Looking for Maximo?

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

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

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

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

"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

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?

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!

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

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

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

"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

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

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"

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

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

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

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

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

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

"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.