Swiss Max

For those that haven't already heard, Nicole, Maddox and myself took a little break from life the last week or so, and we went to the mountains to go skiing. Baby Maddox got to enjoy the finer luxuries of a mountain side daycare while we got to enjoy the finer luxury of repeatedly falling face first while trying to snowboard. It was a great time. Max was his normal happy self and the break from work and Dallas was much needed, and if you ask me, much deserved.

The trip, like all trips Nicole and I take, wasn't completely without incident though. While waiting to share a rental car with my cousin Dale and his wife Kasie, Maddox decided the Denver International Airport was the best place to puke buckets. Sure it was 20 or 30 degrees outside. Sure his change of clothes were packed deep under mounds of clothes (rookie mistake). Sure his dad was parked in a place that he knew he shouldn't be. But c'mon... it was the perfect time and place. So good for Maddox. Sure, we had to scramble a bit, but it was no big deal. Sure, the rest of the road trip came complete with a hint of puke smell, but not so overbearing that you couldn't stand it. Just one of those scents thats there one minute and gone the next. Kind of like a pee diaper or a baby fart. It carries just the hint that the baby may need a change, but not nearly as overbearing as the truely dirty diaper. So, in a weird way it was kind of fun. Plus, in a weird way, I was kind of proud because a lot of stuff came out of my boy. Looking back I think he might have been packing it in a little too much. Maddox's next life lesson will need to be portion control.

This past weekend we also took a jaunt down to Granbury for the family Easter gathering. It was fun to see everybody and I'm glad Maddox had such an eventful first Easter. You'll just have to see the pictures to see all the happenings. With all the family and all the bright colored baby chicks, it was too much fun. Plus, Maddox managed to get a real baby chick in his mouth, with his mother hovering over him. Maddox 1, Nicole 0.

So, here's a quick update to Maddox's likes and dislikes, for those that care:

Likes (in no particular order):

1. Puerto Rican Maracas (always).
2. Snow Falling.
3. Feeling the cold on his face.
4. Using his 2 bottom teeth to bite his momma's face.
5. Using his 2 bottom teeth to bite everything else.
6. Sleeping in his mom and dad's bed.
7. Tulips.
8. Banging his toys together.
9. African American Womens.
10. Mangos and Pears.
11. Drinking water from a big boy glass.

Dislikes:

1. Sleep (his nemesis).
2. Hunger or even the thought of hunger (his other long term nemesis).
3. Bedtime.
4. Waking up in his own bed when we know how much he likes our bed.
5. Sweet Peas.
6. Ramming his head into his toy castle.
7. Having mom and dad sweep his mouth for paper he just bit off when nobody was looking and had accidently choked on, a little..
8. Being stuck in a car seat with his mom and dad sitting in full view of him.

BabyAir

Okay, so my new goal, in an effort to keep everybody up to date, is shorter posts, in half the time. Sounds good in theory, but then again, a lot of things sound good in "theory". Like flossing regularly or attending the opera or working out. All sound great, but also, all of them, without a true commitment, end with a "What the hell? What was I thinking?". So, I'll give it a run and test my commitment. But should I stumble, well, don't judge me.

What's new with baby? What isn't new with baby. He throws fits over pink duckies. Yes, a pink duckie, just last week, it caused him to throw the biggest fit of his life. Nicole took it away so we could wash under is chin, because he keeps some collectors items in there that need to be periodically washed out. Lint, paper, food, glitter, you name it, it's in there. So we have to wash it. But to wash it, you have to expose it. Which means he has got to look up before you can really get in there. This is usually done by holding something above his head and making high pitched squealing noises or acting interested in whatever you've got dangling above his head. Well, this time, Nicole just snatched his bath-time pink duckie. Maddox: "Oh, no you didn't!!" He hit the roof. Straightened his legs out and arched his back with no care of harming himself. He was dead set on letting us have it. He was pissed! Great times. I wished I had it on video for everybody.

I've also just about resigned myself to the fact that he isn't going to be a crawler so much as a scooter. He likes to sit on his butt and scoot a little now. I've tried to get him in the crawling position, but he doesn't really like to bend his knees. It's either straight or not at all. Plus you get to see more if your head is up. So why bother? He's got a point, I guess. I don't crawl anywhere anymore, partly because of that reason right there.

Also, last week we took a trip to Florida's sunny southwest coast to visit the grandparents. (Grammy Shazammy Bishop and The Grandmaster (non-KKK-related) Bish, aka Nicole's mom and dad. That isn't really what he calls them. Just a dream I have). He really loves them though. Likes to bite his grandad's foot and loves the games his grandma plays with him. But, to stay on topic, it was Maddox's first plane ride. And holy moly did he have a blast. We read the rules and made sure he was sucking on his pacifier during take-off and landing. Everything in between was cake. He liked seeing all the people and really liked smiling at them. He's such a ham. Nothing draws in the attention of old people like Maddox's big ole gummy grin. It's like moth to a flame. And I think he knows it. They are just too weak to resist him.

Okay, for those interested, here's the quick like/dislike list:

Likes:

1. Splashing dad in the tub.
2. Big pieces of paper. (loves them)
3. Mom's hair in his face.
4. Morroccas
5. Big red buckets
6. A quick weiner grab at diaper changings.

Dislikes:

1. Green beans.
2. The time right before bed-time.
3. People trying to make him crawl.
4. Having a piece of paper, working hard enough to bite a piece of it off, having dad take it away and eventually take all the paper away.
5. The trip from arms to car seat.