2011

I love this time of year. The end of the year brings with it a time for reflection and peace. Reflection on the things you have accomplished, things you may have liked to accomplish, things that could have gone better and making peace with all of it.
2011 was a big year for the Chhour Family. Our pride and joy has been Max. He has grown from a little baby to his very own person. He has a personality all his own and we love him for it.
I began the year working at a call center. I was unhappy and unfulfilled in the work I was doing. I decided that if I was going to have to leave Max everyday with a babysitter I may as well enjoy where I was going. I started searching for new career choices and in February I was offered a position with a company I believed to be up and coming. After only 6 weeks at that position I was told that they "over hired and over promised." I had to be laid off because they didn't have the funds to pay me. That was a scary time for our little family. I had just left a stable job to be laid off from the new job 6 weeks later. I was scared, and angry. The good news, of course, is always more time with Max.
I started over with my job search and was fortunate to land an interview with a company I have been applying with for years. I interviewed for a training position and got the job. I started in May of this year.
This job has truly been a career path for me. I really love training and public speaking. I enjoy what I do, the team I work for, and the company. I truly feel blessed in this aspect.
Seth's career has also grown this year. He has done such an amazing job as our provider. If it wasn't for him I don't know where we would be.
Max also started daycare this year. He had been with a private sitter since I went back to work in January. We feel so blessed that she was a dear friend of our family and able to watch him for as long as she did. I had wanted to keep Max out of daycare for at least the first year of his life and because of her we were able to do that. She watched him until after his first birthday in October.
Oh, his first birthday! My baby boy turned 1 this year. He is truly the most amazing part of everyday.
My family and friends have always played a huge part in my life and this year was no different. I am grateful for each and every one of you!
Seth and I will be ringing in the new year together on Saturday. We will be leaving Max for the first time to go on a weekend getaway. I'm nervous to leave him but also so excited to reconnect with my husband in that way. The last few years have been so amazing and I'm so excited to see what 2012 brings. (Hopefully, not the end of the world ;) or maybe hopefully... I guess it depends on who you are asking!
I love making resolutions. Even though most of them are usually broken by January 2nd. I believe in goals, hopes, dreams, and aspirations. However, this year I have decided to try something different. I am going to choose a word to focus on in the upcoming year. So for 2012 my word is:

Diligent:

Having or showing care and conscientiousness in one's work or duties. 

Characterized by steady, earnest and energetic effort.

This year:
I will be diligent in spending time with my family.
I will be diligent in raising my son.
I will be diligent in living healthfully.
I will be diligent in my housekeeping.
I will be diligent in my career.
I will be diligent in my schoolwork. 
I will diligently learn new things.
I will diligently enjoy life.

Back to School

Well, I have made the decision to go back to school to complete my Masters program. It was a difficult decision since it is just one more thing that takes me out of our home. Being a working mother is hard enough, and the thought of one more night a week spent away from Max is sad for me. BUT... My company offers an amazing tuition program. I will receive my MBA without a penny out of pocket cost. The program should take 18 months to complete which puts me at August 2013. Max will be just a few months shy of his 3rd birthday. Seth and I have decided to postpone growing our family anymore until that time. So I am hoping Max will have a baby sister sometime in 2014 :) I didn't ever really know how far apart we would "plan" on having our children. So it looks like it will be about 4 years.

California Trip November 2011

I have been a really terrible blogger. I am well over 2 months late on Max's one year post... and we've taken a vacation... then there was Christmas. Yikes. I have a lot of catching up to do. So we will start with our vacation to California over the Thanksgiving break. We headed to San Jose to spend a week with some family that lives in the area. It was a much needed rest and we enjoyed ourselves. 

We were able to do quite a bit while we were there. Shopping (my favorite) The aquarium, children's museum, a football game, and lots of lounging and eating. Max's favorite part was anytime he got to play in water. There were splash areas at the museum and aquarium and he loved it. Here are a few pictures from the trip!

San Francisco 49ers Game

Monterrey Bay Aquarium.

Children's Discovery Museum.

my last days with an infant...

 That's right. Baby boy is going to be a toddler. I'm sad. Happy. Excited. I really don't know how to feel.

I miss having a little new born in the house. The days before he could wiggle out of my arms to go find something much more interesting to do. Oh! And have i mentioned that we have a full fledged walker on our hands. Oh yeah, he's walking... and walking... and walking.

Maximus Prime. I love you baby boy. This has been the most amazing year of my life... well almost a year. I still have 3 more days with my 11 month old. I'm going to soak it up... he will be moving off to college next week!!

♥ 11 months ♥

In a month from today we will be celebrating a first birthday! Wow, It's almost time. I'm so blessed to have Max in my life. He means the world to me. I am a better person because I am his Mother. We have learned and grown together. He teaches me something new everyday. He teaches me whats important in life. I am amazed every time I get to see the world through his young and beautiful eyes. This boy... he really stole my heart. The last 11 months with him have enriched my life beyond what anything else could. Being a mother is just amazing. Even when I don't know what to do and feel like running away crying, his smile reminds me that everything will be okay because he is mine.

This month has been filled with new and exciting developments. As you may have read below, we have made a lot of progress in walking. I think little man will be moving around pretty well by his first birthday. Right now he still prefers crawling, but he is getting there!

I also took my first vacation without Max this month. I spent Labor Day weekend in Vegas with my girlfriends. This is a trip we had all been planning since before I was pregnant so I decided to stick to it. I was really apprehensive about leaving him and Seth. I knew I'd miss them way too much, and I did. But I also really had a good time. I think I grew a lot as a Mother. It made me realize that I do need to take time out for myself. Time away made me come back and appreciate and love being a Mom so much more. Even though I know I couldn't bear leaving him for much longer or more often, I do think I will try to have weekend getaways every once in a while to unwind.

We took a family vacation to Bear Lake in August as well. Max had a blast in the water. He also enjoyed spending time with his two cousins. Max is the oldest, followed by Isaiah, and then baby Alijah. They are just so cute together and my Mom loves having her grand babies together.

Max got his first ride on an atv. He seemed pretty intrigued.

Max also had his first visit to the zoo! He LOVED the carousel. He rode the tiger and just had a blast. We also took him on the train. He was so cute.

Wow, a year old next month.

This Month:

Max likes:

*being talked to
*talking/screaming
*eating
*feeding himself
*smiling
*crawling
*WALKING!
*cruising
*standing
*squatting
*toys
*jumping
*grabbing things
*bath time
*swimming
*biting
*binkie

Max doesn't like:

*getting things taken away from him
*shoes
*his car seat
*sitting still for diaper changes
*teething

.:First Steps:.

Max took his first steps over the weekend!!! Well, technically he has taken one or two before. But this weekend he started doing 15 or so in a row! Woo! Go baby boy! You will be a walker soon. Maybe by his first birthday?

♥ 10 months ♥

Alright people, can someone please come hold me while I cry?

My baby boy is 10 months old. Only 2 more months and he will be a year old? His baby stage has just been so precious and filled with joy. I'm sad to see it go. But I'm also excited to see what new developments and personality traits he gains. This being a Mommy job is tough business. Its bitter sweet.

Wow. Month 9 had some interesting things in store for us. Max's first "serious" injury. Well, we thought it was serious. It turned out to be less serious, but still very stressful for Mom and Dad to deal with. Max fell using a toy about a week ago. When we got him home we realized that he wasn't using his right arm at all. Not to grab things, wouldn't bend it, and would definitely NOT put any weight on it. We decided to just keep an eye on it over night before getting too freaked out. During the night Max kept waking up whining and whimpering from pain. He slept with his arm completely straight all night.

In the morning we decided it would be best if we took him in to have it looked at. We went in to the urgent care at his pediatricians office. We ended up spending about 5 hours driving between his pediatricians office, to Primary Children's Hospital, back to his pediatricians office.

Initially the Dr thought that his elbow may be dislocated. But when he was trying to wiggle it back into place he said Max was in too much pain and that it appeared the pain was too low to be his elbow. He told us he didn't want to play with it anymore until he knew for sure that it wasn't broken. He decided to send us to Primary Children's to have it xrayed. We drove there and spent a pretty good amount of time. They found nothing abnormal in the xray. No dislocation. No break. Nothing. But he still wasn't using it at all. He was wincing from the pain. We then had to head back to the Dr office. The Dr ultimately decided to put a soft cast or splint on it to make sure he was okay. He said that sometimes breaks won't show up for a couple of days. It's also possible the break was too small to see. He told us to leave the splint on for a couple of days and then try out the arm.

Fast forward to Friday. I took the splint off and Max still wasn't using it. He stayed that way for a couple of hours and I got really worried. I called the Dr and they told me to put the splint back on and leave it on for an entire week then to bring him back for a checkup on the arm. Max had a appointment for his pictures that day. So when I got there I took his splint off again for the photos. He immediately started using his arm. I guess he just needed a couple of more hours in his splint. So apparently, no break. Maybe a sprain? We still have no idea but are so happy he is okay and had no major injuries. The whole ordeal was just so sad and depressing. Having him scream in pain every time someone wiggled his arm was hard to watch. Its hard not to yell at people when they hurt him. Even if they are trying to help, it just arouses that natural instinct.

That was the drama for the month. The one good thing that came from his injury is that Max was very cuddly. That is mean, and as a Mom I'd rather he is healthy. But the cuddle time was a plus.

Other then that Max has just been so fun. He got his first haircut this month. He has been feeding himself and having lots of different foods. Max loves food.

THIS MONTH!

Max likes/is learning:

*being talked to. I have really been trying to cut down on the baby talk. I talk to him as an adult when I can help myself.
*talking/screaming. Max says Mom. MaMa. DaDa. He still doesn't have the word association.
*clapping. We have taught him how to clap when you tell him to. We can say "Clap your hands." or "bang bang jha" (no idea how to spell that) which is clap your hands in Chinese.
*learning his body parts in Chinese, Spanish, and English. (poor kid ;)
*eating
*feeding himself. He will eat pretty much anything. I haven't found anything he won't eat just yet.
*smiling
*crawling. He is a pro!
*pulling himself up onto furniture. Also pro status.
*standing. Max is standing unsupported. But only sometimes. Definitely amateur status here.
*cruising
*sitting
*toys
*jumping
*grabbing things
*bath time
*swimming
*biting
*binkie

Max doesn't like:

*his car seat
*sitting still for diaper changes
*teething (we are getting more teeth. ouch!)
*Max is also starting to get into the seperation anxiety phase. He knows when we are gone or leaving now, and he lets us know how he feels about it.

Zombie Baby!

I got this from another baby blog. Too funny!

♥ 9 months ♥

Max turned 9 months five days ago. My baby boy is going to be a year old in less then 3 months. I say this every month... and I mean it every month. Where does the time go? How is it possible that he is 9 months old? It is going by so fast.

Max really is a happy baby. He is always smiling and laughing. My new favorite thing is his reaction when I get home from work. When I walk in the door Seth will say "Max Mommy is home." His face lights up, he smiles, and he crawls to me so fast. It's usually the only time of day he will let me hug and love on him a little bit.

His 9 month checkup went well. He is 28.2 inches which is 50th percentile. He weighs 18.8. He is a little underweight. I attribute it to him moving so much. The doctor isn't concerned though, and says we shouldn't be either. His head circumference 18.4 inches. He is 90th percentile!!! We knew this kid had a huge noggin!

Dr. Wall seemed impressed with his development and says he is doing extremely well! We are so proud of our Max.

THIS MONTH!

Max likes:

*being talked to
*talking/screaming
*eating
*feeding himself
*smiling
*crawling
*pulling himself up onto furniture
*standing
*cruising
*sitting
*toys
*jumping
*grabbing things
*baths
*swimming
*biting
*binkie

Max doesn't like:

*his car seat
*sitting still for diaper changes
*being cuddled (this one makes me sad. He is too busy these days to sit on Mommy's lap)

♥ 8 months ♥

Okay, This entry is going to bring me to tears. Max is going to be a year old in 4 months. My little man is the light of my life. He is just so sweet and loving. I think he is going to be a Daddy’s boy. He just adores Seth.

Max is eating most foods now. He loves anything that he can grab himself. Blur also loves it when Max feeds himself. I think about 75% of the food actually makes it into Blur’s mouth.

This past weekend we took Max to the swimming pool for the first time. He had a blast! He loved splashing around and kicking his little legs. He wasn’t scared at all! I am planning on joining a Mommy and Me swim class in July. This will be a fun way for Max and I to spend some alone time together.

Our little guy is very strong. He likes to climb up on the sides of his pack n play and try to get out. It is really funny to watch, but I am a little concerned he is going to fall out eventually.

Being a Mom has gotten both more exhausting and more exiting. I have to watch him every second because he gets into everything. It is so fun to watch him develop though. He gets stronger and smarter every single day.

THIS MONTH!

Max likes:

*being talked to
*talking/screaming
*eating. This boy loves food.
*feeding himself
*smiling
*crawling
*pulling himself up onto furniture
*standing
*cruising
*sitting
*toys
*jumping
*grabbing things
*baths
*rolling
*swimming

Max doesn't like:

*Teething. Max now has 6 teeth and it was not an easy process.
*being fed to slow. Keep the food constantly coming please!

.:opps. Life is busy.:.

and I forgot Max's 7 month post.

Now we are only three days away from needing his 8 month post. So here are some pictures of May (7 months)

In short... The month was spent chasing Max around the house. He is getting into, onto, and everywhere around everything.

I also started working again on May 2nd. We had a hard month trying to adjust, but we made it. Life is sweet.

.:crawling and standing:.

Max is officially crawling. I had a feeling it was going to happen this month and it most certainly did. He is getting pretty fast. He is also crawling up to furniture and pulling himself into standing position. I often go in after his nap to find him standing in his crib. So this weekend we had to drop his mattress.

It is so fun to watch him grow. I am sad that those cuddly baby days are already behind us though. They go too fast!