Visit to Kellie's

Max and I were able to spend a week in Rexburg at Kellie's house. Although Max watched more than he interacted by the end of the week he was copying his older cousins and playing with them. They spent time climbing on the jungle gym, watching movies and sledding.

I enjoyed spending some girl time with sisters watching girl movies, talking girl talk and eating yummy food. We didn't do much but spend time together and I was so glad to be able to enjoy the time with Kellie while she was here.

No More Bottles

We are done with bottles! Just in time for his birthday.

I have wanted to get rid of the bottle for awhile but just didn't know how to do it. I researched and asked other moms. Sometimes I felt that I had let it go too long and other times that it wasn't time yet. James was not feeling ready for the change thinking that it would mean there would be no more cuddling. Max has always liked to be rocked and cuddled to sleep and would cuddle for as long as we let him. It used to be that he wanted to be held until he fell asleep but since we got his engine bed he lays down willingly, so the amount of cuddling was left up to us.

Two things have happened recently that made the time right. First of all he finally got some back teeth. For months and months he has had only his front teeth and it has limited what he would eat. Now that he has more teeth he is eating more and more solids.

Secondly, he stopped cuddling. (Well, he stopped cuddling with Dad.) James and I switch off putting Max to bed each night. Recently he has started saying "bed" to James. James will say "cuddle" and he will just keep saying "bed" until James lays him down. Now that Max has stopped cuddling on his own there is even less reason to keep the bottle.

I realized all of this after the fact though. Monday when we were getting ready for his nap all the bottles were dirty and I just thought, "Hey, why not give it a shot and see how he reacts." He was not happy but didn't throw a fit; just a little half-hearted crying. Last night he reacted a bit more strongly but still accepted it without too much crying. This morning he saw the bottles while he was playing in the sink so wanted them for naptime. I had him help me "throw them away" in the garbage and then when he was crying for a bottle I told him that they were yucky. He giggled more and more every time I said it and then stopped asking for a bottle and started saying "uck." The second night he has a much stronger reaction and cried for about half an hour before finally taking a sippy cup. He is still asking for it at naptime and bedtime but is accepting it a little easier each time.

So, now we get to put the bottles away. Usually it makes me a little sad as I put away the clothes he has out-grown but this time I am just excited to put the bottles away.

Sleeping Max

Before going to bed last night I checked on Max and this is what I found...

Bookgroup: Tending Roses

I kept wondering when we were going to have book group again and decided to take the initiative and start it myself. After two years I still feel like the "new" girl but I figured that everyone would appreciate someone getting it started again. I picked the book Tending Roses by Lisa Wingate. Kimber was reading it for her book group and I liked the first paragraph so chose the book. I enjoyed the book and gathered some bits of wisdom from it, although it won't be one I read again or buy.

Book group itself was fun. Seven of the women in our group were able to make it and we had a great time. We briefly discussed the book and spent a few hours on other topics which are not repeatable here. :) We scheduled the next few months and will be reading The Mysterious Benedict Society for next month.

Reasons I haven't Blogged

After reading Kellie's and Cami's blogs I thought I would jump on the bandwagon and list the reasons I haven't blogged. So, here are my top 10 reasons...

10. I am lazy.

9. I am in a reading phase. It is such a guilty pleasure and I can't get enough right now.

8. I change diapers, clean, cook, shop, do dishes, laundry, etc. just like everyone else.

7. I'm lazy.

6. Max doesn't like it when I am on the computer. Right now he is sitting next to me watching trains on YouTube which is why he isn't throwing a fit trying to get me out of the office. I can only lock him out of the room for so long before I feel like a bad mother.

5. I have had visits from Mom, Cami, Kellie, and Kimber. Fun visits...I should blog about those some time.

4. I'm lazy.

3. I like to spend my evenings hanging out with James.

2. I pull wallpaper, putty, sand, prime, paint and repeat. I am in the process of painting the upstairs hall, downstairs hall, upstairs bathroom and bedroom. I just want to paint! Unfortunately I have to fix all the holes first (especially the ones left behind by the previous owners' teenage daughter).

1. I'm lazy.

You might think that #2 directly contradicts #1 but I am able to accomplish both. (If you can accomplish being lazy.) I would have had this project done a month ago if I didn't keep dragging it out with my bouts of lazy stay-in-pajamas and read sessions.

Thomas The Train Blanket

On Friday Jake sent me an email saying that Jess had found a Thomas the Train blanket at a show. Jess remembered the post about his pajamas so she picked it up for him. He absolutely loves it! He was so excited to put it in his bed and played there for quite a while.

Thank you so much Jess!
(Notice the Thomas T-shirt he has on and Thomas pj's as well.)

Erika's Dance

Saturday evening I was able to join Kimber, Levi, Caitlin and Erika at Erika's dance competition at Thanksgiving Point. It was the first time I have seen Erika dance and she is amazing! It was a blast to hang out with the teenagers with their energy and silliness. It was especially fun to watch Caitlin get all giddy to meet Ryan and Ashley from So You Can Dance.

Afterward they all came back to my house and we stayed up too late watching Ace of Cakes.