Gobble Gobble

As always, it's taken me a while to get all my photos up but Thanksgiving was simply WONDERFUL - we had such a lovely time having a Florida turkey day with the family around and I actually let Max eat some turkey (organic, of course). We were so sad to miss the Manuel clan and the extended Biernbaum clan in CT, but since we can't travel as much these days, it was nice that we didn't end up alone...thanks to Mom for heading up the cooking marathon and Dad's touching speech :) and of course, to E and Phoebs for making the trip down...

And hey - Thanksgiving on the beach ain't bad (hint, hint, above family members) - see Max on Turkey day below.

Additional photos from the weekend, hard to choose there were so many cute ones!

Almost mobile

I will upload all the amazing photos of our wonderful Thanksgiving with the family, but I took this video and wanted to share quickly - Max is VERY close to crawling....

So far, he is pretty mobile by rolling around the floor, "scooting" backwards, and going from sitting up to landing flat on his face, or "falling with style" in the words of Woody from Toy Story.

He is getting so frustrated, I feel bad for the little guy but it's pretty cute nonetheless...

p.s. this video took almost a week to upload as you can see, kept freezing my new MAC, i sure hope i didnt make a mistake going non-PC....

I wear my sunglasses at night....

Maria took a really funny picture the other day - not sure if these glasses really do anything at all but he looks funny in them.

My Future's so bright, I gotta wear shades...

By the way, people keep telling me they can't make comments on the blog :( Keep trying - I'm not sure why it doesn't work, but I love seeing them! I'll see if I can figure out the problem.

Food!

Max is really enjoying the introduction of foods, he takes to it like a fish to water (not exactly suprising given who his mother is)....Thus far, he likes just about everything - but prefers for it to be homemade....great, this has been interesting.

In the long tradition of apple-eating Randels, I let him suck the juice from my granny-smith the other day, and while he certainly found it "tangy" I definitely think he liked it! Even Linc tried to get in on the action. Other intro-eating pics below...

"TREAT OR TREAT NOT, THERE IS NO TRICK..."

I know, I'm the worst blogger EVER. But, I haven't had a good computer for over a month, all I have is an old desktop IN Max's room which makes it pretty impossible to blog after work when he is sleeping...ANYWAYS, new computer arrives next week - I will blog so much you'll all be sick of us :)

Last night was Max's first Halloween...I've definitely been low-key about the whole thing, I didn't really see the point in making a fuss since he doesn't eat candy, which means we would dress him up, walk around, and end up eating candy ourselves which I need like a hole in the head. BUT, last minute G-ma and aunty Lynn decided to come down and we ended up having a WONDERFUL night. Max was Yoda (partly because Charlie is a Star Wars geek...ok, he has made me a Star Wars geek too, and partly because we thought Max looked like Yoda as a newborn - side note, I think all newborns look like Yoda).

We started the night walking on Lincoln to see all the craziness (another side note, I wanted to dress Lincoln like Yoda also but charlie said it was mean), then went to a wonderful dinner on Espanola. All the Italian waiters were dressed up, singing, dancing, and playing with Max, and he was LOVING it...singing along, laughing, playing, getting a bottle from G-ma (as Aunt Lynny and I polished off a few bottles ourselves) and just being wonderful :) It was a truly FUN night.

Dress rehearsal, turns out the hat is a bit too small underneath. What, it's not like he has ten chins?!?

I decided he needed to do it up anyways...it just wasn't the same otherwise. He loves me.

Sitting!

Rather quickly, Max has suddenly decided he can sit up on his own. We began leaning him against pillows which quickly turned into sitting him semi-upright and leaning against toys, then he progressed to sitting on his own bent in half (Maria says "Max is making yoga"), and in a matter of days he was sitting perfectly straight on his own.

Now we love to watch him balancing and learning how to stay upright longer and longer (while playing Moraccas, nonetheless). Charlie says he'll be at the sink when I'm playing on the floor with Max and he can just see Max's head bobbing up and down and side to side as he works his little tummy muscles to stay up. Now, when he "makes yoga", he tries to eat his toes then comes back up - another feat of strength...

See the progression below, yes we prefer sitting practice in the nude.

MAJOR weekend!

What an amazing fun-filled weekend we had last week. Max's first airplane ride (he was a gem, slept the whole time), his first trip to CT (he LOVED it, and what a gorgeous CT weekend it was), and some big, big first meetings - the Manheim/Leepson/Sosnowitz clan, Charlie's boys, and Sherri!

I know this feels like old news to everyone, so I won't wax poetic - I'll just get the pictures up so I can work on a new post for tomorrow :) xo

The godfather....He and Max - basically the same size.

I have to say, the pictures of Sherri are some of the most amazing I've ever seen - this is someone who, for the last 15+ years I've known her, basically doesn't like to be touched. I guess it's the magic of Max :)

More of Max and Jimbo passed out together, no need to wake up for the family photo...priceless.

J-E-T-S

The mighty Gang Green had a big win this weekend, and I believe it's due to the fact that Max was watching the game...Or, more accurately, he stared at the TV's wiggling in excitement for about ten minutes before passing out (that's him sleeping in the stroller) and I took him home at half time but still - his first Jets game! I couldn't stop thinking of the movie Sweet Home Alabama, "You have a baby...in a bar". Yup. The Stanziales, B Roy, and Ana were all on-hand for the momentus event (Jess, Sofie is gonna be a JETS fan whether you like it or not)!

I love his little Jets onesie - thanks Sokes! Also pretty funny when he and Chris "pounded it out", wish I had gotten the picture better. This is the beginning of a major "Fanship".

First Vacation!

I know, I'm the WORST blogger but I have now had three computer crashes and finally gave in and "Geek Squaded" it....I will be better, I will be better...

We got back from the most lovely and amazing vacation in South Carolina (THANKS MOM AND DAD), and I'm so depressed that it's over! We had such a wonderful week with everyone, "Maxie Mellow" sure misses all the action! Maria said when we got back, "Max wants a lot of attention this week - he must have gotten so many hugs and kisses on vacation!". You don't know the half of it....

Not only was it Max's first vacation, but it was a whole week full of firsts...

First bathing suit (thanks Aunt Suzie for the "monkey suit"-I LOVE how chubby he looks here and thanks to the Smiths for the adorable swim outfit) and first swim in the pool!!

First G-ma/Aunt Phoebs/Mom "Floating Sandwich" (I call this a first because i KNOW it won't be the last)...

And.....First dunk in the Pool (Sarah made me do it, haha)!

First day at the beach (Jimbo and he went for a long quiet walk together and bounced around ideas for JimRandel.com. He sure LOVES his Jimbo)!

First time in the excercauser - what fun!

First solid "food" (really just a bit of rice cereal and A LOT of breastmilk dribbling down his face), but he did VERY well. In fact, he likes it so much he started shaking his whole body with a wide open mouth and grabbing my hand to get more!

First fight with cousin Thea (over a bottle of water). Although he was "Maxie Mellow" all week, he REALLY did not want to give up this bottle. Thea won in the end, though...

First time spending the night in a crib - although the picture is Max passed out on the bed during a much-needed nap with mom (he and I both).

Some other wonderful pictures from the week....he so lucky to have so many aunts, uncles and friends who love him - wish we could see you all everyday!