Max is Seven Months Old!

"How did this happen?" is all I can think. I remember thinking to myself that Max would be seven months old at Christmas. Now we're here, and I still can't believe it!

Max is doing great! He is definitely more mobile. No crawling yet, but he pushes himself up on all fours and gets his bootie going back and forth, but he's not quite sure what to do after that. He rolls and skootches around, and he is starting to get the hang of moving from lying down to sitting up on his own. He is definitely more coordinated with his hands and still sticks everything he can in his mouth. Max seems to enjoy experimenting with his voice. For example two weeks ago he would constantly make a growling noise, then last week he was into high-pitched noises, and this week he's back to being loud. He's just starting to bang on things and splash in the tub, but he's definitely gotten the knack for sucking his thumb. He also shows his excitement even more now with loud noises, especially when it's bath time, reading a book, or Dad coming home from work.

As for Max's weight and height, here's the official update since our six month appointment was later on last month. Max weighed 17 lbs. 14 oz. (60/65th percentile) and was 28 1/4 in. long (97th percentile).

Well, it's amazing to think that almost exactly one year ago we were finding out that our little baby was a boy, and now we have this beautiful, healthy, and happy baby boy whom we love so much and couldn't imagine life without. We certainly feel greatly blessed! We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!

Here's a little flavor of what bath time is like. And just to let you know, when I was showing Max this video clip and other ones from the tub, he would babble back to himself on the computer. I thought it was pretty cute, but of course I would.

And here he is excited to read one of his favorites.

At the end of a story he knows it's either time to go in the crib or time for another book which are kept in a bin next to the glider.

Thanksgiving Trip out East

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We certainly did! It was great to see lots of family and introduce Max to some of them for the first time. My parents flew out to Cleveland from California and then we drove together to Pennsylvania first. There we saw my Grandma Peddie (my mom's mom) and my cousin Amy for a couple days. We camped out in my Uncle Dan and Aunt Martha's place even though they were enjoying much warmer weather in Florida.

Then we continued on to New Jersey where we celebrated Thanksgiving with my dad's side of the family. My sister LJ flew out from Michigan and joined us there too. We stayed there for a couple days and got lots of visits in. Since my Grandma Peddie also went to New Jersey for Thanksgiving, we had a chance to get her and my Grandma Jan together.

Max did a terrific job in the car! This was his longest car ride yet - 7 1/2 hours from New Jersey back to Ohio. Then my parents stayed a couple more days with us here before returning home. We had a great time and really appreciated everyone's hospitality!

Max is Six Months Old!

Wow! We can't believe that he is half a year old already! Like everyone told us, time really does fly. Unfortunately Max's 6 month doctor appointment got pushed off into December, so we don't have his official weight and height. According to our own measuring, Max weighs around 18 pounds and is 26-27 inches long.

He is much more alert and starting to be more interested in other babies. Max also loves his baths, and really enjoys sticking bath toys in his mouth and wiggling them around (must feel good on those gums - yup, that means no teeth yet). If he's going to his bath, sees the dogs in the morning, or when Matt comes home from work Max will make this excited squeal which we think is pretty darn cute! He's getting the rolling thing down and will roll around on the floor to all sorts of things. Also, he has figured out to how to get his toes in his mouth. It is quite interesting slurping noise when he sucks on a toe!

We got to go back to Grand Rapids for a weekend this month, and my sister and her friend came out to visit us too. We are looking forward to having my parents here in a few days and visiting all our relatives in Pennsylvania and New Jersey for Thanksgiving. Max will get to meet 2 of his great grandmas then. Happy Thanksgiving everyone and enjoy the pictures and video clips!

Here he is having fun with Matt. Max definitely knows that's what his daddy is for!

Here is basically what Max is like on a normal day. Notice the missing sock. He's so into his feet that I can barely keep socks on him. So, a lot of the time I'll find him with only one sock on.

And here's what it looked like at our house Tuesday morning. We got a lot more snow during the day and are supposed to be getting more all week long!

Happy Halloween!

Well, I know this is a little later than I originally planned, but here are some pictures from Halloween. We got Max a chicken costume and his Auntie Maria got him a monkey one. Max did not go trick-or-treating (I think that would be a little too self-serving being that Max can't eat the candy). Instead he helped us greet trick-or-treaters at our house. He stayed in his costume for about 45 minutes, but then was totally fed up as it was near bedtime. We also got to visit Matt at his office for lunch since they had a Halloween party and trick-or-treating for all the Pfizer kids. I should be getting more pictures up soon since Max will hit the 6 month mark this weekend!

Someone at Matt's work was saying that you dress up as your alter-ego. What does that mean for our poor son?

Checking himself out with Dad.

At Matt's work. One of Matt's co-workers has a 7 month old baby, CJ. They were pretty focused on the toys as you can tell.

Here's his monkey costume from Auntie Maria.

I loved the tail on it! Too cute!

Max's First Snow!

Yup, that's right! We have already had snow covering the ground here in Ohio! This past Monday night it snowed, but once it hit the ground it melted. Then last night, my baby (no, not Max actually, but Samson of the canine variety) woke me up to go outside at 4am. When I opened the sliding glass door, my jaw almost hit the floor. Not only was it snowing huge white flakes, it was accumulating on the ground and not melting. So, Wednesday morning we woke up to a blanket of snow on everything. Kind of weird to see trees with red, orange, yellow leaves with snow on top! It continued snowing all this morning. I think we got about 2-3 inches, but the weatherman keeps promising us that it will be 62 degrees on Halloween. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

So, Max got introduced to snow for the first time (and it's still October!!!). He kept looking all around him because it was snowing when I took him out. Of course Matt was at work and I was trying to think of a way to get Max's picture with the snow, so the best I could come up with was to use his little seat. We don't even have gloves, mittens, or any snow gear for him. Just a jacket that it's a tad to big, a hat my mom gave us while I was pregnant (thanks Mom), and some boots (thanks Auntie Natalie and Ruthie). As for the other two babies, they had mixed opinions about it. Grace loves the snow, while Samson can't wait to get back inside.

Enjoy the pictures and hopefully we'll get some Halloween ones up this weekend.

House Updates

Well, we have done some work on the house making it our own. Mostly we've gotten some painting done (a big thanks to Matt's mom and dad who helped with the family room and kitchen). Now I'm trying to work on curtains and pulling everything together. It all just takes time (what doesn't?). So, here are some pictures of what we've done so far.

Max is Five Months Old!

Well it's official today - Max has hit the 5 month mark! I really can't believe it, but I think I'll be even more shocked when he hits 6 months. Let's see ... Max now reaches for anything he can (you've got to be much more careful) and really loves grabbing our noses or mouths. Grabbing at toes and socks has also been a new obsession. We also found some online computer games for infants, so he enjoys reaching for and banging at the keyboard (ahh, your precious and expensive computer becomes a baby toy and is baptized in Max drool - got to love it). He's rolling over, but gets frustrated after he's been on his stomach for a while and usually forgets that he knows how to roll back the other way. He can also sit up for very short chunks of time. Max is now much more into the dogs and will laugh at them. He likes looking at books, yelling loudly, eating his rice cereal and pears, and kicking in the tub. He still only takes short naps, but sleeps nonstop for 11-12 hours a night (usually).

We've had some visitors in Ohio in this last month. Matt's parents came for a long weekend and helped us get a lot of work done around the house. Unfortunately I didn't take that many pictures when they were here (too busy painting I guess). Then last weekend Matt's grandparents and great aunt and uncle stopped by on their fall color tour. It's really nice to have company! Enjoy the pictures and 2 videos!

New Tricks

Well, today Max officially rolled over from his back to his stomach! We had some close calls in the last week, but he could never figure out his arms. So far he has done it twice today - whoops, make it four (he just did it twice while I was working on this and I got part of one on video).

Also, yesterday Max started doing this spitting thing with his tongue. It makes it especially interesting when he does it while eating his rice cereal. These are both from his dinner tonight. Enjoy!

And here he is rolling over.

Max is Four Months Old!

Well, he will be this Tuesday. Max is now laughing and has decided that he can be really loud when he speaks. He actually does this shriek thing when he's excited (kind of like a cat or bird - I don't know if that makes sense to you, but it's the best way that I can describe it). We're thrilled to see more of his personality coming out! He continues to chomp on his fingers which my mother and sister informed me is the beginning of teething. His 4 month doctor appointment is tomorrow, and I'll update this with how much he weighs and how long he is.

Alright, we just got back from Max's doctor appointment. He showed the doctor what strong lungs he has with all his crying - yikes! He weighs 15 lbs. 3 oz. (75th percentile) and is 26 in. long (90th percentile - there are those Dutch genes).

Here's Max laughing. Unfortunately (in my opinion), Matt discovered one day that Max will usually laugh when he asks the question, "Did you poop in your pants?" Don't ask. Just thought I should give you a head's up.

We thought the below clip was pretty funny. We put him on the floor and he started doing this for about 15 minutes or so and wouldn't stop. The same thing happened again today. These are definitely some of the noises that Max is into lately.

California Trip

Here are some pictures from our recent trip to California. My brother John and my new sister-in-law Natalie got married on August 23. This was the big event we went out for, but we also got to see lots of family and friends. The wedding was gorgeous and we really enjoyed seeing John and Natalie get married! Max acutally did pretty good flying. There are two slideshows here. The first one has pictures from the wedding and the second is from the rest of the vacation. Enjoy!

Max is Three Months Old!

Well, we can hardly believe it, but Max is officially 3 months old as of yesterday! We are really enjoying seeing all the little progressions that happen every week. He still babbles and bats at his toys, but he's starting to grab some things now (keeping his hands more open) like my hair - joy, oh, joy. He'll roll from his tummy to his back, make bubbles with his spit, and definitely enjoys taking in new scenery. We've even had a few laughs this past week. Oh, and another thing that we've discovered (although I feel like an awful parent for having discovered this) is that Max has some Irwin genes in him yet - he'll watch and just get hooked on the tv. We've had the Olympics on so much in this last week that we discovered when we lay him on his play mat he'll hit at the toys, but try as hard as he can to watch the tv.

Max has gotten to meet lots of new people and be around lots of friends and family in the past week. He met his second cousin, Evie (Matt's cousin Randy's daughter), who is one month older than him. He also met Ethan who is about 2 months younger than him. Ethan is the son of some James and Kim, friends from Brighton. Last but not least, Max met Cadence who is the one-year-old daughter of Rob and Melissa, friends from Calvin who were out visiting from Washington. It's been exciting, and we're looking forward to our first plane ride and trip to California with Max this week for John and Natalie's wedding!

Here's Max doing some more "talking."

And here he is rolling over.

Playing Around

Max has been getting really interested in playing with things. He basically can just hit items around and likes to bring things to his mouth (if he can). He gets really focused on an item, but hasn't quite figured out how to open up those little hands and grab something. The last picture is another video clip of him.

He managed to get his fists on either side of this ball and then could bring it towards him ...

where he could try it out and see what it tasted like.

Preppy boy in Auntie LJ's outfit.

Flying high with Dad.

What is this?


Our 3 bambinos.



Matt was videotaping while I was talking to him.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Hi All! These are just some quick pics of Max hanging out this afternoon and his first video debut.

Sleeping while Dad watches the British Open (intently).

Working on those neck muscles with some tummy time.

And here it is ... Max just wanted to say "hi" to all of you.

Home Sweet Home

So here's a slideshow of our new house. I'm kind of embarrassed since it's not all put together. Oh well, that's going to take plenty of time to get things how I want them. This will just give you an idea of where we are. Enjoy! (The slideshow goes a little fast for the comments that I wrote, but I couldn't figure out how to slow down the slideshow - sorry - just be prepared for that.)

Yeah - We Have Smiles!

One of the greatest pleasures we've had since having Max is that he now returns smiles! We are constantly finding ourselves doing dumb stuff and babbling to get a response from him. Our poor dogs now get absolutely none of our attention and are probably wondering what's wrong with us. He started this about 2 weeks ago and it just gets better and better.

Max is 2 Months Old!

Well, here are some recent pictures of the little guy. Well, maybe he's not so little. He's up to 13 pounds (90th percentile) and 22 1/2 inches (only 50th percentile which was not was I was expecting with all his Dutch genes) according to his 2 month check-up yesterday. You'll see the dreaded 3-sided fireplace that literally stuck out right into the middle of our family room. Thank goodness Matt and my dad removed it!

Visitors in Ohio

We have been very fortunate to have family come out and help/see us here in Ohio. Matt's parents were here when we moved in and his mom, Linda, stayed a little longer. My dad, Jack, flew in from California for a week to help us get settled. Matt's sisters, Anna and Maria, were also out last weekend to see our new place.

With Grandma Linda before she headed back to Grand Rapids.

Checking out Grandpa Jack.

Chillin' with Auntie Maria and Auntie Anna.

Leaving Michigan

So, at the end of June our little house got packed up and loaded on a truck set for Ohio. We were sad to leave, but really enjoyed getting to see lots of people right before we left. Below are some pictures from some visits we had.

This last year there were 3 other gals that I had taught with that were pregnant too. Oh, the year of fertility! After school was out all 5 of the babies had to get together, so here they are. Max was the youngest and is the 2nd in from the right. If you're doing the math, you might have already figured that someone had to have had twins and you're right. The baby girl (the only girl in the bunch) in the red pants and her twin brother all the way on the right were the oldest at 4 months.

Here's Max with Jonathan. Jonathan's mom worked with Matt and they lived right by us in Brighton. They were nice enough to let us crash in on them for dinner our last night in Brighton. It allowed us to escape the maze (and smell) of boxes in our house. The movers had already packed up our house and had left us 2 chairs, our table, and bed as the only unpacked things (they even packed up our bathroom towels, but our really nice neighbors gave us some to borrow). Jonathan was super sweet with Max and really excited about holding him!

Then we went to Grand Rapids for the weekend. Here's Max on Grandma and Grandpa's kitchen counter after getting a bath.

Sucking on Great Grandma Soper's hand while they stopped over to see Max.

Sleeping away in Matt's cousin Lydia's arms. She sure was a good baby holder! Too bad we don't live close enough to get any babysitting from her or her sister, Elizabeth!

Max is One Month Old!

Here are a few shots as Max approaches his one month birthday. Can you start to see why we call him Mr. Bobble Head?

Max Meets the Bosch's

Since all the Bosch's were in Spain visiting Maria when Max was born, we had a big get together at our house the day after they got back (just 5 days after Max was born). This baby was sure spoiled by all the love and holding. Linda (Matt's mom) couldn't get over how much he looked like Matt as a baby. And although there's tons of pictures of Grandpa Bob holding Max, you can rest assured that everyone got their turn (we just weren't very good on the taking pictures end).

First Week at Home

These are some highlights from Max's first week at home. My mom flew out from California to be here with us, and my sister LJ had just finished finals at Calvin, so she was able to hang out with us too. As you can see there's a lot of sleeping going on! Max did get to meet another little baby - my mom's new puppy Tucker whom she got in Michigan and took back to California. My mom and LJ were invaluable and helped us a lot with Max, shopping, and cooking!

Welcome to the World!

May 16, 2008 - What a great day to be born! Here are some pictures from our little guy's first days in the hospital. He was born at 6:10 am and was 20 1/4 inches long and weighed 8 lbs. 7 oz.