Shopping Carts are Fun

Max had his first ride in the front of a shopping cart today and loved it. It seems like every time we go to the store he's sleeping in his car seat so he never got the chance before. He just watched everyone and everything. He kept peeking around me to see what/who was behind me. It was so cute.

11 Months

It's hard to believe but my little man is already 11 months old. Unfortunately, he spent his 11 month birthday being sick - a bad cough and sneezing - so these pictures were taken a little bit late. We went to the developmental pediatric specialists this week (not for any concerns but for follow up that they do because he was in the NICU). They said that his social and motor skills are excellent. Doing everything he should be. They think he'll be walking soon. The videos below confirm that. We need to work on his language/communication skills. Nothing to be worried about but we have to work on it. He's not saying any words yet and he doesn't recognize any commands or objects. I think he's just taking after his papa and daddy.....men of few words.

Ever since he tried Saltines in Virginia (thank you Aunt Janet), he just loves them. That is the only thing he'll pick up and eat. Other food like puffs, he just picks up and plays with or can't seem to get them in his mouth. He seems to be getting picky about some foods too. Ugh!! I always said that our mothers (mine and Roger's) cursed us to have a picky eater since we were so picky. Let's hope not. I hope this is just a phase.

We may need to change how we take his pictures from now on. He seemed to like standing up more than he did sitting down.

This video also shows his other latest tricl - clicking his tongue. Aunt Janet will be proud.

Thanksgiving and more!

This year we had a lot to be thankful for. Mostly we are thankful for our beautiful baby boy and the joy he has brought to our lives. I look at him every day and wonder how he can be so perfect and I am grateful for every minute with him.

The week of Thanksgiving was a week of first for Max (and Mommy and Daddy). He visited 2 more states. He started to pull himself up on everything, and he had his first ear infection.

We went to visit friends and family in Maryland and Virginia. On Wednesday we spent the night at Roger's cousin Massud's house. Massud and Ali and daughters, Sophie and Layla, spent some time playing with Max and teaching me how Roger and Massud are related. They are second cousins and grew up spending summers together at their camps in Iran. Then on Thursday we spent the early early afternoon with Massud's mother, sister Sohaila (this was one of the names we were considering if Max was a girl) and her husband Francisco and daughter Maria. It was great to spend time with them.

For the rest of Thanksgiving day we spent the day with my nephews family. It was great to see everyone and I'm glad that they got to meet Max. Unfortunately, Max was very, very cranky and didn't want to eat or drink or do anything. We did manage to give him the turkey leg and see what he did with it. Between him not feeling well and not really sure about any food in his hand, he didn't do anything more than just look at it. But it was cute anyway.

On Friday we decided we needed to take Max to urgent care because he definitely wasn't feeling well and we suspected an ear infection. I guess he's one of those kids that doesn't pull on his ears because he didn't do it at all but sure enough he had one. Poor little guy. He hadn't slept or ate well in a couple of days and was very cranky for the last day or so. Luckily the medicine kicks in pretty quick and he was feeling much better within a day.

Once he was feeling better, he was back to his old self....very happy and playful and starting to get into everything. All he wanted to do was pull himself up on anything he could grab. On our way home, he was much better and slept and played.

He's growing up so fast. When I dropped him off at daycare on Monday they told me we had to start thinking about moving him to the next room. How could that be? How could my little boy possibly be ready for the next room? I know he'll be 11 months old soon but he's still so little. The next room is for the 12-18 month olds that are walking and getting them used to the daycare's schedule. I can't believe he's ready for that room. Now we have to decide if we transition him (have him visit the room) or just got cold turkey and put him in there for good. Big decisions!! I cried all the way home....I'm glad he's progressing and learning but it's so hard to let go of the little baby.

There's no stopping him.

It's amazing how things happen so quickly. Max just started crawling on Monday and he's not even crawling a lot yet. But today he learned how to pull himself up. He started by pulling himself up while he was holding on to my leg but I was bracing him so I really had no idea that he could actually do it himself. Then we put him in for a nap and Roger and Shirin we're watching him in the monitor and saw him pull himself up in the crib. Then he did it a few more times. Amazing!!

Here's a great video of Max and Roger playing. Max was having a lot of fun.

Max's 1st art work. Aunty Rose, Arianna and Laila taught Max to color.

10 Months

Look at how grown up our little boy is. Can't believe he's 10 months old. Today he started to crawl. I mean really crawl, not just scooting or going around in circles to get where he wants to go. There's no stopping him now. He started full time daycare today. It's hard to think that he won't be with Aunty Rose 3 days a week but daycare isn't all bad. We taught him some moves so he can protect himself against the next biter.

For this months picture, he decided he wanted to play with the bear. The bear looks huge in these pictures.


We're having a heat wave in Albany and yesterday was a beautiful day for a walk to the park. Max and Daddy are enjoying the sunshine and view.


You can never have too many pacifiers (or Maxifiers as we like to call them)

Happy Halloween!

Max had a great time watching us rake all the leaves. And then he didn't mind sitting in them for a perfect fall picture. He kept inspecting each leaf and wondering what they were.

Max only wore his costume for about 20 minutes. We went to Aunt Tammy's to Trick or Treat but Max fell asleep on the way and then just as we started out to meet up with them it started to pour. Then we went to Tammy's neighbors for a party. It was a lot of fun.



Although I would love to let Max eat pureed food until he was in high school, we've been trying to get him used to eating more textured food and to feed himself. He doesn't seem to notice the varying textures but wants no part of feeding himself. With a little pleading and plodding he picked up and had a bite of the banana before he learned how squishy it was and how much fun that was. He's still a great eater. There isn't anything that he doesn't like. He had a reaction to yogurt and cottage cheese but soy yogurt seems to be fine.

Other news: He gets himself into a sitting position now and even crawled for a few seconds today. He's growing up so fast. Here are some other great pics....

Michael wanted to see if he could fit in the crib too. I love this picture.


Max is all dressed up for Adam and Christina's baby shower. Isn't he so cute?

Max loves Daddy and gives big kisses to prove it.


I love watching him sleep with his butt up in the air.

Max is obsessed with stings. See how happy he is when he's untying Roger's shoes?

Another great picture of Michael and Max. He looks like he's actually listening or reading along.

Some pictures of Max with family and friends: Uncle Henry (top left), Aunt Tammy, Uncle Henry, Aunt Shirin, Adam, Meme and Papa, and Steve. He's so loved.

Vote for Max!!!

Help us win a Gap gift card and a vacation. Vote for Max...Isn't he the cutest?? You can vote once a day. Share this with your friends too.

Max T. submitted by mjjunco13 for the Gap Casting Call

And since there are a boy and girl category you can also vote for our cousin Lillie. Let's help the cousins sweep the contest.

Lillie J. submitted by rebjunco for the Gap Casting Call

Nine Months

Max is nine months old already. Wow! Where does the time go. He went to the doctor yesterday and had a great check up. He's 16 lbs and 26.75 inches tall and the doc is happy with his growth. He's not on the chart for his weight and he just made it on for his height but he's doing great.

Developmentally he's doing everything he should be doing. He's sitting up really well and even stands pretty good too (with support). He's starting to get on his hands and knees and rock and will even take a couple of steps when you hold his hands. I think he's going to walk before he crawls. My prediction is that he'll be walking by 10 1/2 months. I'm not looking forward to him getting into everything but I don't think we have a choice. He's a man on a mission.

He's eating like a he'll never get another meal. Eats anything we give him so far. We have discovered that he has a reaction to yogurt and maybe cottage cheese...still testing that one. Hopefully that will go away eventually. We haven't tried many finger foods yet, just a few puffs (baby snacks that melt in their mouth) and a piece of banana which he had no idea what to do with. I'd just assume puree all his foods until he's in college but eventually we'll give him food he can pick up and bite. It just scares me.

Today was trick or treating at my parents camp, they close next week so they do it before they close. Max was dressed up as Tigger. He looked so cute. He got lots of candy for mommy and daddy. See what I mean about standing.

Yesterday, our friends Scott, Karen, Annabel and Caroline stopped in to visit on their way to Vermont. They live in NJ and Karen and Scott work at KPMG too. I met Karen when I was working in NYC and we were both single... look at us now. Boy have we come a long way.

It was the first time that we got to meet Caroline and that they met Max. Annabel is 19 1/2 months old and Caroline is 7 1/2 months old. Max and Caroline seemed to hit it off....I don't think Annabel knew quite what to think. She was probably saying "oh no, now there are two of those little creatures to watch out for."

Well, they got along until Max wanted the toy and then decided to pull Caroline's hair. Fortunately, Caroline wasn't too phased by it since she's used to her older sister crowding her space. Actually, there were no tears and Caroline was all smiles no matter what. All three kids seemed very content.

Hanging out with family. Max bonded with his cousin Vincent today, playing on the floor. And he got hugs and kisses from MeMe and mommy.

Last weekend we went to a birthday party for Uncle Henry and met lots of cousins. Unfortunately, my camera is horrible and all the pictures were blurry. We figured out that max has 113 cousins on my fathers side. Crazy, but true. First my father is the youngest of 12. So I have 33 first cousins (Max's first cousins once removed), 53 first cousins once removed (Max's second cousins) and 22 first cousins twice removed (Max's second cousins once removed) (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cousin for a description of how the cousin chart works) and then Max has 5 first cousins. Huh?? Yep it's that simple. Here is the only picture that came out halfway decent from that day....it's of my dad and his 3 remaining siblings - Dad top left, Uncle Paul standing, Uncle Henry and Aunt Melia.

Max talking and other things

This is the funniest thing. Max has been chomping like he's chewing something without very good manners. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to record it because I was laughing so hard I thought the camera would shake too much. Of course the 1st time I tried to record it he just started talking to me so I had to post that too. I was laughing so hard that I couldn't even talk back to him.

Weekend Fun

It was a beautiful fall weekend. We did a lot of visiting friends and family. See all the fun we had.

Max and Jecen have fun on the swing set. This was Max's first time in a swing. It was fun.

Max had a bath in a Styrofoam cooler so now he sits in a laundry basket at Aunt Susanns.

Max hanging out with his cousin Lillie. The picture was taken with my phone so pardon the quality.

It won't be long now...

Eight Months

Max was 8 months old on September 8th. Can't believe he's getting so big. After our first couple of weeks back from Hawaii, Max settled back into his routine. He's sleeping through the night again but still wants to be rocked to sleep (before our Polynesian experience, he would go to sleep on his own.) So we're working on that....trying to be strong and let him cry it out, but sometimes he gets the best of us and we give in. He's just so darn cute. He has changed his bedtime a little and likes to go to sleep a little earlier now...I think it's because he's still not much of a napper.

He's an eating machine. I think he has a whole in him somewhere. He's up to 3 meals of solid food a day. He eats many fruits and vegetables now including spinach, asparagus and mango (we had a mango tree in our yard of the house we rented in Hawaii...Yummy!!) He also likes yogurt and cottage cheese. We've been trying to get him used to the sippy cup too.

He's sitting up by himself for a lot longer now.....he's hasn't mastered it but he's pretty close. We're still waiting for him to crawl but I think he may walk before he crawls because he loves to stand up and can make the walking motion when we hold him in the standing position. I think he's been trying to snap his fingers. His cousins that he's with on Wednesday's dance and sing for him and when they do they snap their fingers so I think he sees them and is trying to do it. It's so cute.

Here are some of the others pics from his 8 month pose. It takes many shots to get the perfect one but some of the others come out so cute too. FYI - Ku'uipo means "sweetheart" in Hawaiian. Jade made him this shirt at our baby shower (for the contest of who could make the best onesie for the baby.)

Max went to his first local fair and went on a Merry-Go-Round for the 1st time. He really wanted to go on the roller coaster but didn't quite reach the height requirement.

Max playing we a couple of his favorite toys.

A few more pics from Hawaii

I know, I know.....it's about time I updated the blog. I apologize to all our fans..... We had a hard time settling back into to East coast time. Max didn't sleep well for the 1st 2 weeks we were home. He got used to Hawaii time and didn't want to go to sleep until 1 am or he would get up at 2 am. So I was pretty tired from the vacation and then from the lack of sleep when we returned. We're back to normal now, phew.... He's sleeping through the night again.

Anyway, here are a few more pics from Hawaii.


Max with us and cousins: Pam and Gary - the newlyweds, and Stephanie - the one who gives our families babies their Hawaiian name. Max's is Ku'ualoha, which means "my love".

Max is so loved. His cousins Jason and Jade give him a big smooch.

More Hawaii

Tutu was very excited to see and Max was excited to see her too. He's grown so much since she saw him last. Of course she spoiled him every chance she got.

We hung out at the beach a few times. Max seemed to like it. The sand and waves didn't phase him.

We went to Hawaii for my cousin Pam's wedding. Here are a few pics from the wedding. Max had a good time too.

Tutu gave Max a bath in a Styrofoam cooler. Why you ask? Because the sink at the house we rented didn't have a plug for the drain. He also used the cooler as a pool one very hot day. Why did we spend $30 on a baby tub at home when we could have spent $2.99 for a cooler.
Hanging out after my bath....