Max at (almost) 16 Months

What can I say about our sweet little Maxie? He's just that...soooo sweet!  And happy! And such a tease!  How we love him.  My heart is full when I think about what a giant blessing our Max is.  

• He loves his brother.  He thinks Andy is hilarious. And Andy is sometimes nice to him.  ;) 

•  Poor little Max had this rash.  All the way from October until January, when it randomly went away one day, thank heavens.  We tried all sorts of things, including allergy testing.  (No allergens, thankfully!) And then all of a sudden, it went away mid-January.  

•  Feeding Max is a real trial in my life right now.  No, that's not a joke! He's always been crazy messy when he eats. But lately he's in this throwing phase and throws all of his food on the ground.  Even if he's hungry.  And he screams and whines the entire meal time. (Max, if you're reading this, please stop! ;) He's got some mature taste buds.  He loves our green smoothies.  He loves casserole type dishes.  And soups.  But try putting some cheese and turkey on his tray?  No way, Jose. Also, he hates milk.  So I feel like I'm constantly trying to get enough calories and fat in him.  But don't worry, he downs an expensive amount of yogurt every day. :) 

• Back in December is when he really started standing and holding onto things.  

•  A sleepy Max on a bowling day in December.  I love when he'll cuddle me.  It's not very often anymore! :( 

•  His teeth finally started coming in right after his first birthday!  And they've been one after another, poor thing.  I think he's got 5 now.  But you can seriously see about 4 more coming.  His gums look disastrous.  He has seemed a little less "chill" than usual since then.  I don't know if it's a new part of his personality coming out or if the poor thing is uncomfortable.  

• He is into EVERYTHING.  Everything imaginable has a child lock on it.  Unfortunately for me, he's even figured out how to open the dishwasher.  (Tips, anyone?)  Sometimes I let him play in the dishwasher, when there are a few harmless things in there.  It's his favorite thing.  He also loves to play around in the pantry.  (But I'm less willing to let him do that since he dumped out an entire case of oats.  It just depends on how desperate I am to keep him occupied.)  If you leave the bathroom open, he WILL splash in the toilet.   The funniest thing about him is that he does a lot of things just to tease.  Like go into our bathroom.  He always looks over his shoulder to see if I'm watching, and then crawls as fast as he can in there, giggling the whole way.  Yes, he wants to play in the toilet, but he mostly wants to tease me. :) There are few things in life that make Max mad: eating (see above) and when you shut the dishwasher/bathroom door/pantry door/favorite bathroom drawer.  Watch out! 

• See those two front teeth?  Cutest things EVER.  They're big and there's a big gap between them.  Double whammy of cuteness.   

• LOVES his dad.  Whenever Cameron comes home, he crawls to the door as fast as he can, giggling, saying, "Dadadada," crazy excited.

•  But the good news is, he still loves me more.  ;)  Total mama's boy.  And I LOVE it. 

• He loves the park lately.  There's a park by us where the ground is bouncy and he can crawl around.  It's his favorite.  He's obsessed with slides too.  He can even climb up them now!

My favorite thing right now is Max's face when he crawls to the top of the stairs at the park and is ready to go down the slide.  Sheer delight!  And pride!

• STILL not walking.  Despite my best efforts to get him to walk by Disneyland.  As of this week, he's at least taking some steps!  He'll consistently take 3-4 steps.  Cameron's seen him take as many as 8. He's gaining confidence and desire, so I bet it'll be soon that he walks consistently.  
• He's smaller than Andy was, and it stresses me out.  But the dr. assures me he's fine.  I don't remember his weight?  23 or 24 lbs?  It's like 25th percentile.  And his height is 40th percentile or something.  He's getting into 18-24 month clothes now.  He's wearing the clothes Andy wore in Amsterdam, which is crazy to me.  How is my baby that big already?! Andy seemed so old to me back then, but Max still seems like a baby.  
• Much to my dismay, he's in the process of dropping his morning nap.  :(  But he sleeps like a champ for his afternoon nap and all night.  I usually have to wake him up in the morning at 7:30 or so.  
• He is tough!  I watched Andy throw something heavy at his face the other day, and he didn't even flinch.  I guess you've gotta be tough with a big brother like Andy.  :)  You know if Max is crying, he's really hurt.  
• He's very social.  But in a different way than Andy.  Andy at this age would wave to everyone.  And he's still that big presence in the room!  Max is a little more subtle.  He won't be in your face about it, but he loves to connect.  He'll look you in the eye and smile.  He smiles and flirts with strangers all the time.  
• He can finally clap and wave.  And play peek-a-boo.  His chubby hands smashed on his face with his eyes peeking through is the cutest.  
• He's got a few actual words! Dada, Uh oh, and Hi.  Other than that, he babbles all day long. 
• Everyone always comments on what a sweet, happy baby is.  And it's true!  He's great at playing by himself.  He's very content and is an absolute joy.   We love you, Max!