Pulvers Page: May 2008

Our big boy is 15 months old today! He is such an awesome little boy, really good-natured, easy-going, and fun! Although, getting to be more of a handful to keep out of trouble, and he is SO fast. He still says a lot of the same words as before, Uh-oh, yuck (these are so funny to hear him use in context: at the park he got sand on his hands and he said, "uck" and he threw up the other day and stood there looking down at the mess and said "uck"), up, he tries to say moon, tree, kitty or cat, dog, bear, bird (he is an animal lover), today it sounded like he repeated cracker. He communicates what he (doesn't) want by shaking his head "no" - whether it's offering food, drink, or a book. The other day, he took my necklace out of the drawer, brought it to me, and said "ma ma." We (finally) got Max his own little toothbrush and started brushing his teeth this past month and he loves it! When he sees Miles brushing his teeth, he really wants to brush his, too. He climbed up the stairs at the park by himself last week holding onto the railing with both hands (so he went sideways) - cautious little guy (I was spotting him). He got 1 tooth within the last month - now he has 7 teeth - 4 on top and 3 on bottom.

Miles is doing great, enjoying school and his friends. He will graduate at the end of June and have summer vacation with me during July and August. I am really excited about us spending that time together. Max will be with us a good portion of the time, too - but he will continue going to daycare some to keep him accustomed to the setting and routine. Miles said something so funny yesterday. We were sitting outside at a shopping center and he was eating a bakery cookie when a girl walked by eating a lollipop - he said loudly, "Here we go again, eating junk food!" I was embarassed. I said, you're one to talk, you're eating a cookie - but the mom said, he's right, it is junk food. There was a woman and her toddler sitting next to us and he asked (and I think they heard) "Is that a girl?" I said yes, referring to the toddler and he said, "No, is the mom a girl?" This was a masculine-looking woman and also asked, is she her (the toddler's) mom? I said, I think so. Judging by the way the woman was lovingly looking at the girl, I think it was her mom, but probably not biological. Anyway, we discussed both things when we were alone. He is very observant!

Uncle Jeff visited with us for a few days this past week. He and Miles hung out and they had a great time. They went to the Wild Animal Park (which Miles found "boring" - but he was very tired) and saw Speed Racer, which Miles loved, and went to Birch Aquarium which Miles also enjoyed. Our friends from Germany have been with us since this past Monday and the children have gotten some extra attention. They will be with us until next Monday, doing some traveling in between. This past weekend we went to a college graduation party with a spread of food, including a chocolate fountain, and a DJ. Miles thought the party was "cool." Max was an absolute handful, trying to pull a lamp off the table, messing with the DJ equipment cords, trying to walk/run with a fork in his hand/mouth, trying to help himself to food off the buffet tables and put whole pieces of fruit chunks in his mouth, etc. Needless to say, we didn't stay long! We went to Miles' classmate's birthday party today and Max was trying to help himself to food off of other people's plates - especially whole grapes - he wasn't interested in them when I bit them in half. He desperately wanted carrot sticks but those are also chokeable. I held one and let him nibble on it and he mostly spit it out. He was also trying to swipe other people's juiceboxes - he is obsessed with juiceboxes. He wolfed down a piece of pizza - I held it and he took bites. We came away from the food experience relatively clean and so decided to skip the cake!

On the way to the graduation party. Miles' face before the photo "bribe"

Miles posing after the bribe

Max wore a pair of Miles' old shoes for the graduation party. His first time wearing "real shoes!" (the binky takes away from the big boy effect). They are Stride Rites, size 6 and 1/2. We had to really jam his feet into them, they seemed too small. We have heard it's not healthy for the developing foot to wear used shoes, so perhaps we won't continue to delve into Miles' hand-me-downs for the footwear. It's such a trip seeing Max wear Miles' old clothes. I panicked when I pulled out the size 2T shirts for Max to wear because I felt like I had just packed them away (Miles became slim so he wore a few of those shirts until he was 3). Some of the shirts, like the shark-shirt in this picture, were too big for Miles until he was 2, and they fit Max now. And it's funny, Max has skipped some of Miles' old clothes entirely - either the wrong season or just the wrong fit (Gymboree shorts used to fit Miles perfectly and they are way too tight for Max). Max is pretty much an elastic waistband guy, for now.