Captain Max

Steering the boat

Max was not too happy that his feet could not reach the pedals.  Too bad they did not; it would have been nice to have the help.

Swing batters, batters

Max got in a full afternoon of mini golf and batting practice.  While he loves to crunch balls at warp speed in the basement, he was distracted by the basketball hoop and batting cages at the "golf course".  He got a couple of decent swings in with daddy, but the highlight of his afternoon was watching the action at the batting cages.

There is no age limit for sneaking in...

"Hit it, daddy!"

Teamwork!

"Get in there" (jinx!)

Daddy got 4 hole in ones at this hole!

"I want another black one [chocolate chip]"

Max was still hungry after his ice cream was all gone, so he asked for his leftover dinner.  Yum! 

TGIF

Max is ready for the long weekend, but no one is ready for the last weekend of the summer.

Playground smiles

It's not easy to get a scab/bugger free picture 

Farmers Market Wednesday

Max does not have his full, adult-size, appetite back yet, but he happily munched on his typical array of fruits and ice pop at the market tonight. 

Suture-free and smiling

Max returned to Hopkins early this morning to have his sutures and nasal stints removed.  Because of his age and incredible memory, we were concerned that he would be upset about going back to the hospital, but he was quite agreeable this morning.  Up until ten minutes before the procedure he was having fun, but the combination of thirst, hunger, and mommy in scrubs threw Max into a bit of a rage.  Once the gas mask went to work, it was less than 20 minutes until he was awake again, breathing much easier (without those pesky nose straws) and chowing down on fruit snacks.  What remains are some dissolvable stitches that will disappear in a few days, and a beautiful new smile that we will enjoy forever.

Hi!

All done!

Just checking myself in 

I'm back 

Golf with grandma

Max had fun spending the day with Grandma.

Hole in one

Not-so-tight security 

Shooting for the fences 

Back in action

Max got off the DL today and was back to baseball.  He has a great attention span for America's pastime; yesterday he threw about 100 pitches and today he was a hitting machine.  

Morning dance with Pawley

On the mend

Max is definitely feeling and acting more like himself.  His rambunctious, two-year old behavior was back in full swing today.

Sunglasses are a must for a 7:00pm game of indoor basketball.

What a difference a day makes

The 24 hours since Max's surgery have gone much better than anyone would have anticipated.  The only challenge has been administering his pain medicine, but thanks to some careful parent-child negotiating, we have dosed the meds and managed to stay ahead of the pain curve.  

Max last had surgery at 10 months old, so other than crying, he could not really communicate his discomfort.  In contrast, Max now tells us that his nose hurts and asks to, "take it off" [the nasal stints].  It is pretty heartbreaking to hear.  Thankfully, however, Max spent the majority of the day in great spirits.  He was undoubtedly loopy from the Oxycodone, yet managed to shoot hoops, throw football passes, and eat a ton.  His four hour nap and longer than usual television time were also quite helpful.

24 hours and one bath later 

Did he really just have an operation?

The muffin man back in action first thing in the morning 

Hanging with his boys 

Amazing inside and out

Max's surgery went extremely well.  In his own words, Dr. Redett "opened him all up and moved everything around."  He fixed up the top and bottom of his lip, as planned, and also improved the symmetry of his nose. This is why Max has nasal stints sewn in.  They will be removed, along with his stitches, on Tuesday morning.  

Dr. Redett sent his nurse a message after Max's surgery: "Max B looks amazing!!!".  Not only does he look amazing, but this kid is truly amazing!  He was in a great mood all day, despite fasting, not napping, and being in a hospital for so long.  Dr. Redett was actually running ahead of schedule (like doctors usually do...ha) and was able to start at 2:45pm; Max fasted until then like a champ!  He had a blast playing ball with the nurses, who fawned all over him like a rock star.  Around 2:00pm he became fixated on finding a snack, but by that point he did not have the energy to get mad, he just sweetly repeated, "I want a snack".  We told him that Dr. Redett would give him a snack when he was all done, so he made David drag him around in a wagon looking for the doctor.  He only cried very briefly two times: when mommy had to put on scrubs and when he had the gas mask on in the operating room.  Surprisingly he was not scared of the operating room itself.  Since it was all white and silver, I told him it was a space ship and that he was going to outer space; he proceeded to tell the nurses he was going to fly.  However, Max hated the "astronaut mask"  (gas mask).  It took a few nurses to hold him down and he managed to knock everything off the table.  All of that was over in a matter of seconds and the General was off in outer space dream land.  Two hours later he woke up groggy, uncomfortable, and somehow more handsome than ever.  

On the way out of the hospital tonight, with a mouth (and fists) full of fruit snacks, Max said, "Dr. Redett found me a snack".  Even with a fresh dose of Oxycodone Max cannot forget a thing.

Home!  

Max did great on the car ride and is certainly happy to be home, but he is in some pain.  The poor guy keeps saying, "my nose hurts".

Surgery day! 

Popsicles for breakfast, laughs in the car, and games in the hospital.  Max had a pretty fun day until he woke up in recovery at 5pm.

This is not Max's first rodeo- 4th time waiting for his turn in the OR 

Getting Pawley ready 

Balling with the nurses at 1:30pm on an empty belly- incredible! 

Ready to go see Dr. Redett 

J-E-L-L-O

Can't get more handsome

Max's surgery is tomorrow at 3:30pm.  David and I have no worries about the operation; the main concern is starving the General all day.  He can have ice pops, jello, and "a special drink" (Pedialyte) until 11:30am, but after that the little guy will be running on empty.

The surgery was postponed until tomorrow because Dr. Redett decided it was best to not only remove the scar tissue (bump) on the bottom left side of Max's lip as originally planned, but to also lower the top of his left lip line by 2mm.  This requires more time in surgery, as well as a return visit to Hopkins next week to remove the stitches under anestisa.  As with all of Max's surgeries, there is no doubt he will be brave and heal perfectly.

4 pre-op photo shoots

Max got the case of the giggles and it was contagious!

Ice pop practice for tomorrow  

Hot day!

Max cooled off afterschool with his water table.  He is soaking up the last days of summer and the last days that he can get his face wet before his surgery on Thursday.

Friends!

Max and Sadie played with William and Daniel today.  Their mommies have all been friends for over ten years! 

Lately Max has not been the easiest guy to put to sleep, but tonight was different.  He asked for milk, took the cup, and said, "mommy go out".  Turns out all he needed was a night cap (and a stealth daddy to retrieve the cup an hour later).

 

Chicken dance

Max has been talking about going back to the farm ever since our trip to New York, so he felt right at home at Frying Pan Park.  He was a little disappointed that he could not ride the horses (they do not offer toddler pony rides like the farm in New York), but he enjoyed sitting in trucks and visiting animals in the barns.  His animals de jour were the chickens; he even did a chicken dance to their clucking.

Chicken dance!

A highly interested, but slightly scared Max said, "they can't get me".  Of course he later wanted to go in there, but came to the conclusion, "I think it might be locked".

"I want to ride on that horsey"

Not going to happen.  Plus they are cows.

"I can reach the pedals!"

Found a horse to ride!