last night at 8:56pm.....

I love that he is holding on to my thumb......
I sense a photo series coming on........

Just before I turned out the lights last night....

Jerry took this photo.



This is how I go to sleep every night. With Max tucked in next to me. I love feeling him breathing, and I love wrapping my arms around him.

Max reads a book with Mama

I have so much to share with you about our amazing little baby Max.
I just haven't had the time lately to sit here and type it all up.
The very quick notes are:

he is 15 pounds!

he is showing very little delay and therefore not qualifying for OT through the Regional Center and just barely squeaked by in getting PT services. Apparently he has about a 10-15% delay right now and is very strong. ( because of all the budget cuts from our wonderful governor - Max needs to show a 33% delay to be granted services through the state ) but the fact that he is doing so well is GREAT news regardless of how ridiculous the budget cuts are. We do still want him to get services though so that he can excel and not get behind even further. We are pleased he got the PT once a week.
He is showing very strong signs of trying to crawl and get up. I'll try to get that on video. He spends more time rolling over to his tummy then ever. He loves it there. He "talks" all the time - but especially at around 4am or so after his feeding he is ready to share stories about his dreams the night before. He is very expressive with his vocal chords - and I mean he fluctuates his sounds from being quiet to a little more pronounced. It's amazing. I just love listening to him and talking with him.
Jerry and I are learning about all the new laws put into place so that we can be more educated in helping advocate for our son. We are going to lots of workshops and networking with people in the know. It's a LOT of info to learn and can be overwhelming - but I have to just do what I can to learn what I can so that I can speak for Max.

Max got to put on his first little bathing suit ( ok I put it on him ) with a matching little hat and we went to a pool party for families that have kids with Ds. It was so GREAT. I have photos of that as well that I will post very soon.

Max had his first photobooth photo session today with his parents. I'll scan those in soon.

And overall we are just really enjoying him as he shows us more and more of who he is.

I could say a LOT more - but here is a video from 2 nights ago - as Max reads me his book before bedtime.

Where have we been?

we've been chatting ( but watch out for the spit up on aisle 4! )

Max plays the drums with Papa

Went to Jerry's office yesterday. They have a drum set in the middle of the office. Jerry gave Max his first lesson.

5 months and fireworks

Max turned 5 months old on July 4th.
We had a BBQ outback
and then stayed in because our neighbors next door have fireworks all night so we don't need to go anywhere to see them!
( our entire neighborhood has fireworks so we stay home to make sure our house doesn't burn down )


here is Papa and Jerry out back.


Grandma Marty visited last weekend and Max has a lot of fun with her. We went to the Long Beach Aquarium. Loads of fun.


Our attempt at a family portrait with the camera on timer was pretty hit or miss.....mostly miss....


Grandma DeeDee and Grandpa Rich bought us an Ergo Carrier. One of the BEST purchases to date for Max. He loves being in it and he falls to sleep in about 5 minutes in it. As a matter of fact he is in it right now as I type. Fast asleeeeeeeep. Thanks Grandparents! Click HERE to learn more about ERGO. No Back Pain At ALL. I LOVE THIS CARRIER.


Here is another attempt at a family portrait with the camera on timer......that's our favorite onsie right now - orange and white stripes.


And I couldn't resist this photo. Look at that adorable tush.



Here is a video we took on July 4th - you can hear some of the fireworks banging as we watch No doubt in concert on tv and try to distract Max from the big booms. We were successful - he didn't notice and slept through a night full of loud fireworks so we are happy about THAT!!!


Tomorrow his Aunt Sandy and cousins Stephen, Timmy and Sean will be in town and Max will meet them tomorrow night. Looking forward to that.
Michael Jackson's Tribute event is tomorrow as well. in Downtown - where we have to drive past to get anywhere. over a million people are expected. Should be " interesting ". On another note we are playing Michael Jackson for Max and dancing around with him - he seems to like it. Is there anyone out there who doesn't like MJ?

Jerry and I took Max to Agape yesterday and we really enjoyed it. I heard more uplifting truth in that one service than I have heard in years and years. We plan on going back. Might be our "church" or "temple" it's a trans-denominational church and it's ALIVE. We love that part of it.

Want to learn more about it here is the link

AGAPE

This might be a nice place to find Spiritual Community and give Max a weekly dose of Love in a Bigger Broader sense.