Poor Max

Max contracted his first cold this weekend and I have decided that having a sick baby is worse than me being sick. It is really difficult to know that he is uncomfortable and not be able to do a thing about it. I did speak to the doctor and he assured me it was just a cold and not the swine flu. Hopefully this little bug will pass quickly because Max has a super runny nose which means that I chase him around the house with hankie in hand trying to wipe the snot off his face. Besides wiping his nose all the time, I have to suction out his nose with the dreaded bulb syringe. If anyone walked in while I was in the process of clearing out his nose, they would probably raise their eyebrows in shock. Since I don't have an actual picture, please turn on your imagination as I attempt to describe the scene:


First, I tell Max I need to clean his nose. He looks at me, smiles, and then turns around and crawls away from me as fast as he can. I then extract him from under the dining room table and we head back into the living room where I him down on the rug. As soon as he is on the ground, he rolls over and makes a break for it. I pull him back to me by the waistband of his pants as he continues to flop around like a fish out of water. Eventually he lays down and I place his arms by his sides and then use my legs to keep them there. It looks like I am sitting on the poor child but I'm not. Max sees the bulb syringe and begins thrashing his head about like a crocodile trying to tear apart his dinner. You may think I am exaggerating but you would be wrong; I am surprised he doesn't have whiplash. At this point one arm breaks free and I have to use my free hand to hold that arm at bay. I am now out of appendages and Max is still thrashing his head so I decided to kiss his cheek. Since my head is bigger and the kisses tickle, he stops thrashing long enough for me to suction out one nostril. Then I repeat the kissy-face distraction on the other side of his face and repeat as many times as necessary. Once his nose is semi-clean, I let him go and he heads straight for the sanctuary of the dining room table.


Fortunately for me, Max managed to retain his sunny disposition (most of the time). He is a little bit more clingy and whiny but I act the same way when I am sick so I don't mind the extra attitude. Max brings such excitement and joy to our little family that I have a hard time remembering what life was like before he was around. With him around, every day in a new adventure!

Raspberry Picking

These two things I now know: Raspberry juice stains pretty much everything it touches and I would make a lousy farmer. And I need a GPS system for my car.

A while ago my cousin Erin came to visit us before starting her master's/Ph.D. program at Johns Hopkins(yes, she is a genius). We had a fantastic time catching up and getting reacquainted. Since I moved away from El Paso when I was about 6 years old, Erin and I never really got to hang out as we were growing up. To my pleasant surprise, I found that, as Anne of Green Gables would say, we are kindred spirits. Erin introduced us to Ethiopian food and we took her raspberry picking. Before we got to the farm, I missed my exit and got us semi-lost in the ghettos of North St. Louis city. Erin attended the University of Chicago so she was used to some rough neighborhoods so I felt a little bit better about our misadventure. Erin, being the kind soul that she is, sweetly commented on the interesting architecture and landscape while glossing over the rougher aspects of the area.

Eventually, we found our way to Eckerdt's and began our next adventure. Neither of us had been raspberry picking before but Tyler had and he kindly showed us the ropes. Soon enough we were developing our own theories as to how to pick the sweetest and most ripe berries. Again, Tyler seemed to have the most effective method. He went for sheer volume and taste testing. Erin favored picking based on color while my mom and I based our selections on juiciness.

Of course, the day we went was about 100 degrees and very humid but we had a good time anyway. Jen, Tyler, Isabel, Max, my mom, Erin and I were the only people at the farm picking raspberries that day; I thought it was kind of nice. After about 15 minutes of picking berries and swatting little bugs away from Max's face, I threw in the towel and decided to catch the tram back to the air-conditioned general store. It was at that moment that I realized yet again that I am definitely not cut out for the agrarian life. I do, however, enjoy pretending occasionally.

I must admit that I think that more berries ended up in my mouth(or Tyler's mouth) than in our bucket.

At this point, Tyler seemed to be in a raspberry induced coma. You can't really tell from the picture, but Tyler has raspberry juice all over his face. It was so fun to watch him run around and the berries none of us could see. Despite the heat and the bugs, I loved every second of our raspberry adventure.

Bliss

Mommyhood is sometimes challenging but it is always worth it. Here are a few pictures that hopefully show my most blissful moments.

Injury Report

The injury:

The culprit:

Max's favorite toy is his little red hammer. He loves to crawl around whilst clutching his hammer in his hand. He occasionally stops long enough to hit everything in his reach. Yesterday, sometime between his first and second nap, he hammered his finger and ended up with a blood blister. I felt so bad for my poor little handyman but he doesn't even notice it is there. He still loves his hammer so I think we have avoided avoided any lasting aversions and phobias of hammers.

I apologize for the blurry picture but I couldn't get Max to hold still long enough to take a better picture.

Victory

Max slept from 8:45 pm until 6:40 am without waking up. I'm so happy. The sleep specialist is truly a miracle worker.

Almost There!

Max only woke up once and only for 5 minutes! We are almost to a full night of sleep. I am so happy I can hardly stand myself. Next up- nap time.

Sleep Update

Max fell asleep tonight after less than 10 minutes of crying! Hopefully he will only wake up. Thanks for the prayers and positive energy, I know they helped. Please keep us in your prayers for a few more nights as I will start putting Max down to sleep and for naps tomorrow night. Carl has been doing all of that so far and it is working beautifully. More updates will follow.

Sleep

Everyone that has ever met Max knows that he is one active boy. Carl and I love that he has a zest for and loves to try knew things all the time. Unfortunately, this said zest extends to sleepy time as well. Max has yet to sleep through the night or even sleep halfway through the night. Needless to say, I am exhausted! This week we went to a sleep specialist and she created a sleep plan to help us help Max learn how to sleep through the night. Tonight is our first night of the plan and I am requesting everyone's prayers. Max is a great kid but he can be a bit willful(I'm sure this comes as no surprise to anyone who has ever met Carl or me). Please keep Max and his sleep habits in your prayers this week. Thanks, in advance, for all your support. I can already feel the positive sleep vibes flowing our way.