The 'New' old floors

The original wood floors in the new house have been refinished, and they look great! Here is a shot of the boys sitting enjoying a snack on them.

There are, however, some disadvantages to refinishing old floors vs. replacing them...

Here is a burn in the shape of an iron that was uncovered in one of the bedrooms.
Oh well. There has to be some character in a 96 year old house, right?

Max's Favorite Condiment

Max has re-discovered the joys of.... Ketchup.He absolutely loves it. We think he may just eat anything that is dipped in its wonderful red stickiness.

He doesn't even mind when Dada puts a spot of it on his forehead!!

Mama's weekend away

This past weekend my mom and I travelled to our Alma Mater, Cottey College, in Missouri for the annual alumni weekend. Mom went with me 3 years ago to my 10th reunion (boy am I feeling old!) so I promised her I would go with her this year to her 40th reunion. My Dad travelled with us too, but he stayed up in the KC area to visit family over the weekend. It was a great weekend - so much laughing, catching up, and great food (yes, we ate on campus the entire weekend. Private colleges have wonderful menus!). My Cottey roommate still lives in Missouri and was able to come down on Saturday. It was wonderful to see her and catch up. My mom's Cottey roommate and her daughter, also a Cottey grad, were also able to come down on Saturday so the 5 of us hung out all afternoon and had a great time! It was really nice to be back on campus and see how things have changed, and that all of the great things that I loved about it haven't changed a bit. My Cottey roommate, Kim, and I
(I'm starting to look a little pregnant, aren't I?)

My Mom and I posing with one of the many wonderful statues on campus.

Can't wait to go back in 2 years! Go class of '93!

Mama's Helper

Max really likes all of the boxes and bins we have in the house right now. Yesterday he was 'helping' me pack. He won't fit into that lid for much longer!

Trip to the Zoo!

What beautiful weather we had on Monday! We decided to go to the zoo for our regular Monday playgroup, forgetting that it was the first day of spring break for the Portland public schools! It is pretty safe to say that it was a zoo at the zoo. The boys all had a great time. Of course, their favorite part of the trip was being able to run around in the grass with the other kids!Here is Max with Josh

And here is Max with Henry

The 'New' house on Albina

Here are the latest pictures of our 'new' house - I usually say 'new' in quotes because it was built in 1913! The painting is all done, and the floors will be refinished next week.Hopefully this is the last picture that will ever be taken of this Scrabble board painted on the dining room floor! It never ceases to amaze me the strange things other people will do to their houses.

This is the view from the living room, through the dining room where the boys are, and believe it or not, on the other side of the 1/2 wall in front of Dada will be the kitchen. Right now the kitchen is completely empty, but soon there will be a new tile floor, new cabinets, and new appliances. Hooray! I am the most excited about the new kitchen (in regards to the new house, anyway).

Guess who's comin' to town?

For those of you who didn't already know, Max will be a big brother come this August, less than a week before his 2nd birthday. We just had our ultrasound today, and here are two of the printouts sent home with us:This is a wonderful profile of our Meierlet #2.

This is a nice view of little skeletor's face. ;)

We have been going back and forth as to whether we wanted to find out the gender this time around... and, ta-ta-ta-da!


It's a girl!!!

Weekend in the snow!

Max and I had the opportunity to spend the weekend up at some friends cabin east of Cougar, Washington. It was supposed to be a girls weekend, but Max came with us to give his Dada more time to work on the houses. We had a great time up there! Thanks to everyone for putting up with us!
Here is Max having his first playtime in the snow. He has a hard time walking in those boots, so he mostly stood there and laughed as I lobbed snowballs at his feet.
Here is Max with his new friend Mary Katherine, 5 mo. old. He didn't really know what to do with her, and I kept reminding him to be gentle. He did really well. He'll be ready to be a big brother when the time comes!
Here is a shot showing how much snow had arrived the first night we were there. I was a little scared we wouldn't be able to get out the next day, but it warmed up enough for the snow to start melting and we got out without a problem. It was fun while it lasted!
On the way up, our little caravan stopped by to pick up Tracy in Woodland, and Max had a lot of fun playing with her little boy, Nicholas. Isn't it amazing how kids can become instant friends? All went well until Nicholas stole Max's lovey, Wallace, from him. Max had never had that happen before and didn't know what to do! Nicholas didn't keep it for long, though, so all was well in the end.

Wanna buy a house?!?

I just had to put this photo up - it is such a great one! We took Max in for his 18 month checkup on Monday and he did great. We have just started going to a new pediatrician, and this doctor is very calm and reassuring. Max was pretty comfortable with him right away. Max is in great health! His weight (25lbs 8oz) is at the 50th percentile, his head is at the 95th percentile, and his length (35 inches) is at the 100th percentile! He's a little bean pole!

He was a complete trooper with the 3 shots he had to have. It is very easy to distract him with toys and such. Only a slight fever later that evening, and the next morning he was a little clingy and moody. He took a 3 hour nap and was all better when he woke up. What a tough little guy.

This is a picture of the newly painted dining room, with new curtains. One less thing on the to-do list!
This is the newly painted living room with coordinating curtains. Didn't Dada do a fantastic job? I am so thrilled with the results, I have chosen a similar wall color for the new house. But Justin gets a break on that one - we're hiring painters to do the work!

The Stowaways

Max and I spent a week down at my parents house earlier in the month. My parents weren't actually there (I had permission though!) so we were sort of stowaways using the house and toys as we wanted. Max had a great time playing with toys he had never seen before. He especially liked the booster seat (it was just his size and I put it on the floor for him) and the old swim goggles. He and I took turns putting it on. Fortunately for me Max isn't old enough to take my picture while wearing the goggles. No proof of how silly Mama is!

The reason we spent a week down there was so that Dada had the whole house to himself to get the living room, dining room, kitchen, and hallway painted. It looks fantastic! Next post will be pictures of the newly painted rooms.

We're back! An apple a day...

Max has been learning to brush his teeth. His favorite part is the rinsing, of course. He loves to play in the water with his toothbrush. The actual brushing of the teeth is an 'incidental' part of it for him so that Dada will let him play in the water.

2 Things We've Discovered This Week...

Well, these photos from yesterday evening show two things... First, we discovered last week that Max REALLY loves popcorn! See how much is in his hand that, in this picture, looks like he is offering it to his Dada? Really, he was just showing it to Dada, and then he shoved the entire handful into his mouth! He loves, loves, loves popcorn.

The second thing is that Dada and I learned which extender for the electric shaver is too short for trimming Max's hair! Oh, and Dada shouldn't start in the front when trimming Max's hair. Start in the back... always start in the back. Oh well, at least it is just hair. It will grow back! For a while he just looks a little like a chemo patient. Poor little guy. At least he is too young to know (or care) what he looks like!

Can you hear me now?

I found this little phone at the dollar store that lights up and has some sort of japanese sounding voice talking when the buttons are pushed. Max thought it was great that he could walk around the house 'talking' on the phone the way his Dada and Mama do. As you can see, his version actually has the phone resting on his shoulder upside down, but as far as Max is concerned, that is the way it is supposed to be.

I'm watchin' you!

This is what Dada sees when Max is at the cat door yelling, 'Dada! Dada!' He'll lay there on the landing for quite long stretches of time (considering he's only 16 months!) trying to catch a glimpse of his Dada and yelling at him through the opening.

Our little Mensa Candidate

Look! Max figured out the whole concept of dipping his chicken nugget into catsup on the first try! I'm calling Mensa next week. I hope the previous post won't diminish his chances...
Well, maybe I got a little carried away. Eating the bowl probably diminishes his chances quite a bit. ;)

Max loves cheese - and had his first haircut

Max had his very first haircut on December 1st. So traumatic for the mama!
What a little trooper. He sat on dada's lap and we took turns using the electric shaver. All he wanted was to look at the shaver!

Max REALLY loves cheese (just like his dad and grandpa), and especially likes his 'cheesy noodles'. They get all over when he has them for lunch. And he likes it that way.

I think he must get that from his father's side of the family...

Christmas is a-comin'!

This is a self-portrait. Not only is it VERY difficult to keep hats on Max because he rips them right off, it is difficult to get him to smile at the camera when I am just holding it out at arms length, so this is a remarkable photo (if I do say so myself!)

I got out all of the holiday decorations on Sunday. We decided this year to have a small live Christmas tree up on the fireplace mantle to keep it away from Mr. Stickyfingers. So far he hasn't had too much reaction to all of the decorations, probably because he is so busy practicing walking with his baby walker. What a busy fellow he is.

The latest in the Meier household

Here is Max looking oh so cool in his jean jacket, cargo pants and little blue shoes. He has been doing much practicing of his walking with his baby walker. All of the practicing is starting to pay off! He took his first steps this past Saturday for Daddy. Way to go, kiddo!

Here are Max and Daddy doing some bonding after Daddy got home from work. Max loves having his 'Booka's' read to him!

After reading the booka, it's time to wrastle!!

For a while there, it seemed like all Max did was eat and sleep. Now, for the past week he is doing all of these new things - starting to walk, saying new words, getting taller (again), figuring out how to play with different toys in new ways, and much more. It is starting to feel like we have a little boy instead of a baby! Bring on the next round of 'babyproofing' the house!

Halloween Monkey

Max the monkey. Look at the ears sticking out from the hood!



















I wish I could put videos up on the blog because it was SO cute watching him crawl with his little monkey tail swinging behind!

Max's Birthday

OK, so I'm playing catchup here, but these pictures are so cute I had to include them! These are of Max playing with his first cake. I say playing because he was more into squishing the frosting through his fingers than putting any of it in his mouth.

Halloween costume photos are next!