obviously...

I know this could possibly look like just an excuse to show off all of our fun new pictures Kristen recently took of us, but they just capture my children so well, so I am not stopping!

Obviously, obviously, obviously I am grateful for Max. It is no secret how I feel about this boy. How I have always felt about him. He is super special to me. I have a very strong connection to him. He is my first son. The first boy who looked up at me, as a four pound infant, and just melted me. He has always had that ability. And, though I joke sometimes, no, I do not love him any more than my others, but he definitely has a little part of my heart that I never knew existed.

So, there are a million reasons to be grateful for Max. He is a good boy. He is sweet. He notices when people are sad and he helps them. When he is angry and I ask him not to yell, or hit, or take things away aggressively, he always comes back with, "well, what should I do?" Which I find so intelligent. He loves his little brother and they have recently started actually playing with one another, which is too darling for words. He looks up to his sisters. He likes them to protect him. He is the little brother, even to Molly. He loves to learn new things and is full of questions. He asks what a lot of words and phrases mean, like, "what does it mean when you say everyone except Olivia has to go to bed?" This is unique, because often when children hear something they don't know it just doesn't register, but he asks good questions, and figures things out, and then remembers them. He is smart. In a different way than his sisters. He loves to build things. He builds amazing things, with and without models, from Trio blocks and Legos that are symmetrical and useful, and artistic all at the same time. I am always amazed at what he creates and the focus he gives to creating it. He has gotten really into drawing lately, too, and draws very cool things with whole stories behind them. He tells me about the "scary bone guys" (skeletons) and what they are shooting at the boats (obviously from Pirates of the Caribbean in Disney). He drew this dog that was so happy and detailed and more impressively actually looked like a dog. I love seeing him sit for long stretches at the table creating things. He has an amazing mind.

I love that he doesn't say his "ls" yet. His sister is "Mowee", and he loves to build with "Wegos." He told me the other day how much he "wuvs" his friend, Eva. I know that will go away too soon, so for now I am grateful for it, because it means he is still a very little boy who I wish would never grow up.

Max is very unique, and that makes him special. I hope people see that in him, because sometimes he is shy. My dad got a big kick out of Max, and used to say, "that Max, he marches to the beat of his own drum, that's for sure." And he was right. He does. And I am grateful for that.

He loves, loves, loves his daddy.

And, really, is there anything cuter than my boys?