Max is 11 months!

We are calling this the month of the Volcano. For two reason. First, Rudy was stranded in Europe last week due to the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjjoell volcano, which is a novelty in itself. And second, because Max is like a tiny volcano. He destroys whatever is in his path, his vocabulary is erupting like hot liquid magma and you can't take your eyes of of him (like an erupting volcano). Since he is changing so fast, so has our house. We now have a gate at the top of the stairs, locks on all dangerous cabinets, couches blocking certain exits, pillows covering the fireplace, plugs in most of the outlets, a cover on the spout in the bathtub, I have re-arranged items in the kitchen (which totally baffles Rudy) and toys every where. This kid is like our own personal erupting volcano and we couldn't be happier!

And now a haiku from Rudy about his volcanic adventure in France:

Prisoners of ash
An escape is hatched: Paris
The snails suffered most

Caught, Red Handed!

He forwarded the time on my clock radio by an hour and 10 minutes this time. BTW - doesn't he look old in the first picture?

Lookin' tough in the tub

Tupperware party for one

Just some cute pictures for all the Max fans out there...

Just another day at the park

More pics of Swingy McSwingerton

At the skateboard park watching the local teenage delinquents (ha!).

Max in his stroller looking like he is ready for another nap.

Another fancy dinner at home

Seared ahi on top of a bed of garlic mashed potatoes, topped with a fresh asparagus salad tossed in a garlicky vinaigrette.

Happy Birthday to Momma!

Max took me to Red Robin for my birthday. Since it was such a nice gesture, I gave him my balloon and a few bites of my free ice cream.

Tate and Kellen joined us for my special day. All of the boys enjoyed an early sample of their first french fries. Thanks for the fun day!

Bye Bye Tauri

The proud former owner posing on his faithful lady.

The even prouder new owners of their new lady
whom they will call Goldie.

Mischievous Max

So last night Rudy and I were abruptly woken up at 11:59 pm when the alarm on my clock radio went off. I was so sound asleep that all I could do was hit the snooze button. Ten minutes later the alarm went off again. This time I thought I was being clever by hitting snooze again but also turning the radio all the way down (since my alarm was set on the radio button and not the buzzer). Ten minutes later the alarm went off AGAIN but this time the radio was turned up full blast. Apparently I turned the radio all the way up and not all the way down. Before I could do anything Rudy pulled a WWF wrestling move (the arm bar - almost into a triangle hold) and tried to knock my clock radio into next year. He was concerned that the noise would wake up Max. This time I sat up and turned on the light so I could figure out what the heck was going on. You see, mischievous Max has been playing with my clock radio lately. He happened to turn on "alarm 2" and have it go off at 11:59. Today is my birthday so I think it was just his way of saying happy birthday to me. He wanted to be the first one - and he was. That darn boy!

First set of golf clubs

Is this my 8 iron or my 9 iron?

I was planning on saving this little set of golf clubs for Max's 1st birthday but he found them behind the couch so I decided to give them to him early. He doesn't have any idea what to do with them other than to chew on them. I am enjoying them; you can't take the little kid out of me. Unfortunately, they didn't make this cheap set in a lefty version so I hope it doesn't screw up my swing.

Injury prone

I guess we are going to have to start getting used to injuries now that he is standing. The first picture is of his fat lip. He got that from standing in his crib and biting the crib rail (apparently his lip too). The second picture is of a big scratch on his nose. He was climbing on something in the kitchen and wham, faster than we could catch him he snagged his nose. He didn't seem phased by either injury. He cries more when you take something away from him.

Max is 10 Months (part 2)!

I already did a 10 month post but here are the official 10 month photos (taken on the 26th). It is getting pretty hard for me to get Max to hold the 'month' sign so this is the best I could do. He now has 7 teeth (just a side note).

10 month picture outtakes

My muse is squirmy.