Hey, mom!  Remember that Cabbage Patch doll I looooved, but lost?  I found her!  

These were at 2 months.  Nearly 3 weeks later, the rolls keep coming!  Max asked me, “where is her neck”?  This was a serious anatomy question, not sarcasm.  

She is perfect and I love her.  She smiles and coos and says “oh!” after she eats and I can’t get over it.

Our Max is such an introvert.  He enjoys watching people more than he does interacting with them most days.  Ben and I can relate, but we work to push ourselves and Max so that he (we) gets the chance to exercise empathy, kindness, and relationship.  Other days we just let him be.  

Our neighbor turned 5 a few weeks ago and set up a bouncy house and a massive inflatable water slide/pool in our backyard.  Max never even put on his swimsuit.  He was content to just sit and watch from our back porch.  I am not sure how I feel about this, but I do hope he never loses his quiet confidence in who he is and what he wants.

More adventuring.  We read a Berenstain Bears book, and Max was really into the fact that they lived in a tree.  He found this tree in our neighborhood that he declared his house.  He assigned rooms, created windows, shelves, doors, beds, packed his bags, and moved into his house.  

I love his curiosity.  

In his book, The Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv says that children don’t want to hike for six hours to see a magnificent vista.  They want to spend six hours deeply immersed in one plot of land.  It’s so true.  Somedays it’s hard not to get bored standing in a puddle in our backyard for hours, but it is truly time well spent.  

Check out these arm rolls! Hazel had her 2 month check up Monday: 13.5 lbs, 24.5 in. As the Japanese women tell me when they see her, “oh, big baby!” 😀

She seems to consider it a point of pride to hold up her head, even when she’s tired. She’s rolled over twice and likes to practice standing when we hold her.

She’s still a rockstar at night but naps are difficult. She also likes to sleep in if she’s got enough in her little tummy.

She is generous with her smiles and even has a little laugh that sounds like a gasp. She is oh so patient with her brother’s intense affections and always interested in watching him play.

She has her daddy’s and brother’s (and grandma’s) love of coziness. She smiles and even does a little happy dance pumping her legs when I put her soft PJs on.

Hazel, these last 2 months have been grand having you around!