Play Time

Mr. Maxim has been awake more and more lately and wants to be entertained so we had play time yesterday with his "play thingy." Ok, it was play time for Maxim, but photo shoot time for me.

He was really getting into the bright colors and hitting the toys with his hands. 

"Hey mommy, look at me!"

Madison even wanted to participate in the good times.

While we were on the floor Maxim got some tummy time in too.

After all of this stimulation I had one very tired little boy.

Bathing Beauty

Maxim Is Too Cute

Yesterday I took a few adorable pictures of Maxim that I will share. 

It was cool enough yesterday to go for a walk so I got the big man all dressed and in his stroller when I figured that I needed something to help block the son from his eyes since he likes to look around at everything. I started with a pair of his sunglasses.

They did not work because the sunglasses are still too big on him. I then decided a hat will have to do.

The hat worked great and allowed Maxim to be his curious little self as he looked around at everything. I thought he might take a nap on the walk, but there was just too much for him to look at.

Yesterday was also bath day so of course I took a bunch of photos for memories. I don't want to post the full on naked baby in tub photos, but here are cute pictures of after bath time. Which by the way, he still really loves bath time. 

Maxim Is Getting Big

Maxim had his three month doctor appointment yesterday and he's getting so big. I guess they don't usually do three month check ups, but since Maxim is a premie the doctor just wanted to make sure he continues to grow...and grow he did. Maxim weighed in at 10 pounds and 14.5 ounces and is 22 inches long. Wow! To think he started at 3.6 three months ago. They do not put him to the charts just yet, but instead he's measured on a premie chart to compare where he is to other premies. Unfortunately I do not know where he falls since the doctor was unable to pull up the premie chart. Hopefully next time we will know. 

Here is the big man watching the Packer game with daddy outside on Sunday. He's definitely dressed for the occasion. 

Maxim's First Pumpkin

After being in WI for ten days and feeling Fall weather I really wanted to do something "fallish." In WI I would take Max to a pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin, have cider and apple crisp, so I figured why not do that here in AZ? Well, after some Google searching I found that if I wanted the Midwest Fall experience we would have to drive 2.5 hours up north and after just sitting in a car forever that really did not sound like a good idea. Instead I found a few local "pumpkin patch" joints that we could go to. I say pumpkin patch very loosely because they really are not pumpkin patches. These places have the pumpkins trucked in from up north and place them in the scorching hot desert for you to choose from. They also provide many activities for children to participate in. The activities wouldn't be so bad if Max was old enough and I wasn't already sweating from having Max strapped to me via the Bjorn. They also do not serve the tasty Fall treats at these joints. Instead it was BBQ and shaved ice. I don't know about you, but that doesn't scream Fall to me.

Anyway, I got Max all dressed for the occasion in his Halloween onesie.

We arrived at the ranch and paid our entrance fee, which I don't recall ever having to do that in WI. We then made our way to the make shift train that was going to take us further out to the desert where the make-shift pumpkin patch was. This was where hay bails were set up with pumpkins displayed for you to choose what you wanted. 

The mountain views were pretty though.

We selected a small pumpkin for Max and also a larger pumpkin. Andy was very thrilled to pose with our pumpkins. Check out the make-shift train behind him.

Max did very well throughout the pumpkin patch experience as he slept the whole time. That's ok because I still got a picture of us, but I had to take him out of the Bjorn for this.

Even though this was not exactly what I wanted for a Fall pumpkin experience I still enjoyed the day with my family. When Max is older I think we will do the drive up north for the real Fall experience.

The Dreaded Drive Home

When we finally scheduled the trip back to WI I compromised with Andy on our travel arrangements. He wanted to drive with the dogs and I was completely against driving across country and back with two big dogs and a barely three month old. After much discussion I agreed to fly out first class with Maxim while Andy drove with the dogs and then I will drive back with them. After my little traveler was awesome on the flight I was soon regretting this deal. I REALLY DID NOT want to drive across country with Maxim as I had no idea how he was going to be. 

On Sunday morning we hit the road after Maxim's early morning feeding. Of course he slept during the first shift and only woke up in four hours when it was time to eat. After I fed him and Andy walked the dogs we hit the road and baby was fast asleep again. I started to think if this is how it's going to be maybe the car ride won't be so bad. Ahhh...thought too soon. Two hours into the second shift Maxm was wailing and I couldn't do much from the front seat. Andy and I figured one of us needs to sit in back with him to help entertain him, so after the next stop and feeding I got my butt in the back seat. He calmed down since he could see me and Hold my hand.

We were like this the rest of the first day. We stopped in Elk City, OK to try and get some sleep. It was planned that since I would be the one to get up and feed him in the middle of the night Andy would do most of the driving. I did not anticipate a "wide awake baby" all night. Since he slept all day he was wide awake when we got to the hotel and did not fall asleep until 3am and then got up at 5:30am to party. This made for one tired mommy the next day in the car. 

Izzy made sure she kept an eye on Maxim in the back and whenever he would make a noise she would check on him. He would just stare at Izzy with big eyes. 

Izzy decided that maybe she just needed to sleep there to make sure Maxim was safe at all times.

Once Maxim was completely over the car ride (just like mommy) I pulled out the rings. My girlfriend swears the rings are what do it for her little girl, so I was ready to give it a shot. So far a Maxim has not been interested in any rattles or toys, so this was a first with him. At first Maxim didn't know what to do with them. He just looked at me funny, but who wouldn't when a woman in her 30's shakes the crap out of plastic circles while making a ridiculous face? After many stares he finally grasped the rings and held on for dear life. He didn't do much else, but just gripping the rings entertained him for a couple hours and mommy was happy.

He also needed his paci here to make him happy.

We made it back to Arizona in good timing. I thought it would take us three days (yes, I was being dramatic) to get home, but we got a routine down at each stop and it made for a smooth process. A 24 hour road trip turned into 29 hours of travel time. The trip wasn't as bad as I thought, but I plan to never do it again!

Maxim Invades Wisconsin

We were recently in Wisconsin for ten days. The trip was planned around our friend's wedding where Andy was the best man. The wedding was a great time and the first outing for us without Maxim. It was tough on this new mamma as I thought about him a lot and couldn't wait to get home to see him.

While we were having fun with good friends the big man was in good hands with grandma and grandpa.

This trip also gave us the opportunity to introduce the big man to our friends and family. It was a crazy busy ten days of go-go-go and I am glad family got to spend time with Maxim. To make things easier there was a Meet Maxim party for Andy's side of the family and one for mine.

Here is Maxim just chilling with his new shades on at his party.

While in Wisconsin we enjoyed the beautiful weather as it was a nice change from the hundred degree temps in Phoenix. I took Max for walks in the Bjorn and we sat outside on the deck enjoying the beautiful afternoon.

We did our usual family photo in front of my parents fire place in case we don't make it back for Christmas.

While in Wisconsin Maxim grew quite a bit in those 10 days. I don't have numbers for weight and length but the Bjorn fit hm quite differently by the time we left and he grew out of these pajamas as they are too short on him. When I got there they fit him perfectly, but now they are being retired as they are not pants on him anymore, they are shorts that are jacked up his butt.

He has a doctor appointment on Monday and I will find out then how much he has actually grown.

We had such a wonderful time that I even thought how it would be nice to move back so Max can be around family, but then Andy reminded me of the winters and how much I hate them. I quickly got over that move to WI thought.