Max's 6 month check up

On Aug. 10 I took Max to his 6 months check up. He was 17lb 15 oz(50 - 75%) and 26.75" (50-75%). He's growing proportionally and doing great. He does have some eczema on the back of his head so I was told to start putting hydrocortizone cream on his head until it clears up.

We started giving him rice cereal on his 6 months birthday once a day. More accurately the nanny gives it to him once a day. She says it took him about 3 days to get the hang of it. I've been so busy between work and the kids that I haven't had the energy to experiment with any new foods. The last week Max and Jalen have both been under the weather. Max hasn't been eating so well, so the solid food experiment is slightly on hold. He sleeps great though. I usually put him down around 8:30pm and he sleeps until 9am. I typically wake him up at 7am to feed him then put him back down to sleep. I'm so thankful that Max is easy in the morning because I have to feed Jalen and get him ready for school. At least lately, Jalen hasn't been throwing as many tantrums about going to school. I have Jalen on a routine of get dressed, breakfast and a little TV. I tell him that he can watch 1 episode (one of Thomas, Bob the Builder, Dora, Ni Hao Kai Lan or Diego) and he turns off the TV when it's done by himself.

Amazon company picnic

Last Sunday we went to the annual Amazon company picnic at the Mountain Meadow Farm in North Bend, WA about 30 miles outside of Seattle. It was 90 degrees with very little breeze. Although they had lots of fun activities for kids to do, Jalen wasn't really in the mood for it. So we pretty much just ate in the shade then left.

Here we are, camped out under the shade. Jalen is sitting on the grass and eating ice cold fruit after eating a hot dog.

I brought a towel for Jalen thinking that he'd want to play on the water activities. Instead I used it as mat for Max to spread out on.

These guys are called "Seattle Knights". They did a jousting show that we didn't bother to watch. I was getting hot just thinking about how hot these guys must be feeling.

Here's Jalen and daddy on the "train" ride. It was the only activity that he was interested in.

Jumping Max

Max is 6 months old!

At 6 months, Max is rolling around but not sitting or crawling yet. He is sleeping through the night (yay!!). He is not very interested in solid food yet. We have his 6 months check up next week where we'll find out how he's growing.

Here's a picture of me and Jalen when he was around 6 months old. Max and Jalen definitely look like brothers when they're smiling!

Max playing on his tummy

Day in the life of a working mom of 2

6am - first feeding of the day for Max, put him back down to sleep, me stumble back to bed
7am - get up, get dressed for work
7:30am - Jalen wakes up. I get him to pee, wash hands, eat breakfast and dressed for school. then he gets to watch some TV
8am - Rick leave with Jalen to drop him off to school
8:30am - nanny arrives for Max. We debrief about how Max was yesterday,
then plan for dinner (she cooks for me!!)
8:45am - leave for work. I drive to the park and ride then take the bus to work down town
9:30am - arrive at the office. sometimes I grab breakfast
5:30pm - leave the office, take the bus to the park and ride
6:15pm - arrive at Jalen's daycare for pick up
6:30pm - arrive at home with Jalen. Rick usually picks up Max from Betsy's house. I feed Max.
6:45pm - the rest of us eats dinner. it's so nice to have the nanny cook for us. it saves so much time and stress
7 - 8:30pm - keep the kids entertained, sometimes run errands like going to the store
8:30pm - I feed Max and put him to sleep. Meantime, Rick tries his best to put Jalen down.
9pm - finally able to have some quiet. I might catch up on work, watch some TV, do laundry
11:30pm - bed time

This is the approximate schedule. Having Max sleep through until 6am is a recent victory. Before, he'd need a 4am feeding, then again around 7:30am. Lately, Jalen has been a huge challenge. Every morning he complains about going to school. Last Friday, I was planning to leave the house at 8am for a 9am meeting at work and have Rick wait for the nanny. Well, Jalen whined and kicked until 8:30am before Rick and I finally wrestled him into the car seat. Then Jalen screamed and kicked all the way to school. When we got to school, I carried him by the waist and brought him inside. I had to spend time with him in the office to help calm him down before they took him to his class. I completely missed my 9am meeting. On other nights, we put Jalen down around 8:30pm and he will say that he's not tired. He will come up with ways to stall, including going to the bathroom multiple times. Sometimes, he doesn't actually fall asleep until past 10pm. On those nights, my evening is really compressed. We just try to take things day by day. Some days, the feeling of getting on the bus and going to work is such a relief because I made it through the morning hustle and bustle.

Brothers