Zero Fusses

What a ham! This kid loves the camera and loves taking pictures or getting his picture taken. He will ask to get his picture taken and strike a silly pose. And I'm seeing a trend of wearing his favorite blue shirt. I love it!!! He started preschool a few weeks ago. I was so nervous that it would be such a hassle and struggle to even get him to go. He has such a hard time with sunbeams that I anticipated the same fight. His first day went better than I expected (only one fight w/ another little kid that didn’t want to clean up when Max wanted to). And now the first thing he says when I pick him up is, “Mom, I went to preschool with NO FUSS!” Or I’ll ask him how his day was and he’ll say, “I had ZERO FUSSES”. He absolutely loves it and is excited to go and learn. He loves his teachers and I think it makes him feel like he has his own thing instead of just following in Lukas’ shadow. He wants so much to do what Lukas does and now he finally gets his chance. I couldn't be more proud.

He LOVES Scooby Doo. Every day I hear, “Mom, do you want to play Scooby Doo? I’ll be Shaggy and you be Scooby. Now say, ‘Ruh Roh Raggy, I’m rungry’.” And I have to talk in the Scooby voice until he says “pause” then I get a few seconds of a break and he’ll “unpause” so we can finish playing. I must say it gets old quick, but if it keeps him happy I’ll gladly oblige .

Funny things he says or does: One Sunday Pat was helping to pass the sacrament. Max noticed and said rather loudly to Lukas, "Look, Daddy's at the food table!!!"

He recently discovered hand sanitizer. I got him his own little one to put in his backpack for school. Now he gets it out and uses it all the time because he "touched something dirty."

We will be playing and he'll think something is so funny, so he'll say, "Mom, you're crackin' my brain."

First Day of Tiny Sprouts

Max had his first day of preschool today. Lucky for him (and me) his teacher is one of my dearest friends that I roomed with at Ricks (Brendy). I thought it would be such a struggle for him and that I'd have to fight him tooth and nail to get him to agree to go and then behave. I envisioned kicking, screaming, whining, begging, bribing. And really all I had to do was tell him that he was going to preschool and the rest was easy! He got dressed, got his back pack, grabbed some milk (his staple) and was ready to go!! It was truly a miracle. I'm so happy and thrilled. I thought for sure I was going to get a phone call half way through saying he was hitting other kids and losing control. On the contrary, he behaved himself and did totally awesome. I cried tears of joy that day. Maxers is growing up.

Mr. Max at 3 1/2

Holy Cow, am I really posting another picture of Max with an owie? This kid has had more bumps and bruises than any other kid I know. We had a neighborhood BBQ outside and Max took a nasty spill while being pushed on a play car. It was bad. No stitches though, but very puffy and a very black eye. He got tired of people asking what happened to him and gets very grumpy when you say anything about it. Stinker. We are really working with him on how to be nice to people (he gets very shy) and being social. He usually ends up playing with Lukas and his friends and so he doesn't have any friends of his own. He still will not go to Primary and sits with me and goes to class with me. I don't know what to do to help him. He will start preschool in awhile, so we'll see how he does there. Despite his social problems, he is the sweetest, cutest boy. He loves to say, "Mom, do you want to cuddle with me?" "Can we have some you and me time?" "Of course I will." "Oh, don't worry Mom, I won't." He absolutely LOVES watching any and all Scooby Doo movies. He likes to dress up with Lukas (Robin is his favorite) and he is so good riding his big wheel. He will turn on the hose every time he goes outside, despite me telling him not to. He likes to build "sand sculptures" in the sandbox. He LOVES milk and says, "Do you mind getting me some milk?" to which I respond, "Sure as long as you go potty first." And he runs off with a smile. He wants so much to be big like Lukas. It will be so good for him to start preschool. He is a softie that just needs a little TLC to smooth his rough edges. He really has a tender heart and if you get upset with him or tell him something that he doesn't like, he'll start to cry and say, "Don't be mean to me." It's hard to not get mad at this little guy.

Fight Night

Max and Lukas fight like brothers! This time it got physical. Lukas gave Max a black eye. {Lukas had the Buzz wings on and Max did something to make him mad so he swung the wings around and hit Max right in the eye. Ouch!} I don't know how to make them get a long, so I made them go to their room together until they were friends again. They were in there for awhile, and pretty soon they were playing and having fun together. Just like me and my brother. How funny that we do just what our parents used to. {And Max had an Airbender tatoo to make him feel better.}

• On another note: Max has a sweet tooth...I wonder where on earth he got that from?? I will find him eating frosting, cookie dough and any candy that is laying around. His favorite is Swedish Fish or Starburst or Rolos. His teeth are going to fall out.

• Max will dress himself and everything ends up backwards, including his underwear. Silly kid.

• He LOVES Zoey. He is so sweet to her and will whisper in her ear "I love you sister." She is lucky to have him! He will kiss her and hug her and sing her songs in the car.

• This kid is an night owl like me. He will stay up late (11 p.m. some nights) and sleep in until 10:30 or 11! And there is nothing you can do to get him up before then either.
• I was practicing flash cards with Max and he knows ALL his colors (except pink which he calls purple). And he knows a lot of his shapes. He is ready for preschool.
  

Mr. Photographer

Max is getting good with the camera. He borrowed it from me to take these pictures...

More Maxers

• We thought it would be fun to sign Max and Lukas up for a little indoor soccer league. They are on the same team with all their little neighborhood buddies. It is so fun to watch them play. They have games on Saturdays and sometimes during the week we’ll go to the church to practice just for fun, so they get the feel of it. Max loves to kick the ball, but gets easily frustrated when the game is going on and the ball isn’t just for him or doesn’t come directly to him. He doesn’t understand why he can’t pick it up with his hands either. He is doing so well just showing up for the game in his little jersey, so I’m thrilled!! He sits out most of the game and pouts, but there are times when he’ll go in and run after the ball (only to be frustrated that it’s not coming to him). His coach is so cute with him (our next door neighbor, Holden’s daddy). He’ll hold his hand and help him chase the ball.

• Max’s new word is “dude”. Every toy or action figure is a dude.

• He has recently started having accidents again. Just when I thought we were doing so well and he was getting so big. He’s regressing. Maybe it’s the baby coming?? I just don’t know.

• He drinks so much milk. I could just hook him up to an IV with milk and he’d be happy.

• When he wants me to say something, he’ll tell me what to say. “Mom, can I have milk? Say, ‘Sure’”.

• He asks me every day if I’ll play army dudes or Batman or ninja with him. He loves to pretend and play boy things.

• He has a hard time in social situations, but is slowly getting better. If I don’t make a big deal about it, he does better and if he’s ignored (by others) it is better, too. Primary has been hard. He doesn’t want to sit with his teach or class and usually throws a fit if I force him. I teach a class myself, so it’s hard to have him sit with me. This Sunday he decided on his own that he was going to sit with his class and he did for ALL of sharing/singing time! I was so proud of him.

• I overheard Max say, “What the hell?” the other day. Looks like someone needs to watch their language around the kids. Oops.

• Max loves to twirl around and get dizzy. He’ll laugh and say, “Mom, I feel busy”.

• If you ask Max what he wants to do he’ll say, “Play a game.” He loves to play tic tac toe or our “Horton” game or connect 4. He’ll go to the game closet and pick a game to play and he’s actually pretty good. Max always asks if I want to play a game with him and I tell him that I am tired, so he says, “We can play a resting game.” And he’ll always bring it to the couch and we can sit there together and play it.

• Wolfie recently went to the vet to get neutered and had to wear a big plastic cone for a week. Max always felt so sorry for him. When we could finally take it off Max kept saying, “I’m so happy Wolfie has his comb off.” He really has grown to love Wolfie. He pets him and tries to do tricks with him.

• Me- “Max, why did you pee your pants?” Max- “Because I just couldn’t stand it.”

• Max wakes up happy all the time and is generally in a good mood in the morning.

• He came up to me the other day and said, “Mom, I have something for you.” Then he proceeded to give me a big hug. Then he said, “I have something else you’ll like.” And he gave me a kiss. SO CUTE.
• He is always checking for Zoey's umbilical cord. He'll ask, "Mom, what is that...her extension cord?"

Max at 3

Max is getting so big and talking so much. His mind is really working things out and trying to figure out life. I can't believe he's 3. I love to listen to his voice and all the things he schemes up. He still melts my heart.

• He loves to snuggle with me. I'll lay on the couch and he'll come lay his head on the pillow and cover himself up. He asks me to "scoop over" for him.
• Every morning he wakes up fairly happy and asks for milk and dinner. (Which really he means breakfast). So I ask him what he wants to eat and every time he says, "I want eggs and bacon and toast and noodles." But when I do make him eggs, they just sit there, so I just fill up the milk and he's happy.
• He still says "W's" for his "R's".
  
• He wants to be big. He wants so badly to go to preschool and be in karate and do what Lukas does.
• He loves to say, "What the heck!"
• He has such a hard time going to play group and his primary class. When people give him attention, he covers his face with his arm and sinks into my lap. ??
• He is still the biggest trouble maker ever. He makes messes faster than I can stop him. And he always blames Lukas.
• When he is in trouble for doing something, he'll cover his bum and say, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" for fear that he'll get spanked.
  
• When he gets mad, he'll hit, bite, kick, scratch and let you know that he is not happy.
• He is doing better at sleeping in his bed all night and he'll fall asleep pretty fast every night. Still no naps, though.
• If Lukas is getting in trouble, he'll start to cry right along with him. "No, he's my bludder. Don't do that to him!"
• He likes to sing songs like; Twinkle Twinkle, or Book of Mormon stories, or Christmas songs. He's so cute with his little voice. I love it.
• He loves my "New Moon" and will talk about Jacob and Bella.
• He says "Actually" a lot ("Actually, I changed my mind") and "Correct?" (That is Lukas' book, correct?" I guess it's more like "coe-wect".)
• He talks about our baby coming and seems to be excited. We'll see when she gets here...
• Max is obsessed with flashlights. Anytime he sees one, he'll turn it on and never let it go. We've been through dozens I'm sure. I find them later, dead and broken.
  
• When we're at a store, he'll run under a clothing rack and say, "Mom, say, 'Where's my Max'?" And then I do and he'll jump out at me.
  
• His favorite thing to do is push himself on the office chair through the house. Up and back up and back. All day. It drives me crazy b/c it's so loud.