A Hoppy Life: The Zoo, Graduations and Everything Else

Again I always try to stay up to date with my blog but somehow falls weeks behind. So here we are again – 3 weeks since my last blog and lots of fun events have happened. First – we started to practice walking with Maxwell around mother’s day. Kevin would stand on one side of the room and I a few feet away and we would have Max walk between us. This quickly became his favorite game and each day since he has grown stronger. I was attempting to get him to walk before my Birthday on the May 20^th but he held out til the end of the month.

So here we go a quick recap – the weekend after Mother’s Day was my birthday weekend so I got to pick all of our activities. I decided that it was about time we take Maxwell to the zoo and so we did. The weather was perfect for it. Okay it was hot almost too hot but it was otherwise perfect. The sun was shining and the animals were out and about. Max really enjoyed himself. His eyesight is so good, he can see everything and love all the animals – especially the giant gorillas and the fishys. I forgot how big those gorillas are. HUGE! We also loved seeing the fish – they had a GEORGE fish – which for those of you who are in the know, know that my parents used to have one of these in our house. This fish got so big it could NOT turn around! It’s so nice to see a George fish again – reminds me of my childhood.

The zoo was lots of fun and like I said very hot! We made sure to keep lots of sunblock on Max and kept him cool with cold towels. That helped a lot. You’d be surprised what kind of non-caged animals are at the zoo too, wow it’s definitely interesting and you see people from all walks of life – if you know what I mean. On a funny note Kevin & I found a super clean secret family bathroom with AC at the zoo.. We were so happy and it was a good opportunity to cool Max off in private away from the crowds!

Scary Huge Gorilla!

Max, Me and George

Elephants!!

checking out the animals!

So after our day at the zoo we met Grandma and Grandpa Nesgoda for dinner at Buca De Peppo which was lots of fun. Max was being grumpy having barely napped all day but Grandma took good care of him so we all could eat. She walked him around the resteraunt and he enjoyed checking everyone out. I really like eating here - once everyone decides what to share.

The next day was my birthday – I’m 29 people. Believe it! Ha! We enjoyed the day together as a family and stayed pretty low key! Sometimes it’s just nice to stay in and spend time together! I love my boys and everyday that I spend with them is fun and an adventure.

So this brings us to the the work week – nothing fun ever happens during the work week, except work and school and practicing walking… which we did. It was a good week followed by a nice long Memorial Day weekend and my youngest sisters graduation!! That’s right my youngest sister Samantha has finally graduated High School! We are so proud. She’s on her way to Cinicinnati and into the next big adventure in life – the REAL WORLD! Go Sam!

So Sam’s graduation was on a FRIDAY and it was HOT! VERY HOT! Now mind you I rmemeber my own HS graudation very HOT as well but this was really bad, especially with little Max. Now Max is an amazing baby so he rarely throws fits or anything like that but this heat was bad and the speeches were long, so Kevin and I alternated taking him outside for relief! It was fun to have the whole family there and I was proud to be back in my old school with my son! Way to go Sam – Good Luck in Cincinnati!

The following day was Sam’s graduation party!! Which was fun. We hung out on the Plum Brook Patio with Max gave him a bottle and let people come and meet him. He’s a cutie pie so he like seeing all the new people! He then proceeded to take a 2 hour nap so we could socialize while he slept away in the stroller!

Also on this fantastic Memorial Day weekend we took Max swimming – well Mom and I did. Max was a little scared at first – seeing as the water is a little colder than what he was used to but after a few moments of worry he was good to go and really enjoyed swimming again. J He played on the steps and swam around. My mother and I took turns doing laps with him and again many people whom I’ve know since childhood were eager to meet our little man. Again Max was steller and even got to see a little baby – a mere 2 weeks old – and she still weighed less than Max did at birth. I could not imagine such a small little baby! Yikes! Max however was quite taken with her as he is with most babies. Little flirt!

-- Okay let’s jump forward to last weekend now –

So as of last Friday Max has been walking on his own. That’s right even when we aren’t playing the come to me game. It’s so great! I’m so proud of him. He’s been all over the place and it’s truly amazing for me how far he has come in a few short 11 months. He’s such a big boy!!

Speaking of how far he’s come – so I’m feeding Max last week and he decides he’s not having it and dumped his entire step 3 dinner all over him. Go figure my little man had decided he hates baby food… and he was teething. Talk about mommy frustrations! So with this happening I decided it was time to start him on some table food.. about time right. So I tried some Mac & Cheese. Now this wasn’t a big hit at first, but now that he’s been eating it for a few days, he starting to like it. At first I had to cover it in Yogurt but now I don’t need to and he’s quickly liking other things as well. Like chicken and hot dogs and meatballs! Yippie!!! He’s growing up so fast! We’ve also started to give him Cheerios instead of Puffs. Those were an easy change over and he really likes them as well. Go Max!

Last weekend was Alex’s Engagement Party. Which was a lot of fun! Max got to hang out with his Aunt Alex and Uncle Eric and their friends. He of course was the real attraction of the party as well as Guinness who was the “BELL OF THE BALL”. Guinness had so much fun and Max was pushing his little cart and walking all over the place. He had a blast.

Now we are almost at present day!! So I’ll post some pictures and some videos of Max walking and do my best to write a blog next Monday to keep everyone up-to-date with our weekend fun!! Thanks all for reading!