9 months old

food food food

Max you are an amazing eater - I expect no less of course! Here are the foods you love right now:

Blueberries (at every meal if possible)

Bananas

Pasta - including Low Mein noodles which you had for the first time last night & slurped down like a champ

Avocados

Strawberries

Meatballs

Juice juice juice!

Quesadillas

Peanut Butter sandwiches

Scrambled eggs with cheese

Oranges

Green beans

Apples

Yogurt ( though you don't love it as much now that there is so much food to pick up & eat on your own)

Cheese (any kind including fancy cheese from the wine bar and fresh mozzarella like you had tonight for the first time)

Chicken

Bagels

Tomatoes (the delicious little kind from the farmer's market)

Blackberries

And of course the occasional bottle of milk. 

Bottoms up baby boy. I can't wait to see what you eat next!

6 months

6 months - belated...

(I wrote this at six months but am just now getting around to posting this one.)

Max you are six months old. You are an adorable baby boy -- I wonder sometimes if we are biased because we love you so much, but everyone says so. I sometimes wonder if you just seem so gorgeous to me because am your mother but it is very satisfying to know that everyone agrees. It makes me even more when someone tells me you look like me. Everyone says you have my eyes. And I do think that is true, but you are also a great mix of both Phillip and me.

Every day you do something amazing -- you tear up the house in your walker chasing the dog and cats, you sit and play with blocks and toys, you listen intently to every book I read you, then you earnestly hold each one I hand you after we're done reading it examine it closely. You eat with fervor and excitement pounding your hands the tray of your highchair if I dont feed you fast enough. You sleep soundly, almost through the night, with your face snuggled close to me or your daddy or a pillow (making me constantly worry if you can breath but you make it happily through every night). You laugh, you smile, and you make this funny sound that reminds us of an old man with a toothless grin on your face. You don't say any words yet (though Phillip is working hard on daddy), but we definitely get the idea of what you mean.

You love to eat, in fact we joke that you don't miss a meal and you are a gorgeous plump little boy. Your main meals are still milk but you also eat sweet potatoes, carrots, avocados, bananas, pears, sweet peas, and rice cereal. We haven't tried anything you don't like yet and I really hope it stays that way -- it wouldn't be the end of the world but I would like it so much if you grow up to be an adventurous eater.

We have our life set down into a nice routine, when we are home that is. Phillip and I both have our offices here and work from home. We have a nanny for you who comes weekdays from 8:30 to 3:30 except on Fridays when she leaves at 12:30. This system is working quite well except the nanny part, we've had one since you were just past 8 weeks old, but we've decided to make a change so soon you wil have a new nanny.

Maybe my favorite thing so far is that we have become a traveling family. We go everywhere together and I like the idea that we don't have to be apart just because daddy and I have to travel for work. So far you've been on trips to Miami, DC, LA, San Diego, Aspen, and Wyoming. In a few weeks we are headed back to the east coast with stops in DC, New York City and Maine. You were made to travel. Whether we drive or fly you rarely fuss and the different beds a varying time zones don't seem to bother you at all.

You are sitting up and working on the basics of how to crawl (I'm sure you'll get there in no time).

You are amazing and we love you so much. I can't wait to see what the next months bring!

3 month old baby boy

Max,

Today you are three months old.

Now before you were even a twinkle i n my eye I started this blog about life and homes and hopes. And now you are here. And have been here for 3 entire months (or 12 weeks and 5 days if you're counting week-style and not just by the month).

You, my beautiful baby boy, are amazing. You eat and sleep and smile and cry and I can't find a thing in the world more interesting to watch than you and I can't imagine a day I ever spent without you. When you're not fascinating in your awake state you are precious in sleep.

These past three months have gone by so quickly it's hard to recount everything that's gone into them — so I won't try. But I will say that my days have been filled with the most amazing details of the beginning of your life.

For the first 8 weeks I religiously (almost obsessively) tracked every single thing you did: every time you ate, every diaper, every nap. The minutia of your days seemed like a magical code, a secret recipe for your happiness and health. In the past few weeks I've taken a slightly more relaxed approach to your daily care — partially because you are such a strong, healthy baby and partially because we have grown already into a comfortable pattern of daily life.

Now we take your days with much more ease and less scrutiny. Despite not being closely documented your hours pass as blissfully as when I was monitoring and logging every single item.

You are already getting so big. (I find myself repeating that familiar refrain of parents everywhere.) You laugh and you coo, and recently you've started to shout a few small shrieks — fabulous and surprising as you discover all the things your voice and lungs can do.

Today we took your 3 month photo and you found it very amusing as we tried to take your picture with the neatly lined up blocks spelling out "3 months". You were greatly amused by shaking them from your belly and watching us re-stack them.

You hold onto toys and the things around you (like the burp cloth that captivated all your interest for over an hour today). You listen to us and talk to us in your baby way. Mostly you watch the world very closely. I have a feeling that you, in your own way are logging all the details of your own days.

I know soon you will be crawling and walking and talking and these first days of babyhood will seem a distant memory. But for now they fill up all the hours and each day that ends I'm sad it's gone and happy for the next to come. The magic of these months is a beautiful thing.

You are already in bed tonight and as I write this I feel I'm missing out on the chance to watch you sweetly sleep. There are a million things that I want to capture about this moment in time, but for now it will have to suffice to say that you make me supremely happy and I love you immensely. I can't wait to see what amazing feat of growth you accomplish tomorrow!

I love you,

Mom