Santa? He's alright.

That sums up what Max thought about him. We headed over to Stanford mall last week on a weeknight to beat the crowds. Santa and his helpers asked how old Max was, and they gave us a whole lot of advice on how he would probably have a meltdown and the best way to take a pic (parents with him first, then Mom behind the camera, then Dad with Mom behind the camera, then lots of crazy waving, clapping, & yelling).

Max did not crack a smile and was a little weary of Santa, but I think we are just thankful that a meltdown didn't happen!

18 months

My oh my, time flies by. Our lil' guy turned 18 months old on November 22nd, and he surprises us all the time with how much his development is blossoming.

Max had his appointment a couple weeks late, but here's the stats:

Head circumference: 49cm, 86th percentile
Height: 33 in., 63rd percentile
Weight: 26 lbs., 69th percentile

Max is full-on running now. It's one of his favorite past times. Other favorite past times: pretending to "cook" with pots & pans, hide and seek, bouncing & throwing balls, stacking blocks, feeding & playing with Tank, pretending to "sleep", cleaning the table and sweeping the floor, throwing clothes in the laundry hamper, dancing, pointing out the parts of his face (and the parts of our faces too), being outside, baths, jumping on our bed, playing with his sound machine, playing with our alarm clock, climbing stairs, going to the park, and our favorite - giving kisses & hugs.

Things Max can say: Uh-oh, Oh wow!, Mama, Dada, all done, no ("nah!"), yay, ball, apple ("bapple"), banana ("nana"). Sometimes can also say: duck or up ("uh!")

Things Max can sign: Please, up, more, all done, help, thank you, eat, milk, hi, bye, cold, hurt/pain...and of course, touchdown!

Max has a total of eight teeth (4 on top and 4 on the bottom), and four molars breaking in. By now, Max has had well over 10-12 haircuts (probably more) since he was born. Besides his hair, he seems to be growing in height pretty fast.

Max's favorite foods: Oatmeal, yogurt, bananas, avocado, beans, rice, quesadillas, chicken, watermelon, grapes, bread, crackers, raisins, eggs, breakfast sausage, cheese, apples, oranges, and peas.

Max is not a fan of: broccoli, nose-wiping, haircuts, or sitting still for long periods of time.

Max has changed our lives so much, but for the better. He is such a happy kiddo about 98% of the time and so outgoing. He loves being silly, making people laugh. Can we say, attention-getter? He is a determined little guy and spends a good amount of time trying to figure something new out. Even though his determination sometimes turns into tantrums, he is over them quickly enough. His laugh is contagious, and he is laughing often - especially when he wants to be chased or for you to come find him when he is hiding behind the curtains.

The moments I love are when Max is in a cuddly mood and so he'll come over and sit on my lap while flipping through a book, or kiss & hug you for no reason at all. I especially love watching Max & Leon together. They have such a special bond and he calls for his "Dada" all the time, wanting to play and sit with Leon. And football Sundays? Forgetta' bout it!

We love Max more and more each day and can't wait to see what he will surprise us with next!

Lunch with Miho

The day after Hank's party, we headed over to Max's most favorite restaurant Chipotle to meet up with our friend Miho. I can't believe Miho has never gotten to meet Max, but I am glad she got to do so before he was in school!

Max showed Miho just how much he loves to eat, especially guacamole :)

Thanks for coming out with us Miho! Hope to see you again soon!

 A present from Miho - Thomas bath toys! 

Miho & Max

And one more

Hank turns 2!

Last weekend we took a trip over to Henry's house to celebrate his 2nd birthday! I can not believe the Paulsons pulled together such a cute little shindig while wrangling three kiddos.

Max had such a fun time running around Henry's house and getting to play with his toys. And we of course, enjoyed watching Hank run around with all his other friends. It didn't hurt to hold a twin or two either :)

Brett's mom & Shannon feed the twins while Max watches

Max in the yard

Henry serving the drinks! :)

Max LOVED Hank's b-ball hoop

Ruby...look at those eyes!

B-day banner over the table

Make your own play-doh as thank-you gifts

Cute cupcakes

Brett gives Hank his bday cupcake

Max, Axelle, & Hank in the yard

Getting into the holiday spirit

Unfortunately, no Tank and Max in a photo together this year for the Xmas card. These two are way too mobile and even getting a pic of Max by himself was a challenge.

I did get some cute ones though after many many takes... :)

Bustin' moves to Mozart

Talking on the phone

Max just LOVES talking on the phone. (I guess he always has).When he hears the phone ring he runs on over and points because he wants me to answer it so he can also have a chance to talk.

Here he was this evening after his cousin (my niece) gave us a call. Long after she hung up, Max was still talking on the phone!

Typical morning

Brush your teeth...(half sleepy)

...and off running!

Sundays during football season

Bed head, 49ers shirt, reading the Economist with Daddy on the iPad before the games start...gotta' love football season!

Daddy daycare

That's what this past Sunday was like around here...at least for an hour.

While I was driving Marissa back home, Leon & Max were having breakfast with Chris and his daughter Teagan. They went out to the park afterwards, and then headed back to our house. Brett ended up coming over with Henry too and all the dads were here with the kiddos. I came back just in time to see them all. I felt a little left out being the only mom there :)

Max isn't in alot of the photos. Why? Because he was running circles around the house of course. Exciting to have all his friends over I guess.

Henry & Teagan 

Chris & Brett contemplate leaving their kids with me 

More Teagan & Henry

My one shot of Max (wearing his niners shirt on Sunday!...it's kinda tradition now)

Henry & Teagan once more (Wait! I spot Max& Tank in the background)

My niece

I haven't mentioned it before on my blog, but I have a niece and nephew that suffer from a rare liver disease. My nephew had a liver transplant when he was 5 years old and my niece was able to have a special surgery to prolong the use of her liver since she was 8 months old. The disease has progressed, however, and she is currently awaiting a liver transplant.

We are hoping she will find one soon (we are testing a family member). In the meantime, I was able to attend a fundraiser last week in Stockton to help raise funds for the transplant surgery should we find a donor.

Although it was hard on the family at first, we are staying very positive about the situation. Marissa exudes positivity right now and couldn't be any happier that she finally has enough energy to attend school (it's her first year of high school). Love her and I hope we have some good news on this soon!

My sis Hong, me, my sis Nga 

Marissa, Hong, Johnathon (my nephew)

Reserved for Marissa!

Gramps with Max (Max would NOT let anyone else hold him that night!) 

Leon chasing Max (BTW, this was how most of the dinner went w/ Max)

Max points something out for Grandma

Max & the Grands

Hong, Marissa, & John (Marissa's Dad)

Marissa giving her thank you speech

This past weekend, I was lucky enough to steal Marissa overnight and we had an all-out shopping trip up in San Francisco. What a great time!

Marissa also got to spend some time playing with Max. He was being pretty coy and shy around her at first (um...not Max's usual M.O.) then once he warmed up, he didn't want anyone else holding him! So cute to see these cousins together.

M & M - cousins!