out to dinner...

last week tuesday i had a HUGE project due at work.

after i dropped it off, i called drew and we decided, we'd go out to eat to celebrate!

we decided on katsuya!

drew and i enjoyed a flaming volcano drink!

max wanted a picture with grama...so i told him to keep his eyes on the camera because lately he smiles but looks away.

this is what i got...hilarious!

our second attempt was much better!

katsuya serves sushi and hibachi style dinner.

max had never been before and we thought he'd really enjoy the "show!"

we were right, except for when our cook lit the whole grill on fire...it freaked max out a little bit.

and max needed a picture with this "ninja mask" before we left!

a fun visit...

a few weekends ago (i know, i'm behind on the blog) my dad came for a visit!!!

i had the gifts for him and elaine hidden from max.  once i brought them out, he of course asked if these presents were for him.  i explained that we would be celebrating "christmas" with grampa mark and elaine when they got here.  as soon as they walked in the door, he put their gifts in their hands and insisted we open presents!!!

he tore that box open and found....

a lions jersey!  he was SO EXCITED!!!

insert lots of playing, talking, visiting, and hanging out.

we had a great time.

on sunday we decided we would make pizza.

max grabbed his helping chair and his apron and was ready to go!

good thing we had elaine's help...i couldn't get that dough to do what i wanted it to do!!

we were pretty successful and enjoyed some yummy pizza for dinner.

after dinner, it was time to get in a little more play time!

brave knights!

i think max needs to teach grampa mark that you are supposed to "protect" your princess...not hold her hostage! :)

thanks for making the trip to visit us!!!  we love you!!!

funny kid...

i don't think a day goes by where max doesn't do something that cracks us up.

the other day he decided to line up all of his animals...for no reason at all.

he has also taken to playing "noah's ark" since they talked about it and learned the "who built the ark" song at school.  he uses a big wooden bowl for the ark.  the bowl has a candle in it but max leaves it there because "it keeps the animals warm!"

max has also started using a few new words that he has created.  

ear-annoyting-things that are too loud, music or noises that are too loud, or things that he doesn't want to hear are "ear-annoyting"

terra-fighting - dinosaurs, especially t-rexes, are terra-fighting because are bad and scary.

update from another doctor visit..

yesterday we travelled to milwaukee for a clinic visit and check up for max and also for a little fun.

first we started with some shopping at trader joes, lunch at the cheesecake factory and a stop at h&m and barnes and noble.  then it was time to head over to the hospital.  max was a little anxious but we assured him that they just wanted to see how he was growing.  

he had babycakes the puppy with him and was ready for the docs!

we saw pulmonary, ent, speech, and gi.  they run these clinics so that the kids can see all the specialists at once.  it's an overwhelming day but makes it much easier to take care of it all in one stop.  we only really need to see pulmonary and ent...but since the systems are all connected, they all like to see him.

all the docs were really impressed with how max is doing, growing, and developing.  we had a sleep study this past summer and they were concerned about his tonsils and were suggesting getting them removed.  well, they are no longer a concern and appear much smaller.  this might be attributed to the fact that he is doing so much better in dealing with illnesses.  his last two colds were just colds...they didn't turn into anything respiratory, didn't affect his whole body, and didn't really trouble his breathing.  i had also prepared myself to ask questions about what happens if he doesn't get better or his airway starts to limit him.  i prepared myself to ask about the details of the surgery they would do.  i got the information and was reassured that this wasn't something they were even considering for him at this point.  our next visit will be in 6 months for another clinic visit.  in addition to the clinic visit, the pulmonary doctor is going to try to do some breathing tests to get some measurable data going forward.  this way we can then see how he is improving (or not) in the future.  right now the only data we have are the videos from the bronchoscopes.  they said that nothing warrants them to want to put him under to take another look at this time.  we are just supposed to keep doing what we are doing and hope that he continues to improve and "grow out" of his airway issues. 

it is such a difficult balance because we scrutinize everything and of course want nothing but the best for our special little blessing...but looking at the bigger picture he could have so many more struggles.  every time we get ready for one of these visits i start to worry and doubt.  i am always kindly reminded (usually by crossing paths with a beautiful child while at the hospital) of how far we've come and how blessed we are that he is doing as well as he is.  thinking back to the tiny, little dragon baby that we held over 3 1/2 years ago who had to work so hard for each and every breath to this amazing, intelligent, wonderful little boy who finds joy in all aspects of life, loves to play and use his imagination and cares so much for other people...we have come so far and we are so lucky.  

funny nighttime stories...

max does some seriously hilarious things...but especially at bedtime.

he sleeps with his snuggle buddies (stuffed animals) and randomly will have to have a certain one.

the other night he asked me for his tiger (which is almost as big as he is), nala (the lion), and baby jag...all of which i couldn't find.  i was able to convince him to choose different ones.  after he went down i searched the house and couldn't find them anywhere.  

the next day, i was collecting the laundry to take it downstairs.  as i pulled his pile of laundry out of his basket...look what i discovered!

all smushed into the bottom of his laundry basket.

why?  i have no idea, and he couldn't answer that for me either.

as i mentioned, he loves to sleep with his snuggle buddies, the more the merrier!

if he tells us he is not tired at bedtime, we tell him that he can quietly play with his animals.

i always check on him after he's fallen asleep.  

i find them piled on top of him, sometimes all of them are under the covers with him, but for some reason, i thought this was hilarious.  they were all stuffed between his body and his safety rail.

our break - playing, relaxing, football and many thumbs up!

we had an awesome christmas break.

drew's dad came to visit and we got to spend lots of quality time hanging out, talking, and being entertained by max.  it was so great to have him up here!

we also did lots of using and playing with our christmas gifts.

here is the main man using his new water bottle, while wearing his new jammies, with his castle in the background...that of course deserves a thumbs up!

here he is doing some serious playing with his pirate ship...again another thumbs up!

and of course there is hungry, hungry hippos which we have played almost every day since we got it.

definitely a thumbs up from max...he LOVES this game.

speaking of games we've been playing a lot of them lately.  he is getting better at understanding that other people win...not just him.  he is awesome at taking turns and really likes playing.  it makes this momma happy because i really like playing games - i get it from my granny and gramps! :)

we've been playing candy land, hungry hippos, puzzles, balance the moon, and diceries(this is what max calls dominoes!)

we enjoyed watching a couple of packer games.

the one this past saturday was of course much better than the previous week.

and just to make a note, max successfully predicted the victor of both games!

here is max's standard uniform for watching the games...and he does this all by himself!

here's to a great run in the playoffs...go pack go!

what a great break...if i could, i'd give it a thumbs up too!