things are heating up!

We live with a kid.  No longer the parents of a baby!  No sir, we are not those people.  We have a KID, thank you very much.  According to him, there isn't anything he shouldn't be allowed to do or say.  A friend's mouth dropped open the other day after not seeing him for a week.  "He had a growth spurt," she said.  And I was sad, because Jon had said the same thing the night before....but I was too close to the situation to notice myself.  Le Sigh.  My baby continues to melt away and fade into this funny little boy who says the funniest things.

He loves to parent Jack lately.  He repeats all of the things we say to him, but to our cat.  Maybe he needs to feel in control about something?
"Jack, get down!  No, Jack!  Jack, timeout!!"  (my favorite was when he woke up from his nap yesterday and commanded her to come get him)

He's obsessed with Bob the Builder, and trucks & tractors.  Which is so classic boy, and I just love it.  The blackened fingernails at the end of the day are a little unsettling, but nothing that a good bath won't clean away.  So totally worth it to have a rough&tumble kid who would rather dig in the dirt for an hour than be inside.

a smattering of camera pics:

1+2. making the most of a sunny, warm day by taking a ferry ride.  He loved it!  Can't wait to do it again with Jon there too.

3. Max & Mom adventure day in the city.  We rode the monorail, hung around the space needle, hit up a candy store, got Potbelly's sandwiches, and ran around downtown.  He was such a trooper!!  Holding my hand when he needed to, and just taking in the sights and sounds.  LOVE having my sidekick with me.

4.  His favorite favorite thing at the moment.  At the zoo, park, childen's museum, anywhere he can find one...he WILL drench himself in the drinking fountain, and not allow other kids to use it without throwing a fit.  Oy.  (and yes, that is a shirt that I sewed for him!  haha, I've become an obsessive sewer, but more about that later.  Maybe obsessive seamstress looks a little better written down.  MAX has become an obsessive sewer.  More about that later too).

5.  Still a cuddler.  Moments when I still glimpse my baby.

6.  Favorite snack.  He finishes by handing me back a polka dotted apple, and I just wish it's the kind of thing I could scrapbook for the future.

24-month onesies, anyone??  Max has developed a nervous habit of constantly reaching down the back of his pants, absentmindedly.  Watching tv, reading a book, just standing around....he's got his right hand DOWN his diaper.  Gosh.  The cherry on the top of this not-so-sweet development was when he approached me last week with something to give me.  And he kindly put a turd into my open hand.
We made a trip to costco to sweep them of the biggest onesies we could find, and now Max lives in them.  If we forget to put one on him, we pay dearly later.

There's one of the three shirts that I've sewn for Max so far.  Haha, I am learning as I go....as all the decals came off in the wash, and that collar is big enough to be an 80s-shoulder shirt.  I took the collar off to reattach it, and need to find a different method for applying appliques.  Otherwise, it looks like a real shirt :)  

My friend, Jacq, has gotten me all inspired to sew clothes for Max (and gasp!maybe someday for me), and it's all I think about lately.  For anybody who still reads this dusty blog, you may have noticed that the blogs I read on the right hand side are now PRIMARILY sewing blogs.  I'm a woman obsessed.  It is so much fun!!  And I don't even care that it ages me about thirty years, and may sound a little hokey.  

I've reached the limit that my trusty "Pixie" (you are seeing that correctly.  That sewing machine will run you $37.95) will take me, and am anxiously awaiting Jon to give me the green light to upgrade!!  I have some dear friends who have loaned me machines in the in-between to give me a better idea of what I'd like, and to let me get some projects done.

So, anyway.  That explains my instagramming as of late.

Oh, that's just Max and his girlfriend, Ellie.  

Or, maybe she thinks that Max is her baby doll.  And Max allows it as long as he can play with all of her toys.  Whatever, it's a cute system of playing and hugging that they've got worked out.

Ellie's mom, two other friends, and myself will be leaving (fleeing) town for the Bethany women's retreat coming up in 3.5 weeks!  It'll be my first time away from Max for over 12 hours or something crazy like that.  I'm sure it will be difficult when it comes to say goodbye, but we are all sure counting down right now!  And Max is gonna LOVE his time with dadda, whom he adores.

See?  ADORES.  He's even started wearing sunglasses like Jon now.  He just loves it when daddy's home in the evenings or on the weekends.  I love watching them together!!

Spring has finally seemed to arrive in Seattle, and we are thrilled about it in this house.  Afternoons seem to fly by when we can be at the park for hours.  whew for that.  And more sunlight, more daylight, flip flops, a reason to shave legs again.....welcome spring.  Stay a while.

I gotta get to sleep, but just a note that in the past week we got word that we WILL, in fact, be moving down to Portland again in May like last year.  Jon's work was supposed to be such that he wouldnt need to be down there so much, but there was some rearranging, and he's back on in force at his client down there from mid-May to the end of June.

I was a little surprised at first to change my expectations so suddenly, but it took me about two seconds to rally and get excited.  I LOVED our stay down there last year!  It was like a vacation..staying in a sweet apartment, having housecleaners, living in the pearl district!  I'm determined to be proactive about planning our weekends down there this year.  I want so badly for us to get out to the coast, maybe even for an overnight, and let max run amok on the beach.  

Also waiting in limbo for some other potential, life-altering news from Jon's job.  I am not a fan of waiting games, but suspense adds a little flavor to life, eh?  I hope to know something soon!  That's my way of ending this post on a cliffhanger...


[ALSO, A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT IT'S AMY BINDER LIU'S BIRTHDAY TODAY.  I LOVE YOU GIRL.  HAPPY 3-1!! that is all :) ]