Almost One!

As we head closer to the big birthday, Max continues to learn new
tricks and amuse us with his fantastic personality! The last few months
have been so fun, with our little boy expressing his cheeky,
fun-natured, playful, sweet sides!

He can clap hands, sign "more", wave "bye bye", etc. He is very good
with "gentle touch" He points to things to ask its name or if he wants
it. He also fetches things that we name. Saying the words is another
matter! The only word he says consistently is "no" which he uses in a
variety of contexts. "No no no NO NO NO" if he doesn't want to do
something. "No" while waving his hand if we tell him not to touch
something. "No" if we try to feed him something he doesn't like! His
fave foods these days are green vegetables, fresh fruit and berries,
rice, beans, tofu, chicken. He prefers to feed himself little pieces of
food but is also starting to use a spoon in a messy sloppy way! He has
five teeth for chomping down food.... although the next few are making
their presence known as they lurk beneath the surface of his gums!

Max loves to be outdoors - visiting Sam, the puppy dog next
door, or crawling along our stone wall, in spite of my insistence that
the grass might feel softer under his knees! Our dogwood tree is in
bloom which is just gorgeous!

Max's fave toys these days are his blocks, a ball, Daddy's guitars (oh
dear) and, of course, anything he can hit that makes a good sound! It's
pots and pans time! We also take him to the little playground near our
house so he can play on the slide and the swings! We also love to say
hi to the geese and ducks in the lake.

We read to Max a few times a day and he also loves to "read" to
himself! We often put two or three in his crib for him to find when he
wakes from a nap. That way we usually get an extra 20 minutes or so
before he calls for us! We also go to "story time" at the library with
the Harper girls once a week, although sitting still is not really
Max's forte'!

He spends a lot of time standing on his own, even pushing himself up
from squatting, but he doesn't seem in a hurry to walk. Still, he's
pretty quick on his hands and knees, as you can see by this photo of
him chasing Princess Buttercup!

This photo of the three of us was taken outside Sun Studios in Memphis!
Grant spoke at a college there recently. It was fun to go on a family
road trip!