A Dozen Days In....

   Max received his first check-up yesterday and was carried from the office by a glowing dad and mom after receiving great news. He has grown 1.25 inches and gained 1 lb 2 ounces in the past 12 days. These numbers must be good because mom and dad were told that his growth is in the 90th percentile and his weight gain is in the 95th percentile. There must be something magical in that milk!

First Bath

      A gift we received was the "Whale of a Tub" (Thanks Mary!). Abby was SO EXCITED that we were given permission from the Dr to give Max normal baths! Our first attempt occurred last night. Max did not it enjoy it so much and I think Abby's eagerness wore off pretty quickly. But - good news! Max was probably the cleanest since the hospital! (Those nurses just have those special skills!)
   So, of course, as soon as he is toweled dry he decided pee! Here are a couple more shots:

 

    One of the issues with breastfeeding is that children poop a lot more often than if they were on formula. Poor Max's bum is very red and very sore! We're using Boudreaux's Butt Paste after every diaper change which the Dr tells us is just almost as good as a prescription. We're hoping so!
   Along with the bum issue, the area the diaper covers is a little red too. We can't leave that area to open air. Abby has found that when she does, quite often a fountain will appear! This area gets baby moisturizer after every bath!
   Here are a couple more pics of Max since the last blog update:

    Max has been a joy! Seeing him grow and interact with things around him has been fun and entertaining! But all can't be perfect. He does not want to go to sleep or rest from 8 PM to midnight-ish. The Dr says this is normal and that most newborns share this late-evening energy trait. So he has the most energy during the time of day when we have the least. It is a struggle because no matter what we do he will cry a lot. We'll get him calmed down for 10 minutes - then 5 minutes of crying. The latest the cycle has continued is ~11:45 (last night).
   We're doing fine, we both stay calm, we just feel really bad because we don't know what to do. Ah-well - we'll get the hang of it!

Thanks Liz for the safe car seat!

   I just want to take a moment and say thank you to all! We've appreciated the calls, letters, gifts, and support from everyone. Much of what Max wears, uses, and travels in are from friends and family! Thank you so much!

Bath Time......

   Abby gave Max a bath tonight. The following is a play-by-play:

Gotta remove all the gear prior to getting wet!

So NOT enjoying this!

Just washing my hair.

Drying all that luxurious hair!

Checking out the finished product

A little after bath massage

Lotioning the back

Here comes the one-sie

Finishing up with baby lotion.

   You couldn't hear it but Max does not enjoy bathtime!
   We'll catch up to you all later!

Welcome to the World

Maxwell Otto

   Maxwell Otto joined us very early Friday at 1:00 a.m. What a joy! As I type this - he and Abby are sitting on the couch with me while being fed. It has been a long day for him between a PKU test, being circumcised, going home, and getting (finally - YAY) to meet Autumn and Sam.

   Abby and I will fill in the holes in future blogs so we'll commit this one to less than 10% of the photos we've taken over the past three days. Enjoy and thank you all for the support and prayers and love you've sent Max's way!

Mommy asked me not to get TOO big in there!

He is so cute and LOUD!

"Yeah - I know I look good!"

What a GREAT (and very long) July 20th.

YO! I'm here!

Holy Crap! He is C-U-T-E!

I Agree - He IS cute!

Dorkalicious happy!

HEY! I'm trying to sleep here!

What's up squishy!

Do you think he looks like me?

Hey Gma! How YOU doing!

Ahhhh! Back in our home!

Gpa saying goodbye before heading home

"No licking Autum! Sniff and stare only!"

"Hi Max! You smell good!"

Gma having a conversation

Trying out the new pack-n-play

Sam checking Max out

Autumn & Sam bark "Welcome!"

Our garden in pictures

Mystery melon trying to take over and onions

 Brussel sprouts.  The eatable part is on the stem below the big leaves.

 Our herb square

Peppers

Green

And Spicy!

Tomatoes and Broccoli

Blackberries!

Nursery? Check!

     Abby's looking great at 34 weeks! It's starting to feel real! We kicked it up a notch this weekend and spent some time and effort to get the nursery ready to go!
    
     We traveled to the town of Lone Jack to pick up some items I won in an online auction. A high priority for us was obtaining a glider - check! Picked up this NICE cherry glider for $70. We also got two end tables, a small lamp, and a floor lamp. I was extra happy because Abby didn't sneer or laugh at me and criticize the fact that I bought something from an auction (AGAIN!).

     The room was completely redone. We cleaned out the closet and moved all the extra furniture to the basement and other rooms. We built the baby rocker and un-packaged all the awesome gifts we've received over the past two months. THANK YOU for everything!

     Here are three new pictures of the nursery. Remember the stroller and pack-n-play will not be living in the nursery. Hope you like the new look!

     That's not all we did. We also rocked out on the grill! After a fun trip to Costco (every trip is a fun trip for me) we gathered up a bunch of yummy fresh vegetables, Frank's Red Hot marinated chicken, and turned on the grill.

     We cooked enough for us to enjoy at least eight to ten meals. So far we had an awesome meal fresh off the grill last night, buffalo chicken wraps for lunch today, and roasted vegetable in pasta for dinner tonight. Yup - cooking all of that is paying off!

Autumn says "The chicken was GOOD!" Oh, and she says "Sup!"