Max is four months old!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Max has spent his first Christmas in Wrightstown, Wisconsin--Amy's home town and met many relatives. It's funny to think of the contrasts that Max's has been through so far.

It was 113 degrees during the summer that he was born and ended up back in the hospital because of heat related complications. Here in Wisconsin the temperature's been a balmy 14 degrees and he seems to be enjoying it. I thought about this as I was putting him back in the car and watched a snow flake land on his little nose.

He's so active now, so lively, very alert and seems to be developing a personality. He appears to have certain likes and dislikes for certain toys. Sometimes he'll want to play with his bee, other times he'll pick some other toy. But it's clear now that his manual dexterity is developing well and his newborn based, Moro reflex is all but gone. He reaches out for things that he likes and watches Amy and I as we walk around the room when someone else is holding him. He doesn't appear shy and appears that he has time for everyone. After about 15 minutes on someone's lap, he wiggles, grunts, complains and it's time to try something different.

He's starting some solid food now--well, if you want it to call it solid, it's really just mush. Amy started him on green beans and some carrots. He also had some mashed potatoes and apparently now enjoying squash. I love watching the expression on his little face when he first tries a new flavor. I tried a little bit of his food once just to see what Max has to go through and it tastes like what I think soggy, paper pulp would taste like--nasty, I don't know how he does it. At some point we'll introduce him to the wonderful world of cooked and seasoned food. But for now? he's gotta' deal with eating gruel.

Max is also holding his bottle now, mostly without help. Occasionally he'll need someone to guide it back into his mouth when he loses his grip on the bottle, but he mostly holds it. I've noticed that the hungrier he is, the more firmly he holds his bottle. I've also noticed that when he's crying from hunger and I'm carrying him, he stops crying as I get close to the refrigerator. Amazingly, Max knows that we get bottles out of there. If I leave the refrigerator without pulling out a bottle, he resumes crying. He'll also stop crying if I get close to the microwave which is the other place that he's seen bottles come out of. Food so far consists of six ounces of Similac Advance formula about every three hours and some veggy mush once a day. If we forget what time his last feeding was, he lets us know by screaming, turning beet-red while doing so and crying tearfully--it's very sad to watch but it gets us moving. Later, we'll soften this temper setting--at times, we do notice the future cultivation of temper tantrums.

And, *sigh* he's also moved on to number 3 huggies and outgrown a lot of his baby clothes. We put some of them away that we'd like to have around to remember Max's baby time but for the most part, Amy's probably going to give a lot of it away to Goodwill or some other charity. It's hard for me to also see him leave toys as his apparent interests and motor skills develop. Sounds and lights get his attention now. It used to be that he was happy with something soft and fluffy but he appears to need more stimulus as days progress. I know that this is a good thing but I get attached to seeing him play with certain toys.

Max still needs a lot of encouragement to roll over and to sit up by himself. We'll work a little more with this. But he's developing ahead of schedule on other areas so it all evens out. With help, he can support his own weight on his chubby legs now without wobbling too much--this looks really good. He's also extending his arms out a bit more when he wants to be picked up or passed on to someone else but he definitely likes to be carried. He recognizes his little circle of trusted observers and carriers. He also has the ability to stare at someone and cry loudly of he doesn't recognize that individual and he's by himself.

Max is growing up so quickly and everything is moving so quickly, till next month.