Tidbits

We have started cloth diapering Max again on the weekends. It does add a lot more work. I do believe that he pees or poops about every 15 minutes. With cloth it seems you could change him hourly. Most of the time it leaks through his pants and we go through 2-3 pairs in a day. We plan to get the potty out in the next week and start talking about it with Max. No real expectations at this point.

I gave up one of my Saturdays at work. Now I'll only work one Saturday a month. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to get together more with friends! Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to get to the Green Festival or any of the events surrounding the visit of the Dalai Lama this past weekend. That really bums me out!

Max turned 18 mo. on April 2nd. All is well for the Beene's these days. Charles is settling into his new job. He loves taking the bus to work and from our house this is very convenient. We have totally switched roles and I do all of the daycare drop-off and pick-up. It's been going about the same. Max still cries for the drop-off but he is happy by the time I pick him up. With the nice weather the kids are playing outside which helps.

Max is gaining new words and sounds and cracking us up with the things he's doing. One really cute thing is that he claps after Charles plays a song for him and signs for more right away. Such a good audience! He's running a lot now too.

In some ways taking care of Max is harder now because his needs for different kinds of stimulation are increasing as is his energy level. But he is definitely sleeping better and napping better. The activities we can do with him are getting more interesting as his attention span increases. So it's more challenging but also more fun!

We bought a yearly pass to the zoo and went for the first time on Friday. It's nice to have a pass and not feel like we need to spend the whole day there. I'm good with about 1-2 hours. There is also a big grassy area where we can bring lunch and run around.

It was 72 degrees in Seattle on Saturday so we decided to head to the beach! We met our friends Taryn, Noah and their 2 month old daughter Elana at Carkeek Park. A good time was had by all.

Words

New Max words~

wawa (for water)
hi dada (together)
hi mama
baa when asked what does the sheep say?
maa when asked what does the cow say? not moo but maa

papa just tonight for the first time

and lots of other indistinguishable babble.

Max is becoming my sweet little huggy boy. Our bathtime routine has become one big hugfest. I dry him off with the towel then we have about a ten minute hug before we put his clothes on. Then 15 minutes more of hugging and singing (me) babbling (max).

Then Max lies in bed for about 20 minutes babbling away. I just wonder what he's thinking? His imagination is definitely at work. He sure is entertaining himself.

Other news~

We painted most of the dining room over the past couple of days. When we're done I'll post a picture. I love the color. Charles felt it may have been a little bold at first but now loves it also. It certainly gives the room a new feel. It's a warm color and I think that suites a dining area very well.

We are so happy for Charles and his new job at Safco Insurance! He starts next week.

All is Well!

We seem to be on a roll here with sleep, daycare and health. Max has one new word to add to his vocabulary-WOW!
According to Allegro he says mama-dada all day long. He points to every object and says mama-dada. He does this at home too. I'm sure it's just a phase but we are trying to tell him what things are instead of just saying mama-dada. It's cute though.

Here are some pictures of the house. In the days to come we will start to add some of our own personal touches. We have been sampling paint for a while and I hope to reach a decision this weekend for the dining room. This will be the only color we do for the house. All of the other colors are good enough....for now. Next we are going to get some fabric for the bar stools in the kitchen. These stools came with the house. They wouldn't be my choice but I hope with some new fabric I'll grow more attached.

This time around I'm trying to think environmentally and also just take our time.

Great Visit

We had a great time with Paw-Paw and GJ while they were here. Judy helped me plant flowers, herbs and some veggies. I intend to make her proud but I can't guarantee anything.

Max got over his upper respiratory infection and for the past 5 days we haven't wiped his nose! We were wiping it about 30x a day for months. He seems to be free of any kind of illness right now and it shows. He's sleeping better, eating better and in general much happier. All this just after paw-paw and GJ leave. But Charles and I are loving it. It's really nice to see Max this way. I knew there was a happy healthy kid in there somewhere!

He's doing about the same with his words but each day seems to say them more often. Especially mamma and dadda. His new daycare is going really well and I am so happy to have him closer to me. There is more work involved for me now with having to make his lunches and drop/off more but nothing I can' t handle.

I just got Sugar-Free Toddlers by Susan Watson and I'm using some new recipes from it.

Pictures

PawPaw and GJ

We have been having a great time with Paw-Paw and GJ during their visit with us.

Unfortunately, Max has had an upper respiratory infection and has been on antibiotics. In some ways we feel like he's taken a few steps back as far as sleeping through the night and even with daycare but I hope it's just the infection and he'll get back on track soon.

On the good side though he's been expanding his vocabulary! Some of his words are:

Hi
More (with signing)
Doggy
Dada
Mama
Nana (for bannana)
and
Yum Yum

He can point to almost all of the objects in his world, shoes, fork, spoon, ball, book and all body parts and so on.

This is where he's at right now at 17 months.

I'm writing this for my benefit to keep track of things. I'll be updating as new developments come along.

Maybe tonight I'll be posting some recent pictures. Oh yeah and he says mama and dada all day now. And he loves to play with his cars all over the house.