blue Truck, The Foolish Tortoise, Bunnies, Good Night Ocean, Hello Ninja, Good Night Boston, Corduroy, Good Night Moon, and The Little Engine That Could. You surprised me the other night before bed by asking for “SHINE!” and singing the words to You Are My Sunshine. Brought me to tears, it was so cute. You can count to thirteen and know the names of colors but you usually don’t match them up correctly. You know a ton of animals and trucks/vehicles by sight. You are stringing words together to make sentences a lot more these days and learning so many new things at daycare. When we get in the car you’ll immediately ask for a pouch and to “Call Nene” so we usually call Granny and chat with her on our way home from daycare.

You love Mommy right now. You’re borderline obsessed with me which I LOVE but is hard when I have to leave to go to work or really anywhere else without you. You sob and cry “Mommy hold you” which makes it tough for me but I know it’s good for us to have time apart! You love Daddy too and say “Daddy’s here!” when he comes home from work. Putting you to bed is a little tough sometimes when you ask me to hold you more when I’m trying to put you in the crib… I usually give in and rock you for a few more minutes and you go down fine the second time I put you down. You are super friendly to people you’re familiar with, but any people you don’t see super often you take a little while to warm up to.

We went to Great Wolf Lodge in March to take a break from the brutal winter weather and you absolutely loved it there. We will have to make it a winter staple. The winter weather was tough this year which is how you found your love for Trolls and The Good Dinosaur. We have watched a ton of movies and lived at the local play place lately.

We’ve reached the land of toddler tantrums! Some things that really set you off are getting into the shopping cart when we first get to Target, adding/removing articles of clothing and shoes, diaper changes, and us taking too long to eat when we’re out at a restaurant. You’re usually pretty good at calming down when we redirect you, but dinners out are making us anxious these days because you’re basically a ticking time bomb. You just have so much energy that’s tough to contain. You still love bath time and being wrapped up in your “dousa” towel after the tub. Your play mower is still a hit, as well as any kind of truck or car or ball.

You are seriously so much fun and the sweetest little soul. When I say “Mommy loves you” and you respond with “So much!” I melt every time. You ask to give huggies all the time and are so affectionate. We tell you we love you as much as we can and hug and kiss you all the time.

Max [18 months]

I honestly can’t believe you’re so big! You are a toddler now, with your own opinions and a huge personality. You want to do everything yourself and are very independent, but you’ve slowly turned into a more cuddly guy which is the best.

We haven’t had your 18 month appointment so I’m not sure about your height or weight, but you’re solidly in 18-24 clothes and on your way to growing out of them in height. You’re still talking up a storm and repeating, repeating, repeating. My favorite thing you’ve been saying lately is, “Hold you!” when you to be picked up. It’s so freaking cute I can’t stand it. You’re still napping once a day and you’re pretty good about going down when it’s time. Bedtime has been a little bit of a struggle but you’re still a pretty good sleeper overall.

You still love Elmo and reading. Granny got you a Raffi CD for Christmas and you’re loving singing that in the car. You’re learning so much at daycare, practicing counting (you can count to 10 which blows my mind) and learning shapes and colors. You just love it there and it makes me so happy that you’re so happy to go .

You aren’t eating as much these days, but you’ve been trying and liking new things which is awesome. Some of your newer favorites are clementines, pizza, chili, smoothies, and whole bananas at once.

Winter is kind of putting a damper on our outdoor play, but you’ve played in the snow a few times and really loved it! You weren’t into sledding but loved kicking around in the snow and helping Daddy shovel. Hopefully we can build a snowman when the next snowstorm comes. We’ve been hitting up the local play areas a lot, going to different library story times, and having play dates with your friends to stay busy in the cold weather.

I’m really trying to cherish our days together because it keeps hitting me how fast the time is passing. Even during the challenging days when you’ve had tantrum after tantrum or thrown every snack on the floor or been cranky for seemingly no reason, you’ll walk up to me and say, “Lay down,” and snuggle with me on the couch or yell, “MOMMY!” when you see me and give me a huge hug. Those are the things that make it all worth it. You are such a joy in our lives and you bring so much laughter and fun to us every day!

Max [16 months]

I can’t believe I haven’t written about you in 3 months! I’ve been so bad at blogging, but I need to at least keep up with your updates because I love going back and reading them.

Last time I wrote you were chatty but wow has your talking skyrocketed! You are repeating everything we say, which is both good and bad :) Have to watch what we say nowadays. Some of your recent favorite words are bus (you say, “bussssss”which is beyond adorable), a boo! (your phrase for peek a boo), a choo! (when you sneeze or someone else does), everyone’s name at daycare but especially Emily and Harper and Andrew and Tessa, shoes, boots, socks, yeah, blueberry, eggie, pouch (sounds closer to toutch), yoyo (yellow), and of course Mommy and Daddy. You are so hilarious and will do things that you know will make us laugh, your little noises and your wild bouncing on the couch and mimicking us in your funny little way.

At your 15 month appointment you weighed just over 24 lbs and were almost 33 inches. You’re wearing mostly 18-24 month clothes and some 2T stuff. You are becoming more opinionated about what you wear, and trying to put you in a jacket or vest can be a challenge. You say “OFF!” when you aren’t a fan. You actually don’t mind hats, which is great because you look so cute in them and need them to cover your still kind of sparse hair. It’s growing in though!

When I’m making dinner, you love to take all of the pots and pans out of the lazy susan, and if I give you some measuring spoons and a spatula you will go to town and happily entertain yourself. You have become obsessed with trucks and buses and can always hear an airplane and love to look for all of them when we go outside. You are pretty much sprinting everywhere these days, with the occasional wipe out.

You are mostly down to one nap, I never thought I’d see the day! You usually go down around 11am and will sometimes nap up to three hours. Heaven. You’ve been sleeping awesome at night, mostly from around 7pm to 6am, with the occasional early 5am wake up. You let everyone know when you’re tired by saying “Night night!” and sometimes even laying down on the spot. Since it’s gotten colder, you’ve been sleeping in your sleepsack and love to say, “Night night! Sleepsack!” when it’s time for bed.

Food is becoming a little bit of a challenge because you are turning into one of those picky toddlers but we’re rolling with it. Eggs are always a hit, along with mac & cheese, blueberries, yogurt pouches, sweet potatoes in any form, sandwiches, veggie sticks, peanut butter crackers, rice, pasta, and quesadillas.

You seriously get more and more fun as you grow! We’ve been loving going to the playground and the playplace at the mall and just playing at home. You love love love to read and will even sit and read books by yourself lately. The cutest. You know a lot of your books by name, and some of your favorites are Everywhere Babies, Hello Ninja, Little Blue Truck, a lot of the Good Night ones (Boston, Maine, and Gorilla to name a few), and Little Owl’s Day/Night.

You just discovered Elmo and are mildly obsessed. You love the letter of the day and number of the day songs the most. You know where your eyes and nose and mouth are, and that cows say “Moo!” and can identify some animals that we see in your books.

We love you so much, nugget, and we’re so lucky we get to see you grow and evolve. You are the sweetest little boy and such a joy!

I had the best birthday with this nugget and his daddy. So lucky that they're mine! Here's to 31 🎉 I'm so excited for the year ahead with my guys 👶🏼👨🏻 (at Breakers Ice Cream)

Max [13 months]

Most notably, you started walking this month! WHAT? I can’t believe it. It makes you seem like such a big boy, not our little baby anymore. You started taking a few steps at a time around your birthday, which turned into 6 or 7 at a time, which turned into leaving the room crawling and walking yourself back into the room. That escalated quickly.

You’ve picked up a few more words and phrases this, including “bye bye” and “wow” and “uh oh” and “doggy” (which sounds suspiciously like Daddy) and “I know I know I know” (?). You continue to be a chatterbox and will talk to anyone, or sit and talk to yourself which might be the cutest thing ever.

You’ve really hit your stride with sleeping. You’re sleeping through the night way more often than not, which has been amazing for your parents. Even the early morning wake ups (ahem, 5am) aren’t as bad when you’ve slept all night. You’re still napping twice a day at this point.

We’re still nursing morning and night and once or twice during the day, and I’m really still enjoying it. You love food in general, which has taken a lot of the emphasis off of nursing while still letting us enjoy it while we can. Your favorite summer foods are ice cream and watermelon.

We went to the beach in Delaware this month and you did so well. We were a little worried that you wouldn’t last long, but you were a champ and played in your baby pool and with your beach toys. At first, you were afraid of the waves, but by the last day you were in the water with your Uncle Andy and Aunt Ellie and loving life. Going to the beach means an obvious long road trip, and you were so good both ways. Our little trooper!

I would definitely describe you as a little wild child! You have so much energy and can go go go all day. You’re so happy 95% of the time, but if you get something taken away or if you get left in a room by yourself, watch out. You are stubborn like your parents and always want your way, which is kind of understandable.

You love other kids, which is why I’m excited for you to start 2 days of daycare in September. I’m obviously nervous too, but I know you will love the interaction while still having one on one time with your Auntie 1 day a week and me the other 2 days.

Swim lessons are a new thing we started this summer, and you could go either way on them. You love the water itself, but not being submerged in it so much. You’re getting better though! You still love the bath tub and have officially graduated from the blow up duck baby tub to having the whole bath tub to yourself.

You are so sweet with your Daddy and you’re showing much more affection towards both of us now, which has just been adorable. When you just wake up or you’re getting tired, you’ll lay your head on our shoulders and put your arms by your sides and just snuggle. It’s the best.

There's something so special about taking your baby to the place where you've vacationed since you were a baby. (at Conquest Surf Fishing Beach)

Max [1 year]

I cannot believe you are a year old! It seems like just yesterday that we were running back and forth from the hospital, getting non stress tests and blood pressure monitoring, before finally giving in to my doctor’s demands for an induction. The past year has gone by so fast and so slow at the same time. It’s been joyous and scary and funny and stressful and cute and silly and sleepless and full of love. Here are a few highlights from your 12th month of life!

At your doctor’s appointment you weighed in at 21.5 lbs and were measured at 30″, although we think you’re a little taller than that. You’re in size 4 diapers and 12-18 months clothing on top and 6-12 months on the bottom.

You love love love the tub still. You like to suck on your wash cloth and stick your head under the faucet. You have a problem with sitting on your bottom and would rather be standing up and dancing around in the tubby. You’re still in your inflatable duck tub but it’s got a slow leak so we’re thinking of taking that as a sign to just throw you in the big boy tub.

When I blow on your food to cool it down, you blow air too. It’s the funniest thing ever. You just started blowing raspberries on me and Dad and Auntie and you think you’re quite hilarious when you do it.

You haven’t been super interested in walking, but Uncle Dan got you a toolbox on wheels and you’ve been loving pushing that around your room. You’ll stand up on your own in the middle of the room, but right now you just kind of look around and plop back down on your bottom. You’re still crawling at top speed and cruising on all the furniture. Everyone says you’ll be walking soon but we’re in no hurry.

You are SUCH a talker. Wonder where you got that? You’ve been saying “Dada” for a long time, but you finally say “Mama” all the time too. Dadoo is another word for Dad, which is pretty adorable when you say it. Another favorite? Saying “No no no” when you know you shouldn’t be doing something like climbing the stairs or trying to turn the hot knob on the tub. Your latest trick is saying “I you” (I love you) and it melts me. You are like a little parrot and will try to mimic most things we say. Some of our favorites are Gigi (for your great grandmother), banana (”nana”), hi, bye, and dog (”dadoo“).

Waving is totally your thing these days. You wave at everyone and don’t seem to mind if they wave back or not, but you do want to be the first one to wave. Drinking water from your sippy cup or mini Camelbak is so fun for you and you’re so proud when you can do it. High fiving with Dad is another trick, and you’ve been bear crawling lately instead of crawling with your knees down which is pretty funny to watch. You’re usually decently content in your car seat (as long as you have a plethora of toys) which has made it easy for us to take short trips on the weekends. Our favorite trip this past month was to York, Maine with our friends who got a house up there for the week.

You are a really good eater still and the only things you don’t really like are sweets (like when you spit out your smash cake on your birthday). Muffins and donuts and any kind of cake, you could do without. You are an ice cream guy which makes me happy. Fruits are your favorite still, with summer watermelon and strawberries and blueberries being at the top of the list. We’re still nursing about 4x a day when I’m home with you, but I’m going to stop pumping at work because you’re kind of over drinking bottles. We’re going to start whole milk soon and see how that goes.

Finally we have a happy update on the sleep front... You semi regularly sleep through the night these days!!! Praise. We thought it would never happen but a week or so before your birthday, we started putting you down later (8pm instead of 7pm) and you started sleeping all night! There’s still the occasional 4am wake up, but a little cry it out and night weaning did wonders. You’re still napping twice but some days you’ll only nap once, although I think you’re still a ways away from going down to one nap for good.

You are such a happy boy and we could not be luckier to be your parents. You are our greatest joy and we love you so very much!

Max’s 1st Birthday Party

Last weekend we celebrated Max’s big 1st birthday with a backyard shindig. We had the best time with some of our favorite people! Photo dump below...

And just like that, he's ONE! Happy birthday to our hilarious, determined, speedy, chunky, sweet, and smiling boy. We love you more than anything in the whole wide world!

It's crazy to think that last year on the 4th of July we were getting everything ready to go to the hospital, and this year we're celebrating with our little firework 💥

Max [11 months]

This past month has been so so so much fun with you! It's so crazy how you are turning into a tiny person with your own personality. You love to laugh, and you know when you're doing something funny that makes us laugh. You've started waving "hi" and "bye" which is really the cutest thing ever. You are still crawling at warp speed and have stood up on your own, but you haven't attempted any steps. But speaking of steps, you are a pro at climbing the stairs. Eek.

You love your straw cup for water, but you won't use it for milk. Food has been good, with fruit and cheese still being your favorite things. Nursing is good, but I cannot wait to be done with pumping. Just a few more weeks!!!

We've been loving going to the park together. You only last a few minutes on the swings before you really just want to get down and crawl around. Your poor knees are taking a beating because you insist on crawling on every hard surface known to man. You love exploring in the grass and watching dogs and other kiddos.

No more teeth yet! You've been making more sounds and babbling more, and you're getting so good at imitating us.

Things you like: watermelon, strawberries, playing hide and seek, waving, climbing stairs, splashing in the tub and drinking tub water, watching the news and Married with Children (?) in the morning with Dad

Things you don't like: not holding the phone while we FaceTime with Granny, being left alone in a room, sleeping through the night

I really can't believe that you will be ONE YEAR OLD in a few weeks. It just seems crazy to me. At the same time, I feel like you've been a part of our family forever! You are such a wild child and your sweet personality shines through more each day. Every day we love you more and more!

Here comes the sun ☀️ (at Horn Pond)

Memorial Day weekend 2016

We had such a good weekend! Friday night we hung with Rob’s fam then came home and started the second season of Bloodline. Saturday we busted out the baby pool and the wagon while Rob mulched and planted flowers. After nap time we went into Boston to meet up with our friends who were in town from Minnesota for the weekend. Max did end up projectile vomiting everywhere and having to go home in a diaper because I didn’t have an extra outfit for him, but after we cleaned up all the vomit we did end up having a good dinner. Sunday morning Rob ran the Run to Remember half marathon and killed it! We went out to a celebratory breakfast and ran to Party City to start scoping out first birthday (!) decorations/ideas. We alllllmost came home with a Patriots helmet for the nugget as well. In the afternoon, we headed over to Rob’s parents’ house to celebrate his brother and sister-in-law’s twin babies on the way. Monday started out rainy which was a bummer, but when the weather cleared up we decided to head up to Rockport in search of lobster rolls. We enjoyed them on the deck overlooking the water at Roy Moore Lobster and stopped for ice cream on our way out of town. It’s always fun to explore new places around here, not being a native New Englander. We had a great weekend kicking off what I’m sure will be a wild summer with Mr. Max!