Man Night drawing to a close

Last night was once again man night at my house...Natasha teaches at Aquinas College on Wednesday nights. Last night Max and I made the trip to Meijer to shop for some gifts for our work Christmas Party.

We do the game where everyone gets a number and if your number is called you go up and pick a gift to unwrap...of course the next person gets the choice of stealing an opened gift or picking an unopened one. It makes things interesting and adds some intertainment. I get to do the shopping for it which is a lot of fun because to make the game intersting you've got to have some not-so-nice gifts. Let's just say Max and I found some good ones last night.

When we got home we got out about every toy Max owns and played on the floor. I am amazed how much change is going on in and with him. Two weeks ago he could sit up with pillows propped up around him in case he fell...last week in the same position he would still fall over but had strarted trying to pull himself back up....last night he was purposefully leaning across the pillow to reach a toy and then pulling himself back into a sitting position. Two weeks ago he was starting to grasp things and really be able to hold onto them with out dropping in it in a few minutes....last week he was starting to understand how his arms /hands moved together...this week he is picking up things like his block of wood and beating it on other toys and daddy...yes he is a boy.

The other change going on in him I really noticed yesterday is his desire to be mobile. He wants things that are out of his reach and he is starting to try to get them. He also holds his arms out when he wants daddy to help him get up...and the only help I give him is holding his little hands, he reaches out grabs my hands and pulls himself up on his feet. He will be 7 months old in a week...I really don't see him going more than 2 months before he is walking....very scary thought for daddy last night.

I find it funny the things he gets excited about and will laugh about. He loves our dog, Abby. He will just start laughing if she comes by him...his laughter usually gets her excited, which generates more laughter, which gets Abby running through the house, which gets more laughter. Last night I was feeding him a concoction of carrots and I don't know what else Natasha mixed in there...Max was more interested in the dog than the carrots. He spent the entire time turning his head from side to side trying to find her in the kitchen...it wasn't until he was wearing 10 spoonfuls of carrot mush on his face, head, and hands that he realized she was laying underneath his chair eating whatever fell of him. That's when the laughing and squealing started again. He then spent the rest of his time in his chair leaning as far forward as he could to see her underneath his chair while banging his fist on the table...didn't quite finish all the carrots.

Unfortunately Natasha only has two more weeks of teaching left...we are going to have to find something else for her to do so we can continue man night.

I'm back

Ahhh....I am back to blog land. It's been a long time since I've sat down and typed one of these things out. I've got a plan for 60 more of these so hang on.

It's amazing what 3 day work weeks can do to you. You go into a 4 day weekend thinking about all the rest, relaxation, and rejuvination you are going to get....at least I do. What I don't remember or think about is the price that I am going to pay when I return after that 4 day weekend. I met with my friend Phil and we talked about that...ok I complained to him and he listened. I really don't know where I am going with this other than I don't like 3 day work weeks after them as much as before them.

In that same conversation with Phil he reminded me how he has been trying to polish up 60 Nav verses ( www.navigators.org ) by the end of the year. Of course I agreed to be the "thorn in his side" for the next 6 weeks to help keep him on course. This morning I sent him another email that I hope will encourage him to keep pressing on towards his goal. In it I shared how I know, let me correct that, at different points in time I can say I knew about half of them. After reading through his list of 60 I realized how much of a crutch I was using the order I learned mine to remember them. His list contains at least another 30 and the 30 I know, knew, are in a completely different order than when I learned them. So after explaining to Phil that I felt like someone had reshuffled my nice and neatly stacked deck of cards I ended the email with: needless to say I won't be joining you in having all 60 by the end of 2007...maybe 2008. I hit send and began doing some work at my desk and then looked up at my wall calendar to see that I basically have 60 weeks until the end of 2008...why did I put that calendar there...no just kidding. 1 verse a week is very do-able. If you want to join along here is another great resourse: www.preceptaustin.org/tms


So this week is verse 1 of 60:

Christ the Center

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come!

2 Corinthians 5:17

Max update

Natasha here. Just thought I would post a quick update here. Jim has been busy hunting - I'm sure there will be a post sooner or later on the carnage that was pillaged this year. As for Max he appears to be working on some more teeth. He currently has 2 on the bottom. Here are a few pictures.

Max still loves his Jumperoo!!Everything is in danger of being eaten by the Max-monster.

It was yummy mommy!

Just relaxing in my PJs (sometimes until noon). In the bath with daddy and the Bumbo!!

Daddy makes a great bath toy!

Cousin Rachel and the girls came to visit recently. This is Grace, not quite sure what to make of this boy creature.

You lookin' at me Mommy!?!?!