11 Months and Growing!

Max has really started to shine in his 11th month. He is babbling up a storm and cruising all over the place at warp speed. He is into absolutely everything, but here is a list of Max's top 10 current favorite things.

1. Bailey

Max cannot get enough of Bailey. As you can see, the feelings are totally mutual. (ha) I do have to say that she has been super patient and gentle with her little brother.

2. Food

Anything and everything is his favorite. We have yet to find the food item he will not eat. He has also decided recently that he needs to have a bite of anything anyone else is eating, which makes it quite a challenge to eat a snack or a meal around here. He also becomes infuriated when mealtime/snacktime is over. He clearly has inherited his Mom and Dad's appreciation for food. (Uh oh)

3. Peekaboo

Anything can be used for peekaboo. And the game NEVER gets old...at least for Max.

4. The Vacuum Cleaner

Since the day he was born, Max has had a special affinity for the vacuum. Back then, he liked to fall asleep to the soothing tones of the Dyson. Nowadays, it's one of his favorite playthings. The minute I open the closet where we keep it, Max starts shrieking. He follows me as I push it like I'm the Pied Piper, and if I leave him alone with the vacuum, he'll happily play with it for eons. Strange, extremely strange. I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up as a Dyson salesman or a janitor. And I wouldn't mind if he continues with this obsession until he's big enough for vacuuming to be one of his chores.

5.The Trash Can

His love for the trash can is similar to his love for the vaccuum, except that I have felt the need to more heartily discourage a relationship with the trashcan. The day he pulled out an empty chip bag, dumped all the crumbs on the floor and then proceeded to eat them was the day I started turning the trash can around backwards so that he can no longer open it. It is now an extreme pain to dispose of garbage around here, but at least Max isn't eating garbage.

6. The George Coleman Ford Ad

No matter what he is doing, when this ad comes on TV, Max pays full attention. You know he likes it when he turns away from his food! I don't know if he's in the market for a car or he just likes the bobble-head guys in the commercial, but it is hands-down his favorite. Go here (under featured video) to watch the full ad - it is pretty cute.

7. Doing things on his own

Max is becoming more and more independent and wanting to do things on his own...from feeding himself to getting around. So one day he decided he wanted to swing, and took it upon himself to make sure it happened.

8. Rearranging the house

Max doesn't really like the way I have things arranged in the kitchen, so he takes it upon himself to put things in "order". And I do so love putting my leftovers in pre-slobbered-on tupperware.

9. Bathtime

He would stay in there until he turns into a whole-body prune. That boy LOVES to be clean. Maybe I should let him bathe more than twice a week ? (Nah, then it would lose its novelty)



10. His Mom and Dad (But that was a given, right)

(Watching Dad cut the grass)

Tour de Greenville 2011

When you have a weather forecast that calls for mid-80s as a high in MID July in Greenville, you really have to take advantage of it. So, the Ludwigs decided to meet up with the rest of the Eddy/Rogers crew early on Saturday morning for our very own "Tour de Greenville."

We really did attempt to follow Dad's instructions/rules for the Tour:
"Riding Saturday from Linky Stone at 8AM sharp"

However, I underestimated (greatly) how much time is required to get ourselves up and dressed, Max up and dressed and fed, bike tires inflated, bike hitch/carrier installed on car, gear/bikes loaded on car. But, just like you can't have a Tour de France without Lance Armstrong, you cannot have a Tour de Greenville without the Ludwigs. And therefore, the rest of the crew eagerly awaited our arrival and we were off to the races at 8:33 (sharp). Wait, Lance Armstrong didn't race in the Tour de France this year you say? Oops.

The weather at the start of the race was slightly sketchy: drizzle and clouds, but cool and comfortable. (That reminds me of a great joke. Why does Snoop Dogg carry an umbrella? Answer at the end of the post. That's how I get you to read the whole entry.)
So, Team Ludwig got off to a great start. Max and Chris were really pulling the team, however, as I found myself struggling after about a mile. Note to self: to be a serious biker, you really need to stick to a light breakfast. Oatmeal is not light. I really wasn't sure if I would be able to make it - I was feeling incredibly nauseous. But since my team wasn't even in my sights, I kept on trucking.

Just when I thought I could actually complete the first leg of this race, I hit "THE DETOUR." Now, I guess by definition a detour is longer than the original route..but HOLY COW that was the detour from hell. Ok, first you have to pedal up a 90 degree incline, then once you tackle that you need to ride through heavy traffic until you reach your next obstacle, which is about half a mile of off-road pedaling through wet grass while attempting not to hit any dips which will throw you into oncoming (heavy) traffic. I MAY have let an inappropriate word (or two) fly. Which is actually a miracle in itself considering that I couldn't catch my breath.

Eventually I did make it to Travelers Rest for our pit stop. I was definitely pulling up the rear. Even Sam was smack-talking me when I finally dragged in. Oh well, a poor showing for this member of Team Ludwig. At least Max got a good nap in.
Here he is testing out a cap for our potential future team uniforms:


He also made sure to re-balance his electrolytes after the rough ride:


And then, for motivation, Uncle Paul showed Max how he would be carried around town if he won the Tour de Greenville. It really gave Max the fire to fight for victory.


So after my protein bar and rest, I was ready to tackle leg #2 of Tour de Greenville, "the return to Greenville." My motto for this leg was "slow and steady wins the race"...but let's face it, that's not really true unless you are taking part in one of those competitions where you get a trophy just for participating. Ok, so I guess my motto really was "I'll get there when I get there" with a little dash of "detours are for dummies." Yep, no detours on the return trip - we were really living on the edge by driving around the road blocks and directly through the "construction zone". And when it really got tough, I was promised ice cream if I would just finish. Suddenly I got my second wind.

Oh, I forgot! There was one detour...mandated by the rules committee.

It's all fun and games until somebody loses a finger.



Yay, we finally made it back to Greenville...and we were rewarded...not with a medal, but this was much better!


I'm pretty sure I turned in my personal worst performance....but Team Ludwig can't fire me, so all's well that ends well :)

OH, and the answer to the joke from above...as if you didn't know it:
For Drizzle!
ba-dum-dum

July is flying by - oh MY!

I seriously feel like time is on fast forward around here. I cannot believe that it's mid-July already! In a little over a month, Max is going to be a year old. Holy cow!!!

Chris's birthday was July 11th. We spent the day doing the following exciting activities: going to church, going to Costco, eating a fabulous dinner cooked by the birthday boy himself. I asked Chris if he always dreamed of spending his 33rd birthday grocery shopping and cooking for himself, but he said it was a good day. (even though I bought him a shirt that "reminds me of my grandfather.")


The following day, there was even more fun to be had, because Chris had the day off. Yay! Since we didn't want to waste the day, we came up with the brilliant plan to go for a picnic in the park with the whole family. While it was a great plan in theory, the 100 degree heat was perhaps not conducive to picnic-ing. I enjoyed it, but these 3 look rather hot and sweaty.


I felt especially bad after hearing on the news yesterday that boxers, who are one of the top 5 breeds affected by extreme heat, really shouldn't be outside in that kind of weather. Sorry, Bailey! (Thank goodness she had the pristine Reedy River to cool off in!)



Chris also had Tuesday off, but needless to say, we did not partake in any outdoor activities on Tuesday. We did, however, partake of Blueberry Frog frozen yogurt. Eaten indoors. Yum.

Yesterday Max and Nana had a visit. I think they both enjoyed it.

Happy 4th of July, Ya'll!

I learned something this year. Fireworks are not baby-friendly. And neighbors do not care if you have a young child; they WILL shoot Roman Candles continuously from dark until almost midnight for three nights straight when the 4th lands on a Monday. It's amazing how perspective changes once you become a parent!

Sadly, Chris wasn't able to be here for Max's 1st 4th. But, we managed to remain rather patriotic on our own.