a couple of days with grammy...

daddy is in madison for most of this week practicing and recording.

grammy was nice enough to take a few days off of work to help out with max.

she's also been helping mommy get the house clean...

this is what i know about today.

today max rode a lion.

got peaches in his hair.

took great naps.

was full of smiles and was quite cuddly.

and got to go for a nice walk.

he was still relatively happy when i got home at 8. we got in a few snuggles and then went upstairs to read books, say our prayers, and go to bed.

who needs toys...

who needs toys when your child is so entertained with a paper bag.

max has been playing with this bag since sunday.

we could save some serious dough by just giving him paper bags to play with in the future.

happy easter max...here's a paper bag.

happy birthday max...here's a paper bag.

merry christmas max...here's a paper bag.

i mean, i'll go all out and get colored bags, decorated bags, i'm not going to deprive my child.

but if a paper bag can make someone THIS happy...would i want to deny him that kind of happiness...absolutely not! :)

i think i can...i think i can...

well...it's not officially crawling but max is definitely making forward progress.
ready or not...here he comes!

funny face...

this picture cracked me up. drew and max were playing on the floor and i just happened to take a picture at exactly the right time to catch this funny face!

a fine friday...

we had a great friday.
max and i started the day off with the same 'ol same 'ol.

wake up...breakfast...play time...bath...reading with daddy...nap...lunch...

then we headed to his 9 month well visit.

max is 23lbs 4oz (87% percentile) and 28 3/4 inches (75% percentile).

he's reaching his milestones and doing great!

after the doctor we headed home for a nap and to wait for a call from daddy.

we headed to waverly beach in menasha to visit daddy at his dress rehearsal and to have fish fry with the family.

what a big boy...

max is getting so good with his little fingers.

here he is showing off and feeding himself a graham cracker.

he's working on the rice puffs but they are so small that sometimes he gets frustrated.

this little guy is just too cute!

9 months old...

holy moly! our little max is 9 months old today.

time has flown by. i cannot believe he'll be 1 in just 3 short months.

max...you are such a silly little guy. you love to smile, babble, and laugh. you are starting to wave and clap. you also are now giving kisses...it doesn't happen all the time...but you lean in and just rest your lips on our faces...so precious.

you are getting so close to crawling. you are excited about this but it makes mommy and daddy nervous.

you love to play. your favorites are your stackable rings (or fruit loops), shape blocks, the orange monkey, silly town, and this ball. you have an impressive attention span for such a little guy. you are quite inquisitive and like to figure out how things work.

you are strong....strong physically and strong willed. i'm not sure how you know that you want to crawl or that you should be crawling...but you do. you know when it's time to eat and let mommy and daddy know when they are taking too long.

you get frustrated when you can't figure something out and when you want something that you can't have. you do "get over" your tears pretty quickly. it usually doesn't take much to get a giggle or see that beautiful little smile again!

we love you so much and can't wait to see what you learn, do, and figure out next.

passed out...

max is usually up by 6:30am-7am every morning.

tuesday i went up to check on max at 7:30 and the little guy was still passed out.

he was sleeping so soundly.

max and daddy both slept til 8 that day. mommy was pretty jealous!

fun with wormies...

max eats rice puff cereal for a snack with his 3:00 bottle.

they kinda look like mealworms...so drew started calling them wormies.

daddy let max play with the container the other day.

well...i'm not surprised that this happened.

oh, max!!!

our first trip to the park...

max, hannah, and i went to erb park on saturday evening. with being back to work full time, i often feel like i am missing so much. it was so fun to be able to take max down his first slide and to push him in a swing for the first time.

ready.......set.......go!!!

he seemed to be okay with it right from the start!

hannah was a great pusher.

i think he liked it!!!

great saturday morning...

we had a great morning here in the hicks household.

nothing going on. just relaxing and spending time as a family.

drew and i both actually got to go to the gym. it felt amazing!

max got a little adventurous...and ended up getting stuck under the chair.

we set him free and found out that he did a little dusting for us.
thanks max!

so cute...

look at this little man. he's such a stud. check out his matching skills!

splish, splash...

max LOVES bathtime.
here's a little video of him splashing around!

getting so close...

we've moved the speakers on stands into storage, ordered a new coffee table, and have the gates leaning against the wall waiting for the moment that the crawling ensues. it won't be long before max has it all figured out as you can clearly see in the pictures below.

easily amused...

we were doing some cleaning and organizing in max's room.
i'm glad this little one has such an attention span and simple things make him happy.
here he is amused by just a plastic hanger...i hope this lasts!

thanks to jamie for the cute outfit!!!

happy st. patricks day...

happy st. patricks day!!!

max and i went to a pub and grill in neenah to have dinner and watch daddy play tonight for st. patricks day.

here is max hanging out while daddy set up his gear on stage.

quick family photo.

the luck of the irish may have brought us this little guy...just a month after we returned from ireland is when we were approached about the possibility of adopting this little blessing!

night time with daddy...

i had a late night at work yesterday. drew was getting max ready for bed last night and they apparently had a little diaper photo shoot. max loves being in just his diaper...which daddy calls "naked baby time."

i can only imagine the giggles and craziness going on while these pictures were taken.

crazy sleeper...

we always find max in a different position when he's napping.

a foot sticking out between the rungs of the crib, hands on his face, completely passed out with his hands above his head, on his back, on his side, on his belly....

for some reason this really cracked me up....

look at those feet...crossed and in the air. such a funny little guy!