Goodnight baby, I love you

Each evening, whether it be after a full day of errands, play dates, ice cream or just one spent at home, we have pretty much the same nighttime routine.  Sometimes it starts around 7pm, or if we have spent the evening adventuring, it may start a little later, but it always involves 3 key players, Damien, me and Max.  It starts off with some playtime in his room (tonight we finally got some video of Max crawling around!), followed by a bath if it's bath night, one of us changing him and putting on his pjs.  Then I usually read him a book while Damien spends his time on Max's floor, catching up on the days news via his iPad (sometimes falling asleep right there on the floor) and I start to give him his bottle.  He used to fall asleep during his bottle but those days have long passed.  Eventually, if he does fall asleep, I rock him a little longer and then hand him off to Dame, who kisses him and puts him in his crib.  I always put my hand on his chest and say "goodnight baby, I love you" before leaving his room.  Lately, he hasn't fallen asleep with the bottle or flat out refuses the bottle from me and the handoff to daddy takes place a little earlier.  On those nights, I sneak downstairs so Damien can finish feeding him and put him down in his crib.  I have tried to stay in the room with them but if he sees me, he just cries and wants me to hold him.  He has become a true momma's boy.  He will cry and cry until I take him and then he just starts smiling, as if nothing in the world is wrong.  If Dame has put him down, my evening still ends with my hand on his chest and the words I will probably utter to him for the rest of his life..."goodnight baby, I love you".

Here are some pictures documenting our nighttime ritual.  They are not all from the same evening, but are a good inside look at how most evenings go around here....

Max is crawling...

The little man is on the move...

Why, yes, that is a piece of tofurky stuck to my face

We've been trying to give Max a wide variety of food lately.  He loves hummus, avocado, and hasn't minded the chunks of tofu that I have been adding to his dinnertime meals.  I thought for sure he would balk at the red lentil-veggie-tofu-hummus concoction that I whipped up for him but he ate it like a champ.  So tonight, we started some tofurky.  I certainly don't want to rely on prepackaged food but most kids end up having deli meat and I don't want Max to feel left out when all of his friends pull their turkey sandwiches out of their lunch bags.  Once in awhile, I think a nice piece of (fake) meat is a good dinner choice.   Max actually liked it, so much so that he is saving a piece for later...

Here are some shots from yesterday.  It was a wonderful day spent with our closest friends and Max just loved being with his best friend Zooey.  Isn't she just the cutest?  I love the series of pictures in which it looks like she is lounging next to him, then she gets his attention by pointing and then finally pushes him over.  True love. 

For the past 4 years, we have been going with our friends to their parents' lake house to celebrate the Fourth of July.  Last year Zooey was 3 months old and I was 7 months pregnant.  This year, we both had our little ones there to celebrate with us.  It has changed over the past 4 years but like most things, it just keeps getting better.  Thanks guys for such a fun day.

Max's style 07.04.11 and 10 months old

Ten. months. old.

It really seems as if everyday, Max is learning something new.  He is now crawling...backwards.  It's the cutest thing to see him get into the position and rock back and forth, willing himself or whatever it is that he is going for, closer.  Sometimes he just changes his mind and goes right back to his seated position.  Other times he's off, in reverse.  He is usually smiling as no matter what the outcome though. He has been really talking up a storm.  It looks and sounds like really bad Japanese movie dubbing in which his mouth is moving in one way, at one speed but the sounds coming out are from another way, at another speed.  He does a good job at keeping himself entertained and just loves being around other kids, especially any one of his many girlfriends.  This is such a wonderful age!

Today we celebrated the 4th at our friend's parents' lake and Max had his first boat ride.  He was so great on the boat.  He fell asleep and missed going in the water but he played on the boat and then pretty much relaxed the rest of the time.  I have many pictures to sort through from the day; I'll be posting them soon.

Here are the photos from this morning's photo shoot.  I've been meaning to get some good pictures of him in his g-diapers, mainly because they and he are so darn cute.  I seriously smile every time I look at these pictures... And if you haven't checked out the remakes of the old Fisher Price toys, you have to do so!  They are wonderful.  He has the record player, the radio and the clock.  I'm thinking the piano will be a perfect 1st birthday present.