Max's First Shiner

Max has officially received his first shiner--and from a 6-year-old girl!  We have a cute little neighbor girl who loves to play with Max and comes over almost every day.  Well, on this day we happened to be outside when she decided to start throwing rocks.  She wasn't throwing them at Max, she just had crappy aim and got him right below the eye--totally an accident and she felt so bad.  Mommy felt bad, too--it was just so disheartening to think that one minute he was playing so happily and the next his little friend is pelting him with a pointy pebble.  I scooped him right up and ran into the house--there was so much blood I thought it was going to be worse than it was; it was very superficial.  I guess we're lucky that it didn't hit any higher, though.  Max forgot about it probably 10 minutes later and was soon ready to play some more.

I thought this was so funny.  Max brought me an Elmo slipper and a Croc and wanted both on his feet.  Of course he was wearing his favorite (naked) attire (minus the diaper which he hates) and decided to settle into his red bean bag with a good book and a "nana".  That's good living!

Mimi came to visit us this week and we had so much fun.  Max just loves her.  He would call for her whenever she left his sight.  We had a great time exploring parks, shopping, and just visiting. It was so nice to have her here--I bawled when she left.  How many people can say that about their mothers-in-law?  I am lucky that mine is truly spectacular.  We hope she comes down for many visits.

Mimi got Max this sandbox which he can't get enough of.  He literally could spend all morning scooping up sand into his bucket.

Max is really "cheesing"it up for pictures these days.  Whenever he sees that the camera is pointing his way, he gets this big teethy grin and says "cheeeeese".

And his new favorite food is pizza--he can even say it now, it sounds like "Piiiiyaaa".  Sometimes he even calls for it when he first wakes up.

Paul and I got to enjoy our new deck on this very rare dry day. It has been raining so much this past week.  I have never in my life experienced so much consecutive rain.  No wonder the trees are so tall and everything is so green--and nobody has automatic sprinklers.

We have been exploring a lot of the parks around here.  There are some nice ones.  Max loves to swing these days and spends most of the time saying "weeeeee" while sailing through the air with a big grin on his face.

As for everything else, we are hanging in there.  It is hard to believe that we have been here for almost 3 weeks and we still have so much unpacking to do.  Paul has been working so hard; I feel like I never see him even though he is home every night unlike when we were in UT and he traveled so much.  It really seems like he is home less.  He leaves for work before we get up and gets home right before bed.  With his previous position, he worked from home when he wasn't traveling and so we always got to see him for lunch and we could drop into his "office" whenever we desired.  So, this move is requiring a lot of adjustment in so many ways.

Max and I have been to a few playgroup activities now, and have met some really nice moms and their little ones.  Everyone out here is so friendly, unlike the stigma you hear about the rude East Coast disposition.  If only the rain would stop--it gets so depressing...