The Deep End

I just emailed these videos to many of you, but as I was hitting send I realized I should have posted it instead. So, here are 2 great videos of his "safety class" which comes as he nears the end of his swimming lessons. He learned how to call for help from the water as well as help someone (using a noodle/rope) from the side who might be having trouble in the water. I doubt he had any idea what he was really doing but he enjoyed throwing the noodle to the instructor who was "in trouble". After these activities, they went to the "deep end" (only 5 ft) to jump in with life jackets. When asked who wanted to jump off the the starting block, he immediately shouted, "ME!" The first video shows him jumping in with someone in the pool to "catch" him. After that, one of the other boys asked if he could jump in without someone there to catch him. Kaelan wanted to prove he was equal to the challenge which is what you will see in the 2nd video. The hilarious thing is that he doesn't weigh enough to swim with the life jacket on because it encourages his body to float on his back. Please forgive his mother for laughing hysterically!!!

Let him eat cereal!

Max had cereal for the first time today. He had his lunchtime bottle and was still fussy. Nothing was doing the trick, none of our normal playtime activities, so I tried putting him down for a nap. That didn't work either. He kept sucking on his lower lip which is often a sign that he's hungry so I thought, what they hey, I'll give it a shot. After a few bites (and by bites I mean me shoving the spoon in his mouth) I had to get the camera. He did surprisingly well for his first time, much better than I expected. By the end, he even started opening his mouth, which could have been a coincidence but we'll say it was because he liked it. :)

4-Month Well Check

Today was Max's 4-month well visit with the pediatrician. I'm extremely happy to say he is doing fabulous, both in his health and development. He was 25 1/4 inches "tall" (60th percentile) and weighed in at 14 pounds (only the 30th percentile). He's still kind of puny but he had a pretty good jump in both areas. It seems crazy to us that he's still only in the 30th percentile for weight because he's getting SO chubby. Some of the developmental "milestones" they asked about at this visit were rolling over either or both ways (hooray!), tracking 180 degrees with his eyes, bringing his hands together, cooing/giggling/gurgling, and reaching for things. I was able to answer yes to everything the nurse asked other than rolling from front to back which is totally fine for only 4-months. He's eating very well now and we can even begin to introduce solid food if we would like, altough there is no need for breastfed babies to start solids until 6 months. I'm not in a huge hurry for this but I'm afraid that waiting too long may encourage him to become a picky eater. One of those in the family is MORE than enough! ;) He's also getting more than enough sleep at night, sleeping anywhere between 9 & 10 hours a night. Way to go Max!!!

Today was quite a big day for our little man. Not only did he have a successful well-check, he also recieved his DOC band this morning. This is the "hat" that he has to wear in order to correct the lopsided growth of his head. He's supposed to wear it 23 hours a day leaving 1 hour for cleaning the band and bathing Max. I can't tell yet how much it irritates or annoys him but I know it bothers me. However, he won't have to wear it too long (possibly only 6-8 weeks) and it really is necessary for his head to become more round. I'll post pictures soon but until then, here are some recent pics of the boys. Hope everyone is doing well and had a fabulous and safe 4th of July!

Kaelan enjoying another swimming lesson

With his best buddy Eli from school after their 4th of July Parade. SO cute! I'll try to put a video at the bottom of this post.

More Independence Day fun at Nana and Papa's golf club.

Notice he's with the same 2 girls as the last picture. He spent the entire night with them. We tried to distract him so they wouldn't feel like they had to "babysit" him but they would come and ask him to do something with them. They were SO sweet and he was SO in love. ;)

Happy boy at Grandma and Grandpa's house last month. They were nice enough to watch the boys while Mike and I went to a wedding in Dayton, OH. It was hard to leave them for that long but we had a GREAT time at the wedding. Congrats to Mary and Dave!!!!!!

Playing golf in the sprinkler. Thanks Grandpa for a great afternoon!

Water Day at Kaelan's school

Possibly already posted this pic but it was too good not to put it in again! :)

Look at those cheeks!!!

A swimming boy is a happy boy

I mean really...does this baby look like he's only in the 30th percentile in weight? haha

Our first trip to the Carowinds waterpark. They have the best waterpark for kids, even babies!

Enjoying a Coldstone Creamery cake!!!

The most adorable pic of baby Max taken at his cranial doctor's office. Clearly we're ready to have some professional photos!!!! ;)

The Real Roll-Over

I wrote previously about how Maddox has rolled over but more by accident. He didn't like tummy time so he would push his butt way up and eventually it just fell over. Well, not anymore!!! He has been pushing himself up with his arms and pulling his head and neck up really high using his trunk. We have been so impressed and surprised because it just seemed like out of nowhere he enjoyed his tummy time and was doing everything the way he's supposed to. Today I layed him down on his tummy and immediately he pushed his head and chest up and rolled right over...like he'd been doing it for months. I quickly got the camera out to see if he would do it again and luckily, this is what I got (the edited version)...

The Beach

So I just realized that I totally forgot to post about our vacation last month (May) to the beach. We went to Nana and Papa's condo in Isle of Palms, SC. We love, love, love it there. It's the perfect vacation because there's tons to do and enjoy but also super relaxing at the same time. It's like vacationing at home. We're so fortunate and grateful to have the opportunity to spend time there. Here's some pictures of our trip.

The view from their balcony.

Kealan is ready for the beach, complete with Daddy's camelpack.

A day at the Charleston market. No trip would be complete without it. Shopping, history, fudge, and a fabulous lunch...SO much fun!

Sporting his new, color-changing pirate shirt. Arrrgh!

Chillin' with Nana

A sword fight with Papa to start off the vacation

Dinner at the Boathouse

This was pretty much the extent of Max's awake time on the beach. It was super windy at the beginning of the week so it was difficult to take him outside.

Buring Kaelan's feet

Getting used to the water. Luckily he didn't seem to remember getting LEVELED by a wave last year. He kept wanting to go back to the water over and over again.

Kaelan mummy

Post-Kaelan mummy

Love this picture!!!!

Flying his kite

Smiley boy

He has a lot more hair now :)

Pouty lip

Looking for dolphins during dinner at RBs

Swim Lessons & Rolling Over

I think the above picture pretty much says it all. Kaelan is clearly thrilled about his new year of swimming lessons. Last year, if you remember, he took swim "lessons" with Mike and I in the pool with him. This year, however, he is in the pool all by himself...no parent, no swimmies, no nothin'. I was a little anxious about what it would be like and how safe it would be but it was fine. The kids either hang onto the wall or sit on the little ledge that is in the water. They wait their turn as there is only one instructor and 4 kids. There are actually 6 kids in the session but 2 of them seemed less comfortable in the water so they were with a different adult. Kaelan was clearly the youngest. The other 3 children who were with his teacher had taken this same class before so although they had more technical experience, they were absolutely no more comfortable in the water. Actually, Kaelan was a little too comfortable because at one point when he was sitting on the ledge, he just decided he was going to jump right in...LITERALLY. He hopped right off and was straight up in the water kicking his little legs as fast as they would go to try to stay afloat. Half of his head was able to stay out of the water however I'm pretty sure both his mouth and nose were submerged. Thankfully I was right there and could have grabbed him (possibly after having to jump into the water fully clothed) but luckily the instructor was close enough to the wall to return the child he was working with and grab Kaelan with the other hand. The lifeguard, a very nice young girl with whom Kaelan later spent much of the remainder of his lesson flirting, was also on her way over to help. One of the other parents told me that they didn't have the lifeguards last year so I am very thankful they've changed that arrangement, especially with my little daredevil. Here are some more pictures of his adventure as well as video at the end of the post. Make sure you have your sound up for that one!

Blowing bubbles. He was so eager to do everything. The instructor started out asking "who can..." and Kaelan was always the first one to show his stuff. Then when it was time for the actual swimming, Bradley (the teacher) asked, "Who's ready swim?" Kaelan promptly raised his hand and shouted, "ME!!!" Obviously he went first. ;)

Swimming like a pro on his back

Basically the first session was to see who knew what and how comfortable the kids were in the water. At the end, they got to jump in (of course K's favorite). Right now I'm praying he actually waits for his turn and doesn't jump without Bradley there to catch him.

Ok, so if that wasn't enough excitment for the week, our little man, Max, rolled over for the first time. It was probably completely by accident but he did it, and he did it more than once. I've been trying to increase his tummy time which of course he LOVES...haha. While he's complaining about having to be on his belly he puts his butt up in the air and pushes forward. It would seem to be a good thing since, like he's trying to move forward and crawl...but it's not. The point of tummy time isn't to move, it's to strengthen the core and arms so he can eventually hold him self up to crawl. However, if he pushes his butt up, he can't push up with his arms. Essentially he's doing more harm than good. Anyways, it was this "butt push up" that enabled him to roll over. He got his butt so far up that it just fell to the side and he rolled the rest of the way to his back. So, like I said, it wasn't exactly the traditional "roll over" but we'll take it!

Here's his happy face listening to proud mommy making a huge deal about his accomplishment

Congrats to his future wife Gracie (Melissa's baby girl) who also rolled over for the first time this week. Are they meant to be or what!!! :)