Dear Max:

Wow! It has been such a huge month for you. I know I have said that on other months but this month has really been about your self esteem and your personality. You have stepped out from behind the door and you are saying: THIS IS ME WORLD! I feel like you are such a big boy now. 

For 19 months you have been quiet around strangers or not comfortable in situations but now it is different. At music and lIttle Gym, you are one of the first kids to go up to the teacher and participate. You are so proud of yourself and you make this smirk because you are so happy and shy at the same time. You are such a humble little man. 

You are still such a sweet and sensitive guy. No matter how much you get hit or your hair pulled, you do not push or pull back. You just look at the kid like they are crazy and then you look at me. I think Esther the Super Pug has helped you to learn how to treat people and animals.

This month you are also putting your face in the water in the tub and you kick your legs as well. You love the water and we swim at the toddler pool as well as your little friends Tyler’s pool down the street.

You now laugh at everything. You watch TV and movies and laugh at the funny parts. You also laugh at yourself quite often or if Daddy does something funny. I see your personality come through more and more. You are a very special kid.

Still your hat is your favorite clothing. You refuse to go out in the sun  without it and now you own about 4 hats but your favorite hat in the Philadelphia Zoo hat. You also enjoy wearing sun glasses. It must be your sensitive green eyes. You are adorable and I could just eat you up daily..oh but wait I do.

You are the love of my life and you always will be. I am so honored to be your mother and I am so lucky because you are such an angel. I will always think of that first night alone with you and how you slept in my arms in the hospital. It was love at first sight. Thanks Maxie!!

We go to Little Gym in Narberth and Max is in the Beast class, which is 18 months to 2 1/2 years old. We did a make up class on Thursday and we were in the Super Beasts class, ages 2 1/2 to 4. It was a very different kind of class. They makes the moms sit against the wall and they invite the kids to come out play. There were probably 15 kids in the class and only a handful of them went to the teacher and played but Max was one of them. The other moms and caregivers could not believe it and now could I. My little guy was venturing out on his own and being independent. I was so proud of him. I was beaming.

The teacher spoke about kids learning self esteem by learning to do stuff on their own and I go to see Max doing it on his own. But the greatest compliment came from the teacher, Mr. Jay. He came up to me and told me that I have done an amazing job raising Max. he told me that Max;s self esteem is amazing for an 18 1/2 month old kid. He said that I must have allowed him to be independent a lot and not do things for him. I guess Mr. jay did not count the bruises on his body and head for proof but regardless, it was one of the nicest things that have been said to me. I love the LIttle Gym program because they do a lot of work around self esteem and it is so important to me. 

Max made me feel like as proud momma, as always. Thanks Max!!

Not the best picture of me but I thought I had to post the belly shot now that things are progressing. I feel like one day my belly was pretty small and the next day it just popped. I am still small because luckily I carry really well but for me, having to move the shopping cart at the grocery store-to reach and get the groceries is a pain in the ass. I did gain back the 4 pounds that I had lost from being sick. I guess I cannot stay that small during pregnancy-DAMN. I wanted to pull weeds tonight in the yard and garden and it actually hurt to squat and pull weeds. Damn the big belly but thank goodness that little baby is doing well and getting bigger. 

Anyway, I have gained 14 pounds to date and I actually feel pretty good about that. I am still feeling pretty cute in my clothes and I feel good when I put on a suit so I guess it is isn’t that bad. I would love to be under 40 pounds this time around but whatever will happen will happen and I will lose it just like last time.

Max has been hugging my tummy a lot and kissing my tummy. It is adorable. Sometimes I just want to eat him up because I love him so much.

Well I am off to read all of your blogs and then watch some crappy TV.

I could not believe how sick we were. At first I thought Max ate something that did not agree with him or that he was just coughing up mucous from teething and do the “cough vomit” but when I started to get sick too..well then it was confirmed..we had a virus. It does not help that my husband does not do well with vomit or germs and so he stayed on the 2nd floor. Damn the Man but there is no use for all of of us to be sick. HOWEVER, Scott ended up getting a little sick but nothing like us. So Damn the Man. LOL

Max puked and puked and puked; About 22 times and luckily he kept drinking his bottle and so I did not have to worry about dehydration. I only puked 4 times in one day and then each night the acid reflux has been so bad that I cannot keep my food down either. UGH. It was the kind of sickness that we could not even keep water down. I lost 4 pounds and I know that I am the one suffering and not the baby inside of me. I am sure once my stomach heals then the food will stay down but I am so hungry.

I could not believe how bad we felt but I hear there is a nasty virus going around. There is a local hospital nearby and so many people entered the ER with vomiting and well it coming out the other end too.

There was of course a few times that Max and I bonded. I was throwing up in the toilet..he saw me and he threw up on the floor. Oh these are the memories that I will never forget. Great story though.