Happy New Year! First post for 2009.

I must apologize to all my family and friends.  I realize I've been slacking a bit in the blogging department, but all I can say is life has been very busy!  Mom and Dad are getting wiser in their old age and it's hard for a one and half year old to get his way these days.  Just a few examples:

You know how I used to get rocked to sleep EVERY night?  Even for my naps at home.  I was living large and in charge!  I had them in the palm of my hand when I was snoring away in their arms.  They must have talked to Lisa because now they put me right into my crib to fall asleep.  I mean, I have no problem with that, and it gives me a few minutes of quiet time to unwind, but I don't feel like I "own" them as much you know?  I guess I'll have to continue to rule the dinner table...

Also Mom and Dad used to do my puzzles for me, because they're made for 3yr olds and I pretended like I didn't know how to put them together.  But they're on to me, so now I have to do my own puzzles.  Can you imagine?  That's like a Hollywood actor doing their own stunts!  I got people for this!  Right? I mean I used to...

And Mom and Dad make me recite the alphabet ALL BY MYSELF.  I mean I refuse to do the whole thing... who has time for all 26 letters?  I just go up to F or G or whatever I feel like at the particular time.  But they used to say it for me, and now that they know I can say it myself, they don't help.  And Mommy got me this thing on the fridge with all the letters.  I know about 10 of them pretty good, but the others are just there for decoration.  Grandpa likes to ask me to bring him letters.  I think it helps him learn to read. 

I am also feeding myself because Mommy is getting lazy.  She used to literally spoon feed me every little morsel of her yummy cooking.  Now she just puts it in a bowl and I eat by myself.  For the most part.  I like playing with my food using the fork.  I'm also a HUGE fan of dips.  I don't mean those depressions in the road.  I'm talking ketchup, soy sauce, hummus.  I even dip my apple slices in water!  I just love dipping my finger foods.  It really adds a kick and brings out the flavor.

I had a pretty relaxed New Year's Eve, was out by 8pm as usual.  Don't worry, I celebrated New Year's on London time.  I think Mommy and Daddy had some champagne, but I stuck to my favorite beverage - milk!

Christmas was most excellent this year.  I got a TON of stuff.  I mean seriously, I thought we were in a recession?  I opened so many gifts my fingers got tired.  Well, not tired enough that I didn't also open Mommy's gifts and Daddy's gifts.  I even tried to open other gifts under the tree, but Mommy said they were for other people so I stopped.  I got a lot of really cool stuff from my Aunts and Uncles and Grandma and Grandpa.  My Aunt Christine got me Elmo's Restaurant which is super cool.  It has an oven and fridge and I hit the bell and it plays a song.  

Did I tell you I love to dance?  Oh yeah, it's one of my favorite things to do.  I got some pretty dope moves too.  I spin in circles until I fall down.  I wave my hands in the air (like I just don't care), I stomp my feet and sometimes get going really fast like I'm riding a bicycle downhill.  I love music, Lisa plays me a bunch of Chinese songs at daycare and Mommy got me some Chinese CD's too.  My favorite CD right now is a Sesame Street compilation Mommy burned for me off iTunes.  It has all my favorite songs on it.  Daddy had to make a second CD of the playlist because that's pretty much all we listen to in the car. See, I still own them!

Will write more next time.  Let's see if I can get on the iMac at least once a week.  Daddy kinda hogs it right now so it's hard for me to find some time online. Bye for now!

-Max

Wanna race for pinks?

Whachoo got?  I can totally take you man.  This new ride of mine goes 0-6 in like 3 seconds!  Instant torque off the line because it's an electric vehicle like the Tesla Roadster.  I'm diggin the exposed-to-the-elements styling à la the Ariel Atom.  I've gotta wear my windbreaker when I take this puppy out.

I'm giving Daddy a head start since his VW is so slow.

-Max the Ax.

Been too busy to blog.

Holy Cow! It's been 3 months and I haven't had any time to post. Life is just so busy for a baby genius, maybe I need an assistant. Well, I have these two people who already do whatever I ask them, but they're always tired and I think they do other stuff during the day when I go play with my friends. I need an Executive Assistant to manage my schedule. How else will I know when it's time to eat? I'm always hungry!

I guess I should increase my vocabulary so my new EA will be able to fulfill my every need and do as I ask. Right now I know about half a dozen signs and can do a few silly things that my Mommy asks me. I do them because she's so easily entertained. I figure I should give back to my fans for making me who I am today. I can currently sign; milk, food, more, sleep, water, dog, bird and a single-wing plane (makes sense if you know the sign). I can also give kisses, hugs, blow kisses, point to stuff I want, clap my hands, point to my ears and nose and hair. I do most of these things in three languages, four if you count ASL!

I also said my first word! It was a few days after my birthday and I told Mommy, "Ball!". I had to point at the ball a few times before she would actually give it to me. Maybe I need to teach Mommy more words!

For my birthday I got a whole bunch of toys. My favorite Auntie Christine got me a Batman PowerWheels! It's so cool, but Daddy had to return it because he thinks I'm too young. My Uncle Barney and Auntie Ervinna got me a weird laughing blue stuffed animal. He looks just like Cookie Monster on the wallpaper at home. I also received a variety of cars; push ones, ride-on ones, even my first remote-controlled car! Mommy and Daddy got me this big play structure/climber/slide thing. It was ok, but I'm too little to climb up and use the slide. I think I'll just keep playing with their stuff like keyboards, blackberrys and bathroom paraphernalia.

Being one is a lot of fun! I promise I'll try to write more for all my loyal readers.

-Mighty Max

Crawling, on the ground, not on the Web.

I finally did it!  Well, I've been practicing for weeks now, but it's official... I can CRAWL!

Mommy saw me do at least three steps.  Daddy did too when he finally got home from work. I've been doing one step (can you even call it that?) for about a week now.  Before that, I was particularly fond of the "army crawl" - all arms, and legs a-draggin!  I used to roll around a lot to get places before I figured out the arms thing.

And now I'm a Crawler!  Watch out everyone.  Anything left on the floor will be promptly snatched up and chewed on.  Hey, I'm teething too, that's just what we babies do!

Daddy's got some video, which he'll probably put on YouTube before long.  For now, enjoy this picture.

-Max Crawler

I'm 7 months today! - Foodie dinner and cake.

Boy am I getting big!  Mommy can barely carry me now.  Daddy has a hard time too since he hasn't been working out.  I've been eating solid foods and I love it.  My favorite is applesauce, which my Mommy makes herself from organic apples.  Daddy buys me a variety of baby foods such as mango dessert, peach rice & bananas, vanilla custard pudding, squash, peaches and my LEAST favorite, green peas!  Yuck!  I make this nasty face and spit it out when Daddy gives it to me.  I don't think he gets it, he still tries to make me eat that green goop...

Sometimes I'm so hungry I eat my own toes! They are quite yummy!

Tonight Mommy is going to make me some risotto to celebrate my 7thmonthday.  We're all going to eat it together, but I need mine to be mushed up a little.  Mommy also got me a little chocolate cake.  I wonder how many candles I'll have?  Maybe one that is 7/12th in size?

We also moved a few weeks ago and I'm finally settling in nicely.  I've got my own room and it's quite large (for me).  I've also got my own bathroom which I take my baths in.  It's much better than the kitchen baths in the old place.  As you can see, I approve!

Mommy has an office, but really it's just one big toy room for me.  Daddy has his toy in there too.  He spends a LOT of time on it.  It was supposed to be a gift for Mommy but she hardly gets to play with it.  Oh well, boys and their toys? Good thing Mommy is so understanding.

 

Until next time (month?) folks...

-Baby Max

My new Ride (Part 2): Classic Cruiser Silver Speedster!

This Christmas thing is really cool.  I got to dress up in  my Santa shirt and funny red hat.  It had a cotton ball on the tip, so funny!  Mommy got me some really cool blocks.  I can build with them, or I can just chew on 'em.  Daddy got me a talking doggy, but he's kinda scary.  I dunno, maybe I'll grow to like him over time.  My Grandma and Grandpa got me some fleece sleep outfits. My Uncle Barney got me some new clothes and a track suit!  Now I can be a real hipster and hang out in SOMA...

My buddy Oscar got me this really cool gift!  I can't believe he got it for me, that was so generous of him. This is my second "new ride", well... if you don't count Mommy!  The Silver Speedster is obviously inspired by the Auto Union (nee Audi) Type D racer.  Daddy's gonna get me  a "four rings" emblem for it.  I think I should also have my name on the side.  Mommy is not a big fan of me racing, but I'm a safe driver and I'm gonna get a little helmet.

I got my Mommy a Gore-Tex jacket from Swoosh.com.  I got Daddy the Orange Box for his Xbox 360. I didn't get anyone anything else cause I'm just a baby...

-Max the Ax

New kicks: Nike Air Me!

So Daddy took a day off work and played stay-at-home-Dad for a day. I don't think he'll be doing that anymore. I was being a bit difficult, but you can't blame a little guy. My Mommy wasn't here, I wasn't feeling well and Daddy really threw off my schedule. I wasn't feeling the bottle today and I didn't eat for like 7 hours! When we finally got home I scarfed down four bowls of solid foods. Daddy tried to give me some water in a sippy cup, but I didn't like that either.

The one bright part of the day is that we spent some time at The Great Mall and I got to people-watch. I love watching people, especially other kids. I think they're funny and I make funny comments to Daddy when people walk by. You see all kinds of folks at the mall!

Daddy spent a TON of time at the Nike Store. I think he was having a hard time finding Mommy something cool. We finally left with only stuff for Daddy... and ME! I got another pair of shoes, and they're not Converse this time. Daddy got me some Air Max basketball shoes. I think he was jealous of how cute I would look, so he got himself a pair as well. Look at the difference!

We're going to play some one-on-one when I can walk. I think I can take the old man.

-Air Max

I'm 6 months today - Shots and Santa

What a day! I'm officially 6 months old. Wow, that's quite a long time. I'm finally getting the hang of this baby gig. I'm pretty good at my job. Eat, sleep, poop, sleep, wake Mommy and Daddy up at 4am. I'm an expert by now. I wonder what the next 6 months will be like. I hear I'll be getting a lot of presents when I turn one. Start saving up now people! Max needs some new toys...

The one bad thing about getting older are the doctor's visits that come with it. Today was no different. Dr. Brown is a nice guy but I just wasn't feeling it. I mean c'mon, do I really need all these shots? I'm just a baby! Why you gonna mess up my perfectly plump thighs with some needle marks? I hate needles, they hurt like a mother! I had to get a bunch of vaccines and it was painful. Of course as soon as the male nurse was done, my Mommy picked me up. Whew! Safe at last. Sure I shed a few tears, but I'm a baby! I toughed it out though, I stopped hurting as soon as I was in Mommy's arms. And I knew they had another surprise for me...

So we drove to Mommy's office, and I thought, "Ok, time to look cute! Mom's just wants to show me off to the crew." No problem, part of being a baby is getting shown off. I got no problem with that! But when we pulled up to the lot, Mommy went to a different building. That's when I saw it... The Intuit Winter Wonderland Party! They had the Hogwarts Express out front giving choo-choo train rides. We went inside and there was the Harry Potter picture station, the Wizard Wand station, the Bertie Bott's (Jelly Belly) dispensary, and the roving witches and wizards, one of whom had a real live snake! Okay, so it was a bit much on the commercialism (Thanks WB!), but it was fun nonetheless. There was this old dude in a funny red suit and everyone was waiting on line to get pictures with him. I didn't see what the big deal was, but Mommy wanted me to get a picture as well. Check it out below.

I'm pretty cute huh? I'm on this dude's "nice list". This means I'm gonna get hella cool toys!

There were tons of other kids there, and Daddy got to try out some "Butter Beer". He's such a lush! Mommy did eventually take me over to her building and of course her co-workers all love me. I'm quite loveable you know. If not, check the pic again...

-Nice Max

First Track Day - for Mommy and Me!

My Mommy rocks! She did a hot lap of Sears Point, aka Infineon Raceway, in an S4 no less. 340hp of big thumping V8 power! I knew she was a good driver, but my Mommy's a racer!

It was part of the Audi Driving Experience and it was pretty cool. It was my first time at the track, but hopefully won't be my last. I was too young to participate, but Daddy did push me around in my PT Sport. And my Uncle Plato took care of me while Mommy and Daddy did some auto-x type exercises. Mommy rocked the emergency lane change (slalom) exercise. She was really fast and smooth - all signs of a great driver. Daddy was next and got the car sliding sideways! The instructors gave him a big thumbs down and said ESP saved his butt. The next time around he did okay, but I still think my Mommy is the better hotshoe.

I was hoping she would get the ride along in the R8 for "Most Improved Driver". She didn't, but that's probably because she's a pretty good driver to start with.

So when do I get to do some laps? Daddy is getting me a Recaro seat for my first birthday!

-Max the Axe

My new Ride: The PT Sport!

No, it's not a retro-wago-van made by Chrysler (Cerebus?). I didn't say PT Cruiser, I got a P&T Sport! That's Phil & Teds for those who don't keep up with the latest in baby rides. My Dad reads Autoblog, but I like wheels of a different variety.

I think I look great in it. The blue camo was a hard sell for Mommy but I think she likes it after seeing it in-person. Can you guess who picked the color? It's almost a match for my part-time ride, Daddy's WRX! I like Mommy's ride better, but the Scooby-Doo is fast and makes my head squish up against the SIP wings on my Peg. The ride of the PT is like Mommy's car, smooth, cushy and fast!

The best part is there is an extra seat for my friends Sammo and Tubs, or a future baby sister.

Not that there is any news to share. I want Mommy and Daddy all to myself for a few years!

-Max Attack