Maxwell at 1 Year!

Weight: 20 lbs.
Height: 27.5"
Teeth: 4
Clothing size: 12 month

I was hoping for a messy face cake picture but he kept licking his fingers clean.

He grew so much this month!
He learned how to play with his toddler marbleworks set (he knows to pick up the balls from the bottom and drop them on the set so they'll roll down)
He can play ball. I roll a ball to him and he can roll it back a few inches in my direction.
He learned how to use a pound and roll boat- he can't use the hammer yet but he knows if he pushes down on the balls they'll roll down to the bottom.
He figured out how to slide backwards off of couches and beds.
If I come up behind him and ask him what he's chewing on and he's chewing on something he's not supposed to be chewing on, he'll hurl it away and turn to look at me like he wasn't doing anything wrong.
He's my little shadow. He likes to be in whatever room I'm in and follows me around the house.
He likes to walk around in circles and spin the office chair. He also likes it when Jackson puts him on the chair and spins him around.
He likes playing with toys with wheels.
He loves opening the kitchen cabinets and taking out cups. He makes me think if a TV zombie when we do the dishwasher. If he hears it creak open he'll stop and turn his head and if he hears dishes rattling he rushes over and attacks.

Second haircut! He was a trooper. Although his hair is kind 

of messed up because he kept moving his head really fast.

He loves climbing up this playset.

Taking steps!

Sleep:
Still takes a morning nap 90 minutes after waking up. He starts whining exactly 90 minutes after waking up. You could set a clock by it. He likes to go down for a nap in the afternoon about three hours after he wakes up from the first nap. He usually wakes up once at night, sometimes more if he's teething or going through a growth spurt.

Food:
I feed him purees if we're eating something that's not too healthy. If we're eating a healthy dinner then I shred what we're eating and put it on his tray. He also loves baby puffs and teether cookies.

I went way overboard on Halloween but he's my last child, so I grabbed a few outfits for super cheap at a consignment sale and he was a good sport about it.

He was a turtle at Paul's company Halloween part and at J&M's school party.

He was a pumpkin at the pumpkin patch.

He was a tiger at Mika's class party and the school parade.

I totally #NailedIt on this Mario one. He's supposed to be Mario going down a tube.

His "real" costume was being Carl from Up.

Maxwell at 11 Months

Weight: 20 lbs.
Clothing size: 9 & 12 month
Teeth: 2!

RAWR!

He shakes his head when he doesn't want any more food.
He shakes his head when he's doing something he knows he's not supposed to be doing.
I have to change his diaper while he's standing up or else he'll throw a fit if I try to put him on his back.
He'll play a game where if you point to him, he'll point to you and touch your finger. He doesn't really point yet aside from that.
If he hears me open the dishwasher, he crawls over as fast as he can so he can throw the dishes out of it.
I try to read books to him and all he wants to do is grab them out of my hands and put them in his mouth.

Milestones:

• He started giving me open mouth kisses!
• Figured out how to crawl backwards down stairs
• Standing- current record is 10 seconds, no steps yet
• Cruises easily on furniture
• He can walk slowly behind a walker
• He dances
• He can hide his face for peek-a-boo

Favorite things:

• Putting everything in his mouth and banging stuff
• Climbing stairs
• Climbing everything else
• Making messes
• Trying to rip off cabinet doors
• Trying to tear apart the play kitchen
• Trying to tear the baby gates off the stairs
• Destroying areas of the house I just picked up

Maxwell at 10 Months

Weight: 19.5 lbs.
Teeth: STILL 0
Size: 9 months

Loves his learning table

Practicing for football games.

Milestones:
He started standing for few seconds.
He pulls up and cruises a lot.
His pincer grip is pretty good now.
He waves (if he feels so inclined)

He likes
-being thrown up in the air
-swinging
-shaking his head no
-high fives
-going to the pool
-dropping spoons and toys from his high chair
-clicking his tongue and blowing raspberries
-opening and closing doors and cupboards
-riding on Daddy's shoulders

He likes "helping" me unload the dishwasher.

Food:
I used to make him baby food and he didn't seem to like it, but he likes the purees I buy at the store. I still nurse him several times a day.

If I need to get something done I can put a bunch of puffs on a chair and he'll happily stand there and eat them.

Sleep:
He FINALLY dropped down to two naps. I felt like my life revolved around feeding, diapering, and naps. But now I have a big block of time between the end of his afternoon nap at 3/4 and his 9:00 bedtime. He still wakes up in the middle of the night for a feeding and diaper change. He gets up for the day any time between 7:30-9. If he gets up at 7:30 he usually cries to go down for his first nap at 9.

He knows when he is doing something he's not supposed to be doing. Like I'll walk into the room and see him sucking on a crayon and he tries to turn and hide what he's doing. It's interesting to watch the gears turning in his head. I'll see him reach out to something he's not supposed to touch, pull his arm away, and then reach for it again (sometimes eyeing me). Or he'll find food on the floor and see me coming to take it away and he'll quickly try to shove it in his mouth before I can get to him.

He likes to pull up on the storm door and look out and bang on it. He likes to people watch.

He knows to not crawl off beds and couches and to not try to go down the stairs now.

It's so convenient that he has attachments formed with Jackson and Mika because if I need to go to another room to do something he is fine being left with them. When Jackson and Mika were babies and I had to leave the room to go do something, they would scream and cry until I got back.

He "helps" get dressed by sticking his arms out when I line them up with the arm holes.

He discovered paper towels.

I will miss tiny Max so much!! 

Maxwell at 9 Months

Weight: 19
Length:
Teeth: 0
Size: 9 month

Maxwell hit several milestones this month- crawling on hands and knees, pulling up, cruising, crawling up stairs, and waving. He can go from sitting to crawling to sitting. He can also go from sitting to pulling up to sitting.

Words I know he understands: Mom, Dad, Jackson, Mika, diaper, no, lotion, tongue, feet. I wonder how many words he actually understands.

He is everywhere now. He's crawling all over the downstairs, trying to crawl up the stairs, getting into everything, pulling books off bookshelves, etc.

Favorite things: baths, swimming, swinging, banging on his piano,

He stills hates food. He fights everything except fruit or melon in the mesh feeder. If we try to spoon feed him he'll slap the spoon away and turn his head side to side. If I put bits of food on his tray he throws the food on the floor. He also breaks out in red splotches a lot.

Figuring out how doors work

mess machine

He loves going to windows and doors to people watch.

Maxwell at 8 Months

Weight: 19 lbs.
Height: forgot to measure
Teeth: 0

• His big milestone last month was going from sitting to crawling. He army crawls all over whatever room he's in, leaving a path of destruction behind him. It was easy for a month when I could put him down and he could stay sitting the whole time and be stuck in a sitting position. But now...messes everywhere.
• He LOVES going to the pool. He likes to splash and then suck the pool water off his hands and swim shirt.
• Diaper changes used to be one of his favorite things and now he hates them. The second I put him down he's fighting to turn over and crawl away.
• He hates most food. I'll put a little bit of something in his mouth and he'll make a disgusted face. He does like a few things, his favorite is fruit or melon in his mesh feeder to suck on. If you try to spoon feed him he'll tolerate a few bites and then slap your hand away. He likes getting a big hunk of meat or fruit to gnaw on. He can't pick up bits of food with his finger and thumb yet (pincer grip), he still has to grasp with his whole hand.
• He has to be busy every second or he'll start screaming. He needs to crawl or have something interesting to hold and put in his mouth every single second he's awake.
• He's not really into books yet. He slaps the pages and tries to put books in his mouth or throw them on the floor.
• He loves "This Little Piggy" and playing peek-a-boo.
• I go to Lifetime Fitness and he has surprised me with how well he tolerates being in childcare. The first few days were rough but now they don't have to call me back to come get him.
• He still sticks his tongue out and blows raspberries all the time. He is so fun!

General schedule:

Wake up 7:30-8

Morning nap 10-11

Afternoon nap 1-3

3rd nap 6-6:30

Bedtime 9:00

Itty Bitty Magic City at the McWane Science Center

Learning how to play cards.

 Using the mesh feeder.

I LOVE waking up to this every day!

Not so happy about going to Helen Keller's childhood home.

He has discovered the joy of throwing clean clothes out of laundry baskets.

 One of his favorite things to do is knock over this tower of cups.

He looked too old in this picture. He needs to stay my teeny tiny baby forever!

 #oldersiblings