Book Trailer

How cool is it that this author creates her own book trailers with her own composition playing in the background? It makes me want to actually follow through with some of the creative ideas bouncing around in my head...

http://www.fountainbookstore.com/autograph-maggie

Enjoying the Spring Weather

House

Going to the Zoo

Maddox loves the fish!
Bald little indian.
Looking at more fish...
Studying Mammoth "bones"

We had a fun weekend at the zoo and museum. Maddox also started standing!

Big Bear

Maddox and his grandparents.
This picture is, um, interesting....?

Dino-eating, Bird-watching Baby

I believe this answers the age old question: what happened to the dinosaurs?
Looking at the ducks. Serious business.

Crawling

Maddox has started to do a "real" crawl now. He still loves the camera. It's a challenge to take pictures or video because he wants to grab the camera. So far we've managed to escape any slobbery lens damage.

Today he was standing up by the sofa when I turned on music. He immediately started dancing. Pretty cute!

Valentine's Day

Maddox is on the move! We can hardly get him to hold still for a diaper change. He thinks he's big stuff- loves brushing his teeth, standing and playing with toys on the couch, and climbing in the bathtub. He outgrew his cradle and is sleeping in the crib for the first time tonight. Papa and his Great-Grandma delivered the crib and visited today. He was all smiles!

Eight Months

We have had quite a bit of wintery weather. For the most part Maddox and I try to stay inside and enjoy the view. I have mixed feelings about our decision to stay in this little apartment. It's good in a way, because it helps us stick to our values in raising Maddox- focusing on time together and not "stuff." It works out budget-wise as well, because I don't have any desire to shop because we don't have space for new things. On the other hand, the clutter really stresses Brian and I out. We are currently using even our patio and trunks of our cars for storage. Not fun! Our room is the worst and I think that is why I've been having a hard time sleeping again. While all of this is stressful, we are so lucky that I am able to spend this first year home with Maddox. This privilege has been truly priceless. We are soooo looking forward to the future when we have a house of our own. We are also trying to keep in the mind-set of using what we already have and only buying things we want to have for a long time instead of purchasing temporary furniture. Good for the environment and our wallets! It's also fun to use pieces of furniture for Maddox that already come with memories. He has Brian's old dresser, his great-grandfather's chair, cradle and crib that my dad made, and a cedar chest Dad made for me when I went to summer camp that he uses as his toy box.

Maddox is pulling up and has two bottom teeth! It's crazy how these 8 months have flown by!

I'm working a little at the LDC again and Maddox had his first day at a new sitter last week. I was a nervous wreck, but he did great. The sitter is very calm and Maddox loves watching the big kids play.

Right now Maddox has a cold. He has an inhaler that he absolutely hates and wants to be in my arms constantly- but he's still sweet and mostly happy even when sick.

Carrots

Maddox's reaction to home-made baby food (about a month ago). NOT. A. FAN.

Giggles

Our friend, Farhad, recorded Maddox's giggles when we visited in JC. In one Brian is surprising Maddox. In the other Riley is modeling her new dress-up clothes with loud, clunky shoes, which was incredibly entertaining to Maddox. This video was at the tail-end of the modeling/laughing extravaganza when he was actually calming down.

A White Christmas

It was a great first Christmas, with a perfect Christmas Day snow! Brian and I are so lucky to have such a healthy, sweet boy. We enjoyed a quiet Christmas in Springfield. Then, at Papa's house Maddox got his first ride on a rocking horse and fell in love with the fish tank.

On Christmas Day we made our way to Jefferson City. Riley kept hugging Maddox- and he just loved getting attention from her. Maddox and Jayson mostly just took toys from each other, but I'm sure they will have tons of fun in the future! We had a nice visit with Brian's family- including his grandparents from Nebraska. We then had a short visit in Wardsville with my Grandma and we left with tons of Christmas cookies (which lasted about a week) and WWII photos and letters of my grandfather's for Brian to scan and study. Grandma also let me have a couple of shirts of Grandpa's that I plan to use in a project for Maddox.

My aunt, Lynn, was in town on New Years Eve and watched Maddox while Brian and I went to the movies. It was a nice treat.

-I just realized that I don't think we took a single picture of Brian and I over the holidays. Maddox will just have to trust that we were there.-

Rearranging

We decided to move the furniture around so that Brian can work after Maddox goes to bed. So, we now have a nursery, an office in our dining room, and a dining table in our living room. Though it's not ideal, it seems to work better than our last set up. It's nice to have a room for Maddox. I think it actually looks a little better in person than it does in these pictures. We are also going to pull out some of the many pieces of art we have stored behind and underneath furniture.

He's crawling a bit more. It's usually an inch worm or army crawl. He has been VERY vocal lately and loves playing peek-a-boo. I tried to make some baby food- which he did not enjoy at all. Now he seems wary of any food we try to give him.

Thanksgiving

Maddox made his first few crawling steps!

Sitting Pretty

I have been working during the past couple weekends so it has been hard to find the time to post. Maddox had his last story time until after the holidays. We'll miss our Monday outing for Book Babies and lunch with Brian. Maddox is sitting up well and saying Da Da. I still think that Da Da and Ma Ma are just fun sounds to make for now. He's very interested in Duncan and shiny door knobs at the moment. He has taken a couple of bottles and is now eating pears and sweet potatoes. A lot of exciting firsts.

He also loves the lights on our friends' Christmas tree. We may put up a string of lights for him at home, but won't be putting up a tree or any major Christmas decorations this year. Brian and I both feel like the walls are closing in because of the clutter!

Trip to Kirksville

Maddox and his Royals outfitBaby shoes- they serve absolutely no purpose, but are oh so cute!

Maddox got another shot at swimming during our trip to Kirksville. He seemed to like it as long as he was snuggled up close. He has the sniffles and passed it along to us, so I'm exhausted. Brian spent most of the week in Texas for work and then Rolla and Kirksville. He's leaving town again tomorrow, but just for the day. We're definitely ready for things to slow down.Maddox and Jayson visiting in JC.

Brian and our friend Tim after attending Evil Dead: The Musical (in the "splatter section") on Halloween night.

The Wild Rumpus

On Friday Maddox had his well-baby check up with vaccinations. He now weighs 14 lbs 15 oz. He's still doing well and growing fast. He now eats rice cereal sometimes (although he gives our friend/babysitter a rough time). Here he is with Kaitlyn.
"Max" the wild thing.
King of the Wild Things... eating his tail.
Snoozing. Being wild is tiring.
Trick-or-treating with his daddy at the library.

Autumn Bliss

Parents as Teachers

Maddox and I met with Parents as Teachers earlier this month. Ms. Carla came out to our place and played with him, observed, and did a little hearing test. He started screaming as soon as he saw her and then warmed up to her quickly. He has been crying at the beginning of visits lately. I thought it seemed like stranger anxiety, which is a normal developmental phase that usually happens closer to 8 or 9 months when the baby is able to move more independently. She said that's what it is- just really early. A lot of things he is doing- tracking objects and sounds, grabbing things with both hands, etc. are milestones expected of slightly older babies. This doesn't mean he's a genius (although, Brian and I think he's brilliant) or even that he's smarter than other babies that don't do things at this same pace. It is fun to see him learn about the world!

I'm watching our friends' six month old girl on Fridays. The two babies are a lot of work, but it's fun for them to interact. Kaitlyn is a sweet little chubby baby, but she can definitely scream!

Nakey Boy

Here are some photos after Maddox's bath. He's a squirmer and kept wanting to roll over. It's so fun to take pictures of him. I have been researching my next camera, a digital SLR which is essentially the digital version of Dad's Canon. It will be so much easier to catch him in some action shots! Maddox has been laughing so much lately. He also reached out for me with both arms, which just melted my heart!