Seven

On Monday, September 15, 2003 at 3:31am, this little firecracker made his speedy appearance into our world. Life has never been the same. Thank Goodness for that! :-)

Today we are celebrating his seven years. I'm very behind on posting about our summer. But that's about to end soon. Starting with today. A special day calls for a special post!

I've pulled some favourite shots of the Maxter that I took over the past few months and haven't had a chance to share yet.

I have a little notebook. I try to keep a running list in there throughout the year of different accomplishments and funny things and stuff like that. It's always so interesting to stumble across these lists down the road and see how much he's grown up.

This little boy is so full of fun and games and tricks and clowning around. In the past 6 months of so I've noticed that taking pictures of him are a challenge. He's never been the posing type. Which suits me fine as I'm not a posing type of person when it comes to picture taking. So from the get go he has pretty much ignored me when I take photos. But this year....not only does he ignore me (still)...he turns away or makes super grotesque faces or his smile turns extremely cheesy. Oh boy. A challenge for sure. A few Sundays back it was hot out and he was bored. We were at my parents. And the two of us were outside while everyone else was having a siesta. I pulled out a lens that I've barely used and started experimenting. One thing led to another and we started taking all kinds of fun and crazy pictures...and may I add that these ideas were his...he was just full of steam and craziness that day!

He still comes up with the cutest little random comments and sayings.

* He calls skinny dipping "skinny diving".

* He calls the San Jose Sharks the "Hosanna Sharks".

* When he reeeeeeeeeally wants something bad he ends the request with "Pleasie-pants???!!"

* Keith asked him if he wanted a little dash of cologne the other day when they were getting ready. Max was adamant that he didn't want any and was creating such a fuss about it. We figured out later that he thought it had something to do with Star Wars "Clone Wars". Oh we laughed!

(Elephant ride at the African Lion Safari.)

This was our first summer of no set bedtime for the Maxter. In the past bedtime has always been fairly early for him. School year and summer vacation alike. This summer though, he did very well with staying up later and not having the time so scheduled. And he was well behaved for the most part so it's not like we were feeling like it was time for him to be in bed. Def. growing up! Now that we're back in school routines again, we've got a set bedtime and that works mighty well!

(Holding his fish he caught off the dock on Lake Manitou.)

* Lost 2 teeth this summer. One in the middle of the summer and a front tooth yesterday at school! Gosh does he ever have such a darn cute toothy grin now!!

* Loves listening to stories on tapes at grandma's house. This just started happening over the summer months. He will cuddle up on the couch with apple slices and listen to tape after tape after tape.

* He has informed me that Treehouse TV is for babies and he hates it.

* Goes into the boys/mens washrooms by himself now when we are out and about. No more family restrooms for him.

* Is very efficient with one of his household "chores"...bringing in the empty recycling bins and setting them up properly in the garage.

(Reading the newspaper comics on a camping trip.)

* Max's reading has just taken off this past year. I'm still amazed when I hear him reading billboards and signs and magazine articles. Anything really. It's incredible how their little minds just pick it up and run with it.

* And on the reading note, in the evenings, he's been doing a great job of reading our devotions and also reading the scripture to go with it.

* Is finally in a car booster seat and not carseat/booster anymore.

* Is very good at "taking care of mom" when Keith is travelling on business. So cute...Keith always tells him to "be good and take good care of mom." ;-)

* Is just about too big for me to carry anymore. He's all elbows and knees and legs and arms. They're everywhere and it's hard to hold that!

* He will still reach for and hold my hand when we are out on a walk. I'm sure those days are coming to an end, but I'll enjoy them while he still wants to!

(Providence Bay, Manitoulin Island)

Favourites...

Colours: Turquoise, Red

Animal:  Black Leopard

Food:  Pancakes, Jello Rings

School Subject:  French

Bible Story:  Daniel in the Lions Den

TV Show: Wipeout

Activity: Playing the Wii (which we don't have. LOL!)

(Campfire hijinks at The Pinery)

More Favourites...

Hockey Team: Huskies (New Hamburg), Canucks, Boston (becuase he likes Bobby Orr)

Baseball Team: Seattle Mariners

Football Team: BC Lions

Holiday: Easter. no. Christmas. no. Easter. no. Christmas. I like them both mom!

(Playing with newborn chicks at Grandpa's farm.)

* When he grows up he wants to be an astronaut.

* Still loves to sleep with lots and lots of stuffies. Daisy is def a favourite but there is a rotation every night.

* Scotch Tape. Max goes through rolls and rolls and rolls of this stuff. Creating. Fixing. Making. Playing. I see myself in him when he's taping!

* Never fusses when it's time to get a haircut. He's super excited about picking out a coloured gel for the stylist to put in his hair at the end.

*A few of the more memorable foods that he tried out this summer were beets (he LOVES them!), nutella (he does NOT LOVE this!) and hamburgers (he now LOVES them except when he has wiggly front teeth.)

(Jumping off the diving board at swimming lessons.)

Max has developed a love of swimming over the summer months. He went from being super scared at the beach and refusing to go in the water at all to doing canon balls in the deep end off the diving board with no life jacket.

Swimming lessons at school start next week already. One of the pros of having the pool located directly beside the school! :-)

(Helping Grandpa unload a wagon.)

Max loves spending time at grandpa and grandma's farm. He "drives" the tractor with grandpa and helps out when things aren't too hectic. There's so much to do there...play with Nikki (dog), jump on the trampoline, listen to tapes, shoot hoops, bike around, help Uncle Chad milk, help in the garden, play with Aunt Vanessa, swing swing swing, gather eggs, eat Grandma's good food...the list could go on and on...

(Sunday, August 22, 2010)

This summer the church we attend built a new facility. I've been taking lots and lots of pictures. This one above was taken on the Sunday where the service began in the old church. Halfway through the morning, everyone walked over to the new building and the service ended in there. Max was very excited about the day and I'm glad I was able to capture Keith and him walking from the old building into the new one. :-)

Max loves going to Sunday School, even though he usually is the only boy in a class of girls. It doesn't phase him! This fall brings the addition of "assembly time" with the bigger kids. He reaaaaaaally likes assembly! I remember going to assembly vividly. I loved it too. I can't believe Max is big enough to be going already!!

(The three of us in front of the old church before it was taken down.)

The little Maxter still has a wonderful sense of adventure and loves the outdoors, camping and exploring. I hope that continues for the rest of his life! He went on his first big "fishing trip" with his dad this summer. The whole "wake up at 4:30am and pack a days worth of food to take on with you along with your gear and boats and head out on the quad to some barely inaccessable lake to fish the entire day and eat shore lunches (of fish) and return back at 9:00pm." Yes, they did that this summer and had a blast! Such a fisherman he is. Just like his dad. And his grandpa.

(Fort Henry, Kingston)

Max's love of sports has not slowed down.

Hockey. Baseball. Soccer. Lacrosse. Swimming. He absolutely loved playing them all this past year.

He plays with all his heart.

Whichever sport he is currently playing, usually tends to be his most favourite.

(Upper Canada Village)

This little boy sleeps much much better. No more of this "waking up 6 times a night business" anymore. He most often sleeps through. On occasion he does wake me up to let me know that he's going to the bathroom. And then back to his little bed he goes. And then there is the odd time where he will crawl into our bed at about 5:00am. Why oh why?! When we ask him he always says it's because he's "lonely" or "cold".

(Standing in front of a mural in Old Quebec.)

* Every June and every December a growth spurt hits the Maxter and he shoots up. Enough that pants and shorts get just a bit too short. It's like clockwork.

* Size wise he's just starting to wear Size 6/7 Boys Gap in pants and tops.

* Shoes he's wearing 13.

* He loves playing with legos. And builds all kinds of crazy spaceships and jets.

* Loves playing boardgames. Colouring pictures of cars. Nascar. Collecting rocks and stones.

* Doesn't play so much with his little matchbox cars anymore. They still make their appearance. But not every single day anymore.

* Really wants a Wii system. And a Nintendo DS. I hear about this daily.

* Has never watched Starwars. Doesn't really have anything to do with Star wars. But is so intrigued by it. Talks about it all the time. Hears about it from kids at school. Wants all the Starwars lego. Oh boy.

* Loves to watch America's Funniest Home Videos on Sunday evenings as a family. And boy can we all laugh and giggle!

(Excavations near Hotel Frontenac, Old Quebec)

And that's a wrap for now.

It's time to pick up the Maxter at school.

And then let the real celebrations begin.

He awoke to 7 red helium balloons floating around lazily in his bedroom this morning.

I awoke to a big shriek and a hug and a "THANKYOU MOM!".

(I think to him, the most important part of the birthday is the decorations in the house. It's not the gifts. It's all the decorations. What a funny kid!)

Happy Happy Happy Birthday Max!

We love you the most canucks! (which means the most you can possibly love someone!)