Kennel Cough

So Max had his first week of school 2 weeks ago now. Of course his very first week, he picked up kennel cough. There is nothing quite as heart wrenching as listening to your baby boy struggle to catch his breath. The facility is great, well run and well attended, but I know it can't be avoided. I just wish it didn't have to happen on week one. Luckily Grandma and Grandpa Parker were able to take the boy every day last week and help us nurse him back to health. Nights were tough, since he had been sleeping really well, about 930pm - 530am most days. We were now back up a few times every night, struggling to breathe no less. That made mom quite the zombie for a few days. Very physically and emotionally draining, that first sickness.

This week he is back at school and doing much better. He's still a little congested but his coughing is much less severe and much less frequent. He gets a steambath in the mornings, followed by nose spray and the aspirator, which of course he loves. But through it all he is our little champ, always sending me to work with a smile, no matter how he feels. We are SO lucky to have such a sweet natured munchkin!!

Our First Day

Well, we got that out of the way! Once again, we dropped Max off (together) and I was a mess and he was completely calm. Have I mentioned, Greatest Baby Ever? I am sure I had a much tougher day than he did, with my handful of meltdowns and all. I made the mistake of calling (they said I could!) to check on him and it was like starting all over. Luckily they are very sweet and understanding ladies there and they were very nice to me. And Max must have had a busy day of socializing because he went right to sleep at 930 and when the alarm went off at 6am he was still asleep! Seriously, Greatest Baby Ever. So I hit snooze and lasted about 90 seconds before I had to go check on him. It wasn’t enough to feel his chest rising with each breath, I had to touch his face, which of course startled him. But he was still snoozing so I got showered and most of the way ready before he really even got up. So we fed him and got him dressed and ready for the day.

Now it’s Day Two and I’m already doing much better. Of course, it really helped that I just kissed him goodbye and sent him off for “a ride” with Daddy today! James will be taking him and I’ll be racing like a bat out of hell -- I mean, picking him up. Goodness how a baby changes everything!!
No wonder going back to work was so hard. This is what Max and I USED to be doing when Dad was leaving for work! Oh yeah and I'm brunette again for the first time in a long time!

Here we are at bathtime, in Max's Yoda cloak.

Only 2 weeks of leave left

And while I do crave adult conversation, I miss the boy already! Here are a few new photos. Dig the airplane jammies from Aunt Sheila! He used to swim in those, and he's about to grow out of 'em. In fact there are only a few things he has left from his "0-3 months" collection and he's not quite 8 weeks. His unofficial weight is currently 12 lbs. 9 oz. I say unofficial because I weighed him myself today and he was clothed, so it'll be official when we go for his 2 month check-up next week.
Max always eats with his dukes up!
Enjoying some time on our play mat.
Big Brother Bruce watching over the boy.
Airplane jammies.
Thank you, thank you very much.

Mad Max

Big Boy yawn! Big Brother Bruce keeping an eye on Maximus! My second ballgame, last weekend. Yankees tonight! Hi Uncle John back there! I'm trying soooo hard to smile, and I sometimes even smile back at you, but not for mom's camera!

Another week gone by already, I can't believe Max is 7 weeks old tomorrow! We're getting quite good at getting out and about if I do say so myself. Big trips, little outings, we just try to get out every day for some reason or another. We've been to 2 ball games, lots of lunches & dinners, and countless errands. I am back to work in less than 3 weeks now, I'll miss him terribly, but must admit I look forward to some brain stimulation beyond tickling tummies and dirty diaps!! Just as I'm sure James is looking forward to something beyond "Well we had a huge poopy blowout today!" when he asks how our day was. Max will be joining Children's Choice childcare, affiliated with Children's Hospital in a few weeks, highly recommended (thanks Ashley & James!) and really nice. I'm looking forward to my own meltdown on his first day, but I am sure it gets easier. Anyway, here are a few new photos and a video with daddy. XOXOXO

Take Him Out to the Ballgame!

So we enjoyed a lovely spring night out at the ballpark at Arlington this week. Max saw his first Texas Ranger game and was a champ!! Cuz, you know, he's advanced.... I used my nifty envelope sling thing, and he seemed to like it, even if I thought he looked squished. But we figured we'd better get him out there now, while they're in first place, since the next time that happens he's likely to be in middle school.
Here he is!

Here's Max and Bruce from a week or so ago.

Non-Baby Max post

So we saw Star Trek this weekend. It. Was. Awesome! Loved it. And here's what Bruce does all day long...

One month and double digits

Yep, Mad Max is a month old already! Hard to believe. We're through the growth spurt and the every-hour feedings, thankfully. For Max's birthday, he gave me a present - two days in a row of 5 hour sleep nights! What a world of difference that makes!

Max also lost his cord stump this week, which is nice, since that thing was pretty nasty! He also officially hit double digits, 10.1 lbs at the doc's office. I do think that his weight gain helps with his sleeping, as even the nurses agreed that the 11 lb. rule was not a wives tale. 11 lbs. seems to be the magic number for when they can sleep through the night, so we'll soon see.

More pictures on the way. I can't find my converter and my big memory card in my good camera doesn't plug directly into the computer!