Stubborn and challenging are two of the best ways to describe our little man. Max will sit for over an hour at the table because he will refuse to eat dinner. He would rather get in trouble than apologize any day. He gets time outs for throwing things on a daily basis. I will say to him, "if you throw that you will sit in time out." He then looks me dead in the eyes, smirks and whips whatever toy is in his hands and stomps off to the time out chair grabbing anything in his path, including kitchen table chairs, and throwing them down. His tantrums are ten, no twenty, times worse than anything Noelle has ever had. Some days I just can't help but smile and revel in the fact that his stubbornness is just like me.
He does have a very sweet, albeit small, side to him as well. That sweetness is usually mixed in with his bossy side. He is quick to stop Violette from getting into dangerous things. If she crawls over to something she should get in to Max is right there to grab hold of her her neck and push her down to stop her. Then he jumps on her and gives her a big hug, exclaiming, "I love her so much!". He is also quick to yell at Noelle when she is whining, "Stop that whining Noelle!" and even me when I try to discipline him, "Don't you tell me 'enough' (or whatever I said to him) Mom!".
Hockey and football are sports he is very interested in. Noelle and Max beg to watch the Red Wings on TV and cheer for them when the game does come on. I'm sure in the near future they will attend their first Red Wings game. Football is equally as enjoyed by Max and he cheers for every team the same either, "Go Michigan!" or "Go Lions!". Tom still plans on turning him into a 95 mph pitcher, we'll see how that goes. Tools, tractors, trucks, dragons, guns and swords are a few of his favorite things. He can turn anything, even Strawberry Shortcake, into a hammer and starts to beat the walls with it. He is ALL boy, sporting some big feet! His feet are the same size as Noelle and his hands are larger! He has grown a lot in the last few months, growing out of his 2t clothes.
Although challenging, stubborn, and bossy, Maximilian is such a joy. His independence amazes us as it is completely opposite from Noelle. He has a smile/smirk that melts your heart and his hugs and kisses are strong and wet. He loves to snuggle with his Daddy (and sometimes Mommy) and sisters. He keeps me on my toes and brings countless smiles to my face.
We celebrated his birthday with a nice relaxing family day. Max opened his gifts when he first got up and then later in the afternoon, after naps, we tried his Big Top Cupcake. The cake was delicious, who wouldn't love a giant cupcake?
I think he really has a cool birth date and there will always be a celebration on his day! Happy Birthday Max and Happy New Year to everyone!
When she came out in the morning she lit up seeing all the presents and said, "I have been a good girl this year!". They loved opening all their presents. Max seemed to grasp the concept of Santa pretty well, which was exciting for us. When it came to opening up gifts he wanted to unwrap them then have us completely open them so he could play for awhile. The following pictures explain it all:
One of the biggest hit was a stocking stuffer of a self inflating whoopee cushion. All the children have loved it! While Noelle was playing with it Max said, "Noelle have bad gas!". He would use every part of his part to make the toot sound and just laughed. Boys and their bodily functions!
Here are some more pictures of our Christmas:
Unfortunately, we did receive a call that my Granma was in the hospital with some complications. Our prayers are with her. We all love you Granma/Great Granma get better soon!
img>When Tom arrived home from work we headed to The Toledo Zoo to see the lights. The normal 45 mins drive was much longer due to an accident and wrong exit by me. When we finally arrived the line to get into the zoo was very long and then we had to park over a mile away. We only went to the small front portion of the zoo, but the lights were spectacular and the children really enjoyed them. The train was going so we hopped aboard and that was a big hit with Max and Noelle! 
Yesterday, Tuesday we got Noelle a cake for continuation of the birthday celebration. I had wanted to get Noelle a really big, special cake. Talking with the bakery they told me a big cake would feed a lot of people and we didn't need a cake that big. So, I decided to do a smaller one. Well, it was REALLY small, a lot smaller than I had wanted or expected. Noelle loved it and it tasted delicious, even Violette had her first piece of cake, so that is all that matters. Next time I know to just go ahead and get the bigger cake for dramatic effect! 
Although Noelle really wanted a big birthday party for her Birthday, I think the two day celebration with the family worked out nicely and she enjoyed herself. Oh, I forgot to add that after cake and baths Noelle took a big spill and had a nice fat lip. Lots of tears and whimpering! She just had to add a bit of drama in there! 
I wish I would have taken more pictures, but through the chaos of everything the camera took a back seat. We dressed the kids in their pj's and headed out around 7:30pm. Although we passed six accidents and the roads were a bit slick in places, we made good time and the children loved spying all the lights during the drive. It was another great family Christmas, and I wish I saw more of my them!
The dating stage
The Newlyweds
The First Little Roehrig 
The Second Little Roehrig
The Family - Five years later and counting...