MAXIMO

Looking for Maximo?

2009-12-07T06:12:00.002-05:00

I'm exclusively posting on Los Lemleys website now.

But if you want to start from the beginning, here it is...

The first blog post on Lo Maximo, 30 August 2007, when Maximo surprised us, 9 weeks early.

This is it

2008-09-27T06:29:00.003-05:00

So, I've decided to end Maximo's blog.
Actually, I fully intended to do it after his 1st birthday post, but I couldn't break away from it.
Randomly, one month later, I seem ready. So, if you are still keen in reading about the Lemley Family Hijinx, join us at the LOS LEMLEYS blog.
The first post is Transitioning (from one blog to another): http://loslemleys.blogspot.com/2008/09/transitioning.html

Do Over

2008-09-22T18:58:00.005-05:00

The past couple birthdays have been a bit rough. Two years ago, I had terrible altitude sickness and I was sleeping (at least trying to through a crushing headache) in a tent on the side of a glacier. Last year, well that was even worse, we were in the NICU with Maximo, though we did get the news on that Saturday night that he was going to be able to come home on Monday. So I'm turning 30 again, today.
Yesterday and today (the first two days of the celebratory week) were perfect, I feel like my luck had changed. Yesterday, John took Maximo when he woke up and I slept until 7:30! That's the latest I've slept since Maximo was born. We ran errands, had falafel sandwiches and french fries for lunch, and played in the park. Today, we had to work, but John made dinner when we got home and I got a bunch of little goodies at work.
When we got home, Rosmery had a little birthday present for me - a Spanish tortilla, Mmmm, one of my favorites, then Maximo arrived with Gloria about 20 minutes later after playing in the park with a rose. I'll be honest, I'm not a rose fan, but he doesn't know that yet. It was really sweet for both of them to think of me - and it was cute to get my first present from Maximo.I know I've mentioned this time and time again, but it's amazing how raw and awful it was when Maximo was first born and we felt like we were living minute to minute. People would tell us that one day this would be a distant memory. I never believed it. I still find it shocking that in one year, we went from this...

to this...

Wisps of our Week

2008-09-19T18:54:00.006-05:00

School has been a bit hectic, so posting has fallen by the wayside. Here are a few wisps of our week:

Maximo is getting more and more stable on his feet and is walking while cruising the furniture, pushing the footstool or hold our hands.
Maximo attended yet another neighborhood kid's birthday party, Tiago, and seemingly had a good time. (again he went with Gloria and not us...)
Maximo is really really interested in books (yipee). Right now he's really keen on turning the pages, so we have to read really fast.

Maximo has a knack for knowing when it's "Mommy's night" by getting up at 4 am and then tossing and turning in bed with her until 6 am. He's only done this a few times, but only once on Daddy's night.
Maximo loves to turn off and on the lights as we leave or enter a room.
Maximo's poops have crossed the line this week. Who knows, maybe it's the milk, but... P.U.! those things are foul smelling... but on an up note, they are not the hard pellets they used to be!
Two more teeth have broken through - so now he has four on top, four on the bottom
Maximo is getting really good about going under the water in the pool. At first, he didn't know that he was supposed to shut his mouth before going under, now, with a little conditioning (1, 2, 3... plunk), he's going under the water and coming up without sputtering a ton of water. He even went under the lane markers in the pool yesterday, rather than the quick submersion in Mommy's arms.
He's standing up! Solo! Last night was the first time in the bathtub. Today he did it while he was playing. It's only for about 5 seconds, then he either loses balance or decides to get down to crawl. (How exciting!)

I'll leave you with this cute video of Maximo laughing. He is super ticklish, especially around his neck and his thighs. Every night after his bath, we put lotion on him and can't resist a few minutes of tickling his little "hamhocks" with a handful of lotion.

Bilingualism

2008-09-14T20:24:00.003-05:00

"Put it in your boca not on the floor!"
This is one of the common Spanglishisms in our house. As we are planning on leaving Peru at the end of this school year, we are torn. If we stay here or move to another Spanish-speaking country for a few more years, Maximo would be truly bilingual. John and I wish we were bilingual and realize what an asset it would be to our kids.
As it is now, Maximo spends more time surrounded by Spanish than English. He could easily be fluent in both languages with perfect accents in both. But, we're going to move, to who knows where. We're not totally closing the door on other Spanish speaking countries, but I'm looking for a big change next year (culturally/academically/geographically/gastronomically) - Asia, Europe, we'd even consider Africa if we were guaranteed good in-country health care (since we'd like to have another baby).
So, it may not be Spanish, but maybe if we stay at our next post for a while, Maximo will become fluent in another language, hopefully it'll be a global language, like French, German, Japanese, and not a "Click" language of a remote area of Africa, or Basque, or Icelandic. But, who knows???

Personality Plus

2008-09-14T15:36:00.005-05:00

Living overseas has definitely changed for us since having Maximo. While we still love our lifestyle and our jobs and the adventure of living in a foreign country, but it's really hard not to share Maximo with our family and friends. It's hard for us knowing he's growing up without his Nana, Gigi, Papa, Grandpas, Aunts, Uncles and cousins. Even though we keep in touch through blogs, photo pages and emails, they won't really get to know the kind of kid Maximo is growing up to be. His personality is coming out little by little. And as long as he's sleeping well, he's a lot of fun to be around.
Here are a couple of videos - the are definitely NOT Cannes Film Festival material, but they'll give you a glimpse of our little man.
The first is Maximo and his wave.

The second one is of him "talking". He babbles all the time, but nothing is really coming out except for "Cat". You'll hear him say "ma, ma, ma" but it's definitely not directed towards me. And you'll get to hear his second favorite sound - the possessed growling at the end. His first being a high pitched squeal that makes my eardrums hurt and alerts all the dogs in the neighborhood.

Is It Just Ours or Are They All Like This?

2008-09-09T05:41:00.004-05:00

We have now changed our living room around for the third time. This is the room on the second floor that we spend the most time in – when we’re hanging around the house, we’re in this room. It's by far the ugliest room in the house - with a hodge podge of antiques, school furniture, electronics and baby toys. It has the wireless internet (when it’s working), it has our computers, the television and our VOIP and local phones. Lately Maximo is into EVERYTHING! Everything that he shouldn’t been in… he has a foam playmat with a huge basket overflowing with toys, a musical table, balls, even the cat.But, we are constantly chasing him away from wires, the computers, the trash can. We’re trying to prevent him from slamming his fingers in the door or a drawer or simply running out of the room. We barricade, we block with our bodies, we try everything. When he catches a glimpse of an electronic device or a wire, he scurries past his Fantasy Playland chock full of toys just for one tug on a wire or one punch on the computer tower.
Now, the question is, are all babies like this? Or are we really in for it? Is he going to be the kid we’re always chasing after, the one making me worry, or is this just a stage? You know what, don’t tell me, ignorance is bliss – let me just think this is a stage and it will pass soon.

But really, with a face like this - you can get away with quite a lot!

Mooo!

2008-09-08T08:49:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posts. Our phone hasn't been working and our internet is down. It's been actually raining in Lima and leaking in our house and somehow the water has found it's way to our phone lines... Therefore, we haven't been able to post.
I'm at school so can't write much. Our doctor's appointment last week went swimmingly - Maximo is at 25 % for both height and weight for his actual age and he doesn't have an appointment for TWO months! Wow! Therapy is down to one time per week and we don't see the pediatrician for two months, we're going to have so much free time on our hands!
Dr. Zegarra told us to slowly start introducing cow's milk to Maximito... So, he had one bottle on Saturday and one on Sunday and he seems to like it, though he likes it warm. (Such a delicate little boy). ... more later...

Good Times

2008-08-31T19:29:00.002-05:00

Today we went to the park to watch the Nike "Human Race" 1ok. It was a gorgeous day (the second in a row). We went and played in the park then watched the sea of red bodies (about 8500 of them) pass us. What's really nice is that Maximo is easier and easier to take out. He loves watching people and since he's a crawling machine, he'll just play in the grass or the sand at the playground. It's a lot nicer going out and not having to hold a baby the whole time we're out. It's great now too that he's eating people food. It doesn't take as much planning to leave the house.
For Max's birthday, we went to the Hoiseth's house to celebrate his, Robb's and Carol's birthday. Maximo had his first pizza - and loved it, but he didn't quite make it to birthday cake. Thankfully, his appetite has returned. It was really strange. for two weeks he really didn't eat much at all, then it came back. There were no new teeth, nothing else major going on, so who knows? He's really into feeding himself now, so I've had to become creative with his foods. He's starting to eat more snacks now - water crackers, string cheese, graham crackers, and even apple and pear cubes. I made veggie pancakes this week - with the help of Bisquick batter with shredded zucchini, carrots and broccoli and curry powder. He LOVES them. He devours them. Tonight I made chicken and potato "meat" balls. He seemed to enjoy those too, so as long as he's feeding himself, he's eating...
He's growing by leaps and bounds, changing daily. He likes to copy us all the time. He fake laughs and coughs if anyone around him does either one. Lately, he's totally cracking us up.
He's cruising around the house like crazy and is more interested in walking, so he grabs for our hands and moves off the furniture.
I'll post an update after this week's pediatrician's visit.

A Letter for Maximo

2008-08-28T06:00:00.003-05:00

Dear Maximo,
Happy Birthday! I can't believe you're a year old. By the time you're old enough to read this and appreciate it, I'm sure you would have heard your birth story 1,000 times. I'm not even sure I can put how I truly feel into this little letter to you. You are everything to your dad and I. From way before I even felt you kick or we knew what your name was going to be, I was in love with you. As soon as you came into this world, your dad and I fought for you, even when we didn't know which way was up, what was going to happen or how even how to be parents. Instantly, we did everything we could to make you well and to get you to come home with us. That first month was so hard not having you in the house with us. You were no longer in my belly and the house seemed so empty at night. Everyday we'd get up and come see you and hold you close to our bodies to help you gain strength. When you finally came home, we felt like we were stealing you from the hospital, but were so excited to be parents to you at home twenty-four hours a day.
Over the next few months, you were getting bigger and bigger, enduring doctor visit after doctor visit, but taking it all in stride, only crying when you were hungry or tired. You were so tiny that the few preemie clothes we had didn't even fit and all the regular clothes we had hung off of you, so for at least the first three months, everything you wore had rolled sleeves and pant legs.
We are in awe with how much you've changed in just twelve months - watching you fatten up, stretch, lose and regrow hair, babble, laugh, eat, roll over, crawl, and stand up. We're starting to learn your personality - your need for sleep like me, but you sleep lightly like Dad. You love the water, you love books, you love food (well, up until about two weeks ago). You love to be outside, you love to be around other people, and you adore your cat, Flavius. You like to bite and throw things like a true boy, lucky for you they are still cute habits; they won't be forever.
All I can say is that we're so proud to be your parents. I'm so proud of how strong you've been this year and how resilient you've been. You bring such happiness to us. The second I leave you all I can think about is when I can be back with you. We rush home everyday to spend as much time as we can before you go to bed. Making you laugh is one of our favorite things to do - and once we've done it, we'll do whatever it was a hundred times over, just to keep you giggling. We really enjoy being your parents - we love playing with you and exploring the world with you.
So, happy first birthday, my love. I hope all your wishes come true.
Love,
Mom

Times Have Changed

2008-08-27T20:21:00.004-05:00

"Ya know, I'm going to cancel the doctor's appointment for tomorrow."
It has taken me one year to even think these thoughts, let alone say them out loud. For a year, we have lived by doctors' appointments and hung on their every word (okay, the 85% we could understand;). We have scheduled our lives around check-ups, scans, evaluations, and therapy. Sure, Maximo is worth it. But it was really nice to actually call the doctor's office and reschedule for next week.
After all, it is his birthday tomorrow. Even though we're not going to have a party for his birthday (much to the chagrin of everyone else in Peru), really, should anyone unnecessarily go to the doctor's office on their birthday? We were invited to dinner to celebrate two other Roosevelt birthdays, so we're going to go. It's nice to not worry too much. It's comforting to know that we all persevered this past (crazy) year. For once, we're not saying, "No, sorry, we can't come, we have a (fill-in the specialist)'s appointment."
Just today, Maximo came up to school so we could go to his other doctor's appointment, and it was nice to pass him off to our students who just oohed and ahhed over him. For so long, we had to be cautious about germs; for so long, we couldn't even leave the house.
It's nice to breathe and enjoy our son.
I'm looking at the clock right now. Last year, at this time, my water had broken, I just got off the phone with my mom for the second time , the doctor left for the night, I received a shot of steroids to help with Maximo's lung development and I was hooked up to a fetal monitor, knowing our teeny tiny baby was going to be born the next day. My heart still does flip-flops like it was yesterday.

Upgrade Number Two

2008-08-27T20:17:00.003-05:00

Little man is getting mobile... No more putting him down and turning our backs, even for a second. He's fast, he's agile, he'll follow the cat anywhere - even down a flight or two of hardwood steps.
We have an extra wide stairwell, so none of the pre-fab plastic ones would fit - we were even planning on lugging one back from the states if we could find the right size. Luckily, for us, anything can be custom made in this country. So, one call, 3 days and $50 later we have a beautiful, sturdy baby gate that perfectly matches our wood floors.

The Upgrade

2008-08-26T18:29:00.003-05:00

We are living in a beautifully refinished house here in Lima. Unfortunately, there are no bathtubs - not a one in four bathrooms. Bathtubs are not rare in Peru, I just don't think our landlady really thought about them while she was renovating the house and making the bathrooms more modern. We didn't really notice that there were no bathtubs when we were looking at the house. But, we've come to learn that it's a big deal when you've got a little one in the house. So, for the past almost year, we've used the countertop baby tub. It's worked fine, but in the past couple of months, Maximo has been obviously cramped, and it's a bit dangerous balanced between our two bathroom sinks; when he splashes, he soaks the whole bathroom (and us). For the past couple of weeks, we've been on the hunt for something else to use while we're here. I was envisioning a plastic tub you may put a keg of beer in. It took us a while to find, but we found something close, though it's a bit large. John drilled a hole in it and glued and sealed a drain (complete with rubber stopper) in it. It's definitely big enough for Maximo now, but it's still a bit cumbersome to bathe him at night. But, he's happy in it... and as he gets older, he definitely gets dirty during the day, so bath time is no longer just a relaxing ritual before bedtime, it's a necessity.

Anticipating the "Sit Down"

2008-08-24T20:00:00.004-05:00

When I was about 21, I was scolded for being the "bad parent" for the first time by a doctor. I was at the vet with my cat who was a bit overweight (understatement) and the vet lectured me about how unhealthy my cat was and how I was the cause of the problem. I was embarrassed and hurt. And now I feel like we may be walking into another disappointed doctor's office.
We're a bit anxious about our doctors' visits this week, especially the one on Thursday for Max's 1 year check up. Max's size has always been a concern, since he was born so small. He was catching up, now, well, we're not sure. About 2 weeks ago, his appetite totally disappeared. He used to eat so well, and now he's eating like a bird. Taking a couple of bites of even his favorite dishes, then snapping his trap closed and shaking his head back and forth.So now, dinner begins with a few options, most of which he can eat my himself - tonight he had broccoli and chicken. I also made veggie pancakes for him - using Bisquick with shredded cooked carrot, zucchini and broccoli (the Almighty Web said it was a good food for picky eaters). I even went as far as spreading butter on top - to make it more tasty and for a few more calories and fat. He enjoys feeding himself, so I put it on his tray and let him go at it. At first, we waited with baited breath - bite, chew, chew, chew, another, chew, chew, chew, another, chew, chew, chew... then it was chucked on the floor. So then we get a little desperate, so I start scrounging around the kitchen - string cheese, graham crackers and of course, Cheerios - all of which gets mixed together on his tray.I even started hiding food sandwiched between two Cheerios - I would squish some pancake in between - r-i-d-i-c-u-l-o-u-s!
He's happy and seems healthy, so we're not too stressed. I stopped reading baby development books (i.e. What to Expect in the First Year) a long time ago. He definitely doesn't look starved. I've read that kids go through a finicky eating stage, but it's closer to 18 months and he's never been ahead of schedule on anything. So, we'll just go with it, and expect to be scolded at the doctor's office.
Really, the only negative effect of Maximo eating less during the day, is that he's waking up at 5 am, rather than 6, because he's hungry. But, he's still making it through the night...
Can a baby survive on Cheerios alone? We may soon find out!

Dying for a Kiss

2008-08-21T19:01:00.006-05:00

Tonight, Maximo and I were reading through our battery of bedtime reading. It's definitely one of my favorite times of day - I love cuddling with him, breathing in his sweet baby smell, reading our favorite books... always five, always ending with Goodnight Moon. For the past month or so, Maximo has stopped wrestling with us during reading time and seems to enjoy listening to the stories and looking at the pictures.
A funny thing happened tonight. We were almost through with Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and we're on (what is to me) the page with the freakiest illustration. It has a picture of a "teacher", but she is put together with a mixture of textures with an odd pinkish skin hue, beehive hairdo and blue glasses.
Maximo was sitting pensively in my lap enjoying the deep literature, then he gently leaned forward and gave The Teacher a kiss! Right on her perfectly geometric, painted pink lips.
What?!
I've been dying from a peck from this boy. This is a very kissy culture, so he is constantly bombarded with kisses and besitos and people doling them out regularly.
Then, he leaned in again and dropped another smacker square on her lips, then again, and again and again. He planted them all tenderly and with care and for those of you who know Maximo, he's proven to be 100% boy and a bit rough with everything in his path.
After about ten kisses, I holler to John to witness this, thinking he'd probably stop, but no, he gave her a few more. So, then Dad thought he'd steal a kiss, so he moved the book out of the way, leaned in and said, "Give Daddy a kiss, Maximo."
Smack - his right hand made contact with John's forehead. That's my boy.

The Weekly (sorry) Update

2008-08-17T18:40:00.004-05:00

Max antagonizing Flavius for the 1,000,000 time,
but Flavius taking it because he loves the attention - even if it's a "little" rough

Check out the drool on the chair and the curls (Oh, I'm so glad he got his dad's hair!)

I'd really like to be writing more than once a week, but it was one of those weeks. I actually enjoy writing on the blog and often times find myself during the week writing a blog in my head. Unfortunately, by the time I sit down to type one, it's not as witty and interesting as the one I composed on the drive to school in my mind.
It was a crazy week at work, filled with Open House Night, grading, teaching, preparing and parenting (and a little socializing too). Maximo seems like he is maintaining a bit of a schedule - at least at night. His napping during the day is sporatic. Sometimes he takes a great 2 hour nap plus another small one earlier in the day, other times, like today, he only took two 20 minute naps. Like his momma, he needs his sleep, and today was a LONG sleepless day. It's fascinating to us the power of "overtiredness". How can you be that tired to not be able to sleep? Seriously, Maximo was so tired, he must have fallen a bazillion times (his coordination definitely dwindles when he's tired -if you check out the picture closely, you can see the bruise on his forehead), but he could not, would not fall asleep (Yes, I've been reading too many Dr. Suess books). I tried on numerous occasions to take him in his darkened room to lull him to sleep, but he did not want anything to do with it. He just fell asleep as he took his night time bottle, so we'll see how he does. Sometimes when he's overtired, he sleeps really fitfully, and is up every few hours wailing. I hope not, because we're exhausted too!
On Saturday, Swim Class was again a hit. Maximo's harem is growing... Yesterday, there was four other girls in his class. This week, he continues with two days of therapy. We are still supposed to be doing three, but the therapist and I have kind of worked it out this way due to our schedules. He really seems to be almost on par with other kids his age, so I'm not freakishly concerned like before. I think we may see the Physical Therapy doctor this week, but I've forgot the date of our appointment (along with Maximo's next pediatrician's visit too), so "I" 'll have to call to figure out when all that happens.
I'll try to post more in the coming week. Oh, great as I finish this blog, it's to the sound of our darling angel's wails...

Swimming

2008-08-10T16:00:00.006-05:00

This week we've been swimming, mainly in school work and balancing our home and school lives, but we ended the week with a fun family day at the school pool. We enrolled Maximo in swim classes. He LOVED it! He lasted through the whole class, without so much as a fuss. There was one other kid in his class, Ali, who is a year older than Max and already swims like a fish. John went in with Maximo and they splashed, played on the noodle, chased balls in the pool, raced Ali, and even jumped off the side of the pool! Surprisingly, it was a pretty structured class for such little kids. He's going to have class every Saturday. Hopefully the class will stay relatively small and he'll continue to enjoy it.
He also started clapping this week - though he usually does it by hitting the back of his right hand with his left hand. We've been playing a lot of "Patty Cake", but I think the girls have been playing more with him during the day because his cue to start clapping is "Bravo" rather than "Yeah" or anything else in English.
We're keeping up with therapy three times a week until we see the doctor at the end of the month, when we hope we'll be able to decrease the frequency of his therapy. He's constantly on the move, and though he has some great toys, he prefers romping around with Flavius, his dad's book shelf, and the small metal trash can in the office (and will scream bloody murder when we try to move him away from any of these objects). He's also starting to cruise around the living room furniture which is exciting.
Side note: Doesn't Max look cute in his swimming cap? It's a rule at the school pool, but we hardly thought it would apply to Maximo (because he's a baby, not because he's our child and above the law!). Luckily they had one we could borrow, so now we need to go out this week and try to find a baby sized one. This one is nice too because it's not made out of that tight lycra; we've already started scouring athletic stores looking for one.

Ahhh... Sunday

2008-08-03T20:34:00.003-05:00

One of my favorite things about the weekend is our walks. On any given weekend day or holiday, we take at least two walks. We meander on the malecon or through Miraflores or even to the grocery store. Usually, Maximo doesn't make it too long in the stroller, so most of the time, I "sling" him. Today started off really wet and "rainy", so we couldn't go out for our early morning walk. After naptime, we ventured out with Max in a pack on Daddy's back. While I was pregnant with Maximo we received a hiking pack as a hand-me-down of a hand-me-down. He's been too small to use it, but we wanted to try it today. It went well, so hopefully we'll take Maximo up to Machu Picchu in it this next year!
And just because you're dying to know... I drank two cups of coffee today. And that could only mean one thing (well, besides being tired - more sleep begets more sleep). I stopped breastfeeding Maximo. I was always considerate of my caffeine intake while pregnant and breastfeeding. Now I'm going on a binge, no... just kidding. It was time for us to end this wonderful and amazing experience. We really feel like we were so lucky to be able to breastfeed Maximo. Most preemies do not get to breastfeed or even get breastmilk, for a plethora of reasons. Most commonly, because they aren't strong enough to suck or they need more calories than breastmilk provides to help them gain weight rapidly.
Over the past month, Maximo was getting less and less interested in it. I'd be surprised if my daily output at the end was more than a few ounces. I am a little sad about it, but the timing was right. It was nice not to have to force it and just let it happen on its own. Now, the next attachment thing that will REALLY bum me out is when he's too big to go into the sling!

Sleep Begets Sleep

2008-08-02T19:09:00.002-05:00

We're surviving as working parents this week (barely). After our Wacky Wednesday night, Maximo returned to his normal charming self, so who knows what happened. I'm still sticking with the teeth or tummy theory. He has two new teeth coming in on either side of his top front teeth and his tummy, well, who knows? He ate a bit of cheese at dinner (more than usual, so maybe?)
Lately, we've been chopping up food and putting it on this highchair tray so he can practice eating. He loves it! So far, he's been eating Cheerios, pieces of bread, little cubes of cheese, pieces of banana and "potato balls" (just little morsels of packed together mashed potatoes..yummm!) He really enjoys feeding himself and while he's doing that we get spoonfuls of food into him too.
Again, I'm always anxious posting about good sleep, but he's continuing to sleep through the night. It's amazing. Life is so different now. I think we're all glowing;0) Last night, Maximo slept from 6:00 to 6:15 this morning, then took a nap from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm (What?) then he fell asleep in the car on our way home from our lunch date for about 30 minutes and was in bed tonight around 6:45. Have we done it? Is it permanent? Oh, how we hope so. I can't believe we didn't sleep through the night for 11 months!

Our Wednesday Night Adventure

2008-07-31T19:14:00.002-05:00

"Do you think it's his teeth?"
"Maybe?"
"Maybe it's his stomach."
"Maybe."
"Should we call Dr. Zegarra?"
"I don't know."
"Should we go to the hospital?"
"Maybe? Well, he seems to be calming down."
This is a snippet of our conversation last night, over or really under Maximo's unrelenting screams. He had a long day and didn't nap too well, so he went to bed around 6:15 pm. He woke up at 8:00 pm SCREAMING. Normally, if we pick him up, he calms right down. Not last night. He screamed like he was in pain and screamed and screamed and screamed. We gave him Tylenol. He had no fever. We rocked him. We tried milk. We begged, we pleaded. We gave him Motrin. We sang.
Finally, one thing worked... FLAVIUS (the cat). But, this was short-lived, then it started again. Maximo screamed from about 8:00 pm to 12:00 pm. I was finally able to rock him to sleep, then I kept him in my arms until 4:00 am. So, we didn't sleep well last night.
We were worried sick. We were afraid we weren't doing enough. We stripped him down looking for a rash or anything. He had no symptoms, except for screaming and arching his back like he was in pain.
This morning, he woke up, his normal, happy self. We're holding our breaths about tonight. It was really tough last night, and tomorrow is our first day with students.
It sure will be nice when he can say, "Mommy, Daddy, my tummy hurts." Until then, we'll keep guessing, using our instincts and hopefully we'll keep making the right decisions.

11 Months Old Today!

2008-07-28T20:07:00.006-05:00

Today, Maximo is 11 months old and the whole country decided to celebrate. Actually, it's just 28 de Julio - Peruvian Independence Day. We are seriously not looking forward to going back to work, mostly because we've really, really enjoyed hanging out with Maximo this past month.
He is pulling himself up all over the place and getting more and more stable by the day. It's impressive how much he learns and changes daily. It's a lot of fun just watching him play with his toys and use us as jungle gyms to climb all over.
He's getting better using his pincer grasp to feed himself. Nothing's more motivating than food. He's been practicing on his favorite food - Cheerios.
Lastly, Maximo decided about four nights ago, not to take his middle of the night bottle... So, we're almost sleeping through the night, from about 7:00 pm to 6:30 or so. I say almost because he still wakes up fussing in the middle of the night, but we just pop in his pacifier and stroke his head a bit, and he goes back to sleep.
So, needless to say, things are going great! Now, we just need to get him to stop biting... it's becoming a bit of a problem. But, he's sleeping through the night, so one thing at a time. We can deal with a few battle wounds for a full night sleep. Parenting is about sacrifice, right?

Friends Forever

2008-07-28T07:02:00.007-05:00

We were really not sure how Flavius (our cat) was going to feel about another little guy moving into the house. He was (and continues to be) pretty spoiled; he was constantly in our laps every time we sit down and slept with us at night. We thought he'd be jealous and starting peeing and pooping everywhere and we'd have to worry about him clawing the baby's eyes out or suffocating him.
We had nothing to fear. When Maximo came home, Flavius was very curious, but never acted aggressively towards the baby. Maximo has always loved being around Flavius. Flavius's meows stop Maximo in his tracks. Now that Max is more mobile, he always crawls to Flavius. Flavius patiently lets Max pet him (i.e. yank his fur). The cat even bravely lays on the floor near Max's play area. Flavius even has a sound that he makes when he sees the cat - it's like a "kah" sound.
It'll be cute when Max is in a big boy bed and Flavius chooses to sleep with him over us. As we move around the world (at least for the next couple of places), Flavius and Maximo will have each other when everything is new and bedrooms at night are foreign and scary.

Nana in a Box

2008-07-27T09:03:00.003-05:00

Technology makes living overseas easy (easier). Since Maximo was born, it's even more difficult being away from family. Skype is great because it allows us to talk to our families and for Maximo to see them.
Unfortunately he doesn't quite get "Nana in a Box". He intently looks at her, but when she starts talking he starts looking around the room. (I wish we had a picture or video of him as Nana talked to him yesterday morning.)
As he gets older, though, it'll be great for him to stay in contact with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. So every summer, hopefully, it won't take him a long time to warm up to his own family.

11 Month Check-up

2008-07-24T16:21:00.006-05:00

Today Maximo had his 11 month check-up. We were both surprised he actually gained a little weight this month with the crazy schedule due to all the traveling and refusing to eat the jarred food in the US. He now weighs 9.130 kg (20 lbs, 2 oz.) and is 72 cm (28.3 in.) long. This puts him at 20 % and 25 % respectively.
Doctors visits are pretty uneventful now which is nice. It'll be interesting if after his first year appointment we won't have to meet with the doctor monthly; we're not as geeked up by the numbers of his weight as we used to be.
As you can see in this picture, Maximo is pulling himself up. He's getting a lot more efficient with his crawling and is pulling up as much as he can though he prefers to pull up on one of us. He really likes pulling up on his dad's legs, using his leg hair as extra help. Once he's up, though, it doesn't last for long. He hasn't figured out that he has to hang on, so he reaches for a toy or something and dumps it.
Now, we are just enjoying the unseasonably warm Lima weather and even a little sunshine this afternoon.

Snapshots of Summer

2008-07-22T13:07:00.005-05:00

As we begin to think about and even do a little work, these are some shots of our favorite moments in Connecticut and Georgia.

Swinging at Nana's house

Playing at Nana's with Mommy's old toys

Nana has a carseat just for Maximo (well, Jessica and Amanda, too)!

His birthday cake - not sure what it tasted like, but it sure felt squishy!

Hanging out with Amanda

The beach, oh how he loved the beach

Exhausted from a weekend at the beach!

Hanging out with his dad

4 Teeth and a Toothbrush

2008-07-20T21:16:00.004-05:00

In tutti-frutti toothpaste ecstasy or did he just hit his uvula with the toothbrush?

I kinda like this. I can even brush all my teeth by myself.

Tonight Maximo brushed his teeth for the first time. He has every intention on keeping those four precious teeth. Poor thing has a huge gap in between his two front teeth, just like Mommy and Daddy did pre-braces!

Home Sweet Home

2008-07-20T20:51:00.002-05:00

I think the last time I posted an entry with this title, it had a totally different meaning - I think it was Maximo's first day home. It's nice to be home, though not as nice as it was to have Maximo finally home after a month in the NICU. We had a fantastic time visiting our families and introducing our mother land to Junior, but it's nice to sleep in our own beds too!
Our last day in Savannah started early, about 3:00 am. Maximo woke up burning with fever. He was red in the cheeks and really, really warm, but we didn't have a thermometer, so we're not sure how high his temp was. After some Tylenol and a little cuddle and play time, Max was back to sleep about an hour later. He slept for another two hours or so, and woke up screaming again, so we dressed and packed up for the morning and headed to Gigi's (John's mom). Mothers usually have the answers to everything, so we sought her advice and the use of her phone book. We looked up an urgent care clinic and headed over there.
Of course, by the time we were seen, Maximo had almost no temperature. He had no symptoms of anything else at all. We wanted him checked out to make sure it wasn't an ear infection or something in his chest before we hopped on an international flight. The doctor said there's a virus going around and he probably has that or is teething. So, with that and advice on keeping him hydrated and how to keep his temperature down, we left.
Max was on and off fussy for most of the day. We saw Gigi, Papa and Coco (grandparents) for the last time and started our monstrous task of packing all of our stuff - 6 - 48.5 lb. bags, 2 carry-ons, a carseat, a stroller and a partridge and a pear tree.
Yesterady, we had a very LONG, but uneventful travel day. Maximo was a dream (again). He didn't so much as fuss the whole day. He slept the whole flight from Savannah to Newark (yes we went north to go south) and for almost three hours on the Newark to Lima flight.
Now, we're unpacking all of our junk and trying to resume our routine. Maximo has never been a wonderful sleeper, but over the vacation, we utterly screwed up his schedule. He was falling asleep in our arms, taking at least one good nap a day but then oftentimes sleeping in the car en route to somewhere, and usually in the wee hours of the morning, he'd awaken for his bottle, and he'd fuss when he went back to his tent, so I tucked him in between us in bed where he would sleep the rest of the night.
Needless to say, there was a bit (only 10 minutes) of crying before settling down in his crib tonight and he took 3 crappy 30-45 minute naps today. Hopefully we'll get his routine back this week before we start back at school next week (sniffle, sniffle).
NOTE: I'm posting old blog entries I've written the past few days and adding pictures, so some of these may be out of order.

What the ?

2008-07-17T21:09:00.002-05:00

Here's Maximo in the back of the car today when it started to downpour. It's the first time he's really seen rain.

Looking Back at The Crab Shack

2008-07-17T20:59:00.008-05:00

The Crab Shack is one of my favorite eateries on Tybee Island (actually just before the island if you know the area). It is a HUGE outdoor restaurant on the marsh that specializes in Low Country Boil - a big pot with shrimp, crawdads, stone crab and snow crab legs, corn, potatoes and sausage seasoned with a bit of Old Bay seasoning. It's messy, a lot of work, but delicious. Well, last Sunday was Maximo's first visit to the Crab Shack. We noticed that it's the perfect place to bring kids because it's messy and since it's outdoors and there are outdoor fans, Max could meltdown and not many people would notice. There's also a hole in the table for trash, which is an added bonus which will probably WOW! Maximo when he gets older.
They've recently added an alligator exhibit. You can feed the alligators and watch them hang out. Max wasn't too interested in it, but Charlie loved it and could hardly get through dinner wanting to see the alligators.
Here's a shot of some of the alligators, who were all born and raised in captivity. They're pretty little - not the huge ones you may imagine living in the Everglades or in the wild in the marshes of Georgia. I especially love the Maximo-sized one the third from the left. We now have an affinity for pint-sized little runts.

Technical Difficulties

2008-07-17T20:58:00.001-05:00

I'm having a hard time uploading photos onto the Picasa page because John's laptop keeps freezing and I forgot the card reader in Peru. I'll keep trying, but some posts may have to wait until we arrive back in Peru. Sorry...

Hopefully NOT eating crow

2008-07-16T20:27:00.002-05:00

We've just returned from the fourth night eating out at a restaurant for dinner with Maximo. He's been great. Every night as we walk into the restaurant, sometimes as late as 7:00 pm, I'm thinking, this is going to be a nightmare, but he's been wonderful. He's always pretty good when we're in a situation with other people around. He loves to flirt with any female within a 20 foot radius of where we are sitting. He's also has had his sampling of southern food since we've been here: mac and cheese, cornbread, sweet potato mash, and banana pudding, to name a few.
Tonight, Maximo got to meet his cousin, Jillian. Unfortunately, the battery was dead in my camera. Jillian is a spunky, adorable, bright eight year old. Maximo loved watching her, listened to her read him books, and to seal the deal, she gave him some licks of her lollipop(s) and wheeled him around the restaurant. She also sat next to him in the back of the car, which kept Maximo happy at 8:45 tonight, as we left the restaurant.
So, our trip is winding down. We have more quality family time ahead of us and our "break the bank" Target spree where we buy a bunch of stuff we can't get in Peru (mostly things we can live without). Every afternoon, we've been taking a dip in the hotel pool. Max LOVES the pool. He has a little floatie which he likes to kick around in, but he likes even more for me to pull him around while he's on his stomach. We've also been dunking him underwater. Sometimes he fusses a bit, but he doesn't seem to hate it. We're thinking we're going to try to start swim "classes" when we get back to Peru.

Eyes as Blue as the Sky

2008-07-13T20:53:00.002-05:00

Yes, this is my cheap, err lazy, way of updating Maximo's blog without really writing much. I have so much to say, but it's hard finding the time while we're at the beach. We're back on the main land tomorrow in Savannah, so I'll write another update and post more pictures. (There are a couple more in the 10 month - Georgia folder).

Honor Thy Father

2008-07-12T19:18:00.001-05:00

A Vacation of Firsts...

2008-07-12T11:34:00.006-05:00

In the last two weeks, Maximo has had lots of firsts, including...

Traveling to the US
Eating bagels, tofu, potato salad, cobbler, fish, ice cream, hush puppies, Mexican food...
Eating BIRTHDAY CAKE
Facing forward in his carseat
Crawling!
Almost... holding the bottle himself and feeding himself Cheerios
Swimming in a Pool & the Atlantic Ocean
Going to the Mystic Aquarium

Unfortunately, the first night in where ever we are is usually rough and we are now staying at our fourth accommodation. Through all the movement, Maximo has been great. He really is adapting pretty well to the major change in scenery and all the new people around. He easily has gone to a couple dozen different strangers with open arms.
Thankfully, Maximo is eating again. As soon as we arrived in Georgia, we went shopping and then I prepared food for Maximo. I made his favorites - chicken, squash, orzo and chicken, apricots and rice. He's been chowing them down, especially since he's playing hard at the beach, pool and trying to steal all of Charlie's toys.
Here are the beginnings of the Georgia photos.

At the beach

2008-07-12T07:03:00.002-05:00

We made it to Georgia! We had a great travel day with Maximo. He was amazing! We think he's getting the hang of it - or at least we are. We were again delayed out of Newark, and arrived in Georgia only 2 hours late. We were again able to get a rental car on an expired license, so that didn't add to our drama at the end of the travel day. We spent two days in Savannah with John's parents - they were oohing and ahhing over Maximo. We filled up on good Southern food yesterday at John's mom's: pork barbeque, shrimp potato salad, baked beans, yellow squash and peach cobbler, YUMM! Max tried it all and LOVED the cobbler. Really, who wouldn't?
We're now at Tybee Beach with our friends Hugo and Sarah and their adorable son, Charlie. We got in late yesterday afternoon, just in time for some thunder and lightening storms. Hopefully today we'll get to use the pools and go to the beach. Maximo is loving "hanging out" with Charlie.
When I have a couple more minutes (maybe tonight?) I'll post pictures - we have a lot!
And just in case you were worried, we are both now legal Georgia drivers.

Happy Birthday, Maximo???

2008-07-07T06:45:00.008-05:00

We walked into my brother's house yesterday for a late 4th of July cookout to a surprise 1st birthday party for Maximo. My mom couldn't fathom not celebrating his first birthday. So, two months early, we celebrated...
Aunt Celia and Uncle Jon arrived from Japan via Canada! As Celia pointed out, this is in true Maximo style - he's just going to do everything two months early! We have tons of great pictures, we'll post more later.
I've updated pictures, here.

A Couple of Photos

2008-07-04T10:58:00.003-05:00

Sitting on the edge of the lake with Dad

The Cousins Floatin'

Mmmmm... My first peach! Delicioso!

Five - Oh - Five

2008-07-04T06:30:00.003-05:00

Okay, I promise this won't be a marathon post, even though we have a lot to report. I should be posting every day, because everyday Maximo is experiencing something new and is changing so quickly. Right now, our days our full and I'm asleep about 20 minutes after Maximo goes to bed, so posting at the end of our day is impossible. I'm trying to squeeze in this post before he wakes up.
Well, 5:05... this is the time we've been waking up! Yipee! Don't want to miss a minute of vacation. In Peru, the sun rises at about 6:00 am and sets around 6:00 pm, with only a few minutes of change throughout the year since we're so close to the equator. Unfortunately, Maximo's internal clock is set to this darkness and light schedule. The sun has been rising at about 5:00 am, hence our early wake up!
Max has been traveling really well, even though we've totally been screwing up his schedule. He's been eating dinner with us at the table which has been fun. He's boycotted the baby food (out of the jars), so the first few days were a little rough and he increased his milk and formula intake. Now, he's eating a little of the jarred food and we're supplementing with as much "people food" as we can - mostly chicken, sweet potatoes, fruit, and anything else we can put into small pieces or mash. He's devouring Cheerios too! We think he'd eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner if we let him!
Maximo has LOVED the water. We're right near the ocean, so he loves sitting on the shore kicking his legs in the water and playing with the shells. We've also gone to the lake with his cousins and he really loved that (it's a little bit warmer than the Atlantic). He went in a little floatie for a while, but enjoyed us holding him and splashing with his hands and his feet.
Lastly, before this turns into another 1000 word post... the Pediatric Physical Therapist came yesterday and evaluated Maximo. She was really pleased with all he's doing - CRAWLING (yes, really crawling now!), transitioning between sitting and crawling, and sitting up unassisted. She said he's average for a 8 month old (his adjusted age) and is even low on the charts for a 10 month old. It was very reassuring to speak with her. She's going to come back on Monday to show us some activities to do with him.
We'll try to post pictures (in other words, if he stays asleep another 15 minutes, I'll download them). Max received a cute little Old Navy bathing suit - short and a surf shirt. With his little Old Navy hat, he looks like a baby model for one of their advertisements.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

2008-06-30T20:07:00.002-05:00

Okay, why didn't any of you tell us how difficult it was traveling with kids? (Yes, you, I'm pointing my finger at all of you who have little kids and travel often with them.) You all make it seem so easy, I'm not even sure I've heard you complain about the 20 hour flights, either. Maximo was very good on our long 22 hour journey from Peru to Connecticut. It's amazing how we've gone from "cat-napping, People reading, carefree" travelers to "here, take him, he's bored with me, he's about to explode, do you think he can make it until we land to feed, change his diaper, etc.?" travelers in the span of a year.
Okay, so our traveling day, gone bad (though not horrible)...
Scene 1: Continental Flight Lima to Newark
We get priority boarding with Maximo, get on and try to sort our three carry-ons and get the carseat installed. The rest of the plane boards. This women from the row in front of us looks back at us, then leans into the man sitting next to her, "Oh, great, there's a baby in the row behind us." I've felt this before, though I'm tired and seething at her comment and want A. Max to scream so she has no sleep, but even better B. Act like an angel so we can prove her wrong.
We left Peru pretty much on time (about 11 pm on Saturday night). Maximo was wide awake and had been since his nap at 1:00 pm -this had us worried. He just really enjoys looking around at people and didn't want to miss a thing. We figured once we got on the plane, he'd hopefully drink milk and fall asleep. Well, they decided to serve dinner at 1:00 am and the lights in the cabin actually stayed on until 2:00 am. He fussed a bit, refused to go in his car seat, which we had on the plane, though it blocked me from leaving my seat. So, we awkwardly dozed with Max in our arms, and finally at about 3:00 am he went into his car seat until about 5:45. Then he was awake, looking around, being quite sweet, until about 15 minutes before landing, when he lost the plot and hollered until we landed.
Scene 2: Newark Airport, located coincidently in the "armpit area" (New England being the arm) on the east coast. We had a 5 hour layover in Newark, so we stretched our legs, ate breakfast, and let Maximo play on the a blanket in the terminal. We saw another flight going to Providence an hour earlier, so we attempted to get on to that, but it was a delayed flight from 8:30 am and kept getting kicked back, and last we saw was supposed to leave 10 minutes before we were departing, whether or it did or not, we don't know.
So, we had to take two mini shuttles to get to our gate - this is not easy to manuever in the heat, and with all the stairs (with three bags, a stroller and a baby). It was one of those commuter terminals where small flights go out every 15 minutes or so. It was hotter than Haiti in the terminal, and our flight got delayed about an hour. This was inconvenient to say the least, with a baby, who you are carefully planning out meltdown points, food, naps, heating a bottle properly, it really put a wrench in things.
We get on the little plane, Max and I together (in separate seats) with John behind us. The stewardess twice tried to give away Maximo's purchased seat. Finally, in the air, after another 20 minutes of being on the plane because a mechanic had to come on to fix a broken seat, we taxied on the runway for another 15 minutes. We then were in the air to Providence. It's a 35 minute flight to Providence, so we were getting giddy because our trip was almost over. About 5 minutes left in our flight the pilot spoke,
"Folks, I've got some bad news. The plane landing before us on the runway popped a tire and there's debris on the runway, so we have to circle Providence while they clean it up. They say it'll only be five minutes. I'll get back to you if I hear anything else. Sorry for another delay."
By this point, Max was hanging on, but we were really running out of things to do. He had already ripped the Sky Miles catalog to shreds and was getting really antsy.
"Ummm, folks, they say it's going to be another 15 minutes. There's still debris on the runway."
Okay, we're already thinking it's probably bigger than he's explaining to us. I'm starting to worry that there was a major plane crash before our flight, maybe even the other Newark flight and my mom's having a coronary because she's checking the in-flight status every five minutes online.
Two minutes later, we land. As we were taxiing to the terminal, we saw a bunch of fire trucks and ambulances around a P-51 Mustang (a WWII fighter plane). Come to find out, the crosswinds were too much for it and it tipped its wing down and it hit the ground and popped a tire, and whatever else.
As we were getting off the plane, there were two other pilots on our plane who had spoken to our pilot. I heard them saying that if we had to wait another 5 minutes, they were going to re-route us to Boston because we were running out of fuel.
Scene 3 - Providence Airport
We go to the baggage claim. John gets a cart for all of our stuff. We wait, mind you there are only about 25 other people on the plane with us. We get the car seat off the conveyor belt, it goes round and round, then comes to a stop. Nothing else of ours is there. Great! Just what we need. Maximo at this point is getting fussy, he's exhausted and hungry. I give Maximo a bottle while John deals with the baggage issue. They tell us, hopefully it'll be on the next flight to Providence, which will get in around 6 pm. We did see our bags in Newark, we had to take them through customs. We even had to go through the damn Agricultural claims area/line/check because John insisted on bringing carrot sticks from Peru as a snack... We checked the car seat in at this point in Newark, because it was so big on the "no-leg room" Continental planes. Luckily, this was the bag that made it to us, because it would have made getting home from the airport interesting.
Now, I'm thinking in the back of my mind. We're two hours later than expected, I hope they still have our car at the rental counter. Really the way things were going, I figured they would have given it away. John starts sorting through the reservation sheet and pulling out his US license. He pulls out his license to see that it EXPIRED 3 months ago. All I'm thinking at this time is, "Are you frickin' kidding me?" My license has expired, but we were aware of this. So, I huff (that's the passive thing I do when I'm angry/frustrated) and ask John for US change to call my mom to come pick us up. As I wheel Maximo over to the pay phones (which take me 3 minutes to find because who uses a pay phone nowadays?). Across from the pay phone is the transportation desk, with a sign that says, Taxi Service to Anywhere. Really? We were going to Mystic, Connecticut, about a 45 minute drive away. So, I ask the lady behind the counter, and she told me it would be $130. I' m thinking that is possible, but it'd take my mom about an hour to get there, and if Max didn't melt down before then, I would.
I walk back to find John and the Budget counter to report the taxi information. He glared at me. It was the "don't say anything" glare. We got the car! The girl behind the counter just glanced at his license and didn't say anything. She was about 21 and was more worried about getting back to the food she was eating. So we cooly walk away from the counter outside to our car. We had to go to another counter outside, where we held our breath again and hoped they wouldn't ask for the license. They handed over the keys, and we quickly got in the car. (Okay, back to Max, this blog is about him, isn't it? He was pretty fussy this whole time, not full-out screaming, but doing his whiny-crying thing.) I reach down into the stroller to put him in the car seat, and he's passed out. He slept the whole way to Connecticut. Where we arrived all in one piece... with 22 hours of travel grime caked to us, with no clean clothes, but nothing but vacation time ahead of us. And, 3 hours later, we even got all of our luggage.
Since this post turned out to be a mini-novel, I'll write more later about how our trip is going. It's been great. Here's some pictures.

Vacation!

2008-06-28T17:40:00.002-05:00

After packing what we think we'll need for the next 20 hours, we're just waiting for the taxi to come pick us up. We're not at all worried about things to entertain Maximo while we're in the states, it's the airplanes and layover that worry us a bit. Hopefully he'll sleep during this night flight... If you're flying Continental Lima to Newark tonight, maybe we should apologize in advance.
We know once we arrive in the states, Maximo will be great. There's the beach, the boat, the lake, and COUSINS besides all the attention from relatives. If that doesn't entertain him, the 9 cats between Nana, Gigi and Papa's houses will. Really, we're beginning to think we don't need to buy any more toys, all he needs is Flavius parading and meowing around him. And the motivation the cat has given Maximo to crawl has been amazing...
More from the states later...

Times They Are A Changin'

2008-06-26T20:11:00.002-05:00

As predicted, it's been an insanely busy week. Max is fighting a second cold... we think he may have gotten it at one of the parties of last weekend. He got a ridiculously runny nose, which is now better, but he's got a bit of a dry hack right now.
Physically, he's still working on the crawling thing. He's attempting many different ways of crawling - he's getting up on his toes and scootching his way forwards, he's pretty good at the worm, and once he hits the wood floor, he's all about moving backwards. The therapist and we are working on helping Maximo to crawl by manipulating his legs to simulate how crawling should be - one leg forward, then the other. He has his last therapist visit tomorrow with Ines for three weeks, though we've set up an assessment and visit with a pediatric physical therapist in the states - we're excited and nervous to get a second opinion (and in English!). It'll also be nice that he'll have a couple of therapy sessions while we're gone.
He's also just recently learned how to close his mouth and keep it tightly closed when he doesn't want anymore food or more commonly - he doesn't want his iron supplement (don't blame him though, it smells like rust)!
Tonight, Maximo had his tenth month doctor's check-up - he now weighs 8.86 kg (19 lbs and 8 oz.) and is 71 cm (28 inches) long. Both of which are in the 25% for a 10 month old - that's the highest he's ever been! He jumped 10% in his length - his weight is slowly creeping up.
Lastly, Maximo has changed (maybe?) his sleeping schedule. He's sleeping a bit better during the day, and the past two nights he's stayed awake until 7:00. (It's been 6:00 for the past 6 months or so.) We'll see if he maintains this schedule with us traveling for the next three weeks.
We leave for the U.S. on Saturday - Maximo's first trip to the United States. He gets to meet a lot of friends and family who have heard endless stories about the little warrior. We can't wait! Hopefully he'll (we'll) survive our long traveling days.

Parties, Report Cards and Shopping, Oh My!

2008-06-22T06:43:00.006-05:00

As teachers, the end of the year has always been insane. Doing it overseas, brings insane to a whole new level. We're meeting new teachers, saying goodbye to friends, getting our final grades done, and planning trips home. Needless to say, it's been a hectic week.
Maximo went to his birthday parties. I did what I said I would never do... I sent him to the birthday party on Friday afternoon with just the nanny. It is very common here, so no one batted an eye. It was Friday afternoon, I was coming down with a little cold and I had a screaming headache, I was exhausted and didn't want to show up after work, then try to escape a mere twenty minutes later and small talk in Spanish - I've yet to master that. About all I can do is gloat about Maximo for a few minutes then explain why we're living here, but then I'd be at a loss for any depth. It was fine and he was back in time for dinner and Gloria was great and bypassed all the sweets served at the party.
That brings us to yesterday, party number #2. Hannah, another Roosevelt baby born in '07, was just turning 1. Her father is Peruvian, so he would settle for nothing less than a typical 1st birthday party in Peru. (And Lucho told me we better do the same when Maximo turns one because he's Peruvian too - don't hold your breath Lucho!) I'm going to try to set the scene for those of you who may never get to experience a Peruvian birthday party.
We walk in to the house and there are balloon decorations everywhere - not your typical "blow it up, rub it on your head and stick it to the wall" balloons. At closer look, I realized that many of the balloons were personalized - they had Hannah's face on it and a "Happy First Birthday" (WOW!). We say our hellos (kissing everyone in the party in true Peruvian fashion). Then, a mime walks in. He made balloon characters the whole party and passed them out to the kids. Max loves balloons, so he was in hog heaven and surprisingly the painted face of the mime didn't freak him out. There was a big personalized sign in the backyard with a cartoon character of whom I don't know yet - the cartoon characters and popular kids shows still are foreign to the Lemley household. Under the huge sign is a ball pit and play area.
Inside the house, there was food to feed a small army. Truly, there was more food there than I see at most weddings. It was all great delicious little bit-sized foods.
Max had a great time, and he got to hang out with some of the other Roosevelt babies. We tried to get a picture of the babies of his class, but we were missing a Kate and Victoria.
Here's one with Hannah (the birthday girl), Elie (she's 5 days older than Max), Max - the only boy of the year - of foreigners at least, and Lucia (she's 4 months).

Lastly, we went to a Pachamanca yesterday as a goodbye party for our dear friends, the St. Clairs. A Pachamanca is where they bury pork, chicken, lamb, a variety of potatoes, beans, humitas (like tamales) in the ground to cook. It was great. We had fun, but it was late in the day, so unfortunately, I didn't take pictures, in between feeding Max and socializing. I wish I had, because Pedro, watched Max so I could eat and Max has some of his first Pachamanca - well, the potato and humita - he loved the sweet humita... a true Peruano. Max was a trooper all day, and didn't fuss a bit being passed around. He loves being around people and watching everything. He fell asleep on the car ride home.
So, another crazy week is ahead. We have new teachers flying in tonight and staying with us for 4 nights, then we leave for the states on Saturday night. We can't wait! But, we have so much to do before then... like finishing our grading, posting grades, and finishing last minute shopping before we go home!

Most Popular Gringo on the Block

2008-06-17T18:56:00.003-05:00

Since we live overseas, our colleagues become our family. I am personally not a big fan of overdone birthday parties for little kids. Having simple, small get togethers (or doing nothing at all) goes against the norm here in Peru. Birthday parties are HUGE - food, servers, blow-up bouncy things, and entertainers dancing and screaming into a headset-microphone.
Though he doesn't know it yet, Max is destined for my favorite birthday tradition - whatever you wanted for dinner and Mom would make any kind of cake you wanted too, so I think Max has some squash, chicken and pasta lined up for his first birthday with maybe his first taste of carrot cake.
One thing, I do find super cute, is seeing Maximo's name on these little invitations. We have two birthday parties this weekend alone, one of a colleague's daughter who is turning one and one, well, I'm not sure how we were invited to this one. Tonight, I was just getting Max ready for bed when the doorbell rang...
"Hello" (we have an intercom system)
"Good evening, I have a birthday invitation for Maximo"
"For who?"
"Maximo. Can I leave it here?"
"Okay, hold on a minute."
I run downstairs with Max wrapped in a towel and answer the door. Before me stands a beautiful, tall "put together" Peruvian woman with a Backyardigans' invitation in hand, cooing over Maximo, then commenting how he must be cold.
I grabbed the invitation said thanks, but exhausted after a long day at work, didn't want to fumble through small talk in Spanish, so I turned around and went back inside.
I know he's made some friends at the park. All the maids converge on the park in the late afternoons. So, tomorrow, I need to ask Gloria who this child is... The name is Hanio which sounds masculine to me (maybe?). I have no idea how old this child will be, so buying a present might be tricky.
I do know that the party is on Friday afternoon at 3:30 around the corner from us. So, Gloria will bring him. It is quite common for nannies to bring kids to birthday parties. For me it is a bit strange to see fifteen little kids each playing with their nanny and not interacting with each other very well. I'll be able to get there about an hour late, and will be able to stay a bit before Max needs to return home for his nightly bedtime ritual. It'll be one of those cultural experiences for sure.

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-15T13:21:00.005-05:00

This is what Max and I made for John for his first Father's Day.
It's fun to see the changes in Max and also in John's hair length!

The tech teacher in me knows that there's copyright infringement with the Jack Johnson song I've added to the video. Hopefully, his legal group won't sue me. Probably, at worst, they'd just tell me to take it down. That is if they're searching a simple preemie blog with about 10 visitors a week.

Our Little Bugbear

2008-06-14T09:34:00.007-05:00

Bugbear is the nickname we use most with Maximo - though we also lovingly refer to him as: 'Mito, Mo, Tick Turd (I know it doesn't sound endearing - but he was pretty small when he came home and we're assuming a tick turd is fairly tiny), and of course, Max. Often times, he gets called Flavius (our cat).
This past week, John told me it was a mythological creature and forwarded me this link of what a bugbear looks like...

YIKES! That's not what I had in mind. I was more thinking of a cute little Ewok-looking thing that was half bug, half bear. I'm going to try to erase this image from my mind and replace it with that cute little Ewok.
Lately, his personality is starting to come out more and more, and really it's kind of like a bear squeezed into a bug-sized body.

2008-06-11T05:04:00.003-05:00

Ahhh, sleep. Max is still battling his cold, but it seems to be getting better. We're really just hoping it doesn't move down into his chest. Since it's so damp here - a chest cold lingers FOREVER.
After talking to my brother, Tim, the other night, John decided to try to put Max in the carseat to sleep since he was really congested when he was lying down in his crib. Don't worry, we brought the carseat in from the car. So, Monday and Tuesday nights were MUCH better. He slept pretty much through the night, but you may notice with the timestamp on this post that we're up pretty early this morning. He took a three hour nap yesterday afternoon, then went to bed at about 6:45, so around 4:30 this morning he wanted to get up and play!

2008-06-09T20:16:00.004-05:00

It's been an interesting few days. Max is enduring his first cold. It was inevitable that he was going to get sick. We're happy this is the first time - we (I) would have been a basket case if he got sick in those first few months he was home. He's now got a constant stream of snot running out of his nose and is more than pleased to rub it on anyone who's in reaching distance. He's constantly rubbing his nose on our clothes and today he grabbed the therapist's hand and wiped his nose with that... oops - hope she's not a germaphobe.
Feeding him has also been, ummm, interesting? It's hard to tell if he's opening his mouth because he wants more food or if he's just about to sneeze or cough. In the past two days, I've been hosed down with pasta, squash, and pureed fruits numerous times.
During the day, Maximo has been fairly happy. A little clingy, maybe, but overall, his normal happy self. Night time, however, has been the pits. For the past couple of nights he's really struggled with breathing through the boogeys. So, he's up fussing - a lot. I've been sleeping with him almost the whole night for the past two. Today, I took the day off because I was running on about four hours sleep and feeling rundown myself. We'll see what happens tonight. We brought the carseat in the house, so if he's struggling with sleeping, we're going to pop him in that so he can sleep sitting up. Last night, I went to go heat up his bottle at about 3:30, so I propped him up next to John in our bed. After heating his bottle, I went back to retrieve him and he was passed out sitting up against our pillows. So, I laid down next to him to keep him from rolling off the bed. He slept like that for a full hour - I think he was finally comfortable and could breathe - but then he woke up because he was hungry.
On other exciting news... Max is scooting all over the place. He's getting up on his hands and knees and is rocking but can't really move forward by himself. Backwards, on the other hand - he is all over the place. It's been fun to watch him move all around. (Especially because we weren't sure if we'd ever get to this stage, though we're not out of the woods.) He really seems to be happy moving all over the place too, so he's preferring to be on his belly rather than sitting up on his play mat.
And lastl... food (what would a post be without either food or poop talk)... he had his first red meat on Sunday. I made ground beef with sweet potatoes, onions and tomatoes. He, again, seemed to like it, though the texture of the ground beef was a little weird to him (I didn't puree it). Also, he had curry today! I mixed some curry powder in with his pork, apricots, squash and rice - and he gobbled it down.
Remind me how great he ate when he's two and refusing to eat anything but grilled cheese and chicken nuggets.

2008-06-08T06:37:00.003-05:00

Comparing Max's sleep to what it was two months ago, it's great. Consistent? Not really, but if I were checking a questionnaire about him sleeping well - I'd check often, which is much better than sometimes, rarely or never.
Friday night was a dream. Last night, well... he woke up hacking and screaming at about 9 pm. He was very phlegmy and couldn't work it either down or up and it was scaring him because he couldn't breathe easily; he was even a little bluish around his mouth, signalling that he maybe wasn't getting enough oxygen. This is probably what woke him up. Not just scaring him, mind you. Seeing him turn blue a couple of times in the NICU has scarred us for life. So, we jumped into action...
"Do you want to take turns sleeping with him?" John asked.
We put Vick's Vapor Rub on his feet. (Yes, feet)
We put two towels under his mattress to prop his upper body up a little bit.
He slept soundly in his bed for another 30 minutes, then started screaming again. So, I put him next to me in bed. He slept okay, but woke up every hour to hour and a half, so I just repositioned him and rocked him back to sleep.
After his bottle at 3:30, he slept in his crib by himself for the next 2 1/2 hours. He seems to be pretty happy now, not snotty or otherwise looking sick, just has some mucus in the back of his throat that he's not sure what to do with.
So, maybe this is his first real cold. He had a little something in Argentina, but it never really amounted to anything but fussiness. I'm going to go pump him full of nutrient and antibody rich b-milk right now to knock this consumption out of his body.

2008-06-05T19:05:00.004-05:00

Growing up, I was very superstitious when it came to my sporting events - if we were on a winning streak, I wouldn't wash my uniform, I'd always have to wear the same warm-up outfit over my uniform or undergarments underneath. I also would use the same hair elastic in my hair, tried to eat the same thing every day, and I would always do the same thing as I stepped into the batter's box.
I find myself doing the same things to ensure a good night's sleep for Maximo. Sure, bedtime routines are important, but I am finding myself going over the top with certain things to make sure luck is on our side. It starts with dinner and the quantity that he eats, he gets his iron supplement, then we bathe him, then he drinks some of Momma's Milk, I burp him, play on the floor with him for 15 minutes, then off to his bedroom to read a specific number of books - always ending with Goodnight Moon. Luckily, on Sunday night, he didn't sleep super well and I had to crawl into bed with him- not in his crib - he has a single bed in his room too. This "bad" night of sleeping stopped me from putting on my rally hat, wearing my green socks and my gray sweatshirt, just to guarantee a good night sleep. Oh, the lengths we'll go for a good night sleep.
He's been consistently been sleeping a long stretch - about nine or ten hours. He has gone to sleep four consecutive nights without any fussing either. I think some of it was partially my fault as to why he'd scream when being put down to bed. Once we realized that Maximo needed to learn how to fall asleep on his own, I kind of became a robot. After books, I swiftly picked him up, popped a pacifier in his mouth and dumped him in his crib. I was trying to make him more dependent. Lately, after books, I turn on his music (he has listened to Mozart every night since he's been at home), cuddle him a bit, then I squeeze about 100 kisses in the last two minutes before I settle him into bed with his monkey. It's working out better - bedtime is a lot less traumatic now for everyone.
Developmentally, this has been a big week for Maximo. He had therapy three times this week. He is supposed to have therapy three times every week, but with the therapist getting sick and a couple long holiday weekends, it hadn't happened in a few weeks. It's amazing how much more beneficial the three days is from even two times (or even less) a week. After therapy sessions, he is more limber and can move around a lot easier. He is now fairly easily rolling over front to back and back to front. He's been doing back to front for a while now, but front to back has been difficult for him and sometimes at night he'd wake up frustrated because he couldn't roll himself back over. Ines (his therapist) is also helping him crawl. She gets him on his hands and knees, and then manually moves his legs to simulate crawling. He is getting stronger and tonight seemed to realize that he could move towards things he wanted which pleased him.
And, another tooth is breaking through his gums! We can only see one - it's his top front right tooth.

2008-06-02T18:31:00.002-05:00

Doesn't Maximo look like he belongs in Dr. Suess's Whoville? After many months with a funky hairdo, it's finally growing in - sandy blond-ish (some days it looks brunette, some days even red) and wavy. Gone are the days of the horrific comb-over.
Now, a fascinating and nail-biting post about sleep and poop. Well, Maximo didn't make me eat my words after my Friday night post of falling to sleep without a peep. He slept beautifully Friday and Saturday nights. Last night, however, was when he decided I was getting too comfortable sleeping six hour stretches at a time. Of course, this had to be a school night, when we actually had to function all day at work. For whatever reason, he got up around 11 and was inconsolable, until I laid down with him, then he was up again at 2:30 for his milk (normally it's around 4), then he got up for the day around 5:15. Yuck. Needless to say, I'm going to bed shortly after posting this. His day on Sunday was exactly like Saturday and previous days, we have no idea why this happens every so often. It'll be nice when he can communicate with us better.
He had therapy today, so he was exhausted and fell asleep without a peep, so hopefully, he'll do better tonight. Gloria keeps saying he's taking long naps for her during the day. This weekend he did three 45 minute naps on Saturday and two 45 minute naps on Sunday. She said he took a short morning nap, then slept an hour and 45 minutes this afternoon. If only, if only.
On Sunday, I tried to take a little nap when Maximo went down for his. He went to sleep; I crawled under the warm, down comforter on our bed, read for about 15 minutes, then drifted off to sleep, to be woken up by screaming 20 minutes later. I'm not one of those power-nappers. It's all or nothing for me (all being about an hour and a half), so it was like a sick tease for me on Sunday and I felt terrible and groggy for most of the rest of the afternoon. We tried to remedy the situation by going to Starbucks, but got into a little fender bender, so our efforts were thwarted. Now on to the stinky part of this post...
I'm not sure if we've mentioned Maximo's mid-meal movement. Every night as he eats his dinner, his body needs to move things out so more can fit in. Sometimes this happens when we are almost done, so he can wait until just before bath time to be changed. Other times, it happens 5 minutes into the meal and it interferes with his comfort and eating, so we have to do a mid-meal change. Needless to say, we are walking a fine line an hour from bedtime, so really, we'd prefer to not have to change his diaper in the middle of his meal for fear of a major fall-out.
We've also renamed Saturday to "Dump Day". I don't know if merely being around us relaxes Maximo, but this Saturday (as he has the past few) he went to the bathroom five times. Not "Lima Rot-Gut", loosy goosy stuff, but normal BMs (sorry, TMI). It was strange, but he didn't seem like he was uncomfortable. Every few hours, he'd just start his little grunting routine telling us he's doing his business.
All I've got to say is, "That kid's full of crap!" - he's definitely taking after his dad.

2008-05-30T19:26:00.003-05:00

The stars just aligned tonight - we perfectly timed Max's dinner, bath, playtime and reading. He fell asleep at about 6:05 pm without so much as a whimper. Usually he'll cry out a little bit to tell us how unhappy he is that we're leaving him alone to fall asleep in his crib. Sleep has gotten better (this probably means he'll be up twenty times tonight). He's consistently sleeping from 6 pm to about 4 am - then he has a little milk and falls back asleep for another hour and a half to two hours. Not bad - it'll just be nice when we sleep all the way through until 6ish. I am not complaining though - I clearly remember the day (oh, about 5 months worth of days) of feeding him every 3 hours - even an hour and a half at the beginning because he'd tire himself out just from feeding.
On Wednesday we went to the physical therapy clinic and spoke to the head physician regarding Maximo's assessment and progress. He is pleased with Max's development. He says developmentally he's about 6 - 6 1/2 months. The area he is most concerned with is the area where your leg attaches to your foot (like the opposite side of your Achilles' tendon). It is tight, though a bit better than last time. He said Maximo may need corrective shoes when he gets closer to walking. He recommends that we stick with the three-times-a-week therapy for now. Our only concern is that we will be traveling for three weeks in July, so we'll have to keep up with his therapy ourselves, which may be a bit difficult since we'll be carting him all over the East Coast to show him off to family and friends.
Yesterday, we had Max's 9 month check-up with his pediatrician. Dr Zegarra was equally pleased. Max's weight is slowing up a bit, but he seemed to stretch out a lot more this month. He weighs 8590 grams - 18 lbs. 14 oz. (only 200 grams more than last month), and is 69 cm (27.2 in) long.
I'm glad I'm more relaxed about the numbers now, since they weren't the best.
But, again, Maximo is a healthy, happy little boy, so we'll just go with that.

2008-05-28T07:30:00.003-05:00

Maximo last night wanted to feed himself... The first spoonful (not taped) ended up on his forehead. Afterwards, he did pretty well. Disregard my giggling, I just started cracking up when he left the spoon in his mouth and was looking around with it hanging out.

2008-05-26T20:02:00.002-05:00

One fish, two fish, a full night's sleep we do wish...

Maximo's 8th month photos have been updated.
We'll post after this week's doctors' appointments.

2008-05-24T18:38:00.002-05:00

Went to the party (Kelani's), forgot the camera, hopefully Ann or Linda will share so I can share with you. Max was wonderful, which was surprising since he slept like crap earlier in the day.
I'm proud of the fact that I'm still breastfeeding and often attribute Max's growth to my uber milk. Then I read this article. Hmmm, would I? Yes. Could I imagine having to? No.
She's the master lactator.

2008-05-24T08:50:00.002-05:00

On the weekends, we're catching up with posts of Max's world and development. During the week, life is so crazy, so on the weekends, we're posting multiple posts because they don't necessarily all go together. (Sorry if you're trying to procrastinate during the week, there hasn't been anything new!)
Maximo's greatest accomplishment has definitely been his eating. Not surprisingly, looking at his parents. Hopefully, he'll luck out with his mom's fast metabolism. It's been really fun feeding him and introducing new foods to him. This week, he's been trying some new fruits. Since summer's over, I've gotten into the monotonous routine of preparing pears and prunes or applesauce or just mashing up some bananas. So, this week he's successfully tried lucuma (which I hadn't eaten except as an ice cream flavor, up until this week either) and chirimoya (also called custard apple and it tastes like strawberries and cream - yum!). We've been good about giving him things we don't necessarily like, specifically papaya. It's packed with vitamins, so it's really good for him, though it maybe just about the only food I won't eat.
He's devouring his Cheerios, and the embassy commissary is totally out, so hopefully our little ziploc baggy-full will make it another couple of weeks. He LOVES them, but he doesn't have the coordination to grab them off his high chair tray and put them in his mouth. This morning, I tried to put some in my hand and help guide his hand to them, but instead he face-planted into my hand and ate them like a chicken pecking feed - whatever. It'll come.
Today, Maximo is attending his second birthday party - he's quite the popular lad. Hopefully, I'll remember to take pictures.

El Tiburon

2008-05-24T08:38:00.005-05:00

"El Tiburon" is one of John's and my favorite words in Spanish. It just sounds fierce. Fortunately, Maximo has easily adopted this name. He loves to bite down on things (preferably our fingers or hands) and then shake his head from side to side like he's trying to rip off a piece of meat. He only has two little teeth and it still feels like he might break skin.
Growing up, our family had friends who had sheep. I remember our parents saying, "Don't worry, they don't have top teeth, they can't hurt you if they try to nibble on you."

Max has proved that theory wrong. Many a times he has brought tears to our eyes with his not- so-delicate, teething (or sharpening of his teeth).Yes, this is very blurry, but this is because he's in full action - showing no mercy to this poor unsuspecting plastic toy."El Tiburon"

2008-05-17T19:13:00.004-05:00

The week in review:
This week has been an eventful one. It's amazing how much Maximo changes in the span of a few days. Sleep has been something we've been tackling for a couple of weeks. After hitting a breaking point about two weeks ago, we decided we needed to make a whole night's sleep a major priority. I, for one, have been stressed at work, tired all the time and feeling like I'm doing everything mediocre, at best. There were many things we needed to work on with his sleeping - making it through the night, but probably most importantly, soothing himself to sleep without being held. So, after a few nights of semi- crying it out (we'd go in every ten minutes or so to tell him that he was alright and that it was time to go to bed), he is now going to sleep on his own - well, with a pacifer and a fuzzy little monkey. The first night was definitely the worst with about fourty five minutes of screaming (that felt like five hours). Soon after, he was sleeping better and more deeply at night. After one night of giving Max his pacifer when he woke up for a feeding, he gave up that feeding all together. So for about a week, he was sleeping ten hours straight, which was beautiful. I didn't post anything here, because he always makes me eat my words when I post progress - especially when it's about sleeping. Of course, our nocturnal bliss was short lived because we think he's teething again, but it's still much better than it was three weeks ago.
Physically, Max is continuing to improve. He's still having therapy sessions three times a week. The picture posted above is a new suggestion by the therapist. His wrists are still very hyper-reflexive (that word again), so she wants him to run his hands in beans - he likes doing it, though I'm petrified he's going to try to eat them if I turn my head for a minute (or blink, really). Also, last weekend, when Kate came over to play, we had to prop him up with the Boppy to play sitting up with her. Yesterday and today, he's been sitting up unassisted and has only toppled a few times.
He's still eating like a champ. Last weekend, we gave him Cheerios, which he loves! The only problem with starting this addiction is that the only place to buy Cheerios in Peru is at the commissary at the U.S. Embassy. We are not the only family with little ones who likes Cheerios either, so usually after a week or so after the monthly shipment, they are all gone. Right now, he's only eating about 10 or so at breakfast (broken in half), so we're not going through them to quickly.
Other things he's digging right now are: playing "This little piggy" on his toes (we love it too - his giggle is contagious), going on long walks bundled up close to Mommy, playing on his mat and trying to catch Dad's eye with a coy smile.
So, all in all, life is good right now - though we're on a high due to our four day holiday - good night sleeps, fun family time and even a nap thrown in every once and a while.

2008-05-15T18:40:00.006-05:00

We had every intention of getting a family photo taken so we could send them to our moms for Mother's Day. Unfortunately, we didn't quite get it done. So this afternoon, I thought, Heck, let's try to take a couple now. Yes, we realized we had no one to actually take them. But John has long arms, so we tried to seize the moment with a happy baby.

And this is what we got...Not quite! He doesn't even look happy, he looks scared.Our big heads don't all fit! (Look at Maximo's and John's eyes)Only half of Daddy, but look! Finally a glimpse of his teeth!Great one of the boys, but where did Mom go?
We'll keep practicing so maybe we'll have something by next Mother's Day - or we'll just go to a studio. Plan B makes much more sense, we'll see...

2008-05-12T06:35:00.002-05:00

We're really playing! It's fun to watch these two finally interact with one another. It's been six months of either holding them or laying them side by side waiting for an involuntary punch between them. They were very cute together, so play times are going to be more fun! Kate is showing Max how to sit up all by himself and move around better - while Max was showing Kate how to eat A LOT of food. Fun times!
(I have a cute video and another post from Sunday, but had difficulties last night, so I'll try to post tonight.)

Cause & Effect

2008-05-11T19:41:00.004-05:00

Ever since we found out I was pregnant with Maximo, we registered with babycenter.com and have been receiving weekly emails outlining the development of first the fetus, now our little boy. It was really fun to read when I was pregnant - we followed his development from the size of a lentil to a lemon to all the kicks and squirms.

After he was born we changed the due date to the date that Maximo was actually born. After receiving a few weeks of updates, I went into our profile and changed his date of birth to November 1st because it was too depressing and would cause us undue stress.
Anyways, my point, I was reading this week's post: 6 months, two weeks and it was saying that this is when babies start learning cause and effect. The next day, I thought I heard music coming from Max's room while he was napping. John went in and then called me in. This is what we saw...

This is the jungle "mobile" that Nana brought Max when she came to visit.

2008-05-10T07:52:00.003-05:00

Lately, while bathing Maximo we are reminded of the myth of Narcissus. He is quite smitten by his own reflection in the mirror and a few times has fallen back from his sitting position because he's too focused on his own beauty!

2008-05-10T07:26:00.002-05:00

It's very frustrating to us how little time we get to spend with Maximo during the week - really it's about an hour in the morning - and that's sharing duties and getting ready for work too (not real quality time) and about an hour and a half to two hours in the afternoon. The time in the afternoon is mainly spent, feeding, bathing and getting Maximo ready for bed. So, energized from a decent night's rest, with no thought of work for at least another day and a half - at last the weekend has arrived and we have 48 hours of uninterrupted Maximo!
This morning when he got up we just put him on the play mat to see what he's doing physically - we rarely have a lot of play time during the week together. It's fun to watch him explore his surroundings and his body movements. He's rolling both ways now, though stomach to back is still a little hard for him. He actually enjoys playing on his stomach for long periods of time and really enjoys playing sitting up - though he can't do it unassisted yet (he's usually between our legs or he uses the Boppy).
These past two weeks, he has been exploring his body more with his hands and loves to play with his ears and like a true boy... his Willy Wonka! In the bath, he's mesmorized by this appendage and hangs on to it.
And lastly, what's going on with the sleeping front... At this moment, he's just fallen asleep for his morning cat nap after crying for about 10 minutes. We're afraid he's going to lose his voice! He's getting a bit hoarse from all the crying. He's doing better, but he really struggles with falling asleep on his own in the evening. Often times at 6 pm he is already very overtired, so he can't settle himself down. It's common for preemies to get overstimulated throughout the day - and with that and our 8 month bad habit of rocking him to sleep and being a bad napper has created a bedtime problem.
We've made the pact to not pick him up, but we'll go in about every ten minutes or so to put our hands on him and tell him he's okay. It's getting better and he's sleeping more soundly. We've also gotten rid of one feeding at night - so now we're down to just one. So, he goes to bed about 6 pm, wakes up about 12:30 for a 3 oz. bottle, then sleeps until about 5 or 5:30. We switched him to a bottle at night (even though it's a bigger hassle than popping my milk maker into his mouth), so we can start decreasing the quantity of milk to ultimately stop any night time feedings.
Phew... this is a lot of work!

2008-05-06T18:50:00.003-05:00

Besides sharing (bragging) about Maximo on this blog, it's also a good record of all the things - stressful, funny and even minute, that we don't want to forget as Max grows up.
Today we came home, and I was just commenting to John and Gloria about how big Maximo was looking when I realized why he looked so... bulky?
It was a little (55 F) cool in Miraflores today, so Gloria dressed him accordingly for their walk to the park: three shirts (1 long sleeve onesie, 1 long sleeve tee and 1 short sleeve tee, pants and socks. That extra shirt or two really makes him look like he's packing on the pounds:)
I'm sure she didn't get yelled at by strangers - they were probably whispering to each other how well she was bundling and nurturing our child.

2008-05-05T18:56:00.002-05:00

A little weekend update! We had a fabulous time in Naplo, a little beach commumity about 60 km south of Lima with the St. Clair family. It was a well needed trip out of the city. Maximo was fantastic during the day time, but couldn't seem to stay asleep at night! He seemed to like the beach more than he did when we went in February - he enjoyed watching the birds and playing in the sand. All that fresh air really tired him out - during the day time and he was doing well sleeping during the day too - still only about 45 minutes at a clip, but he was doing 3 or 4 naps a day.
He continues to have a rough time falling asleep by himself. He screams like someone is yanking out his toenails one by one. When we were at the beach, he woke up a few times at night. We're thinking that it was because he was in new surroundings - and his new tent/bed. And, he can easily roll from back to stomach, but cannot seem to roll stomach to back very easily. So sometimes he just gets stuck and ends up doing about twenty push ups and gets frustrated because he's tired.
He seemed to be getting better Sat. and Sun. when returned home- falling asleep on his own after about 5 minutes of crying, but tonight was horrific and we had to go into his room three times (uh, make that four) and he's only been in bed for an hour.
It's hard... I'm trying to convince Gloria to let him cry it out a bit, but she doesn't like to hear Max cry, hopefully we can break him of this habit with his night sleeping and when we have him on the weekends. Luckily next weekend, we have another long weekend due to a government-mandated holiday due to the APAC Summit hosted in Peru. We'll have four days and nights with Maximo so hopefully we will break him of this habit.
I know it seems like a lot of complaining, but besides this "little" thing, he is the happiest, sweetest little boy in the whole world.

2008-05-04T10:57:00.003-05:00

We're very excited for Maximo to grow up and become a little more independent. I will, however, really miss carrying him in the baby sling. Since it has been so hot here, I didn't really sling him much over the summer except to the market or grocery store. Today, is a gray, misty Sunday, so we decided to go for a walk - with Max cozied up next to me in the sling.
Let me preface this with something I've said many times before: this is the best country in the world to raise little kids! Besides the availability of top-notch house help, people are just so accommodating when you have a baby - whether it be in the grocery store, airport or mall. And everyone smiles and coos over Maximo like he's the first baby they've ever seen (and they are plenty of babies here - even cute gringo ones like ours).
But, for all the sweet things people say about our baby, we always get advice. It is funny how complete strangers love to give us advice about parenting. One very common thing here is to really bundle kids up... So, when it was starting to warm up in December, I was forever being scolded for walking around with a sock-less baby.
Today we were out for a walk - it was probably about 60 degrees F, but cool and misty on the coast. He was wearing a long sleeve t-shirt, jeans, (and yes) socks! and his arms were wrapped in the sling as he was cuddled up next to me... He was happy, checking out the bikers, dogs and people walking on the malecon. Then, two men walked past and a finger points at me and one says, "A hat! Your baby needs a hat!" (I went ahead and translated for you).
We can't win! I wish I could think quickly in Spanish to retort either, "Mind your own dang business" or really what I was thinking,
"Socks, Senor, did you see my baby was wearing socks? I was consciously thinking about the weather and pulled out socks for the first time since November."

(I'll post about our beach vacation and how Max's sleeping is going later when I have more time - I did post some pics from our trip already)

2008-04-28T19:29:00.002-05:00

Just a quick doctor's appointment update: Maximo now weighs 8390 grams (18 1/2 lbs) and is 66.5 cm (26.2 inches) long. His weight is now in the 30% for his actual age and his length and head circumference are both at 10%. Dr. Zegarra was happy (again) with his gain and says to keep doing what we're doing.
While we were there, we also discussed his sleeping issues and he said that we need to be putting him to bed awake, so he doesn't depend on us for sleep. We used to do this when he was younger, but then he just started falling asleep while he was drinking his milk. We attempted to do this tonight and he screamed bloody murder, so we'll keep on it... Hopefully it'll get better!

2008-04-27T20:01:00.004-05:00

Maximo is enamored with Flavius. If he hears him meow, he stops whatever he is doing: eating, drinking, playing and he starts looking all over for him - especially for his tail; he is mesmorized by it. It's really cute, except for when I've just gotten Maximo to sleep and in prances Flavius crying for attention (for those of you who have met Flavius, you know how vocal he really is). Flavius has been really patient with Maximo, especially lately when Max has been "petting" (grabbing fistfuls of fur) him. You can see Flavius's expression in both pictures, that he's just barely tolerating it.

We had a great weekend, though Maximo's sleep schedule is still tiresome. He's not sleeping more than 45 minutes at a clip during the day (though he's taking 3 naps) and at night he's not going more than 4 1/2 hours. We remember not too long ago, when he was sleeping 8 hours at time at night. Hopefully we'll return to that soon, because we're exhausted!
We need to take down the mosquito netting from around his bed because he's pulling it through the slats of his crib and stuffing it in his mouth - not the safest thing in the world. He's been moving around a lot in the crib. Twice this weekend, we found him on his belly after being put down on his back. We also frequently find him with various limbs hanging through the slats of his crib, which really frustrates him. It also looks like he's attemping to crawl, though he's far away from doing it. He can't seem to get his legs and arms to work together - he's either moving forward with his upper body and dragging his lower body in circles, or he's moving his legs, but then he pulls his hands out and goes flat on his chest. Truly, we're just happy we're seeing progress with his physical development. He's just going to go at his own pace which is fine with us as long as he's progressing.

We've just finished uploading (all) the pictures from Maximo's 7th month. Check them out here.

2008-04-24T18:31:00.004-05:00

We've just finished our second week of triple therapy sessions. Maximo is getting stronger and is close to sitting up on his own (for more than just a minute or two). He's enjoying his bath time even more because he can sit up in the tub. Unfortunately, Mommy and Daddy haven't bought him any bath toys, so he's stuck playing with the plastic cup we use to rinse his hair - he seems happy enough, though.
Again, we're excited the work week is almost over. On Monday we have an appointment with the pediatrician - we're excited to find out about his height and weight - he seems like he's grown a lot!
Last night he had a better night of sleeping, but he's still getting up twice a night... We're really hoping the teething is winding down for now so we can get more uninterrupted sleep at night. Next weekend we only have to work a half week, then we're off to the beach for a holiday! Yipee!

2008-04-22T18:48:00.002-05:00

This is photo #587 trying to get a picture of the little teeth that caused us so much strife last night. Maximo hasn't been sleeping fantastically the past four or five nights, only sleeping for about three hours at a clip. Last night was BAD!
I was just commenting to someone the other day about how his teething has been relatively easy going. (Will he always make me eat my words?) John fed him a bottle at 9:30, he was then up at 10:30, so I got up. I settled him back down and went back to sleep. He woke up again at 2:00. I fed him, then he went back to sleep - unfortunately, I could not fall back asleep - my mind was swimming with thoughts. I finally fell back asleep around 3:30, but at 3:45, Max woke up and did not want to go to sleep.
Over the weekend, I had been putting him in bed with me (in the single in his room) and he happily snuggled next to me and went back to sleep. John and I were thinking that we were beginning to create "bad habits", so we didn't want to pick him up out of the crib at 3:45. So, we did everything in our power to get him to go to sleep - first just patting his butt, then we tried the pacifier, we tried to let him cry it out for a little bit, then finally we picked him up. But, every time we tried to put him back down, he'd scream. So, finally at 5:00, I put him in bed with me, so at least I could get an hour's sleep before having to get ready for work.
He hasn't been eating as well the past few days either - so we're chalking it up to teething. We're not going to be so tough with his sleep habits since he seems to be a bit uncomfortable - hopefully we'll be returning to a better sleep schedule soon.

2008-04-19T11:46:00.005-05:00

Sometimes I think I'm being really efficient - I try to maximize my time when Maximo is asleep - okay, except for sometimes Sunday afternoons when I stretch out and take a nap with him. Last weekend, I made a pureed meal of chicken, rice, carrots and green beans for Max. I put it in an ice cube tray, covered it in wax paper, then put it in the refrigerator so it could cool off before I put it in the freezer (if you put it in the freezer warm, you get wicked freezer burn). It was a hectic week, so it stayed like that all week.
So, earlier today, I go to take the chicken out of the ice cube trays today while Max was taking his morning nap to find the wax paper totally frozen to the food. And it would not peel off - "Crap! Did I waste all that time and food preparing his little meal? He loves this combo, am I going to have to pitch it?" was what I was thinking. So, instead of wasting, I cut off the top part of each of the "food cubes". Have you ever tried to cut an ice cube? Go ahead, try it - I want you to experience the love and devotion that goes into his food. Okay, then do 12 ice cubes... and please don't cut off your finger.
Now looking back at what I must have looked like in the kitchen with the ice cube trays, the food cubes, a sharp knife and shavings of food scraps mixed with wax paper, I'm really glad John didn't walk down and see me, because he would have commented, as he often does, something about "Hurricane Jule" - because often times there's a wake of destruction left behind me.

2008-04-17T18:28:00.002-05:00

We're almost through what feels like a long week - they've all been long since I've returned back to work. Each night is the same rushed routine - heat Max's dinner as soon as I walk in the door (after washing up), then feeding him, straight to the bath since he's caked in food, milk, then bed. We can't wait for him to get a little older, so he can stay up a little later than his 5:30 bedtime... He's been falling asleep drinking milk the past week, so we haven't even been able to read books. His daytime sleeping has been erratic and not great - today for example, he only took a morning nap - so he fell asleep around 5. (Which probably means he'll be up super early - whoo-hoo!)
An exciting thing that has happened this past week is that Maximo has started to laugh a lot! Fully belled, tip his head back, kind of laugh. For whatever reason, he thinks saying, "Me, me, me, me me!" in a high pitched voice is the funniest thing in the world - so this is what we do about 30 times a day. He still thinks it's funny after thirty times - so we keep doing it!
The stressful part of the week has been scheduling therapy sessions - the doctor wrote a prescription for three times a week until we are re-evaluated at the end of May. Unfortunately, last week, the therapist couldn't work it into her schedule since she just found out on Monday. This week, she was sick, so she cancelled Monday. So, she came yesterday, today, and on Saturday we're going to hopefully go up to the clinic. Ines (the therapist) works 8-2 at the clinic, then has house calls in the afternoons. Since she takes buses, it takes her longer to get places, especially in afternoon traffic, so realistically she can only do about one house call an afternoon. We'd love it if she could come Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but Fridays she goes to Alexander's house - Alexander is the French baby that was in the incubator next to Max for a month in the NICU. So, hopefully, we're going to do therapy Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. If that doesn't work out next week, then we're going to have to send Gloria with Maximo during the day on Friday to the clinic, which is doable, but not optimal, for a plethora of reasons - transportation costs, reliable taxi, carseat, fitting it in during the day between meals, naps, etc. So hopefully, Monday, Wednesdays, and Thursdays afternoon works.
On that note, we're excited for the weekend, so we can spend every possible minute we can with Maximo.

2008-04-13T19:15:00.006-05:00

Yes, we know, this video is not the most action packed or exciting one you have ever seen, but he's just so darn cute - and we're doing that proud parent thing - showing off our kid.
Today was a great day with Maximo. Yesterday, he didn't drink any formula with us, so I thought it was just my L'eau de Milk. So, I caved in to get him to stop fussing by putting him on the milk tap, therefore telling my body to start producing milk during the day again - after not pumping at school on Friday and trying the give up the midday "feed".
Gloria came last night so we could go on a date, a late anniversary dinner, and our first time out for dinner in a long time. So, we asked her if she did anything "special" with the formula. And yes, she does... she heats it up a bit. I just figured, since the bottled water was at room temperature, that that was okay - it wasn't refrigerated. But, no! Our delicate little boy likes his refreshments at 98.6 degrees. So, after heating his formula today he chugged it down.
He has definitely inherited our ability to eat - he has been amazing with his food - eating so much - chicken, pork, veggies, rice, fruit, yogurt, cereal - you name it, pureed, he eats it! And it's doing a body good...

Today Kate, Linda and Richard came over and we put the kids together on the play mat to play. They interacted a little together - in the form of Maximo stealing whatever Kate was playing with, whenever he could. It's going to be fun watching these two over the next year or so as they become playmates - and friends, whether they like it or not. (For those of you who don't know Kate, she and Max had the same due date, but she decided to hang on until about that time - often times, we compare Max's development to her, even though we know we shouldn't!)

2008-04-13T06:43:00.003-05:00

We often think back to last August and September and reflect about how stressful it all was, and how a few times, especially when we were awoken at 2 am at the hospital, we really thought that we might lose Maximo. Now looking at the healthy thriving little man playing with his toys, we realize things could have been even worse.
Here's another article I just read siting the importance of breastmilk. And I promise it's not as negative as the last article I linked to, but it is a bit sad. Hail to the Almighty Breastmilk!

2008-04-11T19:37:00.002-05:00

Poop is a funny thing. I never thought I'd be that fascinated with it or be so concerned by it. This may sound weird but I love to watch Maximo poop - his little grunts, his serious, focused stare, his face turning all red... it's really cute. (Yup this is weird.) We've been feeding him in the Bumbo chair, but he also likes to do his business in the Bumbo too. Which is great, because it resembles a toilet, but it means we need to do a diaper change mid-meal almost every night at dinner.
We're glad this long week is over and now we have the whole weekend with Maximo. Hopefully he won't start boycotting formula during the day since he'll be around the "milk maid" the whole time. Daddy might have to step in and give his daytime bottles.

2008-04-09T18:44:00.002-05:00

Little man's got choppers... He's been a bit fussy the past few days, and yesterday, I could have sworn that Maximo's gums were "looking different". Today there are sharp little bits poking through. We're not exactly sure how long it takes for teeth to "grow in" - so we're not sure how long we can expect him to be uncomfortable and a little fussy.
He had his 2nd of 3 therapy sessions today. He seems to be doing pretty well, but I need to hide when I come home because he starts to scream when he sees me. His eyes and the tone of his wail are saying, "Mom, look what they're doing to me! I'm tired and my muscles hurt, please hold me!" I want to watch his therapy, at least one time a week, so I can see what exercises they are doing so we can do them with him when we're at home - on days she doesn't come and on weekends.

2008-04-08T19:42:00.002-05:00

Read this Time Magazine article. According to this article, Maximo's future is destined to be an infertile, eighth grade drop-out, living on the streets. Actually, a little adversity will just make him a tougher kid!
Maximo stopped his "Breastmilk or Bust" boycott. He has started drinking formula during the days, so I can now stop pumping at work and is now sipping a little more water. It's amazing what the change of a sippy cup will do.

2008-04-06T19:45:00.004-05:00

Well, yesterday was a dream day with Maximo - he was wonderful - he went to a couple of markets with me in the morning, ate well and we took an hour and a half nap in the afternoon. Today, on the other hand, balanced out yesterday's goodness. Maximo was extremely fussy. I think he may be thirsty, but he's boycotting anything but breastmilk, so he'll work it out. He's pretty stubborn, but hopefully he'll start drinking something else soon. We've been offering him water and juice every day, so we'll see.
Maximo is getting stronger physically and is getting better sitting up. He can do it for a little bit unassisted, but then he gets excited about it and pushes his legs out and he flies backwards or if he's interested in something, he'll forget about sitting up and flop over. Max is also very interested in grabbing at EVERYTHING now - not just brightly colored toys - he's going after everything he can now.
So tomorrow he starts his first week of three sessions of physical therapy. Hopefully he copes well with it and his erratic sleeping schedule and we really hope we see him physically stronger - and his tight muscles more relaxed, especially in his legs and feet.

The weather's changing... it's starting to get cooler at night. So tonight we've taken out the jammies - and he just looked so darn cute!

2008-03-31T18:47:00.003-05:00

We just returned from the physical therapy clinic. Dr. Rivera evaluated Maximo - his upper body is on track with a normal 5 month old (his adjusted age), he did say that his lower legs, especially his left side is extremely tight and hyper-reflexive. He was not super concerned. Well, he was concerned enough to bump up his physical therapy to three times per week, but he said that since Maximo didn't have a ton of problems in the NICU, we can hopefully fix these issues with therapy. He wants to see Maximo again in two months with hopes of cutting back his therapy.
As far as his weight and height go (I kinda of freaked out after the last visit) - I checked them against his adjusted age (5 months) on the growth charts and he's in the 50% for both, so we're not going to worry too much. He did start chicken and rice this weekend and seems to like it, so we're eating that and lots of sweet potato and avocado - great calorie-rich foods!

2008-03-27T19:25:00.002-05:00

Just a quick Dr.'s appointment update: Maximo now weighs 7615 grams (16 lbs. 12 oz.) and is 64.5 cm (25.4 in.) in length; his head circumference is 42.3 cm (16.7 in.) Unfortunately, the doctor wasn't super pleased with his weight (could we really expect two good Dr's visits in a row?). He gained since last time, but is now following the normal growing curve (at very low percentages). Dr. Zegarra says he should be gaining more weight to catch-up. So, Maximo needs to eat more calories- which translates into baby food as: yucca, potatoes and sweet potatoes.
Also, he was pretty concerned with Maximo's legs... They are very hypertensive. So, he wants us to check back in with him after we see the specialist on Monday. We may need to return to the neurologist for another scan.
We'll keep you posted.

2008-03-26T19:17:00.004-05:00

Well, we've got a big boy living in our house now... Maximo is now semi-regularly sleeping through the night (a whole 8-10 hours!), he's eating like a champ and taking less breastmilk because he's also drinking water and juice (it's been a nice relief that I only have to pump once at school now, rather than 2 or 3 times within the work day).
Today, he had a physical therapy session - he's been a lot less fussy the past few weeks. He seems to be progressing and getting stronger. It's hard to make sure he's getting enough belly time during the day, so we've been trying to do as much as we can when we're with him. The therapist also wants us to let him run his hands and feet through lentils. It's supposed to help with his hypertensivity - clutched hands and curled toes. The problem with the lentils is making sure he doesn't jam them into his mouth - which is what he tries to do with everything nowadays. This is also an activity we don't feel very comfortable with him doing with anyone else, either. Hopefully we're doing enough. It's definitely a balance between cuddling our sweet boy and challenging him to help him overcome his developmental delays and challenges. We see the "therapist doctor" on Monday for an evaluation. So, we'll see if therapy once a week is sufficient or if he'll want the therapist to come twice a week.
He has his seventh-month check-up with the pediatrician tomorrow. He seems a lot bigger, so we're curious on his measurements.
Also, we've finished posting photos for this month. Check out Sr. Guapo here.

2008-03-23T19:01:00.003-05:00

Maximo loves squash! We're just winding down a great, relaxing long weekend. Now we're back to work for another five long weeks before we get another break. Today Maximo ate three whole meals (his first time) - breakfast was yogurt mixed with banana and mango puree, lunch was a puree of potato, peas, and leeks with pears and prunes for dessert and for dinner he chowed on squash and bananas. (I think he ate better than both of us today.) He loves to eat which is really great, but drinking anything other than Momma's milk is becoming a bit of a fight. We tried water in a sippy cup today because we couldn't get him to take any out of a bottle. He drank a little. Even drinking his sweet passionfruit juice is sometimes a fight - this weekend, we could barely get him to drink any. (Momma's boobs were in the vicinity.)
All in all, he's super happy and fun to be around. We had a great weekend of going to the beach, going on walks and playing in the baby pool!

2008-03-20T21:06:00.005-05:00

Our first day at the beach! We had a great day at Punta Hermosa today. We went with Maximo's friends Kate (someone thought they were twins when we were taking these photos) and Isabel - and their parents of course.
It's amazing how packing for the beach has changed with Maximo. Lots of sunscreen, an umbrella and no magazines or books to leisurely peruse while baking my skin. I almost didn't move from under the umbrella today.
But, it was a beautiful day and Maximo enjoyed exploring in the sand and watching all the people at the beach. He didn't like the water, however, it was either too cold or too rough! Otherwise, he did great, though had a hard time settling down for his nap. He finally settled down and napped as long as Mom held him.
And... he's been making up for seven days without a B.M... He's gone #2 four times today! Gone are the days of mild-smelling mustardy breastmilk poop!

2008-03-19T18:49:00.003-05:00

Ahhhh... a nice relaxing bath... KERPLUNK!

2008-03-19T05:22:00.003-05:00

Sometimes, exciting things happen and we want to post them, but then we jinx ourselves and they don't happen again for a while. After he rolled over for the first time, and we excitedly posted it, he didn't do it again for a couple of weeks. I still can't resist... Maximo slept through the night! This is the first time without the help of vaccinations. Unfortunately, until this becomes more routine, Mommy doesn't sleep through the night very well - after about a five to six hour stretch, I sleep on and off wondering if he's okay. Unfortunately, sleeping through the night meant waking up for the day at 4:30, but we'll get better at it, I'm sure (I hope).
Today we have a half day of work then a long weekend for Semana Santa (Easter holiday). So we're going to take Maximo to the beach for the first time and just relax!
Now the only other thing we need - is something to come out of his keister before Easter!

2008-03-16T19:26:00.002-05:00

Sorry these are coming more infrequently now... that job is getting in the way of my blogging! It's funny, all week I think of interesting things to say about how and what Maximo is doing, but then I sit down and it's like I kind of forget...
Yesterday morning was wonderful. We woke up (at 5:00 am - I think Max was excited about his Daddy's birthday). I put Maximo in the Hotsling and kept John company in the kitchen as he made eggs, bacon and grits for us. Maximo has been really cuddly lately and put his head against my chest, then drifted off to sleep to the spattering of bacon frying.
"John, I think Maximo really misses kangarooing with me, look at him," I commented with a full heart.
"Jule, I think you're the one who misses the kangarooing, " was his reply.
He's probably right, though I know Maximo enjoys it too. There's just something special that brings me back to the days when we couldn't picture him going home with us or growing up to be a healthy little boy. When his little body melts into mine and his head is against my chest, I feel a closeness I can't articulate. Our hearts are beating in sync and my heart is exploding with love and affection for this little man.
He's still eating very well... we've added sweet potatoes, avocado, and tomorrow pears and prunes. We've been trying a little yogurt and prunes (separately) because Jr.'s a bit constipated. Wednesday was a great day because he pooped right before we went to work (I can't believe I get excited over b.m.'s now). But, hasn't since then... urghhh... Today he was a little fussy so we're thinking it could be the five days worth of food packed into his intestines.
Today, I went to book club, so John and Maximo went shopping, then they came home. Max was a dream at the store, but when they got home, he didn't eat well and then decided to scream at the top of his lungs for about 45 minutes. Though I know Dad was a bit stressed and felt helpless with the little one screaming his head off, I wish I had a picture of what I walked in on: John and Maximo both exhausted, both sleeping in the chair - John with his head slung back against the back of the chair and Max nestled in his arms. Very, very cute.

2008-03-11T19:06:00.002-05:00

It's been a pretty tranquilo week. Maximo is doing well eating his squash and today he had his first juice - grenadilla (passion fruit, though there's another fruit here which is also translated to passionfruit - maracuya). He gulped down this watered-down juice. I was really against giving him juice, but it's supposed to also work as a digestive (and he hasn't pooped in three days).
We didn't think it was possible, but he's getting cuter by the day. He gets a lot of attention when we're out for walks or out and about. Peruvians love babies and people are constantly stopping and cooing over him and his huge beautiful blue eyes and crazy hair with: "que lindo" (how cute), "que hermoso" (how beautiful) or "muñeco" (doll). He's going to think that one these is his name.

2008-03-09T07:47:00.002-05:00

You may be asking yourself: Isn't it summer in Peru? or What is he doing in the Bumbo on the bathroom counter?
Well, for one he looks ridiculously cute in this chullo (hat) and I wanted to see if it still fit so maybe he could wear it once it starts to cool off. He enjoyed looking at himself in the mirror, so I went with it. In the midst of playing, I had to use the loo, (and John's out for a bike ride) so I put in him the Bumbo in the mirror so I could go. Max is happy, Mommy is happy. (As you can see I did not, however, take the photos while using the bathroom.)
We're just having a lazy (translation: very enjoyable) Sunday. Yesterday, I prepared zapallo (a squash, I'm not sure what the name is in English) - it's a large green squash with yellow flesh, sweet potato, and more banana puree. We're going to try a vegetable again with the squash hoping it's a little gentler on his GI system. If the squash goes well, we'll add sweet potato in the middle of the week. He's pretty much just been eating cereal and apple the past five days. He's definitely not as gassy, but he's been spitting up A LOT. We're not sure if it's reflux from the apples or what. He's not uncomfortable thought. So we'll be eating more bananas too!
After not rolling over again once I posted it (maybe a week ago or two), he rolled three times this morning. Every time I put him on his stomach he'd roll to his back and was quite happy with himself. Yipee!

2008-03-04T18:22:00.004-05:00

It's amazing how much Maximo changes sometimes even while we're at work. When we came home today, he was sucking his thumb (well, gnawing maybe) like crazy. I haven't seen him do it before this afternoon. Is this just an indication of how quick they grow and how before we know it, he'll be packing his bags for college?
Well, Maximo has had a rough few days (since Saturday) with his daytime naps (like no sleeping during the day). He'll fall asleep in our arms, but scream bloody murder when we put him down. Or he'll only sleep 40 minutes (or 5 or 10) then wake up screaming. Just like his mommy, when he doesn't get his sleep he's a cranky little man. The only thing we could think could be causing this is the new foods. So, today we went back to just the cereal and fruit for breakfast and lunch and he seems to be doing better.
Last night I really struggled with it all... He had a bad day with Gloria yesterday and we felt helpless since we work all day. I made the suggestion of changing the food - but I don't know everything that's going on during the day. Ultimately the nanny does what she feels is right for Maximo. (She is very loving and caring.) We want him to grow up to be a healthy and happy kid, but also one who is independent. We're thinking some of the crying when he's put down is because she won't let him cry it out for a little bit. It's hard when we're trying to set routines that fit our beliefs and lifestyle when the culture here is different - people think I'm crazy when I say he goes to bed around 6:00 pm. Many babies are carried all day, I have to push for independent play so he can explore his surroundings, toys, and even his movements.
Yes, I'm a worry wart, yes I worry about things I shouldn't. Maybe I worry more because of his crazy entrance into this world and a very stressful few months afterwards, maybe I would have been like this anyways. I'm really afraid of starting bad habits, having that obnoxious kid or one who needs Mom or Dad to lay in bed with him for an hour every night to sleep.
Or (and this may be it) maybe I'm just a control freak and I'm finding it very hard to leave Max with someone else all day!
(Okay - I've gotten it off my chest. Thanks for reading. No need to send me your anxiety meds or antidepressants. This blog has been so therapeutic for me since Max was born. Normally this blog will be about the amazing world of Maximo and not about our parenting woes. I'm sure I'll look back at this and laugh at how ridiculous I sound.)

2008-03-02T18:48:00.003-05:00

The week of the: potato, carrot and apple. Effect: gas!
Maximo is really enjoying eating! He's devouring his food which has been fun to watch - and it's been fun making his food too! The only problem he's had the past two days (since he started the newest foods) has been a bit of constipation (hey, you chose to read this) - and gas, which has been waking him up. After not having anything but breastmilk in his system for six months, a bit of solid food is sure to stir things up!
Today, we had a great, relaxing Sunday. First, John gave Maximo his breakfast - cereal and bananas. He had Maximo cracking up and giggling up a storm, which I wish we had on film, but whenever I take out the camera, he stops and just stares at it and I didn't want to interrupt their cute bonding time. Later, we went out to lunch with Linda, Rich and Kate and the kids were great, so the adults (that's what we're calling ourselves these days;) got to actually enjoy our lunch.
Off to another long week, but I can begin my lactation leave this week! One hour off every day (at least the days I have planning last period - 3 out of 5, so I can't complain!)

2008-02-28T19:15:00.002-05:00

Can you believe the little guy is six months old? We can't! We have to pinch ourselves sometimes - we can't believe how lucky we are to have him in our lives.
Today he had a session with a new therapist, who we liked. She said that we need to work on his core strength - so more belly time. She also said we need to do more "touching" of his legs with massage and getting him used to different textures on his legs. His legs are a little spasy (I'm sorry, I don't know how to describe them better)- they are herky-jerky when he moves them. And lastly, his hands are still in fists more than they should be. Babies are born with clenched fists, but they open up over time. His aren't as tight as they used to be, but they still need work.
This is when I really question whether I should be at work or if I should be at home really making sure that Maximo is getting the love and physical therapy he needs...

2008-02-27T19:28:00.002-05:00

We've just returned from the doctor's office. Maximo weighs 7.03 kg (about 15 1/2 lbs) he's in the 20% now for a 6 month old. He's finally on the charts now too for length and head circumference (5% for both). Dr. Zegarra had nothing but glowing things to say about Maximo (and how well we were raising him):)
He did encourage us to feed him more food - it was quite a crazy "food chart" he had with Maximo eating a lot of different foods quickly, so we're going to continue with what we're doing. We may, however, give him more than one new food per week, especially since he's devouring his bananas and cereal.
It was so nice to have a doctor's appointment and hear nothing but good things. (I think that was a first!)
Maximo is not doing well during the daytime as far as taking naps for Gloria, so hopefully it's just a transition period right now without Mommy and Daddy around all the time and also starting to eat foods. This week, he's either taken a nap when we've gotten home (around 4 or 5, a bit late) or he's super over-tired and really fussy because he has hardly slept all day.
Tomorrow is our first day with students. I'm going to continue to breastfeed for as long as I can (okay maybe not literally), so I'm pumping during the day at work. Hopefully it won't be too difficult now that the kids are returning - and hopefully no unexpecting middle schooler walks into the book room - which is currently my pumping station.

2008-02-26T18:02:00.000-05:00

HE...ROLLED...OVER!
(Details: Stomach to back over his left shoulder;)

2008-02-26T05:50:00.003-05:00

This post just shows that a mother's worry is never done. (This post is primarily for my mother, because I know she's worrying because she hasn't heard an update from Max's check-up.) His appointment was cancelled yesterday and they rescheduled it to Wednesday at 5:15 (which should royally screw up his bedtime routine).
He woke up this morning and it looked like his hair grew quite a bit - so his comb-over looks less pronounced - I'm wondering if that hair will ever fall out!
We're still trying to get used to spending only about 3 hours a day with him during the week - gosh it's hard!

2008-02-24T07:10:00.003-05:00

Mmmm...Banana! Yesterday, Maximo had banana mixed in with his cereal and he really seemed to like it (who wouldn't?).
He's at a really cute age right now - he's very smily and we're often wondering what he's thinking about as he curiously looks around and takes everything in.
Just in the past three days or so, he's really starting to grab at toys hanging over his head on his playmat. We've been a bit concerned because he hasn't been doing this. Every morning after he wakes up and eats, he's been playing with his toys independently which he seems to really enjoy. It's just nice to see him making progress. We feel he can go at his own pace whatever that may be, as long as he's progressing.

(side note: the "Mmmm.... Banana" is Max enjoying his first fruit and also a response my brother gave as a child when asked to name something starting with an "m".)

2008-02-22T21:53:00.002-05:00

It's been a big couple of days... I've entered the world of the working mom (and am not sure if I like it yet). Maximo is very happy at home with Gloria and Rosmery; we just hate the fact that we're only with him for about 3 awake hours during the day...
Maximo also just had his baby shower. We had a nice time with some of the chicas at work celebrating just how darn big this kid has gotten. Super Leche!
We're heading to the pediatrician on Monday for his six month check up, so I'll post all the exciting results!

2008-02-19T07:46:00.003-05:00

To you, this may look like one of the numerous cute outfits Maximo wears... But there's a story.
About 6 years ago we were perusing TJ Maxx for a year's worth of work clothes for a mere $20. Let's just say we didn't leave with a new wardrobe for us, but we did spot this little outfit. We looked at it and looked at each other - a cute little boy outfit (oh, how we wanted a son, even then) and it was a crew outfit (John rowed in college).
Should we buy it? We weren't ready to have kids, but we'd never find this outfit again. We bought it and I placed it way in the back of my closet as our little secret. Hoping it wouldn't jinx us, it moved with us to two different apartments in Savannah, our condo, and to its current residence in Peru. And today, the little man wears it for the first time.
John's childhood phrase (that he still obnoxiously uses when we play games) suits this post perfectly... "GOT WHAT I WANTED..." (Remember playing Go Fish as a kid and drawing the card you needed?)

2008-02-16T14:38:00.007-05:00

Exciting, yet uneventful... Maximo had his first taste of rice cereal today. He ate about a tablespoon or so of very watered (breastmilked) down cereal. He didn't seem to love it nor hate it.
Dr. Zegarra said after the next appointment we could start introducing foods. Since we start school on Thursday, we decided to do it today, so we could do it as a family and practice a bit before he's just to do it with Gloria.
We're reading First Foods, which is a great book about introducing foods to babies and continues through healthy meals for toddlers (thanks, Kirsten). So, if all goes well with the cereal, we'll go to the organic market, buy some veggies and start making baby food. So, stay tuned for the week by week introduction of foods (dripping with sarcasm, though you'll hear all about the mundane details).

2008-02-15T11:15:00.002-05:00

Times are a changing... Maximo is already returning back to his normal schedule. Last night he only woke up once, though had a tough day of napping. We're amazed at how well he's doing in his crib after sleeping with us in bed for over a week. He isn't going to sleep by himself very well though. He wants to fall asleep in our arms and if we put him down before he's in a deep sleep, he'll start screaming (like he did last night). We think he was really overtired too, but he soothed (okay, cried) himself to sleep in about 15 minutes.
He's also starting to "bite" me. He doesn't have any teeth yet, but he's latching on (like a bear trap) to me. I think just for fun... maybe he thinks I'm a teething ring, maybe he's staking his claim. Without teeth, it's uncomfortable, I don't want to think about what it's going to feel like when his fangs come in.
He's more animated every day and is a very smiley little boy. He's babbling up a storm and is soaking through his clothing once, if not three times daily (combo of saliva and poop) - nice. He's starting to laugh - if we pretend to sneeze in his face. He'll probably grow up being insensitive to sick people.
We start back to work in less than a week. I'm already getting anxious, though I know millions of women do it every year. I know he's happy and safe at home, it's me I'm worried about. He's going to be spending more time with Gloria and Rosmery than Mom and Dad. (sniffle)

2008-02-14T07:22:00.002-05:00

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
Since this is the day of love, we're going to take a minute and get all mushy...
We know that our families and a smattering of friends read this religiously to check up on our little man (or just check it to procrastinate at work). We truly love you all and thank you for the comments and emails, especially right after Maximo was born. They have been so nice to read because it makes us feel like everyone is right here with us.
Even though we may not say it, we love you and can't wait for Maximo to meet you all.
Hugs and kisses - Abrazos y besitos

2008-02-11T19:24:00.000-05:00

Argentina Update:
We are winding down our trip to Mendoza, Argentina - Maximo's first trip! It's been a learning experience for us. Let me start from the beginning while trying not to ramble on. Maximo was WONDERFUL on both flights and throughout the first very long travel day. He was up at 4 am in Lima and we didn't arrive at our hotel until 7 pm (4 pm Lima time) that afternoon. Then we had a rough few days... Maximo and I got sick - we both had terrible colds and the dry climate left us very congested. He was very fussy - and we both were thinking that maybe this trip wasn't such a good idea. We were wondering where our happy baby went, but thankfully he returned! He's back to just fussing when he's hungry or tired. He's now sleeping with us, because he went for a few days of crying if he was put down at all. Since we've been staying in hotels, we really don't want to inconvenience anyone else, so before the end of a first whimper, he's already in our arms. Hopefully this will be easy to break once we're back home in Lima. Especially since we go back to work in about ten days (ugghhh).
He's been touring wine bodegas with us and is really enjoying time in the stroller. The weather has been perfect and in the afternoons, we have been going for nice long walks on the beautiful wide sidewalks around town.
Eating dinner is our biggest challenge. Most restaurants don't open until 9 pm (yes, even later than Peru), so it really is tough. After the first day, we decided to stay on "Lima time", so we're functioning 3 hours behind everyone else;) So, dinner at 9 pm here is really only 6 pm in Lima. The other night, we actually got through a whole dinner with him hanging out (awake) in the stroller. Normally, it's one of us walking around with him while the other is eating. Though during one lunch a lady at the table next to us offered to take him while we ate - nice!
To the Mendocinos, it looked like we kept our baby out until 11 pm, little did they know it was only 8 pm in Peru. ** Insert parent of the year award here - taking your 5 month old to vineyards and wine tastings and keeping him out until 11 pm. **
He's been talking to us a lot more the past few days, it's been really cute. He'll respond to us talking to him. His hair looks ridiculous, even more so here because THEY SHAVE BABIES HEADS here. It's tradition before they leave the hospital (along with girls getting their ears pierced). Supposedly, it helps their hair grow in evenly and thick. So if it's not already beautiful and thick, it just looks like a summer buzz cut - not a patchy, strange looking head like Maximo's.
It's amazing how fast he's growing up right before our eyes...
So tomorrow we head back to Lima, hopefully we'll have a calm travel day. We'll post pictures when we return.