Max is 6 Months Old!

Thank goodness for Natasha... If it weren't for her, we wouldn't have the photographic evidence of Max as a 6-month old. That's one strike in the "neglect column" for Meri and me. Another one, I'm posting these 6-month pictures over a week late! We're surely on the road to leaving Max alone in the car during next year's Kentucky Derby. What, you think I make this stuff up? This is totally true. Enough nonsense... At six months, we're proud to announce a couple more tricks up Max's sleeve -- whatever's up those tiny-muscle shirt sleeves.

The first cool trick is that he can sit up all on his own! It's so great that we can ditch that dangerous Bumbo seat. (Besides, the rings around his thighs from the foam squishing his legs was getting a bit out of hand.) While sitting, Max can do anything he sets his mind to. Except for looking up. If he gets you upset, you can easily get back at him by dangling a rattle, a bottle, a NY Magazine cover or an empty box -- literally, anything -- above his head. Once he looks up, he falls right back. In a cute way, of course.

The second cool trick Max has mastered is the bottle grip. Toss the boy a bottle, blink, and bottle is gone. It's a great sight, it really is. There is honestly no correlation, however, between Max's ability to drink the bottle on his own and the increase in our Fresh Direct Corona expenses. Seriously. Limes are too expensive these days to afford Corona, at any price. Back to reality, we are quite pleased that Max can hold the bottle on his own. Oddly, he even understands the basic premise that nature abhors a vacuum. Once his suction creates a sufficient vacuum in the bottle, Max gently removes the bottle from his mouth, allows air to enter the chamber, and starts to recreate the vacuum. A young physicist, I swear! Max adeptly demonstrated his new skills at Rockaway's finest Italian restaurant Plum Tomatoes on Saturday night in front of the entire restaurant. (That was not sarcasm, seriously).

While Max is learning new tricks, he does have room to improve. His poop does stink, especially with that cocktail of fruits and veggies he's on these days. He hasn't yet mastered the art of opening his eyes, smiling and looking at the camera simultaneously. (That's a gene on Max's maternal side). Enjoy his two best six-month pictures below. And thank you, Natasha, for taking them!