It's the combination of rage, betrayal, and emotional devastation that really gets me here. If he did this in a guest spot on Law & Order he'd be a shoo-in for an Emmy nomination.

Continuing yesterday's post, here are some more family photos taken in the park next to Annapolis harbor.

Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Alan with Max:


Nice bellybutton, kid.

Daughter-in-law, grandson, and grandma:


Mom, Dad, and Max. Note how Max can't be bothered to actually, I dunno, look at the camera. Oh, to be a baby and not have to live by our society's petty social conventions.

While visiting my parents, we took a walk to downtown Annapolis, a town with a bunch of cute shops, big boats, and lots and lots of tourists. The Bumbleride Flyer stroller my folks got Max performed admirably. We ultimately stopped off at a little park at the end of the city dock, and got some great family photos.

Here are three generations of Bellack men:


And the full suite of grandparents, parents, and Maxes:


In this latter photo Max's gaze askance reveals a precocious ennui that is rueful, nostalgic, and reminiscent of Proust at his most evocative. Or maybe he's just tired and peed his pants. That's the thing with babies, you just never know.

I'm sorry to other parents out there, but my kid just might be cuter than your kid.

Here are some more photos from our visit to Annapolis. My mom did great with Max, getting down on the floor to play with him and giving him lots of high-quality holding and hugging. Here are some of the best photos from the visit.

And yes, that onesie says "What happens at Grandma's, stays at Grandmas". So sue me, it's cute.










Grandma and Max are in conference.

My brother Adam and his girlfriend Marisa came up to Annapolis for dinner one night while Jen, Max, and I were visiting my parents. Here are some photos.


"What do you mean, babies don't get dessert? I was specifically told there would be punch and pie."


Max grows increasingly upset about the lack of infant dessert.


Apparently my son turns into Gollum when he gets mad.


Uncle Adam remains admirably level-headed.


Uncle Adam suggests that Max negotiate with Marisa. Things are looking up for babies.


Max and Marisa shake hands to conclude the 2009 Montclair-Washington Infant Dessert Treaty. Uncle Adam awaits the Nobel Prize for bringing both parties to the table.

(Video is here if you want to see it)

This first picture might be my favorite one of Jen and Max together so far. All three are pretty damn cute.

On our way back up to NYC, we stopped off to visit to my maternal grandmother, Max's Great-Grandma Bartlett. She lives in an assisted living community outside Dover, DE, so we try to visit whenever we're driving down to Annapolis. Max is her third great-grandchild -- my cousin Kathy has two boys of her own. It was a really nice visit, even though Max got super-cranky for some reason. I look forward to the next trip we take so Max can prove that he's not always a crankface, and show his Great-Grandma how much he's grown.

This first video is in HD. To see the HD version, look in the lower right corner of the video player -- make sure the "HD" is white not gray, and the click the far-right icon with four arrows to play the video in full-screen.


Big smiles all around:







It was all fun and games until Max got cranky:

Max rolled over from front to back! Technically, he did it on the 14th, when we were hanging out with Auntie Aimee. He was on his tummy for tummy time, rolled himself over, freaked out and peed his diaper and then started screaming.

Pretty hilarious.

Since we didn't get any shots of him flipping him self over and out, here are some of other tummy time experiences.

I feel like this one is like we caught him doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing:


he really started pushing himself up much higher in the last few weeks:


but he still digs on the mirror.

A couple weeks ago we took a 4-day trip to visit Jonathan's parents in Annapolis, MD and some close friends from college who live in the Washington, DC suburbs. We also got to see Jonathan's brother and his girlfriend, and also Max's Great-Grandmother Bartlett.

The blog posts for all this excitement have been slow in coming because I got a new computer around the same time, and had to move files over. It also took me forever to figure out how to 1) rotate videos, and 2) share videos from my HD camcorder. (The videos we've posted to date are either from Jen's Flip or using the video mode of our Canon digital cameras.) The upshot is I have a huge backlog of photos and video to share and this post marks the beginning of getting back up to date on the trip and many other things besides. Brace yourselves.

To start the fun here are a couple shots from a rest stop we made on the drive down.


Max kindly volunteered to drive a leg so Jen and I could nap.


"What? Of COURSE I'm 17!"


"Oh, this is car has manual transmission? Hmm."


Mommy loves Max even though he can't drive stick.

Max has really turned on the facial expressions lately. Mostly it's just smirks that totally make him look like his uncle Charlie and grampy Mr. Tom.

I think that with his pointy chin, big cheeks, triangle smile and half round eyes, when he smiles he looks like a Maurice Sendak character drawn anime style.






Why yes, that IS a monkey thinking about a banana on his shirt!

Max doesn't spit up often, but when it does . . . well, see for yourself:


I have no idea how I caught this, but I find it hilarious. Especially the fact that it's an actual stream.

now we have the standing!

But I cannot figure out how to make flickr rotate the video, so turn your head.

this time with bonus hiccups!

Max's doing really well with the head control. While he doesn't always like tummy time, he really likes stitting up with support.

I seem to have collected a considerable amount of blackmail material in my time. Mostly in the form of incriminating photos, but that was before the advent of digital cameras with video capabilities.

And now it's Max's turn.

warning: naked baby ahead.

and for once, it's not milo.

I cannot believe this kid is nearly 4 months old already! Also, he really really loves that monkey. Like a lot.

A touch late...

my but he looks pensive.

also, no pants.

It's papparazzi time for Maxes! Poor baby thought he was just getting ready to go grocery shopping, but then the papparazzi (aka Mom) came out of the woodwork to catch him in his snazzy outfit.

at first, he was all, "no pictures no pictures!"


then just a little dazed/sleepy:


but then the ducky saw the cameras. the ducky is SUCH a camera hog.


And finally, when the flashes came out, someone had to put an end to it. No flash photos! Didn't they hear the Patti LuPone rant? I mean, really.

I do love these photos...





...but do they not also kind of look like the baby from 2001?