Mama!

this morning i woke to max yelling uuuuuuuuuup just like every other morning.  i walked into his room reached into his crib to get him and he looked right at me and said MAMA!  as clear as could be MAMA! today is my 28th birthday.... this is the best birthday gift a mom can get:)  

never forget:)

throughout life you get these moments, usually time passes and we forget.... this is one that i pray i will never. i have posted in the past that max's language has really picked up. but for some reason this event truly hit me, let me explain;

it all starts that i got a 30% off at kohls so my mom and i went after work to shop. by the time i got home it was dark. normally anytime that i get home and the kids are already there max and lilly come running to the door, lilly normal saying your home! and max normal yelling some type of cute gibberish. but this night it was different max greeted me at the door silent. he looked up at me and then did the sign for "na-night" (to sleep) no sound, no noise, no yelling, just a sign. i said to him "no max you don't need to go na-night you play." he just looked at me, it's hard to find the right words to describe it. it was a look of... you understand me:) all this time yelling i did this, and you finally understand me! then he just smiled turned around and walk away.

now, i know that he has asked for "more" and has done all of these other signs that i am very proud of. for some reason, this to me seemed like my first conversation with him:) sure, it might have been a one sign conversation, but to me it felt like we were really connected with words:) i've been waiting to have this moment, and i thought i would have to hear him vocally to feel that connection but i was wrong and that is why i hope i never forget it.

here is max signing na-night.

it's crazy to think!

i can't believe in less than a month my little boy is going to be two! since max has started walking (19 months! go max go!) he really has been picking up lots of other things,

he is signing consistently

"more"

"eat"

"bye"

"na-night"

"all done"

over the weekend he was playing with my dad, max kept putting his shoe on my dads head, then my dad would say wheres your shoe max, max would then take it off his head, he would do this over and over. then with out being prompted after my dad said shoe max did the sign! all by himself! it seems to be all coming together for him,

and today lilly and i were reading a book on the couch, max climbed up with a toy dog and handed it to lilly and patted his own chest over and over. i realized he was trying to sign dog, just in his own way(with signing, dog is normally patting your leg)!

he has vocally said the word more a few times now:)

he shakes his head back and forth for "no",

and up and down for "yes",

he copies almost every sign if he is in the mood, and now will hum along with you:)

max is always on the go, but we have found with his therapists is that if he is a little bit tired he can focus more on tasks like shape sorting(he is getting very good at shapes and sizes).

he has figured out how to open the gate to the upstairs so we had to come up with a way to jimmy rig it.

max now knows what gentle means, he seems to be kinder to his big sister, he no longer bites and only occasionally pulls hair.

he loves to hold his little brother, he looks at him in such a sweet way, then i ask him if he wants to hold him he needs to sit in the corner of the couch, he climbs up in the spot and holds him:) only for a second though and then seems to get board with him and pushes him away (we are working on signing all done for that).

here is a picture of max sitting on the stool. the last few weeks he has been climbing up and down them, but now at dinner time he wants to sit with the rest of the family to eat(not in his highchair). it's so cute he just sits and eats like a big boy!
you can tell he is so proud of himself:)
yes, he is still the trouble maker with climbing onto the counters!

i can say the whole family is so proud of this little boy who is almost two:) to think back two years ago and the things i read about having a child with DS, and the things a 2 year old would do "could do", it makes me wish i could find every new mom out there and say, don't read those things, don't believe those things. your child is going to amaze you by everything they do:) i feel the moments seem even more special because you can see how hard he tries to do something, how he doesn't quit and continues to try. so then when he gets it... wow... like i said AMAZING!
great job max! keep it up:)

sunday with updates on milestones.

our sunday....

max has now officially turn into the trouble maker child:) he is into everything, he gets in to closets throws everything out, he has figured out how to open the gate to up stairs. this was a picture of him figuring it out!
his big sister is trying to keep all of "her" toys up on the table so max can't get into them.

max is walking more and more! he is now able to stand up in the middle of the room, walk a few step pick up a toy, walk a few more steps pick up another toy. if he wouldn't get so excited about walking and stayed nice and calm he would be able to go so much farther before falling. (but i can't blame him for being so excited... walking is a huge milestone!!!)

an early morning picture:)

max has now conquered climbing up chairs. this is a picture catching him in the act of playing with my computer. if we don't push in every chair max will find his way up! we have found max on the counter next to the fridge pulling the magnets off and throwing them on the floor! and he is quick, a matter of minutes he is up an into something!

like i said little trouble maker!

it's only time till he figures out how to climb up the stools.

lilly doing her best to keep max down.

we had lilly's hair cut again. this time a little shorter.

she did really well siting still in the chair.

there was an empty seat so max drove a taxi for a little while.

lilly is sitting two seats over in a pink airplane. the little boy next to them was looking at max like "i wish i picked that taxi."

lilly's hair finished:)

we then went to a park and met val, nate and the kids for a short little play date.

it was so hot out, lilly got super sweaty playing so hard with cousin wilson.

we stopped at tom's-drive-in for burgers and popcorn before we got to the park.

max loves popcorn.

max taking a stroll on the side walk:)

we then stopped at grandma and grandpa pingel's house, we did plan to stay for supper but i had to cut the visit short because i was so, so, so tired. we went home and i took a 2 1/2 hour nap, it was really nice:)

it's been awhile.

i think this might have been my longest break in between posts. it has been a busy last few weeks. thinking back...

max ate a lot of spaghetti. (and yes he is sleeping in his highchair)
we had a very nice time with our new friends, ...rex, his mom and dad.

lilly got her hair cut:)
so cute:) and i forgot how easy short hair is to work with.

lilly and i took max into the dr. last friday, i thought he may still have an ear infection, and then when i called i realized max was due for his 18 month check. so we went in for the appt. and the nurse asked all of the "typical" questions... is max running? no. but he IS almost walking by himself! every other time they have asked me those question i hesitated, with a um... and felt a little bad for max that he wasn't doing those things yet. not on this day, this day i was just so happy that i could say he is doing great at his own pace and i really am so proud.
she went on to wait and measuring his height along with his little noggin. the nurse handed me a sheet with his measurements... it said, head 0%, weight 1%, height 1%. i asked if this was the "typical chart". for those that are not aware babies, children, teens and adults with Down syndrome do have a different chart that are measurement are placed on. the nurse looked a little sad, and responded "this is the typical chart." i cheered for max! wooowhoo max! the 1% you made the chart! lilly and max started clapping. it was super cute. the nurse got a huge smile and said "that is great max, way to go" it was nice to see that she realize it's not a bad thing to be small at the bottom of the chart... he made it! friday was a great day. we really must have been cheering loud be cause when the dr. came in the first thing she said was "i hear max has final put on some chub." oh, and max did not have an ear infection, he's as healthy as can be. we do need to go back this week to finally have his blood work done to check his thyroid levels, we are well over due we just needed to have him healthy for two weeks, and that hasn't been since september.
my new stroller came:) i love it... i think the kids like it too.
today nick and i had our 20 week ultrasound for the baby, it went great the baby is doing wonderful, right on track for the due date. the heart looks good. and it a BOY! i can say that when i heard this i was scared. not disappointed. just scared, my thoughts on the sex of this baby was if it's a girl it would be wonderful... she would be loving, supportive, and never leave us, never move away... she would want live in little chute, wisconsin. she maybe would go away to school, meet someone wonderful and move back home to be with us. i had in my head that if this was a boy he would meet i'm sure some wonderful girl, but move to where ever she was from, maybe i would get luck and she would be from somewhere around here but the odds would be not likely. i think the big thing was that i thought that it would hurt to see another son of mine doing things that max my not be, playing sports and dating(but i guess who knows max may do those things). i thought i would just be easier to just avoid those thought and feelings. but i now have had the day to absorb this all and really think about it. i was nuts. i blame it on being pregnant. a girl could move away just like a boy could. and if i really thought it through another male in this house is a really big positive for lilly and max. he will be there to teach max all of the things a little boy should know... how to pee on trees, how to bug the crap out of his big sister (max is actually very good at that already:) they are going to camp out together, catch frogs, get dirty, share a room and tell ghost stories that make each other scream! i am super excited for this little boy to join in the family fun:)

max standing and stepping!

so now max is starting to really enjoy standing:) he is getting pretty stable on his own but still has that new feet wobbliness(not sure if that's an actual word), his newest thing he starting to do is take a step or two! is so exciting he is so proud of himself:) as he should be! i do have to say he is having a hard time because he wants to just start walking before he is stable. i'm not sure what to do for that? i think i'll ask his pt tomorrow.

i had to throw an afghan picture in here:)

wooo whoo max!

and going down with a smile on his face.

miss lilly is such a good big sister, we were all very excited for max and she was cheering right along with us... but, as soon as he was done she said "daddy, mommy watch this! " and started spinning in circles. i try so hard to give the same attention to both kids, what's it going to be like when their are three running around here?

great job lilly!

max standing:)

this morning max and i spent some one on one time together:) we wanted to do a little practicing of standing on his own.

a few kisses of encouragement:)

i never thought of letting him lean on anything to practice standing and his pt lisa came over for a visit last thursday and did this with him... i was shocked by how long he stood there by himself:)

wooo whoo max!

way to go max!

i can't get back fast enough to get a picture with his whole body in it.

with all that hard work of standing on his own... it's time to sit:)

fresh air.

max has been getting over double pneumonia and strep throat, last week he spent two nights and three days in the children's hospital. he now is doing great and is just about back to his old self again:) one very cool new thing he is doing is signing more and doing it perfectly:) here are a few pictures from our morning spent outside, the weather here has been beautiful this week!

so sweet.max loves rocks.
really loves the rocks.
that lilly can jump so high.
nice smile lilly:)

steps

these picture were taken a few weeks back when the baby gate to the steps were down:) it used to be with the encouragement of his big sister max would follow her up the steps but now any chance he gets... he up to the top, this little one is fast:) oh, and the biggest thing... he now understands the word down and listens, and is able to come down on his own.