Walking with Help

Miles' Christmas Bike

Max checks out Miles' new bike

We 3 Kings

Miles sings one of the songs from his school Christmas performance. The beauty is in the imperfection.

Motorboat

Sibling Rivalry

Sibling Rivalry

Merry Christmas!

Today was so much fun! Exhausting and fun, full of laughter, wonder, and even some tears. We were all pretty excited and woke up early, Miles and I watched the sun rise together from his bedroom and waited until close to 7:00 when Max woke up and Grandma and Grandpa arrived to go downstairs. The first thing he saw was his new bike and he was so excited - he put his new helmet on right away and rode the bike around the room. Then he tore into his stocking and was delighted with everything he found. Then he opened his eagerly awaited Marvel and DC Comic Encylopedias. He received a variety of other great gifts including bug books, Lincoln Logs, legos, action figures, and Matchbox cars, and the day proceeded with a lot of movie watching for Miles along with reading, playing, and a spin on his new bike. Max's big gift was a hand-me-down Learning Table from Miles and he crawled right up to it and enjoyed it. He also got a ball popper which he and Miles had a lot of fun with. Max seemed to not be feeling too well, perhpas a bit of a cold or teething, so he intermittently had lots of fun playing and was also somewhat fussy. For our Christmas dinner, Max didn't care for the mashed potatoes but enjoyed the green bean casserole. He did a lot of independent standing today and walking holding our hands and seemed pretty proud of himself! Today was so much fun with our two little boys surrounded by our family treasuring them.

A California Christmas Eve

We took in a beautiful sunset this evening, then returned home for our traditional Pulvers family Christmas Eve meal, potato soup and cornbread. It was delicious! The best part was being around the table with family -- we are fortunate to have Grandma and Grandpa Mann and Uncle Jeff with us for the holiday.

Max and Daddy

10 Months Old!

Max turns 10 months old tomorrow! He is becoming more of his own little person every day! He squeals with delight and has lots of smiles for us, but he has a strong-side too and he yells (back) at Miles and shakes his head no. He waves, pats my hand for patty-cake, and makes some interesting consonant and vowel combinations, like bat-boo and he "rolls" his b - Miles never did this, so we don't know if these kinds of sounds are "normal" or whether they reflect the Hindi language that Max is exposed to every day at daycare. This month he started babbling ma-ma (it used to be just "m" when he was upset), still going strong on da-da. He makes other sounds that are hard to identify precisely, sometimes sounding like ch or k or t. And just as mysteriously as his spitting up began, it has gone away. We are SO relieved that his spitting up has resolved. The doctors had said it usually goes away when they're more upright, and while Max still crawls a lot, he stands and cruises quite a bit, too. He has stood unsupported a few times and while he can take steps while we hold his hands, he's not too interested in it. Although we know we'll be in for a lot more work once he's walking, as heavy as he is, we look forward to him "carrying his own weight" a bit. Max has a passion for food and he loves eating just about everything! And he got his first tooth! Central bottom. He handled it pretty well.

Family Time

We went to Seaworld to see the Christmas lights. Miles played his favorite video game at the arcade. Max was bundled up and pretty content.



Miles was so excited to put together his Castle Lego set with his dad!



Here's Miles at his advent calendar.



Miles and Max having a snack

Mac & Cheese Video

Here's a little look into our family life, with an appearance by the cats and everything. Griffin walks by in the background at the beginning and then Scoops comes in at the end after Ron scolds him. Max shows his enthusiasm for food by polishing off his brother's mac&cheese - you can see his interest in more between bites! Max had already eaten in his highchair and was down playing, but came over to check out what was being eaten - he's always interested in others' food. The conversation with Miles is about the cookies he made with their sitter the other night, and then about his advent calendar.

Christmas Tree Fun

Max's 9 Month Stats

Max had his 9-month old check-up today. He didn't have to get any shots which was really nice. The doctor decided to forgo the hemoglobin test given that, at 26 lb, 2 oz (!), he apparently didn't have an appetite problem and she didn't suspect anemia. His height was again 75% and head 50%.

Visit with Family

Grandma and Grandpa Mann spent the weekend with us and we put up our Christmas decorations and celebrated Chanukah. Max really looks the part in his yamukah. Uncle Jerry and Aunt Margo (Uncle Jerry is Grandpa's brother from N.J.) were on the west coast and brought Aunt Bea (she is Grandma's Aunt) down from L.A. for a visit on Sunday afternoon. We got our "4-generation shot," representing Aunt Bea, Grandma Mann, me, and Max/Miles. Aunt Bea is the sister of my Grandma, who Max flew to the hospital in NJ to meet when he was 7 weeks old before she died.

Cute and Quirky

Cute: Max's daycare lady, Sue, said in her Hindi accent today, "Max is my friend, he follows me everywhere!" I thought it was cute to think of Max trailing her around the way he sometimes does us at home. It is reassuring to see him so comfortably attached to her - he leans toward her in the morning at drop-off and is content in her arms when we pick him up. It is nice to observe her display of positive feelings toward him. When we left for Thanksgiving break, she told him she would miss him and said "love you" to him, and she affectionately hugs and kisses him.

Quirky: Miles insists on having a new utensil for each "course" of his meal. After finishing his pasta tonight, he helped himself to a "shiny and clean" fork to eat his vegetables. On Thanksgiving, when we asked Miles what he was thankful for, he said playing. I prompted, what else? Skeletons. I asked in dismay, what about mommy and daddy and your family?! And he said, oh yeah, that too. His Thanksgiving school project listed "monsters" as what he was most thankful for.

Thanksgiving in Tucson Slideshow

Max and Miles traveled really well. The flight out was harder b/c it was early and Miles, who is usually a perfect traveler, was a bit crabby. Max coped by eating himself into oblivion and he was fine. The way back I was really tired b/c Max had a fever night before and slept poorly. Fortunately, I was provided with lots of help in the Tucson airport and they let me through the handicapped security area and even folded the stroller and put it on the machine for me. When boarding the plane they again folded the stroller for me and the pilot carried our diaper bag to the seat - wow! Despite Max's fever, or maybe b/c of the medicine, he slept sweetly in my arms. He had a good nap when we got home and then he was fine. Ron was home in San Diego for recruiting, major tournaments come to town every Thanksgiving and coaches from all across the country come. Conveniently for Ron, this is now right in his backyard; but it meant that we spent the holiday apart :( He spent Thanksgiving Day with our friends in town, his former college roommate. Max never made it to the doctor on Wed - we were running late and rescheduled for the first week of December. Just as well, because my friend from grad school was in town and she and her 1 year old came over and played that night.

Pre-Thanksgiving Play at the Park

9 Month Old Cutie

Well-rested and happy after a nap

On My 9 Month Old Birthday Slideshow

9 Month Old Max!

Max is 9 months old today! He is doing great. He's eating a variety of food now - pretty much anything baby bite-size. He has mastered standing holding on to something and letting himself down gently. Now he's starting to "cruise" by moving laterally holding onto furniture. He has his 9-month doctor appointment on Wed. and we'll post his stats. We're going to Tucson for Thanksgiving.

Playtime at the Park

We re-name our favorite parks: Sugar Cookie Park (walking distance to our house), Chocolate Chip Cookie Park (in Encinitas, large park with rock climbing wall and water way), and our latest pictured here, Flower Cookie Park. We went here to use the jeep to play Fantastic Four. Miles is Human Torch, Max is Mr. Fantastic, Ron is The Thing, and I'm Invisible Woman. All command decisions by our General Miles Pulvers. Tonight he said that when he grows up he'll be an entymologist and Max will be a paleonologist, so they'll both be scientists! Oh, and Mommy will be a nurse and Daddy a doctor.

Tender Playtime Moments

Miles and Max enjoy playing together. Max still idolizes Miles, but instead of looking at him only with adoration, he sometimes looks at him with fear knowing he's going to get man-handled!

Snuggly

The boys are so snuggly in their fleece pajamas.

Cruisin' for a Bruisin'

Max is taking some lumps in his quest to get into everything - pinched fingers, bumped head, so far nothing major thankfully. But we have to keep a close watch on him. He likes to shut doors and then he gets up against the door and gets stuck. He got his hands into the toilet and was splashing around. He opened the bathroom cabinet and got his hands on some unsuitable items. He makes a break for the stairs whenever he can. Our former house in Olathe was expertly child-proofed, but the only thing we have done now is outlet covers. We have some work to do to improve the safety of Max's home environment.

Miles & Max Play at the Park