Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Max has a new swing!






we bought Max a swing for his birthday in February and finally put it up this weekend. This was his first ride!
It's in the tree that I documented in my series " the 20th year " and I feel very nostalgic about that tree. It's in our front yard. I took a photo of that tree every month for a year during my 20th year of sobriety. It was actually a hard time for me but the series helped. Seeing my son here in the swing being held by the tree - is significant for me. It's like that tree is an old friend who knew me in darker times. Now it celebrates with me as we watch Max enjoy life!

in other news....Max is taking up to 4 steps in a row now. And I witnessed him taking 6 steps at one time! He is still working on it but is doing SO great!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Mother's Day and a week in review


Happy Mother's Day!
I remember last Mother's Day we video taped Max in my arms listening to me sing a song to him and he smiled up at me. The song went " you are my baby boy, you are my pride and joy"
want to see it?
click here!

This Mother's Day I watched him not only smile, but laugh out loud, giggle, walk 2-3 steps, clap and clap and clap his hands, blow like he is whistling ( and sometimes he whistles! ), watch his sign language DVD, hug me, hug papa, eat mashed potatoes, mashed carrots, formula, cut up peach slices, and Joe's O's cereal that he picks up off the table with his fingers and puts in his mouth. I watched him chase the cat, pet the cat, sit with me on the porch and watch the happenings in our neighborhood - or mainly watch the air move the trees leaves. I witnessed him take a nap holding on to his kitty cat stuft animal in the stroller while Jerry and I enjoyed a Mother's day lunch out at a favorite restaurant Mike and Anne's. I rocked him to sleep in his room while he held on to his favorite blanket - the one Aunt Lois sent to him when he was just born. So much happening! So glad to be watching him grow and learn and experience life in so many ways. Here are some photos from the past week:



My dear friend Jamie came by for a visit. We all sat on the porch and drummed on Max's drum
and Jamie held on to him while I tried to get a photo. This one above worked nicely!
here he is watching his sign language DVD - waving his arms around at his "friends" in the video.


We took a trip to the zoo this week and he saw his first seal! How cute. I cannot believe I got it in a photo! That was pure luck.
Max shared a swing with his pal Theo this week. ( max is in the red shorts ) SO CUTE!!


here they are again from another point of view. And no I won't be cutting his bangs any time soon.....his first hair cut still hurts me to think about.......
here we are celebrating Max's 15 month Birthday. A little family portrait that morning.


one of the other photos that morning.....Now THAT is really what it looks like in our house every day! yelling with joy!


Mother's day morning. At 8am. A bunch of us who took the Unravelling e-course ( see the ad on my blog for more info ) decided to keep taking photos together and we are taking a photo each day for 365 days and posting them on a Flickr site. This morning we all took a photo at the exact same time....which meant some of us had to get up at 3am in New Zealand to take one at the same time I did at 8am in LA. This is the photo I took above. The sunflowers were sent to me this week by my lovely husband and this is the scene I always see in the morning. Jerry feeding Max. Love that. Jerry took care of Max all day today so that I could go to a silkscreen studio and work on an art project, and continue prepping for my upcoming photo workshop that's in June. Felt great to get some things done and still be at home with Max and Jerry most of the day.

And yes - there is video - not of today - but of this week - need....more....time.....but soon!

Hope you all had a Lovely Mother's Day!
I feel like the luckiest mama on the planet. But I am certain you do too. And it's true. We are all Lucky!

My favorite "superhero" posted this today for Mother's Day from her friend Jena Strong:
Whether or not a baby has ever miraculously come out of your body, you are a mother. You have helped mother me, or your sister, or your girlfriend, or your cousin, or your neighbor, or a stranger. You have wiped a tear or a bottom. You have given counsel. You have talked someone you love off a ledge. You have nurtured and natured and gently nudged her to keep going when she was sure she couldn't. You have read a storybook, shoveled a walk, waved across the parking lot, not even realizing you were saving someone's life.

xoxoxox
c

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Max and Brady

a cute video taken about 3 weeks ago.
You saw some of the photos from my visit to Huntington gardens with Max's friends Brady and Brandon and their mama Juli. We consider Brady to be Max's best friend. They are 3 weeks apart and both have Ds so they have a lot on common. I've said it before but I am so grateful to know Juli. Seriously not sure what I would do without her and her family. They live about 40 minutes from us so it's hard to coordinate our schedules to see each other. Brady is just starting to sit on his own and it's amazing to watch him! Here is a little video I took of the two of them. SUPER CUTE! and hilarious!!