Possessed Baby

In this clip, Max combines two of his favorite pastimes:

1. walking, and
   
2. growling
   

The same video, with an "alternate ending"

Santa Baby

Well... he is half Jewish.

Max in action

Here is proof our little guy is walking before his 10 month birthday!


We're so proud of him! (and so is he!)

Playdate with B!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Second Tooth + Walking

Max woke up today with his second tooth--front bottom right. We're hoping that he'll have a short break from teething until the other ones start surfacing. Also I think we can officially say he is walking now. He's been taking a few unassisted steps here and there for about a week or so, but today he has started to consistently walk much better on his own. Max was really showing off today in front of Aunt Jenn and Uncle Scott, taking 7-8 or so steps, reaching down to smash some block towers, and then continuing walking along.

First Clap

I've been trying to teach Max to clap for quite some time now after hearing that another baby in Heather's mothers' group could do it. Lo and behold, he started clapping on his own today. Take that, "other" baby!

Happy Halloween!

First Tooth

After over a week of bad nights including those in Hawaii, the big white lump in Max's mouth broke open, and out came a sharp little tooth.

Maui Max

On October 13th, we went on our first real family vacation to Maui. Traveling with an active crawler is a bit of a challenge, but we all had a nice time. Max loved the pool, flirting with all the people who gave him attention, eating sand, and his first taste of fish. The Ocean was a bit too scary for him but he enjoyed it from a distance. Our nights were a bit rough due to teething, but his tooth finally cut our last night there. He was a champ on the flights, including the red eye! Max got so much attention everywhere we went. We must have been asked about 50 times where is red hair came from.

Here are some iphone pics while we process the real photos:

Chillin' in the pool



Sand Monster!


Max unpacking after mommy neatly packed!

Look Ma, no hands!

No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service!

Baby's got his first pair of shoes for all the cruising he's been up to.

Hawaii practice

Grandpa Joel is in town so we took a walk around Crissy Field and decided to stick Max in the sand. He seems to like it and managed to only have a little taste of it.



-- Posted from my iPhone

Big boy car seat

Today we retired Max's infant seat and Perry installed his new Britax Marathon convertible car seat. Max hated the car and spent the bulk of our drives crying. So far it looks like he's pretty comfortable.



-- Posted from my iPhone

Swingers!

Max and his buddy Ryan swing at the park

Milestone - Max pulls himself to a stand!

This kid is on a roll! Now if we can only get him to sleep.

Like father, like son

Max shows off his improved crawling skills by making his way to the laptop. The boy is driven by technology!

Milestone - Max sits up on his own!

Max has been a pretty good independent sitter for almost 2 months now, but he did not have the ability to get himself into a seated position on his own. Today, we watched him go from a crawling position, into a one armed pushup, into a seated position. He's far from an expert on the move but it's another step closer to independence!

Sleep

Although I don't see how it can be possible that I will one day forget, I must document the fact that Max is not a fan of sleeping all all. In fact, as I write this he is waking up from a 40 minute nap, hysterical, and obviously still tired but refusing to sleep more. Yesterday, after finally giving up on trying to get him to nap, we had some play time with lots of laughs that made it hard to stay mad at him.

Milestone - Max Crawls!

In the past few weeks, Max has been doing a lot of rocking on his knees, crawling backwards and rolling, but today Max crawled significantly forward for the first time. He's not quite a pro yet but if he wants something he shouldn't be playing with, like our laptop, iphone or gun collection (just kidding about the guns), he'll motivate himself to get there. Here he is trying to get the remote control.

Milestone - Tasty Foot!

Max puts his foot in his mouth for the first (but probably not last) time.

-- Post From My iPhone

My view

A typical view of Max out for a walk in the ergo carrier.



-- Post From My iPhone

First Family Dinner

Last night, we all sat down for our first family dinner. Max had peas, while Perry and I ate salad. It was a bit difficult trying to feed him and eat at the same time and Max got a little cranky and didn't exactly let us finish our dinner at the table, but it was a fun start.

Happy Half Birthday!!!!

Max celebrated his half birthday with some delicious pears. We are feeding him 2 meals a day now and he's doing great with the solids. I made him some nectarines the other day (baked, blended, strained and froze them) and he LOVED them. I must admit, they are quite delicious.

So with the good of turning a half of a year old comes the bad... 6 months doctor visit and shots. Max has been having a lot of issues sleeping these past two nights (although he is STILL not sleeping through the night regardless) and mommy and daddy are exhausted. Here are some stats from the doctor:

• Weight: 18 pounds 11.5 oz (75%)
• Height: 26.5 inches (50%)
• Head Circumference: 44 cm (55%) Seems he didn't get cursed with the Wagner/Petoff big head

Max seems to make Dr. Simons very happy. Not only because he's so damn cute, but because he remembers when Max was a colicky, miserable disposition-challenged baby and is so happy to see the charming, happy baby that he has become. Once again he took his shots like a champ and was very mellow during his exam which surprised me a bit since he's been such a hyper (but fun) baby lately. He likes to give me kisses (although technically it's more like he's trying to eat me), and climb all over us. He's got a ton of energy and lunges towards our faces. He's trying really hard to to crawl and seems to make his way far off the blanket we put him on but his attempts usually result in crawling backwards or flipping over. He is super strong, and can support all his weight on his legs and stand with just holiding on to our fingers. Overall, 6 months is such a fun age and it's crazy to see how far he's come from the little lump we were handed a short time ago.

Peas

I will not open my mouth for any more of this rubbish!!! Blend me up a snickers bar stat!


-- Post From My iPhone

Rolling Baby

Late in his 5th month Max has become a master roller and quite a good sitter. Here he is showing off his rolling skills.

Doggy Bounce

Our little jailbird likes his new toy.

Yummers

Max tries sweet potatoes and although not evident from this picture, he seems to be a fan.


He has also tried avocado (not so sure if it agrees with him) and banana (which he seems to like as well).

-- Post From My iPhone

Beautiful day in the park

Max loves to look at the trees.


-- Post From My iPhone

Business Class

Using our miles to upgrade for our flight home was well worth it.

Delicious beverages...



Personal entertainment systems...



And a comfortable sleepy baby!



-- Post From My iPhone

East Coast Trip

The rest of our time in NH was rainy, but we had a great time. On the positive, we didn't have to worry about protecting our white boy from the sun. Max was in such a great mood the whole time, perhaps from all the attention he got from the grandparents. Grandma and Grandpa D made Max laugh and smile a ton! He napped amazingly on the trip as well. At home I usually get 45 minute naps out of him but on our trip, we got a couple of 2 hour naps. I know he will miss all the love he got in NH.





After 4 1/2 days in NH, we boarded a plane to NY to see grandpa Joel, family and friends. Our plane was delayed but we finally made it to NY where the weather finally cleared up after a few more days of rain. Grandpa and Max were happy to see each other and great grandma Frieda was ecstatic to meet her great grandson. Here she is making faces at him and singing him songs in Hungarian.



And here is grandpa Joel talking baby talk.


The purpose of this trip was for my mothers unveiling. It breaks my heart that not only was she never able to meet him, but she passed before I knew I was pregnant. It was way too hot the day of her unveiling and we decided it was best to keep Max at home with Perry (they went for a walk on the boardwalk). I know my mother would be so happy for us, and would love our little red head to pieces. I like to think her spirit lives on through him and somehow she is looking down at us and smiling.

Rain Rain Go Away

In NH now with grandma and grandpa. We were worried about keeping our very white boy out of the sun but apparently, that won't be an issue.




Max loves his grandparents and they even got him to laugh harder then we ever have. He sure loves all of the attention and love he's getting.


-- Post From My iPhone

Max's first plane ride

He didn't want to sleep but he did great! Now off to visit the grandfolks.


-- Post From My iPhone

Happy 5 months sleepy lump

Max is not being a happy crib napper today but keeps passing out on my lap with a full belly. What a life!


-- Post From My iPhone

Happy 4 Months

Ok, maybe not always so happy!

Some stats from the doctor this month.

• Length 25"
• Head Circumference 42.3 cm
• Weight 16 lb 2 oz

Tummy Time

Complete with a bit of drool.

Baby Play Group

Max and Benji eat their hands together at Baby Play group @ DayOne.

Natures Barf Bag

This was awesome.

Dad's Birthday and Mom's Day Weekend

Thursday May 7th marked Perry's 33rd birthday. Jerry came to SF to celebrate and to visit Max since he the last time he saw him in person was when he was only a day old. Max seems to LOVE his uncle Jerry and gave him tons of smiles and laughs. We had a little party for Perry on Friday and Max was incredibly chill considering the number of people in the living room. He even tolerated a game of hot potato where he was the potato and managed to go to sleep at 10:00 while it was still loud in our living room. Once again our boy made us proud.


Sunday was my first mothers day. It was a little bittersweet because it was also my first mothers day without a mom. Perry (and Max) made it very special for me by cooking up a breakfast feast of pancakes, bacon, coffee and mimosas, all while wearing Max. It was delicious and since uncle Jerry was in town, he got to enjoy the deliciousness as well.

That afternoon we went to Monica and Steve's for Max's first BBQ. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time eating and chatting in the backyard in the sun. Max slept in the Ergo for most of it but we think he enjoyed it too.

Moving Out

Yesterday was night 2 of Max sleeping in his crib in his own room. For the past couple of months he's been sleeping in a co-sleeper where it is easy to lay on hand on his chest if he needs some reassurance. I really value my own personal space and I'm pretty tired of sleeping with the light on dim, so I was pretty surprised that I was so sad to see him go. I know it's for the better for all of us, but I will miss his sweet little face next to mine when I open my eyes. I feel like I'm abandoning the little guy even though he's in the room right next to ours, and a really cool room might I add! So far, he's been doing great and slept from about 9:15PM - 4:15AM(to eat) - 7AM both nights.

I've also been working really hard on naps for the past 2 weeks. His naps are a bit shorter than I'd like them to be but I have found a method of getting Max sleepy that really works for Perry and I. We put on the Fleet Foxes and slow dance with him. If he's already really tired we can just put him over our shoulder but if he's fighting it, I cradle him (swaddled if necessary) and dance and he is usually out cold in 2 songs. The longest nap has only been an hour and 10 minutes but I've been getting at least one 45 minute nap every day which is an improvement from his random catnaps. It seems he really is tired every two hours, he just needs some help to realize it.

Tears

We've heard Max cry a whole lot over the 3 months he's been in this world but all his cries have been dry. Today, the first tear drops fell from his eyes when Perry was trying to make him laugh but accidentally scared him instead. It was an adorably heartbreaking sight.


:'(

3 Months Old!

Our little man turns 3 months old today on our 4th wedding anniversary. Things have been great. We went on our first vacation to wine country and took Max on his first hike ever in the Armstrong Redwood National Park. Perry did a great job hiking with all the extra weight.

Speaking of extra weight, Max was weighed in at the doctor yesterday and is 14 pounds! This means he is now in the 70th percentile for weight, up from the 5th percentile when he was born. Dr. Simons printed up his growth chart and gave us a gold star for our good work.

Max's mood keeps improving. He still has his fussy times but he spends way more time being happy. He gives us lots of smiles and laughs every morning and thinks raspberry's are just hysterical. He loves eating his hands and making out with his bear blanket friend Beary (see below). His legs are so strong he can stand with just a little help from us and he seems to love to do it. He is "talking" a lot saying things that sound like "hi" and "hey" and other cute sounds. He finally likes his swing which gives us much needed breaks. He still is not a fan of napping and is going to bed too late (around 11 on average sometimes with 1 middle of the night feeding) but we're working on that. Real sleep training will probably start next month, but for now we are giving him a break for being 3 weeks early and struggling with reflux. He is still spitting up like a champ (even more so) but for the most part it doesn't seem to bother him at all and sometimes he gives us a big smile after he spits up. I'm really glad we didn't get the beautiful new sofa we were considering.

Tomorrow Monica and Steve are going to babysit so we go out to somewhere nicer than Denny's for our anniversary. We are all a bit nervous about it but I'm sure it will be fine, right?



More photos @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/teamwagner/sets/72157616642695569/

Two Months Young

We'll try and do better with this blog thing but we have had little time. Perry spent Max's first 6 weeks with him and then went back to work. I am now on week 3 alone with Max and it's been going well. I've actually be able to shower (almost) everyday and get out for fresh air. Today Max went shopping with mom and was pretty well behaved. However, I did learn last week that he detests Target. Yesterday was Max's 2 month doctors appointment and his first Vaccines. We decided to go with the Dr. Sears method of vaccination where he will get almost all the vaccines but on a different schedule so he doesn't get too many at once. He cried of course but was a champ and quickly calmed down. We are proud of our big boy. On other medical notes, Max has pretty bad reflux and we have him on baby prevacid which seems to be helping the discomfort but will not reduce the actual spit up which he will eventually outgrow. This means we change Max a LOT and about everything in our house has been spit up on. Glad we didn't get a new sofa like we were planning on.

Speaking of big boy, here are some stats from the doctor -

• Weight - 12 pounds
• Head Circumference - 39.3 cm
• Height 22.5 inches long (50th percentile up from 5th! - Maybe he won't be a shorty after all!)

And here are some Milestones -
Flipped over from back to front - 2 weeks old! That's our strong boy!
First Smile - 8 weeks old (3/21)
First Coo - Around 6 weeks old
First big boy bath with daddy (he loved it so much he pooped!) - 8 weeks old

Max is becoming more alert, fun, and handsome every day. He has been crying less although a bit more difficult to get to sleep lately. Still, I'd happily trade a little sleep deprivation for a happy baby.

Lots of great pictures here -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/teamwagner/sets/72157615784512127/

Already Famous

Perry entered a photo of Max in a contest at work and was one of the winners. His picture was blown up HUGE and will be on display at the Adobe restaurant for a few months. I took Max to the unveiling party and he modeled his signature wide open mouth pose in front of his likeness.

Click for a larger image see our flickr site - http://www.flickr.com/photos/teamwagner/3347638995/

I am so proud of both my boys!

Max's first week (and a half)

Life with a newborn leaves little time to blogging. Things have been going well. The first few days at home were a bit rough. Besides the lack of sleep from feeding our hungry little man every 1-3 hours, every little grunt and groan I hear when he is sleeping (which is a lot) kept me awake just watching him. Every night it gets a little easier as we get used to his noises and realize he is going to be ok. Changing him seems like baby torture by the way he screams, but lately, that has been getting a bit better too and we have actually had some almost silent diaper and clothing changes now and then. Perry has been a diaper changing machine and the best daddy ever! Max has had 2 doctor appointments and is gaining weight like a champ. We gave him his first big boy bath yesterday and he actually didn't hate it as much as expected. We have had many poop, pee and breast milk leakage accidents but as frustrating as they are, they always make us laugh. We had a couple of outings where Max slept like a champ and missed the tour of his new neighborhood but seemed to like the fresh air.

Here are some stats and events-

• 1/27: Weight at the doctors on 6lbs, 1.5 oz (day after hospital release)


• 2/3: Weight at the doctors - 6lbs, 10 1/2 oz (one week later!)


• 2/2/09: Cord Stump fell off


• 2/2/09: First stroller ride


• 2/3/09: First bath

More pictures here - http://flickr.com/photos/teamwagner/sets/72157613056491733/

Introducing Max!

Apparently not being happy with the idea of being born in the Year of the Ox, Maximilian Samuel Wagner joined our family a whole 3 weeks ahead of schedule.

Maximilian Samuel Wagner

Born at CPMC in San Francisco on Saturday January 24th, at 2:58pm

6 lbs. 3oz., 18 inches

Heather's water broke at work last Friday afternoon at 4pm, her very last day before maternity leave. Apparently, this is the sort of thing that happens all the time in movies and TV, and not so often in real life. We went to the hospital and found Heather wasnt dilated yet, though contractions had begun. We were able to spend the early stages of labor back at home, enough time to get a few bags packed with the essentials for our hospital stay.
When 11pm came 'round, the contractions were intense enough to get ourselves back to the hospital to be admitted.
Long story short, we left CMPC at 12:30pm on Monday, with a healthy mommy and baby! Staff at the hospital, not to mention our parents, got a huge kick out of the fact that Max has red hair.

Our first family picture