Utah fun! And Rob is married!!

A few weeks ago Tyler and I took a mini vacation to Utah to attend one of our best friend's wedding. Rob is one of the last of us to finally get hitched and we wanted to celebrate with him and our good friends from Berkeley. It was soooo fun!! Not to mention that we didn't have Max with us for a WHOLE weekend. We missed him terribly, but we were glad to get away for a little while just the two of us. (And a HUGE HUGE HUGE thank you to my sister Danielle for watching Maddox. She watched him the whole weekend for us and consequently Max fell in love and asks for her every single day).

Anyway, Utah was awesome. We stayed one night in Vegas and then drove the rest of the way to SLC. I really really loved Salt Lake City. It's clean and gorgeous with the mountains all around and everything. And there was real snow on the ground. But man was it COLD. I'm such a softie now for living in Southern California for this long.

We went to the Salt Lake Temple which was awesome. And then to Rob and Whitney's wedding reception. It was lovely. They had a mashed potato bar that was yummy and Nancy, Tawni and I had fun taking pictures and laughing. It was seriously so nice to see our friends again. I forgot how much I really love all those people.

On Saturday Tyler went snowboarding with the guys and Nancy and I hung out in downtown SLC, bride stalking at the Temple and shopping. We took a lot of pictures and probably looked ridiculous. Nancy and Tawni are probably more obsessed with taking pictures than me -- and that's hard to beat. That night we met up with Tyler's brother Cory and his roommate (also from CT -- word) and we all went to dinner at Cafe Rio. It was deee-lish!!

We had a great time (even though the drive was long, really really long) and we were sad to say goodbye. I hope we can have another reunion soon! And congrats to Rob and Whitney!!

Max-casso (like Picasso... is that too much of a stretch?)

Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum

It was a gorgeous February day so we took Max to this cool Aviation Museum on the Navy base near our house that has a lot of retired vintage airplanes and helicopters. He LOVES planes so we thought he'd enjoy seeing them close up. We have constant fighter jet traffic over our house because Miramar Naval Air Station is only about 5 miles away. They are loud and annoying (like when they fly over in the middle of a phone conversation and the person on the other end thinks a bomb has gone off in my house). But Max always, without fail, runs to the window or looks up when we are outside and points and says, "FLAAANE!!" He loves them.


He wasn't all that interested in the planes at the museum though. I don't think he made the connection between the huge loud things in the air and the big hunks of metal on the ground. He did enjoy running around though. (Can you believe he's in short sleeves in the middle of February? It was SOOO warm that day!)


Tyler and I had a good time though. Seeing those planes was very somber. You got this real sense of power and fear and history all at the same time. Well, at least I did. I couldn't help but think of my grandfather, a man I've never met (he died when my mom was only 2 years old) but who was a World War II pilot and hero. I won't bore you with the details, but it made the stories of his life seem more real to me when I looked at those planes. If you want to see some more pictures check out my photoblog.

More Max Pictures

If you want to see some newer pictures of Max from a recent shoot we did with him, check them out on my photoblog. Click HERE to go there.

Phew! We made it to 18 Months!

Woah, can you believe Maddox is 18 months old? I can't. Time has flown by (although sometimes not fast enough). Baby Max is growing into quite the young little dude. He's such a toddler playing with his trucks and cars (or as he says "caauus" -- I think he might be one of those kids that doesn't pronounce his r's for a while. I think that is adorable -- no surprise there)! He really is the joy of our lives. He is funny and sweet and playful and devious and smart... I could go on and on really.


For a little update his current stats are 21 pounds and 30 inches. That's roughly the size of a one year old. So yeah, he's still a little guy but that just makes him that much cuter. He wears size 5 shoes and has a shoe obsession. He's very particular about which shoes he wears when. He now has 8 teeth with two more on the way -- FINALLY!!!! I think he really enjoys biting and chewing now.


He says a TON of words. Not all of them are totally clear, but I can understand them. There's a list on the side here, but more are added daily. He will surprise me with the strangest words some days. Today he said "wan fressh frish" -- he wanted french fries. And considering how "french fry" was my first word, this doesn't surprise me one bit.

He loves to wear hats and carries around my empty purses calling them "bye-byes". He still loves his baths and playing outside, especially at the park where he has total freedom to do and run and play. He's a picky eater, to my utter shock and disappointment. But he does love fruits and vegetables so I can't complain too much.

His favorite shows are "Super Why", "Jay Jay the Jet Plane" (a super creepy show about planes with faces -- shudder), "Sesame Street" and "Thomas". He also enjoys watching over and over "Finding Nemo" (meee-mooo), "Ratatouille", "Monster's Inc." and "Robin Hood" (a new favorite he got for Christmas).

He loves playing with other kids! Seriously it's one of his favorite things. His little face just lights up when he sees other kids playing and follows them around (but not annoyingly). He especially loves his "She-she" (see below -- he's goin' in for a hug). He used to hug and kiss her all the time. Now he thinks it's funny to run away when you ask him for a kiss.


This boy is the most wonderful little thing ever (that's not to say he doesn't have his moments, because oh goodness does he EVER have his moments). But he is happy and sweet and loving and feisty and bold and determined and stubborn as all get out. He is the center of our world and we wouldn't have it any other way!!

This is the face!

Isn't this the face we fell in love with? I swear, it's getting harder and harder to photograph this kid with a smile on his face. And it isn't because he isn't a happy kid, it's just that when he's really happy with those smiles on his face he's usually moving a million miles a minute and therefore hard to take a picture of. But here's one I caught!

Smile!

Here is Maddox's smile face. When we say "Smile!!" this is what he does.

Max in Boots

My mom sent Max the cutest boots EVER! I've been wanting to get him some rain boots for a long time so he can go out when it's wet (which isn't that much down here in San Diego, but still). Aren't they adorable little frogs? (And yes, we're slowly working on the paci thing).



And this video is a crack up. The boots are a little big so he can't walk well in them (or run either). It's so cute!

And once again, I apologize for the little neighborhood urchin that gets in the video. Max thought this girl was hilarious. Me, not so much. I think the kids in our neighborhood are bad influences on Max. They kind of run wild and crazy and unattended. Also, sorry for the jerky camera movements.

Zoo Day

On this particular day (did I sound like Kate from John and Kate Plus 8?) Maddox and I went to the San Diego Zoo with some of our bestest friends. We all used to live right next to each other, but Monique and her kiddies (Joaquin and Izzie) moved to Escondido (via LA) so we only get to see them occasionally. We had so much fun at the zoo together though. I love having the zoo so close to us and the cheap year passes are awesome -- we can go whenever we want, stay for as long as we want and not feel bad about spending money on an over-priced ticket.


Anyway, the kids had a ton of fun together and it was so nice to hang out with my momma friends. Yay for play dates!


Oh, and we saw lots of baby animals, too. We saw the new baby panda (sooo cute!) and lots of baby monkeys and gorillas -- they were all adorable! (Sorry I don't have pictures of them. I have this thing about taking pictures of animals in zoos -- you can just google them and it's the same thing).

(Max kissing the big gorilla. He really liked these guys.)

More Funny Kid Pictures

Here are some more funny kid pictures... I swear, this child cracks us up non-stop.



This last picture happened because he had taken the socks off about 15 thousand times and wanted us to put them back on 15 thousand times -- well we only did it 14,999 times. And this is the reaction.

Orange Peels: Good Source of...?

We always knew Max was a funny kid. Not like creepy-weird strange funny. Just a kid who does his own thing when and where he pleases. This is a classic example. We bought these great oranges from Costco, they were so sweet and yummy. So of course we offered some to Maddox. Being the pickiest kid in the whole world, he turned his nose up at them after one little nibble. Tyler and I scarfed them down (of course) and left the peels on a plate. We didn't pay much attention to it until we saw this:

Yes folks, he's eating the peels -- AND LOVING IT! Max loves orange peels. He practically gagged at the sweet tangy orange but, orange peels? Come on mom -- so much better. And they are a good source of... ?? Does anyone know? Fiber? Calcium? Indigestion? (Oh, and this is also the face he makes when we ask him to smile or push (when he's pooping -- sometimes he needs a little encouragement)).


Oh, and here's a bonus picture... see what I mean? Funny, right?

He's actually wearing my gray knit cap with flowers on it and playing a spoon like a guitar while singing.

Baby Yoga

I realized that at some point, every baby does yoga poses. My mom was pretty proud of this (she's a certified yoga instructor). I just think he's cute.


Pretty much all he knows is downward facing dog. But it's a start, right? Let's hope this will keep him more flexible than his father... who is not flexible WHAT-SO-EVER.

Little Tikes

I'm pretty sure we keep the Little Tikes company in business. Max has everything from them. He has the basketball hoop. He got the slide for Christmas. And now he has his most beloved thing -- the picnic table.


Tyler wanted him to have this table SO BAD!! We looked for it to get it for him for Christmas (from my dad) but every Toys R Us was sold out... for a long long time. We kept calling and going there to look. We even were told that they had one in stock, paid for it, only to be told that they made a mistake and had to refund us our money. Anyway, we ended up getting it about a month ago and Max LOVES it. His little face lit up when he saw it.

I don't know if you remember the old table. It was dirty and gross. This little plastic wonder is a dream to keep clean, and the best part is that Max can't move the benches -- they are attached!!


He eats lunch there now and will sit in his high chair for a grand total of 2 minutes until he wants to get down and eat at his table. It's so cute! (Thanks grandpa!!)

Baby Ninja

The other night Max wanted to go "oushide" (outside in case you needed the translation). We were doing laundry and going out so I indulged him. I made sure to put a hat on him because it was cold, and his warm fleece. But I was too lazy to put on his pants. It wasn't that cold anyway.


He looks like a little baby Ninja stealing other kids' toys in the night.