7 week stretch

Wow has time flown since the last time I posted. Can't believe 20 days could go any faster. Nicole and I have been hanging on for dear life. Maybe not Nicole so much, but it really feels like I have. Wanting to spend time with Maddox is so hard when I also want to spend quality time with Nicole and when I need to spend some quality time with my job. Why can't there be 3 of me. Well... 4 if you count that one of me needs to do some yard work. Probably 5 if you add in that somebody needs to discipline our cat on the "new" house rules. 6 of me is out of the question... even though I could use the extra body to help cook and do the dishes. But lets be honest... 6 of me would be too much, especially when we all know it only takes 1 of me to get on Nicole's nerves... and only 1 of me to make Max cry. Such is my life though.


On the Max front, he is turning out to be the coolest thing that has ever happened to me. He is starting to gain control of his head, which, believe it or not, is one of the first steps toward world domination. Granted, his head isn't always steady, but he is moving it where he wants to. He follows me around the room, and the other day, decided he was tired of moving his head to follow me, and instead opted to just move his eyes. So smart! Now, if you balance that brilliance with me jumping around on either side of Nicole making weird shrill like noises to get Max's attention, you can easily see that he doesn't get this intelligence from his daddy alone. At least not with the display I was putting on. Sure, the shifty eye thing could also have been more about him being embarrassed than anything, but for now, I'm opting for smart.


He's also started to smile. And let me say, if there is something more moving than seeing your child smile for the first times in his life, I'd like to see it. I've never been more happy. It's so infectious and handsome. It's almost indescribable. It really lights up the whole room. He's going to be a lady killer.

This past week brought Max's "Granny, You" (aka Nicole's mom) out to see/visit her grandson. The "Granny, You" title was given to her as an idle threat by me... I think that she was getting out of line something awful, so I calmly introduced the idea of her grandmotherly name being just "you", if she didn't straighten up. Much to my surprise, it didn't really scare her off so much as spurred her to embrace it. All my power is lost. I really have my fingers crossed that stubbornness is not inherited. But no, having Nicole's mom out was great, especially because she brought gifts. I'm happy for Max. Nicole and I were both really excited for her to meet him. Equally as excited as when we got my parents and family to see him the first time. You want your parents and family to be impressed, but you also don't want them to fake it, you truly want them to be proud. It's funny. The excitement is more of a "Look at what we did"... almost like when you are a kid and you dress yourself for the first time. Looking back, sure, you might have just been wearing your underwear with a pair of mismatched shoes and knee high tube socks... but you know what, you did it yourself, and that is all that matters!

Max's next doctor appointment is right around the corner (September 4th). We couldn't wait... according to our measurements he's up to 24 inches long. Not sure about the weight yet, but he's definitely heavier. He has moved out of the 0-3 months clothes and is now somewhere between 3-6 months and 6-9 months. Mostly because of his length. He's still got some growing "out" to do. Also, in the tradition of all things parents, I have diagnosed his genius when it comes to eating and I think I caught him doing calculus between translating this blog to Latin and male modeling. He'll probably be the President...