We celebrated Max's first birthday Saturday and simulataneously celebrated the new backyard and patio. Max had a good old time.....until the cake came out. A bit intimidated and confused by the sudden synchronicity of loud singing voices, he burst into tears, denying himself his first shot at icing and choclate cake (Will, of course, had no such issues). Only mom could calm Max down enough to provide him (and us) the pleasure of sugar-coated cheeks. Well-wishers crafted chalk messages for Max on the new concrete wall and the week-old grass held up well to light to moderate child play, some dodgeball, soccer, rolling around, and experiments concerning the anti-gravitational pull of helium filled baloons.

Will composed this song all by himself:
The kids heard the tinkling of the ice cream truck
The kids got ice cream
And they licked it
And they sucked it
And they ate it all up
And that's all

Max and his new water table; Dad and Will at the ballpark during the 7th inning stretch of showdown between home team vs blood home team. Not quite Seahawks vs Steelers but we take what we can get.

Max's surgery went very well. We left the house at 6:45 and were home by 8:30. It really did take about 10 minutes. The hardest part was watching his face while he was being put under because the mask on his face made him pissed. But he is now walking around the house eating the rest of Will's cereal bar and digging through my purse with a smile on his face. Doctor said he had very thick fluid in both ears so he needed the procedure for sure. They said by this afternoon he should be back to normal.

this morning max climbed up on the couch. he was laying down up there and when he tried to get off the couch head first i said "feet first max". he immediately turned around and went down feet first. i was surprised he knew what that meant already. seemed like Will was a lot older when he understood that. i also gave him a cup full of 10 cheerios. i said "no dump". he looked at me and smiled as he picked them up. i said it again and he knew not to do it while i was around. he then dumped all his cheerios and will's on the carpet. i think he's pretty smart.

finally, when Will asks "Dad, is the yard still broken?" he can reply "it isn't broken, but it isn't completely fixed either." Last night we took the big step of getting grass into our backyard. Will was the Strong Roller Man and Dad was the Big Strong Carry Man and in 3.5 hours we had the job done. Now we need to keep watering. Odd to realize that Will now thinks grass is installed rather than grown. Lots of work remains until it is completey finished, and we won't be able to play baseball for over a week, but at least we can now admire the beauty of grass and concrete. (note: 3rd image was staged complete with tupperware iced tea pitcher, soccer ball, and Max's new water table from Nana)

Last night Will had his final swim lesson of the spring session. Within 6 weeks he has transformed (w/ the help of his great teacher, Mr Conner) from a kid that wouldn't go into the water without mom or dad and would scream when he was splashed in the face to a kid who is now able to swim, with a life jacket and completely by himself, the length of the entire pool (and into the deep end!). When I told Will how proud I was of him he replied "Dad, I'm proud of myself!!"

the backyard concrete work was completed today with the pouring of the walks and the patio. the walls were cast in standard concrete while the ground plane was cast with a heavier aggregate and exposed. we are very pleased but know that there is still work to do. next is the topsoil, sod (grass), bamboo, bench (supported by 3 pipes cast into wall) and to-be-determined plantings in the planter between the stair and fence. the guys will return for 1 more day next week to strip the forms and acid wash/ seal the conrete.

Will had another swimming lesson last night. He will be ready for the lake.
He can now dunk his head under water, do blast offs, and swim by himself
with a noodle tied around him. He's made great progress with his swimming abilities. I think he will be water skiing by the end of the week.

theories exist, but nobody knows for sure where the curls come from

sea otters and birdies were only 2 of the animals we saw at the zoo. the list includes, but is not limited to brown bears, jaguars, tigers, mountain goats, bald eagles, elk, giraffes, hippos, gazelles, kangaroos, bear sloths, pigs, cows, horses, chickens, bunny rabbits, wild dogs, and wolves. it was too hot for the penguins and the elephants were sleeping. we didnt see any beavers. Will likes beavers because of their sharp teeth and the dams they build. also, they build escape hatches in the woods so that if threatened thay can drop into a water tunnel and swim to safety.

a hot weekend meant visits to the park and beach. Max was difficult to contain, insisting on crawling into the waves. it was here, on Sunday June 3 that Max took his first, shuffling steps (not pictured)

the backyard might be a dirt pit, but it's our dirt pit, and we like it

"my brother is funny"

Max went to his appt with the ear/nose/throat doctor today. He is now
scheduled for surgery to have tubes put in his ears on June 19th. Not sure
of the time, but it will most likely be first thing in the morning. Babies
get priority in scheduling since they can't eat or drink 8 hours before and
it is hardest on them. She is going to do both ears even though it has
mostly been the left that has gotten the infections. He did have fluid in
both ears at the appt and she said that if he has had any infection in the
right ear in the past (one), then it is worth doing them both because we'd
probably be back in a few weeks doing the other one anyway.

He will have to be put out and one parent is allowed in the room the whole
time. Surgery takes 10 minutes so typically you are in and out of the
facility in about 3 hours. And most kids can go back to daycare the
following day. The good thing is that with these newer tubes you don't have
to worry about water getting in their ears after 1 week. So we'll have to
be careful for a week but after that she said we don't have to put anything
in his ears for bathing or swimming, especially since we aren't dunking him
under the water at this age. I mentioned the lake trip to her and she said
he would be totally fine going in the water in his little floaty, which is
good because we went to the beach this weekend by our house and we couldn't
keep him away from the water. He couldn't get enough of the waves.

They also did a hearing test on him and his hearing looks great from what
they could tell.