Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Tait, Chaille and Max.

Well, Max has done a lot of growing up in the last few months. He started standing on his own and then took his first steps all on Thanksgiving Day. Since then we've been into all kinds of stuff. Max is eating a lot of people food now, but is still a bit picky. Mostly about feeding himself. He does not want help. Which means he gets a lot of baths.

Christmas and the days leading up to it were super fun this year. We held Max's birthday and then had two family Christmases in just 24 hours. Sure beats the hospital a year ago at this time. Chaille and I were saying sometimes a day can feel like a week, but the year just felt like a month. It goes so fast. He's grown up so much. We just want to thank our families for everything, we feel so blessed.

Thank you all for the Christmas presents and cheer and wish you all a Happy New Year!

Max's 1st Birthday

Max had a great 1st Birthday Party. Thanks so much for all the toys, clothes, and books. We're lucky we made a playroom out of our third bedroom just to fit all the stuff. We hope everyone had a good time, we know Max did.

Max's 1 Year Birthday Party

Fall Fun and Halloween

Max had a great Autumn. We did a lot of playing outside once the weather cooled off. He loved the swing in the back yard and playing in the leaves. He even got his first haircut as you will see later in the pictures. It was about time too!



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Pumpkin Patch

We took Max to the Stony Creek Farm Festival with the Stevens family.  We enjoyed some great weather for the middle of October and Max had a blast trying to pick up the pumpkins.  It was too busy to take a hay ride behind the big tractors, but we sure enjoyed watching them go by.

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Summer Fun

Officially, summer just started, but it's been warm for a while now. Here are some pictures to get us caught up since Easter. As you can see, Max has really started to grow!

He's sitting up pretty well now and can eat in a high chair with the appropriate padding. He's also eating veggies and loves green beans and sweet potatos (like his cousin Arlie).

For a while, Max was on a great sleep schedule, but this week he's been trying to stay up late, and sleep in like a teenager. He's had to cry himself to sleep a few times this week, which is hard on Mom and Dad since he's never really cried much. Perhaps he's preparing to stay up for the 4th of July fireworks.



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Vacation Pictures

We got nearly 3000 pictures over the week we were in Florida. Max was a perfect baby, didn't make a peep on the plane ride home. We're so lucky.



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Touchdown!

Max did great on his first plane ride. He fussed very little, and slept most of the way. Max got lots of attention at the Airport, both in Indy and Tampa. He's holding his head up now so he did a lot of looking around at both places.

Grandma Judy was so happy to see him she rode in the back seat with him home from the airport. While Max slept on the plane, he didn't sleep much anywhere else. By 6pm last night we had a very grumpy baby on our hands. He finally went down and slept through the night again (which he does regularly now!) and he should be back on schedule today.

One more thing, and this is hard for me to talk about... Max's favorite TV show is dancing with the stars. We caught him just mesmerized by the colors and movement the other night as he sat in his bouncy seat. We didn't have the heart to move him away, or turn the channel. Max was seriously enthralled. We figured some music and human movement wouldn't be all bad for him. Perhaps it's time to get out those 'Baby Einstein' dvds, and off the reality show kick early though.

Take care, Max is safe in Florida.

Get Set to Jet

Max is about to embark on his greatest adventure. At least the biggest adventure since his arrival. We are taking him on Vacation to see his Grandma Judy down in Florida. Max gets to take his first plane ride at just 3 months old. We can't wait to get some pictures of him in the sun and fun.

Max is really smiling now. He almost always smiles when he sees his Mommy and Daddy. He's got these dimples and wide open smile that melts your heart. These pictures just don't do it justice. But they're pretty cute on their own.





Max has also started to mock us. He'll make a cute noise, we'll make it back to him, and then he'll try and do what you're doing with his mouth and voice. He's trying to talk, we swear he is. Now we understand why parents that think their baby is the smartest in the world.

New Pictures!

Max is getting big! He must weigh 10.5-11 lbs now. His mother thinks he may have broken the 11 lb mark overnight. He's definitely putting some weight on his cheeks and belly. He's starting to holding his head up now, but occasionally headbutts your chest if you're not 'Johnny-on-the-spot' with a few fingers to hold it up. He's sleeping more now too, but still inconsistent.

We're in the awkward feeding stages between 4-6oz but our bottles go from 4oz to 8! It looks funny to see a little guy with what looks like a 2-liter in his mouth. He's also begun smiling at us, particularly during diaper changes. He just loves him some diaper changes.

Anyway, sorry for the long delay between updates. Here are some pictures. I really love the first one of him looking outside on his belly.

Finally, New Pictures!

Max slept through the night!

Max weighs about 8 lbs now. And he slept through the night for the first time last night. We don't expect that to be the norm, but it sure was nice. We're really starting to see him change before our eyes now. He's put on a lot of weight and has begun to really engage you with his eyes and tracking.

We're excited he's starting to fit into all these newborn clothes we have.

We'll try and get some new pictures up this week.

New Pictures!

Sorry it's been a while since our last post. We've busy this last week. I am back to work full time now, and we have also lined up full time child care for Max at 'Little Bear Child Care' here in Carmel. We're excited he'll be so well cared for, and so close to our home.

We've had a lot of family visitors over the last week or so. Here are some new pictures of Max.

- Tait

'Chunky Monkey'

Max had his first visit to his pediatrician yesterday. He weighed a whopping 6 lbs 10 oz! Doctor weighed him twice to make sure it wasn't a mistake. So in just two and half weeks Max has gained about a pound and a half. That's really good. He looks and feels a lot bigger as well. Daddy can't just 'single hand' him all the time anymore.

Anyway, that's the news in Max land for this weekend.

'Mommy Mommy!'

I have a funny story to share. Earlier this week Chaille was taking a nap so I was on Daddy duty and Max and I were just hanging out like fellas when I heard our doorbell ring. I answered the door and see two young bright eyed girls about 8-10 years old. Even all bundled up with hats and scarves, I recognized them as the Ogg girls that lived down the street.

They asked if I wanted to buy any girlscout cookies. I asked if they could come back later because we just got a new baby and I was busy taking care of him. They squeeled and said "You got a new baby!? What's his name?", each word escalating in pitch. I said "His name is Max." They turned around and ran off the porch and yelled...

"Mommy, Mommy! They have a new baby and they named it after our dead dog!!!"

Making Faces

Sorry it's been a while since we've made a post. It's been a busy weekend with family and visitors, but I did capture this great video of Max making some faces at Grandma Julie.



The dogs are home and both Cash and Ally were perfect around Max. It was so nice to have all 5 of our family members on Saturday night to watch football. Until the Colts lost. I was pretty upset, but great thing about babies, they're an instant cure to everything.

First Full Day at Home

We we're up a bit last night. Max slept so much during the day he was awake and fussy for a while in the wee hours. But he eventually settled down. Mom and Dad didn't sleep to well because they worried about Max all night. I think tonight we'll sleep better knowing he's ok even while we're asleep.

Today has been great. Max was a happy baby all day and really started to eat a lot this evening. Grandma Julie came by and held him for a long time and even fed him. Max was very awake for a while so we're hoping he sleeps better tonight. So far it looks iffy. But we got some cute videos that hopefully I can get up tomorrow.