Max's Colorado trip (from guest bloggers, Grandma and Grandpa Kaplan)

Today's blog features guest editors!  In December, we visited my parents in Colorado.  My parents' version of the experience is published blow.

A Max Colorado Chronicle: December 2009

Max and his parents recently spent nine wonderful days with us. Here is a picture of Max. Notice how happy he is:

Why do you suppose that is so? Is he happy because we just celebrated his first birthday? Probably not. Is he happy because he is about to get into something he knows he shouldn’t? Possibly. Is he happy because he has trained his doting grandparents to do whatever he wants? Absolutely!

We dutifully followed him around the house as he tried to explore everything. Here he is going where no Kaplan has ever gone before.

Notice that his pants are on backwards.  Not our fault. He has his own ideas about fashion and firmly insisted on wearing them this way.

Despite being surrounded by toys, Max was more interested in other things. Here he’s using Mike’s CCNY slide rule to calculate the probability that we will let him play with the TV remote (close to zero).

Here he is reminding us that it is bedtime—for us. We were asleep hours before he was even thinking of retiring.

Of course we didn’t stay indoors the whole time. Max went for a hike with his parents and grandfather. Taking a cue from the age-old saying If you aren’t the lead dog, the scenery never changes, yet somewhat confined by his father’s carrier, Max made the best of it. No wonder his father felt a little out of balance:

We were determined to introduce him to cultural highlights of the Denver metro area. First, we took him to the Museum of Nature and Science to see the Genghis Khan exhibit. It told the story of how Khan conquered a large part of the known world and included tales of the ruthless carnage that contributed to his success. We are sure those lurid and bloody stories will not lead Max to a thirst for violence.

Here is one of Max’s favorite parts of the visit:

Here is the other:

Note how proud he is of a discovery that somehow eluded the notice of everyone else.

Finally, we all went to the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster. This is a unique exhibit, featuring all sorts of creepy crawlies as well as an indoor rainforest. Each day, hundreds of multicolored butterflies and moths are released for the wonderment of visitors. Almost all of us looked up at the treetops, hoping to glimpse a flash of color in flight. Max looked elsewhere:

You are probably wondering how we did it. Lifting a 22.5 lb. child, putting down that same 22.5 lb. child, running after that extremely inventive crawler, cooking, and keeping the house reasonably baby-proofed would be a daunting challenge for anyone—especially anyone as old as we are.

Well, it was simple. We decided to be proactive. We went to a few workout sessions, bought appropriate clothes, and changed hairstyles. It is amazing how a few lifestyle changes can make all the difference. See for yourself. Here is a recent picture of us during our last session at the gym: