Another week has passed, and Max has gone through just a few more visits to the doctor. After some poking and prodding, the pediatrician gave him an A+. Apparently Max is in the 90th percentile for height, 25th for weight, and 50th for his head size. So I guess he's tall, skinny, and has an average sized head. I can live with that.

A few days later, we returned to the hospital for his two-week screening. Aside from a case of hiccups, he managed to make it through the whole thing without a peep. I guess he didn't inherit his father's aversion to needles.

I've been adapting (poorly) to being back at work, while Christy tries to figure out what to do all day while I'm gone. In the rush of all this routine, we seem to have cut back a little on the photo snapping, but we still managed to get a few in this week...

Looks like we're going to adopt a weekly posting schedule, with updates on Sunday evening until further notice. We'll probably have a few one-offs in the middle of the week, but this will at least give you a sure thing each week.

This week was an opportunity for me to take a little more time off work to spend with our new family member. It's been a nice blend of rest, relaxation, and constant pooping. We're both getting pretty used to managing things, though I know Christy is still pretty tired from having to get up every 2-3 hours throughout the night.

Despite our dedication to keeping him house-bound for a full month, we wound up having to take him out a few times this week. He seemed to take his trip to the photographer fairly well, aside from being very upset by all the flashing. Despite the fact that he slept almost the entire time, we managed to get a few good pictures for our Christmas card/baby announcement.

Tonight we had a good visit with Max's grandparents (on Christy's side), who braved illness and bitter cold (for Texas) to drop by. Even though they didn't get a chance to hold him, they still managed to spoil him with a wonderful ornament to commemorate his first Christmas. Thanks again!

Shiny!

Onward to photoland...

This week brought good news and bad news.

On the not so good news front, Max's Great Grandmother passed away this week. Her contagious smile, boundless love, and tireless dedication to her family will be forever missed. Whenever I think about her, I can't help but remember something about my childhood that I will cherish. Giant Christmas trees, ride-on train sets, GrowaFrog kits (they still exist!), Celebration in the Oaks...we'll miss you, Granddolly, and we'll make sure to tell Max all about you.

In better news, Max's one-month checkup went perfectly. He's still holding on to an average weight (he weighs 9 1/2 pounds now) and head size, but he's running in the 95th percentile for height (now 23 inches) so I guess he's going to be tall like his mom and dad. He had to suffer through his Hep B shot, but it really didn't seem to bother him at all. Just a little fuss and then total calm.

Gotta love his endurance.

Max got a chance to visit his grandparents in their fancy-shmancy new living space, which (we can only assume) they've been working on all year just for him. It was a bit of a shock seeing the house torn asunder, but everything looks great. There's now even more space for all these grandkids to find trouble...I hear they've already discovered the wonders of sliding around on the hardwood with socks on. Ahhh, the classics.

In addition to being able to see everyone, Max got another early gift from the family in the form of a new ornament from Brandy and Adreanna. Thanks, girls! It looks great on our tree, and we'll always enjoy putting it up so Max can remember how much all of his family loves him.

More tree bling from the family. Very cute.

More family photos after the jump...

Everyone is completely worn out at the moment, so a full blog post isn't in the cards. We did manage to get some pictures put out there, though. Look to the right for the new ones. We'll do a full update a little later in the week (after all this Christmas madness dies down a little).

Enjoy the holiday, everyone!