9 Month Check up

We had Maddux's nine month check up today. Everything looks good. The only concern is that he's not crawling, I guess he'll do it when he's ready. The doctor said his shoulders were a little weak so to give him a lot of tummy time, she said his legs and core were very strong so we'll just have to work on the shoulders a bit. She felt that with added strength in his shoulders that he would be able to crawl. She said that the weakness could delay him a bit. So poor Maddux is going to Tummy Time School! Hopefully this is all that it is. She didn't seem too worried so I guess I shouldn't be either. She told me I could start giving him more table food, like meat and cheese! This should be fun! Now for the numbers! Maddux weighed 21 lbs 10 oz which was 70th percentile. He was 30 and a half inches tall which was 97th percentile. And his head circumference was 45th percentile, I forgot the number. All in all it was a good visit!

Walking before Crawling????

Most of you all know that Maddux has yet to crawl. He likes to scoot backwards and roll around a lot, but when it comes to crawling, he's just not there. He does however really like to stand and walk. At the end of this video it appears as if he takes a couple steps. I know that they aren't really legitimate walking steps, but they are still fun to see!

Favorite Toy right now is........

This is another toy we borrowed from the Boyers. Yes, we borrowed quite a few! And yes we have bought Maddux some of his own, haha! But what a great way to save a little cash and don't worry, Brennan, as soon as you can sit up I have some for you!! Maddux will sit and play with the beads on this toy for quite a while. He will even reach through an move some in the middle. I love watching him try to figure things out! Here is a quick video!

Lights and Waving

I absolutely love this video! I was so lucky to get it too. I asked Maddux to point to the light and he did it and then I asked him to clap and he did that too. I couldn't believe he actually did it and I caught it on video. That never happens! He loves to point to the light and will do so in every room, even outside. I guess he is smart enough to know that the sun gives off light too! Haha! His clapping sort of looks like he is wiping off his hands, but I think it's cute! He is so much fun!

Ears, Trains, and lights on the ceiling!

This video is from our trip to SC. Maddux has discovered ears, specifically Matt's ears. I guess because Matt doesn't have a lot of hair to cover them up. He was fascinated and played with Matt's ears for quite a while. The dialogue between Matt and his Gramma is kind of funny too! I just thought this was cute and wanted to share!

Only the Rothell's would run out into the road and watch a train go by. You can see how excited we all are about the train. Next to Nanny's house a train goes by quite often. Maddux loved watching it so of course Doug had to run him out there to watch every train that came by! You can see Maddux waving at the train a few times! He was with his Aunt Tammy.

Okay, this last one is funny. We had finished dinner and Doug was holding Maddux and we noticed Maddux looking up at the ceiling and grunting. We then realized that he saw the reflection of Uncle Eric's watch on the ceiling. Wow, that kid is observant!

Trip to SC.

We had a great trip to SC, sorry for not posting in the mean time. We spent time with Nanny and Gramma and got to see Aunt Donnie and Eric, Tammy, and Seth. Maddux was a saint, just going with the flow and barely got upset at all. In fact Nanny still says he never cries! We all know that isn't all true. Maddux got to see a big long train and was mesmerized. He was very agreeable to whatever was going on and was very entertaining!

Driving with Maddux, don't think I would do that yet!

We borrowed some toys from the Boyer's the other day to use for a couple months until Brennan is ready for them and one of them is a driving toy. I don't think I'll be driving with Maddux anytime soon, he likes the gas way too much! You can also see his little dance to the music that he has started doing. So much fun everyday!!!

Good Morning Maddux!

Maddux has begun moving around in his crib over the past couple of weeks. Quite a few times I've got in to check on him and he's been on his side or on his belly, sometimes even up against the side of the crib. He is just beginning to realize that he can really move, hopefully he'll figure out the crawling at some point because he does everything but crawl right now! This picture is from when he woke up Monday morning.

Hanging with the Boyer's

Lately, Lisa and I have really enjoyed having the boys play together. Maddux is between the two Boyer boys so he can play a bit with both of them. I love seeing them together, it's so fun! And we are are so fortunate to have the boys so close in age!! We love the Boyer's! The picture above was when the four of us plus our friend Erica, who took the picture went to Camille's for lunch. If you've never been to Camille's, you are missing out! They are super child friendly plus the food is really good! I don't quite know what Maddux's fascination with other people's hair is, but he likes to touch other people's heads. Sorry Brennan!
Clay stopped by to play with Maddux's new stand up toy. Clay was showing him how to touch the right colors. Maddux isn't quite there yet, but hopefully Clay will be able to teach him!

Another picture of the two older boys playing! I can't wait for more play dates in the future!

Meme's special outfit

I couldn't resist taking these pictures last Sunday when I dressed Maddux in Meme's outfit. Meme, my mom, bought Maddux this outfit before he was born and it was finally warm enough to wear it. It is short sleeved. She also knitted this sweater and hat for him. In case you can't see there are even really cute football buttons on it. I love it! I've also requested another sweater and hat set for next winter in blue!! Maddux has worn this sweater and hat quite a bit. This hat, however, is the second one she made. I was a bad mommy and lost the first one while out with Grandpa one day! Sorry Meme. But it's good because she made this hat a bit bigger so he was able to wear it longer!! So it worked out! Maddux really loves to stand on the couch as you can see in the first photo. Maybe it has something to do with the crease in the back of the couch, it kind of acts as a seat for him, haha! I love this kid!

Another Playground with Mommy!

On Wednesday Maddux and I went and met some friends at another community playground. We had a lot of fun as you can see! The pictures are from Lisa, she was nice enough to take some pictures of me with Maddux cause I don't have many since I'm the one taking them most of the time. I absolutely love this time of year, we have been outside till almost 7pm most nights either taking walks or going to the playground or just playing in the yard. Maddux loves to be outside and I can't wait till he is able to explore a little more on his own!!

At the Park with the Beth, Jimmy, and Lily

We took advantage of the break in the rainy weather over the weekend and met some friends at the playground. I thought Maddux might enjoy swinging and playing on the equipment but I'm not sure if Matt didn't enjoy it more!! You can see above Maddux hanging out in the baby swing. I think he liked it! Matt wanted to push him really high but I wouldn't let him.
Beth and I took the kids for a ride on the big people swings. It was so relaxing!
I love this one! Don't worry, he didn't go down by himself! He enjoyed going down on his tummy facing backwards the best.
Maddux loves to stand and hold onto things. He was standing here trying to shake the bars.

Matt and Maddux on the big slide.

Kisses, scooting, and Cheerios!

Maddux has been very busy this week. We start the week off by giving kisses. So far I've only been able to convince him to give me kisses, which by the way are extremely wet, I know TMI. So if you are feeling jealous that you haven't yet experienced one of Maddux's kisses don't be, hopefully by the time you get one it won't be as juicy! See video below!

Maddux started moving this morning. I've been wondering when he was going to realize that he was capable of moving. It's really funny to watch because he is scooting backwards and pivoting on his belly. I think once he really figures it out and realizes what he is doing we won't be able to slow him down! I guess Matt and I need to buy some gates!

Summer has figured out that the place to be during meal times is by Maddux's highchair. I thought she would figure it out pretty quickly. Every time she heard a cheerio drop she would come running, so I guess she figured she should just park and wait! I'm sure it was much easier than jumping off the couch and running into the kitchen every time.

Open, Close, Open, Close, it's really quite funny!

As I was putting Maddux to bed tonight he found something that was quite funny. At least he thought it was. I always read Maddux Goodnight Moon before putting him down. Tonight after I read it I closed the book and he started giggling. Usually by this time he's got his hands over his face and he wants to go to sleep. So I opened the book back up and he started laughing again. So the next 3-4 minutes, not kidding I was sitting by a clock, I opened and closed the book, showing different pages of course and the whole time he just giggled. It was so simple yet so funny! I love it when the unexpected happens like that!!