So I just deleted this hugely long post whining about what Max cannot currently do. I fell into the all-too-easy mompetition trap--comparing Max to other babes of bloggers who were born around the same time he was. It's not good for either of us. Max is an individual who will do things on his own time. So, enough of that.

We're in the thick of potty training Theo. Oh, man. Okay, it's not as bad as I thought it would be, but not as good, either. What was I expecting? Ummm..maybe I didn't think through what a poop in underpants would be like. Or, cleaning pee off of the family room rug. Yeah. Gross. But...he is definitely getting better at "recognizing the feeling," as his Sesame Street potty chart that we read every single time we go into the bathroom says. Sigh. Hopefully we'll just get the whole deal over with shortly.

Now, boys, boys, boys...

With an ever-present truck

Earning his gymnastics medal

Max loves Sophie

Dreamboat

5 Seconds

I have 5 seconds to spare--before folding up diapers and filling up water bottles and such for the next day. S. has strep throat and is tucked up away in bed, babies are sleeping, and I am watching "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" on VH-1 in an attempt to turn my brain off temporarily. We have been..busy. I can't even begin to describe the business. The end of the year is always like this. We take a deep breath, runrunrunrunningrun, and then--poof. It's over. You know, until summer school starts.

I have over 200 unread blog posts in the my G*ogle reader. WTF.

Tomorrow marks 6 months in the life of Max. His tricks are certainly not as advanced as other babies his age--he is a bit on the slower side of big physical development, but has superb fine motor skills, expertly gripping things in his tiny fists, bringing them to his mouth. He finally flipped from back-to-front, but he prefers sleeping on his side, snuggling his little blankie. Oh, my goodness, it is so cute. He can sit like a gorilla for a few minutes at a time, and is eating up a storm--huge bowls of rice cereal mixed with pureed squash or peas so far--yummy yum.

We started "sleep parenting" in earnest last week (sleep training sounds so awful) by letting him fuss in 5-minute intervals, not feeding him every single time he woke up, and doing a dream feed with rice cereal before midnight. It worked after a couple of nights, and last night? He slept through the night. Good stuff.

Mind you we never had to do any of this with Theo, so this not-so-sleepy baby is seriously new territory for the both of us.

Now, what I'm sure you've all been waiting for--updated pics.

P.S.: Ferris Bueller is kind of a bully to his BFF. What kind of message was this movie meant to send anyway?! Still love it, though.

Memorial Day red, white, and blue baby with Meme on the porch

Theo with his awesomely cheesy grin posing for Mommy's new iPhone camera