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Max, Mimi, and Grandpa are back from South Georgia, and Great Grand Louise came with them. They said Max napped less than two hours yesterday and today, so I bet he’s been a handful for Mimi and Grandpa.

Becky brought the little fellow home from Mimi and Grandpa’s this afternoon, and he was squalling when they came through the door. We gave him a bottle of milk and he returned to a good mood. Becky took him to visit the ducks and then back to Mimi and Grandpa’s. They kept Max so Becky and I could attend our little fellow’s preschool’s open house this evening.

Baybay begins preschool next week at First Baptist Church of Buford. His teachers are Miss Amy and Miss April, and it was our pleasure to meet them tonight.

Our little fellow is camping with Mimi, Grandpa, and Louise again tonight because we got home a little late and Mimi was bathing Max and getting him ready to go down for the night. I miss my little buddy but am looking forward to sleeping until 7:30 in the morning and seeing him at the mall half an hour later.

Max is gone to South Georgia with Mimi and Grandpa. The little fellow returns tomorrow. Mimi and Grandpa wanted to take him with them since they planned on being gone just one night. Grandpa, Mimi, and Max are staying with Great Grand Louise. Louise is coming back with Mimi and Grandpa, and she’ll stay until next week.

Both Becky and I went to the doctor today. She has bronchitis and I have sinusitis. We both got shots and scripts, so with any luck, we’ll get some rest tonight and will be on our way to recovery soon.

I had just dropped my drawers to receive two shots when the camera repair shop called to let me know about our camera and lens. Despite the signs in my doctor’s office that say cell phone use is prohibited, I told the nurse that I had to take the call because it was important, and she was sweet about it. The total repair cost for our camera and lens is estimated to be a few pennies short of US$500. That’s a heck of a chunk of change to pay for simply dropping a camera, but that’s cheap compared to replacing the body and lens.

Becky and I are both relieved to learn that our camera and lens can be repaired, but we’re disappointed by the estimated repair time—seven to ten business days if all parts are in stock, “at least” three weeks if they aren’t. Our old camera is shooting fine except for its batteries, which are now six years old and have been through several hundred charge/discharge cycles. We just don’t have any overnight battery life with our old camera. But that’s a small issue that could be fixed with a couple of new batteries.

Getting back to the the issue of some quality sleep, last night’s rest was interrupted by the alarm clock in Max’s room at 5:45 this morning. We have no idea how the clock ever was set, but we do know it woke Max and got him up early. He was all about getting some “goo” (in this case, a juice bottle) and getting out of his bed and into ours.

I was so ticked off by the alarm clock that I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I got back up shortly after 6:00 am and watched the sun rise. When Baybay came downstairs with his mama, he and I watched Clifford and Curious George on television and Barney on the iPad until Grandpa came to pick him at 8:00 to go walking. I wimped out of walking this morning because I was tired and couldn’t get in gear.

I perked up again once I got back home, the steroid kicked in, and I watched the Photoshop World keynote and Apple’s unveiling of the new versions of iTunes, Apple TV, and iPods.

After Becky left our doctor, she and I went to Carrabba’s for dinner. She enjoyed her usual Sirloin Marsala and I tried Carrabba’s new make-your-own pasta and thoroughly enjoyed it. I opted for Fettucini Alfredo with sun-dried tomatoes and sauteed mushrooms. An infant boy was seated at a neighboring table, and we couldn’t help but think of our own little fellow when we saw the little boy eating the itty-bitty pieces of bread placed in front of him.

Mimi said Baybay was asking for Mommy tonight when bedtime rolled around. We miss him, too.

Last night was kind of rough. My sinuses are misbehaving and that causes me to take off my CPAP mask. Without the mask I snore like a wildebeest, and because Becky doesn’t care for snoring wildebeests, she wakes me when she hears me snoring. Maybe my snoring was disrupting Max, too, because he tossed and tumbled between Becky and me a lot during the night, leading to my putting him in his bed sometime during the wee hours. Speaking of wee, Max’s bed, shirt, and shorts were wet with it when he awoke this morning.

Max slept until 7:45 this morning. I could have awakened him earlier, but because he was going to the doctor this morning, I figured I’d let him sleep as long as he wanted. Max and I met Grandpa at the mall a little late, and I cut my walk short by one lap so I’d have time to get a shower and get ready to take Max to the doctor.

Mimi went with us and we drove Grandpa’s car. Max was a good little boy until I steadied him for more x-rays. That’s when he had a meltdown. That tantrum lasted about twenty minutes, but thankfully Mimi and I didn’t see it again before the little fellow went down for his afternoon nap.

Dr Tim Oswald of Pediatric Orthopaedic Associates said Max’s cast could come off in three more weeks. Unfortunately, Dr Oswald isn’t going to be in the office in three weeks, so Mr Max will have to wait until September 28 to part with his cast.

Baybay slept nearly five hours this afternoon. Becky gave him a bath shortly after his nap, fed him a snack, and took him for a ride on Grandpa’s golf cart. They stopped at Mimi and Grandpa’s for a visit, but soon Max had another meltdown and Becky brought him home.

We’re going to let him sleep in his bed tonight. This will be the first night he’s slept the whole night in his bed in about four months. But Becky’s fighting a cold and now I am, too, and we need some sleep. Max is normally a good bedfellow, but tonight we want to do all we can to minimize interruptions.

I caught up with Grandpa and Max this morning at the mall. The little fellow was in a good mood and seemed to enjoy being strolled along by Grandpa. They went to Bojangles, to visit the ducks, and to “meet and greet” a few neighbors, as Grandpa said.

Max was in a good mood for the first two minutes he was home, and then he melted down. He gave me his new book to read to him, and so I did. While reading it to him, he began turning the pages himself, and then he couldn’t turn the pages fast enough, which frustrated him. Then he threw the book and began hitting me and the sofa. I tried to appease him, but he didn’t seem appeasable.

I took him to his bassinet for a timeout but figured he might better have a nap. He whimpered for a couple of minutes, but then I didn’t hear a peep from him until 2:00 pm. And then he was a good mood.

He seemed to stay in a good mood until tonight at dinner, when I had to take him up to time out at Mimi and Grandpa’s because he was hitting Grandpa. When Becky brought the little fellow back downstairs, he was in a much better mood–until I strapped him into Grandpa’s golf cart. That little boy has one heck of a set of lungs on him! I bet half of our neighborhood could hear his cries. Becky brought him a bottle of milk and just like a switch, he turned back into the sweet, ebullient little fellow we love so much.

Becky made the little fellow laugh several times on our way home by saying “squirrel” in a funny way. They dropped me off and headed back to Mimi and Grandpa’s. As they left I heard Baybay giggling.

Becky and Baybay are gone to the grocery store and to pick up a CD containing his x-rays. Mimi and I are carrying the little fellow to a pediatric orthopedist tomorrow morning for a follow-up exam.

Max got us up around 7:00 this morning. Becky changed his dipe, I got him some juice, and we settled back in bed for almost an hour. We’d have stayed there longer if the little fellow didn’t demand that we got up.

We headed over to Granny’s for breakfast, and afterwards Granny trimmed Max’s hair and put color on Becky’s. Surprisingly, Baybay sat in my lap almost patiently while Becky got color. The little fellow began to melt shortly and we brought him home, gave him a bottle, and put him down for his nap.

Just two-and-a-half hours later I heard him in his bassinet and figured he needed my attention. When I went in to get him, he struggled to make his way out from under a couple of blankets and stood up with the cutest little sleepy face I’ve ever seen. I picked him up and he began calling for his mama, who was out getting a pedi. Max was in a good mood for only a short while. We can’t figure out why he didn’t nap for his usual four to five hours.

Mimi and Grandpa took him to visit neighbors Stephen and Dale. Max loves them. He calls them both “Teev.” Every single time we pass their home, Max says, “Teev.” But today Max got ugly and if he were a year or two older, he’d have gotten a solid whipping. Dale gave Max a cookie, but one wasn’t enough for him. He wanted a second one without finishing the first. Dale told him to finish his first cookie. That didn’t suit two-year-old Max. He threw his first cookie on the ground and poured out the water Dale gave him.

Time out, my butt. Where’s my paddle? We’re disappointed and embarrassed, and we’re sorry Dale’s kindness wasn’t met with one of Baybay’s super-sweet hugs.

I spent about three hours this afternoon keywording the little fellow’s birthday pictures. I don’t know how many we’ll post here on the blog, but they’re next in line and will be posted soon.

Becky’s still fighting a cold and/or sinuses, and she and I are both still tired. We’re looking forward to going to bed early tonight, and we’re thankful Mimi and Grandpa are taking care of Max.

Maybe we can get a good night’s rest tonight and get the week started off right. I’m looking forward to seeing my favorite little fellow tomorrow morning, and I hope he, Grandpa, and Mimi get a good night’s rest, too.

Max spent the night with Mimi and Grandpa last night, and he and Grandpa got up and hit the mall and Bojangles. Becky and I enjoyed sleeping late, and we enjoyed the breakfast biscuits Grandpa and Baybay brought us from Bojangles.

After breakfast I carried our camera and lens to the repair shop. The fellow who checked in our equipment said it’d be “a few business days” before we received an estimate. Those were frustrating words to hear, but I really hope our camera and lens can be repaired for a cost we can afford.

Baybay stayed up kind of late last night with Mimi and Grandpa, but he made up for it today, sleeping five-and-a-half hours before Becky and I went in to get him. Even after such a long nap, he stumbled to his feet in his bassinet and greeted us with his sleepy face.

He played with his alphabetic mat that Becky’s student Karen gave him, his Legos, and watched Barney on the iPad. He loved on George, too. We continued to play while Becky went out to get us some pizza and yogurt from Costco this evening.

After dinner Becky gave Max a bath while I got a shower, and shortly thereafter the three of us congregated in our bed to read two or three books to our favorite little fellow. Max listened to one of those books, Silly Tilly three times.

We just now put the little fellow down in his bed so he can go to sleep and we can get our bedtime routines done. We’ll scoop him back up in a few minutes when he head to bed.

Max received a belated and sweet birthday card from aunt Odessa in Alabama on Thursday. It even had a bit of loot in it. Thank you, Odessa!

Becky’s fighting off a cold, and right now it’s undecided which is going to win—Becky or the cold. She’s been coughing a lot of the past two days, and last night her coughing kept her awake. I hope she’ll get enough rest before Monday for her body to win the fight. And, of course, I hope what’s ailing her doesn’t sink its claws into me. I couldn’t take it right now.

Max is doing well. He’s had a typical day that included strolling at the mall, going to Bojangles for breakfast, and visiting the ducks. He had a four-hour nap this afternoon and woke up in good spirits.

I had a photoshoot with a gorgeous young lady from the Dominican Republic and her friend that began shortly after 4:00 pm. About ten minutes into the shoot, I dropped our camera from the top of our tripod onto our basement floor. The lens broke at the mount and the camera won’t come back to life, even with a different lens and after replacing the batteries. I’ll be taking the broken equipment into the repair shop in the morning. Oh, how I hope it can be fixed for not a whole lot of money!

The camera body is the Canon 5D Mark II and the lens is the Canon 24–70mm f/2.8L. It’s time to bring our old camera, the 20D, out of retirement for a while.

I called and checked on lil’ fellow on my way to work. I even got to speak with him. Not long after that Grandpa, Mimi, and Max met Jaddie at the mall. Then it was off to Bojangles for Max and Grandpa.

When Max got home he and Daddy enjoyed playing with their new Legos. When Max got tired out he went down for his nap. He slept for four hours this afternoon.

Max had just got up when I got home. He and I played with his new Legos and the new ABC mat that my student Karen gave Max yesterday. (Thank you very much, Karen!) Max loves dumping out the Legos. Bless his heart, for he has a difficult time with his arm trying to turn over the box! Our living room looks like a toy store.

Mimi and Grandpa came over for dinner tonight. We also had neighbors Jon, Lauren, and eighteen-month-old Delaney after dinner. They brought our little buddy a wonderful present for his birthday, a farm puzzle, and Max loves it. Max and Delaney had fun with all the toys everywhere. Max didn’t want to share at first. After one stint in timeout he had a better attitude. He even looked at me and smiled as he was handing Delaney a block. He wanted me to know he had improved his behavior. That was great to see!

Max and I enjoyed reading two of our favorite books tonight. After that we took in a little Barney. Then lil’ fellow went to bed. We’re about to scoop him up and head to our bed.