Aunt Ashly and Courtney arranged layovers in NYC on the way back from Utah so they could help with Max on the plane. Max felt bad about making them worry so much with his croupy breathing on Friday night, so on Saturday he took them to the Armory Art show. The contemporary art was a little wacky (and not all kid-appropriate), but Max liked looking at the bright colors and anything shiny.  
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The sisters ate some yummy meals out, took walks in the sunny weather and, of course, had lots of snuggle time with Max.  
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| Max’s croup turned into a cough that is just now almost gone. And the in the latest in Max’s bizarre medical adventures, we discovered that his middle and ring finger on his left hand are slightly webbed together (up to the knuckle). Yesterday we took him to a pediatric hand specialist who said it was a simple operation to fix which could be done at any time. It is general anesthesia so we are going to wait until he is at least one year old. The doctor was impressed with Aquamax’s grip and dexterity; the webbing would only get in the way of wearing gloves, playing piano, making jazz hands, etc; so no rush. Max’s career as a baby hand/foot model is already foiled by the hammer toe he inherited from some Jensen men. Our goal for April is no doctor’s appointments after he gets his six month shots on the 6th. We have too much laughing, reading, playing, eating solid foods and getting ready to crawl to do, like in this video: |
| Click here for more photos |
Category: Outings
Snow!
| Brittney and Max were going to visit a museum on her birthday Friday, but then over 20 inches of snow dumped on New York, so we stayed inside and watched the snow fall and fall and fall (though the grown-ups did escape for a yummy dinner that night). |
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| The upside of all that snow — sledding on Saturday! We decided he’s a little too young for downhill action, so it was more just pulling him on the sled. He was fairly amused. |
 
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| Sledding reminds Brittney of fun childhood visits to Utah, which reminds her of her wonderful Grandma Beth. We were very sad to lose her this last weekend. She led an active life full of love, adventure and family for 93 years. Though Max never got to meet his great-grandma, when he was in in Mommy’s tummy Grandma Beth helped throw him a very special shower. She loved to get photos and hear all about Max. For Christmas, she sent him some very special presents: an aebleskiver pan with a copy of an old Danish family recipe that Max will enjoy when he’s older, and a silver baby cup monogrammed with his name and a message from her, which, as you can see from these photos, he enjoys now. |
 
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Today Brittney and Max (with the much appreciated assistance of Aunt Ashly) are flying to Utah to say goodbye and celebrate Grandma Beth’s amazing life. Max is looking forward to seeing his Nonna and Grandpa, as well as Aunts, Uncles, cousins Sophie and Breanne, and meeting his many second cousins (he is the youngest, at least for now, of her 30 great-grandchildren ). Mark will be stuck in New York with work, so as part of his last day with Max for a bit he took him to a musical performance at the bookstore. Max was enthralled.  
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| More photos of our growing boy |
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Art Appreciator
This weekend Max ventured the farthest uptown he’s ever been (143rd Street!) to attend the Harlem Fine Art Show. He loved looking at the bright colors and shapes in the paintings. This green piano player was his (and his dad’s) favorite. 
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He is getting very good at grabbing and holding things (at least for a few seconds), and using his hands to let us know what he wants. One morning Brittney was squeaking his moose toy in his face, which he usually loves, but it must have been too early for that because he swatted it away. He tries to turn the pages on books. Here he is reading a new one, “Polar Bear Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?”, which he loves as much as its exciting prequel “Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See?” 
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Friday night he took his bottle out of his mouth, held it for a moment, then tried (unsuccessfully) to put it back in.
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| Speaking of bottle….We went to the allergist last week and the skin tests came back negative for everything tested — milk, oats, corn, rice, wheat, peanut, soybean, egg, casum, goat’s milk, walnut, apple and sweet potato. The only food that tested positive was, randomly, carrots, which Brittney doesn’t eat that often. But the doctor wants her to keep avoiding dairy and soy and have Max tested again on March 1st. The doctor said most allergic babies have skin rashes and lots of mucus all the time, which he doesn’t have, but he has other symptoms so we will keep investigating. The reflux actually seems better lately as his cold clears up so maybe he is growing out of it. We have been giving him some avocado/breast milk porridge, which he seems pretty nonplussed by, as you can see in this rather long uneventful video of him eating it for the first time. |
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He is getting bigger and stronger each day. We can’t wait to see what’s next.
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