A Day of Firsts

Definite first steps today. He walked from his dad to me. It was so exciting.

While eating real chicken--not the baby food variety--he said, "More."

He slapped me "five" repeatedly. Since he loves hitting things, this seems socially acceptable.

We play a game where we say, "Blow out the lights." Then we blow and flip the switch. Max thinks it's hilarious and usually blows after the lights are out. Today, I asked him to help me "blow out the lights" while we were standing by the light switch. He grinned at me, leaned over and flipped off the lights.

First Shoes and First Step...sort of

Since Max has been at the lake he's gathered two splinters on his feet from the deck. He's also standing a little on his own. We figured it was time to get him a pair of shoes.

Felt's shoe store has been in town for decades. It was the first member of the Chamber of Commerce and is still family owned and operated. My mother remembers getting shoes there when she was a little girl. So that's where we went. Drew Felt told us that little Max wears a 5 1/2.

On Thursday, July 2, 2009, we bought Max his first pair of shoes. Well, he's had a couple of pairs from a friend and an aunt & uncle, but these shoes are like big boy shoes. As soon as he had the Nikes on his feet, he stood up without touching anything and stayed that way for the longest we'd seen. Even when we got home and took off his shoes, he kept practicing. Ever since, he's been moving closer and closer to walking.

In fact, today he took what I call his first step. My parents and Garrett and our friend Mike witnessed it, and they didn't think it was a real first step. However, he wasn't holding on to anything, so I think I'll count it.

Max loves people's shoes, and he loves having his own. Here he is playing with the box and shoes in his closet.

Pinwheel

Max was pretty impressed with his first pinwheel.

First Pool

Max has cute little swimming trunks, but it was hot, so he just wore his Little Swimmers. He didn't care what he looked like. He had a blast! Here is his dad putting him in the pool for the first time


He liked the little penguin in a boat. It didn't float so well, but he still enjoyed it.
Most of all he enjoyed splashing.

Crawling in and out of the pool became a favorite event of the afternoon. You can see the dirt from the deck on his diaper!

Family Fun

My cousin Mika and his family came over last night. It was so fun. His wife Lisa is hilarious and makes any get together feel like a party. I love being so much closer to them--even if we have lived here six months and this is the first time our families have gotten together since we've been back! Garrett grilled burgers and hot dogs and we ate until we couldn't eat anymore.

I had so much fun that I forgot to take pictures. And I really should take pics because Max and his second cousins are about the cutest bunch of kids you'll ever see.

I attempted to take this photo while B. was giving a phenomenal show with Guitar Hero. That boy can work a stage. He is the most impressive performer we've had so far. As you can see, he was in between sets when I got this shot.

Max loved seeing everyone. The girls are going to be wonderful babysitters and mommies (the latter a looooong time from now). Unfortunately, they're getting older and have extremely busy schedules. I better snag them while I can. I showed all of the kiddos the guest room, so hopefully they'll come play with us.

Although Max enjoyed playing with everyone, he was ready to go to bed when it was time. We were enjoying ourselves so much that we didn't pay attention to the clock. Little Boe Peep is three years old and a big help. Max began fussing, so she and I went in to change his diaper. Max leapt off the table toward her. She cringed and said, "I don't like it when he's naked."

Once I put him on the floor, he crawled over to his little prayer doll they'd given him for Christmas. We hold it every night before reading our bedtime books. A couple of weeks ago, the doll said, "Amen." Then I said, "Amen." Then MAX said, "Amen." So, he knows the doll is part of his bedtime ritual. He only plays with it at bedtime. I was a dunce, though, and didn't realize it was bedtime until I'd dragged him back into the living room. Then I realized what a smart kid I had! He was ready for bed and we weren't listening to him tell us.

For those of you who follow the blog regularly, you may remember Little Bo Peep giving Max a bottle. She expected him to be the same now. She placed the boppy on her waist when it was bedtime and asked if she could feed him. It was an adorable sight and I felt horrible telling her that he didn't lie down on it anymore and that he could actually feed himself. I told her, "They just grow up so fast." She nodded seriously as if she knew exactly what I was saying.