wills park

this has become our favorite place to take max on a sixty degree saturday morning in february. he loves this park. he explores every nook and cranny of this wooden playground. he walks around like he owns the place no matter how many big kids are running around. his favorite activity is sliding down the big slides all by himself, tunnels and all.

vday

we had a wonderful valentine's day. we celebrated as a family on sunday so that we could give max his gifts and watch him appreciate them. its the best feeling when i think of something to give him and he loves it and enjoys it more than i could have imagined. we gave max a lights/sounds fire engine, a big red ball, and a child-size broom. my mom knit him the most adorable red sweater,gifted him a 3 part geometrical stacker, and found the perfect dear zoo book. josh and sarah gave him a talking car he likes to fix and push around the house. all of these items have become his new favs. i hope you all had a meaningful and happy day of love.

outfit provided by jacquie

17 months

amazing. i haven't blogged since max was 15 months old. tuesday he turned 17 months old. we have been busy enjoying the beautiful weather we have been having (nothing like those pictures from my last post) for the past couple of weeks. max has been so happy to be outside playing with all the neighborhood kids. they are all so sweet and max loves when they come over to play. we have lots of new balls that max has insisted on having when we shop at target/toys r us. he is growing so much. he is growing out of all of his 12-18 month clothes already. he is so precious although he does have his fair share of head smacking, body throwing temper tantrums at times. he has been getting so many teeth. lots of molars are in or on their way. he is talking up a storm. mama, dada, ba ball (basketball), ball, bye-bye, rock, hot, ac (aunt jac), car, go, up, baba (banana), pop (scott's dad), and his all time favorites uh oh, wow, and whoa. he attempts to copy just about everything we say and do. he is even putting words together  like "go car" and others. i love hearing his sweet voice. there is nothing better than when i ask for a hug or a kiss and he gets so excited and wraps his arms around my neck and goes in for the open-mouthed drooly kiss. my heart melts. max is currently obsessed with his books about trucks, his first 300 words book, and dear zoo  with lift the flap boxes containing his favorite..zoo animals. each night after his bath he chooses one of us (mommy, daddy, or aunt jac) to read him the 300 words book. we say the words and he points to the correct picture. it is unbelievable to me how much he learns and retains and how quickly he does so. that's why his head is so big...all that brilliance. he can identify almost every vehicle, animal, object in that big book. he also does many sounds. ambulance/fire truck, helicopter, airplane, elephant, crocodile, camel, duck, cow, hippo. he can hear/spot an airplane in the sky before anyone and if he hears or sees a fire engine he copies the sound (or a tornado siren). on many occasions he has come home with scott to find mommy cooking at the stove and points and says so enthusiastically "wow". i love it when he says that. right now he loves bird watching, ball playing, drawing, geometrical stackers (in the correct order), fire engines, and hiding. i feel like i could tell max stories for a living. there are so many smart, funny, sweet, and adorable stories to tell. i love him more than any words could ever express. tuesday we were home together. we were up all night in the steamy bathroom with our wheezing baby. at our doctor's appointment he was diagnosed with croup (just like his mama) and was on a 3 day dose of steroids to help clear it up. poor little guy.

see next few posts for goings on in the smith household over the past month or so...