The Brown Brick Road

Capturing our adventures one photo at a time...

Outings

We’ve had some fun outings lately. Well, some of them have been fun. Last weekend we decided to take Maxwell with us to an early dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. Thankfully the place is very kid-friendly so no one was too bothered by his ridiculous behavior. I don’t know what got into him but he was hyped up and did not want to sit still. He didn’t want to sit in the high chair, he didn’t want to sit in the booster seat, he didn’t want to eat any food. At one point he even managed to climb onto the table. Goodness gracious. Needless to say, it wasn’t exactly a relaxing meal for me and Robert. We ended up eating in shifts – I ate while Robert took Maxwell outside and vice versa. Oh well, you win some, you lose some!

Maxwell wasn’t so sure about his first pizza…

He was sure to blow on it in case it was hot…

And then he took the one and only bite of pizza that he had all night.

I swear, I don’t get this kid. What kind of kid doesn’t want to eat pizza?? I give up.

On Sunday afternoon we took a trip to Saks. Thankfully Maxwell was much better behaved. While Robert checked out some shirts, Maxwell and I explored the handbags. He was so excited and just kept yelling Bag! Bag! Bag! at all the shelves.

He then checked out the Tory Burch selection…

and got a little sticker shock! 🙂

After that, Maxwell and I played outside while Robert checked out some clothes in another store (hmmm…why was he shopping and not me?!)

Always an adventure!

Chatty cathy

Maxwell is such a little chatty cathy these days.  He learns new words almost every day.  Some of my favorites lately…

Ky for Sky.  and he says this every time he sees or even just hears an airplane.

Sticky for anything that’s..well…sticky!

Mail Mail for mailman…and for any mailbox or white truck that he sees!

Bah for bye.  He says it to everyone and anyone that will listen whenever we leave anywhere.  Precious.

Juice..but it sounds more like joos.

Dee?  for this? When we read books, Maxwell just points at everything (mostly trucks) and says, “dee?” because he wants us to tell him what everything is.  Have I mentioned how good I am at identifying trucks now?  excavator, dump truck, backhoe loader…

No.  No is coming all. the. time.  Fortunately, I still find it ridiculously adorable when he shakes his little head and says “no” almost like a question.  Talk to me again in 2 months and I might have a different take on that!

Uh-oh.  We probably hear uh-oh more than any other sound.  Max drops a toy? Uh-oh. Maxwell throws a toy? Uh-oh. Maxwell’s juice cup leaks onto his tray? Uh-oh. Maxwell gets cracker on his shirt? Uh-oh.  Uh-oh all the time.

Ssshhhh.  Susan taught him to put his finger up to his lip and say “shhhh”.  This usually comes after tucking Nanner and Mr. Moo in for their nap in Maxwell’s crib.  The cuteness of his little 1 fingered ssshhh almost puts me over the edge.

He’s also got some pretty awesome new animal sounds – an elephant sound that kind of sounds like he’s spitting on himself and a cat meow that is a little more like “ow” but we get it.

But the best sound of all?  MaMa!!  except when it’s coming incessantly and accompanied by the never ending plea to be picked up of course.  🙂

Some funny pictures of my dude…

His chipmunk impersonation…

Being silly…

And my favorite…checkin’ himself OUT!

Man, I love that kid.  Bah!

Saturday special

Happy Monday all!  We had a great weekend and it all started off with a little special treat Saturday morning.  Instead of our usual Starbucks run and then back home, we decided to do a Starbucks run and then off to the park!  Not just any park either – but a big fun park on the other side of town. (Overton Park for those B’ham folks that are curious)

Maxwell’s treat was some pumpkin bread from Starbucks…he loved it.

starbucks pumpkin bread

My treat was a spinach, feta, egg white wrap from Starbucks.  I loved it.  Have you ever tried any of their hot breakfast sandwiches?  You should.  They’re all pretty good.

After the picnic breakfast it was time to play.  First stop?  The see-saw!  Susan and Maxwell had checked out the see-saw last week so I knew Maxwell was already a fan.

see-saw

Let me also just say that it’s not that easy to take pictures of someone see-sawing when you’re on the other end of the see-saw!  🙂

We even let Maxwell go at it alone…daredevils!

see-saw

After we were see-sawed out, Maxwell got on the big kid swing with me…

and then very clearly let me know mid-swing that he was ready to get down!

He was just ready to get to his-size swings I guess!

After the swings?  The tornado slide!

Awesome.

It was such a fun morning exploring a new park.

And in case you’re wondering if Maxwell’s boot slows him down at the park…

Let me assure you it does not!!

Have a great week!

A little Friday pretty

Happy Friday the 13th!  For the second time this year!  I just looked it up and we’re going to have a Friday the 13th in July too.  Good things come in 3’s right?  or is that bad things?

I realized that I took these pictures of the azaleas in our backyard a few weeks ago and then never shared them.  So, here’s a little Friday flower pretty for you…

I love it when they’re all in bloom.  The unfortunate thing about azaleas is that the blooms don’t last that long.  That’s ok though because now all of our Knockout Roses are in full bloom and they are just as pretty…

and will bloom all summer long!

We’ve still got lots of yellow pansies blooming too!

All these flowers just make me happy.  Know what makes Maxwell happy these days?  M&Ms!  We had a quick little visit from GJ and Daddo earlier this week and Daddo introduced Maxwell to the joy of plain M&Ms.  I’ve been giving him 3 or 4 after dinner this week and he just gobbles them up…only after pointing at them and saying “Daddo!”

Hope you all have a weekend full of things that make you happy!

Peter Cottontail is almost gone, I promise!

I know you’re probably tired of Easter pictures by now but, sorry Charlie, I’ve got a few more to share!

We had lunch at the country club on Sunday and Maxwell wasn’t much interested in any of the food on the buffet.  He wasn’t much interested in sitting his high chair either.  Luckily, we were in a big ball room right by some great windows with 2 cousins that loved to entertain Maxwell.  There were also plenty of other kids in the room so him running all over the place wasn’t too much of a distraction.

Maxwell had a blast boot-leg running around, doling out kisses and just generally being too cute for words.

Finally, what’s Easter without a visit from the Easter Bunny?!  Maxwell must have been extra special good this year because the Bunny visited him twice!  He woke up Sunday morning in Montgomery to find a few treats…

and then came home to Birmingham only to find out that the Bunny had visited him there as well!

He loved his new “ga-ga’s”!

Gotta love Easter presents in your snowman pajamas!

And I promise that’s it for the Easter pictures!  See you tomorrow!

ps – I would like you all to catch a glimpse of Robert’s shirt in the Bunny pictures from Sunday morning.  For years I’ve heard stories of the purple and green polka dot shirt that he actually wore in high school.  When he came downstairs Sunday morning in that shirt that had clearly been sitting in a drawer for about 20 years, I started dying laughing.  I’m sure there was a time that that shirt was pretty cool (maybe?) when worn with some stonewashed jeans and Timberland boots.  My how styles have changed.