mr max (more updates to come)

oooh, max... he's growing so fast, and so stinkin' cute. and far too eager to keep up with the older kids: he started crawling shortly after he turned 6 months, right about the same time he cut his two bottom teeth. stinker! he is so alert, curious and sweet. cole and madi have done a great job of adjusting to max's mobility, mostly because they have their rooms to keep their toys in, completely inaccessible to max. remi's been a little put out by all of a sudden having to share the "community" toys, but he's learning to redirect his baby brother, or distract him with another toy. and cole in particular has done a wonderful job of modeling the redirection technique for remi. they allbthree get the giggles at max's latest antics, which involve attempting to start cruising, growling, making goofy faces when trying new/textured foods, or just hamming it up because he knows it's funny.
today marks a year of our family being legally reunited.... the re-birth of our family! i remember that day, feeling so anxious and powerless because  we were here at home while the hearing to determine our son's final fate was taking place states away... and then finally talking to our amazing caseworker, hearing the excitement and joy in her voice. i didn't need to hear the words, i could tell by her tone. knowing that she was so happy for remi and for us was so reassuring... not that there had been any doubt about her position/views of the whole ordeal. she had our backs from the second supervised visit, no doubt about it.
so today is a happy memory day... we are so blessed :)