Artist in Residence

We are so lucky to have our new babysitter - Amanda. She is great with Max, connects with him, plays with him, and even likes Lincoln.

As an added bonus, she is an artist and photographer. She sent me a bunch of Max pictures over the weekend that she took and edited. I thought they were pretty darn cute!

Beach Bungalow...

So, we're finally IN our new house! Woohoo. Lots of boxes everywhere, not a single room 'finished' (and it seems it will be a while until we get there), BUT we are so enjoying the extra space, the feeling of owning our first home, and we love, love, love the neighborhood so far.

Max and Lincoln are both quite taken with the yard - Max ran outside and said, "Mama, can I touch the grass?". We can't wait to get a grill and some furniture out there for dinner parties. We've already had two couples we know from the neighborhood just stop by to say hello. So cute!!

Some pics...will share more when we have some decor :) xo

CAMP!

Sorry about the delay....been a busy month! Ohio family reunion (pics coming soon), CLOSED ON OUR HOUSE, packing for move, Maria leaving/new nanny starting, and now - Max started camp.

I couldn't sleep all night thinking about the big goodbye this morning - he has never been away from home without a "caretaker" (i.e. Me/Charlie/Maria/family), so I didn't know how he would do. And charlie kept saying I had to be tough if he cried and not drag it out, so I was a bit nervous.

After much preparation, packing various items, and discussing camp ALL weekend (and how he would see Zachary), the drop off went something like this:
"Bye Mama. I Wuv U...Can I play with this big airplane now?".
Mom, meanwhile, was on the verge of tears. But I stayed strong!
Needless to say, he loved it. Barely noticed me leaving (or coming to pick him up), sang the whole car ride home, told me what he did (Yoga, drove a big car, got a cookie). If all stays the same from here, camp will be a big success. Some pics of his first day - the second one is him saying "CHEESE"... just not at the camera.

Vacation!

Last week we returned from our wonderful vacation in the Keys. It was so nice to get away and MUCH needed (is it ever not needed?). When we first planned our trip to Hawk's Cay we were told all about the wonderful kids camp and babysitting services. We thought great - maybe we'll put Max there a few afternoons so we get some time to really relax. But Max ended up being SUCH a pleasure - full of fun and happiness (he also seemed to want to relax) it just wasn't necessary. He has developed a sudden fear of the pool (NO DUNKING!) which we are addressing, but otherwise he loved every moment - walking around, talking to people and socializing, hanging out in our villa - playing with the sliding glass doors was his favorite thing on the entire vacation + walking on the rocks outside ("I get those bugs!"), playing on the pirate ship, helping some nice 14 year-old twins with their life-sized checkers game (SO cute, every time one would jump the other, they'd call "Maxie, Maxie" and he would go pick up the piece) going up and down the stairs (with one small fall), floating in the pool with us, seeing fish and Dolphins ("Olphins"), ICE CREAM, and more. Just a wonderful week we'll never forget.

The view from the back of our villa....

He had his first fishing trip and first time on a boat, which was pretty darn exciting. Kudos to Charlie for driving and landing us! The video below of Max fishing is pretty priceless (I keep asking him what he thinks of the boat because five seconds before he said "Mackie WUV the boat"). Some pics too, of course.

Playing with the "shrimpies" (our bate...for the record, we caught nothing)

Admiring Dad's casting technique....

Dancing up a storm to the dude playing cover tunes of Grateful Dead and Bob Seger. He is a classic rock fan...

Baseball Game!

A couple of weeks ago, Charlie took Max to his first real baseball game. It was a VERY exciting event. That day, Maria told Max he should take his nap because when he woke up, he and Dad were going to a baseball game (of course, for the next 3-4 days, Max kept asking to take a nap...took us a bit to figure out that he thought he was going to a baseball game when he woke up).

They went very early and Max enjoyed running around the stadium, swinging on the railings, seeing batting practice, and watching the game (somewhat - they only watched two "At bats" until he got bored/tired) and of course, eating food. He had nachos for the first time, but kept forgetting the name and telling me he had "nadas". But the most exciting thing of all was seeing a "BIIIIIIG BLIMP". He is still talking about that blimp and looking up to the sky hoping to see one everyday.

Some cute pics of the boys outing, the first of many! We just got back from our trip to the Keys, I'll try to have those pics up as soon as possible!

Scooting Along

Max has become obsessed with his scooter. If I ask him to get something from his room, he has to "scoot" there. If he is looking for Bobo, he has to "scoot" around the house searching. He wakes up from nap asking for his scooter and wants to bring it in the car, to the park, even to the pool.

When Charlie first got this a couple of months ago, I thought it would be a year before he could use it - he would just stand on it (and it said 3 years and up). Now, a short time later, he goes fast and even knows how to "glide". Its amazing to see how quickly kids can learn.

This video is already a few weeks old, he is much better now and flies around the house (hard to catch on camera). He also realized it doesn't work on the carpet. But I thought his reaction was so cute...

"Ninkle Ninkle"

Max's rendition of twinkle twinkle....and some bonus material. Enough said.