A Kaplan Journey..............: How's THAT for suspense.

Ok ok. So I know it's been awhile, and I've heard from many of you that you've been waiting on a new posting and are starting to get the shakes. (It could have also just been the fanbase I've created in my head - those voices are so REAL!). Anyway, so much has happened since I last wrote, and I figured I'd better write the latest before Halloween hits, because that obviously earns its own posting, and then events get ahead of documentation and well it's just a blogger's avalanche.

(Deep inhalation)

SO.

The past month has gifted us with some extremely special visitors. First, my best friend Dana, who travelled with her boyfriend, Doron, to the U.S. from Israel. It was such a special trip, as I get to see her maybe once per year, and Max met his Auntie Dana for the very first time. We all had such fun, hanging at the house and taking them around our 'hood for lunch and sightseeing. Her trip schedule was pretty jam packed as her brother got married the following week, so we only had one day with each other. It wasn't nearly enough time, but nor would have been a year's worth of time with her. It's never enough.

Lauren, Elliott, Riley, Max, Heidi

The very next day, I got to see one of my other best friends, Lauren, and meet her insatiably adorable son, Elliott! They flew in with Lauren's mom from Ohio for a visit. If you're friends with me on facebook, you've surely seen some of her amazing photography in the pictures she took of Josh, Max and I at the park. Lauren, our friend Riley, and I got together for dinner and then lounged around with our rugrats the following day. We watched TMZ and had wine and it was beautiful.

Last but not least, Josh's Aunt Susie and Uncle Mike flew out from North Carolina to meet their great nephew Max. We enjoyed every minute with them, shopping, going out for snacks, and visiting with each other at the house. They also babysat the little boog so that Josh and I could venture out to - hold on to your hat - see a movie. We saw Moneyball, which was good, in case you acidentally stumbled onto my page instead of Rotten Tomatoes. Two desperately unmanicured thumbs up. Anyway, their visit was just great.

"She has no idea she's going to change this diaper"

On the day-to-day front, Max and I busy ourselves with all sorts of outings. You know how I know I'm a suburban stay at home mom? Because I go to things like "Moms On The Move" and "Musicology" and meet up with friends and their little ones to swing by places called Zoolikins and Tush. All jokes aside, I have found it to make a huge difference in my sanity level when we venture out of the house at least once per day.

One of our weekly outings consists of physical therapy, which started last week. Not uncommon, our little Maxamoo has a condition called torticollis (I always think of a tortoise with colic. And now you will, too). Basically, his left neck muscles are tighter than the right, perhaps from chillin' in the womb in the same position for too long, and subsequently, he favors looking to the right. While it's not a huge deal in the immediate future, it can cause positional issues down the road. We are being taught some stretching exercises and other efforts to help his neck muscles lengthen. Since he overdoes it with the right-sided stuff, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure that we must encourage Max to look to the left as much as possible, to even the score. Now, the picture below illustrates my creative attempt to offer up a novel visual for Max to gaze at while holding his head to the lefthand side. By scrolling down to the image below, you agree in good faith to not copy, paste, email, BLACKmail, or anything in the 'chortle' family.

Switching gears, wanna know what's redonk? This kid's personality. He smiles and laughs all the time; we don't even have to earn it. Josh and I are savoring this time in his life for every morsel it's worth. He giggles now - and not just the "AHH" sound with a smile (pssh), but an actual "HA HA" (note the second "ha", which constitues a true laugh for all intents and purposes). Every morning I look over into his crib, I am greeted with a smile the size of a Zoolikin, whatever that is. And it's like sparkplugs to my heart. He will be 3 months old on November 2nd, and I know exactly what people meant when they warned me, "it goes by so fast". 'Cause it does.

So there you have it! That's the latest. Stay tuned for future posts, the next of which is sure to recap this weekend's Halloween festivities. As a teaser, know this: Max is a chicken. And I, in my attempt to stay hip and not stray too far off the path of Halloween Costumes Past (you know - any underpaid profession uniform, three sizes too small), have decided that I may - just MAY - undo one strap of my "Farmer Heidi" overalls. Ya. Believe it.