Maximus Turns 10 Months

That one year mark just seems to be creeping up with this little man.  We just celebrated having Maximus in our lives for ten months already!  He's such a good baby.  Truly. 

Maximus has really been growing leaps and bounds this past month.  He is getting taller and starting to get in those 9 month-12 month clothes. 

--Max finally had a little tooth pop through. His first tooth on the bottom, so he's always supporting a drooly top. 

--This kid can eat.  He chugs his 8 ounce bottles these days, and we've been trying to give him more food. He likes mac n cheese, spaghetti, yogurt, pancakes, and bread.  He's not that in to eating his baby food anymore, but we're working on getting his little tummy full each day. 

--Max has been doing a good job sleeping at night, but it does seem like one week a month when he's growing most he likes to wake up early or during the night.  Poor buddy doesn't get a consistent nap, but I'm hoping that with school starting for Theo and Woodrow, he'll be able to get a regular nap each day. 

--He's on the move.  He's really been cruising, using his walker, and he's started to stand for a few seconds without holding on to anything.  I think he'll be walking close to his birthday. 

--Little water baby loves his baths and beach time.  He has no fear and just loves to play in the water. 

--Max has really been chattering a bunch now and making solid "baa baa and daa daa" sounds. 

--Now that teeth are coming in Max has decided he likes to have a pacifier at night/nap.  I'm glad he decided to take the paci instead of sucking his thumb, and I just love to watch him all snuggled up when he's sleeping. 

This little guy is a huge blessing and we love him so much!  He just lights up around people, Mason, and his brothers. 

Sign me up for Scuba

One of the most popular activities to do in Guam is to Scuba dive.  It's apparently one of the top 10 locations in the world for scuba diving and it's supposed to be pretty cheap to get certified and continue diving compared to other locations.  Mason went through his training in December 2016 and he tries to dive once a month.  I really wasn't interested.  I didn't have any interest in being lost in the big blue ocean, having that Finding Nemo moment being surrounded by all blue, and the snorkeling view, to me, was just as good.  Mason was encouraging me to take the class, but I wasn't that in to it.  I had thought about doing a Discovery dive, but kept talking myself out of it.  A friend who PCS'd in the Spring made me promise her that I would at least try a Discovery Dive while we were here.   So, after floundering around for a bit, I signed up for a Discovery Dive with the teachers that Mason did his class with. 

For the Discovery Dive you basically go through a brief tutorial, practice a few skills in chest deep water, and then go for a dive.  We were diving at Fish Eye, which is probably one of the top dive places in Guam for tourists.  We'd snorkeled there and I was familiar with the area.  The Discovery Dive was in the afternoon after Mason and I had an amazing morning snorkel date.  While we were going through the brief intro and discussion on the land I was getting that "feeling" that I was going to pass out and throw up.  It's what I call my doctors office behavior.  I knew I needed to walk away, and I grabbed some water and actually threw up.  I was so nervous that they weren't going to let me dive.  I knew I'd be much better once getting in the water.  I'd much rather just get in and do it than talk about what we're going to do.  So, this cycle happened again and we finally got to go in the water.  I'm so thankful that the teacher (and our friend) let me try the dive.  I was able to do the skills and the dive was awesome!  By the end of the day I was telling them I was ready to sign-up for the Open Water Scuba Course. 
 

I think it was perfect that I had the Discovery Dive under my belt, because when I was reading the course book and then took the evening course to review the work and take the tests a lot of the information made more sense to me since I was familiar with a few of the concepts and the equipment.  I signed up to do my dives in a small group since I wasn't sure if I'd panic again and I didn't want to rush through the water work.  My class has an eighth grader, his dad, and a sixth grader and me.  We did a pool work session two weeks ago and it was so great to go through so many skills in the pool and then on Saturday we did our first two dives.  It was so cool!  (they went so fast)!  I had a harder time descending on the second dive, so I need to practice that on dives three and four, but I am so excited that Mason and I will get to do this together soon.  I'm hoping to finish off my course next weekend and be scuba certified!  

Woodrow Turns Four!

On August 5th Mr. Personality, Woodrow, turned FOUR!  I can hardly believe it.  Four seems like this right of passage from toddler to big kid.  When Woodrow was born, Theo was only 22 months old and there were many time that I prayed for Woodrow to survive his first year of life.  We had moments where he was covered in BBQ sauce, rolled off the bed, and played with a little too rough.  This past year I often prayed that Woodrow and I would survive three.  It was TOUGH!  Woodrow is a stubborn little cookie and boy does he push the boundaries and our patience to its limit.  But despite the challenges that three-year-old Woodrow literally threw at us, we had some wonderful moments as well. 

-Woodrow has grown a lot this year, and doesn't have the little boy face anymore, and has really matured.  He's taller, more talkative, and is super athletic. 

-He loves to ride his scooter and is so fast when he zooms down the block.  We got him a two wheeler and he's been practicing riding without training wheels.  He actually does better on Theo's bigger bike, but it's too tall for him to stop. 

-Woodrow likes to keep up with Theo and doesn't put up with anything. 

-Woodrow became a big brother this year, and after a few months of realizing that Max was sticking around he really warmed up to him and he's a great big brother! 

-This year Woodrow has been really into planes.  He wants to be a "B52".  He also really likes playing with Little Legos and anything Star Wars.  He really likes to have little toys that he totes around in his bed, pockets, and everywhere. 

-This little boy is sneaky and he's got the cutest little face when he's trying to get away with something.

-I am confident that Woodrow could live on "Peanut Jelly" and water.  This boy needs a water bottle with him constantly and snacks can never be too far away. 

-Woodrow likes to go adventuring (as long as there are snacks and water). He likes to hike, swim, and he plays hard.  He tells me a lot how his "hair is wet" when he plays. 

-This year Woodrow will be starting PreK at the base school.  I'm excited and nervous for him.  I really am praying for him and his teachers.  I'm hoping it will help him grow so much and that he just loves it. 

-Our little man loves when Mason is home.  He adores him!  He likes to have guy time with Dad, they take night hikes together,  play legos, wrestle, and just love each other so much. 

-This year we got to take a trip to Japan and it was so exciting to see Woodrow's excitement at Disneyland and take it all in.  He's our serious guy, so to see him smiling and having a good time fills me with joy.