Miles' Fifth Birthday Slideshow!

The Cute Brothers

Miles and Daddy caught a TON of sand crabs in the bucket

Max shows off his now (even more) crooked smile. See how his top middle right tooth is pushed in? There was previously a gap between the front teeth, but they were even. I just hope he doesn't lose the tooth.

Brotherly Love

17 Month Old Update

I know that some of our readers are looking forward to Max's 17 month update, so here it is! Max goes on the big boy swing at the park. His latest words include: pool, clock, shoe, cup, binky, bottle (bobble), strawberry, and gobble-gobble (for turkey). He gets very excited when he sees trucks and shouts "kuck!" He also loves a book that has a baby and a cake and he likes saying those words. He enjoys identifying babies - even his own baby pictures. He likes identifying body parts and says toe, eye, nose, mouth/teeth. When he has a poopy diaper and we ask him if he does, he pulls up his shirt and touches his belly and says something like "Dee-dee" - I think he gets that from daycare. Ron thinks he is saying "dirty" b/c the daycare lady calls it a "dirty diaper." He came home yesterday saying "No, no, no" over and over. I didn't reinforce it and eventually he stopped. Even though it's kind of cute, I know it will not be cute if he starts it regularly. As it is, he communicates when he doesn't want something by shaking his head. Seems like he is becoming capable of saying most things and he definitely has awareness of what is going on and tries to imitate everything. He wants to do whatever Miles is doing, from climbing hills to jumping off playground structures to drinking juiceboxes and eating granola bars. It is frustrating for Max that he isn't able to do all of these things. We try to let Miles and Max have natural interactions without over-restricting Miles when they play with "Don't do that" and "Be careful," but after Max's most recent injury, we have been more restrictive. Max and Miles were playing on Tuesday night - Max initiated "chase" and Miles "accidentally bumped/pushed" Max and Max fell into Miles' wooden bed frame and hit his top middle tooth quite hard. Fortunately it wasn't knocked out or even chipped, but it is pushed in. It looks like it hit straight down by the way it left a tooth imprint in the wood. We took him to the dentist today to evaluate the damage and it is loose. The dentist wants to check Max again in 2 weeks - it can either re-tighten on its own or it will become looser and /or infected - which would mean having to get it pulled. So we have to watch and wait and hope for the best. Poor Max, it is so hard to see him get hurt but it doeesn't slow him down a bit. He is such a hard charger and at the same time such a sweet little guy.

Look Who's Talkin'

Bye-bye and "helicopter"

Max surprises himself by pulling his toy back out of the chute, appearing to him like a "bubble." Plus an appearance by Miles.

A close-up of Miles and Max says "ball"

Max recognizes the toy has an "eye"


Max's word list at almost 17 months old is growing longer everyday! Many of these words are imperfect as you see in the videos, but he definitely has the right idea! His words include: cheese, hot, chase, baby, ball, cookie, cracker, clap, boom, teeth, bye-bye, elk (from book), whoa, uh-oh, yuck, kitty/cat, da/ga/dog, hello, hi, teacher (from book), apple, Elmo, frog, helicopter, truck, chicken, purple (from book), cake, eye, balloon, bubble, nana (banana), turtle. Of course ma ma and da da and I think Miles. He tries to say "coffee" when he helps daddy make it in the morning. He said no once but not in the right context and I sure did not reinforce that one! He also does some animal sounds: woof woof, meow, and neigh (horse). I think he also says bird and moon.

Leisurely Days

Max is quite a climber and gets a leg onto anything he can!

Max shows off his artwork

We have been enjoying leisurly summer time at home and Miles and Max have been having a lot of fun playing together!


So intense!

Miles the professor and his protege Max. Max emulates everything Miles does. Scoops is never too far away from the action.

Miles' rattlesnake shirt

Here is Miles in his Arizona rattlesnake shirt that Grandma and Grandpa Mann brought him

Miles' impression of a rattlesnake