]]>http://www.sirmaxalot.com/?sp=September%201%202010Big Wedding tomorrow, and even though I haven't started packing, I feel like I MUST put some pictures up! (I also finished the last 100 pages of the book I was reading so I wouldn't have to pack two books. Priorities.)

Pretty much the only thing we did during my week off was swim. It was fabulous! Jack had a GREAT time once he realized he could float by himself with the help of a friend's floaty lifejacket thingy. Adi also LOVED the borrowed crab, which is actually the same one we had with Baby Max, I'll see if I can find a picture. And of course we know Maxo loves the water. Although he has no interest in learning to swim without floaties.

I'm happy to see that Jack is finally becoming interested in artsy stuff.

Although he has lost his marker privileges (this is how I found him after a nap the other day).

He's at a pretty messy stage in general,

because he thinks he can do everything himself. He wants to put his cup away, for example, and dump his cereal bowl out himself, but he leaves a trail of milk in his wake.

Which brings us to Big Deal Event #1. Jackie (and his extra large backpack) started preschool this week.

He's going to be in Max's class three mornings a week so he started this week with all of the other new students. Max was NOT happy to be left behind, and I'm very interested to see how things go when the boys start attending together next week. I anticipate a lot of bossiness. This picture is perfect - Max as leader of the pack.

Good thing we've been practicing on his trike at home! Jack had a pretty good first few days, but his teached said that he's shown his "resistant" side a few times (for example, having an enormous meltdown when asked to put away his snack dishes), so we'll see how things go. It's possible he's too little to start - he just barely meets the minimum age requirement (2 years 9 months) and is by far the youngest kiddo in there. He is however very excited to FINALLY get to go to Max's school, which we've been dangling as a reward for using the potty for a very long time. I'll keep you updated on his progress.

Big Deal Event #2. My sweet sweet baby girl turned 1!!!!!!! Those exclamation marks are about as much fanfare as the day received however, as I decided to wait to make her cupcakes until Sean gets home. In retrospect I should have put a candle in her breakfast or something, but at least our neighbor dropped off a present so there were a few minutes of celebration :-) She'll love that cupcake whenever we get around to it, I can promise you that!

I can't believe I did this instead of packing/sleeping! Good night, see some of you soon! ]]>http://www.sirmaxalot.com/?sp=August%2028%202010 Great 17 hours! Puzzles,

spacy baby girl who was clearly thinking "why am I awake right now?",

some reading,

a Bakugan primer,

more reading,

eating,

and even a trip to Meijer :-)

Thanks for stopping by Uncle Cam!! ]]>http://www.sirmaxalot.com/?sp=August%2026%202010

(Okay, we still bath them when I'm in school, but it's less frequent, not only because of time, but because they get a lot less dirty!)

(Will I ever stop being conflicted about going to school? I think it's the right thing, and I love it, but I miss being able to be with my kiddos during the day. Plus we're going broke paying for babysitters. And I don't even know what the end result will be - I'm liking my English classes way more than my math classes. Not good!! I do not want to put us through all of this if I'm not going to emerge at the other end with something income-able. Otherwise I can just join a bookclub or two.)

In five days Adi will be ONE YEAR OLD! How is that possible? I can still vividly remember the feeling of her being in my belly. And of course I very clearly remember her birthday. (Planning to go teach a class at the gym, luckily Sean forbade me. Handing Max and Jack off to Nic's Mama, apologetic because I wasn't sure I was actually in labor yet, less than three hours before Adi came out. My doula coming "just in case" an hour later. Pulling what was supposed to be my leisurely labor project muffins out of the oven as we left for the hospital. My water breaking in the ER lobby. Meeting my baby GIRL!!!!)

Adi is not walking yet, but she's "crusing" a lot, and yesterday discovered that she could use the boys' truck thingy as a walker.

She claps "more" and also makes the sign for milk. She REALLY loves to bounce and to watch her brothers. (Jack is really good at biking now! He can go around the block no problem although his trike is really inefficient.)

We've started doing some piano with Max. Like two minutes a night. The problem is that he thinks he doesn't need lessons because he can already play every song he knows! Max's best friend Nic from NC came to visit over the weekend, and the boys were more than a little bit excited. It was like no time had passed at all. (And really, I can't believe eight months have passed!)

It was Nic's birthday so we had a fun celebration. Adi got cottage cheese instead of cake but didn't seem to mind!

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(he obviously isn't home to exercise editorial control!) and then later I was able to join them for one of my favorite afternoons ever.

Jack has been practicing so he can eventually join us. That boy is really growing up. He's in undies exclusively now and mainly accident free. He loves telling us what a big boy he is. He loves telling us a lot actually, he is a chatty, snuggly, sweet little boy. Most of the time anyway. And as you can see, Adi is also growing up. She even looks kind of big! For being in the 5th percentile that is. She drinks out of a sippy cup

and can pull herself up. (I cut out the part of that video where she was happily standing, and I plopped her down and made her cry, in order to capture the pulling up on camera!)

She's learning to sign "more" and "milk", and it looks like she's taking after both of her brothers in preferring clapping to the technically correct version of "more". In any case, it's pretty darn cute.

This is such a busy time for us. Thanks for still checking in, even though I'm not posting much.

Oh I almost forgot! We spent a great afternoon with Matt/Tony, Emily, and Liliana. Old friends are the best!

]]>http://www.sirmaxalot.com/?sp=July%2025%202010Inception. Not sure I got it, but I definitely enjoyed it. And the sushi consumed before it.) Fortunately I have some mini-Seans to keep me company. The boys have fully transitioned from "Mama shirts" to "Papa shirts" for bedtime and this is now normal sleeping attire.

Speaking of crazy attire, Max was heart broken that he wasn't allowed to wear this to the gym. (Those are still-attached mittens hanging from the hat.) It's 80+ degrees here!

Adi is still the sweetest baby in the world, but she's growing up

and is therefore no longer the easiest baby in the world. She likes to be in on the action

and is no longer super thrilled to play by herself in the playpen (sigh). But when she's not confined, she's into everything - she goes straight for the trashcan and pulls it over, and then to the shoes and tries to eat them. She finds any stray anything on the floor and eats it; I fished a dead bug out of her mouth the other day. Feeding her is no longer optional - she wants people food whenever we're eating it. (I heard Sean yelling this morning and this was the scene I arrived to.)

She and Pup are therefore best friends.

Jack is doing great with the potty though he still isn't to the point of voluntarily using it. But he's in underwear anytime he's awake, even when we leave the house. The hardest thing at the moment is that he is not ready for undies at bedtime (or even close) but I have to hold him down to put a diaper on because he says he is "not a small boy!" He is at that super super cute age where he's learning new stuff every second and talking a ton. He is a sweet brother, always sharing with Max and almost always doing whatever Max wants to do. Which Max takes full advantage of. Max continues to have some serious attitude (I hear that I'm the worst Mama of his life almost everyday and last night at bedtime he told me that I had taken all the fun out of his life) but of course he's still mainly sweet. Love these kids!

Happy anniversary honey bunny come home SOOOON! ]]>http://www.sirmaxalot.com/?sp=July%2011%202010

Today we were able to see Uncle Steven and Auntie Carmen, and they had a pretty awesome celebration #2 for him.

I fear that celebration #3 will happen at Chuck E Cheese but I'm still hopeful that Max will forget about that idea and/or learn to love my zoo suggestion. I am sorry that my posts lately are so blah but sleep deprivation is the defining feature of my life at the moment. ]]>http://www.sirmaxalot.com/?sp=July%209%202010

Yesterday, Max's last day as a 4 year old, we watched one of our babysitters in Seussical the Musical. Max was adament that he does not like plays and did not want to go, but he ended up loving it. The concessions helped. I forgot to pack a snack for Adi, so she enjoyed her first chips.

Today the main event was a visit to Pirate's Island, the smallish indoor waterpark located in the same building as the gym I teach classes at. This worked out great, because I was able to leave Adi at the gym daycare and just take the boys in. We met Max's friend Malachi and his fam, and also one of the big kids from the gym came with us, which helped a lot since Sean is out of town for the week. Anyway, here are some pics because I need to sleep immediately.

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Max is capturing "Daddy Willie" spiders with the cones. (We didn't teach him that, but haven't corrected the confusion either.) ]]>Sir Maxalot