6 month report

can anyone believe this kiddo is six months old already?!  not me!  to add to even more shock and disbelief:  max is wearing 12 month clothes.  all the 12 month pj's with little footies pace wore (from 12-20 months because he was so little) are almost worn through the big toe from pace running around, and here's max, not sitting up yet and wearing the same footie pj's! 

weight: 18 lbs 6 oz, 68 %ile

height:  26 1/4", 30 %ile

head circumference: 15 1/2", 81 %ile

we love our little max attack.  he wakes up grinning from ear to ear and is ready to start the day with a stretch and a jump.  he started giving us 12 hours at night--going down around 6 (!), and waking up at 6.  he will on occasion wake up around 230 or 330am for a night feeding, but he's mostly a super sleeper!  we used to do a 7pm bedtime, but the whole 6 o'clock hour was one big meltdown.  mr. not flexible just couldn't adjust to daylight savings.  it was simply easier to put him down at 6 instead of trying to entertain him.  and surprise, surprise!--we have 12 hour nights!

maxwell is mostly a mellow fellow, and a very happy baby.  he'll lean over and give a huge grin if he catches your eye.  i must insert here that he does have a temper.  he gets very impatient if i'm nursing him and it's taking too long for the milk to come; if we can't get him to bed the instant he is ready; if the toy isn't doing what he wants it to do...watch out!  he loves playing in the garden play center and chewing on the plastic flowers, but the bee frustrates him to no end.  if he's rested and happy, he'll play with the little bee and try to figure out how to pull it out of the beehive and make it buzz; if it's close to nap time, he gets mad, mad, mad and we have a meltdown with huge tears and his classic mad max scrunchy face:  

he is quite the character.

he is a social bug, and wants to always be near someone.  he hasn't hit the stranger danger phase yet, and happily gets passed around relief society at church while  i am doing my secretarial duties.  well, happily most of the time.  maxwell is a schedule and routine boy, and if we step away from the known routine, he's a little unsure and gets frustrated.  he normally has a good 2 hour nap in the morning, and a good 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon.  he isn't a big cuddler, although he has lately started to put his head down on my shoulder before i put him in his crib to sleep.  he prefers to just lay down in his crib, tightly swaddled, and let him fall asleep on his own, thank you very much.  so, on sundays, when we are at church in the middle of the day, and we are holding him instead of laying him down in the crib, and his routine is slightly disrupted...well, there are some sundays that are harder than others.

max loves: jumping, seeing mama, daddy, and pace, playing in the garden play center, being tickled, singing with movements (i'm a little teapot, itsy bitsy spider, etc.)

max dislikes: getting off schedule, contention.  (story:  the other night i was nursing max and putting him to bed and pace was running around like a wired wild man.  i repeatedly asked him to use his inside voice and to be soft, that max was trying to go to sleep, but instead of being obedient, pace decided to throw a toy.  i very sharply reprimanded him and with a very stern voice told him to go sit in the corner--no toys, blanket, or binkie.  max looked up at me with very startled, wide eyes, and started crying when pace started crying.  i hushed him, gave him his binkie, swaddled him and laid him in the crib with a kiss.  he screamed his banshee-slash-barn-owl screech when i laid him down.  i pulled pace out of the room, calmed him down and talked about what happened, and then went back in to max and picked him up to shush and hold him.  i guess he sensed things had calmed down and i was in a quiet mood again, because he calmed down and fell asleep.)

i looked back at pace's 6 month report, and his list of dislikes was huge--mostly having to do with people other than mama and dada, and loud noises!  max is totally fine with noises--when i run the blender or the vacuum, he'll casually look over to see what's going on, and then goes back to whatever he was doing.

i did a little photo shoot with the boys the other day--i broke up the photos between a few posts because there were so many cute ones!

don't you want to kiss those cheeks?!

i can see the inquisitive kindergartener in this next photo!