First Foods

Back in September Max went for his 4 month check up. We found out he was 10.5lbs and 24.5". This meant he only gained 8oz in 2 months and grew 2". We were told to start rice cereal which I was really upset about because I was really set on waiting on foods until 6 months. He also hated rice cereal so I made oatmeal and he liked that slightly better. We went for a weight check 2 weeks later and he was about 11lbs so that was good. We also got approval to start fruits and veggies. So far we have tried carrots, green beans and peas. Carrots are by far the favorite. We have pears and avocados in the freezer so we'll see how he likes those. Because of this his poop has changed so I now put liners in his diapers until Matthew comes home and installs the diaper sprayer. The hose on the toilet is too tight for me to install it myself.

Now to my annoyed part of all this. I was never really thrilled with his pediatrician but when we went for his weight check it sealed the deal we are never seeing him again. He acted like this was his 4month appointment and had no idea about Max and what was going on. He told me to start him on rice cereal which he had told me to do 2 weeks prior. He also randomly told me carriers prevent crawling when I had already mentioned he had started to army crawl occasionally. I also had never heard that. So now I'm trying to make his 6 month appointment and am going to get someone new.

I can Help!

I am glad I finally figured out a way to really help. I used to be the diaper changer. Max would wake up for midnight feedings and I would jump up and change his diaper! Then hand him off to mommy for a feeding. Then we started doing a double stuffed diaper for bedtime so no more midnight diaper changes, just feedings. So I felt useless and Alex was tired all the time and I wanted to let her sleep, I am the highly trained sailor when it comes to getting woken up and little sleep (racked out). Then I decided, if we have breast milk pumped and on standby I can jump up and feed my lil guy and let Alex sleep a good nights rest. I am so happy to feel useful again, even if it is only 1 night a week. It is better than none!

I Love My Family

I love my family so much! Alexandra and Max make everyday a good day. I missed them so much when I was gone and I don't look forward to leaving again. Max advanced quite a bit while I was gone. He just seems like such a big boy now. I am not looking forward to deployment, I will leave and come back to a completely new phase in Max's life. But I love him and I know that it will be fine. Max and I enjoy wearing Matching outfits, right now we have 2:

My shirt says Hardcore Daddy with a pic of a motorcycle and his says Hardcore baby with a pic of a tricycle. The other one is shaved ice, from New Orleans, LA.

We bought Max a new toy and he loves it!

He's Home!

Monday Matthew came home. He was gone basically a month. This was the first time he has left us since Maxim was born. I know it was hard on both of us but we got through it. I knew Max had grown and changed and had more skills since Matthew left but you forget everything. Simple things Matthew would notice.
Before he left Max could roll over and everything but now he'll roll to his stomach and stay awhile without crying and scoot around and then roll to his back and so on. Matthew was very impressed. Also Max can be left on his play mat and entertain himself. I had forgotten that before Matthew left Max was happy if you were actively playing with him or holding him. I think the biggest thing is Max is now on a routine. It used to be that even if Max had completely fallen asleep in your arms as soon as he was put down he would wake up. Now we have the routine of he wakes, feeds, diaper change then plays for about 90 minutes gets swaddled falls asleep for at least 30 minutes and then it all starts again. The biggest improvement is even if his eyes pop open in your arms while you are transfering to the crib or once you lay him down he goes back to sleeping without a whimper. Sadly, he still hasn't slept 7-8hrs since July but when it now only takes 15 minutes to get back to bed when he wakes in the middle of the night it's not bad. Maybe in a few weeks we will try to get him to sleep 7-8hrs again or maybe he'll start doing it soon. Right now the longest stretch is about 5hrs at night.
I am so glad for Matthew to be back it is a huge help. I had missed him so much.
421

Maxim's Trip to California

We arrived in California on Wednesday morning. Flew first class. We thought all of the first class fliers would complain about the baby. But most of them didn't even know he was there. He slept the entire time, just fed during takeoff and landing.

We used the roadrunner shuttle service to get from and to the airport in California. After arriving at Great Grandpa Tony's and Lyla's they played with Max for a little bit and then we all took a nap. We had lunch at the IHop and then we had dinner at the famous Alamo. I had some delicious Enchiladas!





We left California the next day to fly to Minnesota. It was wonderful meeting Great Grandpa Tony and Lyla. We all hope to see them again some day!

Cloth Diapering

So Max is over a week old now, and we have been cloth diapering him from the start. I think we made the right choice, not only does it save us money, but he just looks so much cuter in the cloth diapers vice disposable. Also no diaper rash, and no soggy diaper smell. If anyone has questions about cloth diapering feel free to comment below this post.

As of right now we don't quite have enough to get through 2 days, so we wash them every evening. It isn't difficult at all, we have noticed a little bit of staining on a couple of the diapers so we are just going to leave them to dry in the sun and that does a good job of bleaching out the stain.

Isn't he cute?

Baking Brownies!

I found a Guinness Stout brownie recipe, so of course I had to put on my apron and bake!
They turned out to be delicious! Very fudgy, so good the neighbors went out the following day to pick up the ingredients and make their own batch.
I could write more, but I think the above picture speaks for itself, yep I am awesome!