Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Maxwell Hunter: 13 months old.

My deareast (mammoth) baby Max,
Little dude, you are 13 months old today. I know, I can hardly believe it myself. You are a charmer, a handful, a heart breaker, a beast, a lovely little boy, a cuddly baby, and my favourite person on earth. Quite a resume if you think about it. You started daycare on May 1st as I had to go back to work after staying home with you for a whole year. I think you are finding it easier than me (must be all those little girls you get to flirt with all day and yummy homemade Italian food).

Truth be told, I am doing okay at work, but there are points in the day when I miss you terribly. There are also times when I enjoy eating my lunch in peace, talking to your dad during the commute (without having to holler over you), and sitting at my desk just being quiet and by myself. My coworkers aren't nearly as sweet as you, but we won't hold that against them. It is true what they say though, absence does make the heart grow fonder. At the end of the day I can't wait to get home to see you and your smile when you see us come through the door makes my day.

Baby Max, you are one big boy. You weigh almost 25 pounds, and you are wearing size 2T! I haven't had much time to go to the gym lately, but I think I am stronger than ever carrying you around. While I reported that you took your first steps a few days before your first birthday, you quickly decided that crawling was much easier (the path of least resistance I guess?). After taking more than a month off from the walking tip, you seem to be giving it another go. When you think your dad and I aren't watching, you even walk a few steps on your own. The minute you see us you drop to your knees and start crawling again. Whatever kid, we are ON to you!

What else is there to say? You are into EVERYTHING. And by everything I mean that in the last week you have:

- unplugged the fridge
- ripped the handle off the fridge
- cracked the dining room blinds
- pushed your high chair across the first floor
- crawled all the way upstairs the one and only time we left the gate open
- taken your pants off pretty much everyday (pants are overrated, eh?)
- started your day at 5:30am and vetoed your naps (this makes for a long day)

You also love to bang on the toilet seat lid, grab our faces, pinch my arm and belly chub (thanks for that), try to knock our glasses of our faces, and pull yourself up onto the couches. I think you are pretty close to figuring out how to get out of your crib, and your favourite game is to throw water bottles through the cat door (poor Samba!).

Max, you break my heart when you give me hugs and kisses. You also wave goodbye like the queen, say "bah bah" (when you feel like it), and shriek "dadadadadadada" with glee at pretty much every opportunity you get. Blues Clues is still your favourite show - especially the shows with Blue as the puppet. I think your favourite part of the day is bathtime - you would stay in there until you turned into a prune if I let you. When you wake up in the morning, you cry very passionately to get us to come rescue you from your crib, and the minute we open the door you break out into a huge grin.

You are also now fully off the boob and drinking 3 full bottles of milk a day. Weaning you was tough, but we were both ready (mostly me actually, what with all your teeth). As everyone can see from your pictures, you are one healthy boy and you are thriving. In fact, you eat a lot. I sometimes wonder how someone who weighs less than 25 pounds can eat so much. Then I change your diaper (which you hate and make a terrible scene about) and I see that yes, yes, you did actually eat that much.

Your dad and I swear that you look different every morning when you wake up. You are growing a mile a minute, and every day you surprise us with something new. Part of me misses the little baby that you used to be, but I am also loving every minute of you growing into my little boy.

Love,

Your Mommy