Winter is almost upon us and Max is prepared. For hunting season.

Last weekend, Leah and I went to a fab lunch at B and G Oysters in the South End (so much better - and not just because of the weather! - than the North End) and ate ourselves silly. Meanwhile, Max stayed with Sara and Marc and went to the park with his cousin Sam. Apparently, Sam, who is 2 and 1/2, was cold enough to wear an overcoat and a hat while Max was fine in a stylish mock turtleneck. Whatever - you don't argue with free babysitters. We recommend the oyster place for everyone who has not been out for a meal in several months and therefore has an obscene amount of lunch money saved up. We recommend putting a 2 year old in charge of a 6 month old for anyone who wants a good laugh.

Here Leah's face has actually gotten stuck in the folds of Max's neck. He thinks this sort of thing is funny.

Here's Max with his Thursday baby group crowd: Mica and Aurelia. These are tough girls who don't talk much but could out crawl Max with one fontanel tied behind their backs. You can see that Aurelia is trying to hold Max's hand, which is because he is related to me and therefore devilishly handsome. Also, no woman, young or old, can resist a pair of orange pantalones.

Max continues to try his luck at getting chicks. Here he is using the well-known "If you can't talk, just kick people" technique to get the attention of his new friend Ella. Her mother, visible only as a huge hand in this photo, does not let Ella play with boys who kick. So tough luck for Max.

Max dressed as a dragon for Halloween. Leah decided that she and I would be the king and queen because that goes well with a dragon. She broke out an old bridesmaid's dress, which is basically what queens wear every day. She also made us crowns. Max fell asleep at 6, long before the start of the Halloween party to which we were to wear these brilliant costumes. (I was more impressed with last year's efforts: I was salt and Leah was pepper. They were great costumes.) Leah left her dress on for a while but eventually gave up. I fell asleep in our new chair waiting for the doorbell to ring. We have a lot of leftover candy.

Max is way better at picking up his head now, which is a good skill to master if you are planning to get placed on your stomach by your parents anytime soon. Under him is visible our new rug, which we are quite proud of.

We have received recent requests for more glasses photos. Here's one. It can also be cross-referenced under "Overalls Photos." To answer the question we confront every freaking time we leave the house: they know a baby needs glasses after the shine a flashlight into his eyes while holding up a series of lenses. Something in his reaction tells them that they have the right lens. It involves no reading. Everyone asks about that: "Did he get some of the letters wrong? Is that how they knew?" No, because babies cannot really identify letters. Morons.

Jen Moore came to visit last month from Ohio, grabbed ahold of Max, and promptly fell asleep. Max thought that looked like a pretty good idea and followed suit. Or maybe it was Jen who copied Max. Either way, they look cute as a couple of buttons.