Max's Birthday, et al.

Wow! I can't believe I haven't posted a blog since Halloween. I've been super busy and haven't had much time to pause and reflect. Right now I should be reading for school or putting laundry away or preparing my list for the grocery store, but I decided to take a small break to share a few things.

On December 26, we celebrated Max's 2nd birthday at home with family. I baked a cake and frosted it myself. Homemade cakes usually taste better than store bought ones... but I didn't make this until the last minute and then Willie didn't want to wait for it to cool completely before I frosted it, so pieces of cake got all mixed up in the frosting. It didn't look that good, but it was still yummy!

And, about a month after Max's birthday, he pretty much potty-trained himself in a day. No kidding. I'll spare details but basically he hated being in wet diapers and would insist you change him immediately. I gave him an opportunity to sit on the potty and voila! instant success. The next day Saige babysat for me and Max kept using the bathroom by telling us when he needed to go. Nights, nap times, and going in public bathrooms still need work, but for the most part, he's doing quite well. We didn't even need to use an incentive for him like we did with Zahra (no mini M&Ms necessary). He just seemed super proud of himself every time you would praise him. It seemed to be enough so it was really neat that it happened so fast. It wasn't even on my radar. I had no plans of potty training and didn't think he was ready since he doesn't talk very much and definitely still needs help pulling pants up and down. But he is still able to communicate when he needs help with the bathroom, which is enough.

I'm still interested in getting Max therapy for his speech delay, but I'm waiting for nursing school to kind of even out. Once I find myself used to the routine, I'll work on scheduling appointments to get him some help. It seems that he's getting more frustrated about not being able to communicate and I'd like to have some professional help.

Overall, the little guy is doing great and he's a fun, happy boy to be around... I can't believe he's 2 already. It doesn't seem so long ago that we took him home from the hospital and Zahra was calling him Max-and-Ruby.