Max is handsome

After I got his shirt on this morning, Max pronounced himself handsome and then ran off to play.  Such a sweetie pie!

We've always noticed that Asian tourists often take pictures of Max while we are out and about.  This weekend, a whole group swarmed around us taking pictures, and one elderly man walked right up, patted his head, and said 'golden hair, very nice.'  I guess we have a very all-American looking little guy!

Silly bed time!

Max always helps Ian take off his tie if he still has it on at bed time.  Last night, they were silly and put it on Max!  He learned about looking for your reflection in the window and thought he looked very nice.

 Then he wanted to turn his jommies into a hat after Daddy did it.  They were being VERY silly!

Max went down like a champ, then woke up very upset from 10:45-11:30.  I thought we had him back down for good, but from 11:45-12:15 he spoke to himself, at great length, about fire fighters and all that they do - eat peas and pork chops, drink coffee, read books, pole, loud sirens woooo weeee woooo weeee, go to Derry Hill.  Finally Ian had to go back in and tell him to go to sleep!  It was really sweet to listen to him without his knowledge, but man, do we ever hope the soliloquies hold off until waking hours next time.

Fire Truck

This morning, Max pushed one of the dining room chairs to the windows and turned it into a fire truck.  We took a long ride in it and watched the 'beautiful day in the neighborhood' out the window while we drove.  

 The last picture is his 'say cheese' face.  Believe it or not, it looks like a happy face in person, but in freeze frame, he kind of comes off as having a conniption!

Going to a concert

We loaded up the backpack with toys for the Memorial Day concert Monday afternoon.  Max liked carrying his own stuff like big kids do for school!

Maxisms

• Ian and I said something along the lines of 'Max is a good eater.'  Max looked up at us and said, very emphatically and with a totally straight face, 'Max is a good man.'  
• We're working a lot on polite words now.  He has please down pat, and is getting there with thank you. He likes to say 'thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks' to get us to say 'youre welcome youre welcome youre welcome,' which becomes a big tongue twister after a bit.
• He is REALLY good at his ABCs now.  He goes into them on his own and gets everything except T-U-V.  If you sing with him, and prompt him, he can do it correctly.
• He's very into singing in general these days.  He likes to have sing alongs in the car.
• He's starting to memorize stories.  He 'reads' along with you at the start of Big Frank now, and has some others down as well.
• He LOVES the Best Word Book Ever and Busy Busy Town.  They are the first things he asks for in the morning, and the last thing he wants to read at night.  
• He found his shadow this weekend.  Sometimes he likes it and is willing to follow his shadow around, other times he tries to run away from it.  He points out the shadows in books now and is very attuned to where they are around him.
• He's got very good fraternal instincts.  This morning, he had me close the curtains in his room after we got him changed so the animals and Baby could keep sleeping while we read quietly on the bed.
• He is very particular about his sleep.  He will only go down easily (and it is ridiculous how easily he does it) for Ian.  Does not matter the time or place, if Ian says it is bed time, Max listens.  If I say it is bedtime, he sings, throws things, cries, jumps up and down, and generally causes chaos for an hour+.  Given that Ian is traveling for a few days next week, we are in intensive training to make him take me seriously!

Memorial Day

We had lots to do for Memorial Day!  We started the morning at the Air Force Memorial, where we watched them get ready for the ceremony (Max liked the marching) and then split because somebody didn't want to be quiet!

 Then we headed downtown, where we walked around and saw the White House, which is where the dog ends up living at the end of Max's book First Dog.  When we asked him what the daddy in the book says when his daughters say 'Daddy, can we keep him?' Max said 'Yes we can!'  He was cracking us up.

 There was much hubub at the end of our walk, as we got Max into position to see Obama leave the White House.  The cars were LOUD and he had lots of fun seeing them.

That afternoon (no pictures, sorry!) we met some friends with a 7 month old at a park in Old Town to listen to a jazz concert after naptime. Max liked the music and the boats, but was not very impressed with the baby!

Off to college already!

For our Saturday adventure, we decided to explore Georgetown.  It was easy to get parking by the campus in the break between classes ending and summer school beginning.  Ian and I were surprised by how easy it was to get in and out of the buildings on campus.

 Max really liked shaking the chains on the bike racks!

 After the campus, we took a long walk around the neighborhood.  At one point, Max decided to take a break on someone's front porch and watch the world drive by for a bit.

How I spent my Memorial Day vacation...

We've had lots of adventures (pictures to come when I get my phone recharged tonight), but perhaps our biggest has been in potty training.  We've spent HOURS sitting on the potty so far with "Max's favorite book" and have one pee pee and a whole bunch of close calls to show for it.  One of us finds this to be LOTS of fun!

Max's Sister

This morning, Max was sitting on our bed and said 'I need a baby.'  Janette was sitting nearby, so I handed her to him.  He told me all about his sister, how babies cry and brothers say 'it's ok baby.'  Then I told him I needed to get a picture with him and baby.  The first picture is the hilarious cheese/squint/shove-baby-in-the-flash face.  The second is a more accurate reflection of how he carries her around.  According to Max, 'Max is a good brother.'

Sweetie Pie

Some days, he's so sweet and cute that we take pictures without a story.  This morning was one of those.

A Park on Sunday, Too

After naps on Sunday, we headed to 'George Mason Dragon School Playground' as a family.  On the way, we stopped to check out the bark on a fallen tree limb.  Daddy showed Max how to pull of new bark and look for bugs underneath.  He was very intrigued.

 Max swang for the entire 30 minutes we were at the park.  He can go pretty high in the big boy swings now, and he likes it a lot!

 Then home, where fire men get calls on their phones about going to help people on a VERY regular basis.

Adventuring in Adams Morgan

Saturday morning, we headed to breakfast in Adams Morgan and then explored the area for a bit. There was some good stuff to see - LOTS of diggers doing construction on the street right outside the restaurant, so Max had a great time watching them move around.

 Then we found Kalorama Park, which has TWO playgrounds.  Very fun!  Max was all over both of them.  He especially liked the plane in the little kid section.