Cameron, Stephanie, Andy, & Max: October 2016

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Max at (almost) 3

Poor Max...I've been meaning to do an update on him for ages! He'll be 3 at the end of this month. I can't believe my baby is so old! We are truly blessed to have this sweet soul in our family. How we love him! Some things to remember about this sweet person:

There's a goodness and kindness about him that's always been there. When Rachel was babysitting a while back, he got himself a granola bar and then realized Rachel might want one and offered to get one for her. He's good at looking out for others. He's very concerned when others are upset or crying and always says, "I think they miss their mom." :)
Still a total mama's boy, which is the best. I LOVE him and I'm just as obsessed with him as he is with me. He screams when it's dad's turn to put him to bed. (But he really does love Cam and always asks where he is and asks to play with him and do belly smashes with him.) Cuddling with Max while I put him to bed is one of my favorite things ever. He asks for song after song, and I'm happy to oblige so I get more cuddles.
The last few months have certainly shown a less easy-going, passive side to Max. He has opinions about everything and has a temper! As Andy frequently says, "He gots the terrible twos." And he certainly does. Max is NOT a morning person, so breakfast tends to be especially terrible. Typical toddler stuff: first he wants the blue blue, you get it for him, then he wants a different bowl so he throws everything all over the floor. It pretty much goes on like that for an hour. I actually feel like the last month or so he's turned a corner and is starting to get slightly more rational? But only slightly. ;) I still live in fear that I'll open a cheese stick or granola bar too much or the wrong way and I'll get a fit in response. The other day Cam cut his toast in half without Max asking first and Max started screaming, "I wanted to ASK you to cut it in half!"
He's always been silly and tease and continues to be. Things crack him up and he's got the cutest sense of humor.
He's obsessed with blocks lately. He builds some pretty amazing tours and spends a good chunk of every day doing it.
His voice is seriously THE cutest thing. We can't even figure out what exactly is so adorable about it? He's very articulate and easy to understand. He uses words adults do, but just has the sweetest little voice he says them with. And he's particular. You'll say, "look it's a moose!" And he'll very crossly say, "no, it's a baby moose!" He has the cutest grumpy face with a furrowed brow and folded arms.
He's been obsessed with his cowboy boots the last few months and wants to wear them ALL the time. We pry them off of him before bed, and he brings them to us first thing in the morning and wants us to put them back on.
He moved into a big boy bed mid-August in a new bedroom to get ready for the new baby. He's really done great with it! The first night he kept telling us he wanted to sleep in his crib, which broke my heart. :( But he adapted quickly and has done great. I wondered how much he'd play in his room and make messes, but he pretty much just waits on his bed for us until we come get him. And he still sleeps on his bed like it's a crib--no pillows, no blanket on top of him.
He loves animals and can identify the randomest animals. Things like narwhals and lemurs. You tell him an animal once and he remembers it.
One of my favorite times of the day is once I drop Andy off at school and get a little one-on-one time with Max. He usually wants to play cars, build blocks, or read stories.
His favorite things to eat lately are smoothies, cereal (with no milk), meal (oatmeal), peanut butter sandwich with NO JELLY, cheese han-ga-burs with no pickles, all fruit, and of course all treats. He's very into food and if there's good food around he's way more interested in eating than playing.
He's gotten more into TV the last few months. He still doesn't quite have the attention span for it that Andy did at his age, but he likes it for 30 minutes or so while I practice piano with Andy. His favorite changes. He's currently on a Tarzan kick and that's what he chooses every day. Before that was the Three Mouseketeers, which he chose every day for a few weeks. And he always wants it "from the starting!" if Netflix happens to start it somewhere in the middle.

Handsome boy back in May.

A typical breakfast tantrum. Life is hard when you're 2.

Max LOVES Andy's Star Wars stuff. He loves to be "Storm Trooper Max."

Cutest tower builder.

First night in his big boy bed! And yes he still sleeps with his binky. We'll try to get rid of it once he turns 3.

More towers! He said these were like New York City.

And the cowboy boots! All day, every day.

Cute brothers at a photoshoot for a bow tie company. They generally play pretty well together these days. There are still plenty of fights and yelling, but I'd say general improvement?