God bless us, everyone.

Can you believe this winter we're having?! Every day I tell myself to soak up this 60+ degree weather & warm sunshine, and to be ready for the cold & rain to return...but it never does! I dont mean to tempt the weather gods, I am absolutely sure that winter will return at some point. But this is positively incredible. Max and I are getting to the park every day, going on long walks, running out to the car in t-shirts...I am overdosing on vitamin D. not really, but you get me. I know that this is all part of global warming, but if the polar ice caps melting is wrong, I dont want to be right.

Max ADORES swinging. He's a little daredevil, this kid. He likes to be pushed pretty high for such a small bean. He giggles and shrieks so loud, I kinda start blushing from the glances he draws. (Look at that negligent mom, pushing a tiny baby so high in the air!!! Good thing they don't see his other favorite pasttime, him flinging himself backward when you hold him, just to get the thrill of falling and being caught. Loves it. Heaven help the nursery worker holding him, who doesn't expect it. That will set my church pager off, for sure.)

In other respects, my babe is a total chicken. Use a vacuum, or blow dryer...and you'll have some major consoling to do for a hysterical baby. I can't NOT vacuum during the day. I can't just wait until he's asleep, because that will wake him for sure. So today I tried holding him while doing it, and he just sobbed like, "Why are you planning to feed me to this horrible machine?!" Any tips how to acclimate a baby to these kinds of noises?

max had his six month pediatric appointment today, complete with four vaccines. Poor baby went into the clinic slap-happy and giggling at everyone who glanced at him. That's gotta confuse a kid, to be rewarded by being stuck in both legs! Afterward I drove him out to Golden Gardens beach to unwind, swing for a bit, and then walk in sand for the first time. He was totally into it at first, and then...yup, hysterical tears. I guess sand is scary too : )

I love being a mom. It's the best in the whole world.

:: OH, also, I'm gonna try to stop posting so many Max pictures on facebook. I heard a phrase recently, about our kids sometimes becoming 'narcissistic extensions of ourselves.' I dont want to unpack that phrase for you (although I encourage you to think about it! google it, even. It's interesting stuff!), but basically...I dont want Max to exist for my benefit. I will try to update this blog more often, especially for my family living so far away ((a.k.a. two thousand miles away)) but am going to do my best to stop filling facebook photo albums with max pics ::