Max is three months old!

It's been three months since Max was born and everything that Max is doing has superseded my expectations. Three months, what's three months to most of us? Three months is a mere sliver of time out of our busy lives as we rush from one project to the next. Three months passes by so quickly that we're left wondering where the time went. But to Max? Three months is life--the only life he knows. This baby has learned and achieved so much in his only living months. I didn't know how far this baby would be at this time, I didn't know what to expect from Max.

He had a rough start as he ended up back in the hospital two days after he was born and had a tough time gaining weight two weeks later. But that's all gone now, I guess every system has its kinks and Max's is no different. He's not walking yet but he wants to so badly. Maybe not walk so much but I notice that when I lay him on his back, he complains and grunts as he gestures his little torso forward but he's just not strong enough to lift himself. Still, it's amazing to me that he's even trying.

As long as he's not too tired and somewhere between feedings, he seems to be happy when I stand him on his little wobbly legs and move forward--he smiles. After a yard of movement, his little legs tremble and I know that his muscles are tired. But his upper legs don't shake, nor do his lower legs--it's that he just can't control his feet yet and has no concept of balance. But again--he's trying.

Sleeping now is better regulated as Max can sleep almost all night occasionaly waking up very early for breakfast or sometimes in the middle of the night for a snack. But mostly, he sleeps through the entire night. Every now and then he'll wake up crying loudly but can be quickly calmed by holding his little little hands close to his body, whispering and holding him closely. Mostly, Max wakes up with a smile every morning.

Speaking of smiles--thankfully this is something that Max does a lot of, smiling. As long as everything is ok, rested, not hungry, warm or at least comfortable--he'll have a smile and coo for whoever is standing in front of him. It used to be that Amy could encourage a smile from him by gently rubbing his upper lip but that isn't necessary anymore. I don't know if a smiling three month old means that he's happy but it makes all of us happy.

Toilet habbits are more regular now and the odors and aromas more exciting, what else can I say. Actually, nothing else, he's doing fine in this area.

Cooing, wooing and yelling is I think what Max does to show us that he's happy. We call this talking and he does a lot of it. Now it's louder. The sounds so far are "ahhh", "awooo", "aghlll", "nuh-un", "nuhhh", "haak" and a really cute little typical baby giggle that he does when he appears to be excited. Rubbing my beard lightly on his belly and making funny noises willl cause this laugh. He then grabs a fistfull of my beard on the side of my face (this hurts) when he wants to stop that game.

He's changed so much, physically. Max has put on a lot of weight and grown. He has a little birthmark on his right arm that looks like a tiny mickey mouse. He's always had a really strong grip. I still remember letting him grip on my pinky a few minutes after he was born--it was really strong then. He bicycle kicks hard enough to make you move back a little bit because sometimes he kicks you in the throat--this hurts.

Things that interest Max so far are Teddy and TV. Teddy is a little, soft, cotton and satin blanket with a teddy- bear sewn on the soft side. He grips it and appears to want to pull it apart as he rubs his face on it. TV seems to get his attention now as well. I place him close enough to the tv and he follows large objects on the screen. It doesn't matter what's on the screen whether it's the news or cartoons. But I put on a lot of animal shows, Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, and other things that I'd like him to get exposure of.

Music doesn't appear to get Max's attention yet. I don't see any specific responses to different types of music. He's still drinking formula as the pediatrician asked me not to let him have solid food until four months.

Next month will be an exciting month for everyone as Max gets to meet his family in Wisconsin--where Max's mom grew up. We're going by train and the irony of this trip is that my first trip to meet family--my grandparents--was also by train.

So this is it, three months old--the big three-oh. I wonder what Max will think when he reads this posting many years from now?