Max facts

Max is still thriving here in Kentucky. He has reached 29 inches and 23lb putting him around the 95th percentile for both weight and height. He now has two very sharp bottom teeth and slightly more hair. He has been almost crawling for over a month now and we keep thinking it will happen any day. Currently he gets around by rolling or getting up on his hands and knees and lunging.

If you didn't guess from his healthy size and squeezable cheeks let us inform you that Max enjoys his food. He has liked everything he has tried so far - even peas and prunes. Yesterday as I was making a carrot cake Max was getting impatient as he waited in his chair. The carrot he was chewing on had lost it's appeal and he was ready to play. I handed him an empty bag of sugar to keep him occupied. He was remarkably quiet. When I turned around I discovered that the bag hadn't been quite as empty as I thought. Max was sucking on his arms and fingers which were covered in a sticky syrupy saliva-sugar mix. Notice in the photo the shiny sugary covering all over him. If you couldn't tell, he really enjoyed himself. Also, if you look carefully you can see his bottom two teeth.


Here are a few more photo's of the little guy.

Fun with family

Grandpa Lassen and Auntie Chrissy came to visit this week. Max was showered with kisses and attention. We had a lovely time and were sad that they weren't here longer.






Matt just got a new smoker so Matt and Gary smoked enormous quantities of ribs. They were very tasty.

Max and Richard

Max loves his puppy Richard. And Richard loves his baby Max. When Max comes down in the morning the first thing he wants to do is play with Richard. We are a little worried about what it will be like when Max can crawl around and keep up with Richard. We already spend most of the time trying to prevent Max feeding Richard his crackers and trying to stop Richard cleaning Max's face. Richard knows he is not allowed to lick Max but still gets the odd swipe in when he thinks no one is watching.

Kentucky living

I've now lived in Kentucky more than half of my life. Since we moved here we've really been enjoying the Kentucky way of life. We take a lot of drives to see the beautiful horse farms and we've been to the horse races at Keeneland. That's me in the blurred picture below and the things in the background that look like greyhounds are actually horses. We've even been to the Keeneland auctions several times but I don't know why because we never come away with a horse. I thought that's why dad was building that big fence but apparently that's just for me and Richard.



So, we came to Kentucky 'cos my dad's gonna be a dentist one day. This was me at his boring white coat ceremony - I don't know why I had to wear a fancy blue coat. I am however a fan of my University of Kentucky basket ball outfit which is much more comfy.



Though I've never even been there I am actually an English baby which means I celebrate bonfire night (a.k.a. Guy Fawkes night). We celebrated it with a bonfire on Seth and Lisa's beautiful Kentucky farm. Here's our friend Seth with Guy just before Guy caught on fire. It was a freezing cold night - I had to get dressed up in so many clothes that I could barely move.



I've also toured two bourbon distilleries during my short time on this earth. I don't know what the big deal is and those tour guides go on and on forever. I got really cross at the last one and refused to listen to anymore so dad took me for a drink in the barrel house.



All this sight-seeing really wares a boy out.

Halloween

Happy Halloween



For Halloween I was going to be a zebra - as you can see in the picture where my England Grandad is holding me. By the time my England Grandma came out 3 weeks later I had decided to be a giraffe. I'm trying to get through all the zoo animals by the time I'm 4.



I went to three Halloween parties all with my best friend Rylee who was a chicken. Here is a picture of us with our dads who didn't dress up at all.



One of the parties my mum took me to got a little crazy and my costume changed again - this time I heard someone call me a pimp but I've never seen one of those at the zoo.

Kentucky ladies

All of Max's Kentucky friends are girls. It seems he's already quite popular with the ladies. Gabriella and Sara are very pretty and quite cuddly but don't hold his attention yet. Rylee, on the other hand, is a little older and a lot more feisty. They have a lot of fun and inside jokes - though she can be a little forward, which makes Max worry. Sometimes they just hang out with Max's dog Richard.

He likes to flirt with the older ladies too - when we are at the store he will stare at someone and make a noise until they turn to look at him then he'll crack a big smile. He makes friends very easily.

bath time

At first I hated to bathe - it was cold and scarey. Then I learned to tolerate it. Now I think it's the best time of the day. I think having my own bath rather than the kitchen sink helps - as does my little bit of extra insulation. Do you know that I went from being 7th percentile for weight at 2 weeks to 96th percentile at 6 months? Mum says I'm sturdy not fat, and I'm 100th percentile for height so relatively I'm quite thin really.

A little history ...

Unfinished kitchen... baby almost here.
If I were to give advice to expectant mums it would be NOT to let your husband restore your hardwood floors and rip out the kitchen during your third trimester. Nailing a kitchen floor at eight and a half months pregnant isn't ideal. We finally had a working kitchen just a few days before Max arrived.



Max was born April 4th weighing exactly 7lb. Here he is at just 5 hours old. Apparently the c-section had taken him by surprise as he was not ready to enter the world - he screamed like a tortured piggy for the first two hours and then slept most of the day with a worried look on his face. In fact he looked quite cross for the first few weeks of his life.