Power of Candy-coated Chocolates

Several months ago I used M&Ms to help Max learn his colors. It seemed to work rather effectively so I decided to see if they could help him learn to count as well. He's known his numbers for a long time, but he doesn't really associate the words with specific quantities yet. Thus the M&Ms...both a visual representation and a tasty incentive. Here's how it went.
I set four M&Ms on the table and told Max we were going to count them. I took his finger and touched each one as we both said, "One, two, three, four." Max clapped his hands and said, "Good job, Mom."
Then I told him he could eat two M&Ms. He said, "One" as he picked up the first one and ate it. Then he said, "Two" and scooped up the rest of the candies and shoved them into his mouth with a smile!
I thought it was a fluke, so I did the same the again and got the exact same results. I decided to change the numbers and yet again he would count nicely up the the last number and then shove all of the M&Ms into his mouth at the end.
I'm not sure this proves he can count, but it does show that he's smarter than his mom is. He ended up getting to eat an entire bag just before dinner as I tried to get him to do it right!

Singing in the Choir

Max is quite the singer at church. Actually he's more into the revival thing with the singing, chanting, swaying, and hand clapping, but anyway, he likes church. Sometimes he gets a little carried away in the spirit of it all.
Example: Yesterday during church I let him sit with his friend Anita so Jeff and I could relax a little. Anita is sort of his psuedo-grandma who brings him treats and thinks he's the cutest thing ever. So he was sitting with her (one row from us) and singing happily to the opening hymn...only he never stopped. After the opening hymn was over (and the prayer was being said) he continued singing, and not quitely. I couldn't quite tell what he was singing until right after the Amen, everyone hears "OUCH! IT STUNG ME!!" Evidently he was practicing the Bumble
Bee song.
Several people around him kind of giggled a little while I turned red and wanted to crawl under the pew. This only encouraged him and he immediately went into a verse of "The Old Gray Mare Aint What She Use To Be." Needless to say by the end of the meeting he had much more of an audience than the assigned speakers.
By the way, most of the people laughed at my constant apologies and told me to be thankful that he's so cute and charming and that I should just enjoy it while it lasts. These are all people that are either too old to remember having a toddler or just glad it wasn't there kid.
Max has been official invited into the ward choir too.

Father and Son

Here is a picture I took of Jeff trying to teach Max to ride a tricycle. Max either can't or won't use the pedals, so I told Jeff he needed to help figure out what to do. Jeff's solution was to tie Max's feet to the pedals with some string and then pull him around on the bike to show him how pedals are suppose to work. And yes, that is a dog leash he is using to pull Max.
I guess that's one way to teach the boy. I'll let you know if it works!

All Boy

We went to the park yesterday with some friends. Max came over with a flower he had picked and said, "Look mommy. I found a pretty flower!" I said, "Wow, Max. Yes, you did. What are you going to do with that pretty flower?" I was sure he would say something sweet like "It's for you Mom." Instead, he looked the flower, threw it on the ground, and said, "I gonna stomp it!!" And then proceeded to smash it to smitherens. All boy.

Also at the park he took a pretty big crash. While running, he slipped on the sidewalk and slid into a pole. Fortunately his head stopped him. The results are sidewalk scrapes on his knees, legs, elbows, hands, and face. After the tears were over, he realized he was bleeding and decided that was pretty cool. The rest of the day was spent, not complaining about his injuries, but admiring his scratches and scabs. He's still excited about it today. All boy I tell you, all boy!

Bad Taste in Women

Everywhere we go, and I mean EVERYWHERE, Max finds a mean little girl in pigtails to play with. These girls in pink dresses seem to be drawn to him like moths to a flames. It doesn't matter if we are at the park, the mall, McDonalds or anywhere else on the planet, if there is a mean little girl she's gonna find my son.
Max doesn't seem to mind this either. He lets the girl drag him around, tell what to do, tell him where to go and he gladly follows along. Sometimes, when she gets a little rough, he looks to me with pleading eyes to interfere. But after I do, he always goes right back to her.
I'm not sure why this happens or what could/should be done about it. I guess I need to get used to the fact that, inevitably, some brown-eyed girl with curls in her hair and the devil in her eyes is going to win over the heart of my sweet, little boy. I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised; that's what happened to his Daddy!

HELLO IN THERE!!!

Everyone has been asking me how much Max understands about the new baby coming. I usually tell them that he's decided that his baby brother, Humpty Dumpty, lives in HIS tummy because that's what Max tells me. Well I don't know who has been talking to my little boy lately, but yesterday I realized he's a lot smarter than I've been giving him credit for. Here's what happened.
I was lying on the couch watching TV and Max was playing with his little tool set at the table. All of the sudden, he runs over to me and says "I wanna see my baby brother." Then he lifts up my shirt and begins poking my tummy with his little plastic wrench. I sat there speechless while my mom looked on in total shock. I asked him what he was doing and again he said, "I trying to seem my baby brother, Mom."
No more Discovery Channel for this boy!!

Baseball with Paw Paw

We went to another baseball game while my folks were here. Max had a great time. He loves going to see baseball with Paw Paw. Now he runs around the house chanting "We want a hit. We want a hit." Fun for all!!
This is Max with the chicken mascot. The team is the Diablos (Sp for devils) but the mascot is a chicken. I don't get it.
Max and Paw Paw watching the game.
Grandma, Mommy, and Max before I took the camera away from Dad.
Little guy trying to get a closer look.
We made it through the ENTIRE game!! This pic was taken after the whole game was over. I never thought we'd be able to sit through an entire anything again with kids. Go Max!!

Happy Birthday Party

OK, so I'm a little behind on blogging. I will try to catch up. Grandma and Paw Paw left this morning after visiting for two weeks and now I have to figure out how to get things back to normal. Of course, I'm avoiding all of that and decided to blog instead!

Here are some pictures from Max's birthday party last weekend. It was suppose to be an outdoor swimming, sandbox, swingset kind of day, but it rained so we moved EVERYBODY into my little house. We had 12 adults and 8 kids so it was a bit crowded but we all had a good time. Thanks to all of you who helped make it a success!