Rainy Day + Cardboard Box =

A ride around the house in a box isn't complete unless you have a stuffed monkey and a pool noodle with you.  Thank you Ricky for providing additional entertainment.

Proof that playing with the box is more fun than playing with what was inside.

or

I need to call Sam's Club customer service, this isn't what I ordered!

Max's Favorite Toys

There are so many toys on the market specially designed to appeal to babies.  Max loses interest in those quickly.  Here are a few of his favorite things.  I think he's spending too much time with Ricky.

An empty coke bottle with blue dyed water.  The blue water is more for me than him.  He was playing with the empty bottle for a few days before I tried to make it look like a toy rather than trash!

Ricky's rawhide.  We will throw it down the hall to get it away from him and he will crawl after it.  I finally gave in and gave him a new rawhide to play with, but then Ricky traded him the old one for the new one.  Older siblings...always tricking the younger ones out of their things.

The kitchen rug.  He has so many soft, little, colorful blankets yet he prefers to snuggle with a rug.

Flip flops.  He is constantly going after our flip flops!  Don't worry, we are not letting him chew on dirty shoes.  We bought this pair just for him.

Sitting on Dad's Shoulders

New Use for the Wagon

Keeping Max seated for wagon rides hasn't been easy now that he has turned into a little mountain goat.  Until he understands that he needs to stay in the wagon (or we figure out how to strap him in) it's going to function as a walker.

Road Trip, Part 2

After we left Grandma and Grandpa's house we spent a couple days in Cincinnati with Aunt Chantal and Uncle Matt.  Max had fun with his aunt, uncle, and their three dogs.  He had many new experiences including his first trip to a museum!  Chantal works at the Cincinnati Museum in the Natural History and Science Department and gave Max a personal tour of the place.

Max with Aunt Chantal, Uncle Matt, and "cousin" Hooter.  We tried to get all three dogs in the photo, but as you can imagine it didn't work out so well.

Getting fed to a polar bear at the Cincinnati Museum.

Max turned into a butterfly...with the help of Aunt Chantal.

This guy looks familiar.  I wonder if he's been to the World Famous Armadillo Festival.

That's not a little baby, just a really big slice of tree!  This came from a tree that is over 1400 years old.

Max's new friend from the museum, an ankylosaurus.

Road Trip, Part 1

Max went on his first road trip last week.  Michele and Max drove to Ohio to visit her family.  You read that correctly.  One woman, one 8 month old, in a car for 1800 miles.  How did he do?  Let's just say Max isn't ready for world travel.  The "ups" definitely outweighed the "downs" and we all had a fun time on this memorable trip.

One of our many stops.  Max enjoyed a picnic lunch at a rest area in Tennessee.

We were lucky to meet up with Stacy who was also in Ohio visiting family.  Max made friends with Stacy's dog, Bettis.

We finally made it to Grandma and Grandpa's house!

Max went for lots of rides in the wagon his mom rode in when she was little.  Mom didn't have this cozy custom-made seat, though.

Standing tall for Grandma.

He really liked the garden gnome.  Every time Max would go by him in the wagon he would stare at him.