Max Turns 3

We had such a fun time with Max's birthday. He wanted a Batman birthday, so we happily obliged. Pat had to work during the day, so I took the boys to lunch at their favorite restaurant ("Red Robin, Yuuuuuummm!") Later, he had a superhero friends party and then a family dinner. He was spoiled with gifts! Mostly he had fun running around being a boy, just what he does best!!
\

I picked up Max today from a neighbor's house. I was asking him about what he did and he said, "We played Cops & Rogers. I was a Roger." It made me laugh out loud.
Other things Max does that brings a (sometimes) smile to my face:

• He loves his brother. So much that when Lukas was getting his shots and was freaking out, Max was pushing me away so I couldn't get to Lukas. He was almost crying saying, "Don't mom, don't hurt my bludder!!"
• He has a cute little slur and says his "r"s like "w"s.
  
• I absolutely LOVE his voice and how he talks.
• He always says, "Guess what?"
• He is ALWAYS in trouble (making messes, throwing things, hurting the dog or his brother, not cleaning up his spills, saying potty words)
• The first thing he says when he wakes up is, "Good morning Mommy. Can I have milk with dinner? I want eggs and milk and bacon."
• He has started to sleep ALL night long (which is a miracle, believe me) and stay in his bed until morning!!! Yipppeeeee!!!
• He is such a good eater and will try anything (I think just to show off to Lukas who won't try anything.)
• He has such a good memory. He remembers things from last year or from months ago.
• When he is sad, he pouts, puts his head down and covers his face with his arm. It's too cute.
• He quotes "Nacho Libre" and will say, "Take it eeeasy" or "Good Luck" or "Would you like to join me for toast?"
• Lukas will ask to borrow something of his and his response is always, "Sure."
• He'll ask if he can have or do something and when we say yes, he jumps up and down and says, "thank mom"!!
• He started going to an all boys playgroup in the neighborhood. It makes him feel so cool, since Lukas has preschool. This is his thing!
• If we're walking somewhere, he'll go in front of me and say, "Ahh, this is a long walk." And then lift his arms up so I'll carry him. Even if it's just to the mail box.
  

Gone Missing!

Have you ever had that panic filled moment where one of your kids is truly lost. You can't find them anywhere and you've looked everywhere?? That totally happened to us last week. I thought Max went outside and Pat was outside and said he couldn't find him out there. We were running through the house calling his name, searching everywhere. He never hides from us and he only goes so far, so when he didn't turn up, we were freaking out. Our neighbor Whitney got in her car to drive around the neighborhood. I ran in the house one more time to see if he was in the basement or somewhere I didn't think to look. Here's what I found in the office chair (that was facing the back of us, so I had no way of telling he was in it. The duster gave it away.)

We just got back from Fish Lake. Pat and Lukas were gone running an errand and I was home with Max. We were relaxing on my bed, watching a movie. I noticed Max had some coins in his mouth and I got after him to take them out. (This is common with him. He is always holding money in his hands.) He was laying down with the coins in his mouth so I reached over to grab them out. As I did, they fell back in his throat and he started choking!!! I was freaking out trying to get him to cough them out. He was gagging, but then started breathing/crying again. I called Pat in a panic to find out what to do. I gave Max some water to drink and he seemed fine, just a little frazzled. When Pat got home we took Max to Insta Care to make sure he would be alright. They took an Xray of his chest and sure enough there was the dime in his tummy. He just had to pass it on it's own and he'd be fine they said. That Max, he gives me gray hairs!!! He did so good at the Dr.'s office and on the Xray table. I guess he's used to doctors by now.

Stitches Again!

I was in the garage this morning trying to clean things up. The kids were outside playing as well. Max came in the garage and was touching Pat's bike that was hanging up. If fell, of course, and slashed poor Max's face on the way down. He got stitches above his eye in almost the exact spot where he got them last time. He is getting better at holding still and not freaking out as much when the Dr. is stitching him shut. He is one tough cookie! I'm just glad his eye is okay.

Maxers the Menace

Now I know Max has always been my "hand-full" child. I never knew it would just keep going. Here are just a few things he's been up to: (and they're not all bad)

• He loves weapons...guns, swords, knives, ropes...anything he can swing, hit, stab, shoot. (We're talking toys, of course. The day he's old enough to have a pocket knife will be the day he moves out of my house!)
• He loves quarters and pennies. Any change, really. He will hold it in his hand all day. He won't let it go or put it down. Even at night when he's sleeping. Same with his weapons actually. Lately he's been sleeping with a quarter and 2 dimes, a sword and a pistol (that he is "borrowing" from Holden).
  
• He gets really frustrated. When he does, he makes this awful growling which sounds a lot like the Hulk. Hmmm, maybe I shouldn't have let him watch that with us...
• He is practically potty trained. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought he'd catch on this fast. And what's even better, he decided he wanted to. I didn't even push it at all. Although he likes to tease me and spread his legs apart and say, "Mom, I'm peein'." Which causes me to shriek and grab him as I run him to the potty. He usually tells me when he has to go. :)
• He will drink water from anywhere. The street gutter, the swimming pool, the bath tub, the dish water.
  
• If he wakes up and I'm not there, he will come find me. He doesn't cry and whine the way Lukas does. He just finds me and crawls into bed wherever I am. And when we are in the same bed, he has to be touching me. If he's not, he wakes up to again find where I am.
  
• Whenever I give him a treat, he always asks me to give him one for Lukas. I will give him a sour patch kid and he'll say, "Where's one for Lukas?" And if Lukas isn't doing what we're doing, he'll ask, "But what's Lukas doing? Where is he?"
  
• He is obsessed with the drain in our street. It's right in front of Whitney's house and she is always saying, "Don't throw anything down there." So what does he do? Whatever is in his hands, he will throw it down there. Even his beloved sword and pistol. (Both of which we retrieved for him. How whipped are we?? Duh.) He has stripped naked and thrown his underwear down there. He likes to throw rocks down there, too. Poor fish and ocean.\
• He loves baby Hadlie (Whitney's baby). He loves to touch her little baby feet and he will kiss her and want to touch her face. I've never seen him act like this with something smaller than him. He talks in a sweet voice and will say cute things to her. Hmmm, maybe I could have another baby...?
  
• He knows where my chocolate is stashed and he will share it with everyone around. And he prefers the dark chocolate (I stash both in my bedside table.)
• He thinks there are buttons on his shoes, that if he pushes, will make him go faster. Sonic fast.
  
• He whails on his older brother. He is tough and Lukas screams like a girl when he comes after him. He'll take him down in seconds if there is conflict.
  
• He will laugh at any word that has to do with going potty. And he says them constantly. Everything is "poop".

Pat wrote down some things he's observed about Max.

• He fell asleep with a grape in his cheek. It was stiking out like a little chipmunk. It was hilarious.
• He loves to take showers with his brother and one time dumped mommy's economy size body wash down the drain.
• He peed and pooped all over the floor at IKEA and Pat cleaned it up! Gross!
• He can be so sweet and loves to give kisses and gives good hugs.
• He will open his car door after he's been buckled if we don't lock it first.
• He loves to eat just like his dad.
• He likes to dance on command.
• He is very curious and gets into everything.
  
• He almost peed in the ac vent on the floor (luckily Mommy caught him before it was too late!)
• He is good at showing his reverent mode (Daddy did an FHE on how to be reverent).

The end...

of diapers is in sight! Way to go Maxers for being a big boy and going on the potty (almost) every time! You owe it to your big brother who teaches by example and gives you lots of praise! I love having boys.

Max at 2 1/2

Max is getting so big. Here are some things he's doing:

• He gets frustrated easily. If he gets in trouble, he immediately calls me names..."You're stupid", "You're awful", "You liar". Anything he can think of. He also likes to hit. It makes me sad. If he's mad at Lukas, he says the same things and then hits, not just once or twice, but until Lukas can't take it anymore.
  
• He is addicted to quarters. He has to have his "money" with him in his hand or pocket wherever he is.
  
• He likes to hold little objects. When he wakes up in the morning and I make his bed I find all kinds of things: plastic toys, balls, hangers, money, his fishy (plastic), water gun...
  
• He thinks "poop" and "pee" are the funniest words ever.
• He loves to unroll his window in the car and let the wind blow him away. Lukas hates the wind, which is partly why I think Max likes it so much.
• At church whenever we get ready to sing a hymn, he'll say, "Is it home time?"
  
• He'll be crying and upset and I'll ask him, "What's wrong?" to which he replies, "Anything!"
• He can be so sweet and say, "Thanks mom, thanks."
  
• He climbs all over me, smothering me with hugs and squeezes. He's hard to fight off.
• He constantly falls and gets hurt whether there is something there to trip on or not.
  
• When his nose is runny, he'll come crying to me saying, "I have a bloody nose!" He's had quite a few in his day. He also loves to bring me his boogers. :P
• He likes to drink the bath water. Eeeeew.
• He is now obsessed with worms. He loves to hold them and find them in the dirt.
  

Shiner

Max has done it again. Another owie. We were at a restaurant Friday night and he tripped and hit his face on the bench right below his eye. It was very puffy and red and now it's turning purple and blue. That kid takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'. (That's his sad face.) AND, we are painting a bathroom and as I was cleaning up I noticed paint on the couch. Yes, Max put his hand in it (and trust me, we were so careful to not let him anywhere near it, yet somehow he got to it) and it's all over one of our couch cushions! ! Then later he was playing with red play doh and it's now rubbed deep into the carpet. I could scream at that kid, but how can I? He's too cute. And he just doesn't get it. He doesn't know how much trouble he's getting into. And he says, "Sorry Mom, sorry" in the cutest lisp I've ever heard. (Do ya think he needs a haircut? My Dad keeps calling him Maxine.)

T R O U B L E

I wish I was faster with the camera to capture all the trouble Max gets into in a day. In fact, I need to be documenting more of his messes b/c it's shocking, really.

• His newest thing is to play in the bathroom. He loves to climb up on the sink and put his feet in, turn the water on and get all wet. Then he'll somehow get water into his mouth, onto the counter, on the floor, all over the mirror. And he loves to get soap on his hands to wash them. He'll do it like 3 times in a row.
• This is my least favorite...he'll be eating a snack, dinner, or drinking something and he'll chew it but not swallow it. I'll notice like 5 minutes later and he still hasn't swallowed so I have to take him to the sink, if I'm lucky enough to be by one, and make him spit it out. GROSS! This happened once while shopping and all I had was a baby wipe for him to spit in and it looked like throw up. And you know how I feel about throw up! EEEeeeeeww!
  
• He climbs daily on the kitchen table and lays on it with his head hanging over so he can see underneath or he'll push the chandelier and make it swing back and forth.
  
• He throws his food half way across the room leaving a lovely trail and then just laughs.
  
• He takes my squirt bottle (again with the water) and will squirt anything in sight, including my stair master, the TV or DVD player, the floor, the mirrors (his favorite) or his brother.
• He gets bloody noses like nothing I've seen. He had 2 in one day.
  
• I have to hide my chapstick b/c he steals it, takes the lid off and rubs it all over everything, but mostly his face. Then he digs his fingers in it to get more out. What kid doesn't love tasting it too?
• He won't get out of the car once I unbuckle him. He likes to jump from seat to seat, turn the radio on, hit the hazard button. Then when I go in the house to drop my stuff off, he lays on the horn and it honks for like a minute and everyone in the neighborhood looks out their window to see what's happening at the Mendoza's house.
• At the grocery store when I'm placing everything on the belt, he grabs a packet of Starburst or those sucker push pops and unwraps them and starts chewing or eating them. Nothing I can do but buy it at that point. He's got it all figured out. Don't ask first, eat first!
  

Yet after all this he somehow still melts my heart.

27 months

Max is just talking so much these days. I wish I could remember to write down all the funny things he says to me. Like at church we were looking at a book and I said, "Can you find the rake?" And he said, "I don't know what a rake is Mommy." Duh! Anyway, he is adorable and big trouble, too. He screams until he gets what he wants, he tackles Lukas and hits him on purpose (usually when taunted) and he does not obey. We are still having sleep issues, too. He wants toys and treats from the bedtime fairy, but doesn't understand the concept of staying in his bed all night. He usually goes to bed fine, but gets up in the middle of the night and wanders the house screaming or just comes right into our room to sleep. He wants to go to preschool with Lukas and doesn't understand why he can't yet. He LOVES Buzz Lightyear and all superheroes. He doesn't like nursery or being left behind. He has to be wherever mommy is. He likes to be outside and opens the door as often as he can. If there is snow on the ground it is bound to be in his mouth within seconds. He likes to ride his little scooter and it's cute to watch him push off. He has gone potty on the toilet a few times, but I just haven't pushed potty training yet. He is going to get it right away when I do, though b/c he watches Lukas do it and wants to do what Lukas does. I want to video tape him talking b/c he has a lisp and a stutter and he doesn't know how to talk quiet. It's pretty dang cute. I can't belive he is getting so big. He weighs 33 pounds and Lukas weighs 35. 2 years and 2 pounds apart. Funny.

Aside from the awful sleep habits, Max is so cute. He picks up a lot from Lukas and is absorbing so much. He loves Batman, Transformers, Spiderman and Kung Fu Panda and will mimick all his moves. He can be so silly and crazy with his brother. He has a bit of a mean streak and will hit kids younger or smaller than him. He's trying to find his place in the world. He gives the sweetest kisses and hugs. He is accident prone and trips, falls, and gets bonked all the time. He still has his lisp when he says his s's. He wants to go wherever Lukas goes and is very independent. He is still a good eater and loves his milky. The kid talks so much! I need to capture the cute things he says. I don't want him to get bigger. He's too cute!

Sleep Woes

Max has been out of his crib for about 3 months now. And for about 3 months I have not had a solid 8 hours of sleep. The little turkey wakes up EVERY NIGHT several times. I'm so tired that it's become a habit that he just climbs in bed with me and Pat. Then Lukas wakes up and sees he's all alone and then HE comes in our bed. So there are 4 bodies in our little queen-size bed. I sleep horribly and then am "Mom the Grouch" the next day. It's been a challenging few months. Nothing makes me more frustrated than bedtime. So, since it's a new year it's time for change. Time for action.

• Consistency
• Routine
• No giving in!!
• The gate has gone up (I just can't lock the doors, it's too mean!)
• Love, not threats.

This is night one and it took us an hour and a half before the kids fell asleep. They say the first few days are the hardest. We'll just have to be tough and we can get through this. They will stay in their beds and sleep through the night. I keep telling myself this. It's just a matter of when...