Little Miss Ritchie: Maxwell Thane {5 months}

The end of June was BA-nanas here on the Ritchie farm. There was a constant flurry of activity - great grandma Delene visiting from California, a spur of the moment baptism for the boys (more on that another day!), a construction themed birthday party - in the hustle and bustle of it all I almost let a certain little guy's 5 month birthday slip thru the cracks! Month 5 has been a big one for Sir Maxwell. He seems to have changed by leaps and bounds since my last post - learning all sorts of new things and becoming more interactive with his surroundings every day. I had almost forgotten how much I love this phase of baby-hood.

Here's a little bit about Max, 5 month edition.

MaMaMa: Can you say MAMA'S BOY!? You have a definite soft spot for me and you'll NEVER hear me complain about it. Harrison is going through a total "daddy" phase right now (I keep telling myself it's a phase) so I'm holding on tightly to little brother.

ZZZZzzzzZZZ: I bragged about our sleep routine in last month's update, and you promptly decided to put me in my place. You would think after going thru the same thing with your sister and brother that I would learn to keep my mouth shut! We had a few weeks between then and now where 3-4AM wake up calls were the norm. Or even worse, 5AM...a short 45 minutes before my alarm was set to go off. I'm happy to say, though, that things have settled back down again. You seem to have mastered the 12 hour stretch and we generally don't hear from you between 7PM and 7AM. Whoop! Whoop!

Giggles: I can say with about 99% confidence that baby giggles are one of my absolute favorite sounds. And lucky for me, you are a big giggler these days. Most of them come courtesy of your cousins...they LOVE to act goofy around you, knowing that they will be rewarded with one of your big belly laughs! You are talking more and more every day, blowing raspberries like it's your job, and drooling like a mad man!

YuM yUm Yum: You got your very first taste of cereal this past month and seem to love it. Now if we could just get you to keep your hands out of your mouth while you eat. HELLO MESS! Despite the new addition to your diet, bottles are still your favorite. You refuse go to any longer than 3 hours without one during the day, and my oh my, do you let us know if we're not ready when you are!

Bump on a Log: You still aren't real big on moving. You can roll from your belly to your back...but it's got to be on your own terms. We've been working hard on going the other direction, but at this point you still need a little help. This weekend we were practicing sitting and you did really well with the help of your big brother's drum.

Brotherly Love: Speaking of your brother....you LOVE him! Last week he asked to get into your crib with you, and you were all smiles. I can't blame you, he's pretty goofy and always entertaining. I'm sure that he'll teach you all sorts of cool things in the months/years to come. I can only imagine the trouble you two will get into. This picture makes me all sorts of happy.

Looking for More?: You're not too chubby, not to skinny...just the perfect amount of 'rolls' in all the right places! The 6-9 month clothes in your closet are getting the most use these days. My least favorite part of the month? The fact that you LOVE to grab my hair and hold on tight. Speaking of hair...yours is slowly filling in. You also have a long section up top that stands straight in the air no matter how hard we try to smooth it down...its reminiscent of Bill Murray's combover in King Pin. Sweetness. You don't do pacis. You don't do thumbs. But holy cow do you love your ring and middle fingers. They are your instant comfort and it melts my heart. We broke out the jump-a-roo a few months back, but you like it a lot more now that your feet touch the ground without a pillow!

Maxwell Thane {5 months}

I've admitted Photoshop defeat and gave up switching "Harrison" to "Maxwell." If anyone is really good at editing and wants to do it for me...well...I wouldn't complain!