Princess Ballerina Dress Up

Mariachi Max

Luau Gone Bad

Here's sweet Max sporting some leis (or "very beautiful necklaces" according to Scarlett). Someday when Max attends his frist luau and he is overcome with panic for no apparent reason, we'll show him this photo and all will be explained.

(FYI, I had a total computer meltdown last week, hence the lack of posts. Hope to be up and running again next week.)

U---S---A!!! W---X---Y---Z!!!*

We had lots of fun celebrating America's birthday this year (happy 236th!), including a weekend at the Jones's awesome new lake house on Lake Cypress Springs.  (There was also dinner with Jeni, John, and sweet baby Jordan the day-of; separate post forthcoming.) 

Scarlett and Max got to go on their first boat ride (not counting the Port Aransas ferry).  Scarlett was a bit skeptical at first, but Harper and Campbell did their best to try to put her ease. 

Max was feeling much more confident, probably because he had no idea what was going on or where he was, and was busy trying to figure out why we stuffed him into an infant life jacket that left him looking like a blue striped beach ball with orange wings.  

Despite Mary Kay's penchant for dancing on boats, she decided to stay back at the lake house and take a nap.  About 10 minutes into the boat ride, Max decided that wasn't such a bad idea.  (The Barnhouse falling-asleep-while-riding-in-moving-objects gene runs strong in this one; he fell asleep both days.)

Exhibit A as to why I was crazy sore on Monday.  Exhibit B includes incredibly ungraceful and borderline humiliating photos of me water skiing that will not be shared on this blog.  I would burn them dramatically except for the fact that they don't exist in paper form, so I'll just stick to far less dramatic pushing of the "delete" key.

Exhibits A and B as to why Chris was crazy sore on Monday.  He and Campbell did this about 37 times, no exaggeration.  Each time they discussed what to do and then practiced their poses to make sure they were totally ridiculous perfect.   

Exhibit A/Part 1 (the "Karate Kid"/the consultation):

Exhibit A/Part 2 (the "Karate Kid"/the execution):

Exhibit B/Part 1 (the "Texas Rangers Antlers Thing that I Still Don't Really Understand"/the consultation):

Exhibit B/Part 2 (the "Texas Rangers Antlers Thing that I Still Don't Really Understand"/the execution):

 Scarlett takes a turn. 

Kacy and Harper cruising in the Sea-Doo.

Hanging out by the lake.

Boat nap, take 2.  Max gets points for consistency.  Note that the life jacket makes a good pillow sort of like one of those neck pillows people use on airplanes.  Or a neck brace.

Scarlett got really anxious when Chris or I would get out of the boat and into the water to ride the big tube, ski, or swim, but she finally got brave at the end of the trip and got out of the boat and swam in the middle of the lake with me and the mermaids. (We couldn't see them, but they were definitely there.)

Awesome view of the fireworks show over the lake from the Jones's dock.  Thanks to the Jones family for a fun-filled weekend!

(* Now to explain the title of this post ... I've been teaching Scarlett to chant "U---S---A!" Olympics-style in preparation for the upcoming summer games.  Since as far as she's concerned I'm just stringing together random letters, she keeps busting out with "U---S---A!  W---X---Y---Z!".  She even chants it sometimes from bed by herself during her wind-down/try-to-avoid-going-to-sleep-at-all-costs time.) 

The Great Cover Up

One of the funny things Scarlett does is put blankets on her babies.  Both the term "baby" and "blanket" are used loosely.  The baby could be an actual baby like Max or one of her baby dolls, and the blanket is often an actual blanket.  But if Scarlett is feeling creative, the "baby" could be a puzzle piece or a fork or a toothbrush and the "blanket" could be a piece of junk mail or a diaper or a fake hamburger bun.  You never know. 

These are just a few of the scenes I've come across in the last couple of weeks:

Typical baby/blanket scene.  Totally normal, right?  Well, except for the stray rock next to the mermaid's head.  (Scarlett loves rocks and I'm always finding them around the house.)  Actually, now that I think about it, I highly doubt mermaids use blankets.  Maybe seaweed blankets, but definitely not quilts (would get too soggy).  So maybe not that normal after all. 

Getting more creative with what qualifies as a blanket.  This poor baby is literally buried in junk mail.  I feel your pain, baby.  

Not sure exactly what's going on between Elmo Fork and Yellow Fork, but I'm going to respect their privacy and not ask any questions.

Pink Minnie (not to be confused with Purple Minnie) face down on the living room rug (rough night in the Magic Kingdom, perhaps?).  Note Winnie in the background un-blanketed.  For now.  Scarlett's got her eye on you, Winnie.   

And last but not least, we have Mary Kay and the tea cup (and yes, I confirmed with Scarlett that the tea cup was in fact a "blanket").  It's hard to tell from this photo, but Mary Kay (a collectors item Mary Kay consultant Barbie that Chris's clients kindly sent to Scarlett) is topless.  By the time she made it to the Jones's lake house a few days later (blog post forthcoming), all she had on was her pantyhose.  And her pearls (gotta keep it classy).  I told Scarlett she could pick one doll to bring with her to the lake, and without hesitation, she chose Mary Kay.  I asked her why, and she answered, "Because she likes to dance on boats.  But she doesn't like to swim in lakes."  I don't know if MK's activities would be approved by corporate, so we better keep this on the down-low.  I hope they don't read this blog, or she is BUSTED. 

Max is Seven Months Old! (June 17, 2012)

Max -- or as Scarlett has taken to calling him lately, Maxi-Max -- is seven months old!  In just one month he sprouted three new teeth, so he now has his bottom two front teeth as well as his top two front teeth for a grand total of four.  He is standing up (assisted) more and more and loves to jump and jump and jump in his Jumperoo.  He's showing a tiny bit of interest in crawling, but truthfully it's more like lunging and rolling and reaching for things and then accidentally falling over.  Definitely no typical hands and knees crawling attempts so far, but since he hasn't spent much time on his tummy at all (he is NOT a fan), it's not all that surprising.  Maybe he'll do something creative instead of traditional crawling, like Scarlett's crab crawl.

He's tried a few more foods, and so far has eaten peaches, bananas, avocado, peas, sweet potato, mango, and rice cereal.  He stares longingly at whatever we eat, so I look forward to giving him something with a bit more substance (rather than just purees) soon, although he acted uninterested in a french fry I offered him the other day.  (Clearly he didn't know what it was, because who would knowingly turn down a french fry?  Nobody, that's who.)

Max is as easy going and happy as ever, and the official move into his own bedroom last month went very smoothly, and we're all getting more sleep because of it.  We all passed around a summer cold over the last few weeks -- first Scarlett, then Chris, now me and Max -- and Max by far has been the most easy-going of the whole sickly bunch of us.  The poor thing can't blow his nose or clear his throat like the rest of us can, but despite his discomfort he's been as sweet as ever, and even an extra bit snugly.

Here are some photos of seven month old Maxi-Max.

Handsome boy.

"Hey, where did this piece of paper come from?"

 "I don't know, but it tastes DELICIOUS."

Getting a push from Big Sister.  Hang on tight, Max!!