Who knew?

Charles was reading to Max the other day and discovered that Max knows several words. We've known for a while that he knows spider because when we point to a picture of a spider in his book he puts his hands in the position to do itsy bitsy spider. But as Charles went across the room and said where is your pony? he pointed to it. Where is your crib, where are your feet, etc.
He knows his head, belly, feet, nose, etc. We wrote down the things he could point to when we asked him and the list was over 50. Makes us wonder what else he knows.

What is funny to us is that we found so many things out in one day. How long has he known these things? We're not sure.

He is napping right now but is squauking. Sleep is not Max's strong point right now and it makes it hard on all of us.

Max had a great visit with Grandma during Christmas. We think Max did a good job of opening up. He let Grandma Phyllis feed him and play with him and hold him without making a huge fuss. He was even good when he didn't have us in his sight.

We did a lot in the week she was here and it seemed to fly by. We went to the country village and looked at the roosters and ducks. We went to gymboree and grandma got to see Max climb around on the gymboree mats. Charles and I got to see our first movie in the theater since before Max was born. We saw No Country for Old Men. It was a good movie and it felt so good to get out together alone.

Yazmina is Born

It feels like so much has happened in the past couple of weeks. A week or so before Christmas my friend Andrea gave birth to a beautiful baby girl Yazmina. I met Andrea just before I had Max. She had just had her first child Malik and we became fast friends. We strolled the boys around Greenlake almost daily in the beginning and she has been so supportive and a great friend.

It was a dream of hers to have a natural childbirth and she did it! She gave birth in her own bed in her apartment in Greenwood with a midwife. I am so proud of her and so happy for the Belhousine family. Way to go!

Retrospect

Reflecting back on Saturday night Charles and I agree that the reason why Max had such a bad night was because of food. It was his first time eating pizza and we should have brought something with us to supplement it with. I didn't let him have any of the greasy meat so basically he ate bread and a small amount of veggies on the pizza. Not a very balanced meal especially considering what he's used to.

I think this happened because I had worked that day and was tired. I attempted a short nap when I got home (didn't work) and gave Max some Salmon before we left. Charles did mention they had a pretty busy day so he was probably x-tra hungry and just didn't get enough of what he needed at the right time.

We should have tried to feed him when we got home but we figured it was past his bedtime so we just tried to nurse and put him to sleep which isn't going to work when baby is hungry for solid food.

It seems so obvious now that we should have tried to feed him when he was so upset after we got home but we were so intent on trying to get him down since it was past his bedtime that we overlooked it.

So we learned our lesson. After Max slept most of Sunday morning he awoke in a very cheery mood and was back to his sweet ol' self again.

I made him some of his favorite cinnamon multigrain pancakes and he danced around the kitchen!

Again Daycare

On Friday the director of Max's daycare called me to tell me that Max isn't adjusting as well as he should be. We were obviously aware that Max was upset being dropped off and picked up but she informed us that on most days he is crying for most of the day and pointing out the window looking for us.

Her suggestion is that after the first of the year Max comes full time for a couple of weeks to see if that gets him over the hump. So we are going to try this and see if it helps.

It has to work! We don't have many other options. You can't switch daycare easily in Seattle because they are all full and you need to be on a waiting list for months. A nanny is too expensive and we both need to work.

Max also needs to socialize with people outside of us.

It's stressful times for the Beene's but we'll get through it.

Day is night and night is day

After a fun night of Pizza with friends Jen, JP and sweet little Jonas, Mas decided for some reason to stay up all night. We altered his routine a little bit. He normally has a bath at 7:15 then nurses for 15 min - 30 min and bed.

Last night I nursed him at 5:30 for 20 min, then he fell asleep for 10 min in the car on the way to meet our friends. We never thought this could lead to what it did. Max cried the entire way home and was inconsolable when we got home. It was only 8 o'clock not that far off but Max would not go down and didn't even want to nurse which was a first.

We didn't know if he was sick or ate something or what??? He didn't have a fever so we just kept trying to nurse for hours. I didn't think he could still be hungry for more food since he ate alot at the restaurant. But at midnight he ate 2 kiwi's, some melon and bread so he was hungry. Then he was happy and wanted to play. Dad was nice enough to get up and play with Max for about an hour while I relaxed in bed. I was too wound up to go right to sleep even though I was exhausted.

I was just so happy that it was just a sleep issue and that Max wasn't sick. Charles finally put Max down and he slept for about 2 hours before he woke up again and starting crying. After about an hour we couldn't take it anymore and put him in our bed. We tried to nurse for a couple of hours and Max was fitful and distraught. Finally he fell asleep at around 6am and slept till 8.
Then we got up and I made Max some pancakes. Last week Max ate 4 pancakes. We were astonished that a 14 month old could eat 4 good sized pancakes but obviously he likes pancakes. He was happy to have them and also ate some melon and a couple of bites of oatmeal.

After breakfast Max was acting sleepy and has now been sleeping for 2 hours.

We hope to not repeat this anytime soon. For now we will not try to veer off the bedtime routine. I am so glad we don't have to travel for Christmas. I can't imagine Max on a long car or plane ride at this point in his life. We have now learned that he is capable of 2 straight hours of inconsolable crying.

I've read that it isn't good to do more than one big change at once for a child and I think that we have to focus all of our energy into getting Max adjusted to daycare (which isn't happening so far) He just can't handle anything else right now.

Max's Week

This was a pretty normal week for Max. For the most part the daycare routine is the same. He cries for the drop-off and the pick-up. Charles did look in the window one night before Max saw him and saw that Max was playing with a toy and not crying! As soon as he saw daddy though he started to cry. It's weird, you would think he would be so happy to see him he would smile but instead he cries. What is also weird is that on his daycare nights he is really quiet. He is still running around the house but he doesn't do all of his babbling. On his days off from daycare he is babbling and vocalizing all day long.

His sleeping is still erratic. We may have a few good nights then like last night he woke up about 4 and cried for an hour before we finally brought him in our bed.

I'm working on weaning Max more. I say "I" because Max would still be feeding 10x a day if he could. When people say you should stop at 6mo. or 12mo. or whatever time, in my experience it doesn't work like that. I was wanting to stop at 12mo. but you can't just shut it off like that. Physically your body doesn't just stop making milk and you risk infections if you don't express when your engorged. Your baby is also totally addicted to the comfort of feeding and the taste of your milk.

I'm not at all upset that we are still nursing. In a way I'm still addicted to the experience myself. I just think it is easier on Max at daycare if he is not used to getting my milk during the day since he doesn't get it there.

This week I stuck to my plan of only 2 feedings a day. Morning and just before bed and even through the meltdowns and obvious signs (to a mommy)that he wanted to latch on I held out for only these times. It isn't easy at all but overall I think he's doing great!

A new development for Max this week is that he learned to twirl around in a full circle. He always starts to dance instantly when he hears music. It's the cutest thing ever. So far it's only been bending his knees and waving his arms. But now after a while he starts moving his arms from side to side and eventually makes his way to a full circle. And yes he made himself dizzy a couple of times. This reminds me of one other thing he does now. He tries to do the "itsy bitsy spider" with his fingers! I think that is his favorite song right now.

Today is snowing again in Seattle or at least up here in Bothell where we live right now. Charles and Max are out playing in it. We are starting to check out banks and brokers this week to begin the process of buying another house. We can't wait to get closer to the city again!

The plan is to go to the Imagine museum this afternoon after Max's nap. We'll get some pictures and video and hopefully tonight I'll post some.

One nice mommy development is that I joined a gym and started to work out again. It feels so good. Tomorrow I'm going to try and put Max in the gym daycare for an hour. We'll see how that goes.........

Taking advantage of a nap

I'm taking advantage of Max's naptime and posting these pictures we have taken in the past couple of days. It has been snowing here in Seattle this weekend. This is Max's first time out in it. The other picture is of Max running down 5th Avenue on Friday, the day we met daddy for lunch. The other picture is Max in a bean bag playing with a football at Daddy's work. Then Max playing with some of his transformer thingamagigs.

Max is hugging me and Charles mostly whenever we ask for them. He is starting to show more of a personality all the time. He is very sweet. He is getting better on his feet and starting to run more especially in the house. He loves to be chased and play hide and seek. He laughs so hard when he finds us. It's very cute!

I hear him......

Max's Big Day

On Friday Max and I went to a Benefit for Treehouse. This is a local organization for foster children in our area. It was fun to see Max interacting more with the other children. Daycare is helping with that I can tell. At Max's age they don't interact all that much but he seems less afraid of the other kids anyway.
After about 45 minutes Max did start to melt down and in a moment of weakness I gave in and gave him a little bit of a cookie. I haven't given him any sugar at home yet. I do know, however, that he gets sweets at daycare and for now I'm letting it slide but I think I'm going to start bringing his own snacks. I put the picture of him going for the cookies up because after I gave him that little bit of cookie he would do nothing else but keep going back to the cookies. It was cute but we basically had to leave after that.
It's not that I want him to live in a bubble and I know he'll eventually eat loads of crap when I'm not around but I just want to start with a good foundation while I'm still in control of what he eats. I can make him cookies with whole wheat flour and alternative limited sugar. So far his only sweets are fruits at home and he doesn't know the difference.

The benefit was close to where Daddy works so we met him for lunch at Chutney's Indian Restaurant on Queen Anne. We had the buffet and Max did well. He made a mess but he ate well and was very happy. He had lentil soup and a dish with chick peas and rice. I feed him loads of lentils and he loves them!

Next we went to Daddy's office. It was my first time there. It's really big and colorful with cutouts of Superman and Spiderman in the marketing department. There is an amazing view of Puget Sound from the back windows. The big hit was Codey the office dog. He is a 2 year old beautiful golden retriever. Max absolutely loved him. Max was pulling on his tie and his leash and Codey didn't mind at all. He licked Max and chased him around and Max chased Codey too! Codey was wagging his tail in Max's face and Max thought that was the funniest thing ever. Some dogs are just too cool for words, Codey is definately one of those dogs.

That was our big day. All of that was enough to make Max instantly fall asleep in the car. He was really good the rest of the day. Max loves a day that is spent with Mom or Dad, has a good amount of stimulation (especially new places he's never seen before) not too much though. We try to make his days this way but it doesn't always work out.

Who likes to eat oatmeal with his hands?

Max does! Then he likes to slap his plate. Then he likes to run around and touch everything. It's loads of fun!

We all seem to be doing much better today. We had a nice Thanksgiving, just the 3 of us. We were happy to have some time together and catch up on things that have been put off for a while when we were all sick.

Max was bitten in the face by another child at daycare. He had the bitemarks on his face for a couple of days. This is just part of daycare. It won't be the last time something like this happens. He's fine now.

Max is still having sleeping issues. Last night we put him down at 6:30pm. An hour earlier than usual. He was so fussy he was driving us nuts. He seems to be in a better mood today so maybe he needed to catch up on sleep? We're experimenting with one nap or two and more sleep at night. He's drooling alot again so maybe it's another tooth that is causing him to get so fussy sometimes? His appetite still isn't what it used to be either although he did eat a good portion of oatmeal this morning so I was happy about that.

Max loves to climb on anything he can around the house. He can now crawl off our bed, up on the coffee table and onto the couch! He can just get his little hands over the edge of the kitchen counters so we have to be so careful not to let pot handles be sticking out. Especially the cast iron! It's a constant battle not to let Max destroy things or hurt himself.

Better Today

Today Max's nose didn't run as much. He seemed to sleep really well during his long 2 hour nap this morning and he was in a really good mood all day. He's still coughing but it seems to be getting a little better also. Charles and I have gotten over our stomach bug and felt much better today.

It was cold and rainy here today so I took Max to the mall. He played for a long time in the play area, then we walked around. Max loves to walk and point and touch all the clothes. The Christmas lights and decorations fascinate him. He want to pull all the displays down and throw clothes on the floor so there is only so much of that I can take. He loves the toy store with the wind-up stuffed animals that move. He points and squeals when he sees them. There is a dog that flips over and an elephant that it's trunk moves up and down.

Another really cute development is that Max will hug me now. If I ask him for a hug he will put his arms around my neck and hug me. It gives me butterflies!

Ohh and one more development. Max eats at his own table! It's a small table we bought at Fred Myer. This is easier in some ways than the high chair because that had all these folds to clean out after every meal but now he wants to wander all over the place before he's done eating. Either way it's a mess but the table makes me think of a day when we will all eat together at a big table!

Sick, Sick, Sick

Since Max has started daycare we have all been very sick. Charles and I have been wiping Max's nose every 10 minutes for the past 2 weeks. Max has had Diarrhea, throwing-up, coughing and yesterday a fever of 102. Charles and I have both had colds and sore throats. Charles thinks he has a sinus infection also. Yesterday, when I got to work I immediately began vomiting and continued to do so all morning (between patients). I left early in pain feeling feverish. I came home and went straight to bed. Not 2 hours later Charles came in to tell me he wasn't feeling good. His stomach felt like it had a knife in it. Yep, that's how mine was before all the vomiting. He had it too! He was vomiting all night and had a headache and fever also.


It is really hard to take care of Max when we are all sick. I feel better this morning but Charles is still in bed.

Of course, you expect this sort of thing when your child starts daycare but it has been such a drain the last couple of weeks.

It can only get better I guess!

Much Better

A few recent pictures of Max.......

Max is much better today. My guess is that when they said he had a two hour nap at daycare he didn't actually sleep. This is why he was so fussy and crying so much. The following morning he was still in a state until he took a two hour nap from 12:30 to 2:30. When he woke up from that he was like the old Max again. He fusses but he also has very happy times playing and exploring.

Here is Max and I at the Theo Chocolate Factory tour. I did this event with a local meetup "Moms" group. It was so-so. I loved the chocolate of course but there wasn't much in it for Max. He was pretty squirmy and didn't want to stay with the group very much. It isn't easy to find good things for kids to do at Max's age. It's mostly parks and soft climbing areas. We have been taking him to Alderwood Mall on Sunday mornings. They have a great area for kids to climb on giant broccoli, tomatoes and mushrooms. It is a heart healthy theme from Swedish Hospital. We have to go early before it gets mobbed with bigger kids.

I'm still trying to find a good group to replace Peps since I can't go anymore due to my new work schedule.

Off Day

Yesterday when we picked Max up from daycare he was really fussy. It was odd because he didn't want any dinner and just wanted to nurse and sleep. He got up many times during the night and I just gave in to nursing all night because I was too tired to try other things and I was also worried about him and just wanted him to be comforted and get sleep.

Today Max had been very needy and his sleep seems to be way off schedule. I don't know why this is. His report from daycare said that he had a 2 hour nap yesterday at his normal time so I don't know what is going on.

Charles and I are wondering is it teething? A growth spurt? Did something happen at daycare that they aren't telling us?

He had his flu shot on Monday but he was fine that day and the next two days. We just have to watch him and see if he gets back to normal.

Catching Up

My little Ninja~Pumpkin Prowl
Woodland Park Zoo

Imagine Children's Museum in Everett


Our lives have been in such turmoil with the move to Colorado and move back to Seattle. There has been so many job interviews between Charles and I and trying to figure out daycare and where we are going to live etc. The job I thought I was going to do ended up being too far away with traffic (hour each way or more). Redmond is only 15 miles from where we are renting right now! Traffic is terrible on the East side of Lake Washington.

Some good new though! I was offered a job in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle. The hours work really well for us: M 8-5, T 8-6, W 8-5 and every other Saturday. Saturdays are good days for me to work right now since we can have income without having to pay for daycare! Working every other Saturday is so ideal because we can have some family time too!

Other good news is that Charles and Max and I can commute together! He can drop me off, then drop Max off on Queen Anne at his daycare then head downtown to work. That is exactly what we had hoped for!

Now we can concentrate on finding a house.

As for Max and his daycare.....we moved him from ELDC in Lynnwood to Cosmopolitan Kids on Queen Anne. This is 5 min from Charles's work. I'm feeling pretty good about it. I have my reservations about every daycare I go in because we can't afford to send him to the best ones but I think Cosmo Kids will be good. I asked several parents about there experience with them and they had good things to say. Casey and Misty are his teachers. He still cries when he's dropped off but when I call to check on him, Misty says he gets better as the day goes on.

More pictures and same pictures flickr.com/photos/maxbeene

Max's Art

This is Max's first art project at daycare. The teachers say he is doing a little better each time he's there. It's still very difficult to drop him off. He starts to cry as soon as we get in the room and today he tried to walk out with me. That made me cry.

I love the park and playground at the Good Shepard Center where we have our Peps meetings. Max and I had a blast there yesterday. He was so good all day. I would love to have him completely weaned by now but that doesn't seem to be happening. Max loves his mommy time and doesn't show any signs of wanting to stop. I don't want to force him to stop. It's really not all that much anymore but I'd love to get more sleep in the morning instead of feeding him at 5am when he wakes up.

Daycare Dilemma

Max is having a hard time adjusting to daycare. We are trying to find a center closer to Charles work but it is so hard to find daycare in Seattle. Most places have a 6mo-2year waiting list!!! I'm trying to find a job closer to Charles work so that we can all be closer and not have him in daycare for too long.

He is walking up a storm and is very happy and sweet when he's with us. We've joined a PEPS class that meets on Tuesday Mornings. He still isn't showing much interest in the other kids yet. Hopefully that will change as we keep putting him in group situations.

He is starting to imitate us. Today he put on my shoe! I made him laugh really hard by swinging my arms like a bird.

Journey to Seattle

We are back in Seattle now! Max did so good on the long journey. We drove through Yellowstone and saw some Buffalo, Elk and possibly a wolf. Max saw the Buffalo and pointed at them. He is in the phase of pointing at everything and laughing. He wants to see that we see what he sees. The foliage was amazing! I had never been through Wyoming and Montana this time of year. Eastern Washington along I90 was also really pretty.

Max is still practicing his walking but he's already almost walking exclusively. I know what people mean when they say it goes by fast. He seems much more little boy than baby already. This week he starts daycare. I'm sad about it. He cried the first two times I brought him in to check it out. I only left him for 3o minutes! I'll be glad when he gets used to it.

1st Birthday

Max had a really fun birthday at O'Kane park. He ate his first hotdog and got lots of presents from Paw-Paw and GJ and friends. He is walking and crawling now but mostly walking holding my hand.
He takes about 7 steps on his own before falling.
Max loves to play with brooms and thanks to GJ he now has his own Sweeping Sam!

Daddy and Max

Today we went on a beautiful hike outside of Evergreen Colorado. I took some nice pictures of Max and Daddy and wanted to post a couple of them. Max has his first word and it is Da-Da. He looks at Daddy and says his name. Very Sweet!

Colorado Hiking

Today we went on a hike in White Ranch State Park. The views were incredible and it sure was nice to get out into the Colorado fall weather. In 2 weeks we'll be back in Washington and back to work so we're soaking up the fun now. Publish Post

Daily Routine

Max is such a good eater. He prefers to eat with adult utensils or his hands. It's very messy but cute. I still have yet to find anything he won't eat. Most mornings we share a pot of oatmeal and fruit. Some of his usual foods are avocado, lentils, beans, chicken, beef/buffalo, broccoli, carrots, hummus, couscous, tomato, cucumber, olives, dates, figs, yogurt, cheese, pinto beans and whole grain bread. I only gave him water until recently when he had pomegranate juice mixed with water. He was sure glad to get something beside water!




Here are some pictures of Max at the playground and Gymboree today. He loves to get out and climb and explore much more that playing with toys at this point.

Getting Started

O.K so I should have started this a year ago when Max was born. But here I am 7 days from Max's first birthday and I'm just getting started with this project. I have really enjoyed reading friends blogs and I think it's a great way to keep up with the lives of people you care about.

So this is where I begin....

A very exciting time in the life of Max Owen Beene. His first steps! Last week which was 2 weeks shy of his first birthday he took his first steps. It was at an open play time at Gymboree in Cherry Creek. Since then he gets stronger everyday and takes more steps on his own. I thought this milestone would take longer for Max since he is such a big boy (27 lbs.!) but here we are with a wobbly walking toddler!

I'm still on antibiotics since my nasty bout with mastitis. I got this from not draining enough milk on the right side during our feedings. Max is partially weaned at this point. He only nurses in the early morning and right before bed now. He will get real milk on his 1st birthday!

There are endless topics a parent can discuss when raising a child. His fascination with broom handles, the dishwasher, and any objects he can tap together. How cute he looks when he smiles, his chubby hands, his laugh, his cry, how often he poops! My concerns, his development, what he should eat, how best to socialize him, on and on.

It's a learning process and definitely the best thing that has ever happened to us! I'm tired, it's the end of the day and I'll go to sleep the same way I do every night since Max has been born, with his sweet face on my mind.