April and Max's Birthday

Spring is finally here! And it has been so welcomed! I love walking around the capital with all the cherry blossoms in bloom. 

Here are Sophia and Max enjoying the weather, too.

Sophia likes imagine things while we are on our walks. She pretends there are alligators or elephants or some other "monster" and she has to run from them. I love her running form!

Speaking of running... Rich ran the Salt Lake City half marathon. He did great in his training and his run and we were very proud of him. We were standing at the finishing line, cheering him on, but sadly, he didn't see or hear us. I was screaming so loud and Sophia was laughing hard at all the noise I was making, but I guess it wasn't loud enough.

Sophia is enjoying the fruits of Rich's labor! What a nice dad!

Now, on to Max's birthday. A few friends of mine told me that there is a Chinese tradition that they do when babies turn one. You place several objects around them that represent certain professions and the one they choose, indicates what they'll be when they grow up. Max's options were a gavel (lawyer or judge), toothbrush (dentist), money (independently wealthy), orange (food industry), stethoscope (doctor), and hammer (engineer). He sat and stared at these objects for a loooonnng time. I think he was confused at why all the other kids and adults were just staring at him. He went to reach for the gavel, and Rich jokingly yelled out "NOOOO!" and it scared Max so he didn't touch anything. We sat and waited for maybe 5 more minutes and then decided he might choose something if nobody were watching him. We took him into the kitchen all by himself with the objects around him and he finally chose the stethoscope.  So what does this mean? I think it means he will want to be a lawyer, but his dad will talk him into being a doctor. :) 

We then sang to him but he hated wearing his birthday hat, so he didn't seem to happy.

He didn't eat his cupcake, only touched the frosting. Then he was done.

Here are some things that Max is doing lately:

• He wakes up around 6:30 or 7:30 in the mornings
• Eats some banana and toast
• Tries to play with Sophia, but he usually ends up crying because she won't share with him
• He loves his baths (we do these in the morning since I usually have more time in the morning)
• Takes about a 2 hour nap around 9. He is such a good little napper. When it's time for naps, he'll just lay down in the crib and go to sleep. He rarely ever fusses or cries. 
• Has lunch (usually some cheese based meal. So bad, I know!)
• He is crawling on all fours, but if he wants to go fast, he'll army crawl it.
• Pulls himself up on furniture and walks around
• He's started to climb on things, like shelves. SCARY!
• He is super cuddly and rests his head on my shoulder
• He weighs 19 lbs (which puts him the 5%) and is in the 25% for height. His head though... 90%! Also, at this check-up, he had to get 6 shots. Six! He was screaming so hard, it brought tears to my eyes. After about 15 minutes he was back to normal.
• Max loves to eat strawberries
• He takes a second nap around 1 or 2, and this one lasts for about an hour
• He loves when Sophia keeps him entertained at night. They are in the same room and if Sophia is not tired, Max stands up in his crib with his elbows resting on the rail and just watches and laughs. Sophia has been putting her unicorn on the floor, right next to his crib and sleeping there. Sometimes she'll show his pictures in her books or hands him toys.
• Max loves his little blankets. I will say, "Where is your blanket?" and he'll go get it. He likes to face plant in it and lie on it right next to his face.
• He likes when I brush his teeth (he has 4, 2 upper and 2 lower)
• He has the cutest smile. He'll scrunch up his whole face and his little nose wrinkles and he shows his 4 teeth. 
• He finally sleeps through the night. He goes down at 7:30 or 8 and doesn't wake up until morning. He didn't sleep through the night until I made him cry it out when he was 9 months old.
• I stopped nursing him at 11 months. It went pretty well but there were a few nights where he woke up wanting to nurse. It only lasted a couple nights, so not bad.

I love this little guy so much and can't imagine our family without him. He brings so much to our lives!... g.